A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've been caught up in a whirlwind of shows and classes.
The fall break ended, and it was back to school for the boys. They were relieved to get away from Farmer Slate. The chores had become unbearable with their sore bodies, and it was difficult to please him, since the Halloween incident. He was obviously still angry and rarely let them out of his sight.
Alone at last, as they waited for the bus, they pulled their scarves tighter around their necks to ward off the chilly wind. There would obviously be changes in their routine when the snow inevitably came. They wondered what he would have in mind for them.
There was going to be a lot less time to do chores, for one thing. They were all on the hockey team, and Kendall and Logan had also joined the rugby team. The rugby practices had already begun and were taking up a good deal of after school time.
James and Carlos had joined choir and were trying to talk the other two into it as well, since they had all been members at the old school. James decided he would be trying out for the star role in the upcoming Christmas production at school. They all wondered if a particular shoe-in for the star angel, Lucy, had anything to with his sudden aspirations to become an actor.
Logan had also joined the Stars of Science team, and was about to start working on his project the following week back. Needless to say, with all the extracurricular activities going on, they were only available on weekends for chores. The farmer did not want their grades to decline after he had promised the parents that their boys would receive a first-rate education.
He informed them that he would occasionally need them for one thing or another, but for now, collecting the eggs and milking the cows daily was enough during the week. They were all relieved. Their grades had been good so far and they believed that it helped to all be working on their homework together at the same time each night. However, spending more time together also meant getting on each others nerves more too.
"I just don't get this," Carlos whined, when he re-read his math assignment for the third time.
"That's because you keep looking at the comic book instead of focusing on this book!" Logan yelled, tossing the comic book up in the air, and slapping his palm down on the math book for emphasis.
"That's because I don't get it!" exclaimed Carlos. "I'm looking at the comic book to keep from falling asleep!"
"That's just an excuse," said Logan. "You're just not focused."
"I am too!" pouted Carlos.
"Guys!" cut in Kendall "Stop fighting! Let's just get our homework done so we can go to bed."
"That's all you think about now Kendall!," said James. "Sleep!"
"Well, I for one, am tired," Kendall retorted. "And you guys should be, too."
Carlos and Logan had begun to shove each other.
They're too busy pushing each other to be tired," pointed out James.
"Stop it!" yelled Logan.
"No! You stop it!" Carlos yelled back. "It's my comic book!"
"Which has nothing to do with math!" Logan flung back, hiding the book behind his back.
Farmer Slate appeared in the doorway. They stopped pushing one another and pretended to write.
"Homework time is over!" he announced. "You know the rules! No fighting!" he bellowed, looking from Carlos to Logan.
"Yes Sir!" they answered stacking up their books. He left as quickly as he had come.
"Great," grumbled Kendall "I'm not even finished with mine."
"Neither was I," added James with an irritated expression. "Way to go you two."
"You'll have to finish it before breakfast," suggested Logan.
"Yeah, I can't wait to get up another half hour earlier just because you two can't control yourselves."
Logan looked down.
"You started it," said Carlos, shoving Logan in the back.
"Carlos!" Logan yelled, "Stop shoving me!"
Anna came to see what the shouting was about. "Boys, what's wrong?"
"Oh, these two are acting like babies," Kendall said smugly, taking Carlos and Logan firmly by the wrists, to indicate to her who the culprits were.
"Well, keep it to a hush boys or Mr. Slate will be paying you a visit tonight," she warned.
"Got it," said Logan.
They dropped their books off at the foyer and climbed the stairs to their room. Kendall sat cross-legged on his bed in his plaid pajamas, and pulled out his books from under his bed.
"How did you get those up here?" asked a wide-eyed James.
"Easy...I sneaked them in under my pajamas," he said pulling out a pencil.
"You're going to get us in trouble!" whispered James. "You know we're not allowed to bring them up here!"
"Oh...and you are so worried about rules? What about your bright idea to sneak into that party that made us so late Halloween night?" Kendall threw at him.
"You said yourself, that it was neat!" James shouted back.
"Now you two are fighting?" asked Carlos, putting his hands over his ears to drown them out. "What is going on?"
"Well, I am not getting up a half hour earlier, just because you and Logan were acting like sniveling babies!" Kendall hissed.
"This again? Babies? What about you and James just now?" Logan asked indignantly.
"That, for your information, was a simple discussion done maturely and without physical violence I'll have you know..." Kendall said haughtily, with his chin held high.
"Oh...I see...so that's how you want to be?" Logan asked in a high-pitched voice, while leaning over Kendall's bed.
Kendall could not resist the temptation. He grabbed Logan and flipped him over the bed. Logan landed with a thud and flipped himself back on his feet. He dove back on top of Kendall only to be pulled right back off by James.
Carlos, feeling like it was two against one on the smaller guy, jumped on James' back with a war-whoop. James spun around in circles, trying to throw Carlos off of his back.
"Oh...so now you're siding with Logan?" Kendall asked Carlos.
"Only 'cause you guys are beating up on the smaller guy!" cried Carlos.
"We're not beating him up!" yelled Kendall, bulging his eyes at Carlos and pinning Logan down on the floor.
"You could have fooled me!" Logan huffed. "Get …..off...of...me!" he struggled.
James had finally managed to unhook Carlos' hands from around his neck, leaving him to drop to the floor with another loud thump. Carlos crawled over and pulled Kendall backwards from Logan, accidentally popping the buttons off Kendall's pajama shirt.
"Oh, that's it!" shouted Kendall getting off of Logan and chasing a now screaming Carlos. He grabbed him by the ankles, knocking him to the floor.
Carlos landed on his stomach with an exasperated 'Oooof!'
"Stop the noise!" James whispered loudly, covering Carlos' mouth with his hands. Logan in turn, jumped on James' back, grabbing handfuls of hair. James shrieked, and fell on top of Kendall, who was already on top of Carlos.
The door opened abruptly. The boys were stacked like a club sandwich, panting and sweaty, with Logan at the very top, still flailing. Farmer Slate and Anna just stared in disbelief.
"What are you boys doing?" he yelled. "Boy, get off of them!" he yelled to Logan.
He couldn't believe his luck. Why do I always get blamed, Logan wondered.
"Do you need a visit from Rod?" the farmer asked. Anna gave him a 'I warned you' look.
They untangled their bodies from one another, and stood. Kendall, with his button-less shirt hanging open, Carlos with his twisted pajama bottoms, James with his hair askew, and Logan looking as if he had caused the entire event.
"N-No, sir!" Logan answered, shaking his head from side to side as he hid his palms behind his back.
"Then all of you back to bed, now! Morning will come quickly!"
They scattered in different directions, back to their beds. Kendall flipped his covers over himself, causing the math books to slide to the floor. Farmer Slate and Anna stared at the books. The farmer leaned over, and slowly picked them up.
"Kendall...you know the rules, Boy!"
Kendall pouted at him. "Yes...but I don't want to get a bad grade in math...and I wasn't finished with the assignment..." he sniffed. Logan and Carlos looked down guiltily.
"They're trying to keep their grades up," Anna added hopefully.
"Well...next time spend less time fighting, and more time on your homework!" he said. He walked away with Kendall's books. "Anna, put these with the rest of Kendall's things for tomorrow."
She took the books as he left. She gave Kendall a sympathetic nod.
"Good night, loves" she cooed, as she turned off the light and closed the door.
"I don't want to hear a peep outta you!" they heard the farmer warn, as they went down the hall. All was quiet except for soft panting, the aftermath of the wrestling match.
"I-I'm sorry Kendall," Logan whispered.
"I know, Logan. It's okay. I'm not mad."
"I'm sorry that I jumped on you, James," Carlos whispered.
"I shouldn't have jumped on you, either..." James replied.
After going around in circles of apologies, they began to giggle uncontrollably over the absurdity of the situation. Anna gave them a warning tap on the wall. Within moments they fell asleep, exhausted from their brotherly brawl.
xxx
Farmer Slate was right about one thing...morning did come quickly.
"Ohhhhhh...I think I'm going to strangle those roosters..." Kendall groaned. He had just been so tired lately. He didn't want to have to give up any activities outside of the farm though. More time on extracurricular activities meant less time on the farm.
Upon arriving at school that morning, Mrs. Benson noticed how tired the boys seemed. She made a mental note in her planner to tell their guardian that she felt that they were becoming overly exhausted, especially Kendall. She wondered how the boys were treated on that farm.
She banged her pointer down on Kendall's desktop. His head jerked up. He was dark under his eyes. She leaned forward,"Only a half-hour left till lunch break," she whispered. He nodded.
When school finally concluded, they still had activities to attend. Kendall drug himself to rugby practice with Logan. Usually he was happy to be there, but today he was quiet and lethargic. He leaned over to put his shoe on, and coughed. Logan looked at him.
Halfway during their warm-ups, Kendall began to wheeze. "Knight!" the coach yelled "Go sit out!"
Kendall gratefully sat on the bench. His back was achy, and his chest was burning. Carlos and James had just wrapped up choir practice, and came to watch the rest of their practice. They noticed Kendall sitting off to the side.
"Are you okay?" mouthed Carlos. Kendall nodded weakly. Logan waited impatiently while Kendall took an abnormally long time showering.
"Kendall? Are you about done?" Logan called. "James said the last bus is waiting."
Kendall grunted, and slowly dressed himself. Logan called out to James, "Ask him to wait, guys!"Carlos and James nodded, and got on the bus.
Logan sat back down next to Kendall on the locker room bench. "Kendall...you look really tired." Kendall sighed, and moaned as he stood holding his back.
Logan jumped up. "I'll get your bag," he offered. Normally, Kendall would have refused to let him, but today he went along with it.
On the bus ride home, they all had a hard time staying awake with the gentle swaying and bouncing of the bus. Logan's eyes had just drooped closed when Kendall let out a harsh cough, startling him.
"Kendall, you've been coughing a lot lately. Are you catching a cold?" Logan asked.
"I don't think so," said Kendall. "I'm just really tired."
When they reached the outskirts of the farm, and began to make the steep trek up the hill to the gate, Kendall began to cough violently. He leaned over, his hands on his thighs to catch his breath.
They exchanged worried glances. "I noticed you were coughing last night in your sleep," said James, patting him on the back.
"I was?" Kendall asked. "I don't remember that."
"I heard it, too," added Carlos.
"That cough does not sound good. I"m worried," said Logan, obviously concerned.
"Great...," groaned Kendall. "Is this the part where you tell me all the horrible things that might be wrong with me?"
"Hey!' said James indignantly, "I thought we were vaccinated, so that bad things wouldn't happen to us!"
"Well genius, we weren't protected against every possible thing out there." Logan swatted at his arm.
"OH...so you want more protection then what we had?" James asked in a high voice, referring to the vaccines.
"Absolutely not," Logan answered quickly.
During dinner, Kendall's shoulders began to droop. He looked as if he had put two circles of rouge on his cheeks. He ate a few bites of his food, but he would just cough. He put down his fork in defeat. Helga eyed him. She left a pitcher of water, and a glass at his bedside, and told the other boys to let Anna know if his condition worsened.
"Sleep is probably the best medicine," she told them, noticing that he was just a little warm to the touch.
In the middle of the night, Logan awoke to a strange sound. It sounded as if Kendall was thrashing about on his bed.
"Carlos! James!" he whispered, "Is Kendall all right?"
"Wait! I have the lantern," volunteered Carlos. He illuminated Kendall's bed from his. He was tossing and turning his head from side to side, and desperately trying to free himself from the twisted covers.
Logan felt his forehead. "He's burning up!"
"Should I go get Anna?" asked James.
"Yes please," said Logan.
Carlos and Logan sat on the edge of Kendall's bed. Within moments, James returned with Anna carrying a pan of cool water, some wash cloths, and a thermometer.
She turned the bedroom light on, causing Kendall to blink his eyes in confusion. "It's okay Kendall," said Carlos, "we're all going to take care of you, now."
Anna tried to quickly take his temperature, realizing how hot he felt to the touch. She pushed it under his tongue, only to have him push it right back out.
"I'm not hungry, Helga," he mumbled.
She attempted to place it back in his mouth. This time he jerked away forcefully, babbling incoherently. Worried that he might break the glass thermometer, she opted to try taking it under his arm.
"Help me to lift his shirt, boys," she said.
Carlos and Logan pulled up the shirt, as she placed it under his arm, and attempted to hold his arm close to his body. Kendall opened glassy green eyes for a moment, and without warning, threw the arm up wildly, slapping James in the face.
"Ow!" exclaimed James, rubbing his red cheek.
"Are you okay, James dear?" Anna asked.
"I'm fine," James pouted, still holding his cheek. Kendall flailed again as James ducked down.
"We have to get a reading on you, dear," Anna soothed. "Please stop fighting us, or we will have only one other place left to try to take it love, and you won't like that either," she threatened affectionately. This time she leaned her weight over Kendall 's chest.
"Hold his wrists, James," she said.
He did so with caution, and Kendall finally stopped struggling, listening to Anna's cooing voice for a fleeting moment. "That's a good boy," she said softly, as she began to hum.
She had calmed him down long enough to get his temperature of 104.5 degrees. Anna informed them that they had to get his temperature down right away.
Logan understood her reasoning, and began helping her to undress him as fast as they could. Leaving him in just his boxers, they removed the covers except for a thin sheet.
She sponged him down with the cool cloths, as Logan gave him dropperfuls of water to keep him hydrated. Shortly before midnight, the fever broke. Kendall was finally sleeping comfortably, broken by only a few fits of coughing.
"It sounds like pneumonia doesn't it Anna?" Logan asked with worry in his eyes.
"It does dear," she admitted solemnly. "We'll phone Dr. Bell, first thing in the morn'."
xxx
Dr. Bell arrived first thing in the morning, as Anna had promised. Anna greeted him at the door, and led him to the boy's room, while she relayed all the information about the previous evening's events.
The boys sat up in their beds when they heard him enter their room. He examined Kendall, and took all of his vital signs. Dr. Bell confirmed that Kendall did indeed have at least a mild case of pneumonia.
Logan watched the examination and diagnosis with interest, but opted to leave when he pulled two vials and syringes out of his bag. Carlos and James followed Logan to the downstairs sitting room.
"I hope Kendall is going to be..." he trailed off, when his eyes followed something outside the window.
Coming up the walkway was a red-headed nurse, carrying a black bag, and a small suitcase. Logan recognized her as the nurse from the doctor's office. He would recognize that unpleasant women anywhere. He huddled closer to James and Carlos. When the doorbell rang, none of them rose to answer it.
"Maybe she'll go away," whispered Logan.
Sebastian came to the door. "Come in, Nurse Roderick," he said. "We have a room ready for you next to the boys' room, upstairs."
He took the bags, and led her out. Logan shivered. The nurse paused when she saw the huddling boys at the end of the sofa. Looking over her glasses, she sighed as her only greeting, and followed Sebastian.
"Poor Kendall," said Carlos.
"Yeah...she's mean," whispered James, wide-eyed.
"I hope she doesn't have any preventive medicine for us, in that evil bag of hers," Logan said nervously, hanging on their arms.
They went to school without Kendall that morning. It didn't feel right, and all day long they worried about him.
When they finally returned from school, they rushed to their room to see him. Kendall was right in the middle of a nasty coughing fit. The room smelled like strong menthol, and a steaming pot was at his bedside.
Nurse Roderick entered the room upon hearing Kendall struggling to cough, and smeared more of the strong-smelling ointment across his chest. They watched with interest, but decided to come back later when she turned and gave them a cold stare. Racing down the hall, Carlos stopped in his tracks, causing the others to bump into him.
"Guys, we have to go back. I left my book bag on the bed. Farmer Slate will get mad if we don't start homework. Please come back with me," he begged.
Logan shook his head. "No! I'm afraid of her."
"I guess I could walk you to the doorway..." James offered uncertainly.
Carlos gratefully grabbed his arm, and tugged. Logan waited at the top of the staircase. Immediately, he heard the thumping of James' and Carlos running feet in the hallway.
"She's beating up Kendall!" Carlos wailed.
"She's eeeevil!" James cried, with a shudder.
"WHAT?" exclaimed Logan. They ran back down the hall, and fell into the room breathless. The nurse had Kendall's bare back across her lap, and her hand raised in mid-air above him. She stared at them indignantly, with cold lifeless eyes. They screamed.
She released a long-winded sigh, realizing that they had thought she was purposely hurting him. They stared back at her confused. "I'm loosening the congestion," she said in an exasperated tone.
"OH...uh...s-sorry," Logan said, embarrassed that she knew they had thought otherwise.
"But doesn't that hurt him?" asked James, nodding toward Kendall.
"Well...it's not a walk in the park for him," she retorted sarcastically, "but if he wants to get any better, he'll deal with it."
She banged on him some more with the heel of her hand. Kendall winced and sputtered, before going into a full-blown coughing attack. He gagged into a small container that she had waiting under his chin, followed by a whimper. Tears streaked his pale cheeks.
"There," she said, back to her monotone voice. "That should give him some relief for a while." She flung him roughly back on his bed, and shoved his pillows under his head.
Did she have to be so brutal, they wondered to themselves.
She checked his pulse one more time, and turned to leave. Logan jumped out of her way as she approached, not wanting to even be touched by her.
"BOO!" she said in his ear, making him squeak and hide behind James.
With the nurse finally gone, they turned their attention back to Kendall. He looked so helpless lying there. His breathing was still raspy, and he tried to give them a weak smile.
"How are you doing, Kendall?" James asked, noticing how pale he looked today. Kendall blinked back at him, his green eyes a sharp contrast to the bluish circles beneath them.
"I guess I'll live. If she doesn't kill me, first," he answered.
"Do you want us to leave you alone so you can sleep?" asked Logan.
"No, please don't leave me yet," Kendall pleaded. "I like having you guys here."
They sat down on their beds. "We can read to you, Kendall!" Carlos said excitedly. Kendall nodded that he would like that.
"Well, what should we read to you?" James asked, looking around.
Before Kendall could even reply, Carlos said, "Comic books, of course!" and took them out of his drawer.
They looked over to see what Kendall thought about Carlos' idea. He was already sound asleep.