Summer Celebrations

Characters; Ethan 36, Claire 14, Joseph 12, Ben 9 George 8

(Based on the TV series Paradise)

Background:Ethan Cord is an ex gunfighter living in Paradise, Colorado in the late 1800's. Paradise is a mining town. Ethan became the guardian of his sister's four children in August of 1897, after she died of tuberculosis. Ethan's sister, Lucy Cord Carroll was living with her children in St. Louis, Missouri and working as a singer in the theater. Ethan has purchased a small ranch. He is determined to raise the children as young ladies and gentlemen as his sister would want them to be. Although he tries to stop using his gun as a way to make a living, he is called on to help out the local sheriff at times. In June of 1898, Ethan legally adopted his niece and nephews.

Chapter 1 June, 1899

The Ranch

"Joseph, would you go out and get Ben and George, please? We all need to talk about what we want to do for Father's Day. " Claire asks.

Joseph stretched out on the bench reading, complains "Can't you just go out and yell for them? You know they're out there somewhere. I just got through with my chores and I want to read some in this book I bought yesterday. It's all about Jesse James!"

"Joseph, you know Uncle Ethan doesn't like you reading those five cent novels! He says they're just made up to glorify the villains. He'd be disappointed if he knew you were wasting money on trash like that. You should be saving any money you make for something really good." Claire tells him in her best big sister knows all voice. "I need you to go outside and find the boys. We are supposed to be keeping an eye on them, remember?"

"Alright Claire, I'll go find them. "Joseph sighs getting up and walking to the door. Reaching the door he turns to his sister, "You know what? You sure can spoil a guy's fun in a hurry. Thanks so much for telling me I wasted money and probably disappointed Uncle Ethan as well. All because I wanted to take time for myself to read!" he says sounding a bit put out.

"You're quite welcome, Joseph. That's what big sisters do best you know. We just live to spoil all the fun!" Claire answers teasingly.

Outside, Joseph goes over to the boy's treehouse first. "Ben, George, are you up there?" He calls. Not getting an answer he walks over to the barn to check there. Pulling one of the big wooden doors open he walks into the barn. "Ben? George? Are you in here? Claire wants us up at the house." he calls glancing around thinking they might be hiding from him. Not hearing an answer or seeing a sign of his little brothers he turns to leave. Just then he hears a sound from the middle loft. Quickly he walks to the ladder and climbs up. As he steps off the ladder into the loft he sees Ben and George over in a corner. Both are sitting down leaning over something. "Just what are you two doing up here? You know good and well you are not allowed to climb that ladder to this middle loft! It's too high up. We're twelve feet off the ground! What do you think Uncle Ethan's going to say when he hears about this?" Joseph asks sternly.

Both Ben and George jump at the sound of his voice. Neither one has heard him climb up. George speaks up "Look Joseph, we found a cat. She's a mama cat too. Come see the kittens."

Walking over to where the boys are crouched Joseph sees a big orange cat with four small kittens busy nursing. He also sees one of the blue china bowls Claire kept from their Mother's dishes. The bowl has milk in it.

"That's a pretty cat George. She looks like she's good at being a Mama. We need to leave them alone now and let them eat. Did you boys ask Claire if you could use that bowl?" When neither of the boys answers he says "You'd better bring that bowl back inside and wash it. Claire will be upset with you for using one of Mama's good bowls without asking. I'm sure we can find something else to use for the milk. Now come on we have to go inside to have a talk about Father's Day." Joseph walks back over to the ladder and climbs down a few rungs. "George come on, I'll help you get on the ladder in front of me and then Ben, you get on right after him."

Both boys climb onto the ladder and Joseph slowly backs down keeping watch over Ben and George to make sure they don't slip. Once on the ground he scolds them again "You both are not to climb into that loft! You know Uncle Ethan says it is too high for you to go up there! You could get hurt falling from the ladder!"

Biting his lip Ben asks quietly "Are you going to tell Uncle Ethan? If you do he's going to be disappointed in us and he might wallop us! Please don't tell Joseph!" George adds his own "Please don't tell, Joseph." to the conversation.

"I don't want to tell him boys but I HAVE to. You can't put yourselves in danger like that and get away with it. You have to learn not to do things that put yourself in danger. Besides, I will be in trouble if he finds out that I knew and didn't tell him. You deserve to be punished for this one." Joseph answers giving the boys a stern look.

"How about if you punish us instead? Ben suggests as George nods his head in agreement.

"You want me to punish you? What if I decide you deserve a spanking?" Joseph asks thinking this would make them change their minds and let their Uncle handle the punishment.

"We'll take whatever punishment you want to give us." George answers for them both as the boys often do.

"Alright, I think three days of extra chores is a good punishment. I'll tell you later what the extra chores will be. But, if I find out you have been back into that loft again, I will go to Uncle Ethan and tell him. Understand?" Joseph says squatting down to look both boys in the eye.

"Yes Joseph, I understand." George answers

Ben sees Joseph looking at him and knows he's waiting for him to agree. "But Joseph, how are we supposed to feed Ginger if we can't go up to her? We have to take her milk to feed her. We can't let her starve!"

"Look Ben, I promise to look after Ginger. That's the cat right?" Seeing their nods Joseph continues. "I'll take up some milk when Claire milks the cows. Don't worry about it, I'll look after her. Maybe I can get her to move down to this first loft and you can look after her. I'll try it when the kittens get a little bigger. But remember, YOU AREN'T TO GO UP THERE TO THAT LOFT! Do you understand Ben?"

"Yes, I promise. I won't bother Ginger." Ben responds regretfully.

"Good, now come on! Claire's going to be wondering what took me so long to get you two inside. We don't want to have to answer any questions so let's go." Joseph says walking out of the barn.

Once inside, Claire tells them "Father's Day is in two weeks and Uncle Ethan's birthday is two days before. This will be our first Father's Day since he adopted us. I thought I'd make a special cake and his favorite meal for supper on his birthday. Then we could convince him to let us treat him to lunch at the hotel in town for Father's Day. We need to think up something to give him for presents. Joseph do you have any money left from the extra chore money or did you spend it all already?"

"I have some left. I only spent fifteen cents of it yesterday for the book and the candy sticks we all ate for dessert last night. What did you need it for?" Joseph asks.

"Well, I was thinking we could put all of our money together to buy something. I could make him a new shirt. I could work on it when he's in town at the sheriff's office everyday. Now that he's one of the deputies he sure does have to spend a lot of time in town. What do you all think about giving him a new shirt?"

"Claire that sounds good but the boys and I want to make something too. We can't sew so we can't help with a new shirt. Ben, George, how about if we three work on a special project just from us? Would you like to help me make something special for Uncle Ethan? I already know something we can make." Joseph tells the boys.

"What are we going to make?" asks George

"Well, you know those two special revolvers he has?" At the boy's confused look, Joseph says "You know the two guns with the brass nameplates on the side. Remember these are the ones he was awarded for helping catch the men who did the stagecoach robberies back in 1890?" When he sees George nod, he says "We can make a special box for him to keep them in. Right now he just keeps them in that old, gray metal box under his bed. We need to make something special for him to display them in."

"Are you thinking of a box with glass on the front like at the mercantile? That's a display case isn't it?" Ben asks.

"Yes Ben, that's exactly what I was thinking of making, except only not quite so big. We can even put some kind of material in it to make it look more like a fancy case. Does that sound like a good idea to you guys?" Joseph asks his younger brothers hoping they like his idea.

Ben says looking at George, "Yes, we'd like to help with the case. Will you let us do some of the work too?"

"Of course I will. It's going to be from all three of us so all of us should help make it. I'll go into town…" seeing Ben's dejected look, Joseph quickly changes what he is saying to "We'll go into town tomorrow and pick out some wood for the case. Then we can start building it. We'll wait to get the glass until we have the box finished. We have to know what size the piece of glass needs to be. Okay?"

"Okay, this is going to be fun!" Ben looks over at George and says "George you have to keep this a secret. You can't go and tell Uncle Ethan what we're doing or it will ruin his surprise. Do you promise not to tell him? Pinky swear promise George!"

"I pinky swear promise Ben. I won't say anything even if he asks me!" George says reaching out his hand with his little finger sticking out. Ben wraps his own little finger around George's and they both say "pinky swear promise!"

Joseph has to look away to keep from laughing at how solemn George sounds. "Good job, George. Now we know you will keep your promise. You are really growing up. It used to be that you couldn't keep a secret. You would forget and tell about it. I know you won't forget now that you are a big boy of eight!" he tells his youngest brother giving him a hug.

"I like your plan boys. May I go with you tomorrow to pick out the wood? You can all help me pick out the material for Uncle Ethan's new shirt while we are in town. Tomorrow is the day I planned to take in the extra eggs and the cream I made to Mr. Axelrod's. We can use that money towards our purchases too. If we put all of our money together we should have enough for the gifts and to take Uncle Ethan out to a special lunch."

"That's fine Claire. You need to ask him if we can all go with you to town tomorrow. I don't think he'll say we can't go but I want to make sure he says it's OK before we do it. I don't want to get in trouble. Ever since I helped fix up the trap for the bank robbers that turned out to be regular people, he's been a little more irritable sometimes. I'm trying hard to prove I can be well behaved!" Joseph tells her. "After all I sure don't want to be house bound when I just got off! That was a very long three weeks."

The next day

"Ben your shirt is all dirty. Before we can go to town, you have to go change your shirt and also wash your face. I'm not taking grubby looking little boys to town with me." Claire tells him pointing towards his bedroom.

"Claire! It's just town. Why do I have to get all fixed up just to go into town? It's not like we're going to church or something. Besides I like this shirt the way it is. Ben answers back just a bit angry at being called a little boy.

Not liking the whining or defiant voice her younger brother is using Claire answers trying to keep her voice calm "You have to change because we aren't going to go to town looking like we don't have clean clothes or know what soap is. Now please do as I say so we can leave."

Joseph ready to leave, comes into the house to see what is taking Claire and Ben so long. He immediately sees the stubborn look on Ben's face and the aggravated look of his sister. "What's taking you two so long? George and I are all ready to go. We only have an hour and a half before we have to be back for afternoon chores! Come on!"

"Joseph maybe you can talk some sense into Ben. I only told him to wash up and change his dirty shirt and he went stubborn on me. Now he won't move or speak!" Claire complains.

"Ben, come on. Just go do as Claire says so we can go to town." Joseph says wearily. "I'm tired already today from having to replace the chicken coop gate. I really don't have the patience to put up with temper tantrums right now." He says giving his brother a firm look.

"I like this shirt and it's not that dirty. I don't want to change it and I'm not going to! She can't tell me what to do! I'm not some baby that needs a Mama to tell him when to wash up!" Ben says furiously. He instantly regrets his decision to continue the battle when he sees Joseph stalk across the room looking like he might just kill him on the spot.

Joseph reaches his brother in three strides, grabs him by the arm and pulls him into the boy's bedroom. Once inside he sits on Ben's bed, flips his little brother over his knee and proceeds to spank him. After four rather hard swats he lets him stand up. "Now do what you were told to do before I get mad, Ben!"

Ben quickly pulls off the dirty shirt thinking Before he gets mad? I kinda thought he already was! He washes his face and puts on a clean shirt before turning back to look at his brother.

"Alright Ben, now that you are ready you need to apologize to Claire and then we can finally go to town." Joseph tells him leading him out to the front room.

"I'm sorry for being rude and not minding you Claire. Are you going to tell Uncle Ethan on me?" Ben asks. He remembers the warning he received four days ago for not minding Claire. When he doesn't get an answer he begs with his best sad face "Please Claire, he said he'd take me out to the barn the next time I didn't mind you. Do you want me to get a whipping with the belt?"

Seeing the sad look on her little brother's face, Claire gives in. "I won't say anything this time Ben. You already got a spanking so I guess you don't need another on top of it. But, the next time you talk back or don't mind me I will be telling Uncle Ethan. Do you hear me, Ben?"

"Yes, I hear you. Thank you Claire." Ben says giving his sister a hug.

"Okay enough mushy stuff! " Joseph says grinning. "Can we PLEASE go now?"

Town

"Hi Mr. Anderson!" George says loudly coming in the door of the hardware store. "We came to buy some wood! We're making something special for our Papa!"

Ben says "George! You best remember our pinky swear promise!" just as Claire scolds "George lower your voice! We're inside!"

Pouting a little at the double scolding, George looks down at the floor. He looks up when he hears Mr. Anderson chuckle and say "Now Claire, I'm used to young boys and their loud ways. No need to fuss at my friend George here." He sees Mr. Anderson wink at him and knows he's forgiven for yelling. "Now what kind of wood do you all think you need?"

Joseph says "We want to build a display box about two feet long and about a foot high. I want to make a frame for a glass top and it needs to have hinges with a clasp on the front. Maybe you can help us figure out the best and cheapest wood to use."

"Let's just go out and see what we have. I know I have some out back that you might like." Mr. Anderson says leading the children to the lumber area outside. "This piece would work. I could cut it for you now if you like." Mr. Anderson says holding up a long yellow board.

Ben frowning tries to get Joseph's attention by pulling on his sleeve. "What is it Ben?' Joseph asks irritated.

"I don't want that wood Joseph! It's yellow. I don't want to give Uncle Ethan a yellow box." He says irritably.

"Ben, stop fussing and behave. We can fix this up to look really nice. Besides the yellow will turn more of a brownish gray color after the wood ages." Joseph explains.

"I do not want that color wood! " Ben practically yells. "You said we could all help pick it out and I don't want the box to be yellow!"

"Ben! Do I need to take you out behind the store for another lesson in manners today?" Joseph whispers in Ben's ear. "If you don't stop whining and fussing I will put you back over my knee." Joseph knows his uncle wouldn't approve but feels it's his responsibility to correct his little brother in his uncle's absence.

Ben glowers at Joseph but keeps his mouth shut. Mr. Anderson seeing the look on Ben's face says "Well now, you know boys, you could always paint the wood if you don't want it to be natural. In fact I even have a can of brown paint at home that I could give you. I bought it for a fence but decided not to use it. Would brown be a color you could live with Ben?"

Joseph gives Ben a look that dares him to disagree. "Yes sir, I think the box would look very good if it was painted and brown is a good color." Ben says giving Joseph a smirk. See, I can be just as polite as you Joseph! Ben thinks.

"Well then Joseph, would you like me to cut this wood into the pieces you mentioned? That would be two dollars for the wood and the hinges. You said you wanted to put a clasp on the front. I would suggest you build it and then come back to get the clasp as you may not know what size you need yet."

"That would be fine thank you Mr. Anderson. Could we come back and get the wood in a little while? We have some shopping to do at Mr. Axelrod's also. Mr. Anderson, please don't say anything about us getting wood to Uncle Ethan. It's a surprise." Joseph tells him.

"Don't you worry children. I haven't spilled a secret in years. In fact I'm the best secret keeper in all of Paradise!" Mr. Anderson says wiggling his eyebrows to make George and Ben giggle.

"Thanks Mr. Anderson. We'll be back later." Joseph says taking Ben by the hand. Claire takes hold of George and they walk over to the mercantile. "Stay with us boys." Claire says as they walk into the store. She leads them over to the yard goods section of the store. "Here's a good strong white material we could use for a shirt. Then we can get fancy buttons to put on it."

"Claire, he has four white shirts already. Can't we please get some cloth that is not white?" Ben asks as politely as he can.

George agrees saying "I think blue would be a good color. Can we make a blue shirt Claire?"

"You know Claire, I agree with them. White is so ordinary. Why not do up a shirt in this?" Joseph asks holding a light blue material.

"Not that Joseph, that's for ladies nightgowns!" Claire giggles as Joseph drops the cloth quickly. "How about this cloth boys?" Claire asks holding up a blue chambray material. "We could use black buttons on the front and cuffs."

"Yes, let's get that." Joseph agrees. Ben and George nod their agreement when Claire looks at them.

"Claire? Can George and I go pick out the buttons? We'll pick good ones." Ben asks.

"Yes I know you two will do a great job. Go ahead but don't get any that cost over twenty five cents. "Claire tells them.

As Ben and George mull over the buttons, Joseph slips back to the back to look at the boy's rifles. Hearing someone come up behind him Joseph turns to see Mr. Axelrod standing behind him.

"Don't get any ideas about taking down one of those rifles Boy! Only people who can pay for one get to hold one! Now get back up front and babysit those brats you call brothers before I throw all of you out for loitering!" Mr. Axelrod tells him hatefully his loud voice carrying all the way back to the front of the store.

Ben hearing Mr. Axelrod call him a brat decides to get even with him. He glances over to see Claire looking at other types of yard goods as he lifts up the top of a display case. Quickly he reaches in and picks up a silver tie clip shaped like a horse's head. Checking to see that no one is looking he slips it into his pocket. "Claire" he calls when he gets back over to the buttons, "Can we buy a new black string tie too? George and I have enough to get one."

"That's a good idea boys. Which buttons did you pick?" When she sees the pearl shaped buttons she says "Let's look just a little more. Those are very nice but they're more for ladies clothes than men's."

"Here are some nice buttons, Claire." George says holding out a package of black buttons with silver colored centers.

"Those are just perfect!" Ben says excitedly. "Please can we get these Claire?"

Claire turns as Joseph walks up and asks "What do you think about these buttons Joseph?"

"I think they look fine Claire." He says looking over his shoulder. Then leaning over to his sister he whispers "I'd really like to get finished and get out of here. Mr. Axelrod is on the warpath today. I feel like he's just looking for some reason to haul me off to Uncle Ethan for some made up crime."

Nodding her head to show she understands Claire calls "Ben, George, bring the buttons and the string tie on over to the counter we're ready to leave now." Then turning to Mr. Axelrod she says "I need to buy three yards of this blue chambray fabric please." Watching carefully she makes sure Mr. Axelrod measures out the correct amount.

"I don't suppose you will be paying cash today!" Mr. Axelrod snaps at her.

"Yes Sir. We most certainly will. That fabric, the buttons and the string tie are all we are purchasing today. Please tell me the total for our purchases." Claire says smiling.

"Hmph! That'll be one dollar and thirty five cents!" Mr. Axelrod says grumpily.

Claire says smiling sweetly "Please count the eggs and cream I brought in today and pay me now. After you have done so I will gladly pay the rest of the cash for any amount we still owe."

Glaring Mr. Axelrod quickly counts the eggs. "Alright that's fourteen eggs for twenty eight cents and the cream is ten cents so that makes a total of thirty three cents."

George standing right next to Claire at the counter says "Excuse me Mr. Axelrod, that's not right. Twenty eight cents and ten more cents makes thirty eight cents not thirty three."

Fuming at being corrected by a child, Mr. Axelrod says "Take yourself out of my store you impudent young brat! Talk back to me and I'll tell your Uncle to take a strap to you! Now Get!"

Sobbing George runs out the front door. Joseph follows right behind him. Catching George by the arm before he can dash across the street to the wagon he pulls him into a hug. "It's okay George. You didn't do or say anything wrong. Shhh. Stop crying and listen. No one is mad at you."

"He sssaid I was talking back and being a bbbbratt!" George tries to say between sobs. After a few minutes of just being held and feeling Joseph rubbing his back he calms down enough to say " He's going to go tell Papa I was being a brat and talking back. Then Papa will wallop me! I wasn't doing it Joseph! I wasn't!" he finishes sobbing again.

Claire and Ben come out of the store just in time to hear George. Claire tries to calm him down saying "It's alright George. He's just being mean. We all know you didn't do anything wrong. You need to hush and stop crying."

When that doesn't work and George is still sobbing, Joseph picks him up and carries him over to the wagon bed. Sitting him down on the end of the wagon Joseph walks over to Claire and says "I think I need to take him to Uncle Ethan. We can't get him to calm down."

"Yes, he's going to make himself sick with all of this crying. I don't know what else to do either. Maybe that will help. Ben and I will go get the order from Mr. Anderson while you take George." Claire tells him.

Joseph goes back over to the wagon and picks George up. "Come on George. We're going to see Uncle Ethan." He realizes that is the wrong thing to say when George immediately starts sobbing again.

"No Joseph! Please don't take me to Papa. I won't be bad anymore. Please!' he sobs loudly.

"George! Please! You're hurting my ears! Please stop crying. I've already told you no one is mad at you." Joseph tries to calm him down.

Pushing open the Sheriff's office door Joseph walks in still carrying the sobbing child. Ethan hearing George sobbing comes out from the back room. Seeing Joseph standing there holding the young boy he says "What is going on Joseph? What has happened?" his anxiety making his voice stern.

"Uncle Ethan we had a run in with Mr. Axelrod a few minutes ago. He counted up the eggs and told Claire the wrong amount of money. We brought in fourteen eggs and a can of cream. He told Claire she could get twenty eight cents for the eggs and ten cents for the cream which would be a total of thirty three cents for them. George spoke up and said twenty eight cents for the eggs and ten cents for the cream equaled thirty eight cents not thirty three. Mr. Axelrod called George an impudent brat and threatened to tell you to take a strap to him for his talking back."

George sobbed louder wiggling to get down from Joseph's arms.

"Put him down Joseph." Ethan says. When George is standing in front of Joseph, Ethan squats down and pulls the boy to sit on his knee. "Okay now son. Let's just calm down. You need to stop crying and listen to me now." He says firmly. Ethan sees George nod and try to stop sobbing but tears are still running down his face. "George were you polite when you talked to Mr. Axelrod?" he asks looking over George's head at Joseph. Joseph nods his head.

"Yes Sir. I was very polite. I said "Excuse me Mr. Axelrod that's not right. Twenty eight cents plus ten cents equals thirty eight cents not thirty three. Then he screamed at me and called me horrible names." George says breaking down in tears again.

"George, hush. There's no reason to keep crying like this. Mr. Axelrod was wrong to yell at you that way. You didn't do anything wrong and I'm not at all upset with you. I'm proud of you for standing up to him and not letting him cheat your sister. You were polite and he had no reason to say the things he did. I want you to just forget about him and go home with Joseph. I'll see you tonight for supper. We can read together after supper if you want to. Go on now. I'll see you both later." Ethan says giving George a hug and then pretending to give him a light swat on the seat of his pants.

'You missed Papa!" George says wiping the last few tears off his face and grinning at Ethan.

"Hmm, I did didn't I? Well kiddo you just better move it on along before I try it again!" Ethan says smiling.

Later that evening: Axelrod's Store

Walking into the mercantile Ethan sees Axelrod standing with his back to the door putting cans up on the shelves. Hearing the bell over the door Axelrod snaps "I'm closed! Come back tomorrow!"

"No, we need to settle this now not tomorrow. Turn around and face me when I talk to you. I do not talk to people's backs!" Ethan says his voice deadly quiet.

Axelrod snaps his head around as he recognizes that voice. He swallows nervously as he turns to face Ethan.

"My children were in here today correct?" Seeing Axelrod nod he continues. "My youngest son, George is only eight years old. He is still learning how to calculate prices and total up the amount owed. I have taught all of my children to always figure the amount owed and not just take someone else's word for it. I don't want them to ever be cheated."

At Axelrod's strangled gasp he says "I'm not saying they were cheated. I'm just saying it could happen. Now young George caught you in a mistake this afternoon correct?" On seeing Mr. Axelrod's nod Ethan says "Everyone makes mistakes. I understand that. What I don't understand however is why you feel it is alright to scream at a child and threaten him just because he corrected your mistake. I might understand if the child was rude or bratty but I have no question that George was overly polite to you today. Isn't that so?"

"I guess he wasn't all that rude." Mr. Axelrod says slowly, watching Ethan very carefully the way one would watch a rattlesnake coiled to strike.

"Good. I'm glad to know we agree on the fact George was polite to you. Mr. Axelrod, I have given up my trade as a gunfighter but if you ever threaten one of my children again I may just decide to return to my old trade. Do I make myself clear to you Mr. Axelrod? You sir, will not scream at or threaten one of my children ever again! If you do you will seriously regret it!"

Seeing Axelrod's face go white as he nods his head, Ethan says "I expect you to come tell me if you have a problem with one of my children. I will listen and take whatever action I feel is necessary depending on the situation. That is how things are handled with my children. Do you understand what I am telling you?"

"Yes." Axelrod manages to get out of his very tight throat.

Ethan says "Good to know now enjoy your evening." as he walks out the door.