Synopsis: In one scene, Maggie mentioned all she wanted to do in her youth was shoplift and smoke and I was just wondering to myself how Herschel would have punished his daughter, and then them living on a farm popped into my head and this happened. Cheers! ^^

Chapter 3

Crime and Punishment

Their town was small, but somehow the police station managed to be busy on a Friday afternoon. There were desk jockeys on their phones, muttering importantly to someone on the other line. Inmates and officers populated the area, booking and transferring new arrivals.

A teenage Maggie Greene sat on one of the uncomfortable wooden benches inside the station. She was lucky she was not being booked like the surly faced men she saw being escorted in handcuffs. There were a few officers talking to some of the female secretaries, but Maggie didn't notice them. She sat preoccupied, worriedly chewing on her thumb nail. Her eyes were turbulent in their youth, hostile and rebellious, yet scared at the same time.

Maggie had been caught shop lifting at the grocery store with her friends. The police officer that hauled her in knew her parents and called them. She would have been happy to get out of there, if only she didn't know that it was her father who was coming to get her.

Herschel Greene walked in, his eyes dark and stormy as he looked about for his troublesome teenage daughter. He spotted her tearing away at her nails like there was no tomorrow looking the other way before she saw him. His hair was graying and thinning at the temples and she wasn't doing him any favors by acting up like she was now.

He didn't know what got into his oldest daughter. He had not raised her this way, smoking in the girl's bathroom and now this! He didn't understand her rule breaking streak and her need to sneak out after dark and do other nefarious things.

He approached the desk and signed the necessary papers to have his daughter released to him. The officer who'd brought her into the station was kind enough not to recommend juvenile detention since Herschel was his family vet. Instead, Herschel had other methods in mind for getting her to behave.

Early the next day

Maggie didn't know it, but she and her sister were spoiled. Herschel and Anne always endeavored to make a good home for their children. They worked hard for their children's education. Herschel had no sons to help him with his farm, and his wife was faint at heart sometimes.

He could have asked his girls to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty, but he let his wife Anne see to their upbringing as she saw fit. He loved and trusted in his wife, so when she suggested they hire an overseer to help them with the farm, Herschel didn't hesitate to hire Otis.

Otis was an affable, scruffy and pudgy man. He had a blonde, kind eyed wife named Patricia. They came to live on the Greene's farm and were truly a blessing for the Greene family. They became like extended family members and there was a place at the Greene family table for them every night.

Otis was normally the one that rose early each morning with Herschel to make the rounds on the property, or otherwise tend to their animals as needed. Herschel had a diverse collection of live stock, poultry, and foul.

They also had horses out to pasture, but even they needed a place for the nights. Herschel had some stables, and normally Otis was the one to tend to the animal's quarters in the morning.

This morning, however, Maggie rudely found herself awakened by her father's insistent nudges. His kind yet calloused hands gripped her shoulder firmly and shook her, speaking softly under his breath. The sun wasn't even up yet. The light streaming through her bedroom window was not even pink with the sunrise yet, but more blue with the night. She groaned and yawned widely.

"Get dressed," he ordered. She knew better than to make him wait, so when he closed the door behind him she knew he expected her up and downstairs immediately. She donned a ratty old blue sweat shirt and jerked on some jeans and brown work boots and stumbled down the stairs sleepily.

Patricia was downstairs preparing breakfast for the men. Her step mom must have been ill this morning, lying in bed. She would more than likely rouse Beth when it was time for school and normally she would have done the same for Maggie. But for Maggie, today was no such luck.

Her dad let her fill up on some waffles and scrambled eggs before he told her what her job for the day was. He handed her some old brown work gloves before they left. "You're gonna need these," he told her with a grin. Maggie frowned, dismayed. Herschel looped his arm around her shoulders, and with his other hand gathered the thermos of hot coffee Patricia handed him to go. He shuffled her out the door behind Otis and into his old beat up red and white Ford suburban.

They pulled up to the stables and Maggie waited with trepidation near the entrance. Herschel went shuffling around in one of the stalls. He came back with a shovel proffered for her to take in his hands. She frowned deeply, and stared up at her dad.

"When you pull bull shit, you're gonna have to shovel your share of horse shit," he told her, and he set her to work.