Book I: The Incident
Logan Loud was just like any other eleven-year-old boy except for two characteristics that set him apart: the irises of his eyes were bright yellow and rimmed with red, and his shaggy hair was the color of pure lamb's wool. As the oldest of seven children, he put up with the teasing he got on a regular basis in order to set a good example for his five younger sisters and his baby brother. In birth order, there was seven-year-old Lori, six-year-old Leni, five-year-old Luna, four-year-old Luan, three-year-old Lynn Junior, and eighteen-month-old Lincoln.
Logan himself was a "happy accident," having been born three years before his parents, Lynn and Rita Loud, were married. While certainly unexpected, Rita's first pregnancy was anything but inconvenient; if anything, it just brought the two of them closer than ever.
Today, Logan was sitting on the front porch of his family's house, strumming a tune on the battered guitar he'd bought at a garage sale. His parents were on a shopping trip and trusted him to babysit all of his siblings for a few hours. He felt a hand tap his shoulder and turned around to see Lori Looking bashful with her hands behind her back.
"Logan, I'm bored. Can we play dress-up?" she asked.
Logan fully turned his body to face her and said, "That depends, little missy. Does anyone else want to play with us?" Last he checked, Luan was playing with the ventriloquist dummy he'd given her for her birthday, Luna was on one of his handheld video game systems he'd let her borrow, Leni was tying colorful pieces of fabric together to make a quilt, and Lynn and Lincoln were both napping.
"I-I don't know," Lori responded sheepishly.
"Tell you what, go ask if anyone else wants to play with us. Even if no one does, we'll play by ourselves, okay?"
"Okay!" Logan smiled as he watched his sister happily skipping into the living room. He loved all of his siblings equally, and would do anything to keep them safe. He followed Lori into the house, where he learned from her that only Leni was willing to play with them. For the next hour, the boy and his sisters tried on ridiculous outfits fashioned from anything they could find in their individual closets; as the oldest boy, Logan had his own room, while Lori shared a room with Leni, Luna with Luan, and Lynn with Lincoln.
Their fun and laughter was interrupted when the house phone rang, and Logan grew worried when he recognized his mother's cell phone number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Logan, it's Mom. Can you feed your siblings and make sure they get to bed on time?"
"Why? What happened?"
"Someone attempted an armed robbery of the grocery store. No one got hurt, but your father and I have to stay so that we can give an eyewitness account to the police. We probably won't be back until late tonight."
"Okay. I'm glad you guys are alright."
"So am I, Logan. I love you, son."
"I love you too, Mom." Logan hung up the receiver and pinched the bridge of his nose with a heavy sigh. Lynn was already awake by that point and was sitting on the floor, pretending that two of her stuffed animals were wrestling. Sounds coming from upstairs told him that Lincoln was waking up, too, and was either hungry or had a full diaper (or both). He climbed the stairs and took Lincoln from his crib, running a hand over the tuft of wispy white hair on his head to calm him down. He didn't need a diaper change after all, so Logan walked into Lori and Leni's room, where the two were still trying on goofy outfits. "Hey, girls, can you come downstairs? We need to talk." Lori and Leni exchanged a nervous glance before following Logan down the stairs, where he got Luna, Luan, and Lynn rounded up. "Alright, so...Mom and Dad ran into a problem, and they're gonna be home a lot later than they thought. We'll have dinner by ourselves, and hopefully they'll be back soon after we all go to bed. I know it might be kinda scary without them around, but if you all get your pajamas on now, we'll watch a movie before bed, okay?"
The four older girls huddled for a minute or two, then Luna announced their consensus. "Okay, but only if you sing a song with us right now, with your guitar."
"Fair enough. What song did you have in mind?" The girls told him, so he grabbed his guitar and started strumming.
(Logan) Get rollin', rollin', rollin',
Though the streams are swollen,
Get them doggies rollin', rawhide!
Through rain and wind and weather,
Hell-bent for leather,
Wishin' my gal was by my side
All the things I'm missin',
Good vittles, love, and kissin',
Are waitin' at the end of my ride
(Lori) Move 'em out!
(Luna) Head 'em up!
(Lori) Head 'em up!
(Luna) Move 'em out!
(Lori) Move 'em out!
(Luna) Head 'em up!
(Luan) Rawhide!
(Lori) Cut 'em out!
(Luna) Ride 'em in!
(Lori) Ride 'em in!
(Luna) Cut 'em out, cut 'em out...
(Logan) Ride 'em in...
(Logan, Lori, Luna, & Luan) Rawhide!
(Logan) Keep movin', movin', movin',
Though they're disapprovin',
Keep them doggies movin', rawhide!
Don't try to understand 'em,
Just rope and throw and brand 'em,
Soon we'll be livin' high and wide
My heart's calculatin',
My true love will be waitin',
Be waitin' at the end of my ride
(Lori) Move 'em out!
(Luna) Head 'em up!
(Lori) Head 'em up!
(Luna) Move 'em out!
(Lori) Move 'em out!
(Luna) Head 'em up!
(Luan) Rawhide!
(Lori) Cut 'em out!
(Luna) Ride 'em in!
(Lori) Ride 'em in!
(Luna) Cut 'em out, cut 'em out...
(Logan) Ride 'em in...
(Logan, Lori, Luna, & Luan) Rawhide!
With the song finished, the sisters all cheered and clapped.
They all froze when they heard a small voice say, "Big bwother!" Everyone looked to little Lincoln, who was reaching his arms out to Logan and making grasping motions with his hands. "Big bwother!" he said again. Laughing, Logan picked up Lincoln and spun him around in a circle.
"You did it, Linc! You said your first words!" he cried.
...
After a dinner of macaroni and cheese (the homemade kind, not the boxed kind), the pajama-clad girls and Lincoln watched The Lion King while Logan washed the dishes. Once the movie was finished, it was understandable that without their parents, none of the girls were willing to sleep alone. Logan remedied this problem by unfolding the couch into a bed; he slept in the middle with Lincoln and Lynn against his chest, and the other girls snuggled around him, two on each side. When their parents returned and found all seven children fast asleep, they took advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity.
...
The next day, Logan was riding his skateboard around the town when he heard the sounds of a fistfight coming from a run-down building that should've been abandoned. His curiosity got the better of him, and he peeked through a window of broken glass. There were five men inside, and the apparent leader stood back with a smug smile as one was beaten to a bloody pulp by the remaining three. The men stopped and hauled their battered companion to his feet, and the leader clicked his tongue in disapproval.
"Cecil, Cecil, Cecil, I gave you one job. It was an easy job. All you had to do was stick up the grocery store and bring me money and tobacco. Yet you came back empty-handed. Why?"
"I-I'm sorry, Boss. I-I heard sirens and I panicked!" Cecil replied, clearly very frightened.
"Oh, I can understand that. But you still failed to meet my quota, and that means I have to let you go."
"Y-you mean it? I'm out?" asked the incredulous Cecil.
"Oh, I didn't say that. When I initiated you into this gang, I told you that you were in it for life."
"What? Then how are you gonna let me go?"
"Like this..." The Boss pulled a small revolver from his waistband and shot Cecil square between the eyes, causing his lifeless body to jerk backwards and fall to the ground. One of the other gangsters whirled around upon hearing Logan gasp, catching a glimpse of white hair disappearing beneath the window.
"Hey, Boss, we got a peeper!" he announced.
"Well, don't just stand there. Get them!" ordered the Boss. Logan tried to run, but the two men that came bursting out of the door were too fast. He struggled as hard as he could, even landing a successful kick in the nuts, but the men dragged him inside and dropped him at their boss's feet.
"Well, well, you're a lot younger than I anticipated. What's your name, kid?" the man asked with a smirk.
"Logan Loud."
"I'll tell you what, Logan. Normally, I'd kill someone my boys caught spying on us, but I'll make an exception since you're so young. If you promise to keep this our little secret, I'll let you go. But if you tell anyone what you saw, I'll hunt you down, kill your family while you watch, and then kill you. Do we have a deal?"
Stifling the urge to cry, Logan nodded. "Y-y-yes, sir. I-I promise not to tell anyone."
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now get out, and don't come back!"
With tears running down his face, Logan turned and ran. He didn't stop until he reached his house, not even to retrieve his skateboard. Taking a moment to regain his composure somewhat, he entered the house to the sight of his parents stepping out of the kitchen.
"Ah, Logan, you're just in time for dinner. Can you please go wash your hands and round up your siblings?" Lynn Sr. asked.
"S-sure. Y-yeah, I can do that," Logan replied with a nervous smile.
"Is everything okay, sweetie? You look like you just saw a ghost," Rita asked with concern.
"Yep! Yeah! Totally fine!" As Logan bolted for the stairs, his parents decided not to question him further, chalking it up to a boy being a boy.
...
After choking down as much food as his lack of an appetite would allow, Logan went through his usual nighttime routine, giving each of his siblings a good night kiss on the forehead. Once alone in his room, however, he began thinking of ways to solve this new problem of his. He ran through different scenarios in his mind, but all of them ended with his loved ones getting hurt or worse. There was one final scenario that he purposefully stayed away from because of the pain he knew it would inflict, but it looked like he didn't have any other choice.
The only way to keep his family safe...was to leave.
He waited until he knew his parents were asleep, then he got dressed and started packing. Into a duffel bag pulled from under his bed went two extra sets of clothes, a sleeping bag, and an assortment of small non-perishable food items, as well as the wad of money he'd earned doing yard work around the neighborhood. He donned a thick black hoodie against the nighttime chill and crept down the stairs, being careful to avoid the ones he knew would squeak. Finally, he stood on the front porch and pulled the door shut behind him. Giving the house he was raised in one last look, he blew a kiss at the front door.
"I love you guys with all my heart. May we meet again, in this life or a better one," he said sadly. A single tear trickled down his cheek as he walked down the street.
