A distant night bird mocks the sun
Chapter 25 the road is rough
It was their first morning at the ranch house and the guys received a 4:30am wake up call from Mike's Aunt who wanted them to get an early start on the morning chores.
"Come on boys, lets rise and shine there's work to be done."said Aunt Kate
"Aren't we at least going to have our breakfast first?"asked a sleepy davy
"To earn a meal around here, you need to earn it by doing a bit of hard work first."aunt Kate sighed
"Come on fellas, lets get started because the sooner we get stuff done, the sooner we can rest and have break fast. "Mike said with a yawn
"Hey mike, next time you have to come down here for anything, leave me out of it."said Micky
"You really shouldn't say that Micky, since for all we know maybe helping Mike's aunt wont be as bad as you might assume it to be."said Peter
"Keep telling yourself that pete."Micky said as he patted his friend on the shoulder
After they changed their clothes, the guys headed outside where Aunt Kate had already placed a list of things they needed to do around the ranch. Fighting over who should read the list, Micky decided to compromise and started tearing the paper into little strips and handed the others each of the newly torn list.
Going their separate ways, each monkee got started on the chore they were supposed to do. Deciding to see how her brother and his three friends were going to do with their chores, Stephanie quietly snuck out the back door while her Aunt and two cousins weren't looking.
Walking to the chicken coop where a very confused Micky was standing Scratching his curly Brown hair.
"Oh hi there. "said Micky "maybe you can help me out here."
"You have no idea what you're doing, do you? "Said Stephanie
"No, not really."Micky said sheepishly
"I'm gonna show you just once what to do, and then you're on your own, okay."Stephanie sighed
Showing Micky how to gather some of the eggs, Stephanie figured she could leave him alone to do his task and then went to go see how the others were doing. Finding Peter and Davy next, Stephanie stood outside of the barn while peter tried milking the cow and Davy took care of the horses.
"How are you fellas doing out here?"asked Stephanie
"So far so good. "said Davy as he continued to brush the horses
"What about you, how's old bossy treating ya?"Stephanie sighed
"We're doing just fine."Peter said proudly
"Let me guess, Aunt kate sent you out here to spy, or this is all your own doing."Mike said as he approached the others
Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, Stephanie was interrupted by Davy who told Mike that his sister was just wondering how everyone was doing.
"Go easy on your sister Mike, she was just being nice is all."said Davy
"Uh huh."said Mike as he stared at his sister
Avoiding eye contact with her brother, the four of them soon heard the sound of Micky screaming for help. Stopping what they were doing, they ran to the chicken coop where Micky was chasing the chickens to try putting them back in the coop.
"Micky, what in the world happened?"asked Mike
"Now is not the time for questions Mike."said Stephanie as she ran after the chickens along with Peter and Davy
After running around the entire ranch, the five of them managed to catch all of the chickens and were complete exhausted as Aunt Kate finally called them inside for breakfast.
Walking toward the house, Peter decided to ask Micky how the chickens got loose.
"Hey Micky, what did happen?"asked Peter
"Pete, you wouldn't believe me even if I could believe it myself. "Micky sighed
"Is it too late to go home?"asked Davy
Heading in the house, they all sat down at the table along with Aunt Kate, Clara and Lucy who were all shocked by the way the others looked.
"What in heaven's name happened to the five of you?"asked Aunt Kate
"It's a long story, which we all would just like to forget. "Mike sighed
Whatever happened today, best not happen again tomorrow. "said aunt Kate as she drank some of her coffee
Exchanging glances at one another, the five of them sat quietly through breakfast, and once they were done the five of them quickly left the house and all asked Mike what they should do next.
"So Mike, what's there around here to do for fun?"asked Micky
"There's an old swimming hole around here, if y'all wanna go for a swim."said Mike
"That sounds like fun. "Peter said with a grin
"Only there ain't no more swimming hole."said Stephanie
"Okay, so what else is there to do?"asked Davy
"I haven't been here in years, so I have no idea."said Mike
"I could show you guys around, the places where I usually hang around if y'all don't mind a teenage tour guide. "Said Stephanie
"I'm not sure about them, but I wouldn't mind if you were to show me around your home town."said Davy smiling
"I bet you would. "said Mike "so kid show us the way. "
Not sure where she would take them, Stephanie climbed into the car with the guys and told Mike the places where she wanted to take them to. Although the last time she had spent any time with her brother was five years ago, Stephanie tried to not show that she was beginning to have a good time with her brother and the guys.
After spending the remainder of the day, laughing and joking around, Mike finally headed back to the ranch where he was met by a very unhappy Aunt.
"Where have the two of you been?"asked Aunt Kate
"I was showing Mike and his friends around town, since they wanted to know what people do around here for fun. "said Stephanie
"You're supposed to tell me where you're going, before wandering off to god knows where. "said Aunt Kate
"Hang on Aunt Kate, I was the one who was driving the car so I take the blame."said Mike
"As for you, you should have more common sense when it comes to minding your sister. "Said Aunt Kate crossing her arms
"Well, maybe if you would have let me take steph with me when I left this place, then maybe you wouldn't have to worry about what happened today. "said Mike
"What makes you think that you can handle a teenage girl?"asked Aunt Kate
"Mike's plenty responsible, he takes care of us all the time."said Peter
"Hey Pete, this doesn't involve us, so maybe we should go and let mike and his Aunt handle this whole situation."said Micky
Once the guys left, Mike and Stephanie were now standing alone with their Aunt who, was still scolding both of them for what they had done. Wondering why his Aunt still didn't trust him enough to take over raising his sister, Mike decided to just walk away from the conversation before he gets angry and says something that he might regret later on.
Knowing that no matter how old she gets she would still be treated like a baby by her Aunt, Stephanie went inside the house and upstairs into her mothers old room which had never changed in the past five years.
Sitting down on the floor, Stephanie placed her head in her hands, and let out a disappointing sigh. Realizing that she needed to leave her Aunt's house, Stephanie knew that she would have to ask Mike if she can go with him and his friends when they leave for California.
Spending a few more minutes in her mother's room, Stephanie finally left and saw her brother in the hallway.
"Hey kid, you okay?"asked Mike
"Not really. "Stephanie sighed "because as long as I'm here I'm gonna be treated as a little kid. "
"Look Aunt Kate means well, and even though she may seem not too easy to deal with, she loves you and that's all that matters."said Mike
"Mike, do you think that I can go to California with you and your friends whenever you leave here?"asked Stephanie
"I would love to take you kid, but whether you can come along or not is entirely up to our Aunt. "Mike sighed
"Forget I even asked. "Stephanie sighed with disappointment " I just have to face the fact that I'm stuck here."
Walking down the hallway to her own room, Stephanie was once again angry with Mike for not being able to get her out of their Aunt's house. Already having to leave her behind once, Mike knew that he had to try convincing his Aunt to let him bring his sister home with him the day he and the guys get ready to leave for home.