Chapter Five: Mud-Rope
AN: Cassie is now fifteen years old. She vaguely remembers what happened over that Christmas, but she no longer thinks as much about her father. She is, however, still very curious about her past. Cassie also is in charge of a group of kids, a bit like a day care.
"Guys, let's play mud-rope!" Cassie called, holding up a long jump rope.
Mud-rope was a game that Cassie had invented for rainy days. They would find a mud puddle and play double-dutch inside the puddle, switching jumpers when someone fell in the mud. None of the parents of the kids exactly liked this game, but the kids insisted upon playing constantly.
Cassie tied the rope around a telephone wire, and took hold of the two ends. "Okay, you guys know the drill. Line up by number." Cassie had assigned numbers to each kid, to maintain order and keep track of all of the kids, since she was responsible for all of them. "Okay, number check!"
"One!" Tony was number one.
"Two!" Elisabeth was number two, a pretty girl with somewhat curly brown hair. Elisabeth was somewhat bossy sometimes, but the kids all really liked her.
"Three!" Billy was number three. He was sweet and patient, and seemed to just generally like everyone.
"Four!" Piper, Billy's younger sister, was number four. Also sweet and patient, like Billy, Piper particularly looked up to Elisabeth and adored her best friends, Noelle and David. Well, her best friend and her crush.
"Five!" Noelle, Piper's since-fetuses best friend, was number five. Noelle, like Piper, looked up to Elisabeth a great deal, but tended to be jealous of David for the vast amount of attention that her best friend showered on him.
"Six!" Clark, Noelle's older brother, was number six. Like Noelle and Piper, he and Billy had been best friends since they were little kids. Clark was a computer whiz, sensitive in some ways but tough as tough gets in others.
"Seven!" Catherine was number seven. A sassy redhead with a temper, Catherine and the others were always at odds, but they all also adored her for her strong sense of right and wrong and willingness to fight for the former.
"Eight!" Tate, Catherine's twin brother, was number eight. Also clever and full of fiery spirit, Tate and Catherine were insanely close.
"Nine!" Christopher was number nine. He and his brothers, David, Matt, and Peter, formed the "Four Musketeers." Christopher had a sassiness that matched that of Catherine and Tate, and Cassie always thought he was "fantastic." She didn't know why she used that word. It just seemed to fit the little one's spirit.
"Ten!" David was number ten. He was aggressively protective of his brothers and of everyone else he knew, particularly his friend Piper, whom he doted upon with something akin to puppy love. Cassie tended to call him brilliant, which he was, being one of the cleverest of the group.
"Eleven!" Matt was number eleven. Hilarious and a bit childlike, he was very good with the younger kids. He had a bit of an odd fashion sense, which he insisted was "cool," and Cassie couldn't help but agree.
"Twelve!" Peter was number twelve. Cassie wasn't quite sure of his character quite yet, as she had yet to get to know him well, but he seemed to be rather similar to his brothers.
"Thirteen!" John was nicknamed "Lucky Thirteen" by many of the other kids. He tended to get injured a lot, being a very adventurous and courageous soul, but he never seemed to suffer pain for that long. Clever and hilarious, John was friends with everyone.
"Fourteen!" Eve was number fourteen. It was obvious that she had a major-league crush on John, and Cassie was pretty sure that that was reciprocated, although a lot of the others disagreed. Dark-haired, empathetic and sweet, Cassie secretly considered Eve one of her favorites.
"Thirteen!" Cole, Peter's best friend, was number thirteen. He was as enigmatic as Peter, and the only person able to control his younger sister, Jenna.
"Fourteen!" Jenna, Cole's sister, was number fourteen. She was one of the slightly less agreeable in the group; Cassie called her "impossible" sometimes.
"Fifteen!" Alex, a curly-haired girl with major attitude, was number fifteen. She and Jenna were constantly fighting for Matt's attention.
"Sixteen! Seventeen!" Karen and Caitlin, seven-year-old twins, were numbers sixteen and seventeen. Also little redheads, these two were playful and loving and loved to follow the older kids around, particularly Matt.
"Okay, that's everyone! Let's play mud-rope!" Cassie grabbed the rope and began swinging it for Tony to jump in. The other kids began to sing their mud-rope song.
"Rain, rain, don't go away, so that we get time to play! Mud-rope, mud-rope, the very best game. Tony's in the puddle, how long will he stay? One, two, three..."
The game kept on for half an hour, and the kids got quite muddy. Soon, the rain poured down harder and harder. Thunder began to rumble in the distance, and lightning flashed over the hill.
"Storm coming, everybody! Everybody inside!"
"Awwwwwww," the kids complained. "Can't we have five more minutes, Cassie?"
"No, it's a thunderstorm. Tony, take them inside. I'll be right there."
"Gotcha, Cassie," said Tony. "Everybody line up behind me to go inside." The kids trailed behind him to go inside, while Cassie tried to untangle the knots in the rope by the lightning rod.
The knots were impossible, especially with low visibility. The sky became darker and darker, and Cassie couldn't see a thing. Meanwhile, the storm became closer.
"Almost," Cassie muttered, and then the unthinkable happened.
A great big bolt of lightning hit Cassie square in the face.
Hey y'alls!
Sorry for the major cliffhanger there! I know, I'm cruel. But there'll be another chapter soon. I promise.
A little note: Please don't complain about canon in reviews! I am open to a PM discussion of canon, any day. But canon-complaint reviews aren't exactly appreciated. Thanks!
Kate
