Luke grabbed hold of his Sisters hand tight when the strange man took a step closer, completely submerging from the tall grass. There was nothing outwardly wrong with the man, his smile appeared genuine enough; however, there was something underneath which was causing him suspicion.
Gail Jr also sensed the strangeness beneath the man's smile, he was a little too happy to see them and the child in front of him was not moving a muscle.
'Where our parent's are currently is none of your business Mr...?' Caleb asked forcing a pleasant tone, standing tall to show the stranger he was not some frightened teenager.
The man let out a small laugh and took another step closer. 'Oh I'd say it's very much my business when a boat full of unsupervised children washes up at my shore. In fact, I'm bettin' y'all snuck out, in which case it'd be irresponsible of me not to find out where your parents are' he responded, quickly surveying the boat and spotting this boy was the strongest of the group.
Caleb smiled, spotting the man's eyes move towards the boat and knew he was trying to determine their true numbers, or if there was anyone bigger hiding amongst them. This didn't bother Caleb, it'd be a while since he'd had any sort of challenge and he was confident he could take on this man if it came to that.
'I believe you're right Cecil, we can't go lettin' a young group like this wander off on their own. It wouldn't be very Christian of us' Another man added, appearing to the right of them from behind a tall tree.
Emily let out a surprised gasp and reached out for Izzy protectively with her left hand, then discreetly gripped the oar with her right hand. She knew this had been a bad idea, her Father had drilled it into her that you didn't trust strangers no matter what the age and she was disappointed in herself for ignoring the warning signs.
Caleb sensed Emily's thoughts and rolled his eyes, she was cute but she was far more reluctant to trust his judgement than Rose was. He wondered if this is what his Father felt like with his Mother, Gail was always defiantly challenging his ways yet his Father still wanted to please her. When Emily's grip on the oar tightened, an excitement came over Caleb and part of him wanted to see if she was really strong enough to be of any real use.
Luke let out a sigh of disbelief at Caleb's attention wandering to the pretty girl and he stepped in front of his Sister, putting himself between her and the second strange man.
Caleb spotted Luke's move and gave himself a mental shake, this was not the time to get distracted. 'It occurs to me, ain't it a little odd for two grown man to be out here sneakin' around in the grass together? I don't see no fishin' rods and there clearly ain't no women around...You two ain't a friend of Dorothy are you? I mean, I ain't got nothin' against that sort of thing, each man to their own I guess. You may wanna be a bit more discreet around these parts though, I know the locals in my Town don't take kindly to inverts' he goaded, spotting the anger instantly in the first man at the insinuation and waited for the second man to catch up.
'A friend of Dorothy?' the second man asked confused and looked at his friend. 'I don't know no Dorothy, do you Cecil?'
Cecil placed his head in his hand and let out a small laugh. 'He's callin' us queer Earl, use your head!' he scolded, momentarily losing his concentration and shooting his friend a look of irritation.
'Queer? I ain't queer with him!' Earl exclaimed, looking Cecil up and down in disgust.
Gail Jr shook her head at the stupidity of the men, then focussed her attention on the small child in front of Cecil. She closed her eyes and called out to him with her mind, digging into his brain and trying to pull him towards her.
When Cecil's grip loosened, the young boy bolted towards the group and knelt down behind Gail Jr, closing his eyes tight as though this would shield him from his Masters wrath.
Both Caleb and Luke smiled proudly at Gail Jr, both forgetting she was in play. Gail Jr stood tall and pulled her tongue out at them both, not believing neither had thought to pull the child away from the clear danger he was in.
'Sorry Earl, I didn't realise Cecil weren't your type. Like I said, there ain't nothin' wrong if that's your preference, my Daddy get's all sorts of attention from both men and women all the time...I suppose that kind of attention is part of the job bein' a Sheriff and all, although you'd think having a Reporter as my Momma would stop people from bein' so brazen about their affections towards him'
'Editor' Luke corrected, not taking his eyes off of Earl.
'Damn, you're right. She is the Editor of our most popular newspaper ain't she?' Caleb asked rhetorically.
Emily saw worry cross over the men's eyes for a moment, then realised what Caleb was doing. 'That don't matter, my Daddy the Mayor get's so much attention even when my Momma is with him...I bet havin' a Deputy as a Dad does too, don't it?' she asked Izzy, who just smiled and nodded obediently, happy at being included.
'Sheriff and Mayor?' Earl asked and looked at Cecil concerned, desperately needing instruction.
Cecil stared at the oldest boy suspiciously, trying to spot a lie; however, the boy just stared back at him confidently. A few children getting lost in the wilderness is one thing, but the children of a Sheriff, Editor or Mayor was something completely different and the fallout that would bring was not worth the mixed bag of goodies they had happened upon.
'Cecil?' Earl asked more urgently this time, hearing something move behind him in the grass and worried that these children weren't alone.
Caleb stood tall and continued to hold Cecil's gaze. He sensed the conflict in the man, weighing up the pro's and cons of carrying on with what they had intended to do, then he saw the anger in his eyes and knew common sense had prevailed. 'Go on Cecil, you and your friend run along now. We'll make sure this little boy get's back to where he belongs' he said smugly, knowing they had won.
Cecil balled his hands into fists and felt his nails pierce his skin. This wasn't worth destroying an operation which had been successful for years, so he would just have to accept the failure and leave.
Emily let out a loud sigh of relief when the men turned around and scarpered.
'That's it?' Luke asked disappointedly, hoping for more fun while they were away from their Mother's watchful eyes.
'Cal?' Gail Jr asked hopefully, also not happy that this had ended so uneventfully.
Caleb looked down at his siblings and discreetly signalled for them to be cool, then glanced over his shoulder at Emily. 'You alright with Izzy and this one?' he asked, gently pushing the new boy towards the boat.
Emily stared at the mute boy suspiciously, then turned back to Caleb. 'I ain't scared if that's what you're thinkin'-' she said defensively. '-Why? Where will you be?'
Caleb placed a hand on his siblings shoulders and gave off a devilish smile. 'Oh we're just gonna go a little further ahead, make sure they're definitely gone...If you hear any screams don't pay them no attention, these two just get mighty excited when we're explorin' new places' he responded smoothly, shooting Emily a charming wink and smiling at how easily he made her blush. He had no intention of disappointing his siblings, and reckoned there was still a lot of fun to be had with Cecil and Earl away from prying eyes.
Emily sat patiently in the boat for over an hour, she passed the time by braiding Izzy's hair and trying to coax the mute boy into talking to her. The most she had managed to get out of him was his name was Dylan and he hadn't seen his Mother in a very long time. Just as the sun started to drop and she had lost all patience in waiting for Caleb to return to take them back to the camp, the Buck children emerged from the tall grass up ahead and strolled towards the boat casually.
'Where the hell have you been? We were worried!' Emily exclaimed, annoyed that he had left her babysitting for so long.
'Worried?' Luke asked Izzy confused, then smiled when she shook her head in disagreement and threw her arms around him happily.
'Don't look like they were worried' Caleb shrugged, watching as the mute boy gently lifted Gail Jr to his knee.
'Dylan' Gail Jr corrected, smiling at the friend she had made.
'That's right, Dylan. How'd you know?' Emily asked, then crossed her hands over her chest moodily when Gail Jr just laughed at her as though she shared a secret with him that Emily couldn't understand.
'Come now, do you really wanna be in that messed up club?' Caleb laughed, sensing that Dylan was far from stable and looking forward to off loading him onto the adults.
Emily just shrugged moodily for a moment, then let out a sigh of relief when Caleb got in and began rowing back the way they had came. It was strange, she had instantly felt at ease when Caleb returned. She was not one to need a boy to do things or anything; however, this boy was different and she couldn't help but relax around him. 'The screams, they were so loud' she leaned forward and whispered to Caleb, trying to keep her tone calm when she spotted a small red stain on Gail Jr's pink top.
'Ketchup, that's all...We found an old abandoned Diner and these too screamed loud enough to bring the whole place down, I let 'em rummage around in there some before we headed back' Caleb lied effortlessly, not taking his eyes off of the water as he rowed.
'But the sound...the screams were so hoarse-' Emily continued, unable to stop a shudder that came over her at the memory of what she heard.
Caleb finally turned his attention to her, gently reached for her chin and placed a soft kiss on her lips to silence her. He lingered close for a moment, rubbing his nose on hers softly then continued to focus on rowing and their journey back to camp.
All questions left Emily's mind and she touched her lips with her index finger. Her first kiss, so sudden and without warning. She had dreamt about this moment many times, albeit not with Caleb Buck and not so spontaneous. She had expected to have a boyfriend and for the lead up to be much longer. Still, there was something romantic about his loss of control over his affections, Emily licked her bottom lip and replayed it in her mind as they travelled back to camp.
Caleb smiled to himself and shook his head, his Fathers methods were right and the shock of spontaneous affection didn't only work on Gail. This was good, Emily was so taken by his gesture that he finally had peace and quiet to come up with a plausible story for their parents to explain their lengthy time away from the camp, without causing unwanted suspicion which would warrant punishment.
-To be continued-