Chapter 46
Sam sat on the sleeping bag while Adam braided her hair. They had eaten breakfast, Kit having caught enough fish for all of them to feast on.
"Jake, you and Sammy are in charge of gathering the berries for tonight's dinner," Kit told him.
Jake nodded, flicking a glance at Sam as she sat cross-legged in front of Adam. He watched as Adam tied off the braid with a hair rubber band that Sam handed him.
"Thanks Adam," Sam turned to hug him.
"You're welcome, Sammy," Adam hugged her back. "Glad I could do it."
"I promise to figure out how to do that some day," Sam promised.
"I'll show you some time on a horse," Adam said. "Maybe then you'll get the pattern for it."
"Great," Sam gave him a bright smile. It lit up her whole face.
Kit and Adam looked at each other again, their mouths twitching.
"What's so funny?" Quinn asked.
"Nothin'," Kit told him.
"Somethin' is," Bryan disagreed.
"Nah," Adam shook his head.
"Adam will tell you in a few years," Kit explained.
Neither twin was happy with that, the frowns on their faces showed it. Jake looked at his two older brothers with suspicion. Kit just grinned at him.
"So, what are we doing today?" Nate asked.
"You mean besides swimming, eating and sleeping?" Adam laughed.
"Yeah," Nate nodded and laughed.
"Well, Sammy did you bring some dolls to play with?" Quinn asked.
Sam gave him a look. "I don't play with dolls."
"She plays with turtles," Jake piped in and Sam smiled at him and nodded.
"I saw some snakes," Bryan said.
Sam shook her head. "I like turtles better."
"Frogs too," Jake gave her a lopsided grin. Sam grinned back at him.
"Okay, well I saw frogs too," Bryan said.
"Frog races?" Sam asked.
"Sure, we can do frog races," Kit said with a nod.
Sam scrambled to her feet, followed quickly by Jake. The others were a bit startled.
"Trust me, she finds the best ones first," Jake told them as Sam ran down to the water, her braid trailing out behind her like a horse's tail.
Jake ran after her, determined to get the first frog.
"Well okay then," Adam laughed. "Guess we better hurry and get a frog before Sammy does, huh?"
The other five laughed as they got up.
By the time they reached the water, Sam already had a frog in her hand and was pushing it into Jake's face.
"My frog will leave yours in the dust," Sam was taunting her friend.
"Look around you, Brat," Jake had a frog also. "Do you see any dust?"
"Whatever," Sam rolled her eyes. "Jake the turtle is faster that whatever you find and so is Adam the frog."
"What?" Adam was surprised.
"He has your nose," Sam pointed out, much to the amusement of his brothers.
"Terrific," Adam mumbled under his breath.
"Yeah, frog boy," Quinn laughed. "Don't you see the resemblance?"
"I do," Kit was laughing heartily.
Jake was chuckling, happy that Sam didn't name the frog after him. He knew it would be a long while before they quit teasing Adam about having a frog named after him.