Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Jericho or any of the characters from the show. I'm just borrowing them for a little while. The pictures are borrowed as well.

Author's Note: The previous chapters were introductory/background information. This chapter is kind of a bridge, and things will start to move along a little faster during Chapter V. Thanks for sticking around!

Chapter IV: School Begins

August 10-13, 2001

E.J. looked at the clock and rose abruptly from his seat at the kitchen table. "We'll have to get going if we're going to make it on time," he exclaimed!

"Um, where are we going?" Heather asked in confusion.

"Oh. I probably forgot to mention the Bar-B-Q," E.J. replied, "It's a Friday evening tradition here at the ranch. Everyone who is here at the ranch gets together for dinner at the bunk house. It's pot-luck. We'll take the apple cider I picked up at the mill yesterday. Attire is casual, so you're fine with what you're wearing. We can walk over in about twenty minutes if you can be ready by then?"

"Sure," replied Heather enthusiastically, "I'll just freshen up and meet you by the back door."

Half an hour later, as they neared the bunk house, a festive atmosphere greeted them. The house itself was a large, two-story building, red with white trim. The main floor was mostly one long room with an industrial kitchen (F) at one end, a dining area (G) in the middle, and a sitting area (H) at the opposite end. Heather recognized Scout and Annie McCall from meeting them earlier in the week. E.J. introduced her to Wes (23) and Joanna McCall (24): Wes was Scout's oldest son, and the current ranch foreman. Joanna was a Montgomery before she got married and had grown up on the Richmond Ranch where her father was ranch foreman there. They were the current residents of the finished basement because they had the largest family of the ranch at present ~ 6 kids ranging in age from 3 to 19. Other, smaller families lived in various cottages on the property, while several single ranch hands lived upstairs in the bunk house proper with dormitory-like accommodations. It was a system that had worked for several generations, so it seemed like a good one.

After that, the names and faces became a blur for Heather as music was played by a group in one corner on guitars, a fiddle and piano; food was served cafeteria style at the stainless steel kitchen counter and eaten at the long dining tables while games of all sorts were played in and around everything else. Everyone was warm and welcoming. She had no doubt that she would never be lonely during her stay here at Green Ranch. She picked several 8-year-olds out of the crowd that might be potential students and tried to take a minute to speak with them, but the chaos was too much for constructive conversation. She sat back and enjoyed the evening. Soon the older teenagers and other single folk excused themselves to go into town for the evening. Someone Heather might have met earlier invited her to join them, but she politely declined, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the commotion.

At last the evening was over and E.J. walked Heather home. It had been a lovely evening, just loud and full of new faces and names. Heather enjoyed a good night of sleep and spent Saturday doing laundry in preparation for her orientation week at school.

Sunday dawned clear and warm. Heather and E.J. left early for church. When they met up with Johnston and Gail in the foyer, E.J. made introductions.

"Yes, I remember Heather from her interview last spring," Gail said with a smile.

"Hello, Mrs. Green! It is a pleasure to meet you, Mayor Green," Heather said, shaking Johnston's hand.

"So you are Jericho's new third grade teacher! It's nice to meet you!" Johnston said with a smile.

With everyone talking at once, and the church organ starting to play, everyone quickly moved into the sanctuary and took their seats in the pew that had been used by the Green family for generations. Eric and April Green were already seated, so she would officially meet them later.

During the "handshake of friendship", numerous parishioners made their way to the Green pew to meet Heather and welcome her to Jericho. Heather saw a number of familiar faces from her week at Green Ranch and a few more from her spring interview trip. Again, Heather felt reassured that she would never be lonely in Jericho.

Once the benediction had been played and everyone exited the sanctuary, the family gathered in the parking lot to discuss plans for the day. E.J. announced that he and Heather would follow the other two couples back to Gail & Johnston's home and would be bringing fresh apple cider. Did they need to bring anything else?

Gail gave E.J. a sideways look - "So, Miss Heather is your mystery date to Sunday Dinner? You had me going for a while there, E.J." Gail said laughingly.

E.J. had the good grace too look sheepish before he nodded and smiled in return. "Guilty as charged, I'm afraid, Gail. I've spent the week regaling her with Green family stories and Jericho history. If she hasn't run for the hills yet, I think we're pretty safe with her."

"I'm sure we will have a wonderful afternoon getting to know Heather, thank you for inviting her, Dad." Gail nodded as she headed toward the cars in an attempt to get everyone moving along toward home.

Sunday dinner was simple but delicious. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, garden-fresh green peas and tossed salad. Dessert was fresh apple pie from the Surry Apple Farm that also provided the widely popular apple cider, and homemade French vanilla ice cream. They enjoyed hot coffee and tea over dessert as they sat and chatted.

"So, you mentioned wanting to discuss something when you called?" Gail finally asked, breaking the ice.

"Yes," E.J. agreed. "Heather was so kind as to come over and help me with some research when she should have been hunting for a place to stay. We had such an enjoyable afternoon; I thought we might both benefit from having her rent a room out at Green Ranch. She has stayed all week as my guest and I haven't managed to scare her away yet, have I?" He asked with a leer in Heather's general direction.

"No, indeed," Heather said with a warm laugh. "I have had such an enjoyable week listening to all of your stories about the way things used to be. E.J. didn't think anyone in the family had been writing the stories down, so I have taken a few notes if anyone is interested in looking at them later. Again, I'm a science teacher, not an English teacher, but these stories are fascinating! I sure wish I knew these kinds of stories about my own family!"

April was the first to pipe in with an answer. "I know I have only recently married into the family, so I'm not sure if I get a vote, but I love Grandpa's stories! I have given some thought to writing them down myself, but haven't yet had the time between medical school and residency. I also think you will be good for each other out at the ranch." April glanced around the room, daring anyone to come up with an argument. She and Heather exchanges smug grins as the seconds ticked on in silence.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Johnston soon replied. "It's a bit farther out than we usually like for our teachers to live, but the ranch has a group of kids that come in on the bus to school. If the weather made you uncomfortable to drive, you could always ride in on the bus with the kids. Just don't let my father, here, lead you into mischief, and I think you will get along fine. Welcome to the family, Heather!"

The rest of those gathered seconded Johnston's sentiments, and Heather felt that she had passed whatever test she had been holding her breath over. She sat back and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.

On the ride back to the ranch, E.J. had abruptly become serious and stated he wanted to discuss their rental agreement. Heather's eyes widened and she felt intimidated. She had not seen this side of E.J. before. He went on to say that he would not tolerate tardiness in business dealings, and expected the rent money to be on his desk promptly by 8am on the first of every month. He expected mutual respect, but he did not care to be argued with about petty matters.

"The Green family has been fortunate in finances, Miss Lisinski. From time to time, I like to pass along our good fortune to someone who might be just starting out. Your rent will be $1.00 per month, due on my desk as described. Furthermore, this will be our little secret. Will there be any trouble with this arrangement, Miss Lisinski?"

Heather looked at E.J. and he looked back at her.

"No, Sir, I think that arrangement will be satisfactory. Thank you, Sir." Heather finally said with a grin.

E.J. met her grin, patted her hand, and said "Good. That's my girl!"

Orientation week passed quickly for Heather. Fortunately, the outgoing third-grade teacher was retiring, and had left a wealth of supplies in the classroom. Heather quickly got them cataloged and organized in between meetings and other required activities. She poked around the school buildings and discovered an unused piano, still in playable condition. While she had not been big on many of the feminine skills her Mother had tried to instill in her, piano lessons for three years had been mandatory. While she would never be a concert pianist, she had mostly enjoyed them, and had been thankful for them when she decided to become a teacher. During her student teaching days, she discovered that music was really all about math, that it helped get the wiggles out and calm the children, and that facts learned to music stuck with the children much better than facts presented in the plain dry manner. Heather was ecstatic!

It was at her first staff meeting that she finally realized the inter-connected-ness of the small town of Jericho. Turns out Helen McVeigh (25), the school principal, had also been a Montgomery and grown up on Richmond Ranch. She had met Ralph McVeigh (26) while they were in college and married soon after she had graduated. They had spent the next 20 years touring the world as he fulfilled his military service as an Army officer. Helen had been fortunate to work as a teacher or administrator on many of the foreign bases where they had been posted, so she had been qualified to take over as the principal of Jericho's K-12 school when they returned and the position became available. Then there was Emily Sullivan (This was the same person as Emily Prowse that E.J. had mentioned, right?) whose Aunt Martha (27) was married to Paul Fisher (28) who owned the hardware store that Heather had gotten supplies from one day at lunch. Then there was her Aunt Ruth (29), who was married to Chuck Dawes (30), the Sheriff of Jericho. These new tidbits of information, combined with the vast wealth of information E.J. had given her the previous week, convinced Heather that she needed to start a spread-sheet to keep straight all of the families of Jericho. Especially if she were going to write down their stories.

Rather than a traditional Bar-B-Q that Friday night, E.J. informed Heather that there would be a big picnic to celebrate the end of summer on Saturday afternoon. Each year a different family hosted the event.

"This year it will be at the Jackson Farm," explained E.J. "Stanley Richmond's cousins. Have you met Stanley (31) yet?"

No, Heather didn't think so.

"Oh, you will love Stanley. He and Jake grew up together here at the ranch. He had just left to attend college on a football scholarship when his parents were killed in a car accident. Gave it all up to come home and run the family farm and raise his baby sister Bonnie who was just four at the time. Such a tragedy for the family, but they were fortunate to have their Aunt Ginny (32) and Uncle Walt Jackson (33) on the next farm over, and the Montgomery's, who have been on that land more than 50 years, like the McCall's here. Stanley did a good thing, standing by his sister as he did. Most young men would not have had the integrity to give up their own aspirations. He's a fine young man."

On the short drive to the Jackson Farm, E.J. explained that the Richmond's eldest son Clifford had been killed in Vietnam in the same battle that Michael Bailey had been killed. They had been in the same unit. It had been a terrible blow to the community to lose two of its best and brightest young men. Jericho was thankful for the safe return of Johnston Green and Walt Jackson, and said additional prayers for Jonah Prowse who had signed on for another tour and Oliver Wilkins who was missing in action, possibly a prisoner of war.

"Eventually, Old John Richmond decided to divide his land between his two remaining children. George got the most of it because he planned to continue farming the land. He and Betty Montgomery had been an item from the time they were young, and got married as soon as her parents would allow it. Ginny Richmond started spending time with Walt Jackson when he returned from Vietnam and became a deputy sheriff. They were married the same year as George and Betty. The Montgomerys still helped to work the land, and Walt & Ginny had a good place to raise their children."

By this point in the conversation, E.J. and Heather had arrived at the Jackson Farm, a modest yet cheerful white farmhouse and barn surrounded by acres of corn. The barn doors were open and the rafters were strung with white lights. Tables and chairs were set up around the edges inside the barn and out into the gravel drive where dozens of people were already congregating. E.J. parked his old truck in the field where others were parking and they started toward the house, Heather balancing a platter of brownies she had baked that morning. She had never quite gotten the hang of cooking, but at least she could bake if need be.

As they reached the back door, a tall blond man was coming out.

"Grandpa Green!" He exclaimed, pulling the older man in for a bear hug. "How are you? I haven't seen you around lately. And who have we here?" He asked, noticing Heather over E.J.'s shoulder.

"Stanley Richmond, meet Heather Lisinski, Jericho's new third grade teacher." E.J. said with a flourish, knowing Stanley and several other young men of Jericho would find Heather very interesting.

"Miss Lisinski, it's a pleasure to meet you," Stanley said in a mock display of chivalry, bowing low and kissing her fingertips.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Stanley, I've heard good things about you," Heather responded with a giggle.

"Aw, don't believe a word of it," Stanley said with a laugh, straightening up and resuming his usual farm boy persona. "Come on, I'll show you around."

And with that, Heather was whisked off for the remainder of the evening, meeting countless Jacksons and Montgomerys.

When the children arrived for the first day of school the following Monday morning, Heather found many familiar faces in her classroom. Nick Cale belonged to Shep and Rachael and spent time at the bunkhouse with four year old Lucas visiting their grandparents Scout and Annie McCall. His cousin Tess McCall belonged to Wes and Joanna. Ned Montgomery grew up on Richmond Ranch. She thought Austin Carroll was Mrs. McVeigh's grandson.