Sean had a date with his wife. The family went to the charity foxhunt that was given by Georgina and Charlotte. Isaac had gone to Louisville, so he and Marita could have an afternoon alone at the farm.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Hey" Marita smiled when she opened the door.

"Hey" Sean said.

Sean stepped inside and closed the door. Marita had already turned and headed back into the kitchen to finish packing their picnic basket. Sean caught up with her, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. Marita smiled as she laid her hands over those strong arms that she loved so much. Their pace slowed but they continued to walk toward the kitchen.

"Where's my kiss" Sean whispered in her ear just before his lips trailed light kisses down her neck.

Marita tilted her head to the side to give him better access to her neck. "Right where it always is" she said with a smile.

"Why didn't I get it?" Sean said as he ran his tongue along the edge of her ear.

"I had to finish packing our picnic basket" Marita said as they entered the kitchen.

"Excuses, excuses" Sean said. He let her go and she turned around and planted a sweet kiss on his lips.

"Are you satisfied now?" Marita said.

"For now" he smiled and gave her a look that made her blush.

Marita smiled before she turned and went over to the table to finish packing the basket.

"Would you go and get a blanket out of my room?" Marita asked.

"Yeah" Sean said as he turned and went to her room.

When he came out, Marita had the basket and was ready for their picnic.

"Here, I'll carry that" Sean said as he reached for the basket. Marita handed it to him and took the blanket. Sean opened the door for her and Marita stepped out on the porch.

"Let's go out by the lake" Marita suggested.

"OK. You wanna ride Ahab or take your carriage" Sean asked.

"We can take the carriage" Marita said.

They walked around to the side of the house and Sean set the basket on the seat and helped Marita up. He hopped into the carriage and took the reins and they were off to the lake.

When they got to the lake, Sean jumped to the ground and helped Marita down. Marita grabbed the blanket and spread it out while Sean got the basket. After they both settled down on the blanket, Marita unpacked the basket. As they were eating and enjoying the beautiful afternoon, Marita said "Guess what I thought about today".

"What?" Sean said.

Marita laughed. "Remember the first time you tried to teach me to swim?"

Sean laughed as that memory came flooding back to him.

******************

Seven year old Sean was anxious to get outside. He had been cooped up in the house all day during his extra chores.

"Ma Ma" he yelled as he ran downstairs and into the great room.

Libby looked up from her reading and smiled as her little man came running toward her. "Yes, Sean" she said in her quiet sweet voice.

"Can I go outside and play now. I finished all my chores." Sean said.

"Alright, but stay near the house. I don't want to have to come and look for you again" Libby warned him. The week before, he and Marita had gone off and no one knew where they were. An hour after they were reported missing, they came running up to the cookhouse looking for some sweet treats. Libby had breathed a sigh of relief and then scolded them both for going beyond the boundary she had set for them. They both would have to do extra chores for the next week.

"OK, Ma. I'm going down to Marita's house" Sean informed his mother as he turned to head out of the great room.

"OK, but both of you stay close to the house" she yelled after him.

Sean took off running, heading to Marita's house.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Hi Mr. Isaac" Sean said as he looked up at Marita's Pa.

"Hi Sean. How can I help you?" Isaac asked, smiling down at the little boy.

"Is Marita here? Can she come outside and play?" Sean asked.

"Sure. Come on in" Isaac said as he stepped aside and let Sean in.

"Marita" he called. "You have a visitor".

Marita came out of her room to see Sean standing next to her Pa.

"Marita, wanna come outside and play?" Sean asked.

"Yeah" she said. "Pa Pa, will you help me with my shoes?"

"Sure baby girl" Isaac said.

Marita turned and went into her room and came back with her shoes in hand. She lifted them up to Isaac and he took them and sat them on the table. He reached down and picked Marita up and sat her on the table and put on her shoes. When he was done tying them he lifted her off the table and set her on her feet.

"You children stay close to the house" Isaac warned. He had been worried sick the week before.

"Ma ALREADY told me that". Sean said. He thought adults were such worrywarts!

"Well, I'm telling you again" Isaac said. "Do you understand me, Marita?" He looked at his daughter with a raised brow.

"Pa Pa" Marita wined as she frowned up her little face. "I understand".

Marita and Sean looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They didn't understand what the big deal was. They went off to play in the woods. They just forgot to tell Libby where they were going.

The two little friends went outside and walked over to the table that was next to the house. "Whatcha wanna do?" Marita asked when they had climbed up on the table and sat down.

"I don't know" Sean said as he swung his legs back and forth. After a few minutes, he had an idea. "Hey, wanna learn how to swim?" Sean said.

"Yeah" Marita answered, "but we have to stay near the house."

"The river is near the house" Sean reasoned. "It's nearer than the woods and all Ma has to do is come outside and she can see us."

"OK" Marita smiled. Every since Sean had told her he could swim, Marita had wanted to learn.

The two parolees hopped down off the table and ran to the river. When they reached the riverbank, Sean began to give instructions.

"First, you have to take off your clothes" he said as he started unbuttoning his shirt.

"I can't reach my buttons" Marita said.

"OK, I'll help you" Sean said.

After Sean striped down to his underpants, he unbuttoned Marita's dress. Marita took off her dress. She then sat down and took off her stockings and shoes. When she stood back up, she had nothing on but her bloomers.

Sean led the way into the water. "Pa says we have to stay in the shallow part. That's the part where we can stand up and the water only comes up to here" Sean said as he indicated his chest, just above his beating heart.

"Now I'll show you how to breathe under water." Sean said as he turned and faced Marita. "You take a deep breath then hold your nose and go under the water. You can let out a little bit of air at a time. When you don't have anymore air, you have to come up from under the water. Let me show you" Sean said.

He sucked in some air, pinched his nose and squatted down under the water. Marita saw little bubbles in the water as Sean was letting out his air bit by bit. When his lungs were void of air, he raised up out of the water.

Wiping his eyes, he said "See. It's easy. You try."

"OK" Marita said. Being the excellent student that she was, Marita followed Sean's instructions to the tee. When she came up sputtering, Sean was very proud of her.

"See, I told you it was easy!" he said with excitement. "Maybe you ought to do it a couple of more times, just to be sure."

Marita went under a few more times until Sean was satisfied that she knew what she was doing.

"OK. Now I'll show you how to do the doggie paddle" the little teacher said. "For this you don't have to go under the water. You just move your hands like this" Sean said as he demonstrated a paddling motion. "And kick your legs. Let me show you".

Sean began to doggie paddle, staying in the shallow part. After circling Marita a couple of times, he stood up in the water.

"Now you try it. Stay in the shallow part" he instructed.

Marita caught on quickly and circled Sean as he proudly watched her master the doggie paddle.

Because that was the extent of Sean's swimming skills, the lesson was over for today and the playing would begin. "That's all Pa taught me so far".

"OK. I like the water" Marita said as she began splashing it in Sean's face.

Sean retaliated by scooping up water in his hands and throwing it in Marita's face. After their water battle ended, they decided to play a little game.

"Let's see who can stay under the water the longest" Sean challenged her.

"OK" Marita was always up to his challenges.

"Ready" Sean said as he prepared to take a deep breath.

"Ready" Marita said as she sucked in as much air as her little lungs could hold.

"Go" Sean said as filled his lungs.

They both squatted down until they were immersed in the water. Sean's lungs gave out first and he came up for air. When he opened his eyes, his heart was filled with dread.

Libby was standing on the bank with a frown on her face.

"Where is Marita?" Libby asked.

As if on cue, Marita popped up out of the water, wiped her hand over her face and opened her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Ms Libby standing there.

"Ma, we stayed near the house. All you had to do was come outside and you could see us" Sean explained.

"Get out of the water. Both of you" Libby said in a menacing voice.

Sean and Marita looked at each other with fear in their eyes. They knew that their bottoms would be stinging in a few minutes. Fear would not allow their little legs to move as they looked back at Libby.

"I said get out of the water. Both of you" Libby repeated her command.

They slowly obeyed Libby. It took them forever to make it to the riverbank.

Libby looked down at them and almost laughed. They looked like two little ragamuffins. They were both standing there dripping wet and naked down to the waist. Libby thought they might as well have been stark naked because Sean's underpants and Marita's bloomers clung to their little bottoms and were practically transparent.

"Ma" Sean said when they were in reach of Libby. "We were right here. The river is near the house" he reasoned.

Libby gave Sean credit for making his case but once again, they had worried her. When she looked out the window and didn't see them, she walked near Isaac's house and still didn't see them. She headed for the stables to get her horse. Her instincts told her to head in the direction of the river. As she got nearer to the river she saw a pile of clothes on the bank. Her heart sank because she thought they had drowned. She hopped off her horse and ran near the bank. She saw air bubbles and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, Ms Libby. We stayed near the house. Right here at the river." Marita said as she tried to save her and Sean from the spanking they knew was coming.

"Sean, go over to that tree and pick off one of those switches" Libby said.

"Huh?" Sean was dumbfounded. He looked up at his mother with wide eyes.
He stood there not able to take a step.

"Go" she said as she pointed in the direction of the tree.

Sean moved at a snail's pace. When he returned, he slowly lifted up the switch to Libby. It was thin but it would prove to be a mighty rod.

"Both of you are old enough to understand what 'stay near the house' means. And you know that the river is not near the house." Libby said as she grabbed Sean by the arm and began swatting his little behind.

Sean refused to cry even though the switch was burning his wet bottom.

Marita was not as brave. She cried as Libby spanked Sean. Her cries increased in volume when Libby let go of Sean and grabbed her by the arm.

"Now, get dressed" Libby said after giving them their licks. "You two will not be allowed outside for the next two weeks. After your lessons, you will do extra chores. After your chores are done, you both will practice your writing and spelling until it's time for Marita to go home".

A pouting Sean and a crying Marita got dressed and walked back to the house as Libby trotted along side them.

********************

"Those two weeks were torture!" Sean laughed as he remembered feeling like a caged animal, not being able to go outside, not being able to play.

"I had whelps on my behind" Marita laughed as she looked down at Sean and rubbed his curls. He was lying on the blanket with his head in her lap.

"So did I" Sean laughed.

Sean and Marita laughed as they recalled how miserable they were for those two weeks.

"I need to get back. Auntie and I have to start working on a couple of orders we got last week and she's going to show me how to make this new remedy" Marita said.

"OK" Sean said as he sat up. He turned to face her and put his hand on the opposite side of her kissed her soft lips. "Are we staying at your house or my office tonight?" Sean was not about to pass up a change to sleep with his wife. He had been staying in his office more now. Marita was afraid that Charlotte would see him leaving her house because she knew that Charlotte went on early rides.

"We can stay at my house" Marita smiled.

"Alright" Sean said as he got up and helped Marita up. "I need to go into town. I'll be back around 7:00".

"OK. You want anything special for dinner?" Marita asked as they folded the blanket.

"Surprise me" Sean smiled.

Sean put the basket and blanket in the carriage and helped Marita up and they went back to the house. At the house, Sean mounted Ahab and headed into as Marita headed to Aunt Eleanor's.

******************

KNOCK KNOCK

Marita opened the door to find Sean there with a worried expression on his face.

"Hey" she said. "What's the matter?"

"Lexy had an accident" Sean said as he came into the house.

"Is she OK?" Marita asked in a frantic voice.

"Yeah" Sean said.

"Thank GOD" Marita breathed a sigh of relief as she put her hand over her chest.
"What happened?".

"She fell when she was doing a jump in the fox hunt" he said.

Sean sat down at the table, took a deep breath and said "Clay says that Charlotte pushed Lexy out of the way and made her fall. I know Charlotte was the one who changed my books, but I really hate to believe she's capable of this".

"Is Clay sure that's what she did?" Marita asked as she sat down.

"He says he's sure" Sean said, knowing Clay had a temper, but he wouldn't accuse even Charlotte unless he was sure.

"Oh my goodness. What are we going to do?" Marita asked.

"I don't know. We can't just go and tell Pa that Charlotte made Lexy fall. We really don't have any proof. And I wonder if he'd believe us anyway" Sean said with a little bitterness in his voice.

"Sean" Marita said. "I can't believe your father would not believe us if we had some kind of proof."

"Maybe" Sean said reluctantly. "Keep an eye on her. I know she changed my books. Who else could have done it? And if she did push Lexy......." Sean didn't know what he would do if he found out for sure that it was true.

"Well" Marita said as she rubbed his hand "I'll start watching her. You hungry?"

"Starving" he said.

"Well dinner will be ready in a minute" Marita said as she got up and went into the kitchen.

Sean sat at the table with a gnawing feeling in his gut that they were not wrong about Charlotte.

To Be Continued.........................