I don't know if you guys noticed but, um, this story has over 240 reviews. And I kinda want to marry you all. Thank you so much: Dasiygirl95, JohnnyStormsGirl, 26RH, Kay1104, countrystrong '89, coronacowgirl, Amanda, Jocy723, Michael, Mel F, Jones, JazzyJane, IsYourH3artTaken, KaicherAlfstan, Priscilla2, carly, Joey, Not. So. Typical. Girl., mzmayne6, ConsistentlyRandom21, Laura Page Turner, gina, nicci1980, aeskubal, Dawnie-7, Morgan, dcsays, sarahandmaddie and all of the Guests! I am beyond thrilled that you guys enjoy this story so much and take the time to share that.

Dcsays asked if I would tell how long it will be before the end. To be honest, I'm not quite sure. I know exactly what's going to happen and I'm guessing there's about fifteen to twenty parts left. That being said, I always write more than I expect so this story will probably see forty-five chapters before it's over. There's still quite a bit left.

I know the ending to that last chapter was a big surprise for most. Sorry to those who wanted to see some more action! Don't worry, though. There's plenty action left. Also, I know you guys missed the fluff between Forrest and Ellie, so there's a little bit of that going on in this one. As always, I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think!

Chapter Twenty

Despite the older girl's initial skepticism, Forrest found it was easy to get their story out of her once he was pumping them full of ham and cheese omelets and grits. The starving girls ate quickly, with little, satisfied grins on their mouths, Forrest watching them out the corner of his eye as he sent Everett home. Apparently, the girls were from West Virginia and, as he had predicted, were sisters. Though she wouldn't say what exactly happened, the oldest stated that their parents were gone. Judging by the familiar, vacant stare in her eyes as she said it, Forrest could only assume their parents had died.

She went on to say that they were sent to a girls' home. "Wasn't so bad…actually, even with all the chores and stuff, it was sort'a nice, you know? All those other girls who knew what we were going through…it was like a never ending slumber party."

A crease in his brow, Forrest repeated her curiously, "Slumber party?"

"That's what Irene called it. I dunno know. She's from New York," the girl shrugged as she explained. Then, she continued, "But um…one day this little old lady came in and said she had daughter that was my age who had died and that she wanted to take me home. Just me."

The younger girl's fork paused halfway to her mouth. Her chin began to quiver, her eyes misting over. Slowly, she put her fork back on her plate and chewed her lip. Her sister reached over and patted her shoulder, urging her to finish eating. She looked at Forrest, her hand still comforting her sister, "Do you have any family, mister?"

Forrest replied quietly, "I do…I have two brothers, a sister, a father, and, uh, an Ellie."

"An Ellie?" asked the younger one. It was the first time she'd spoken and her squeaky voice betrayed her. She was even younger than Forrest thought.

"What, is she your wife?" the older girl asked.

"Not yet," murmured Forrest, before he added, "But soon."

The girls smiled, glancing at one another. The older girl fixed him with a curious stare for a moment, and then sighed, "Well, since you've got so much family, I'm sure you know what it's like. That need to protect 'em, and be there for 'em. I couldn't just leave her. So we ran. Or, well, we walked mostly. We found this abandoned house in the mountains just that way-"

She pointed out the window and Forrest reckoned she meant Smith Mountain. "That's where we've been staying. Look, I'm sorry we stole your food but…but I'm no hunter and I got to feed her somehow. I know it's wrong but I just…I didn't know what else to do."

There was a desperation in her words. Not just a desperation that drove her to her actions, but a desperation for him to understand. She needed him to understand. To understand why she'd done it and why she would do it again. Because she loved her sister deeply and she would do whatever she had to do to protect her. Forrest could definitely empathize. It was one thing to steal for the hell of it, or for money. But the hungry stealing for food. Besides, they were just children.

Forrest cleared his throat and stood, "Yeah, alright. Y'all finish up. We gotta get goin' before it starts snowin' again."

He took them to his father's farm and told them to wait in the family room, said they could warm up by the stove. He went to Ellie May first. "Those are the ones who broke in?" she whispered, staring at the pair of frighteningly thin girls on the couch. She swatted Forrest's chest. "Forrest…c'mon, now. They're tiny! There's no way they could've lugged all that food up the mountain. Or broken that window. They're babies for Heaven's sake."

"I promise you, Ellie, it's them. Caught 'em in the act." Rubbing his hand over his face, Forrest sighed and motioned the door, "Can you go in there with 'em? Try to…I don't know…calm 'em down or-"

"Yeah, sure thing," she murmured. Ellie May ran her hand up and down his arm before wrapping her fingers around his own. "Hey, this is a good thing. At least you can come home now."

Forrest nodded, "Howard, too."

Ellie May rolled her eyes. "Please, Forrest. I knew the second day that Howard wasn't really staying up there with you. He snores like a bear, remember? Hard missin' a man like that."

Sheepishly muttering an apology, Forrest pressed a kiss to her forehead and went to wake his father as Ellie May slipped into the family room, introducing herself to the young sister thieves. Despite Ellie May's warm smile and motherly affections, the girls remained tense until Papa took charge. Charming man, their father. Papa resolved the situation quickly – the girls' would stay the night in Belva and Era's old room, then they would join Lucy at the cabin in Penbrook where they would remain until something more permanent could be arranged.

"I won't leave my sister," persisted the oldest girl.

Papa Bondurant nodded. "Sounds fair so long as you don't cause any trouble. Think y'all can manage that for a few days?"

"Yes, sir," the sisters chimed.

When morning came the following day, Ellie May sent Emmy to wake the newcomers. The girls tumbled blindly into the kitchen behind the littlest Bondurant, their eyes wide, their cheeks flushed. Ellie May motioned the back door. "Y'all go wash up. Breakfast'll be ready in just a minute."

Too dazed to argue or protest, they did as instructed.

"Hey, Jack, who's that?" Cricket elbowed his best friend as the sisters emerged from the house to gather around the water pump. The pair of young friends were sitting on the fence of the pigpen, tossing twigs and broken chips off pine cones at the pot-bellied sows. Jack's hand froze midair, the pine cone falling limply into the mud. Jack frowned, "I got no clue." Hopping off the fence, he grabbed the suspenders on his chest. "Let's find out."

"Uh, Jack," muttered Cricket as he hobbled after his friend. "That might not be such a good idea."

But Cricket's suggestion fell on deaf ears; Jack was marching toward the water pump with a fierce look in his eyes. Cricket groaned. He knew that look well. Jack was the sheriff in this town and that look clearly said he was out for blood.

The girls looked up as he fast approached. Squaring her shoulders, the eldest pushed her little sister behind her, drying her hands on her clothes. She eyed him angrily, glancing over his shoulder at Cricket. Who were these dirty, pudgy-faced boys and why did they look like they were looking for trouble? The girl cleared her throat, "Who are you?"

Jack nearly fell out. "Who am I? You're on my farm! Who are you?"

"I wouldn't say it was your farm," murmured Cricket nervously. The girl was obviously older than them. Taller, too. But she was still a girl and Jack needed to mind his manners. Licking his lips, Cricket introduced himself. "Hi, there. I'm Cricket Pate and this is Jack."

Jack swiftly smacked Cricket's arm. "Shut up, Cricket!"

"Ow. What'd you do that for?"

"Why'd you go tellin' 'em our name?"

"Ain't like it's some big secret…"

The youngest Bondurant male glared somethin' awful at his best friend before fixing his hard gaze on the girls. "What're y'all doing on my farm?"

"Eatin' breakfast," growled the eldest girl. Slipping an arm around her sister, she turned toward the house and stalked off.

Jack saw red. "Hey! Don't turn your back on me! I was talkin' to-"

Jack's angry shout was suddenly cut short as a large hand, more of a paw really, clumped around his neck. He was yanked backwards and made to look up at the stern face of his brother, Howard. "Where'd you learn to talk to a woman like that?"

"You," spat Jack, wincing the second it was out of his mouth. Why'd he always have to do that? Say stupid stuff he don't mean.

"Boy, you don-" began Howard, but he seemed to think better of it. Breaking off into a low string of grumbles, he shoved Jack away and told the boys to make themselves presentable; they were having company for breakfast.

"Who are those girls, Howard?"

"None a'your damn business, Jack. Shut up and do as you're told. What're you smirkin' at, Cricket?"

The crippled boy's face instantly fell. "Nothing," he squeaked. "Nothin' at all. Sorry."

"Howard, are you giving those boys a hard time?" shouted Ellie May from the back porch. "Boys, he botherin' you?"

"No!" yelled Cricket, right as Jack hollered, "Yes!"

"For your damn information, woman, I was bothering them 'cause they were bothering those girls!" fired Howard, stomping towards her. Most would've been intimidated by such a sight but sweet, little Ellie May merely rolled her eyes, "Of course they were. Howard, they're children. It's how they communicate."

"It's how you communicate," muttered Howard under his breath. "Always gotta be botherin' somebody."

"What was that?" asked Ellie May.

"Is the food ready, yet?"

"Do you care about anything else besides food? People probably think we starve you the way you're always hungry. It's not natural."

"I'm a big man! I gotta eat!"

"Big baby's more like it," snapped Ellie May as she ushered Cricket and Jack, who were snickering at the adults' exchange, into the house. The kitchen was full of bodies – Papa Bondurant, Forrest, the sister thieves, Lucy – and one of the benches from the picnic table by the barn had to be brought inside to accommodate for everyone.

Emmy and Lucy were setting the table as Ellie May finished retrieving the last pan of biscuits from the oven. Forrest offered a good morning smile to the sisters, guiding them to the table. They sat awkwardly, shifting and fidgeting in their seats. This twitching only got worse when Jack and Cricket took their seats across from them. The younger girl's ears burned red as Cricket attempted to subtly stare at her. Noticing this, Lucy nudged Ellie May with a slight giggle. "Isn't that cute?"

Ellie May frowned. "He's a bit old for her don't you think? Cricket's fifteen and that little girl can't be more than twelve. Hell, maybe younger."

Lucy drew in a quick breath. "I forget Cricket's so much older than Jack as scrawny as he is. Poor fella."

It was on the tip of Ellie May's tongue to tell Lucy she didn't have much room to talk as far as being scrawny went. But somehow she managed to swallow the comment and joined her family at the table. Papa said a quick grace, thanking the Lord for the safe arrival of their new guests and praying for their eventual safe departure. There was a constant, polite murmur of conversation while they ate. Lucy and Ellie May tried to keep things light while pretending that Jack and Cricket weren't blatantly staring at the girls. When their plates were empty and their stomachs full, Forrest and Howard escorted their younger siblings out of the house, leaving the sisters to talk with Lucy and their father while Ellie May cleared the table.

"Who are they?" grumbled Jack for the twelfth time. His hands stuffed in his pocket, he drummed his thumbs on the tops of his thighs.

Emmy poked her brother's shoulder. "Why you bein' so nosy?"

"They just needed a place to stay, is all," replied Forrest before Emmy and Jack could get started. "Why're y'all sitting around? Don't you got some chores to do?"

Cricket scratched his neck. "We're supposed to be having school right now."

"Yeah, well class is cancelled," muttered Howard. He motioned the fields and barn. "Y'all go on. Get."

"You know those girls are going to be staying at your cabin and you can't be talking to them like you do Jack and Emmy," murmured Forrest as the younger kids scrambled away. Howard sighed, eyeing the house, "Yeah, I know. How the hell we gone find somebody to take 'em? Folks around here can't afford their own damn children, much less two more."

Forrest grounded his teeth. "Papa'll think of something. Always does."

"Here!" She thrust the notebooks at him, their worn spines cracking. "I can't make the numbers add up! None of it is adding up. It doesn't make any sense. Where is all of the money going?"

Fighting a grin, Forrest took the notebooks from Ellie May and leafed through the pages. The first notebook was a record of the register that Ellie May updated every night. Every sale they made was recorded in that notebook. In the second, each purchase they made was recorded. Any time Forrest bought steaks or new dishes or a pair of table cloths, he jotted it down. In another notebook, the bills were recorded. The electricity, the mortgage, the gas. And once a week Forrest or Ellie May would take the notebooks and see to it that every penny was accounted for.

"I hate math. I hate it," moaned Ellie May.

"You're not wrong. We're just runnin' outta money," murmured Forrest, tapping his pencil on the paper. With a frustrated sigh, Ellie May fell down into the chair beside him. Her elbows on the table, she rubbed her temples, "I don't understand where all of it is going."

"Don't worry. I'll make a couple of runs next month and get us back on track."

"Is that going to be the solution every time we get a little behind?"

Forrest shot her a bemused glance. "You got a better idea?"

Pursing her lips, Ellie May folded her arms in front of her. "Why don't we sell Howard to the circus? Well, that's if they'll take him. He could be a strong man…or some kind of freak show like a half-man, half-monkey."

Forrest gave a low chuckle and dropped his hat onto the table. It was late, the sky black outside. They were alone at the restaurant. He pointed at the stove still burning behind the bar. "Turn that off, will you?" The end of April was upon them and a low, soft heat was brewing in the mountains. Tugging at the collar of his shirt, Forrest loosened the first few buttons and motioned for Ellie May to join him after she shut off the stove.

He patted his thigh invitingly.

"Hold your horses." Ellie May locked the front door and turned off the lights in the kitchen and storage room. Then, she settled in his lap, her hands slipping over his shoulders. Crossing her ankles, she leaned against him and curled her fingers at the nap of his neck. "What am I gonna do with you, Forrest Bondurant?"

The corners of his mouth twitched upward. "Love me."

"All be damned if you aren't just a big sweetheart," she softly murmured, stroking his cheek. Ellie May placed a light kiss on lips, her fingertip trailing along his jaw. "I spoke with Lucy yesterday. She got a letter from the girls last week, said they're doing good. Apparently, Sadie's doing real well in school. Her teacher thinks she might graduate early."

Three months ago the sisters – Sadie, the eldest, and Margaret – were adopted by a wealthy couple from North Carolina. The husband was a banker, the wife a volunteer nurse. Apparently, their only child had been a boy who'd fought and died in the war and they'd been trying to replace his absence in their lives ever since. None of the Bondurants were quite sure how their father knew the couple, but were thankful nevertheless. The sisters sent Lucy letters once a month.

Forrest twisted Ellie May's hair around his finger. "Sounds about right."

Leaning forward, she kissed the tip of his nose. "You about ready to head home?"

The Bondurant boy shook his head. "Nope." Hugging her waist, he drew her face to his and kissed her tenderly. She hummed happily against him, one hand firmly cradling his head, the other splaying across his chest. Her fingertips inched north to stroke the skin exposed where he'd opened his shirt; she felt him shiver when she touched him.

"I can turn the stove back on if you're cold," she whispered teasingly, her breath warm on his lips. Nearly four years had passed since Forrest first kissed her in that deer stand in the woods and Ellie May was amazed that his kisses still turned her into pudding. His lips were so plump and his touch so gentle. When he kissed her, her heart thudded in her chest and her pulse pumped in her ears and her world tilted off its axis ever so slightly. She didn't ever wanna stop kissing him.

His calloused hand cupped her face. Their foreheads pressed together, Forrest nipped at her mouth and murmured her name. There was no feeling in the world quite like holding her to him. Something about being able to feel her pressed against him, about knowing she was safe in his arms. It made Forrest feel like a man in every sense of the word. Their mouths gently scraping, he coaxed her lips apart to taste her. Her hands tightened around him and she arched forward into his touch.

Suddenly, Forrest stilled beneath her. Ellie may shifted, drawing back. She licked her lips and asked, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Headlights," Forrest murmured and the next thing Ellie May knew she was lifted from his lap and put on her feet. Smoothing out her skirt, she followed Forrest to the window, ignoring him when he shushed her back. Forrest took one look outside and muttered, "Aw, hell."

Unlocking the front door, he told Ellie May to get some water boiling and fetch some rags. Forrest yanked open the door just as Howard and Danny reached the front steps, Tom Cundiff limp and bloodied in their arms. "What happened?" demanded Forrest as they dragged Tom inside The County Line.

"He got shot," shouted Danny, his gaze wide and nervous. The front of his person was caked in Tom's blood and there were streaks of crimson down his face. "We were making a run to Knoxville and got stopped by a couple of sheriff's just after passing the state line. Them Tennessee fuckers don't play. They just shot him! Didn't give any warnin' or nothin'!"

They lugged Tom up onto a table and Howard immediately went about ripping his shirt from his chest. The bullet had entered his left side between his heart and stomach and blood was gushing from the wound like a burst pipe.

"Ellie, I need those rags!" called Forrest.

"Oh my Lord!" shrieked Ellie May when she emerged from the kitchen, a bundle of dishrags in hand. "What happened?!"

"Tom's been shot," mumbled Howard. "Forrest, we gotta stop this bleeding or he ain't gone make it much longer."

Ellie May cradled Tom's head in her hands as they attempted to stop the flow of blood pouring out of his side. She stroked his hair and spoke to him a long, excited string of near incoherent-ness. As she spoke, his eyes darted around, low moans of pain echoing in his throat. A few times his eyes rolled back into his head and she'd slap his face. "Tommy, you gotta stay awake, now! C'mon."

"Howard, it ain't stoppin'. We gotta get him to the hospital," muttered Forrest, his hands, too, now covered in his friend's blood.

"They ask questions at hospitals," replied Howard, his voice low and undetected by Danny or Ellie May. Across the table, Forrest cut Howard with a look so disgusted that he thought his brother might vomit on spot. Howard ground his teeth, "I'm just sayin', Forrest. Can you afford to lose the still?"

"It's just money, Howard. Tommy's dying. You know Hodges and them don't give two shits about Prohibition."

"Don't mean we should go flaunting it-"

"Danny!" growled Forrest. "Fetch the car. Now. Ellie, call the hospital in Rocky Mount, let 'em know we're comin'."

Another surprise ending, I suspect. Hope this one had enough fluff and the promise of a little action to satisfy you.