A/N In going back to revise this story, I decided to edit the chapters because the original was so long. (9/22/2012)
After they finished their cake and milk, Ethan tells them "Ben, George, I have something to show you outside. Everyone come with me."
They all follow him to the big oak tree in the back of the house. Looking up the boys see a long wooden platform with walls, a roof, and an opening covered with a piece of oilcloth. There is a ladder attached to the bottom of the platform.
"It's a secret hideout !" yells Ben
"It's a house in a tree." yells George at the same time.
"It's whatever you want to call it boys. Happy Birthday Ben. Happy Birthday George." Ethan tells them. "Go on up."
As their friends watch, Ben and George climb into the treehouse.
"Gosh, Mr. Cord, I wish you would show my Pa how to make one of these." Kenny says.
"Me too!" the rest of the little boys say.
" If your Pa's want to know, I'll be more than happy to tell them. Right now, though it's your turn to go up in the treehouse."
"Ben?" he calls.
"Yes, Uncle Ethan?"
"Come on back down so we can let George's friends go up." Ben frowns and shakes his head at this news.
"Ben!" Ethan says, a warning in his voice.
"Yes sir, I'm coming." When he gets close to the ground Ethan swings him off the ladder to the ground and swats his backside playfully. "Good of you to mind me, you scamp!" Ben giggles and goes over to be with his friends.
After a few minutes, Ethan calls "George, you and the others come on down. It's Ben's turn to take his friends up." The four eight year olds climb down slowly.
"That's kind of high up Mr. Cord."
"Yes Luke, I guess it is high to you. It's very safe as long as you stay off that railing and watch your step coming down."
After all of the children had a turn to see the new treehouse, Ethan called them all together. "Boys, I'm very glad you all like the treehouse. All of you are welcome to play in it when you come visit. There are rules though. No one is to climb past the treehouse, no climbing on any of the treehouse including the railing, and no more than four boys at a time can be in the treehouse. If you break any of these rules you will be forbidden to play in the treehouse. Do you all understand these rules?"
"Yes, Mr. Cord Yes sir!" He hears.
"Very Good. Ben you and your friends can go back up for an hour. When you come down it will be George's turn. Here, take this pocket watch and check the time. In an hour come down. George, you and your friends can play on the new swing I hung from the other oak tree."
Watching as the children run to play on the new swing and to the treehouse, Rob clears his throat and asks "Mr. Cord?"
"Yes, Rob? Something on your mind, son?"
"Would it be all right with you if Claire and I sat over on the porch and talked for a little while? I won't go inside or anything."
"That would be fine with me. Claire makes excellent raspberry swizzle, ask her to get you some." As Rob and Claire walk off, Ethan sees Joseph start to follow them.
"Joseph" he calls quietly
"Sir?" Joseph asks puzzled.
"You stay here with me and let your sister have time with her company."
"Aww! Come on Uncle Ethan! I like Rob and I want to talk to him too." Joseph argues.
"Maybe so, but you're not talking to him right now." Ethan answers firmly.
"Why do you have to be so unreasonable? Every time I want to do something besides chores and babysitting you won't let me! Right now, I'm going to go visit with my new friend and you can't stop me!" Joseph yells stomping his foot.
Ethan reaches out, takes hold of Joseph's arm "Let's go have a talk in the barn." He says firmly walking the boy to the barn doors.
Inside the barn Ethan leads Joseph to the hay bales stacked two on top of each other.
"You're not going to talk to me in that disrespectful way, Joseph. When I tell you to do something, you are to do it! I don't like this new behavior you've been showing lately. It's going to stop right NOW! Bend over those bales, Joseph!"
"Please! I'm sorry I was disrespectful, I didn't mean it! I'll behave and I'm sorry!" Joseph says as he sees his Uncle taking off his belt.
"Joseph, you know better than to talk to anyone in that disrespectful tone I just heard. You seem to have forgotten how you are to behave lately. Arguing, being disrespectful, breaking rules, all of that is why you are in this trouble! If your behavior does not change you will find yourself in this position again! After we are finished here you are to go to your room for the rest of the day. I really don't think you'll feel up to socializing."
With that said, Ethan bends Joseph over the hay bales. Folding his belt in half he delivers two hard whacks to the seat of Joseph's pants.
" Owwww! Please stop, that burns!" Joseph says trying not to cry.
He doesn't hear an answer, he just feels another lick to his backside. After six licks Joseph hears "Joseph, when you are ready, go inside and stay. You are not to leave your room or talk to anyone until I tell you differently. I expect better behavior from you from now on. If not we can come back and have another "talk" in the barn. If you need another "talk" any time soon, I will add two more licks."
"Yes sir. I won't be needing any more talks. I'm going to behave now, sir." Joseph answers wiping tears from his face. He looks so upset, Ethan pulls him into a hug.
"I love you, son. If I didn't I wouldn't care about how you behave. It's because I care that I punish you."
"Uncle Ethan?"
"Yes Joseph?"
"Do you think you could possibly show me you care about me in a different way next time I mess up badly ?"
"Don't count on it Joseph" Ethan answers firmly but grins when the boy can't see him.
Joseph walks slowly to the house. As he passes the porch he hears Rob call out
"Lay on your stomach for a while, it'll be easier.
"Thanks Rob." He answers. Joseph feels his face get red knowing Rob heard his tantrum and somehow knows what went on in the barn.
As he lies in bed, he can hear Claire and Rob talking on the porch.
"So Claire, how long have you lived here with your Uncle?"
"It's going to be two years in August. We lived in St. Louis before that."
"Your uncle must love you a lot to take in four kids when he's all alone."
"We had no one else to go to, both of our parents are dead." Claire tells him.
"Still, it must have been hard on your uncle to take in so many young kids. How old were all of you then?" Rob asks.
"I was almost thirteen, Joseph was ten, Ben was almost seven and George was going on six."
"Claire, who took care of all of you while your uncle worked the ranch? he is a rancher right?"
"Yes, most of the time he is. He does other jobs at times too. We looked after ourselves mostly. Joseph and I watched the boys."
"Did your uncle do the cooking too?"
"Yes Rob, when we first came he had too."
"We were all talking about those early days just last night. It wasn't easy to adjust from city living to living on a ranch. There was a lot we didn't know. At first, I didn't know how to cook much other than eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I was really good on pancakes."
Hearing this Joseph can't resist teasing her. "Tell him about how good you were at making biscuits Claire. Maybe you can tell him about the first time you tried to fry chicken!" Joseph snickers loudly at the memories.
"Joseph, HUSH !"
"Rob, her biscuits are really good now but you should have tried one back then. You'd wind up breaking out a tooth they were so hard! The chicken story is hilarious, remind me to tell you sometime if she doesn't!"
"Hush up Joseph! You're not even supposed to be talking when you are in your room being punished! Do you want me to go get Uncle Ethan?" Claire threatens embarrassed by her brother's teasing.
"No, I sure don't ! "Please don't, Claire. I won't say any more about your cooking. I swear it!"
Intrigued by all of this back and forth, Rob asks Claire " What happens if you go get your uncle?"
"He'll come in here and whip me again!" Joseph answers. "Only this time I won't get to keep my pants on! I'm not supposed to talk when I'm being punished like this."
Rob answers "Well you'd better hush because he's walking this way now."
Ethan walks up and asks "Are you enjoying your talk with each other?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Cord. Claire is telling me all about when they first came to live with you. That must have been hard for you sir, to take in four young children like that."
"We all had to make adjustments and learn how to live together. We managed though. Claire is an amazing young lady, Rob. She is only fourteen but she keeps this house running as well as any woman can. She and Joseph helped me quite a bit at first. They knew more about taking care of Ben and George than I did at that time. We've come a long way in two years."
"Well, I enjoyed meeting you Rob, I hope you'll come around again."
Recognizing this as Ethan's way of saying it was time for him to leave, he answers "Yes, Sir, if you don't mind I would enjoy coming back to visit again tomorrow."
"Tomorrow would be fine. Why don't you plan to come for lunch? After lunch you and Claire could take a walk together."
"That sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow then Claire."
"Good Night Rob." She answers.
"Claire, I'm taking the boy's friends home now. Would you get Ben and George inside and tell them to get ready for bed?"
"Yes sir. What about supper? I fixed chicken with dumplings. Do you want them to get ready for bed before supper or after?"
"Well, maybe we'd better see if they want any supper first. The last time I looked they were both looking very sleepy." Ethan answers.
"Too much excitement does that to them. Remember how George fell asleep on top of his Christmas dinner?" Claire asks smiling.
"Yes, we had to wash his hair to get the potatoes out of it. He didn't even wake up when I poured water on his head! That was one tired little boy!"
"I'll be back in a little while." Ethan says walking to the side door.
"Yes sir. We'll have supper when you get back."
Later that evening
"Are Ben and George asleep?" Ethan asks, back from taking the guests home and noticing how quiet it is in the house.
"Yes sir, they were too tired to eat so I just helped them get ready for bed. They're all full of cake anyway. I didn't even hear one complaint about going to bed either!" Claire tells him.
"Where is Joseph?"
"He's still outside somewhere. He left right after you told him to start the chores. I think he's in the barn."
Ethan says "I'll go look for him if you'll fix me a plate of that great smelling supper."
Walking into the barn he sees Joseph huddled up on the lower hay loft.
"Joseph?"
"Sir?"
"Why are you sitting out here when you should be inside getting ready for supper?"
"I am just thinking, Uncle Ethan. I needed a quiet place to think."
"Care to tell me what's bothering you so, Joseph? It might help to talk about it."
"How did you know something is bothering me?" Joseph asks surprised.
"I can always tell, because you get very still and very quiet. Now come on, tell me what it is. Have you done something wrong and you're worried about telling me? If that's it just go on and tell me. We'll handle it and you'll have it all over with."
Joseph gapes at him thinking "Oh No! He knows about the boys playing with the gun!" When his uncle doesn't say anything else, he relaxes a little. Maybe he doesn't know about that.
"I was just thinking about Claire. She likes Rob a lot. I like him too, he seems very nice. I'd like to have him for a friend. I somehow get the idea he doesn't want to be friends with me."
"Joseph, look at me." When he has the boy's attention he continues. "Rob is quite a bit older than you. He is interested in different things than you are."
"Yes, but we could still be friends. He's not that much older, only three years."
"Think about it this way, Joseph. Do you want to have Ben around when you are with Jason or Jeff?"
"No sir! He's too young to do the things we like to do. He's a pest."
"Joseph!" Ethan scolds him. "Don't call your brother names. There are three years between you and Ben, the same as between you and Rob."
"Sorry about calling him a pest, but he gets in the way sometimes. What does it matter how many years apart me and Rob are?"
'Well son, I'm sorry to tell you this but that's exactly the way Rob will feel if you hang around when he's with Claire. He'll likely think you are being a pest. There is quite a bit of difference in the ages of twelve and fifteen. Your sister is growing up and wants to be alone with her friends and yes that includes boys too. I will be letting you go along at times when they are together but most of the time we're going to give them time alone. I trust Claire to know how to handle herself around a young man. Does that make you feel any better?"
"Maybe some, Uncle Ethan. You know what, I wish Claire didn't want to grow up into a young lady. I want her to still be my friend."
"Joseph, I don't think you need to worry about that." Ethan says giving the boy's leg a squeeze. "Claire will always be your friend and better yet she'll always be your big sister too. Having a big sister is a wonderful thing. Your Mama was a great big sister to me.
"Now, let's go get some supper! The boys are asleep so you won't have those little brothers of yours to be a 'pest 'to you tonight. It'll just be you, me and your big sister."
"What's for supper, Uncle Ethan?"
Remembering their talk of the early days of ranch life when Claire didn't know about plucking the chicken before trying to cook it, he says grinning, "I believe Claire saved some chicken with feathers on it for you."
"UNCLE ETHAN!" Joseph yells. "You are not funny at all! That's disgusting!"
Ethan grabs him, lifting him off the hay loft he pretends to turn Joseph over his knee.
Joseph thinks "No, not again! My backside still hurts from earlier today."
Expecting to feel his Uncle's hard hand he's surprised when he feels his uncle tickling him instead. "Not funny am I? Then why are you laughing?"
"I'm sorry!" Joseph giggles. "All right! Oh, Stop!" trying to wiggle away he says " All right, I'll admit it! You are funny! Stop, Please! I can't take it anymore."
Finally letting the boy up, Ethan says "Come on Joseph. Our supper is getting cold."
"I really don't think cold chicken with feathers sounds so appetizing!" Joseph giggles
"How about chicken with dumplings instead? Ethan asks.
"Much better! Come on Uncle Ethan, I'll race you inside." Ethan just smiles as he watches him run off.