Chapter Twenty-One

By this time it was going on three o'clock. The fair would be open two more days. Cam had a puppy locked up in the barn who needed a run and she'd promised Mike he could play with Duncan when they got home. They needed to leave while it was still daylight in order to see what they were doing. Daisy had insisted on helping with the dinner preparations so that Cam could take care of her pet.

The group got back to the McAllisters' house around 4PM. It took longer than usual because they had to work their way through the crowd of fairgoers and do a couple of errands on the way. David McAllister had an order of medical supplies to pick up and Gordon had some stationary. While they were in there Cam bought peppermint sticks for Mike and Jess who was as notorious for having a sweet tooth as Cam or Mike's friends.

"Aren't you afraid they'll ruin their appetite for dinner/" Daisy asked.

"By the time they give Duncan a good run, and play with him for a bit," Hannah laughed, "they'll be plenty hungry."

Daisy had her doubts except where Jess was concerned. Of her three "charges" he was the hardest one to keep filled up.

Hannah was right. Two hours later, when the roast beef and such was on the table, all three were ready to dig in once the blessing had been said.

Jess was limping slightly and Mike was a bit subdued. Duncan had been banished to his corner. The puppy had gotten away from Mike and chased one of the barn cats up a tree. Since Cam was wearing a dress, instead of pants, it was Jess who had climbed the tree to retrieve the frightened feline. Unfortunately, this particular cat hated men and gave him such a hard time that he slipped coming down and twisted his ankle some. He also had scratches on his hand and one sleeve of his shirt had gotten torn.

Slim smirked but he and Gordon both kept their mouths shut. Both Daisy and Hannah were glaring at them as if they knew what was going through their heads. It was a good thing Jess was too busy eating to notice.

When dinner was over, and the dishes washed, Dr. McAllister insisted on taking a look at Jess' ankle.

"It's not too bad. Soak it and stay off of it the rest of tonight until fair time tomorrow and it should be fine by the time the dance starts around seven-thirty. He grinned knowingly at the younger man. "It won't keep you from going to the dance if you take it easy."

"I might have to change my mind about going," Cam said. "I can just see the poor pitiful me look on his face as he limps around the dance floor tomorrow night."

"You're forgetting the part about how all the prettiest girls will flock around him wanting to wait on him hand and foot," Slim threw in his two cents worth.

"You have a point," the girl said remembering the looks her hosts had gotten at the dance they'd briefly attended before a bully had assaulted Cam and ruined the night for her, just when she was beginning to have fun.

Jess ignored the jibes and continued petting Duncan next to whom he had settled on the floor. Gordon was grinning as he listened while starting a fire in the fireplace.

"Sounds familiar," he commented. "When we were twenty - just before the war started - Mattie got thrown by the horse he was riding. He wasn't hurt except for a couple of scratches and a black eye where the tree branch that caused his fall hit him. The girls sure made a big fuss over him for days though. It was a week before they got tired of his phony aches and pains and helplessness."

"Hey! I wasn't thrown," Slim stated emphatically. "That crazy colt deliberately ran under that low hanging branch!"

His friends dissolved in laughter at the indignant tone in his voice and the look on his face.

Mike didn't notice. Two days of travel, a day at the fair and plenty of fresh air and exercise playing with Duncan, had caught up with him. The little boy was sound asleep on the floor, his head pillowed on one arm.

Jess saw it and went to pick him up and take him up to bed just as Cam got up from her seat.

"No, Cam," he said. 'You've put him to bed every night since we got here. It's my turn."

The girl opened her mouth to protest but Slim backed his partner up.

"Let Jess do it Cam,. Mike's our responsibility, not yours. I know you're stronger than you look but Mike's heavier than you think he is."

He rose to follow Jess. Back at home he and Jess usually oversaw Mike's bedtime preparations whenever possible while Daisy heard his prayers and double checked that he had done everything and was tucked in with a good night kiss. She would do the same here so long as she knew she wouldn't embarrass Slim and Jess by walking in on them dressed in nothing but their long johns.

Fifteen minutes later they were downstairs again reporting that Mike hadn't roused while they got him into a nightshirt and tucked in. Duncan thumped his tail on the hearth when he saw Jess come back. The Texan made himself comfortable on the floor next to the puppy playing with Duncan's ears and tail.