Growing Up McCullough

Chapter 10: The Talks…

"AA, Au, AA, you sit and rest, I'll see to the coffee. Bill how about you get the cups," said Flint, as he pulled out a chair for Mary.

"Oh, Flint really, I can manage, you men have a seat," she said nodding toward the others.

"Mary dear, humor me; it has been a long day," whispered Flint in her ear, as he helped her ease herself into the chair.

"Very well, dear if you insist. There is an applesauce cake under the tin on the cabinet if you will be so kind as to bring some plates and forks, Bill," said Mary smiling up at Flint.

Everyone took and seat, as Flint poured the coffee and Bill sliced the cake.

"What did you find out from the Doctor Flint?" asked Tom.

"Doc says; Roy's clawed up pretty bad, but he should heal just fine. His biggest concern is whether or not that cat was rabid. He sent Shawn and Mike to bring in the carcass. He says there's a doctor in Denver who can test to see if the animal was infected. He says all we can do is wait and see," answered Flint as he sat down at the head of the table.

"Scares me just thinking about it; I can't Imagine how Carl must have felt having to watch. What can we do to help?" asked Ty.

"Doc says; Roy will have to stay in town with him for a the next few days; says it will take about two weeks to hear back from the doctor over in Denver and that's after we get the carcass to him. Other than that, I need some of the men to go into town and try and get Carl to come on back to the Ranch. Doc says that he hasn't left Roy's side or slept a wink."

"I can do that Flint. First thing in the morning," said Bill.

"Thanks, Bill, but I think we've gotta bigger job right here for the time being; we've gotta decide how and what to tell the boys. They're bound to try and blame themselves. After all; Roy and Carl were out looking for them when it happened," remarked Flint taking a long drink and squeezing Mary's hand.

"You're right; we've gotta be careful. We've got to make sure they understand that there's no use swapping blame; what's done is done and what they need to do now is step in and help shoulder the load, so Roy and Carl can recover and get back to work," said Tom.

"We better decide what to say now. It'll be all over town and all the men here will know soon as Shawn and Mike haul that cat in," explained Ty.

"Tom Bill, and Ty, why don't you and the boys stay for supper, that way you can tell all the boys at once," suggested Mary.

"That's a good idea, then later tonight we can each sit down and talk man to man and answer any questions," agreed Flint.

"Fellas, I want you to know that I don't mean to overstep my bounds, but if I understood Charlie right this morning; he said that Mary had promised to work the boys to a frazzle cleaning and a polishing for her. I think we should stand behind her and enforce her decision," said Flint.

"I don't have a problem with that; sounds like a good way to pay Miss Mary back for all the worry and keep them busy and out of trouble all at the same time," said Tom. Bill and Ty each nodding their heads in approval.

Meanwhile back in Laredo…

Captain Parmalee looked down at his pocket watch; it lacked about ten minutes, but he figured it had been about an hour since Matt had gone into his room. Time; it was getting late; time to have that talk and get to bed; morning was going to come mighty early. He stood and placed his pipe on the mantle before crossing to Matt's door. He rapped once then opened the door.

Matt's school books were neatly stacked on the desk and the young man lay stretched across the bed staring into space still fully dressed.

Captain Parmalee stepped to the side of the bed and stopped, resisting the urge to reach out and land a firm swat on the knicker clad backside to get his rookie's attention.

"Thought I told you to be dressed and ready for bed? If this is how you follow orders, maybe I didn't fill my role as father well enough," he said in his stern fatherly tone and raised one eyebrow; fighting not to laugh as he watched Matt clamor off the bed and stand at attention.

"Sorry Captain, I just thought I'd change after we talked..." said Matt; his voice dropping as he watch a look of disapproval on the captain's face.

Captain Parmalee crossed his arms and cleared his throat before continuing. "Tonight's not about thinking; it's about following orders… hum...tell me, Matthew, if it had been you father that told you to be dressed and ready for bed, what would you have done?" came the Captain's stern reply.

"...been…changed for…bed, captain… Sir..." answered Matt dropping his head and turning red.

"Alright then for this assignment we are father and son so get yourself changed, and be quick about it!" demanded the Captain, as he crossed to the desk pulled out the chair and spun it around taking a seat while he waited for Matt to change.

Matt groaned and started unbuttoning his shirt turning his back on the captainas he went. Dropping the shirt on the bed he grabbed his night shirt, wondering to himself if it was possible to die of embarrassment. Dropping the nightshirt over his head, he began the torturous task of removing his trousers; the simple act of pushing them down rekindled the sting of the still tender flesh.

Noticing Matt wince captain Parmalee started to worry.

"Do you have need of some salve? He asked starting to stand.

"No Sir, I'm fine; just sore; nothing that needs attention," answered Matthew hurriedly stepping out of the clothes and turning to face the captain as his face turned blood red.

"Into bed then, son, and before you protest, I'm not trying to embarrass you, but you will be much more comfortable and inclined to listen while we talk. If you're not sitting on your sore backside. As my father used to say; your mind can only absorb what your seat can endure," quoted the Captain giving Matt a much softer look.

He grinned as he watched Matt carefully climb into bed squirming to get comfortable under the covers-finally coming to rest on his side with his head propped on his elbow.

"After breakfast you will hitch the buckboard and we will go talk to Mr. Clawson. I'm going to tell him you will spend Saturday repainting his store. You can probably expect him to make reference to whether or not you were sufficiently punished. Can you make a believable apology?" asked the Captain.

"Yes sir, I know I can," answered Matt.

"Aright then, we will play the rest by ear. Now, I want to say something man to man. I know that you think that I am being a little tough on you, but SON, being a Texas Ranger is a dangerous business. We never know what we are up against. We work as a team; we never go out alone. To do that, we have to have order, and we have to follow orders; every order not just the ones that you think are important. When you went against orders and took out on your own you could have been in real danger, you had no way to tell what you were wading into. I understand that you didn't see any danger in pretending to be a schoolboy trying to stop a bunch of misbehaving children. But, what if the boys and their pranks are not the problem maybe there is something bigger going on. I have only been on the case for two days now and already, I have learned that every time a store gets vandalized, somewhere else in town money is taken. The second flaw in your plan was that there was no one here to know that something had gone wrong. Just by the nature of our work we have to know that we can completely rely on one another. We have to know that when the chips are down we can count on each other. Each group of rangers must become a family, even closer, we have to learn to know the other man's move before he makes it. When we work as a family; no matter what comes our way, we can know that some way somehow a ranger has got our back. Does that make any sense?" asked the Captain with a smile.

"I think sir, you're just doing your best to keep me safe and teach me to be the best ranger I can be. You're saying that I need to work with the team and maybe think things through more before jumping in," answered Matt looking toward the Captain.

Captain Parmalee leaned forward, "By sneaking around on your own you exposed yourself to even more danger, no one knew where you were or even what you were up too. Mr. Clawson would have been within his rights to have entered that feed room guns blazing ending your career as a ranger before you started."

"But Captain, Mr. Green, he knew what I was doing. I even made him promise that if anything went wrong he would get in touch with you," answered Matt suddenly remembering that he had thought to tell someone.

"Oh did you, and it's been more than twenty-four hours since you were arrested and he hasn't turned up yet. Did you get any background information on Mr. Green before you took the job? The first rule of undercover is to know as much as you can about the people you're working for," said Captain Parmalee. "What would you have done if we hadn't gotten back when we did?" asked the Captain.

"Been in a real mess. Hoping that the sheriff would believe me when I told him who I really was...Sir."

"Without official assignment papers signed by me; he could have left you sitting in jail until your story could be clarified. That's pretty shaky ground to stand on don't you think?" scoffed Captain Parmalee.

"Yes Sir, I'm sorry, you're right. I just didn't think of all that. I guess it was more dangerous than I thought. I really was acting like a schoolboy just wanting to see some action," answered Matt honestly.

"Precisely why I decided to address matters the way I did.

Better that you have a red face and sore backside from me, then be shot, killed, or taken hostage. You follow orders from here on out and you and I will do fine. If you don't..."

"I know I know! You'll know why, Pop," smirked Matt.

"Feeling cheeky are we, you just watch your step," said the Captain standing and placing the chair back into place, convinced that Matt had finally gotten the point.

"Night Pop, sorry for all the trouble," said Matt turning onto his stomach.

"Pop, is it I'll give you a pop," he said making a quick step toward the bed and raising his hand.

Matt flipped onto his back so fast that the captain had to laugh. "Night son see you in the morning," he said blowing out the lamp.

Meanwhile Back to Cumberland California…

"Pa, I'm really sorry for all the trouble that I have caused. I know that you said that we should not look for fault in Roy's accident, but still I feel really bad. If we hadn't disobeyed and gone out looking for trouble things would be different," said Henry, as he and Tom unsaddled their horses.

"Son, we could 'if' this thing to death. The best thing to do now is to put it behind us and do what you can to help Roy and Carl get better. How about a cup of coffee before we hit the hay?" asked Tom turning toward the stove.

"That would be good. What can I do to help them get better; I'm not a doctor?" asked Henry easing self-down onto the overstuffed chair, as he watched Tom stoke the fire and start the coffee to boil.

"There's lots of things you boys can do to help. First off; there are going to be extra chores. Besides that, you can visit with Roy and keep him company he going to have to stay in bed for a while," answered Tom.

"But. Pa I can't sit down and visit with him; he probably won't t even want me around. Heck, as much trouble as I've been you're probably wishing that you were shed of me by now," groused Henry hanging his head.

"Hold it right there, boy!" growled Tom, coming to sit in the chair next to Henry.

"Let's get one thing straight right now! When I decided to take on the job of being your Pa, I knew that you weren't going to be perfect -, heck I even knew that you were going to try my patience from time to time. I was right certain that you and I were not going to see eye to eye on every decision. When I met you; I seen a boy; a young-man, that needed someone almost as badly as I need someone. You're not trouble to be shed of, you're my son. Sure, I'm not proud of what you did, that's why I tanned your sorry hide; so you might think twice before you did it again. But, Henry nothing that you did or for that matter may do in the future will ever make me want shed of you. You're my son. You're stuck with me boy!" Said Tom pulling him into a quick hug.

"Thanks Pa. I caused so much trouble, I don't know how I'm going to make amends to everyone," groaned Henry.

"Well, you can start by getting up and pouring us a cup of that coffee. That and the tanning clears the slate between you and me. Then starting tomorrow, you will be doing chores for Mrs. McCullough, whatever she comes up with you will do, and that is in addition to your regular chores. When she dismisses you, you will check with Mr. McCullough. And then after that if you have any free time, you will be spending it at the jailhouse with me or in your room. Any questions asked Tom.

"Just one sir...how long?" asked Henry almost afraid to hear the answer, as he handed his Pa the cup.

"Well, let's see there are three weeks until Christmas, so let say until Christmas morning. Now I think it's time you got to bed you're going to have to get up early to get your chores done and get to the McCullough's by eight," said Tom.

Back at the Ranch…

"You, my dear look ready to drop off," sighed Flint, as he sat on the sofa, Mary resting in his arms.

"No more than you, my love, it has been a long day all around. I'm sure that I will sleep well tonight. I have to admit that I am more than ready turn in."

"Excuse me, Dad, you said if I needed to talk..."

Flint startled as he looked up. Mark stood at the top of the staircase looking down at both of them.

" Yes of course son come on down and have a seat."

"Dad, can we talk in private? It's not that I don't want you to know mom; I promise. it's just that I want to talk man to man..." answered Mark as he slowly descended the stairs and came to a stop in front of the sofa.

"Very well you mind waiting while I see your mother upstairs?" he asked as he helped

Mary to her feet.

"No Sir," answered Mark as he rolled his eyes at their kissing.

"Night son, your dad will be right back," said Mary kissing Mark on the check as they passed.

~oOo~

"Pa, if I get up extra early, can I ride into town and see Roy and Carl. I just want to tell them in person that I am sorry," asked Barnaby as he sat on the edge of his bed; fresh tears in his eyes.

"Yes, son if that's what you need to do. Do you want me to come along?" asked Bill laying a hand on Barney's shoulder.

"No Sir, I have to do this on my own. But, Pa… thanks for asking."

~oOo~

Several Days Later At The Ranch…

Flint coughed as he came through the back door. "Boy's aaagh… boys stop," he choked out.

"But, dad, mom said that she wants this floor swept mopped and dry before the little ones come back down stairs, we have to hurry?" explained Mark as the dust started to settle.

"Be that as it may, Kevin go ahead and carry that rug out and hang it on the corral fence, be careful not to let it drag in the dirt," said Flint before turning back to Mark and Barney.

"Do you want to clean the stove sink and counters before supper? Asked Flint giving the two boys a stern look.

"No sir, we've already worked more than six hours, Sir," answered Barney.

"Then, I think you had better both slow down. Start in the kitchen and both sweep the same direction."

"Good idea, come on Barney, let's start in that corner," suggested Mark.

"You boys know how to sweep, "Mark where's your mom?" asked Flint, satisfied that the job would now be done properly.

"Upstairs," Mark answered without even looking up.

Flint smiled as he climbed the stairs and made his way to the bedroom.

"I've brought you some mail there's a letter from your sister and a wire from Matthew, "he said as he lay the mail aside and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Mary Beamed as she thought of Christmas and seeing Matt. "When does it say he will be here; I can hardly wait," she enthused as she waited for Flint to answer.

Flint didn't say a word. He sat down beside her on the bed taking her hand before opening the wire to read.

Mary's eyes began to tear; she knew that something was wrong by the look on Flint's face.

"Now mother don't you start crying, the message doesn't say he's not coming; it just says he may be delayed. Nothing to cry over," comforted Flint squeezing her hand.

"I know you're probably right. I was just so looking forward to seeing my baby," sighed Mary dabbing at her eyes with the hanky from her pocket.

"You just keep counting. The letter says that he is fine just has to finish some undercover work that's all. Why don't you dry your tears and read Katherine's letter?" he suggested hugging he to him.

"I'm just being foolish. I can read it later. Right now, I had better get back down there or those boys will have undone all the good they have done," sighed Mary laying aside the letter as she started to get up again.

"I said, stay put I got things down stairs under control you just sit back and enjoy your letters. I'll be working in my office for a while and keep an eye on things from there. See you later when the little ones wake up," said Flint leaning over and kiss Mary on the forehead. Mary conceded she may as well do as he said and stay put, wiping her tears once more she reached for Katherine's letter and settled back.

Luke was pacing back and forth in the barn…he just had to meet Robbie behind the livery; with all the chaos and confusion he had almost forgotten he had an injustice to right. Luke muttered to himself as he tried to justify his actions. In his head. his dad hadn't exactly been talking to him personally when he restricted everyone to the ranch until he said different; he just said there had been enough shenanigans and that they, meaning the mighty hunter; could just expect to keep themselves busy at the ranch until he said different. He hadn't been hunting he was seeking justice; that was different; reasoned Luke as he began saddling Thunder. Content with his reasoning, but still hoping to get back before he was missed. He carefully looked both ways before cautiously opening the barn door and leading Thunder toward the back gate.

~oOo~

"Charlie, Ole pal, I'm a tellin' you that them boys have been near tripping over themselves, trying to make things right. Henry he's a doing my chores, Barney;he's' been a reading to me and a fetching and a totin. and that youngn' Kevin he's been a fussin' over me and Carl both," said Roy groaning as he tried to sit a little straighter.

"Let me help you there, Mister Roy, Sir," said Kevin sliding in out of nowhere as if he'd been called.

"Thought I told you to scat on out of here while I sat and talked with ole Charlie," spat Roy before starting to cough.

"I was helping honest sir, we… that is Barney and I was just hang a rug on the fence when I heard you groan and thought you might be needing something," answered Kevin as he gently placed an extra pillow behind Roy.

"Thank ya boy, but now I'm fine so you can run along. Charlie and Carl will see to me if I need seen' to until supper, now scat," grumbled Roy with a slight laugh that left him holding his side. "See what I'm sayin' and it's all day and half the night; if it ain't one it the other, why even the little ones made a trip out this morning to sing me a song. Only, one I haven't seen is that middle redhead of the bosses'. Come to think of it, I ain't seen him near a time since they toted me home. Boss ain't gone and locked him up has he?" asked Roy with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Shucks, no; gave him a right good tanning and restricted him to the ranch, and gave him lots of extra chores same as the other three, but that and a good long talkin' too is all. Fact is, I heard Flint tell all four of the boys to help out where they could until you and Carl was back on your feet," answered Charlie.

"Well then next time you see the boy, you tell him to stop in and see me," said Roy as he laid back and closed his eyes.

"I'll do just that. Looks like you getting ready to nap again. I best get on outta here and get some supper on before the men get back and think I done gone and forgot my job round here," laughed Charlie getting to his feet and making his way to the door.

TBC

Author's note Thanks for your support sorry it took so long.