Suffice to say, Lincoln regrated letting his guard down and turning a blind eye on Lana's casual act of spitefulness towards her twin, for Lola's shrill cry of unadulterated fury made everyone wince, especially Charles. That was a major drawback of having heightened hearing.
"What do you mean she took it!" Lola was livid. "You freed the stupid deer but couldn't get my shawl!"
"Our apologies…" Lisa said meekly. "We did get our hands on the shawl but the cervid snatched it back and took off with it, nothing we could do. Seems she did desire it as an ornament?"
"Yeah, and what did you expect from us? To run down a deer?" Lynn scoffed, not exactly upset about coming back empty-handed. "I may be fast but I'm still just human."
"You weren't even trying!" Lola accused them.
"Eh." Lynn shrugged, not above taking the piss out of the spoiled brat.
Lola growled and glared at her twin. "This is all your fault! Kathleen gave me that shawl as a get-well gift! It was special ordered from Paris!"
"Or she just found it in her trash bin and lied to ya." Lynn snarked, but her comment was drowned out by Lana's response.
"Yeah, after ya scarfed down pineapple slices like a total idiot. You sure needed a reward for being a major league doofus!"
"I only did it because of you!" Lola retorted. "You tried to kill me with your flatulence and now you're stealing from me? You only did those things to be spiteful, you…spiteful jerk!"
"So what? You tore up my favorite hat, your spitefulness! And you never even got into the gas chamber." Lana shot back with growing anger before folding her arms. "So call us even now."
"Psst…is that really what happened?" Lincoln leaned down to Lisa. "With the deer?"
"I'm afraid not. The unfortunate creature had a rather…fatal run-in with a lynx." Lisa whispered back, making Lincoln shudder.
"Yes, get over it." Lynn backed up Lana. "It's not like your new BFF isn't loaded and can buy you a billion of them."
"That one was special!"
"Oh, and Lana's hat wasn't?" Lynn glowered, her patience wearing thin. "How about you just can it, or I'll dunk ya in the lake to quell that temper of yours."
Lola glared indignantly. "Oh? So now you're threatening me too? That's it! I'm telling mom and dad!"
Lincoln grew concerned. "Lola, how about we ta-"
"Oh, so scary." Lynn joked while waving her hands, not thinking much of the princess's threat, to the latter's visible chagrin.
Out of comebacks and turning crimson, Lola grumbled unintelligibly and stormed towards the house, swinging her clenched fists left and right. Lincoln shook his head.
"She keeps finding new ways of transcending the inanity of first-world problems." Lucy commented.
Once her twin was far away, Lana's brow knitted. "Lynn, you think she'll-"
"Don't let her get to you, squirt. She's got diddly-squat on us." Lynn slapped her back reassuringly. "You did a lot of good today."
"Look…" Lincoln rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe you should apologize to her, Lana?"
The two tomboys looked at him like he was mad, forcing him to add. "Just to avoid any needless quarreling? You know she can throw one of heck of a tantrum, and-"
"Get real." Lynn scowled. "Mom and dad aren't dumb enough to buy her lies."
They heard squeaking and saw the mother possum, flanked by all her joeys, looking at them and holding her paws out. Groaning, Lynn pulled out a pop-tart from her jacket, unwrapped it, and gave it to her, with the possum nibbling it.
"Just tell mom about her and she'll be on your side." Lynn told Lana while pointing at the possum. "I'm sure she'll relate to Virginia's plight."
"Yeah…she sure eats a lot for a 5 lb critter." Lana noted.
"I'm sure she needs the nourishment to produce milk." Lincoln pointed out. "But about Lola-"
"Ain't happening." Lynn said firmly. "The only thing that brat deserves is a kick in the-"
"Maybe we should play it safe." Lisa agreed with Lincoln while considering her next course of action. The sun was setting and the sky was turning dark, and soon everyone would have to join their parents and grandpa for supper. She only had a short window of opportunity to talk with Lincoln privately now.
"Lana…perhaps you and Lynn should go and tell them your side of the story."
Lynn and Lana looked at her oddly, the latter with more worry.
"Just to ensure that Lola doesn't spin a yarn and makes you look like the guilty party."
"That little shit stain wouldn't dare." Lynn narrowed her eyes, but the younger tomboy was easier to sway.
"Maybe we should, Lynn?" Lana stated, the unease in her voice evident.
Noticing it, Lynn gave in. She wasn't keen on talking with her mother so soon, all things considered, but she didn't want Lana to get worked up over nothing.
"Alright…" she sighed. "Will you guys back us up?"
Lisa rubbed the back of her head and locked eyes with Lincoln. "Actually, I was hoping…"
"You wanted to talk with me, right?" Lincoln remembered.
"If it's not any trouble…"
"It's not." He nodded before turning to Lynn. "You girls go ahead without us, we'll be back in time for supper."
"Whateves, not like Princess Pain-In-The-Ass has a leg to stand on. Come on, Lana." Lynn and Lana walked off but Lucy stayed where she was.
"Aren't you coming with them?" Lisa inquired.
"I'm sure I'm not needed…" The goth sighed. "…or will be noticed."
"Then how about you go to our room and try to contact Ryan?" Lincoln suggested. "That guy sure is taking his time."
Being reminded of that, Lucy couldn't argue. "Sigh. Good idea. I'll ask Lynn for the walkie-talkie."
Without another word, she followed after Lynn and Lana. With nighttime near, Lucy was seriously starting to worry about Ryan. Her intuition kept telling her that something was wrong, and not just regarding Kathleen.
Now alone with Lisa, Lincoln took a moment to scan the vast lake and surrounding woods.
"What's taking him?" he was growing a bit concerned too but tried ignoring it. "It's nothing. I'm sure he'll be here after supper, probably climb up the window as he always does, just to be needlessly dramatic."
"Lincoln?" Lisa said gingerly. "Would you care to take a walk?"
"Sure thing, Lisa." He offered a small smile.
The two went for a stroll down the lake's shore, following another trail, their surroundings peaceful and serene, outside of miscellaneous calls of animals such as loons and croaking frogs.
While Lisa fiddled with her fingers, Lincoln briefly looked over his shoulder to see Luan still doing her mime routine, pretending to drown while standing on the peer. That gave him one more reason to wish for Ryan's presence, it would at least cheer Luan up a bit…as long as certain secrets were kept.
Nervous, Charles wasted no time trotting after them. Seeing him, Lincoln smiled and petted his head as the bull terrier walked parallel to him, keeping a watchful eye.
The possum watched them go while finishing her treat before hearing the cardinal, long since freed of the six-pack rings, chirping as it hovered above the other woodland critters gathered around the picnic basket. The news quickly killed the festive mood among the animals.
The unnerved mother looked over her oblivious joeys before shifting her gaze at the two siblings, shaking her head. She could only hope that these kind humans didn't cross paths with the dreaded killer.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Lincoln asked, making Lisa jolt a bit, shaken out of her thoughts. Lincoln raised an eyebrow.
"I…it's not that important, all things considered…" Lisa started, not quite sure how to go about it. She worried that Lincoln would be annoyed by her whisking him off over something irrelevant and trivial, but to her relief, he just listened patiently.
"I doubt it's unimportant if you wanted to talk in private about it." he stated simply, thinking that maybe it was something Lisa was embarrassed about confessing in front of their sisters. He could certainly understand that.
"Come on, you can tell me, whatever it is? It can't be that bad."
Lisa sighed. "I'm afraid it is that bad. After all, you were there to witness it… both times."
Lincoln frowned a bit, not very keen on reminiscing about those events. "You mean…"
"Y-yes…" Lisa stumbled over her words. "I want to apologize about… you-know-what, and… the other you-know-what."
Lincoln grimaced a bit before gently placing his hand on her shoulder. "Lisa, I told you before. It's all water under the bridge. I forgave you already."
"I doubt one can apologize enough for such offenses." She replied despondently.
Lincoln couldn't exactly argue with that but he did not want his little sister to forever be plagued by guilt. These two mishaps would clearly haunt her for a long time, regardless of what he might try to alleviate her guilt.
"Lisa, you won't accomplish anything beating yourself up about it. Those were accidents, they happened. We should just be grateful that nobody got hurt in the end. It could have been worse… a lot worse…"
Lisa said nothing, and Lincoln was afraid that he was too harsh with his response. So he added, "Plus, it wasn't just you. Leni and Lola were also at fault, but neither was meaning to cause harm. As I said, those were unfortunate accidents and it's better if we don't dwell on them when we don't have to."
"Just sweep it under the rug?" Lisa asked in an almost sardonic tone.
Lincoln's, however, was frank. "What else can we do?"
"I suppose you're right. We do have more pressing issues, like Kathleen…" Lisa sighed. "But…"
"But what?"
"It's not just about those two accidents, I want to apologize for being such a horrible sibling all this time, for being such a burden to all of you."
"Lis, c'mon. You weren't a burden." Lincoln replied. "As I said; no harm, no foul. You may have used us as guinea pigs every now and then, but…eh…there were no long-term effects. Besides, you admitting that you did wrong and wanting to do better is what matters."
Lisa's lips bent slightly upwards, after being given reconfirmation that her brother held no ill will, despite everything. But it was only momentary relief, for Lisa knew most of her sisters weren't as forgiving.
"And did you forget that you did some good with that big brain of yours too?" Lincoln went on.
"What good?" she said with underlying bitterness.
Lincoln thought about his response. He couldn't exactly tell her how she had played a crucial role in helping them avoid "the incident", but she did also greatly help them with another issue.
"Well…if was thanks to your teleporter that we discovered that dangerous wolf, and then used it again to get rid of him. He won't be attacking people ever again. That's a public service if I ever saw one, even if nobody but us knows about it. And it was thanks to your robot that we learned that Lori's team was planning to cheat during the sibling duel."
"Oh, those slipped my mind." Lisa realized, having grown all too accustomed to viewing her scientific exploits as nothing but a danger to society. "Though we didn't need direct confirmation to figure out the latter."
"Maybe, but my point is that it's not all black and white. I guess at the end of the day…you just have to be more careful with your actions. All of us could learn to be more careful." Lincoln sighed. "A lot of mishaps only happened because we were callous and only thinking about ourselves."
The two halted as they saw a big bonfire some thirty yards away, with many campers surrounding it and chatting among themselves. The fire conjured up some unpleasant memories to Lisa.
"Like when we almost burnt down a forest while camping in Minnesota?" She mumbled.
Lincoln gazed at her, while Charles picked up a scent and started wandering away from them.
"Yes..." the boy didn't want to dwell on that memory either. "But that's in the past. We should be looking at our future."
"Maybe. One can't change the past, but you can learn from it and make better choices moving forward." Lisa consented. And indeed, she would be doing the best decision of her life tonight. It was difficult but she knew that once it was over, she would no longer feel pain, and neither would her family because of her.
Lincoln really wanted to tell her that the former wasn't entirely true, knowing what would lift her spirit, but he hesitated, worried about the possible ramification of Lisa knowing about her own time-traveling escapade (even if the only precedence he knew of were sci-fi movies).
Lisa sniffed and lifted her glasses to wipe her eye.
"Lisa, what's wrong?"
She tried composing herself. "Nothing…I…I guess I'm still trying to come to terms with my past mistakes."
"Lis, it will be okay. You just need time." Lincoln said gently. "Lynn and the others will forgive you eventually, they just need time too."
"Certainly…" Lisa tried to stay strong. "I did make efforts to make amends with them. Luna seemed quite pleased with the guitar I crafted for her."
"You did that?"
"Yes, I spent all day trying to help out our family. I gave Luan advice on how to handle the Kathleen situation, I entertained Lori's whims, and also Lola's while on the boat, and I even expressed gratitude towards mother while there."
Lincoln's eyes widened before a smile crept onto his face. "Lisa, that's great! Mom really needs that."
"Yes, I don't wish for her to be under the impression that she's being unappreciated. I guess I was too caught up in my work to truly acknowledge hers and father's sacrifices for our sake."
"That's good, Lisa." Lincoln nodded. "Trust me, a little show of appreciation can mean a lot to a person."
"True, I saw that with Lynn as well." Lisa continued, holding back any more tears. "While her past offenses were nowhere near as severe as mine, I know that she too has been beating herself up over them, so I felt the need to point out her own personal progress to her."
Lincoln's smile broadened. "See? You're being proactive, just like her. That's how you make up for things. Lisa…I…you really have come a long way. I can't believe you're the same little poindexter I knew a few weeks ago, who would do stuff like use hypno rays on people for a piece of paper-"
He bit his tongue as he saw his little sister's face falter at the reminder and she looked away again.
"I didn't mean…" he fumbled "…I just said that to point out how much you've changed."
"I understood your intent." Lisa rubbed her arm. "I suppose I have changed a lot in this short time span. It's…fascinating how a single experience can have that effect on a human being. I couldn't imagine my past self willingly catering to Lori and Lola just to make them happy, or taking the time to talk with Lucy and compliment her for her subtle wisdom and poetry skills."
"Oh, is that why you two were sitting on the peer?" Lincoln asked, starting to notice a pattern. "Did you spend all day trying to do nice things for every single one of us?"
"Yes…more atonement, if you will…" Lisa sighed. "I apologize for neglecting you, Lincoln…but it was hard trying to think of a gift or any other token of appreciation for you. You only ever seem to think about others these days…"
Lincoln chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah…guess I've changed a bit too. Funny you should mention gifts. Dad bought me the latest volume of Ace Savvy today, but I was so uninterested in them, that I just gave them away to some other kids."
Lisa looked at him in disbelief. "You really did?"
"Yes, I have too much on my mind to think about reading comics." Lincoln admitted. "I will probably kick myself over it in a week or so."
"But speaking of weeks…while it was nice of you to do these things, why did you try to go through every single one of us in one day? We'll be here all week, so you shouldn't be in any rush."
Lisa grew nervous, afraid that Lincoln was on to her. "I dunno…maybe I was just trying too hard…"
Looking back at the crowd, she saw a couple and their young son at the edge of the lake, with the father teaching the latter how to control a flying drone.
"Very good, Danny. You're a natural." The father said approvingly as the buzzing drone flew over the clear water.
"Look at them." Lisa gestured at the family, trying to change the subject.
"What about them?"
"I dunno, I just couldn't help but notice how very much…. unlike us they are." Lisa improvised. "So very…normal, functional, inconspicuous, and content with each other's company. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a normal family?"
Lincoln gave her an uncomfortable look. "What do you mean by that?"
"You know what I mean, brother." Lisa knew she didn't need to elaborate. "I'm sure most of our sister have entertained the same notion at some point; being an only child, or, more charitably, just having one or two siblings, as is the norm in nuclear families."
"I… I did, no real shocker there." Lincoln admitted. "Mostly when I couldn't find any breathing room to do things undisturbed, or just needed some "me time"…which I guess was all the time."
"I'm sure that scenario would be preferable to you." Lisa said dejectedly. "I take no offense if you think that way."
Lincoln didn't really want to talk about it, but Lisa was giving him no way out. And if he could have a frank, entirely objective conversation with anyone in his family, he supposed it would probably be Lisa. It was hard to say such things without people misconstruing the meaning.
"I'll level with you…" Lincoln gave in. "Being part of a big family, with lots of siblings…it sucks…it sucks a lot, no matter how you look at it. I don't think any one of our sisters would disagree if she was being honest with herself."
"I don't." Lisa nodded. "It's a simple fact that having so many siblings in one modest household is overbearing at best, and a complete nightmare at worst."
"Yeah…but that's the hand we were dealt, Lisa." Lincoln continued. "So might as well try to make the best of this situation, and being selfish and indulging in inane and petty fights only exacerbates it."
He shook his head. "Some of our sisters might be more…difficult than others, but we can't pin the blame on one person. It's not that simple. We all contributed to the dysfunction with countless poor decisions, myself included."
"Lincoln, you don't have to share the blame…" Lisa started but Lincoln let out an involuntary snort and patted her shoulder.
"Don't be ridiculous. I might not be the most confident or demanding person compared to the girls, but I've made my share of boneheaded decisions. Like…remember all those times I tried to watch tv at home with my friends, and you girls had the same idea simultaneously?"
"Actually…" Lisa's brow knitted. "I never participated in those competitions…for obvious reasons."
Lincoln's smile waned a bit but he continued. "But I did, and so did most of the girls. I don't think I need to describe all the mayhem that resulted from that. And all that time…"
"…you could have just watched television at one of your friends' houses?" Lisa pointed out the obvious. "Why didn't you simply take that course of action?"
"Beats me." Lincoln shrugged, honestly not having a clear answer. "I guess it was a matter of pride, I didn't want to roll over and show my belly. But really, it was just me being a complete moron, and in the end, my poor decision always caused me a ton of grief, and the girls were no better off."
He sniggered again, unable to believe his own idiocy. "Really, if I could travel back in time, I'd sock myself in the face and then ask me how I haven't drowned in my own drool yet."
"Wow…that was…very self-critical of you…" Lisa said simply. She had forgotten how even Lincoln used to be capable of incredible feats of stupidity. It made her wonder for a moment what sort of wake-up call steered her brother to change his ways, but she supposed it didn't matter. She wouldn't be thinking of such things the next morning.
What mattered was that Lincoln, as well as Lynn and several other of their sisters, sobered up and were trying to better themselves, and so did she. As Lincoln pointed out, she was well on her way, but there was still one important step that she needed to take if she wished to make that a reality.
As if on cue, she felt her left pocket vibrating. It was her dreaded communicator. It made her choke back tears and she looked away from her brother again, desperately trying to keep a straight face.
"Lisa, what's wrong?" Lincoln reached out to her as the toddler was on the verge of crumbling like wet newspaper. She had to abort this conversation.
"Nothing, I…" she was breathing in and out, trying to think of an excuse for leaving. "I think I might be suffering from hay fever?"
Lincoln wondered about that before giving her a stern look. "Lisa, that's clearly not it. Why are you crying? I told you, I'm not mad at you."
Her communicator continued vibrating, and Lisa's grief soon turned into worry. She looked around, noticing that Charles was nowhere in sight.
"Umm…it's getting dark." She said hastily, stepping away from her brother. "We should get back home, how about you get Charles?"
"Charles?" Lincoln looked around for the missing canine before turning back to Lisa, only to see a small speck on the horizon, heading towards their vacation home at a brisk pace.
Befuddled, Lincoln stood there scratching his head. What was going on with her? Was this just her lingering guilt? Maybe? But still, why did she suddenly run off in a hurry?
He wanted to follow her but knew he couldn't just leave Charles behind. The dog could get lost if he wandered too far into this unfamiliar terrain. Cursing under his breath, Lincoln called for him.
The bull terrier actually wasn't far away, as he was sniffing the ground some fifty yards into the forest, his ears held up in alert as the worrying scent grew stronger with each passing second.
Looking up, he growled as he saw a dark, distinctly lupine shape move through the forest but once the figure stepped into the moonlight, it revealed grayish-beige fur and two functional eyes. Nonetheless, Charles jumped into the wolf's path, barking and baring his teeth.
The wolf tilted his head at the tiny creature yapping at him before hearing someone shouting, "Charles? Charles! Here boy!"
Looking ahead, he saw Lincoln heading towards them and promptly went agape and lowered his ears before fearfully backing away, whimpering with his tail tucked between his legs, and running off in terror.
Charles smiled with satisfaction and turned around, walking back proudly with his head held up high, until he almost bumped into an annoyed Lincoln.
The dog barked happily and wagged his tail, pointing with his head in the direction the wolf ran away.
"There you are." Lincoln kneeled down and petted his head, which Charles thought was the boy congratulating him for his courageous act.
"Don't wander off like that." Lincoln scolded him before getting up and gesturing for the dog to follow him. "Let's get back home, it's getting dark."
Meanwhile, Lisa panted as she ran behind a pine tree just in front of the house. The lights were turned on inside, both on the lower and parts of the upper floor, and she saw no sign of anyone outside, not even Luan.
"Stupid, stupid!" she cursed at herself for being unable to keep her stupid emotions in check, before finally answering the call, dreading the news.
"Hello? Fenton, where are you…"
Only a mile away, a news crew along with a bunch of miscellaneous drivers had gathered around a blazing car left on the sandy shores of the lake.
"Wait a minute….I've just been informed that a local in Royal Woods has reported the theft of his antiquated Volkswagen." Catherine Mulligan listened to her earpiece before smiling at the camera again, illuminated by the towering flames crackling behind her.
"Well, if this is indeed his car, he's sure to get fired up at the news."
A little further on, a certain robo-fox was using a feather duster to cover what remained of his tiny tracks in the sand, while holding onto a large bag with his other arm and started dragging it after him as he continued walking deeper into the pine forest.
"Affirmative. I should arrive at. The rendezvous site in. Circa two hours."
Lisa shuddered. This was it. There was no going back. The deed was almost done. It needed to be done.
"Alright…meet me at midnight, and don't come near the house a second sooner, not until all lights are turned off. I will meet you outside the building then."
"Understood, Master Lisa. I shall not. Bungle my final task. As your loyal assistant."
Lisa felt sick to her stomach and the communicator shook in her hands.
"Y-yes… see you later." She ended the call and slowly turned towards the nearest window, where she saw her father and grandfather preparing supper and caught glimpses of her mother and some of her sisters in the living room.
Lisa realized that she failed to properly express her appreciation for Lincoln, and hadn't even gotten to her dad and grandpa yet, so maybe she could do it all in one swoop and properly tell farewell to her entire family one more time, at supper? She worried that Lincoln or someone else like Lucy might catch on to her but she simply had to do it. Now that the end was nigh, all her efforts today simply didn't feel like they were enough.
She had to be subtle and choose her words carefully, as not to arouse suspicion, then wait everyone out. Maybe in the form of a toast of some kind? Something like that. They all had a busy day and would probably not stay up long past supper. Should anyone snoop around, she could simply pretend to sleep for a few hours.
"So this is it…" the despondent toddler hugged herself, bracing herself for the inevitable, and allowing tears to pour down her face. The suffering was almost over.
A few miles away, the flock of Canadian geese was milling around at the lake's shore, when one of them honked in alarm and soon, there was utter pandemonium, as every bird frantically flapped its wings, trying to get away as a yellow feline lunged out of the darkness and leaped onto the nearest goose's back.
Falling over, she gripped the bird's neck with her claws and jaws, restraining her flapping prey as her owner caught up with her.
"Good job, Marcy!" he clapped his hands. "Hunting dogs got nothing on you."
He took hold of the wounded bird and grabbed its head. His growling stomach left him with few reservations.
"Nothing personal." He said simply before twisting its neck. "But we haven't had a bite all day."
With their supper secured, Ryan rose up and looked around. It was dusk, and still no sign of civilization. The boy knew he'd have to set up camp somewhere, and make a fire, both to avoid any avian-related diseases, and just in case he had to shove a torch into a certain wolf's ugly mug.
"Meow."
"You did great." Ryan petted Marceline's head before suddenly shoving her into the water. She broke the surface and jumped out frantically just as Ryan dove in and bathed himself.
Hearing her angry yowling, he shrugged as he waded back towards the bank. "Sorry, but we have to hide our scent. You wouldn't have done it willingly."
Marceline growled peevishly and shook herself dry.
Ryan wrung his shirt and his thoughts went back to his companions, knowing he still had no means of contacting them.
"Lynn's probably majorly pissed off right now…"
A majorly pissed-off Lynn was banging on the walkie-talkie.
"Where the hell is he?" She hissed, mindful to keep her voice down. "If he thinks this is funny, I'm so going to kick his ass all the way to Kentucky-"
"I sense that something's terribly wrong here." Lucy added sullenly. "And I don't think it's just Kathleen."
"Please, spare me your mystical mumbo-jumbo." Lynn grumbled and shook the walkie-talkie.
"But I don't think taking it out on the walkie-talkie will help. It's our only means of communication."
Annoyed by the goth's patronizing tone, Lynn was ready to give her an earful when she heard the twins arguing and she and Lucy looked down at the living room.
With Lynn Sr. and Albert preoccupied setting up supper, Rita had to play mediator, just after walking out of the shower, still in her bathrobe and with a towel wrapped around her soaked hair.
It didn't take a genius to see that the shrill arguing from both parties was giving the mother an aneurysm, as it would to any sane person, but Rita tried to stay collected. Vacation or not, she still had obligations as a parent.
Lynn had been pretty terse when explaining Lana's side of the story before quickly excusing herself, and she couldn't force herself to lie to her mother, so she admitted that Lana had grabbed Lola's belonging without the latter's consent and they ended up losing it.
To Rita, this was a pretty familiar situation, and if anything, she supposed she should have been grateful that it was this simple (and non-violent), but unfortunately, she also knew there was little she could do to truly end this fight, especially given the frosty terms the twins were currently on, other than forcing out an apology.
"Just give up, will ya! Even Lynn admitted that you're a stinkin' liar and thief!" Lola pointed at her twin.
"Lana…" Rita exhaled "…you shouldn't have done that."
"But…but I was helping all those poor animals!" Lana argued and pointed at Lola. "While she was lounging around like the lazy, selfish bum she is!"
"We're on vacation, you nitwit." Lola scoffed. "And everyone knows you shouldn't feed wild animals."
"I was helping them!"
Rita clapped her hands to silence them. "Enough."
She sighed. "Lana…you did a good thing, helping injured animals and all…but you shouldn't be giving them food as well. Wild animals need to forage by themselves and not rely on humans. And dressing them up is of no help to anyone."
"Ha!" Lola folded her arms triumphantly. Lana gave her a nasty glare.
"And you shouldn't have taken your sister's shawl without her permission, that was wrong."
Lana's eyes widened. "But she deserved it!"
Rita scowled. "Lana, nobody deserves to have their belongings stolen from them."
"So she is guilty! Right? Right?" Lola asked eagerly.
"Lana…apologize to your sister." Rita said impartially, much to the tomboy's shock.
Upstairs, Lynn grimaced while leaning on the rails, just when Lincoln and Charles entered the room and heard the conversation. Lincoln opted to stand by and listen.
"I won't!" Lana stomped her foot. "She doesn't deserve a-"
"Lana." Rita repeated, more sternly this time. "I said apologize."
The look her mother gave her made it clear to Lana not to push the former's buttons. Her face turned red and contorted with frustration as she turned to her twin, trying to ignore the latter's smug smirk.
"S…sorry…" the flustered Lana forced herself to say it. "I'm…sorry for taking your scarf."
"Shawl."
"Whatever." Lana grunted and waved her hand. "I said it, so there."
She smiled a bit as she saw Lynn giving her a thumbs up, reassuring her that she was off the hook.
Rita shook her head. She knew Lana didn't feel remorse over her action and she couldn't force her to feel any. She understood that a forced apology like this meant pretty much nothing, but it was the only thing she could do to ease the tension and she hoped that a good supper and a night's worth of rest would quell Lola's temper.
"Good. Now get ready for supper, and no more arguing." The mother said as she was about to leave. You'll be sitting at opposite sides of the table-"
"What?!" Lola was outraged. "That can't be it? Aren't you going to punish the lousy thief?"
Rita rolled her eyes before turning back to them. "Lola…"
"Being a thief is a serious offense, mom! She should be grounded all week or sent away to spend it with Aunt Ruth or-"
"Lola." Rita cut her off. "It's just a shawl. Kathleen can buy you a new one, a better one, in no time. It's no big deal."
"Yeah." Lana grew an evil smile, knowing she was in the clear. "Quit being a drama queen."
"It's not fair!" Lola yelled at her mother, making her cringe. "I got us this vacation and this is how you repay me!? By taking Lana's side? She didn't even get you an anniversary gift!"
"I'm not taking sides." Rita said firmly.
"Yes, you are!"
"Get over yourself, ya big crybaby." Lana mocked her, earning a death glare.
"Why I oughta!"
"Lola, take it easy…" Lincoln tried stepping in.
"Stay out of this!" Lola swatted him away, making him yelp and clutch his stinging hand.
"Hey! Leave him alone!" Lana barked.
"How about you leave my stuff alone, you thief!"
Rita said, "Girls, enough-"
"You don't deserve any stuff, stupid!" Lana blew a raspberry at her twin, intentionally getting as much spit as possible all over Lola's dress, making her fume and turn red.
"And I'll steal from ya again." Lana added brashly. "And there ain't nothin' you can do to stop me!"
Both Rita and Lincoln saw the warning signs and tried grabbing Lola simultaneously, only to slam heads as the enraged princess pounced on her twin with a feral scream.
"You're dead!?" Lola cried as the two fought and rolled around.
Lincoln tried prying Lana off Lola, only to accidentally get kicked in the solar plexus by the latter's high heel and keel over.
"Crap!" Lynn leaped down the stairs while Rita tried breaking up the fight.
"Stop this, right now!" Rita yelled, only to see the fighting twins rolling into and knocking down the flatscreen tv. Gasping, she barely caught it and pushed it back into place.
Hissing in pain, Lincoln tried getting up as the twins rolled past him and towards the kitchen, and Lynn chased after them.
"I got this!" she shouted, followed by her mother.
Whistling, Lynn Sr. was carrying a stack of plates towards the table, only to get knocked off balance.
"I've got you, hun!" Rita swiftly grabbed him by the shirt while Lynn caught the plates from falling over, when they all heard the twins crashing into the table.
Mother and daughter gasped as they saw forks and knives fall down, barely missing the twins, as Lola had Lana pinned down and noticed a pepper shaker right next to them.
"Now you'll get yours!" Lola grabbed and wielded it, when Lynn seized her by the wrist.
"Oh, no you don't!" the jock tried grabbing the shaker, but Lola tugged back.
"Lemme go!"
"I'm coming…" Lincoln staggered toward them, when in the struggle, Lola popped off the lid and Lynn held onto the shaker as it almost flew over her shoulder.
She heard a high-pitched, agonizing scream and realized that its content had been spilled out, right into Lincoln's eyes!
"My eyes! My eyes!"
Lynn gasped as her brother flailed around, clutching his burning eyes.
Letting her husband hold the plates, Rita reached out to her son.
"Just stay still, Lincoln." She told him only to notice that he was rushing straight towards Albert, who was standing on a small stool to reach into a cabinet.
"What are the spices you needed again?" he asked his son-in-law.
"Dad, get out of the way!"
But it was too late. Lincoln slammed into his grandfather, making him lose balance, and plopped down.
"Wow-wow!" Albert waved his arms, trying to keep his equilibrium, while Lincoln managed to open one reddening eye.
Through his blurry, tear-filled vision, he barely made out his grandfather's massive bulk heading towards him before it was lights out.
Half an hour later…
Lincoln slowly regained consciousness, feeling a cold compression on his forehead.
"He's waking up." He heard Lucy say.
"Linc, are you okay?" he felt Lynn shaking him by the shoulder.
Lincoln's eyes opened, still stinging, and he found himself lying on the leather couch in front of the tv, where he heard a familiar news anchor's voice saying, "…I've just been informed that a local in Royal Woods has reported the theft of his antiquated Volkswagen.."
Clutching the icepack to his aching head, Lincoln looked at them, trying to adjust his vision, "Wut 'appened…?"
"Pop-Pop fell on you." Lynn explained. "You don't have any broken bones, do ya?"
"Don't think so…" Lincoln mumbled, shaking his legs and free arm.
"Good, but grandfather wasn't as fortunate…" Lucy said grimly.
"W-what do you mean?" Lincoln's heart skipped a beat, and he heard Albert saying, "It's okay, guys, really. Just a little bruise-"
His comment instantly turned into a pain-filled groan, followed by a thud.
"No…" Albert said in resignation "…I definitely threw out my back. Dammit."
Without further ado, Lincoln got off the couch and lurched his way into the kitchen, with his sisters following and Lynn trying to keep him from falling over.
Lincoln's eyes widened as he found his family, minus Luan and the twins, surrounding Albert in the kitchen, with the latter lying on the floor and groaning in pain.
"Pop-Pop?" Everyone glanced at Lincoln, happy to see him awake again.
"Ah, glad to see you running about, Linc." Albert looked at him, trying to remain positive. "Sorry for almost turning you into a flapjack."
"Lincoln, are you feeling okay?" Lynn Sr. asked him.
"I'm fine, just a little sore, but is Pop-Pop going to be alright?"
"Sure I am." Albert forced a smile and gave him a thumbs up. "This happened to me countless times, I just need to…"
He tried sitting up, only for aggravating pain to shoot through his back for the umpteenth time and force him to lie down, while Lynn Sr. and half of the girls cringed at the sight.
"Dad, will ya stop moving." Rita told him with exasperation. "You know straining yourself will just make things worse."
"Guess I can forget about sailing or backcountry hiking…" the old man said sadly.
"I think you can literally forget about everything but lying in bed all week." Lori said without much tact, earning annoyed looks from Luna and Lynn Sr. Though she was cross with him, Lori took no joy in seeing Albert in this state.
Finally looking away from her father, Rita's frosty glare turned to the twins, who were standing away from the group, in a corner and looking down with guilt and shuffling their feet. The rest watched Rita, worried that she might explode on the spot but instead, she breathed in and out a few times.
In a calm but undeniably tense tone, she said, "You know… I think you were right, Lola. I was being too soft on Lana."
"Ha!" Lola got all up in her twin's face. "Sucks to be you."
"Boy, is she in for it now." Lori whispered to Luna, happy to see the brat get her just deserts.
"Both of you can go to your rooms right now, with no supper." Rita stated, barely keeping her cool.
Lola's face dropped in legitimate shock.
"What? But that's not fair!" Lana cried. "I haven't eaten anything all day!"
"Do you think it's fair that your grandfather will be spending his vacation lying on the freaking couch?" Rita asked indignantly while gesturing at Albert.
"Rita, you don't have to. It was an accide…oww…" Albert tried to defend them only to cringe in pain again.
"Lynn." Rita suddenly turned to the jock, making her wince, then at the rocker. "Luna. Please escort your sisters upstairs, and keep them as far apart as possible. By force if necessary."
"You can't do this!" Lola stomped her foot. "Stupid Lana started it! She spat in my face!"
"Yeah, next time I'll just slug ya." Lana narrowed her eyes. "And you grabbed the pepper shaker."
"You can't do this, mom! I got you this vacation, you owe it to me-"
"Be quiet!" Rita snapped at her, cowing her into submission, before looking away. "Get them out of my sight. The rest of you, help me get your grandfather to the couch."
"Yes, dear." Lynn Sr. obliged and so did the rest.
"And Lincoln…" Rita told her son, a bit more gently. "Just… sit down at the table. We'll help you in a moment."
"I'm fine, really. Just take care of Pop-Pop." Lincoln sighed, knowing that transporting Albert wouldn't be easy. Nor would it be easy for their grandfather to help them much now.
"Take it easy, bro. You need to rest too." Luna patted him on the shoulder, before shaking her head at Lola in disapproval and roughly grabbing her arm, dragging her along.
"Come on, Lola. You two sure did it this time." The rocker said dimly.
Lola could only growl under her breath and sent her twin a venomous glare, but the latter didn't notice.
"It wasn't me! Lola threw the pepper into Lincoln's eyes!" Lana cried in defense, when Lynn grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Let's go, Lana." She sighed.
"Why me! It's Lola's fault!" Lana looked at her pleadingly but Lynn pushed her along.
"We'll talk in our room, you ain't doing anyone a favor by staying here." Lynn grumbled, ignoring her sister's protests, and feeling even less like being in her mother's presence now.
Like Lincoln, she knew it was a massive setback having the only other adult willing to believe them, besides their useless father, be put out of commission. And she couldn't help but feel partially responsible for it.
Lisa watched them go, before turning to her still dizzy brother leaning on the table, and then at the rest as they tried to figure out a way to take the heavyset Albert to the couch. She supposed her grandfather could use a caretaker before inevitably dozing off, as good a way as any to say goodbye by helping him in his time of need.
He sure would not be present at the supper table, or any family feast for a while.
The unlucky doe's corpse was hidden between some bushes, where it had been dragged to and partially consumed. Hunkered over it, the lynx surveyed her surroundings, her eyes reflecting the moonlight. A meal couldn't come sooner when you had a hungry mouth to feed, but her kitten was more interested in playing with the bloodstained shawl like a piece of yarn.
She nudged it towards the kill, trying to get it to eat. As it started chewing on the meat, the mother remained alert, wary of any wolves or wolverines skulking around. Her sensitive ears picked up the sound of movement, and she let out a low growl, her worries confirmed. She stood up and the fur on her back bristled, picking up a wolf's scent. But her courage waned as she realized which wolf it was. Now she felt nothing but terror.
In an instant, the kitten was grabbed by its mother, narrowly dodging snapping jaws as the adult lynx made a great leap and scaled up the nearest tree as fast as possible. Lowering her kitten on the branch, she looked down and found One Eye rearing up on the trunk, his lip curled into a vicious snarl. The lynx cowered and shielded her cub. Her sense of smell hadn't lied. Though the ghastly scar on his left eye was new.
With a grunt, the wolf turned around and inspected the corpse, its scent betraying its recent contact with humans, as did the eye-sore-inducing piece of clothing. One Eye hated scavenging but he had no time for hunting tonight. Timing and vigilance were everything if he wished to succeed. Snarling, he tore off one of the deer's hindlegs and carried it off, which signaled for Raza and his flock to swoop down and swarm the carcass in a feeding frenzy.
One Eye carried his meal to a nearby overhang and hunkered down, slowly eating the flesh while watching the building across the lake, the lights in some of the rooms already going out. It was nighttime and he knew that sooner or later, the other two runts would show themselves. There was no sign of the ugly one, so his shortcut hadn't failed him.
He knew he wouldn't have to wait long, for it was plainly obvious that these kids were a callous and rambunctious lot, as most youngsters were, not heeding their parents' warnings to never go out on their own, especially at night.
Much to his delight.
So it's been a while since I last posted a chapter. I have been dealing with creative block ever since writing the last chapter in December, and it still hasn't fully gone away. But I've found the motivation to write this one, and if everything goes swimmingly, the following chapter (which I have more or less planned out) should be up relatively soon.
Certainly, Lisa's mini-arc of trying to make her last day as herself with her family mean something has slowed down the pacing somewhat, so I'm happy to have finally gotten past her conversation with Lincoln, so things can once more move at a brisker pace, with more humor (yes, I'll be skipping any major scenes with the Louds having supper, since it would largely be redundant XD).
And yes, I thought Lincoln and Lisa talking privately was the ideal moment to spell out this hard truth; having a lot of siblings living under the same roof is inherently a bad thing (at least a very overbearing and difficult situation), no two ways about it, but if that's your lot in life, everyone in the family should communicate properly, and at least try to make compromises of some kind in order to make cohabitation as easy as possible given the circumstances, which the Loud siblings, with all their inane and petty fighting, are the antithesis of XD