The New World Part 7
Part 7
They went into the shop. Sean O'Neill saw Daniel's eyes go to the sweet jars that were sitting on the counter. "Which are your favourites?"
"I don't know, all of them."
"Go on and have a look, pick the ones you want."
Daniel could never resist anything sweet, Jack always kept a supply of chocolate bars in his back pack when they were off world. He pointed to a jar with toffee in it.
Walter came over and took some pieces and put them in a bag for him. He handed it to Daniel.
"Try on some clothes first, Daniel, before you get all sticky," Jack said handing him some clothes to try on.
"I can't afford these, I'd never be able to pay you back. I could work for you."
"I'm sure you would prefer that to going to school but it's not going to happen. Daniel glared at Jack.
Sean laughed, "He's just like you Jack. You didn't like school either."
The clothes fitted him perfectly, Jack had them all parcelled up. "We need to go see the Judge now and see what he says about me having temporary custody of you."
They walked down the street and came to a large office. "The Judge is a good man, Daniel. You just tell him what you want."
Daniel was surprised to see General Hammond sitting behind the desk," So this is the boy you found. Come in and sit down."
"I've been to see Jacob Carter and he's sending out notices about Daniel to see if he had any relatives."
"Good. Now son, this is your chance to say what you want." This would have been Daniel's chance to get away from Jack but he couldn't do it. It would be much easier to get away from the orphanage than from Jack's house but he wanted to stay with him.
"I want to stay with Jack," he said, "and Mr. O'Neill."
Jack signed the paper the Judge handed him.
"Now that it's all legal we best get you over to the school." They headed for a small wooden building at the end of the road. "We'd best get you enrolled." He put his arm around Daniel's shoulders and guided him into the school.
He had hated school the first time round and he was sure it wasn't going to be any better this time. The only good thing was he had Sam and Rya'c this time.
Janet Fraiser was sitting at the desk at the front of the room. "Come in Jack. Good to see you." She looked down at Daniel," And who is this?"
"Daniel, he's staying with me just now. he needs to enrol for school."
"I don't need...." Jack gave Daniel a look that he remembered well, it was the shut up if you know what's good for you look. He shut up immediately.
Janet pointed to a desk at the front, "Will you sit here while I take down your name and age."
She opened her register at the back and entered Daniel," Surname and age?"
"Jackson and I'm 10 years old."
"I want you to try this test. It will give me an idea of what you know and what you need to learn." He took the pencil and wrote down the answers. He handed it back to her. "That was quick, are you sure you've done all the questions?"
"Yes, ma'am." He turned to Jack. "I told you I didn't need to go to school."
"You and I are going to have a little talk when we get home," he said to Daniel. "I've already told you school is not an option more than once. I will not be argued with."
Janet marked the paper as Daniel looked round the room. He headed for a shelf full of books.
When Janet finished she called him over. "I can see you are very gifted in language." He shot Jack a look that said I told you so," but you're not so good at Maths. We can work on that. I can see I'm going to have to find some challenging work for you just like I do for Sam." Daniel scowled. Jack smiled. There weren't many children or people who could get one over on Janet Fraiser. "I'll see you at 8 tomorrow morning. I'd like you to choose a book to read."
"I've read all those," he pointed at the library.
"You can pick one from the library at home, "Sean said.
They went to their horses and rode home. Daniel was glad to get back. His backside was stinging from the swats he had got earlier.
"Come down to the barn and I'll show you the chores I want you to do each morning before you go to school." Daniel followed him. "First I want you to collect the eggs for Catherine and then feed the hens. Then I want you to clean out the stalls." He saw Daniel look at Fury's stall. "The horses will already be out in the corral. You are not to go near Fury. Understand? I won't be so lenient next time you disobey me."
"Okay," Daniel said.
"Now about your behaviour in town. I expect you to obey what an adult tells you and not argue or answer back. I expect you to be respectful, or there will be consequences you will not like. I want you to go into the library and find a corner. You'll stay there for 30 minutes." Daniel made to speak. "No arguments."
"Fine." This was not how Daniel imagined living with Jack would be like. Many times he had thought what it would be like to be Jack's son and what he would have been like as a father. Daniel really didn't know what a father should do. His memories of his own father were few. he knew both his parents had loved him but they had been so busy with their work he had spent a lot of his time alone. Then the foster homes. No one there ever treated him like they were his parents. Jack was the closest thing to a parent he had, or an older brother. And now this Jack was spoiling his dreams. He had always thought Jack would be an easy going dad, one who would listen to him not just expect him to obey rules all the time. This was definitely not one of the scenarios he had ever thought of.
"Off you go son," Jack said pointing him towards the house and sending him off with a swat to his backside.
He went running in, Sean was sitting at the desk working his way through the account books. "Here for a book, Daniel?" he inquired.
"No, your son said I have ......" he couldn't finish the sentence.
"Find a corner, Daniel, "Jack said from behind him.
Sean pointed to one beside the large window. "That's the one Jack always preferred, then he could sneak looks out the window when he thought I wasn't looking."
"Dad!" Jack admonished him.
Daniel went over to it. Sean was right, you could just see outside. He wondered if Jack would move him but he heard the door close.
Sean and Jack stood outside it, "Jack don't be so hard on the boy, he's obviously not used to this type of discipline," Sean said.
"He needs to learn to obey the rules dad, just like I did. This is a dangerous country and I don't want him to get hurt because of his own foolishness."
"He'll be fine. Remember he is only a child. Let him have some fun as well. Get Catherine to prepare a picnic and we can go to the pond. Do some fishing. We haven't been there for a long time."
"Dad."
"It's time you started to live again Jack. It wasn't your fault, what happened to Sarah and Charlie. It really wasn't. And going to the pool might just make you remember the happy times you used to have." He sent Jack off to the kitchen.
Daniel was getting restless in the corner, he'd never been very good at standing still. He started to shuffle from one foot to the other. He heard the door open and he stood as still as he could. "Daniel, come here, time's up." He walked over to Jack. Jack noticed that Daniel had put his hands behind him and was covering his backside. "We're going on a picnic to the pond, would you like that?" Daniel's fae lit up.
"Yes. I'd like that. I don't have to fish do I? I don't like catching them."
"No, you can just play." They went outside. Sean was already on his horse. A smaller horse was standing beside Jack's.
"This is Storm, you can ride him." He heard a loud snicker from the barn. That was Fury. He wasn't going to give up on that horse no matter what Jack said.
They rode away from the ranch. It didn't take them long to reach the pond. It had a lovely willow tree overhanging it. "When we've got more time we can come swimming here," Jack said. They tied the horses to the tree. Sean set out the picnic.
Daniel took one of the sandwiches but his eyes kept drifting towards the cake. "You'll get a piece when you eat your sandwich," Sean said. "Then we can do some fishing."
"Can I go for a walk?" Daniel asked when he'd finished eating.
"Yes, as long as you don't go out of sight," Jack said.
Daniel walked off. He wanted to see what the land was like out here. The mountains were still quite a distance from here that's if Jack had been telling him the truth about where he found him. He found some flat stones and sent them skimming across the water. He couldn't understand why anyone would want to fish.
He started to walk further on, Jack couldn't complain, he could still see him. He heard a mewling noise ahead behind a rock. He careful went over, behind it was the body of a dog. It was dead. Just as he was about to move away he heard the noise again and the dog's tail moved. A small face popped out.
"Hello," Daniel said picking the small puppy up. There were two others but they had both died. "It's okay, I'll get some milk for you." He tucked the puppy into his shirt and carried it back to the picnic site. He poured out some milk onto his hand and let the puppy drink it. "Good boy," he said stroking its head.
"Whatcha got there, Daniel?" Jack asked.
"It's mine," Daniel said snatching the puppy up quickly. He could remember all the other times he had found an animal he wanted to keep. People had always told him he couldn't have a pet, it wasn't allowed. Well not this time. He stood with his arms around the puppy. "You're not taking him."
"I asked you what it was," Jack said patiently. "I didn't say I was going to take it." Daniel relaxed.
"I found him over there. His mother is dead. Can I keep him? Please. He won't be any trouble."
"Daniel, he's very young. He might not be able to eat on his own yet."
"He took some milk."
"That's a good sign," Sean said. "Let me see him." Daniel handed him to Sean. "He is small but he seems to be quite lively."
"So I can keep him," Daniel pleaded.
Sean looked at Jack," Yes, we can try but he's your responsibility. You clean up after him and train him."
"Thanks. He can sleep in my room."
"Dogs sleep in the barn."
"But he's too small. I'll sleep there with him."
"No you will not," Jack stated. "Alright until he's big enough he can sleep in your room but if he makes a mess you clean it up. And he better not chew anything."
Jack suddenly found himself with an armful of boy. "Thank you Jack." He hugged the boy to him and kissed his head. God he had missed this.
TBC
