New Beginnings

ch. 23:

Brothers & Birthday Plans

Back at the ranch, Ethan hears Rob open the door of his room. Turning from where he has been studying the fire he looks at the boy standing at the entrance to the bedrooms.

"I thought I told you to go to your room, young man! I don't believe you have permission to be out of it!" Ethan says sternly.

"Yes sir, I know you said for me to stay in my room but I have to say something."

"What do you wish to say?" Ethan asks a little less sternly, seeing the tears in Rob's eyes

"I apologize for acting so rashly at the picnic today. I lost my temper and I shouldn't have. I know I deserve to be punished. I would like to get it over with. I suppose I'm restricted to the ranch." Rob answers with a sigh.

"I accept your apology, Robert. We have much to discuss about this and I for one think we need to cool down before we do. I need to go get the other children from the lake. While I do, you are to stay in your room except for using the W. C. We will discuss this incident and the consequences later."

"Yes Sir." Turning to go back to his room, Rob hears the sound of a wagon pulling up outside the front door. Walking behind Ethan, he too looks out the front window. They see Matthew with the children, climbing out of his wagon.

"Papa! Just look at what Ben did to me! He put pie on me!" George says as he and Ben push each other to get in the house. "He's a tell-tale and a liar! You said breaking a promise is the same as lying and he broke a promise!" Ben says at almost the same time.

Coming in behind them, Joseph says "Pa, Ben was down by the lake by himself and went in the water too! He needs a whipping! He knows not to go near deep water without one of us! He could have drowned!"

Before Ethan can respond, Rob speaks up sternly "BEN! You were down at the water again after I spanked you for it earlier? I told you NOT to be near that water alone and you defied me!"

"We were just wading Joseph, not swimming. You can't drown wading! You are not so great yourself, Rob. You defied Pa and walked into the woods with Emily when you aren't supposed too. Then you were fighting and you aren't supposed to do that either. You are in trouble, Rob!" Ben snaps back angrily.

Coming in to the house behind the boys, Matthew, seeing Ethan's face, thinks "He's about to explode here."

Taking two deep breaths, Ethan says in a tone they all know means do it or suffer the consequences, "Ben, no more! You did wrong and you know it! We will be talking about your behavior later. Both of you younger boys get clean nightclothes and take a bath. Claire, please supervise them. Robert, GO TO YOUR ROOM. Joseph, come with me to the barn."

Everyone moves to obey except Joseph. Having had all the irritation he can take today with his brothers and now being the one ordered to the barn he loses control. "PA! I'm THE ONLY ONE who didn't cause trouble today and you want ME to go to the barn? I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!"

"Young Man, you are skating on extremely thin ice here! Stop that shouting! I told you to come to the barn to help with the chores not for punishment. Now, however, it seems we need to go to the tack room to discuss being respectful!" Ethan answers, eyes snapping dangerously.

"No sir, we don't. I apologize for shouting and being disrespectful. Please, Pa, don't punish me." Joseph says realizing too late that his Pa is still angry over what happened with Rob.

"Ethan, he's had a trying day. You all have, if you think about it. Let me come help with the chores and Joseph can help get the supper started. I have information you need to hear."

"Your Uncle just saved your backside, you need to thank him." Ethan says looking sternly at Joseph.

"Thank you for the help Uncle Matthew. I'm very sorry for being disrespectful, Pa. It's just been a tough day what with the boys acting up."

"I accept your apology, Joseph. Help your sister get supper ready."

"What did you want to tell me, Matthew?" Ethan asks as they feed the horses.

About Rob, what do you plan to do or have you taken care of that already?"

"I haven't. I needed to calm down before I took him on. I was afraid I'd hurt him, I was so angry. This kind of behavior is not like him. Yes, he's done foolish things and disobeyed but the fact that he attacked someone and caused harm is hard to accept."

"I overheard the boys right before Rob lit into the Kingsley boy. If it helps, he was provoked. That boy was slandering Rob's parents."

"What did the boy say?"

"He talked about Rob's father being a criminal and his mother probably being a whore. That's when Rob punched him in the face. Personally, I don't blame him at all! I would have done the same!"

"Matthew, provoked or not, I am not going to allow my sixteen year old to attack another person! What if in the future he loses control like this but his assailant has a gun? He has to be taught to keep his temper no matter what or he could be killed!" Ethan says thinking of Scott McGinnis.

"So you plan to thrash him with a whip?"

"WHAT? Of course not! Matthew, I'm not like your father or your brother either for that matter. I do not beat children. At the most, I use a razor strop and that very rarely. You and I have had this conversation before. You must have forgotten. For this, I'm not sure yet if I should be that harsh. I'll decide after he and I talk it out in the morning. It sounds as if I need to have a talk with Ben about his behavior today also. I'll do that tonight after supper. Would you like to stay for supper? I don't think it's going to be much since we've been gone all day."

"Thank you for the invitation. I'd like to stay. Ethan, I know this isn't my business but don't be too hard on Rob. He's having girl problems and I think that is another reason for his actions today."

"Matthew, I appreciate your input but as you so rightly said, it isn't any of your business how I discipline the children. Just be assured I will not hurt them the way your father did you and your brother. I'm not that type of man, strange as it may seem."

"Why do you phrase it that way? What's strange about it?"

"Well some people expect me to be violent since I am a former gunslinger." Ethan answers smiling a little.

"No one that ever gets to know the real you will feel that way. I won't tell them however so you can keep up the tough charade. I'm sure it helps to have criminals or would be criminals be afraid of you." Matthew replies with a grin.

"It has come in handy a few times. Come, let's go see what the children have found for supper."

The next morning after breakfast, Rob hears his Pa say the words he has been dreading. "You and I have some talking to do Robert. Meet me in the barn in five minutes. The rest of you clean up from breakfast and stay inside until I tell you differently."

"Alright Robert, explain to me why you felt the need to punch Jared Kingsley so hard you broke his nose, loosened a tooth and bloodied his lip." Ethan says sternly after having Rob sit on a hay bale.

"I got mad and I punched him. He deserved it."

"That is not an acceptable answer, young man! I want to hear from you the exact reason you attacked the boy. I want the truth not some cockamamie excuse! Let's hear it!" Ethan says pacing in front of the bale.

Angry at having to remember the hateful words thrown at him the day before, Rob snaps out "What's the use of telling? You're going to punish me anyway so why does it matter? Let it lie!"

"The USE, young man, is the difference between me taking a razor strop to your bare backside or you telling me the truth as to what set you off yesterday. If you don't tell me the reason for your actions, I'll have to assume you wanted to hurt the boy. That will lead us to a round with the razor strop! I will give you ONE more chance to tell me the truth and if you don't, we will take it to the woodshed."

Seeing the look in Ethan's eyes that Rob knows means he is at the end of his patience, he decides it would be best to answer.

"Jared was giving me a difficult time over me wanting to talk to Emily. I think he was jealous over the fact she had agreed to walk out with me. He said she 'could do better than some orphan like me.' Then he said 'I was the son of a criminal and probably a whore' so Emily needed to go with him not me. He's from a much better family, he said all of this in front of Emily and some others! I lost control and I hit him. If he were here right now and said that to me again, I'd hit him again too!" Rob says trying to blink away the tears that are in his eyes.

"I see. Well Robert, tell me this, what is the family rule on fighting?"

"We aren't to raise a hand to someone in anger, no matter what. We are to talk it out or walk away if we can't."

"That's exactly right. Do you remember last spring, when Ben got into a fistfight with the bully from school? The boy had been calling me a few bad names. What happened because of that fight? Do you remember what I told all of you then?"

"Ben was sent home for two days and you gave him a whipping for fighting. You told us it did not matter what other people said it was what we believed that mattered."

"Those words are still true. I remember telling you that the night we signed the adoption papers. It does not matter what some bully says to you. You know the truth and what you believe is what matters. Rob, there will always be someone who tries to bully you no matter how old you may be. You must ignore bullies and not let them provoke you to do something that will cause you problems. This time it was a boy using words to provoke you. Another time it could be someone using words and they could have a gun. Do you see anything different between your actions yesterday and Ben's last spring?"

With a sigh, Rob answers "No sir, I guess I don't."

Then the punishment you are about to receive should not come as a surprise. Let's go to the tack room, Rob. When we are finished, you are confined to the ranch with extra chores for two weeks. I will allow you to go to town only for Sunday services and Claire's birthday celebration but that will be all for two weeks. Is that clear? There had better not be another episode like this where you get yourself involved in a brawl. If there is, you and I will have a talk with more than my belt!"

Nodding in agreement, Rob answers dejectedly "Yes sir, I hear you."

"Rob, I do this not to be hateful but because I care what happens to you. If it takes a whipping to get it through your head to keep your temper, then that's what I'll do."

That afternoon after Ethan has left for town, Joseph sneaks into Rob's room. He's been waiting all day to get to talk to Rob.

"Rob? You awake?"

"Yeah, I've been expecting you. I thought you'd be here before now."

"Pa told us we were to stay out of your room. He just went to town so I can finally get in here. What happened in the barn? After he whipped Ben last night for going to the water alone and for ruining George's shirt, I thought he might have a talk with you too. He didn't though so maybe he wasn't as upset today."

"Joseph, he was still plenty upset, I can assure you of that! I'm confined to my room today, restricted to the ranch for two weeks, I have extra chores to pay off the doctor bill for Jared and he took a belt to my bare butt. He set me on fire with it too! Every one of those ten licks burned bad! I won't sit comfortably for awhile, I tell you! He hasn't whipped me like that in some time. Here I am sixteen and still get bare bottom whippings! You'd think he wouldn't whip me at my age but he does. I wonder how old you have to be before you are too old for it?"

"Pa always says as long as you live in his house you do as he says or suffer the consequences. I take that to mean he'll whip you if he feels he needs to as long as you live here. If you're restricted to the ranch, how are you going to get Claire's birthday present you told me about? Will you get to go to town for the party?"

"He said I could go to town for church and the party but that is all. I'm hoping you can pick up the present for me. It's paid for and will be ready Thursday. Can you convince Pa to let you go to town then? If you have to tell him why you need to go, do it where Claire can't hear."

"Yes, I'm sure he'll let me go. I need to do some shopping and the boys do too. If I tell him it's for Claire, I know he'll let us go. Where did you get the money to pay for the gift?"

"First you have to promise NOT to tell Pa because I'll get another whipping if you do." At Joseph's nod, he whispers in his brother's ear "I played poker for it. I took the last bit of spending money I had and doubled it in the game. If Pa finds out, I'll get a visit to the woodshed! I nearly did today!"

"I won't tell but how are you going to get around it when he asks where you got the money for such a fancy gift?"

"I'll just say I'd been saving up. I was saving up, I just didn't have the full amount. That new lady at the shop nearly charged me twice what I paid for Emily's bonnet! I had to pay six dollars!"

"SIX! Gosh Rob, that's a lot of money! I hope it's worth it. When did you do all this anyway? You were laid up a long time."

"I did it a month ago, about two days before the accident I think. I had already ordered the bonnet and had to go pay for it. Remember now, you know nothing about how I did this. Right?"

"I know nothing about it. I wasn't with you so I couldn't say how you did it!" Joseph agrees grinning. "You'd best not try to do that again. We now have Mr. Johnston, Mitch, Uncle Matthew and Pa all in town and any one of them can catch you at any time! I know for a fact that Mitch and Uncle Matthew would tell Pa and I have a feeling Mr. Johnston would too!"

"I'm not planning on doing anything wrong for a very very long time. In fact, I don't think I ever want to go through what happened earlier today, again. This brought back memories of when you and I were punished for shooting the revolver! Remember that?"

"Who could forget it! He whipped you that bad today?"

"No. He was that disappointed in me today! Joseph, take my advice, don't ever get in a fight no matter what. It's not worth it."

After breakfast on Thursday, Joseph hurries out to catch Ethan before he leaves for town. Seeing him, mounted already, Joseph calls "PA! WAIT!" before he can ride off.

"You know better than to shout around horses, Joseph! You might startle them into a panic and someone could be hurt!" Ethan scolds as Joseph walks up.

"Yes sir, sorry. Pa, can the boys and I go to town today? Please? We need to get something for Claire."

"You may after you do your chores. I don't want to come home and find out the horses were not taken care of because you rushed off to town. Also, you must keep an eye on the boys and not let them wander off or get into anything they shouldn't. "

"Yes Pa." Joseph answers trying not to show his exasperation with the often repeated instructions.

"Joseph, I know you wouldn't deliberately run out on the chores or not mind the boys. I'm just reminding you. Ben can be very persuasive about getting what he wants. He's managed to talk you into bad behavior before." Ethan says smiling at Joseph's scowl.

"I'm older now, I can resist him. Pa, if Ben or George don't listen to me today, can I have permission to whack them?"

"No, but you have permission to haul them to the sheriff's office and I'll do it! You just tell them that for me. I need to get going. Do you need anything else?"

"No sir. Wait, there is one more thing. Is it alright if I take the wagon today?"

"Yes, that will be fine. Enjoy your shopping but be home by four o'clock at the latest."

Later that afternoon at the Mercantile, Ben asks "Mr. Axelrod, do you have any idea what a sixteen year old girl would like for her birthday? George and I are shopping for Claire and we need ideas."

"Claire is turning sixteen? Hmm, well Ben, I'm not a sixteen year old girl so it's hard to say. I think linen handkerchiefs make nice gifts. Jewelry or a fancy lace collar for dresses is an idea."

"Yes, thank you. We want to get something different. Something she doesn't have yet and she has those things." Ben answers.

"Ben, come over here! We could buy this and she'd have a place for her broach Papa bought her for Christmas." George exclaims showing Ben the cedar box.

"Hmm, she could use that. It's awfully plain looking though. She might like something fancier."

"Well it's fancy inside. Look it has a velvet lining and it's big enough to hold two or three jewelry pieces when she gets more." George tells him opening the box.

"Mr. Axelrod? How much is the box?" Ben calls across the store.

"Bring it here boys, I'll have to see it to tell you the price. Are you two in town alone? Does your Pa know where you are?" Mr. Axelrod asks. The boys have been in the store alone for quite some time and he's getting concerned.

"Joseph is in town too. He went to the Millinery shop to pick something up for Rob." Ben answers.

George adds "We have to stay here in the store or he'll haul us to Papa for not minding him. Papa said we could come but if we didn't mind Joseph, for him to take us to the office and he'd spank us!"

Rolling his eyes at his little brother, Ben says "GEORGE! You don't have to tell our private business to everybody in town do you?"

"What are you mad about? I didn't tell everybody. I just told Mr. Axelrod 'cause he asked."

Before they could argue more, Mr. Axelrod says "Well boys the price on this box is one dollar even."

"ONE dollar?" Ben gasps. "Could you mark it down just a little? We only have two dollars and ten cents to spend today."

"I could put it on credit and you could pay me a little at a time until you get it paid for."

"Let's do that Ben. We could pay half now and then pay the other half the next time we get money." George says silently, looking at his brother.

"I don't know, George. We might get in trouble. Pa says we aren't to charge anything unless we have his permission. Remember when we charged candy at the Hardware store? We almost got walloped that time!" Ben sends back.

Making his decision, Ben says "Mr. Axelrod, we'll pay half now and then bring you another fifty cents next time we can come to town. Please sir, don't tell anyone in our family about this agreement. We might get in big trouble if you do."

"My lips are sealed as long as I get my money in one month. After one month, I'll have to go to your Pa for the money."

"We'll get it paid by then." George assures him.

Twenty minutes later, George whispers to Ben "Ben, I need to use the outhouse bad! Why isn't Joseph here yet?"

"I don't know why, George. We can't leave the store though, you know that!" Ben says tired of having his little brother always have this problem. Even knowing it's because of the kidnapping, it doesn't help him feel less irritated. Finally, after watching George squirm for a few more minutes he says "Come on and you better hold it!"

Walking quickly, Ben leads George to Mr. Axelrod behind the counter. Before he can be scolded for being there he says "George has to go so bad. We can't leave the store. Can I please take him up to your water closet? Please sir?"

"By all means! Go! Hurry!" Mr. Axelrod says motioning them to the doorway in back of him.

While they are upstairs, Joseph arrives. "Hello Mr. Axelrod. Have you seen Ben and George today? They were supposed to come here and stay until I came. They are in big trouble for not minding me."

"Your young brothers did mind you, young man! They've been waiting here two hours. George had an emergency. They're both upstairs using the W.C. Now you just calm yourself and be polite when they come down! This is your doing for leaving them alone so long!"

"Yessir, thank you for looking after George. It took a lot longer than I thought it would because the lady at the Millinery wouldn't believe I was Rob's brother. I finally had to go get Pa to get her to let me pick up the bonnet. He's not too happy with her or me either right now. Please don't tell him I left them alone so long or I'll be punished."

"I'm not in the habit of reporting on things to your Pa unless they directly cause problems for me."

"Thank you. May I go get the boys, sir? We need to get going."

"Go ahead, it's the door to your left."

"Ben? George? Are you alright? We need to go finish shopping and get back home. It's already three and we have to be home by four." Joseph calls through the door to the W.C.

Opening the door, Ben whispers "Joseph, we can't figure out how to work this one. There's no chain hanging from the ceiling to pull to clean it. We can't leave it like this!"

After studying it for a few minutes, Joseph says "I think we pull down on this stick thing here. I hope that is right anyway. Well, here goes." As he pulls the stick, there's a loud rushing sound and George hurries out of the small space.

Standing in the hall right outside the door he whispers "Did you break it? We'll be in so much trouble if you broke it!"

"It's fine, George. Nothing broke or flooded this time around. It wasn't your fault when ours flooded. Pa put it in wrong and he didn't know it." Joseph answers sharing a grin with Ben at the memory.

At the General Store, Joseph is watching Mr. Hiram fill Claire's list of items while the boys look for another gift.

"Young man, you just keep an eye on those two little ones you have with you today. I don't mind charging you for anything they break. They better not decide to climb anything this time either! Your Pa will hear about it if anything happens! I don't want to see them hurt."

"Yes Mr. Hiram. I'm watching them and they won't misbehave this time, I promise. The whipping they got for the shelf incident should remind them for a long time to behave in your store. That's why we haven't been able to come back until now. We were all restricted from coming to your store. I apologize to you again for not watching them better that day."

"Well thank you for the apology, young man. Let's put it behind us and start fresh. What may I help you find other than the items on your list?"

"My sister is turning sixteen on Sunday. Do you have anything really pretty for a girl her age?"

"We don't want lace collars or handkerchiefs." Ben announces coming up to stand beside Joseph.

"Ben! Mind your manners or you'll regret it!" Joseph scolds fiercely. Then looking around for George, calls "George? Come up here and stay by me."

"But Joseph! I've found something I want to look at!" Joseph hears.

"GEORGE, I'm starting to count and if I get to five... ONE!...TWO!... THREE!" He says loudly.

"All right! All right! I'm here, you don't need to count anymore!" George pants after his quick dash across to the counter. He knows from experience that "five" equals whacks on his bottom from his irate brother. Today, it could mean being hauled by his suspenders to Pa's office for a spanking! It's happened to Ben.

"Well now, let's see how you like this. I just got this in from San Francisco, California last week. I think it's something a young lady would love." Mr. Hiram says taking out a white teapot with pink and yellow roses painted on the front. It even comes with matching teacups and saucers. The set is four dollars for the teapot, four cups and saucers, a matching sugar bowl and creamer."

"That's pretty Joseph! Claire would like that a lot. She talks of having tea when she was at the Academy." George says quietly.

"Yes, she would like this, George. Mr. Hiram? Could you possibly let me have it for three dollars? That's all the money I have with me and I can't go ask for more."

"If I left off the sugar bowl and creamer, I would sell you the rest for three dollars."

"It's a deal! Could you wrap each piece and put it in a sturdy box? We don't want to break it on the trip home."

"I'll be glad too. Is there anything else I can do for you boys?"

"Yes sir. May I see those hair combs you have here in the case?" Ben asks.

"Look George, Joseph! They have little flowers painted on the white tops."

"That's porcelain young man and the flowers are hand painted by someone here in Paradise. The combs are fifty cents a set or one for a quarter." Mr. Hiram tells him.

"I'll take them, sir. Could I get them wrapped in some white paper please? It's a gift for my sister." Ben explains.

"Joseph? Can I bring up the thing I want to get Claire now? It's just on a shelf back there."

"Can you get it without climbing?" Joseph asks sternly.

"Yes."

"Go get it then."

"Look Ben, Joseph, it's a glass horse with a horn on it's head! Look how pretty it is when the light goes through it. It changes colors." George says as he carefully places his find on the counter.

"That's a nice statue, George. It's a unicorn not a horse. A unicorn is a magical animal." Joseph tells his little brother.

"That's right son. Some people even believe you can make wishes on a statue like this one. It's fifty cents. Would you like me to wrap it also?"

"Yes Sir! Thank you. I think Claire will really like it. We bought good presents, didn't we?" George asks bouncing in excitement.

"Yes little one, you and your brothers have nice taste. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll wrap all this up and crate it for you too."

Remembering they were in a hurry, Joseph takes his pocket watch out to check the time. With a sigh, he whispers to the boys "We're going to be late getting home. It's already five minutes to four. I'm not going to risk breaking our things by running the wagon either."

On the ride home, the boys are discussing their purchases. "I like the combs I bought but they sure do cost a lot. I thought they would be twenty five cents. Pa wouldn't like it if he knew how much we had to spend. Everything we bought today costs more than I thought it should. Did you think that Joseph?" Ben asks.

"Yeah, I think everything costs too much these days. Last year, we could have bought those combs for anywhere from ten cents to a quarter at the most. The whole tea set probably would have been two dollars not four! Everything started costing a lot more when the miners found more silver in the mine. We got more people in town and higher prices too!"

"Joseph? Do you think we are going to get in trouble for being late getting home? He's still mad from what happened at the church picnic! Do you think Papa will spank us for not minding what he told us to do?"

"I am hoping we won't be in trouble but I just don't know, George. I know he seemed mad when I was picking up Rob's gift and had to go get him. I hope he's not mad still. I guess we're about to find out since he's standing right by the barn."

Looking over Joseph's shoulder, Ben can see his Pa standing with his hands on his hips just waiting for them to get closer. "Uh Oh, he looks mad! I think we're in trouble, George." Ben whispers to his brother.

Pulling the wagon up to the barn doors, Joseph climbs down to begin unhitching the horses. "Hi Pa, we found nice presents in town." he says greeting Ethan a little nervously.

"Hello Joseph, boys. I'm glad to see you home. I was beginning to get concerned when you didn't make it home on time. What kept you?"

"We took longer than we thought at Mr. Hiram's store. He was really nice today, Pa. We found some different gifts and Claire's going to like them. They are in the crate, wrapped up but we can unwrap them if you'd like us too."

"No Joseph, I'll wait until Claire's party to see them. Now, didn't she ask you to pick up some items for her?"

"Yes sir, they're in the crate too. I'll have to take out our gifts and then I'll get the crate inside."

"That will be fine. Ben, George, you stay and help Joseph with the gifts. Be sure to find a good hiding place. Claire is very sneaky, you know." Ethan teases winking at the boys.

"We got lucky, guys. I thought I was in for it when I saw him standing with his hands by his belt that way! The last time I was late coming home, he told me I'd better not be late again without a good reason. It really wasn't my fault this time. I just couldn't get the lady at the Millinery to cooperate! Come on, let's find a place to hide the presents. Claire doesn't usually come to the barn these days but you never know when she might!" Joseph says carrying the crate into the barn.

"Joseph, were you able to get the gift for me?" Rob asks coming into the barn a few minutes later.

"Yeah, but I had a hard time doing it. That old lady Mercer wouldn't believe I was your brother. I had to go down to the office and get Pa to come back with me. He told her I was your brother and could pick up your order."

"She's a crotchety one, that's for sure. She charged almost twice for this than I paid for the one Emily has! I told you about that didn't I?"

"Yep. Can we see it Rob? We'll show you what we bought too. We had to pay more for our gifts than usual too. Everything cost too much these days! I had a hard time coming up with enough to get a good present. I wouldn't have had enough if Pa hadn't paid me a dollar for extra chores. I thought I'd have more than enough and money left over." Joseph tells him.

"I agree. I don't know if I can show you Joseph." Rob says with a side look at George.

"George?"

"Hmm?"

"If Rob shows us his gift for Claire, can you keep quiet and not tell her about it? You wouldn't want Rob to tell her what you bought her would you?" Joseph asks sternly.

"I won't say anything. I can keep the secret! Honest, Rob, Joseph! Please let me see it!" George says realizing his brothers are thinking to send him inside.

"I wouldn't trust him. He didn't keep his promise not to be a tattler. The first chance he got he tattled on me!" Ben says grumpily.

"Ben, that's not fair! I had to tell. Claire asked me straight out what you were doing and I had to tell. I couldn't lie, I'd get a whipping!"

"Yeah, well I DID get a whipping! A BAD one too! All because of you being a tell-tale!"

"That isn't quite true, Ben. It wasn't George's fault, it was your own. You made the choice to go play in the water alone when you knew it was forbidden. You knew if you were found out what the consequences would be. You did it anyway and now you're mad because you were punished! Get over the mad, you did the deed, you suffer for it!" Rob tells him matter of factly.

"You can stay George and just ignore Grouchy Pants here." Rob says taking the hat box and untying the string holding the lid closed. Lifting the bonnet out, the boys are amazed at how nice it looks.

"That is one pretty bonnet, Rob. I think Claire is going to be overwhelmed. It's so nice, I don't see her wearing it everyday. I think she'll want to save it for special days." Joseph says quietly.

"It's really nice, Rob. I like the flowers on the top. She's going to like it." Ben says.

"Rob, why does it have so many ribbons on it? Couldn't the lady decide which one color to use? It has pink, yellow, green and blue all at one time. I like it too, I just wondered."

"Thanks guys. George, I wanted it to have all of those colors so Claire could use it with dresses that color. Now let me see your presents for her."

"She'll have such a good birthday with all of these special gifts. What is Pa giving her? Does anybody know?" Rob asks after admiring the combs, tea set, jewelry box and unicorn statue.

"That, young man, is my secret!" The boys hear. "Okay boys, you've been out here long enough to have at least started the chores. Let's get this barn cleaned out and the other horses settled for the night. Ben, George, you two go gather the eggs. Claire needs them and you didn't do it before you went to town. Joseph, she's waiting for those supplies still. Did you plan to have her come get them herself?"

"No sir, I'm sorry. I got busy putting the gifts away and then we were showing Rob what we bought and I forgot. I'll take them right now."

Walking into the house, Joseph says "Here Claire, I brought your supplies. Where do you want them?"

"Just put it on the table for now. I hope you filled the list, Joseph. We were running low on things." Claire says snappishly.

"I handed the list to Mr. Hiram, so he filled it. I've got to get back outside, Pa is waiting for me to do the chores." Joseph says backing towards the door. He's ready to get out since his sister is in one of her irritable moods.

Quietly moving around the kitchen Sunday morning, Rob and Joseph work together to fix breakfast. Rob has just finished pouring the last of the pancakes in the iron skillet, when Claire comes out of her room.

"What are you two doing up and in the kitchen?" She asks sleepily.

"Good Morning and Happy Birthday Claire." Rob whispers.

"Happy Birthday Claire. We got up extra early to fix breakfast. We are doing the cooking today so you just go back to bed. Go on go!" Joseph orders grinning at his sister.

"Thank you boys. I think I will. This is a nice gift."

"This is not your gift it's just a special birthday surprise." Rob tells her making shooing motions.

Thirty minutes later, the boys have the table set and breakfast ready. Going in to wake Ben and George, Joseph knocks on Claire's door. "Claire? We have everything ready when you are dressed." He calls.

"I'm dressed, Joseph. It smells so good too. I just might let you boys cook more often." Claire tells him coming out of her room.

After breakfast, Rob says "Claire, I want to give you my birthday gift early today. If you'll just wait right there, I'll go get it."

Coming back from his room where he hid the box under his bed, he says "Here you are. I had it made just for you. Happy sixteenth Birthday, Claire. I sure hope you like it!"

"ROB! You spent way too much on this, I can tell just by looking! I love it but really you didn't need to spend so much! Ohh, it is gorgeous though. Look at it, all those colors and then the dark blue outer covering and light blue satin inside. OHH, it's so pretty."

"Well Rob, I don't think she likes it at all. Maybe you can take it back to the shop." Joseph teases.

"Don't you dare, Rob! Hush up, Joseph! I love it Rob. Thank you so much!" Claire says walking over and giving Rob a kiss on his cheek.

"YEW! Rob got kissed!" Ben says snickering.

"Ben, it's okay. Rob and Claire are brother and sister so he can kiss her and she can kiss him. They better not be kissing anybody else or they'll get a spanking!" George explains knowingly, much to the amusement of his oldest brother and sister.

"Well Claire, now that you have something extremely fancy to wear to church today. Let's get moving everyone. We need to be dressed and ready to leave in thirty minutes. We'll leave the cleanup and barn chores until we come home from church." Ethan says getting up from the table.

After the service is over, Ben asks "Pa, can George and I go play with the others for a few minutes? We'll stay in sight and stay clean too! Please Pa?"

"Go on but keep your promises Ben. You too, George." Ethan says quietly.

Ben and George run for the woods by the side of the church. Steering clear of the horses and wagons, they both run up to where Aaron is standing.

"Hi Aaron. We saw you come in with your Uncle but we couldn't talk to you. You know Pa doesn't allow us to talk during church." Ben says.

"I know and Uncle Chris doesn't let me either. Alyssa went and told him all of your Pa's rules and he liked them so much we have the same rules now! My sister is now a jabberbox. I liked it when she didn't talk very much a lot better!"

"Who is Uncle Chris? I thought your uncle's name is Eric Johnston." George asks puzzled.

"His full name is Christopher Eric Johnston. My Mama always called him Eric but he says he wants to be known as Chris or Christopher. So we are calling him Uncle Chris now. Did you get in trouble for being by the lake, Ben? I did. Uncle Chris put me over his knee and spanked me! It stung!"

"I got in worse trouble than that! Pa whipped me! Rob just had to blab out that he had warned us away from the water earlier that day. Pa was some mad, I tell you! What with Rob getting in that fight and me going down by the water he wasn't happy at all!"

"Let's go play with the boys. They're playing Tag I think." George says watching the other six boys run around.

A few minutes into the game and the children all hear a scream coming from the woods. All the boys stop and stare into the woods as George creeps over to Ben and grabs his hand. "Ben, what was that? Was it a monster?" George whispers.

"No, it sounded like a person. Maybe we should go look."

"Pa would spank us if we went into the woods, Ben! He says to stay out of there!" George reminds him.

"Okay, but we need to go just to the edge to see if we can tell what happened. I won't go in, I promise. Do you want to come?"

"No. I'll wait here."

Walking quickly, Ben comes to the edge of the woods. He can hear someone crying and calling out for "Alex". "Can you hear me?" Ben yells.

"Help! I'm caught and I can't get loose and I HURT BAD! I WANT ALEX!" the child's voice sobs out

Turning around after calling back and saying he'd get help, Ben runs back to George. "Come on, we have to get Pa. Someone is hurt in the woods!"

Running up to where Ethan is talking to Matthew, Ben says breathlessly " PA! I'm sorry to interrupt but some child is screaming and caught in the woods. They're calling for someone named Alex."

"STAY here with Matthew boys. I'll check into it." Ethan says walking fast towards the woods. Far enough away from the children, he reaches behind his shirt and pulls his gun. Spinning around at the sound of someone behind him, he sees Alexander Hale running up.

"Boy! I could have shot you! Don't you know not to run up behind someone that way?"

"Sir, that's my brother calling for me. I just know it. I've come to help!"

"You will help by staying back out of the way until I know what is happening. STAY HERE! I'll call you if it's safe." Ethan answers walking quietly into the woods with his gun drawn. He isn't sure what might be in the woods with the child.