Bridget woke up slowly as the sun seeped in through the window and warmed her body. She yawned and stretched. She looked across the small room and saw her father asleep in a chair. Quietly she slipped out of bed and walked over to her suitcase. She loved this suitcase. Her grandfather had given it to her before he died. He told her she could use it when she came to visit him. This was the first time she had gotten to use it. She opened it and searched for her favorite dress. She wanted to show it to her new friend. When Bridget met Hawkeye she instantly liked him. She liked that he actually talked to her and he made her laugh. After she finished dressing she slipped on her shoes and glanced at herself in a mirror by the door. Her dress had a yellow gingham pattern and Bridget loved how the skirt twirled when she would spin. As an afterthought Bridget went back to her suitcase and pulled out a yellow ribbon and managed to tie it neatly in her jet black hair. She smiled at her reflection and quietly ran outside.

Once outside she realized how early it was. The sun had just come up and the ground was still wet with dew. No one was up yet so she decided to explore. The first thing she noticed when she walked outside was the several other small cabins surrounding the one they were staying in. She walked silently through the cabins and gasped with delight as she saw a large lake. She ran to the sandy area bordering it and sat down, cross-legged simply watching the wind rock the water, the waves lapping gently against the shore. She sat that way for quite a while, content to simply watch her surroundings. They didn't have anything like this in Washington. There were plenty of lakes but nothing like this.

"It's pretty isn't it?" Bridget jumped at a man's voice behind her. She surveyed the stranger. He was tall and thin, like Hawkeye, but this man had brown eyes and light brown hair. He sat down beside her.

"My name's BJ, what's yours?" He smiled and stuck out his hand.

Bridget smiled. She liked this man too. She shook his hand and smiled again. "My name's Bridget."

"That's a pretty name. How old are you Bridget?"

"I'm nine." She said, grinning broadly, showing her two missing front teeth.

"I have a daughter who is almost eleven but she's sleeping right now."

Bridget lay down in the sand and looked up at the sky. "I like it here; I wish I could stay forever."

Her tone of voice surprised BJ, for such a little girl she sounded so melancholy. "Don't you think your Mommy and Daddy would miss you?" He asked teasingly, trying to lighten up the girl's mood.

"Yeah, I guess Mommy would miss me." She sat up and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"Hiya Freckles." Bridget spun around and jumped up to give Hawkeye a hug. "What are you doing up so early?"

Bridget grabbed his hand and pulled him over to sit next to her, sandwiching herself between the two men. "I just woke up."

Hawkeye nodded and tweaked her nose. "Oh I see. Do you want to do a little exploring before breakfast?" He asked her. She nodded enthusiastically.

"Can BJ come too?"

"Of course he can." Hawkeye looked at BJ.

BJ stood up and stretched. "Sorry, but I should get back to the rest of the family."

"Okay Beej; let Margaret know where we are when she wakes up will ya?"

"Margaret? Margaret has a daughter?" He asked incredulously. "I didn't even know she was married!"

Hawkeye smiled cynically. "It's Mrs. Penobscott…again."

Hawkeye extended his hand to the little girl and she latched onto him as they walked along the beach towards the woods. BJ watched them puzzling over what he had just learned. He wasn't sure what it was but something just didn't seem to fit.


Margaret awoke to excited shout near their cabin. She struggled out of bed, and looked around in the adjoining room as her eyes adjusted to the light. Donald had fallen asleep in an armchair, an empty beer bottle in his right hand. Bridget wasn't on the couch so Margaret scanned the room and noticed that her daughter's small, yellow suitcase was open, clothes tossed around it. She concluded that Bridget must have gone outside to play. Margaret went back into the other room to change. She dug a light blue sundress out from the bottom of her suitcase. It was wrinkled but she slipped it on anyway. She washed her face at the small "kitchen" sink and then glanced at Donald. He was still sleeping soundly so she slipped on her shoes and a cream colored sweater and quietly went outside.

The rainstorm the previous night had been swept away leaving the air sparkling clean. She inhaled deeply and moved towards the shouting. She came upon the lake and gasped in delight. As she surveyed the beautiful surroundings she spotted a woman watching three children play on the beach.

"Hello," she said as she approached the woman. "I'm Margaret."

The woman smiled. "I'm glad to finally meet you. I'm Peg Hunicutt."

"Are these your children?"

"Yes, the oldest one is Erin; she'll be eleven soon. The next is Ben, he's seven. The youngest is Brian, he's only four."

Margaret smiled as she watched the children playing. They all had BJ's sandy hair and light complexion.

"Margaret!" Margaret turned around and saw BJ jogging towards them. "How are you Major?" He asked as he gave her a warm and friendly hug.

"Margaret, come here." Margaret blushed deeply at the sound of her husband's stern voice. She attempted to flash a smile at BJ and Peg and hurriedly walked towards her husband. He possessively grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

"What was that about?" Peg asked her husband curiously.

BJ sighed and put his arm around her. "I'm not sure Peg. I'm not sure."


"So what do you think of Maine Bridget?" Bridget flopped backwards in the grass and exhaled loudly.

"I love it here!" Hawkeye laughed and sat down beside her. They were seated on a grassy slope next to a cliff, overlooking the ocean. To their right a set stairs traveled down along the cliff to the beach. "Can my mommy and me stay here with you?"

Hawkeye laughed nervously at the child's absurd question. "Don't you think your daddy would miss you?"

"Not really." She said simply. She jumped up as she saw a little bird lying on the ground. "Look he's hurt!" Hawkeye stood up and followed her, wondered at the little girl's obvious dislike of her father. "What's wrong with him Hawkeye?"

Hawk bent over and gently ran his finger along the tiny blue bird's wing. "Nothing seems wrong, maybe he fell and hurt one of his wings."

Bridget looked sown at the tiny animal, her eyes filling with tears. "Can you fix him?" She looked up at him pleadingly.

As Hawkeye looked into her bright blue eyes he knew there wasn't a chance he could tell her no. "Alright, but we better keep it in the house so it doesn't bother your mother." Bridget's tears disappeared almost instantly as she threw her arms around his neck. Hawkeye took off his sweater and gently wrapped the bird in it and handed the bundle to Bridget.

"Come on Freckles, let's head back."


"What is wrong with you?" Margaret jerked her arm away from her husband. "That was humiliating!"

"You're my wife and I won't have you throwing yourself on other men!" He whispered fiercly into her ear.

"Throwing myself at him? Donald, he's an old friend! That was his wife standing next to him!" Margaret was shaking with furry. Donald only glared at her before walking back to the cabin. Still seething, Margaret stomped off towards the woods. She had been walking for about ten minutes and her anger slowly changed to despair. She sat down suddenly and pulled her knees to her chest. She stared forward, not really seeing what was in front of her. Against her will tears piled up behind her eyelids and spilled onto her cheeks. She wiped them away angrily. She was tired of being constantly degraded and humiliated. She only put up with it for Bridget's sake. The little girl needed her Daddy.

"Mommy!" Margaret ducked her face behind her hair while she attempted to hide her emotions. She looked up and smiled but Bridget instinctively knew something was wrong. Bridget looked sadly at her mother. "Did Daddy get mad at you?" She whispered. Margaret wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to upset Bridget.

"What's wrong?" The voice was Hawkeye's. Margaret struggled to her feet while she brushed off the back of her dress.

"Nothing I wish to discuss with you." Margaret said harshly. She regretted her tone the instant she said it. She couldn't really help herself, she felt so awkward when she was around him.

"That's the consequence of a bad decision." She told herself. "Come on Bridget let's go."

"Mommy look at what I found." She said, showing her mother the bundle with the bird. "Hawkeye said he'd help me fix it." Margaret sighed; she didn't like her daughter forming a relationship with this man.

"That's nice of him. Let's go now; Daddy's probably looking for us." Margaret practically dragged Bridget towards the cabins leaving Hawkeye staring after them. He wondered at Margaret's strange behavior. What had happened to make her so miserable around him? He shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets. Deprived of his companion, Hawkeye sullenly walked back to the house.