And here is chapter three! It's rather long, I know, but I couldn't stop once I started. And hopefully you guys won't mind. ;)
Enjoy!
"Is that dog eating the wood?"
Jess looked over to the woodpile. Sure enough, PT was gnawing on one of the wood strips he and his father had sanded. Irritably he shooed him away.
"Come on, PT, go find a rabbit to chase or something," he told the dog. PT bounded away. "He'll get tired eventually, Dad. He's just bored."
It was midday. Jess had been up since dawn, working harder then he had all summer, but the work was worth spending time with his dad. Jack let Jess drive down to the field where his lumber piles lay, teaching him the basics of driving in a nutshell: "Brake here, okay, speed up a little, okay, you can turn now—" Jess triumphantly turned off the road into the grassy field at high speed, "—Not bad. Okay…a little to the left…good. Stop here."
"Well," Jack had said as they got out of the vehicle. "Maybe if I get a new truck you'll be able to drive this one. High school busses are hell, anyway."
Jess smiled. Back before his father got a promotion he would never have offered Jess a truck, or talked to him about anything other then chores, for that matter.
They had started sawing up the wood into strips that workers could use to build with, sanding the rough edges and putting the lumber in piles. PT ran around them in circles, wagging his tail and, of course, attempting to eat the wood.
"Why don't we stop for lunch?" Jack said now, putting down the sandpaper and getting to his feet. Jess happily agreed. Every inch of him was soaked in sweat and the sun burned off his skin.
They pulled out sandwiches and sat in the shade of the pickup. PT sniffed Jess's hands hopefully, and he threw the dog a little piece of the meat.
"It's the way of business, son," Jack said suddenly as they ate, as though Jess had asked the question. "We all gotta work for our living, and some harder then others."
Jess took another bite of his sandwich.
"Though some people don't have to work," Jack contradicted himself. "Like all those lazy kids born to rich families."
"Well," said Jess, wiping sweat off his face. "It hurts them in the long run."
"Never a truer word said," Jack agreed. "I'll tell you what, son, once this damn work is over with and workers come to pay us good money for our lumber, we'll have all that cash to spend and we'll be able to sit back and stay in the air conditioning." It sounded as though he was trying to convince himself. "Though you'll just be roaming around in the woods like you always are."
"Yeah." Jess swallowed. "You really think you'd be able to get a new car with the money from this lumber?"
"I have a feeling Brenda and Ellie will be getting clothes before I get a new car," shrugged Jack, picking at his bread crust. "Anyway. This old pickup could hold out for a while longer. You'd be able to drive it to your school, anyway, if your mother and I can convince those girls that trucks are more important then clothes."
They were silent for a second, then Jack added, "Why is it that those girls always seem to get what they want?"
"Because they complain?" Jess said.
Jack frowned at him, but his eyes held amusement. "I'm going to talk to your mother about them," he said, shaking his head. "They need to be working as hard as the rest of this family, because like you said, it hurts them in the long run. Now let's get back on out there."
Jess unwillingly left the comfort of the shade and followed his dad back to the woodpile. He was going to be out in the sun for another five hours. At least.
The wood from another pile a couple of yards away from their workstation was either too long or too short to be used as the type of lumber workers sought out for buildings; they threw out the short pieces and had to saw the long ones.
"Good Lord," Jack observed as Jess sawed the wood in half with smooth strokes. "When did I ever teach you to saw?"
"Er…I don't think you did," Jess said. The wood fell cleanly onto the ground. "Leslie taught me."
"That girl does it all," muttered Jack in disbelief. He picked up another piece of lumber and started sawing at it. "She teach you to hammer, too?"
"Probably. We were like twelve, Dad. Her parents let me help them fix up their house."
Jack shook his head again. "Don't tell anyone I said this," he said, sighing, "but I wish that Brenda and Ellie could have turned out like her. And I hope it's not too late for May Belle and Joyce Ann. That girl's got her priorities straight."
"What do you mean?"
Jack lifted his shoulders then let them back down. "Well…" he said slowly, sawing the wood with even strokes. "She doesn't obsess about clothes, for one thing. Or stay up until midnight calling boys. And I've never heard Leslie whine or complain, either."
"You're not around her during gym class," Jess said, grinning, and his dad chuckled.
"It must be a female priority," he said. "All girls must hate gym class."
Jess laughed.
"All I know is that she's—" He stopped, obviously looking for the right words, "—changed you," his dad continued. "I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but…I don't know. You're just different."
"In a good way?"
"Sure. I mean, she's teaching you how to saw,of all things." His lips twitched for a moment but before Jess registered that he was smiling they were normal again. "But she's got a good head on her shoulders. A real pretty one, too, I might add."
Jess smiled. "Yeah."
"You'll have to watch her carefully this fall," Jack said. Jess expected him to say more, but his father continued sawing. Finally he asked, "Why?"
"Like I said last night, the high school's getting more kids this fall." Jack grunted as the wood fell to the ground in two pieces. "By 30 percent, I heard."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Part of the reason we're getting all these new house foundations. There are going to be a lot more people at your school this year."
"So why do I have to watch Leslie carefully?"
Jack shook his head, really smiling now. "Work with me, boy. More people equal more guys your age ready to steal her away." He nodded knowingly. "They'll hound her like crazy unless you fight 'em off. Trust me."
Jess just nodded, and they went back to work. Sure, the guys at school who didn't think she was crazy (i.e. the most popular ones) or simply abnormal (the athletes and the snobby girls' guy friends) followed Leslie around like love-struck puppies and a couple of hopefuls would occasionally try to coax her into a date, but Leslie was strong; he didn't need to intervene unless the guys tried getting physical. And he'd taken quiet a few blows for stepping between Leslie and whatever freak it was who was trying to get his hands on her. His dad didn't need to tell him to protect her – that was just automatic.
PT continued to gnaw on the wood so much Jack finally sawed off a little piece just for him. The dog was obviously not concerned about splinters. But on the way back that evening (Jess drove) he was scratching at his mouth and whining in the back seat.
"Stupid dog," Jack grumbled from the front as they bumped along down the road in the pickup. "The Burkes must have one heck of a time with him. And he's not even a puppy anymore."
As they turned up the dirt road, Jess saw the bulldozer again. This time, a group of men was gathered around it, leaning over something and talking. They looked up once they saw the pickup coming; one or two of them waved.
"Stop for a second," Jack said, and Jess braked. Jack rolled down his window and stuck his head out.
"'Afternoon, gentlemen," he told the workers.
"'Afternoon, sir," one of them said; the others nodded respectfully. They were all dressed in carpenter jeans and dirty work shirts; one of them was rolling up a blueprint of something. "This old girl ain't in your way, is she?"
"She's fine," Jack said, and Jess assumed they were talking about the bulldozer. "You guys part of the company building homes up north?"
"Yes, sir, we are," a second man said. "Lark Creek Real Estate. Our boss has a license and he just bought a bunch of land to develop."
"We're the ones leveling the land," another man added.
"Whereabouts in Lark Creek?" Jack asked.
"Oh, just up that way," the first man said, pointing up the dirt road, behind the pickup truck. "I think the land's about ten to fifteen acres."
"Though our boss is trying to sneak in more," chortled a forth man. "Aw, well. More land, more money for us."
Jack chuckled heartily with the men, perhaps a little too heartily.
"Well, if you're ever in a need of lumber, give us a shout," he told them. "My son and I spent the day sanding some of our wood out in the fields. I live down that way and to the left."
"The Perkins place?"
"No, no. Right across from it. It's a red farmhouse."
"We'll tell our boss, see if he's interested," the second man said. "Thanks a lot."
"Have fun," Jack answered, and he rolled up his window as Jess hit the gas.
"I bet it's an illegal contract," Jack muttered as they bumped down the road again. "I thought that land was owned property."
"What land?"
"Way up there," Jack said, gesturing to the horizon at no place in particular. "Wonder how many trees will have to come down."
"But it's land being developed."
Jack snorted. "Damn right. Anyway, the more people that come to Lark Creek, the more business I get at the hardware store. Step on the gas a little more; you're slowing down."
That first day laid out the rest of Jess's summer. He'd get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, then the rest of his waking hours were usually spent helping his dad with the lumber. When the wood was stacked by the house neatly he started helping in the greenhouse, pulling up late weeds and early vegetables. PT ran around underfoot until Joyce Ann started playing with him so they could work. May Belle carried some of the vegetables back to the house or brought them water when they were thirsty. And Brenda and Ellie were forced—by threat of them being sent back to their college apartment for the summer—to help their mother in the house.
"Why should I have to clean the living room?" was the first thing Jess heard nearly every morning the rest of the summer. "It's not like it will stay clean."
"Well, why do we wash the dishes, Ellie?" Mrs. Aarons would be answering by the time Jess sat down to the table. "They're just going to get dirty again."
His father would stay long enough just to make it very clear to Brenda and Ellie that the entire family had to work and they too were required to help out; then he joined Jess and May Belle in the greenhouse with Joyce Ann and PT following at his heels. And while Ellie and Brenda complained, Nancy loaded more chores for them to do on their work lists until they fell silent. The first day that they had to work Brenda and Ellie must have cleaned the whole house.
After three weeks of pure labor, Jess came into the house one afternoon for a snack while his mother was sorting through the mail, Ellie loading dishes in the dishwasher and Brenda sweeping the floor as she did. Ellie and Brenda were grumbling. Nancy didn't seem bothered.
"Let's see…oh, I was wondering when I was going to get that package…I thought she said she sent it weeks ago…and here's the power bill…and the house mortgage…hmm, rather early this moth…oh, Jess, you have something—"
"He gets mail, and we don't?" Brenda said in a surprised—almost horrified—tone. Ellie whipped around.
"Who would bother writing to you?" she shot out, as Jess took his letter from Mrs. Aarons happily. As he had guessed, it was from Leslie.
"Who's it from, Jess?" Brenda asked primly, as though she didn't know.
Jess turned around and faced her. Suddenly he had had enough.
"My girlfriend," he told her. Mrs. Aarons looked up in shock, Ellie dropped a plate she had been holding, and Brenda's jaw plummeted downwards but Jess didn't care. He practically skipped up to his room holding Leslie's letter.
Sorry, Leslie, he said to himself as he sat on his bed and opened the envelope. Looks like neither of us are going to hear the end of it now. But I had to do that.
The first thing Jess pulled out was a postcard of Niagara Falls. It looked amazing, with its waters rushing downwards into a brilliant mist below, the deep blue water against the sky. He looked on the back but there was nothing written on it. Jess looked inside the envelope again; there was a folded piece of notebook paper in it.
Jess pulled it out and opened it.
Dear Jess,
So I've been at Niagara Falls for a couple of days now. We went to a couple of places before we arrived here, a lot of parks and some museums. One day we went down to a gallery in Pennsylvania. You would have loved it; there was a bunch of artwork that used different techniques and all the work used different kinds of paint…I took notes for you, and Bill took pictures.
Niagara Falls is beautiful. It looks exactly like the postcard, only it's better in real life because you can hear its roar and feel the power those waters contain. Its strength was amazing…almost as though it belonged in a magical kingdom!
Jess smiled. He knew Leslie would never put down "Terabithia" in case someone else read her letter. But he knew what she meant.
Yesterday we went down on a cruise ship into the water right below the Falls! I couldn't even hear myself think; the screaming of the water was so loud. By the time the three of us got back on shore, we were soaked. But it was so much fun. I wish you could have been there.
You haven't been losing your brain cells this summer, have you? I'm testing you when I get back, so start studying all our old school books. No, I'm only kidding. How have you been spending your summer? And has PT been too much trouble? And how are they doing? Everything okay up in the woods?
I'm writing this from our hotel, so I know you won't be able to respond to an address, but just know that I miss you but I'll see you in less then a month. Then we get to spend all day at school together for the next nine months. Fun, huh?
Say hi to May Belle and Joyce Ann for me. See you soon!
Love,
Leslie
"I am not losing any brain cells," Jess said aloud, putting the letter back in the envelope and putting it under his pillow. He couldn't help grinning. He could picture Leslie standing in front of Niagara Falls, wild and free like the water, watching it roar down to the river below with her hair whipping in the wind.
Jess walked back downstairs where Mrs. Aarons and Ellie were irritably sweeping up the glass shards, the remains of the plate Ellie had dropped.
"…at least be more careful…!"
"Mom, you heard what he said! You were surprised."
"That's no reason to break a perfectly good plate that now we're going to have to replace—"
"So, Jess, what did your girlfriend—" Brenda paused for Jess to catch the word, "—say to you? That she's glad you're away from her?"
"Or did she declare undying love?" Ellie said, putting the back of her hand to her forehead mockingly.
"Brenda, Ellie, leave your brother alone," Nancy snapped across the kitchen while Jess took an apple from the fruit bowl.
"Come on, Jesse, what did she say?" whined Ellie. Jess paused at the back door.
"She wanted to tell me that she accepted my proposal," he told his sisters sarcastically. "We're getting married in August."
OOO
It took two weeks for both his mother and his father to fully stop Brenda and Ellie from asking Jess if they could be bridesmaids for the wedding, or if they could help them plan their honeymoon, or if they were going to live close to home so they could visit them any time they wanted, every time he was in the same room with them. Joyce Ann claimed the roll of flower girl, thinking for a while that Jess had been serious, and May Belle, though while she knew Jess had been sarcastic, lit up at the thought of Leslie being her sister-in-law.
"Don't you think that would be cool?" she said one night at dinner as Jess tried to kick her under the table. "Leslie being related to us? And that would make Mr. and Mrs. Burke our family, too!"
"That would be very nice," Nancy told her. "Now eat your ham."
"Leslie doesn't have sisters, so I'll be the maid of honor," Ellie said as Jess sighed heavily. "And Brenda could stick an apple in her mouth and sit on the table in a platter…."
"Shut up," Brenda barked at her. "Like you would be the maid of honor, anyway."
"Quiet!" Jack said loudly. "Will you two shut up, now, please? Jess, do you and Leslie plan on getting married?"
"No."
"Then that's settled," said Jack easily. "Brenda, Ellie, you heard him. Now hush."
Finally when Brenda and Ellie's extra taunts died down and Joyce Ann was convinced that was not going to be a flower girl, there were only a few days to go before Leslie returned. One particular day a couple of the men Jess had seen with his father when they first started sanding the lumber came to their door; Jack went away with them for a half hour or so and came back looking extremely happy.
"Closed a deal," he told Mrs. Aarons, giving her a rare peck on the cheek as he walked past them in the kitchen. "All that wood Jess and I sanded? Those builders are buying all of it."
So it came as no surprise that Jack came pulling into the driveway in the morning, the day Leslie was supposed to be back, with a bigger, better, newer pickup truck, having discussed the option with Mrs. Aarons (from what Jess heard through the vent that led to the living room) the night before. The family stood around and admired it, then once Nancy herded Brenda and Ellie back into the house so they could do laundry and May Belle and Joyce Ann were in the greenhouse, Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out the old pickup truck keys.
"Well," he said to Jess who stood examining the huge tire of the new truck, "the old pickup is yours."
"Really?" asked Jess in disbelief.
"No, I was kidding," Jack said sarcastically, tossing the keys at Jess. Jess caught them, grinning. "You helped out a lot with the lumber over the summer. You'll need the truck."
"But Joyce Ann and May Belle've been helping—"
"Are they old enough to drive?"
"And Brenda and Ellie—"
"—have a car of their own," Jack finished for him. "And no matter how much they complain about how old it is, it works perfectly. That old truck is yours."
Jess smiled, fingering the keys in his hand. "Thanks, Dad."
"You won't have to ride the bus, now, anyway," Jack shrugged. "With all the new kids your school is going to have the busses aren't going to be very fun for you and Leslie. Trust me."
As Jess sat on the Burke's steps that evening after dinner, he realized how much he was going to have to catch Leslie up on. He had been to Terabithia only a couple times so there wasn't too much there requiring an update, but first there were builders, then there was news of more students at the high school, and now they had a truck all to themselves, all news that he would get to tell her about.
The sun hadn't set just yet but he figured that they would get back late at night and had gotten up to leave when the Burke's car came pulling up the driveway. PT started barking and Jess scooped him up so Bill wouldn't roll over him. Leslie flew out of the backseat before the car even came to a complete stop.
"Jess!" she said happily and Jess had to put PT down so he could hug her. Even in the dying light Jess could see her clearly. Her hair was a little longer but other then that she looked the same; she seemed to glow in the sun's golden light.
"How are you?" he laughed after she had stepped back from him. How he had missed those eyes.
"I'm good but I'm so…so tired!" she said, attempting and failing not to yawn. Bill and Judy were getting out of the car now; Judy looked as though she just woke up. "We had to drive a lot in the last couple of days. But we're home now," Leslie added as she looked around. PT jumped up to her knees and she picked him up, kissing his head. "Hey, you!" She looked up from her dog and asked, "How has he been, Jess? How have you been? Are things at your house good? What did you do for six weeks?"
"Slow down," Jess said, laughing. "I can't answer all those at once."
"What did you do?"
"I worked," Jess said as Bill and Judy walked up to them.
"Worked?" Leslie said incredulously. "Really? But it's summer! You—"
"Jeeze, Leslie, for someone who seemed so tired in the car you have a lot of energy," Judy said as she smoothed down Leslie's hair. "Nice to see you, Jess."
"You, too," Jess said. "How were the Falls?"
"They were beautiful," sighed Judy as Bill nodded appreciatively. "Oh, you should have seen them, Jess. But we took pictures; we'll get to show them to you."
"Did you get my letter?" asked Leslie eagerly.
"Yeah, I did," Jess said. "Yeah, you said you went under the Falls…"
"We did," said Bill, chuckling. "It was madness…everything was so loud…."
"But it was fun," beamed Leslie.
"PT was good for you?"
"Yeah, he had fun," Jess said. "He was good."
Judy took the dog from Leslie. "Well, we'll leave you two to catch up," she said. "Come here, boy…good dog. I've actually missed this little terror," she said with a smile. "We'll unload the car in the morning, Bill?"
"Sounds good," Bill said. "Jess, we'll see you in the morning, probably."
"Okay."
"Come on over and we'll show you pictures," Judy added. "Come knock on our door when you come back in, okay, Leslie?"
"Okay."
"Good night, then," Bill said, smiling and clasping Leslie on the shoulder before they walked inside the house, PT's tail thumping against Judy's arm.
Leslie hugged him again. Jess laughed. "Not get enough hugs at the Falls?" he asked teasingly.
"The water can't exactly give hugs," Leslie said, grinning. She pulled away and they sat down on the steps.
"Did you get some of the water?" Jess asked.
Leslie smiled. "I did. It's in the car; we can put it in Terabithia tomorrow."
Jess smiled back in happiness. "Okay."
"So you had to work this summer? What did you do? Lift up trees?"
"Close," Jess said. "I sanded lumber with my dad. But we had to chop it all up and stuff first."
"Your arms are bigger, more muscular," Leslie observed, and Jess looked down at them.
"They are," he said. "I never noticed that."
"Oh, God," Leslie said, rolling her eyes. "Now I have to go to high school with some macho man no one's going to leave alone—"
"Hey," Jess said, snorting. "You've got your own worshipers. And you'll have more of them, because our school population is increasing by 30 percent this fall."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Jess said. "But, hey, get this! We don't have to ride the bus."
"Why?"
"Because," Jess paused dramatically, "I got Dad's old truck."
Leslie gasped, a smile spreading on her face. "You got the truck?"
"Yeah," Jess said proudly. "Dad got a new one, so I got his old pickup."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. I've been driving it a lot the last month and a half."
Leslie laughed and spread her arms out, looking to the sky. "O mighty spirits, protect the world from Jess and his driving madness—"
"Oh, shut up," Jess laughed. He was feeling happier then he had in a long time. "Want to go for a really quick drive?"
"Let me get my crash helmet," Leslie said, and he swatted her playfully.
"Let's go."
They tore across the road to Jess's driveway and into the truck; thankfully the Aarons were still in the house so no one was there to stop them. Jess started the road and Leslie, sitting securely in the front seat, took a deep breath.
"Here we go," she said, acting dramatic, as though she was about to go to the gallows. Jess grinned and turned onto the dirt road, automatically turning toward the bulldozer, the way he had been driving out into the fields for the last six weeks. He was so used to seeing the bulldozer that he was surprised at Leslie's question.
"What's that doing down there?"
Then Jess remembered she'd been gone for so long. "Oh," he said. "They're developing land somewhere near here."
Leslie stiffened. She turned her head so she could look at Jess, her eyes wide. "Where?"
Jess shrugged. "Somewhere up ahead. Ten or fifteen acres, I think."
"So they're not developing anywhere back there?" Leslie pointed behind them, to the road that traveled along to the larger fields that led to the forest and creek.
"Er…no," Jess said, confused. Then it hit him.
"Oh, no…no, don't worry, Leslie," he told her, steering expertly around the bulldozer. "They're not going anywhere near there. They're building house foundations up here, towards the town. That's it."
Leslie nodded. "Oh."
They decided to drive up to their school and back, so Jess would be familiar with the roads before they had to go there. Leslie didn't say a lot until they were back on the dirt road, and once they were she let out a sigh of what sounded like relief.
"What?" Jess said, looking over at her.
"You drove good."
"What, you were scared I would kill us both?"
Leslie snorted. "Yes."
Jess slammed on the gas and took a sudden swerve off the road into the ditch on the side of the street. Leslie screamed and Jess laughed hysterically, turning back onto the road.
Leslie smacked his shoulder. "Don't do that!"
"Sorry," Jess laughed. "Had to."
Leslie threw her head back against the headrest, laughing. "Believe it or not, I actually missed you."
"I missed you, too." Jess hit the brake a little bit, because Leslie was still shaky. "But we don't have any summer left."
"Sure we do; we have like a little more then a week," Leslie answered him. "Tomorrow let's go to Terabithia. What's been happening there when I was gone, anyway?"
"Well," Jess said slowly, turning back into his driveway, "I notified the subjects that you would be departed for a colossal quantity of time, and you would be exallant or whatever to see them at your homecoming, and since then they have been royally confused—"
"Oh, shut up."
The story's still moving slowly, I know. Please no one hurt me. :D Trust me, everything is all under control:D :D
So I stuck with the name "Nancy" for Mrs. Aarons even though this is based off the movie because, in my opinion, it fits her better then "Mary". And, uh…I guess that's it…
Your reviews are the very things that keep me writing – thanks for reading and hopefully you'll click that purplish button down there and tell me how awful or how weird or how cute or how clichéd or how good (I hope) or how laughably pathetic this fanfic was.
Prepare yourselves…from now on I'm going to have to rate this fanfic T, because of what's going to start happening starting next chapter. ;) I'll be updating soon! Thanks again.