Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
April 14, 1907
All the little children gathered on the green around the may pole outside the Chippewa Falls Lower School. It was three weeks until the annual May Day celebration and rehearsals begin today. Miss Law, the cold and frightening teacher of the younger children was doing roll call.
"Stephen?"
"Here."
"Julia?"
"Here."
"Susan?"
"John?"
"Here."
"Elizabeth?"
"Here."
"Emily? .Emily? Emily Dawson? Does anybody know where she's run off to now?"
By this time Emily was half way to the Upper School where classes had just let out and they didn't have to do the stupid may pole dance. They had been fitted for their costumes today, too. Emily was wearing a pastel pink dress and a garland of flowers on her head, which she absolutely detested. She tore off the garland, and a minute later decided, well screw the dress, too. She waited in front of the school while the older children filed out of the building. Some stopped to laugh at the little girl in her underwear. One of them came up to her.
"Now something's different about you, but I can't quite place it." said Tobey Jackson, a medium-sized boy with dark blond hair, and notorious goofball. He looked unsurprised, but still stared at her like she had eight heads.
"I'm not wearin' no vomit pink dress with a bee hotel on my head anymore!"
"Calm down, Little D.you are aware you're walkin' around in broad daylight in your unmentionables?"
"Like anyone cares; I'm not even eight yet.but I will be eight in-"
"Three months."
"Exactly three months!"
Laughter immediately burst out from across the lawn. Three others, all around fourteen like Tobey, approached Tobey and Emily. Judy Parker: a sweet faced, maternal girl with golden brown hair and dark eyes, Milo Shaw: a short and stout boy, sometimes called "The Little Tea Pot" by Tobey. He had bushy, uneven black hair and wore thick glasses. The one laughing the loudest was the one who taught Emily most of her tricks, her elder cousin: Jack Dawson. I'm going on a hunch that he needs no introduction.
"I'm not explainin' this to the folks." Jack laughed. 'The Folks' was the common term between Jack and Emily for all four of their parents. All six living Dawsons lived in the same house on the family farm.
"I'm not doing the stupid may pole again!" She crossed her arms angrily.
"What's the big deal? It's just a little dance.even if letting go of the ribbon means death." Milo said, not trying to scare the girl, but recalling his own experiences.
"You have to wear ridiculous clothes, especially if you're a girl and you have to practice with Miss Law every week after school." Judy pointed out. The boys shuddered at the reminder of Miss Law. Now they had Miss Taylor who was young, beautiful, and fun. All the boys in the Upper School had a crush on her, including our three-actually Miss Taylor was more of a diversion. In fact, the boys, (Milo, Jack, and Tobey, that is) truly pined for Judy. Judy being more or less a tomboy thought no boy had ever fancied her.
The five of them walked home towards the outskirts of town. They all lived on the same road. The Shaws had an apple orchard; The Dawson raised cows, chickens, and corn, Judy's father was Dr. Parker who was apprenticed to Dr. Burke before he retired, and Mr. Jackson was the local blacksmith.
Along the way Emily's may pole rebellion had sparked an idea in Jack's head. After all, May Day in their town was always dreadfully boring. It was time to spice it up a bit. By the time they reached the old tree house in back of Shaw's Orchard they had all agreed and began working on a plan. As payback for the suffering of May Days past the town misfits had the most brilliant plan of revenge: toppling the May Pole. It sounds silly, and perhaps it was, but they planned to do it in style. It would mean Emily would have to bare a little heat and show up to rehearsals, but she was overjoyed to finally be involved.
As tolerant as the teenagers were, the six-year age difference did become a bit of weight for the big kids and made certain conversation topics difficult to have in front of her. Still Emily was a little different than children her age.she was little different than most people. She knew a few things most fourteen year olds didn't not that she didn't remain an innocent to most things. This is best described in an episode that occurred some time before.
***
One and a half years earlier
The bullies at school were picking on Emily quite a bit. Betty Lou Barnes was the meanest girl in first grade, Emily, feisty as she was, also happened to be the smallest. She had threatened to beat Emily up on several occasions and hit her once. She didn't dare tell her parents. It would be too embarrassing to have Maggie 'have a word' with Betty Lou's mother. Margaret Walker Dawson was every bit the fireball her daughter was.
Jack looked on Emily as a little brother and taught as if she were one. He decided to teach her self-defense. After their chores were finished one night Jack decided to begin her training. They were upstairs in Jack's room. Emily stood on a stool.
"Alright, kid, you gotta mean it when you do it. Now it's just like I showed you. What's this one called?" Jack held his hands up to receive his cousin's fists. He felt like a bit of a hypocrite; he'd only been in one fight before-and that was when Willy Dawes said was following Judy around trying to pull up her skirt. Of course then it took the help of Milo and Tobey. Milo was actually more of handicap then a help, but Jack wouldn't let Tobey say anything. Even though they'd tell her she wasn't one of "those girls" and was just one of the guys they protected her fiercely, but never realized until later in their lives that she was the one almost always looking out for them.
"A right hook!" Emily held up her fist in position.
"No, not like that." Jack sighed. Emily narrowed her glare. It was the umpteenth time she'd heard that today. It took her forever the get her fists the right way. And he would never let her punch until he was satisfied. Frustrated, Emily threw a swing at him before he told her to.
She hit him directly in the nose. His head went back and he immediately covered his face. He fell about the room, his nose bleeding all over his face and his shirt. And out of his mouth came the words that would forever dominate Emily's vocabulary.
Later at dinner
"So you stepped on a rake?" Peter asked his son. All the adults suspected something was up.
"Yeah." Jack mumbled. Earlier he swore Emily to silence.
"I'm sure the swelling will go down in a few days." Hannah took another sip of her milk.
"Don't worry, Jackie, the first time I tried to shave I left a gash on my face that stayed for a month. This doesn't look nearly as bad." Joe reassured him. Jack cared less about how he looked compared to not being able to breathe through his nose. *That insane little head case demon child.* "So Emily what did you do today?" asked Maggie.
"Broke Jack's fuckin' nose." answered the six year-old. In one swift motion every adult head snapped in Jack's direction. Jack immediately paled. *Oh shit.* ".but it was an accident honest."
"It hurt so bad! It just came out!" He got up from his chair nearly falling over.
"John Matthew Dawson I would like to know where *you* learned that word!" Hannah rose from her chair as well. ".John, I'm waiting."
"Me." he paused and sighed, "Tobey, Milo, and I used to sneak around the mills sometimes and they talk-talked like.you know there."
"The mills?! Jack!" his mother was in a fury.
"How long have you been going down there?" demanded Peter.
"You mean since when?"
"Oh my God!" shouted all four grown-ups simultaneously.
"Can I go to?" asked Emily.
"No you may not." said Maggie and Joe with growing anger.
"Why in the hell not?"
"Oh my God what else do you two know between the both of you?" Maggie stared at the children.
"I don't know!" Jack lied.
"John Matthew, I am very disappointed in your language and the fact that you exercise no discretion in using it-and passing it on to your six year- old cousin. You are twelve; you should not even hear such words yourself. But I am livid that you went up to those God awful places. They're extremely dangerous! You're never going there again. Do you understand me? Don't even answer; just go upstairs. Take your dinner with you if you like, but do not find yourself in any room I'm in for the rest of this evening." Hannah pointed towards the stairs. Jack followed her orders, wanting to die. Not only was he in trouble with all four adults, but now they would tell the Jacksons and the Shaws about the mills so Milo and Tobey would be mad. Then Judy would be angry at all of them for ditching her.
A few weeks later all was forgiven and the incident was mostly forgotten.mostly. Emily was always on the look out for new forbidden words. Her language got worse from there, which was a particularly shocking thing in the early twentieth century.
***
"Viva la Wisconsin!" they all threw their hands in the air while shouting the group catch phrase. They planned to call most of the school children together and meet in the old tree house the next night.
"This the best idea ever!" Milo cracked. The children walked from the old tree house, crossing through Old Man Ritter's house to get to the pond. They all stopped in their tracks.
"Oh my God. It smells so bad here. Did he die finally?" Judy asked, covering her nose.
"Who gets his stuff then?" Emily asked, wondering if he would have anything she wanted.
"Maybe we should go and check." said Jack.
"Are you crazy, Dawson? If he ain't dead you'll be if you go in there. You know what they say? They say he lost his foot and his mind at Antietam! C'mon, chief, let's just leave 'em. " Tobey pleaded. Old Man Ritter was the town crazy. He hated people in general, but had a particular distaste for kids and people that trespassed on his property. And he *really* hated kids that trespassed on his property.
"Who's there?!" demanded a voice from within the rickety old cabin. All five snapped their heads and ran.
"SHIT!!!!!!" they screamed. They heard shots behind them and ran as fast as their legs would take. Jack carried Emily who was too small to keep up. They were convinced he was shooting directly at them although he always just fired straight up in the air-except once. It was well known fact he shot Billy Hansen in the behind. He was fine, but he couldn't sit down for about three weeks.
Needless to say the kids decided to skip the pond that day and went straight home. They departed and went to their separate homes. Jack opened the door the Dawson home with little pink dress and garland in hand. He couldn't get her to put her clothes back on.
"We're home!" Jack shouted as he closed the door.
"Hi-" Joe had just come in from outside. "Sweetheart, why are you in your underwear?"
"I'm not wearin' that stupid damn outfit this year!"
"Whoa there. Calm down, we'll talk about this at dinner." Emily skipped up to her room. "But next time keep the dress on! Emily, do you hear me?"
"I swear I couldn't even get her to put the dress back on." Jack defended.
"At least she's eight and not eighteen." Joe sighed. Jack laughed. "What?"
"No, you'll get mad."
"No, I won't, I promise."
"Fine, it's actually kind of funny in a sick way, Tobey said, about Em's runnin' around with no clothes and her in general.that she'll either be dead or pregnant by the time she's fifteen." Joe almost laughed.
"That's not funny."
***
The next night the meeting was held outside the old tree house. Judy, Jack, Tobey, and Milo took care of the Upper School and Emily got a lot the younger children from the Lower School to come. Our gang set up early and waited for everyone else.
"Hello over there!" called voices from several yards away. Two seventh graders: Chester Morgan and Andrew Munro.
"What's the password?" Tobey walked up to them.
"Viva la Wisconsin." they answered. Anyone who agreed to plan was told the password to the meeting.
Twenty minutes later they felt they had a good-sized crowd, by now the little ones we're getting antsy.
"Excuse me," a fifth grader raised his hand, "we were to understand there would be punch and pie?" Judy turned to her boys.
"More people will come if they think there'll be punch and pie." said Jack.
"Now that I think about it," said Milo, "I'm allergic to a lot of types of pies."
"You're allergic to everything." said Tobey.
"Shut up, Tobey!"
"Shut up, all of you!" yelled Judy. She turned to the thirty or so extras in front of them. "Sorry about the misunderstanding. There is no punch and pie." Five kids got up and left. After that Jack went on to explain the intricate plan for sabotaging May Day.
"As children we are a second class."
***
One day until May Day. Emily had still been forced to participate in the May Pole as punishment for walking around in public in her underwear. Also, they needed her there for 'the big plan'. Still, she decided to skip the last practice. She stared on at the other children and Miss Law in the distance as she stood atop the hill.
"Drones." She shook her head in disgust.
"You really scare sometimes, you know that?" Jack was behind her. It was a bit creepy hearing a child of her age make a comment like that. "And tomorrow's the day. You need to be there with the other kids."
"They know what to do, besides I can't say anything while Frankenteacher's around."
"You'll get in trouble."
"You were the one who's idea this whole thing is! We're all gonna get in trouble, Jack!"
"Alright, alright calm down, squirt, let's go then." When they got home Maggie and Hannah were in the kitchen.
"I am telling you for the last time he is probably just walking home." Hannah said to Maggie. The two sisters were looking out the window at the man who always walked by in the late afternoon carrying a wooden board. Maggie had appropriately dubbed him 'Board Man'.
"He's a crazy or a weirdo or a stalker or something." Maggie was over the sink and halfway out the window. "One day I'm gonna follow him and find out."
"Honestly, Maggs, you're insane."
"He's creepy and he needs to be exposed-Emily Susannah, did you skip the may pole rehearsal again?" Maggie whipped around after catching her daughter through the corner of her eye.
"I kept the dress on." Emily said, looking at the ground.
"Emily, go wash up. You better be there tomorrow and you better know what you're doing for that dance." She pointed at her with a wooden spoon.
"Don't worry, Mommy, I know what to do."
***
Zero hour. Weeks of planning were coming to fruition. Jack survived the night before-he been rigging pole with Tobey, Judy, Milo, and Roy Belle. He also remembered to add the extra ribbon. He hoped no one noticed or cared there was a bright red ribbon amongst the pink, white, and blue pastels. P It was a beautiful, sunny May 1st in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. It looked like it was going to be another year of bright colors and good wholesome, fun. Jack thought the year before could have been more fun. It rained halfway through, people scattered, the kids were muddy and wet; it was great. But then they had to cancel the rest of it. How's life going to be of you cancel everything for a little rain?
Jack eyed the may pole as he was playing a game at one of the booths. Judy and Tobey had been wandering around elsewhere. Now that they had little more freedom to wander around and not do stupid dances and sing for the adults. They still had to dress up in their Sunday best though. Jack never understood. Dress up for a faire?
"We're gonna get in so much trouble, so much trouble. Oh my God, oh my God." Milo started panicking. Jack gave the guy at the booth a penny for playing and led Milo away.
"Pipe down, Milo. When you're grown-up you'll be thankful you did this. Some people go their whole lives and never do anything. You're one of the main men on the biggest May Day prank in history.Milo, breathe.slowly, in and out, one, two.feel better?"
"Kind of."
The little dancers gathered around the may pole each holding their own little ribbons. Emily rushed to grab the red one. The dance began. The twenty or so small children weaved around each other. Many grown-up hearts broke to see the sight of their precious little ones dancing so prettily. Then Emily Dawson backed away and gave the signal.
"GIRAFFE!!!" she shouted. The other children scattered, Emily pulled on the ribbon as hard as she could, and darted out of the way as the pole came toppling down. She dived into grass, clear from the resounding 'BOOM!' An array of flapped up and floated down.
Not a moment later fireworks shot up from the booths that was supposed to be manned by Roy Belle, Tobey Jackson, and Judy Parker. Main Street became chaos for about ten minutes. People scattered. Then dread set in for most of the children: a few little ones cried, some ran away, and some, you can guess a few of them, laughed.
When they realized the anger coming over the population the five masterminds made a mad dash from the center of town. They ran screaming with their hands out in front of them as if there was no tomorrow.
"I WANT TO DIE!!!" Milo screamed as Jack and Judy dragged him behind the town entrance sign where Tobey and Emily were already hiding under the tall grass.
"Do you think all the police in Chippewa County'll be lookin' for us?" asked Emily. She turned to the other three who had just dived under the sign with them. "So what does it mean when you're the bitch of the group?" Tobey shot her an evil look. "'Cause that's what Tobey said Milo was before." Milo started crying.
"I hate you, Tobey!" he sobbed.
"Great job, Tob." Judy snapped, still barely breathe from all the running.
"Milo, you cry at everything and you always whine and ruin stuff. We're all getting in trouble, half of the kids in town are. And this kind of crap always passes, it's not like we killed anyone. You always have to be this annoying, crying chicken.at heart, you'll always be the fat kid."
"TOBEY! What in the hell is the matter with you?!" Judy yelled. Emily started to feel really guilty she'd asked, but being eight she didn't know any better to realize that it would start this or hurt anybody.
"And you'll always be a complete ass that'll never amount to anything!" Milo growled. The Jacksons were famous in town for being underachievers.
"Everybody stop it! We're all just tense from the prank and everything. We can't act like this. Especially, towards each other." Milo and Tobey fought more than any of them, but this was nastier then usual. "I know this is the biggest thing we've pulled, but get it together guys!" The two boys were still red-faced and not speaking to other, but they stopped fighting. Jack had a strange power about him. It was hard not to trust him or listen to him.
***
It must've have been a record for simultaneous groundings and extras chores in a small town. There wasn't the usual Cinco de Mayo celebration in the Dawson house that year. They never really had any great love for Mexican Independence, but it was Jack's birthday. But after dinner they did have a small celebration with cake and presents.
"Here ya go, son." Peter handed Jack something. Jack took it and unwrapped it. It was a leather portfolio. Jack ran his fingers over it. It smelled beautiful; it felt so smooth. "You can keep your drawings it. I figure your mother gave you the talent," he smiled at his wife, "I'll make sure you keep it safe."
"Thanks, Dad!" It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever owned, at least to his mind-and it always would be.
All the little children gathered on the green around the may pole outside the Chippewa Falls Lower School. It was three weeks until the annual May Day celebration and rehearsals begin today. Miss Law, the cold and frightening teacher of the younger children was doing roll call.
"Stephen?"
"Here."
"Julia?"
"Here."
"Susan?"
"John?"
"Here."
"Elizabeth?"
"Here."
"Emily? .Emily? Emily Dawson? Does anybody know where she's run off to now?"
By this time Emily was half way to the Upper School where classes had just let out and they didn't have to do the stupid may pole dance. They had been fitted for their costumes today, too. Emily was wearing a pastel pink dress and a garland of flowers on her head, which she absolutely detested. She tore off the garland, and a minute later decided, well screw the dress, too. She waited in front of the school while the older children filed out of the building. Some stopped to laugh at the little girl in her underwear. One of them came up to her.
"Now something's different about you, but I can't quite place it." said Tobey Jackson, a medium-sized boy with dark blond hair, and notorious goofball. He looked unsurprised, but still stared at her like she had eight heads.
"I'm not wearin' no vomit pink dress with a bee hotel on my head anymore!"
"Calm down, Little D.you are aware you're walkin' around in broad daylight in your unmentionables?"
"Like anyone cares; I'm not even eight yet.but I will be eight in-"
"Three months."
"Exactly three months!"
Laughter immediately burst out from across the lawn. Three others, all around fourteen like Tobey, approached Tobey and Emily. Judy Parker: a sweet faced, maternal girl with golden brown hair and dark eyes, Milo Shaw: a short and stout boy, sometimes called "The Little Tea Pot" by Tobey. He had bushy, uneven black hair and wore thick glasses. The one laughing the loudest was the one who taught Emily most of her tricks, her elder cousin: Jack Dawson. I'm going on a hunch that he needs no introduction.
"I'm not explainin' this to the folks." Jack laughed. 'The Folks' was the common term between Jack and Emily for all four of their parents. All six living Dawsons lived in the same house on the family farm.
"I'm not doing the stupid may pole again!" She crossed her arms angrily.
"What's the big deal? It's just a little dance.even if letting go of the ribbon means death." Milo said, not trying to scare the girl, but recalling his own experiences.
"You have to wear ridiculous clothes, especially if you're a girl and you have to practice with Miss Law every week after school." Judy pointed out. The boys shuddered at the reminder of Miss Law. Now they had Miss Taylor who was young, beautiful, and fun. All the boys in the Upper School had a crush on her, including our three-actually Miss Taylor was more of a diversion. In fact, the boys, (Milo, Jack, and Tobey, that is) truly pined for Judy. Judy being more or less a tomboy thought no boy had ever fancied her.
The five of them walked home towards the outskirts of town. They all lived on the same road. The Shaws had an apple orchard; The Dawson raised cows, chickens, and corn, Judy's father was Dr. Parker who was apprenticed to Dr. Burke before he retired, and Mr. Jackson was the local blacksmith.
Along the way Emily's may pole rebellion had sparked an idea in Jack's head. After all, May Day in their town was always dreadfully boring. It was time to spice it up a bit. By the time they reached the old tree house in back of Shaw's Orchard they had all agreed and began working on a plan. As payback for the suffering of May Days past the town misfits had the most brilliant plan of revenge: toppling the May Pole. It sounds silly, and perhaps it was, but they planned to do it in style. It would mean Emily would have to bare a little heat and show up to rehearsals, but she was overjoyed to finally be involved.
As tolerant as the teenagers were, the six-year age difference did become a bit of weight for the big kids and made certain conversation topics difficult to have in front of her. Still Emily was a little different than children her age.she was little different than most people. She knew a few things most fourteen year olds didn't not that she didn't remain an innocent to most things. This is best described in an episode that occurred some time before.
***
One and a half years earlier
The bullies at school were picking on Emily quite a bit. Betty Lou Barnes was the meanest girl in first grade, Emily, feisty as she was, also happened to be the smallest. She had threatened to beat Emily up on several occasions and hit her once. She didn't dare tell her parents. It would be too embarrassing to have Maggie 'have a word' with Betty Lou's mother. Margaret Walker Dawson was every bit the fireball her daughter was.
Jack looked on Emily as a little brother and taught as if she were one. He decided to teach her self-defense. After their chores were finished one night Jack decided to begin her training. They were upstairs in Jack's room. Emily stood on a stool.
"Alright, kid, you gotta mean it when you do it. Now it's just like I showed you. What's this one called?" Jack held his hands up to receive his cousin's fists. He felt like a bit of a hypocrite; he'd only been in one fight before-and that was when Willy Dawes said was following Judy around trying to pull up her skirt. Of course then it took the help of Milo and Tobey. Milo was actually more of handicap then a help, but Jack wouldn't let Tobey say anything. Even though they'd tell her she wasn't one of "those girls" and was just one of the guys they protected her fiercely, but never realized until later in their lives that she was the one almost always looking out for them.
"A right hook!" Emily held up her fist in position.
"No, not like that." Jack sighed. Emily narrowed her glare. It was the umpteenth time she'd heard that today. It took her forever the get her fists the right way. And he would never let her punch until he was satisfied. Frustrated, Emily threw a swing at him before he told her to.
She hit him directly in the nose. His head went back and he immediately covered his face. He fell about the room, his nose bleeding all over his face and his shirt. And out of his mouth came the words that would forever dominate Emily's vocabulary.
Later at dinner
"So you stepped on a rake?" Peter asked his son. All the adults suspected something was up.
"Yeah." Jack mumbled. Earlier he swore Emily to silence.
"I'm sure the swelling will go down in a few days." Hannah took another sip of her milk.
"Don't worry, Jackie, the first time I tried to shave I left a gash on my face that stayed for a month. This doesn't look nearly as bad." Joe reassured him. Jack cared less about how he looked compared to not being able to breathe through his nose. *That insane little head case demon child.* "So Emily what did you do today?" asked Maggie.
"Broke Jack's fuckin' nose." answered the six year-old. In one swift motion every adult head snapped in Jack's direction. Jack immediately paled. *Oh shit.* ".but it was an accident honest."
"It hurt so bad! It just came out!" He got up from his chair nearly falling over.
"John Matthew Dawson I would like to know where *you* learned that word!" Hannah rose from her chair as well. ".John, I'm waiting."
"Me." he paused and sighed, "Tobey, Milo, and I used to sneak around the mills sometimes and they talk-talked like.you know there."
"The mills?! Jack!" his mother was in a fury.
"How long have you been going down there?" demanded Peter.
"You mean since when?"
"Oh my God!" shouted all four grown-ups simultaneously.
"Can I go to?" asked Emily.
"No you may not." said Maggie and Joe with growing anger.
"Why in the hell not?"
"Oh my God what else do you two know between the both of you?" Maggie stared at the children.
"I don't know!" Jack lied.
"John Matthew, I am very disappointed in your language and the fact that you exercise no discretion in using it-and passing it on to your six year- old cousin. You are twelve; you should not even hear such words yourself. But I am livid that you went up to those God awful places. They're extremely dangerous! You're never going there again. Do you understand me? Don't even answer; just go upstairs. Take your dinner with you if you like, but do not find yourself in any room I'm in for the rest of this evening." Hannah pointed towards the stairs. Jack followed her orders, wanting to die. Not only was he in trouble with all four adults, but now they would tell the Jacksons and the Shaws about the mills so Milo and Tobey would be mad. Then Judy would be angry at all of them for ditching her.
A few weeks later all was forgiven and the incident was mostly forgotten.mostly. Emily was always on the look out for new forbidden words. Her language got worse from there, which was a particularly shocking thing in the early twentieth century.
***
"Viva la Wisconsin!" they all threw their hands in the air while shouting the group catch phrase. They planned to call most of the school children together and meet in the old tree house the next night.
"This the best idea ever!" Milo cracked. The children walked from the old tree house, crossing through Old Man Ritter's house to get to the pond. They all stopped in their tracks.
"Oh my God. It smells so bad here. Did he die finally?" Judy asked, covering her nose.
"Who gets his stuff then?" Emily asked, wondering if he would have anything she wanted.
"Maybe we should go and check." said Jack.
"Are you crazy, Dawson? If he ain't dead you'll be if you go in there. You know what they say? They say he lost his foot and his mind at Antietam! C'mon, chief, let's just leave 'em. " Tobey pleaded. Old Man Ritter was the town crazy. He hated people in general, but had a particular distaste for kids and people that trespassed on his property. And he *really* hated kids that trespassed on his property.
"Who's there?!" demanded a voice from within the rickety old cabin. All five snapped their heads and ran.
"SHIT!!!!!!" they screamed. They heard shots behind them and ran as fast as their legs would take. Jack carried Emily who was too small to keep up. They were convinced he was shooting directly at them although he always just fired straight up in the air-except once. It was well known fact he shot Billy Hansen in the behind. He was fine, but he couldn't sit down for about three weeks.
Needless to say the kids decided to skip the pond that day and went straight home. They departed and went to their separate homes. Jack opened the door the Dawson home with little pink dress and garland in hand. He couldn't get her to put her clothes back on.
"We're home!" Jack shouted as he closed the door.
"Hi-" Joe had just come in from outside. "Sweetheart, why are you in your underwear?"
"I'm not wearin' that stupid damn outfit this year!"
"Whoa there. Calm down, we'll talk about this at dinner." Emily skipped up to her room. "But next time keep the dress on! Emily, do you hear me?"
"I swear I couldn't even get her to put the dress back on." Jack defended.
"At least she's eight and not eighteen." Joe sighed. Jack laughed. "What?"
"No, you'll get mad."
"No, I won't, I promise."
"Fine, it's actually kind of funny in a sick way, Tobey said, about Em's runnin' around with no clothes and her in general.that she'll either be dead or pregnant by the time she's fifteen." Joe almost laughed.
"That's not funny."
***
The next night the meeting was held outside the old tree house. Judy, Jack, Tobey, and Milo took care of the Upper School and Emily got a lot the younger children from the Lower School to come. Our gang set up early and waited for everyone else.
"Hello over there!" called voices from several yards away. Two seventh graders: Chester Morgan and Andrew Munro.
"What's the password?" Tobey walked up to them.
"Viva la Wisconsin." they answered. Anyone who agreed to plan was told the password to the meeting.
Twenty minutes later they felt they had a good-sized crowd, by now the little ones we're getting antsy.
"Excuse me," a fifth grader raised his hand, "we were to understand there would be punch and pie?" Judy turned to her boys.
"More people will come if they think there'll be punch and pie." said Jack.
"Now that I think about it," said Milo, "I'm allergic to a lot of types of pies."
"You're allergic to everything." said Tobey.
"Shut up, Tobey!"
"Shut up, all of you!" yelled Judy. She turned to the thirty or so extras in front of them. "Sorry about the misunderstanding. There is no punch and pie." Five kids got up and left. After that Jack went on to explain the intricate plan for sabotaging May Day.
"As children we are a second class."
***
One day until May Day. Emily had still been forced to participate in the May Pole as punishment for walking around in public in her underwear. Also, they needed her there for 'the big plan'. Still, she decided to skip the last practice. She stared on at the other children and Miss Law in the distance as she stood atop the hill.
"Drones." She shook her head in disgust.
"You really scare sometimes, you know that?" Jack was behind her. It was a bit creepy hearing a child of her age make a comment like that. "And tomorrow's the day. You need to be there with the other kids."
"They know what to do, besides I can't say anything while Frankenteacher's around."
"You'll get in trouble."
"You were the one who's idea this whole thing is! We're all gonna get in trouble, Jack!"
"Alright, alright calm down, squirt, let's go then." When they got home Maggie and Hannah were in the kitchen.
"I am telling you for the last time he is probably just walking home." Hannah said to Maggie. The two sisters were looking out the window at the man who always walked by in the late afternoon carrying a wooden board. Maggie had appropriately dubbed him 'Board Man'.
"He's a crazy or a weirdo or a stalker or something." Maggie was over the sink and halfway out the window. "One day I'm gonna follow him and find out."
"Honestly, Maggs, you're insane."
"He's creepy and he needs to be exposed-Emily Susannah, did you skip the may pole rehearsal again?" Maggie whipped around after catching her daughter through the corner of her eye.
"I kept the dress on." Emily said, looking at the ground.
"Emily, go wash up. You better be there tomorrow and you better know what you're doing for that dance." She pointed at her with a wooden spoon.
"Don't worry, Mommy, I know what to do."
***
Zero hour. Weeks of planning were coming to fruition. Jack survived the night before-he been rigging pole with Tobey, Judy, Milo, and Roy Belle. He also remembered to add the extra ribbon. He hoped no one noticed or cared there was a bright red ribbon amongst the pink, white, and blue pastels. P It was a beautiful, sunny May 1st in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. It looked like it was going to be another year of bright colors and good wholesome, fun. Jack thought the year before could have been more fun. It rained halfway through, people scattered, the kids were muddy and wet; it was great. But then they had to cancel the rest of it. How's life going to be of you cancel everything for a little rain?
Jack eyed the may pole as he was playing a game at one of the booths. Judy and Tobey had been wandering around elsewhere. Now that they had little more freedom to wander around and not do stupid dances and sing for the adults. They still had to dress up in their Sunday best though. Jack never understood. Dress up for a faire?
"We're gonna get in so much trouble, so much trouble. Oh my God, oh my God." Milo started panicking. Jack gave the guy at the booth a penny for playing and led Milo away.
"Pipe down, Milo. When you're grown-up you'll be thankful you did this. Some people go their whole lives and never do anything. You're one of the main men on the biggest May Day prank in history.Milo, breathe.slowly, in and out, one, two.feel better?"
"Kind of."
The little dancers gathered around the may pole each holding their own little ribbons. Emily rushed to grab the red one. The dance began. The twenty or so small children weaved around each other. Many grown-up hearts broke to see the sight of their precious little ones dancing so prettily. Then Emily Dawson backed away and gave the signal.
"GIRAFFE!!!" she shouted. The other children scattered, Emily pulled on the ribbon as hard as she could, and darted out of the way as the pole came toppling down. She dived into grass, clear from the resounding 'BOOM!' An array of flapped up and floated down.
Not a moment later fireworks shot up from the booths that was supposed to be manned by Roy Belle, Tobey Jackson, and Judy Parker. Main Street became chaos for about ten minutes. People scattered. Then dread set in for most of the children: a few little ones cried, some ran away, and some, you can guess a few of them, laughed.
When they realized the anger coming over the population the five masterminds made a mad dash from the center of town. They ran screaming with their hands out in front of them as if there was no tomorrow.
"I WANT TO DIE!!!" Milo screamed as Jack and Judy dragged him behind the town entrance sign where Tobey and Emily were already hiding under the tall grass.
"Do you think all the police in Chippewa County'll be lookin' for us?" asked Emily. She turned to the other three who had just dived under the sign with them. "So what does it mean when you're the bitch of the group?" Tobey shot her an evil look. "'Cause that's what Tobey said Milo was before." Milo started crying.
"I hate you, Tobey!" he sobbed.
"Great job, Tob." Judy snapped, still barely breathe from all the running.
"Milo, you cry at everything and you always whine and ruin stuff. We're all getting in trouble, half of the kids in town are. And this kind of crap always passes, it's not like we killed anyone. You always have to be this annoying, crying chicken.at heart, you'll always be the fat kid."
"TOBEY! What in the hell is the matter with you?!" Judy yelled. Emily started to feel really guilty she'd asked, but being eight she didn't know any better to realize that it would start this or hurt anybody.
"And you'll always be a complete ass that'll never amount to anything!" Milo growled. The Jacksons were famous in town for being underachievers.
"Everybody stop it! We're all just tense from the prank and everything. We can't act like this. Especially, towards each other." Milo and Tobey fought more than any of them, but this was nastier then usual. "I know this is the biggest thing we've pulled, but get it together guys!" The two boys were still red-faced and not speaking to other, but they stopped fighting. Jack had a strange power about him. It was hard not to trust him or listen to him.
***
It must've have been a record for simultaneous groundings and extras chores in a small town. There wasn't the usual Cinco de Mayo celebration in the Dawson house that year. They never really had any great love for Mexican Independence, but it was Jack's birthday. But after dinner they did have a small celebration with cake and presents.
"Here ya go, son." Peter handed Jack something. Jack took it and unwrapped it. It was a leather portfolio. Jack ran his fingers over it. It smelled beautiful; it felt so smooth. "You can keep your drawings it. I figure your mother gave you the talent," he smiled at his wife, "I'll make sure you keep it safe."
"Thanks, Dad!" It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever owned, at least to his mind-and it always would be.