Chapter 5

Face pushed away from the table at Kathryn's. He had just finished a stack of pancakes covered in maple syrup. He had several pieces of bacon to go along with the pancakes and washed it all down with a glass of milk. "That was delicious…thank you Mama B."

"I'm glad you like it, son. What are you and Harry up to now?"

Murdock had accompanied Face but had only had a cup of coffee while Face ate.

"I'm afraid that Face is on his own until lunch, I need to help Hannibal and BA get everything ready for our departure tomorrow. Are you going to be okay, kid?"

"Yeah, I'm still a bit tired so I thought I would hang out with Dandy. I got an apple for him."

After smiling over his shoulder at Mrs. B, Face left the restaurant and headed to the general store to buy an apple for his horse. He left soon afterward with not only an apple for Dandy but one for BA's, Hannibal's, and Murdock's mount as well. He also bought a couple of carrots for the pack animals.

He made good time in getting back to Mrs. B's house and on to the corral where he fed each horse their treat. He saved Dandy's for last and fell asleep under a nearby tree while the horses grazed.

It was getting close to lunch when he woke and headed back to the restaurant for lunch getting there in time just as Mrs. B opened for the lunch meal.

"Are you ready for lunch, son?"

"Yes ma'am…do I have to wait for Hannibal before I can eat?"

"Of course not. Just have a seat, I'm sure they will be joining you soon." Mrs. B said as she headed back into the kitchen to fix Face the special for today. It was fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas. She sat that down in front of him before going back to bring him a glass of milk. He dug right in and was halfway through by the time the rest of his family joined him.

"I told you that we would find Face here, Colonel."

"And you were right Captain."

Soon the others were eating alongside Face and discussing their plans for the afternoon. When Face heard his name mentioned in regards to trying on more clothes he decided to slip away as soon as he could after lunch.

He got his chance after he finished his last bite of pie. He looked casually around and saw the others were still focused on their conversation and quietly got up from the table with his dessert plate in hand and headed back to the kitchen. Hannibal glanced at him as he got up but seeing that he was heading back to the kitchen assumed he was going to try and talk Mrs. B out of another slice of pie and didn't give it another thought. He was surprised when Face reappeared with Mrs. B a few minutes later.

"What did he do?"

"He tried to leave by the kitchen door."

"What's up kid? You knew that you are supposed to come with me and try on clothes."

"Hannibal, why do I have to try on more clothes? I have three sets now!" Face whined. "I want to play. I saw a group of boys about my age playing near the schoolhouse."

"Tell you what kid. How about you trying on a pair of trousers and a shirt to get your size and I'll pick out extra?"

Face nodded and sat down to wait until Hannibal had finished his meal. He left the money for their meals with Murdock and walked with Face to the General Store. Within thirty minutes Face was out and running to the schoolhouse.

When Face approached the group they were arguing about what game to play. There were eleven boys there when Face walked up. " Hi, can I play?"

One of the boys turned to ask, "what's your name?"

"Face"

Seeing the confused look on the boy's face Face quickly explained. "It's the nickname my family gave me."

"Oh, well my name is Billy, but my friends call me Chip like I'm a chip off the block. I'm just like my father when he was my age."

"Hey, counting Face we have enough guys to play baseball…six on each side," Billy asked the group before turning back to Face to ask,

"You do know how to play, right?"

When Face nodded Billy whooped and said," I'll pick first and I pick Face!"

The two teams were quickly named and the game began. It soon became apparent that Billy chose well when he picked Face, especially when their turn to vat came and Face hit two home runs before the game ended. Billy's team won by two runs, Face's second home run coming in the bottom of the ninth inning.

After celebrating their win the two boys walked off together. "I'm hungry, what about you?" asked Face of Billy.

Billy nodded, "And I know the best place to go…come on we will go to my Mom's restaurant "Katherine's".

"That's my grandmother's place, too!"

"Your grandmother?"

"She kind of adopted me…I consider her son as a big brother," Face explained as they walked to the restaurant, and by the time they arrived, Billy knew about Face's unusual family.

"Mama, we're hungry. Can we have something to eat?" Asked Face when Mrs. B came out to greet them.

"Hello, Billy. Did you two have a good time playing?"

"Yes, ma'am. We played baseball. Face arrived just in time so we could play. We didn't have enough players before he came."

"Who won?"

"Our team did, Mrs. B thanks to Face. He hit two home runs!"

Mrs. B smiled at the two boys before asking, "What can I bring the two champions?"

"Apple Pie, please."

"Two slices of apple pie with a glass of milk coming up?" Mrs. B said before returning with Billy's mom each with a slice of pie.

"Mom, you should have seen Face play…he was great. It was his last home run that won us the game," bubbled Billy before digging into his pie.

"So you are Face," Katherine said smiling down at the other boy.

"Yes, ma'am. I really had a good time this afternoon."