Disclaimers:  I claim no rights to the characters except the right to enjoy them.  No money is made from their use; I’m just borrowing them for fun.  When playtime is over I promise to give them back… well most of them anyway. Really, no one would notice if I just kept one or two, would they?

I had this idea for a new AU.  I just love stories that show the guys as children, and thought this grouping might be fun to play with for a while.   

This is mostly a series of vignettes that set up the universe and fill in a lot of the back story, so if you’re looking for a lot of plot you’re headed in the wrong direction (I suggest you backtrack and take a left at Albuquerque, doc). Just think of this as setting up the playground equipment ;-).    This universe is open to any who might care to visit and play awhile. 

My thanks to Birgitt for her suggestions and willingness to give me some nudges in the right direction, and special thanks to Jenn for her ideas, advice, and enthusiastic encouragement.

One Big Happy Family?

By Purple Lacey

Part One

Chapter 1

“You, sir, must be completely out of your mind!”  Ezra Standish’s raised voice betrayed his disbelief in the words he had just heard.

“I am merely making you aware of the wishes of your late sister and her husband, Mr. Standish,” replied former judge Orrin Travis.  “The terms set forth in the joint will of your sister Eileen, and Mr. Larabee’s brother Cody, are quite specific. Both of you have been named co-guardians of your nephews, and under the terms of the will you will need to move into their home and live with them for a period of not less than one year. Your wives may live with you there, but their presence is not a requirement of the will. 

At the end of a year, Mr. Larabee will be deeded the 100 acre track of the original Larabee family homestead, and Mr. Standish will be deeded the 100 acre track of land that contains the Weeping River.  The remaining property will be equally divided among their children.”

 Chris Larabee growled his displeasure at the current turn of events, and jumped from the leather chair to begin an agitated pacing.

“Standish is right!  The whole idea is completely insane.  You can’t seriously believe either of us would just accept this and comply without a fight do you?”

“I have no opinion on the subject.  As your late siblings’ attorney and executor of their estate I am simply carrying out their instructions.”  Travis informed them calmly.  “You can, of course, contest the will, but I assure you it is ironclad.   The penalties set out in the will if you try to break it are likewise legal and ironclad.  Both properties will be sold to real estate developers in the event either of you tries to contest.

 My clients wanted to secure the future of their children and chose this way of doing it.  They were well within their rights, just as you are within your rights to decline.   If you choose not to abide by the terms of the will, or do not remain for the entire twelve month period, then the bequests would be switched.   Mr. Larabee would get the Weeping River and Mr. Standish the Larabee homestead with the proviso that neither property could be sold, or traded back to the other.  My clients believed this would be incentive enough to insure your cooperation.” 

Judge Travis had to use all his years of courtroom experience to keep a straight face at these words when he wanted nothing more than to laugh out loud at the understatement. 

The tense relations between Chris Larabee of the Lazy L Ranch, and Ezra Standish of The Four Aces Ranch were legendary in this area.  For years the two neighbors had taken every opportunity to antagonize, irritate, and generally bedevil each other.  Travis knew the thought of Ezra Standish owning the homestead his Larabee ancestor had built over a hundred years earlier would infuriate the volatile blond rancher.  He also knew Ezra would fight to the death for that piece of river property.  The Weeping River was the main source of water for the Four Aces Ranch, and losing access to it could easily put him out of business.  Cody and Eileen Larabee had known their brothers well enough to predict they would do whatever it took to keep possession of those properties in the family, including sharing living space with one another for a year. 

Ezra ran his hands through his usually well-groomed hair distractedly, and shot a glance at the dark haired woman seated beside him on the leather sofa as she laid a hand on his arm in support.

“Inez…” Ezra began, covering the hand with his own.  “We….”

Ezra’s lovely wife stopped his words with a smile and a finger across his lips as she told him, “Querido, it will be alright.  I promise.  We must think of the boys right now.  They just lost their parents. They have already been through so much in their short lives. They need us, Ezra.  We can not let them down.  Eileen and Cody were right.   This is the best way to deal with it.  We can do this.  We can make it work.”

“I agree,” Mary Larabee replied as she rose from her chair to wrap her arms around the waist of her own glaring husband.  “Chris, you know this is the best way… the only way.  Those boys need security right now.  Their whole safe little world just blew up around them…again.  They need this, Chris.  We all know it.”  Mary finished softly.

Chris wrapped his arms around his wife and dropped his head forward to rest on her shoulder, “Aw hell…I know.  I just can’t….”

‘I know, love.  I know.  I miss them too,” Mary whispered.

Chris stood silently, drawing strength and accepting comfort from his wife for one more moment, then drew back far enough to drop a kiss on her forehead before stepping back to face the couple seated on the sofa.  The two men exchanged tense looks before coming to a silent agreement. Both men nodded to each other and turned to face the older gentleman seated calmly behind the ornately carved wooden desk of the large legal office.

“When?”  Chris’ clipped voice asked.

“The terms state you have one week to get everything in order, then you will be expected to take up residence,” the lawyer informed them.

Chris swept the room’s occupants with another glare, and nodded tersely. “Alright,” he ground out before taking Mary’s arm and starting for the door.  “We’ll be there.  If that’s all, we need to get back now.  We’ve left Nettie and the boys alone long enough.  Nettie can’t handle all of them on her own for too long.”  With a curt nod from Chris and swift smile from Mary, they made their way to the door.

Ezra’s gaze followed the couple as they exited the office.   “This could very well be a preview of hell… you realize that don’t you, my dear,” he chuckled dryly. 

Inez squeezed his hand and smiled encouragingly.  “It will be alright, Ezra.  We’ll all be just fine.  You just need to have a little faith.”

“I wish I had your optimism, my love, but I foresee very rough weather ahead.  I fear we are sailing straight into a hurricane of mammoth proportions.  I can only hope we survive it.”

Ezra turned to face the attorney again. “If you will excuse us, we will take our leave now.  There is much to do in the next week, and I think it best to get started making arrangements.  Good day, Judge Travis.”

“Good day, Mr. Standish, Mrs. Standish,” the attorney rose and shook hands with the other man and escorted them out.  After the door closed behind them he returned to his office and sank wearily into the chair behind his desk.

“I hope to God you two knew what you were doing,” Travis whispered to his deceased clients, “because if you were wrong a lot of lives are going to be ruined.

Chapter 2

“It’s going to be fine, Ezra,” Inez said as she rolled over and rested her head on her husband’s chest.  He lowered his arm from where it was folded behind his head as he lay staring at the ceiling in the darkened bedroom, and pulled her warm body closer. 

“You are repeating yourself, my dear,” Ezra whispered.

Inez snuggled against his chest and placed a soft kiss over his heart.  “I’m hoping if I say it enough you’ll start to believe it.”

Ezra chuckled softly.

“It’s the right thing to do, and you know it,” Inez continued.

A deep sigh was her only reply.

“It doesn’t have to be so bad, you know.  It might take some getting used to at first…”

Ezra cut off the rest of her sentence, “Getting used to?  Living in the same house as that Neanderthal Larabee?  I believe you are carrying optimism too far.  Indeed, you are entering the realm of complete fantasy, my dear.”

 Inez sighed.  “We have to try.  For the boys’ sake, Ezra, we have to do our best.”

“I know… but I don’t have to like it!”

“You were friends once.  Maybe this will be your chance to regain that friendship.”

“Doubtful, my dear Inez.  Very doubtful.”

“Possible, my dear Ezra.  Very possible,” Inez laughed. 

Chapter 3

“MOM!”

 The frightened cry woke the blond haired man with a start.  His feet were already on the floor and he was rising from the mattress before he was completely awake.  The Larabees, and the Standishes had been taking turns staying with the children since the death of their parents. This week was the Larabees’ turn to stay. Chris threw a look at his still sleeping wife and decided not to wake her.  Chris quickly ran down the hall of his brother’s home to the bedroom where a child’s disconsolate weeping could be heard.  Chris entered the room to find eight year old Vin Tanner Larabee huddled in the corner of his bedroom, arms wrapped tightly around himself as he rocked back and forth.  Tears ran down the child’s face as his lamenting continued.

Chris made his way across the room and sat on the carpet in front of the child, not trying to touch him yet.  He knew he had to wait until Vin recognized him if he didn’t want the young child to react defensively and strike out. Although only eight years old, the boy was more than capable of defending himself when he felt threatened. 

Vin had been adopted into the Larabee family only thirteen months before the auto accident that claimed the lives of his adopted parents.  Vin had been the biological child of parents that were convinced the fall of the United States was eminent and that they needed to be prepared for the chaos they were sure would follow.  Jeff and Cecilia Tanner had retreated to a cabin in the mountains they felt was defensible and proceeded to prepare for the coming dark days.   From the time Vin was old enough to walk he was taught how to survive.  His parents taught him  how to shoot, and to fight.  They taught him how to navigate by the stars, how to make a shelter out of whatever he could find, how to track and hunt and trap, and how to live off the land. 

Vin proved an apt pupil, and mastered everything he was shown until the night his father, in a drunken rage, wrapped his hands around his wife’s throat and strangled her to death.  The survival instincts that his parents had worked so hard to instill in him kicked in and sent the six year old boy running from the house in fear to hide in the forest, where he remained hidden for five days. 

When he finally returned to his home he had found it deserted.  He had wandered in and out of the rooms trying to find some trace of his mother but had been unsuccessful.  Vin had spent the night in the house but had left the next day to return to his hiding place in the woods.  He had spent most of the next twelve months living on his own, periodically returning to his former home looking for his mother.  Not realizing she was dead, he had felt sure she would return for him as soon as it was safe.  It was during one of these visits back to the house that the county sheriff had managed to catch him and turn him over to Child Protective Services. 

When Cody and Eileen heard of the boy and all the problems he had adjusting to an urban environment, they did some research and learned the boy’s mother had been murdered and his father had been convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison.  Seeing in Vin another child that needed their love, they pulled as many strings as they could find to adopt him.  The first month after the adoption the child wouldn’t say one word to anyone, but had eventually adjusted and was beginning to thrive in his new family.  At least he had been until tragedy had struck, taking the lives of his new parents.

“Vin?  Vin, it’s Uncle Chris.  I’m here, Vin,” Chris said softly. 

Chris watched as the blond head jerked up and saw recognition dawn in the tormented eyes of his young nephew. 

“Uncle Chris!” Vin rasped and threw himself into the man’s arms, wrapping his arms around Chris’ neck and his legs around his waist.  He hung on with all the strength in his young body.  “I couldn’t find them, Uncle Chris.  I looked and looked, but I couldn’t find them,” the young boy sobbed.

“It’s alright.  I have you, Vin.  I’m holding on to you,” Chris reassured the child. “You’re safe.  I won’t let anything happen to you.” Chris wrapped his arms around the shaking child and rocked him.  He kept repeating the soft reassurances to the child who gradually calmed.  Within minutes the exhausted child had fallen back to asleep, but still kept a death grip on Chris.

“It’s gonna be alright, Vin.  You might not believe it now, but it will be,” Chris murmured and briefly tightened his arms around the sleeping child.

He rose to his feet, careful not to wake the sleeping boy, and put the child back into his bed, gently disengaging the grasping fingers.  Chris straightened the bedding the boy had thrown off the bed in the throes of his nightmare and pulled the covers up to Vin’s shoulders, tucking him in.  He gently pushed the blond hair off the tear-streaked face and stood gazing down on the sleeping child for a moment before becoming aware that he was being watched.

Chris turned his head and spied the rumpled figure of nine year old Buck observing him from the doorway.  Chris smiled and held out his arms to the pajama clad boy, who immediately accepted the invitation by flying across the room and leaping into his uncle’s arms.

Chris swept him up and quietly left the room, shutting the bedroom door behind him before he spoke gently, “What are you doing out of bed at this hour?”

“Is Vin alright?”  Buck’s frightened voice asked.  He had his head buried in the crook of Chris’ shoulder and neck so his voice was muffled. Chris could just barely make out the words.

Rubbing his hand lightly over the boy’s back, Chris tried to reassure him, “Vin is okay.  He just had a bad dream.  Did he wake you?”

The head of mussed black hair nodded. 

“Vin’s already back to sleep.  Do you think you could go back to sleep now?”

The boy’s head shook no and his hands held on a little tighter.

“Okay then.  How about we go raid Nettie’s kitchen and see if we can find a snack?”

Buck nodded and continued to hold on as Chris entered the child’s room and drew a blanket from the bed to wrap around the boy.  Chris carried the frightened child downstairs and flipped the light switch on as they entered the kitchen. 

“Why don’t you sit here at the table while I see what I can rustle up, okay?” Chris asked, but as he tried to sit the child in the chair, the little arms made a desperate grab for his neck and tightened.  For a minute he thought he was going to be strangled until he managed to loosen the grip the child had on him a little. “It’s okay, Buck.  I’m not going anywhere.   I’m just going to look in the refrigerator,” Chris tried to reason with the boy.

“NO!”

Chris sighed, not sure how to handle this.  “Now what?” he silently asked himself.

Before he had to come up with an answer, Chris was saved by the appearance of the bathrobe-clad housekeeper, Nettie Wells, as she walked in from her living quarters situated next door to the kitchen.  

“Is everything alright in here Chris?” Nettie asked with a yawn.

“Sorry to wake you, Nettie.  Seems some of the people in this house are having problems sleeping.   Buck and I thought we’d come down for a snack before going back to bed,” Chris informed her.

The older woman took in the sight of the little arms wound around his neck so tightly, and nodded her head in understanding.

“I think a snack sounds pretty good myself.  Why don’t you two just sit yourselves down there and I’ll whip us up some cocoa and see what kind of cookies are in that ole cookie jar,” the woman offered.

“Thanks, Nettie,” Chris smiled gratefully at the woman, then pulled a chair out from the table and sat down with the boy.

“Thanks, Ms. Nettie,” said Buck’s muffled voice.

Chuckling softly, the housekeeper gathered the ingredients needed and quickly prepared the cocoa.  Chris nuzzled his cheek against the side of the boy’s head, and gently stroked calming circles on Buck’s back while the woman worked. The luscious smell of hot cocoa soon tempted the boy and he turned his face from Chris’ neck to quietly watch Nettie as she ladled the drink into heavy mugs and then sat two in front of her waiting audience. 

“Be careful, child,” she cautioned, “it maybe too hot. Take it slowly.” 

Nettie sat her own mug on the table then turned to the counter and lifted the old fashioned ceramic cookie jar and carried it to the table.  Lifting the lid with one hand, she reached in with her other and brought out a large chocolate chip cookie, causing a small smile to slowly make its way across the boy’s face.

“Looks like you’re in luck tonight, Buck,” Nettie teased, “I seem to recall these are your favorite.”

Buck reached out with one hand to take the offered treat, but kept the other arm wrapped around Chris’ neck. 

Chris gave him a squeeze then gently, but determinedly, pulled the boy’s arms away saying, “I think you’re gonna have a hard time drinking that cocoa like this, Buck.  Why don’t we turn you around so you can reach the table, alright?  You can still sit with me if you want,” Chris hurried to reassure the child when he looked like he was going to panic, “I just don’t think I’m in the mood for a cocoa bath right now, pard.”  Chris teased.

Buck looked back over his shoulder at his uncle and Chris saw the faint beginnings of the youngster’s normal mischievous grin. 

“Don’t even think about it,” Chris warned with his own grin.

“Aw, Uncle Chris.  You know I wouldn’t do that,” Buck said with an innocent look.

“Aw, Buck.  I know that you would do exactly that if you thought you could get away with it,” Chris mocked dryly.  Chris was gratified to hear the chuckle from the child, thankful he was bouncing back to normal.  “Drink your cocoa, Buck.  You need to get back to sleep.”

The three sat in companionable silence; each lost in their own thoughts, until Buck sat his mug on the table and broached the topic uppermost in his mind.

“Are we gonna have to go to an orphanage now?”

“What!” Chris said startled.

“Are we gonna have to go to an orphanage now?  I mean, we’re orphans now, right?  That’s what happens to orphans isn’t it?  They have to go live with the other orphans at the orphanage,” Buck dropped his head down stared at his mug.  “That’s what Timmy Johnson told me at school today.”

“Timmy Johnson doesn’t know what the fu…..” Chris growled.

“Chris!” Nettie interrupted and shot a disapproving look at the suddenly furious man.

Chris made a valiant effort and managed to control his temper. 

“No, Buck, you and your brothers are NOT going to any orphanage. Your Aunt Mary and I, and your Uncle Ezra and Aunt Inez are going to be moving in here to take care of you boys,” Chris assured the child.  “This is your home.  It belongs to you and your brothers now, and you will NEVER have to leave it if you don’t want to.”

“Really?” Buck’s hopeful face turned to seek the truth in the face of the man he trusted implicitly.

“Absolutely, pard.  The only place you’re going is back to bed,” Chris stated firmly.

Reassured that his world was not going to spin completely out of orbit, Buck relaxed in his uncle’s arms, reached for his mug and took a contented sip.  Chris hadn’t realized how tense the little body had been until he felt the child finally relax.

Chris had loved both JD and Buck from the moment his brother and his wife had adopted them, but the mischievous Buck, with his wicked sense of humor and love of practical jokes, had always been his favorite of the two. 

Buck and JD were actually half brothers, sharing the same mother but different fathers.  Their mother had been a horse trainer for the Four Aces Ranch for just over a year when she had been diagnosed with a particularly virulent form of blood cancer.  Knowing she had only a few months to live, the caring mother had set about securing the future of her two young sons.  

After overhearing a conversation between Ezra and Inez about Eileen’s and Cody’s inability to have children of their own and their decision to adopt, Rachel Dunne had discreetly questioned friends of Cody and Eileen and observed the couple for weeks before approaching them with the request that they adopt her two year old son JD, and her five year old son Buck.   It hadn’t taken Cody and Eileen long to fall completely in love with the young scamps. 

The private adoption had been arranged quickly and Rachel used her remaining time to help the boys get accustomed to their new parents and adjusted to her leaving them.  When she had finally succumbed to her illness Cody and Eileen had been by her bedside, each holding one of her hands, renewing their promise to take care of her little ones.  They had kept that promise for three years, and with the conditions set up in their will, they were attempting to keep it even after their own deaths.

Chris wrapped his arms around Buck and gave him a hug, dropping a kiss on the top of the dark head.

 “Finish up, Buck.  I think I hear a bed upstairs calling your name.”

Barely a moment had passed before the sound of frantic feet could be heard running down the hall that lead to the kitchen.  Five year old JD burst through the door and threw himself at Nettie, who was the first person he saw.

Dropping his head into the startled woman’s lap the child began to wail, “Buck’s gone!  Buck’s gone to heaven with Mama and Daddy and left me here!  He left me”

“JD!” Buck yelped and jumped from Chris’ lap to start around the table to his little brother’s side.  “JD, I’m right here.   I didn’t leave you.”

On hearing his brother’s voice, JD jerked his head up and rushed toward Buck, meeting him halfway. 

“You was gone, Buck!” JD cried, closing his arms tightly around his brother.  Buck’s arms wrapped around the shaking shoulders and pulled the anxious boy closer. 

“I woke up and went into your room and you was gone!  I thought you went away like Mama and Daddy and left me.  I was so scared, Buck.  I don’t want you to go to heaven yet.  I don’t want to be alone!” JD cried.

Chris went down on one knee in front of the two boys and wrapped his arms around the pair.  The death of his parents had affected the small boy deeply, and JD had taken to clinging to Buck for reassurance.  If you wanted to find JD these days you just had to look for Buck because the younger child had taken to dogging the older one’s steps.  The fact that Buck never complained about this was a testament to his own emotional state.

“I’m not gonna leave you, JD.  I promised you before.  We go together or we don’t go at all, remember?” Buck crooned.  “Uncle Chris told me we don’t never have to leave here if we don’t want to.  We can stay together right here with Vin and Josiah, and Nettie.  Uncle Chris, and Aunt Mary, and Aunt Inez and Uncle Ezra is gonna come live with us here.  There’s gonna be even more people staying with us than before, so you aren’t gonna be alone, JD.”

JD raised hopeful eyes to his uncle and Chris nodded and said, “Buck’s right.  We’re all going to live here and take care of you boys.  This is your home and nobody’s ever going to make you leave here. We’re going to make sure of it.  I promise you that, JD.”

Reassured, the boy lowered his head back to his brother’s shoulder and sighed with relief.  For a few moments the two children remained locked together then Chris watched as JD’s little nose twitched and his attention was suddenly drawn to the smell of chocolate that still lingered in the kitchen.  The brown eyes lit up and JD pushed out of his brother’s arms to look at the mugs and cookie jar sitting on the table as a smile started across his face in one of the mercurial mood changes the family was accustomed to seeing in the five year old.

“Are you having a midnight picnic?” JD asked.

Relieved the small crisis had passed Chris chuckled and said, “Kinda.  You want to join us in a snack before I tuck you boys back in?”

JD’s head bounced up and down enthusiastically at the offer, causing the adults to laugh.  Nettie rose from her seat at the table and retrieved another mug from the cabinet and ladled some of the cooled cocoa into it.  She carried the mug back and set it on the table then drew a peanut butter cookie from the jar and handed it to JD.

Chris, meanwhile, lifted both boys and returned to his seat, settling the boys on his lap and wrapping the blanket he had retrieved from Buck’s room around both children, but leaving their arms free.

JD consumed his cookie and drank his cocoa while keeping up a running monolog on the superiority of peanut butter cookies versus any other kind.  The peaceful normality began to work its magic on Buck and soon the drowsy head rested back against Chris’ shoulder. 

When JD had finished, Nettie made short work of wiping hands and mouths free of crumbs and chocolate.  Chris rose with the two boys in his arms, settling a child on each of his hips. He bid Nettie a goodnight, then left the kitchen and took the boys back upstairs.  He didn’t even suggest that each boy return to his own room, but instead carried both boys to Buck’s room and laid them down on his bed, pulling the covers up snugly around them. 

“Goodnight, boys,” Chris whispered.

“Goodnight, Uncle Chris,” the drowsy Buck replied.

“Night, Uncle Chris,” JD whispered as he snuggled up next to his brother and closed his eyes.

Chris stood by the boys’ bed a few minutes until he was sure they had both returned to sleep then made his way back to his own bedroom down the hall. 

Chris pulled the covers back and crawled in next to Mary, wrapping his arm around her waist and spooning their bodies.  Mary stirred and snuggled closer, but didn’t wake. Chris lay in the darkness for sometime, worrying over the days to come, but eventually succumbed to the bone-deep tiredness he had been feeling since the death of his brother and sister-in-law and sleep finally claimed him.

Chapter 4

Ezra Standish enjoyed the feel of the mid-morning sun on his face as he leaned against the white wooden fence that enclosed the front pasture.  His face was creased in amusement at the antics of a group of yearlings that were romping and mock fighting in the enclosure. No matter how many times he watched this particular show it never failed to lighten his spirits.  For a moment his heart clinched at the memory of standing at this very fence with Eileen, laughing at the young creatures at play.   God, how he missed her! 

Eileen had inherited half the ranch from their father and Ezra the other half.  She had shared his love of the animals and his dreams for the ranch.  Ezra loved their ranch.  He enjoyed every aspect of breeding, raising and training horses (well except for mucking stalls, but that’s what he paid his employees for, after all).  He couldn’t imagine ever finding as much satisfaction in any other job, much to his mother’s chagrin.    Ezra grimaced as he remembered his mother’s words on her last visit.

“I didn’t send you to Harvard Business School just to have you waste your education this way.  You should be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company by now, but just look at you… a farmer!  Where did I go wrong?  How could you settle for this,” Maude swept her arm around to take in the ranch around them disdainfully, “when you could be making millions and being a power to be reckoned with in the business world.  You should be having breakfast in New York and dinner in Paris, not moldering away in some Godforsaken backwater speck on the map doing a job a high school dropout could do.  I don’t understand you, Ezra.”

Ezra hid his hurt at the familiar refrain and simply replied, “No, Mother, you never did.  Just like you never understood Father,” and walked away.   Maude had left in a huff that same day and he had not heard from her in the seven months that followed. 

 The battle was an old one, and neither side was willing to surrender the cause.  Ezra’s stubborn refusal to follow the path she had laid out for him in infancy infuriated Maude.  Maude’s inability to understand his natural affinity with horses and his need to follow his heart pained Ezra, and just made him more determined to show her how successful he could be at his chosen occupation.  Ezra had made the ranch a successful operation, and he knew his mother would be stunned to realize just how much he actually netted in a year, but Ezra was determined to make the ranch his father had left them into the most prestigious horse ranch in the country.  Nothing else would satisfy him.

Eileen had supported him completely in all he tried to achieve, understanding his need to prove the worth of his choices to their mother.   Maude had not been pleased with the choices her daughter had made in life either, but it was Ezra she had pinned her hopes on and Ezra that she held to blame.  Eileen had barely rated her notice.  The fact that Maude hadn’t even returned for Eileen’s funeral still caused a hard kernel of rage to burn in Ezra’s stomach. 

Ezra was drawn from his thoughts by the sound of a vehicle pulling into the ranch yard behind him.  He turned and waved a hand at the tall black man that emerged from the dark blue Chevy pickup and called, “Good Morning, Nathan.  What brings you out our way this morning?”

Dr. Nathan Jackson returned the wave and sauntered over to join Ezra at the fence. 

“Morning, Ezra.  I have to make a trip into the city today, and wondered if you would like me to take Josiah in for his appointment this afternoon.” Nathan offered.

“I appreciate the offer Nathan, but I believe it might be less humiliating for the boy if we didn’t have to frisk him for contraband on his return home.  Unless you can stay with him at all times that is the only way to assure he doesn’t find a way to smuggle a bottle back home.” Ezra replied.

Nathan nodded sadly in agreement.  Both men knew the fourteen year old was completely trustworthy until it came to one thing: alcohol.  Young Josiah Sanchez Larabee was an alcoholic, something he had learned at his mother’s knee.

Maria Sanchez’s philosophy in life had been “Got a problem? Have a drink.”  She had applied this philosophy to caring for her child as well, and saw nothing wrong with giving the infant boy booze as a way of stilling his cries for attention.   Instead of kissing his owwies she poured him a shot.  The young Josiah had had his first real hangover before he was even four years old. 

His father was a missionary that spent more time trying to minister to the peoples he was assigned to convert, than he did to paying attention to what was going on in his own home.  He saw to his son’s religious education, but very little else.  Consequentially, Josiah grew up believing all emotional upsets should be handled by saying a prayer then taking a drink. 

Josiah spent most of his childhood without parental supervision, wandering around the villages where they were assigned, making friends with the indigenous peoples, and learning their customs and languages.  He absorbed the different cultures like a sponge absorbs water, and learned to be tolerant of other people’s differences and beliefs.  His devout father would have beaten him half to death if he had ever realized how much of the other people’s religious beliefs he incorporated into his own personal philosophy.

Josiah had been adopted into the Larabee household after his father had been executed for teaching Christianity in a Fundamentalist Muslim country.  His mother had sunk so far into her own alcoholism by that time that the state had terminated all her parental rights and made Josiah a ward of the court. 

Since joining the Larabee household, Josiah had been making great strides in controlling his urges to drink, thanks to the loving attention of Eileen and Cody, and weekly sessions with a child psychologist that specialized in treating alcoholic children.  Unfortunately the tremendous grief the boy was experiencing with the loss of his new parents had caused him to backslide.  Ezra had found the teenager passed out on his parent’s bed, an empty whiskey bottle clutched to his chest, the night they had informed the children of their parents’ deaths.  Ezra still felt the ache that had gripped his heart at the sight of the tear-stained faced that still showed the terrible pain the boy felt even in his unconscious state.

Ezra was seriously starting to think about buying a dog trained to sniff out booze so they could locate all the bottles the child had stashed around his home and the two ranches.  Ezra had no idea how the underage teenager continually managed to acquire the forbidden liquor, but somehow he always seemed to obtain it when he felt the need for it. The only sure fire way to make sure he didn’t sneak it into the house was to have someone with him at all times whenever he went to the city.  They all tried to downplay the necessity to spare the boy’s feelings.

“Inez said she was going to drive him in this afternoon, so it’s already arranged, but thank you for your offer.”

Nathan shrugged off the thanks.  “Anything Raine or I can do to help, you be sure to let us know.  It’s a damn shame those kids have to go through something like this after everything they’ve already had to live with.  Life sure hasn’t played fair with those four, that’s for sure.”

“Indeed, I’m afraid you are right, my friend.  They are overdue for some good luck.”

“It’s not all bad luck for them though.  At least they still have you and Inez, and Chris and Mary.  They don’t have to worry about going back into the system.   They could be a lot worse off.”

“Perhaps.  Perhaps not,” Ezra drawled.  “I don’t know if you have been made aware of the conditions of Eileen and Cody’s will yet.  It seems Mr. Larabee and I will be forced to share a domicile for the next twelve months.  I would keep your beeper handy if I were you, Dr. Jackson, because I fear we will never make it through the entire period without bloodshed.”

Laughing the large black man waved goodbye and turned to walk back to his truck.  Over his shoulder he yelled, “I better go order some more bandages, sutures, and antiseptic then.”

“Good idea,” Ezra shot back with his own wave.

  Chapter 5

Ezra was having a conversation with his stable manager and a potential buyer when he heard the chorus of “Hello, Vin,” from the stable hands and the welcoming whinnies from the thoroughbred horses that usually announced his nephew’s arrival. 

Since coming to live with the Larabee family Vin had discovered the love of his life… horses.  The young Vin was passionately devoted to the large equines, and (to the amazement of everyone who worked with the temperamental creatures) they seemed to love him with equal fervor.  Ezra had never seen anyone that possessed such natural ability when it came to handling horses.  Vin could manage to calm the most fractious stallion using nothing more than his voice, murmuring a kind of sing-song wordless tune that only he and the horses seemed to understand.   The most troublesome beasts to saddle would meekly duck their heads to allow the small hands to fit them with a bridle.  Ezra didn’t know what power the child possessed, but was more than happy to put it to work whenever Vin chose to make an appearance at the stable, which was as often as he could sneak away from his home-school lessons. 

Ezra excused himself from the buyer, and approached Vin who had stopped short at the sight of the unfamiliar man in the horse barn. Ezra knew if he wanted to speak with the boy he would have to go to him. He knew Vin would not approach as long as there was a stranger present.  Although Vin had made a lot of progress in becoming more socialized, his distrust of strangers was too deeply ingrained in the boy to have been overcome so quickly.

It was partially for this reason the Eileen and Cody had decided to have Vin home-schooled.  They had decided that dropping Vin into a crowded elementary school would prove too stressful to a child that was used to being on his own and felt threatened by unfamiliar faces.  Since Vin was currently about two years behind other children of his age, it also allowed the child’s skills to be carefully brought up to his age level without the harassment he could expect from his peers in a public school.  Mary (who was a teacher before marrying Chris) had happily agreed to tutor him, and the arrangement had worked well for the most part.  The child had a phenomenal memory and a very quick mind.  He would usually grasp any concept he was taught with relative ease provided you could capture his attention, something Mary found a little more difficult than in other children she had taught.

 “Good morning, Vin,” Ezra greeted him as he approached.  He leaned down to give the child a quick hug and noticed the watchful eye Vin kept on the buyer as he returned the hug.

“That is Mr. Grayson.  He’s come to look over the stock to decide if he would like to purchase one for his new wife.  He’s alright, Vin,” Ezra assured the boy.

Vin threw the man one last wary look before turning his full attention onto Ezra.  “Morning, Uncle Ez,” Vin grinned expectantly.

Ezra pretended to take a swipe at the young head that was swiftly jerked back from his reach, and happily stepped into his role in the familiar game the two played.

“Ez-RA, Vin.  Ez-RA.  I find it hard to believe that someone with a photographic memory has such difficulty in remembering a simple two syllable name.” Ezra grinned down.

“I don’t know, Uncle Ez,” Vin smirked, “That’s a really hard name to remember.   It’s just so long,” Vin finished with the little giggle Ezra had come to cherish.  

When Vin had first come to them, no one could get him to respond, at least not verbally.   Although he understood what anyone said to him, he never spoke or laughed.  Ezra had felt like he had won the Triple Crown when he first heard that shy giggle emerge from the quiet child in response to his teasing. 

Shaking his head in mock exasperation, Ezra cupped his hand around the back of the boy’s head and asked, “Did your Aunt Mary give you permission to come over here right now, or did you sneak out again?”

The young boy evaded eye contact and mumbled, “She wasn’t there, so I thought it would be okay.”

“She wasn’t there, hmm.  And just what time did you check to see if she was there or not?”

A shrug of the shoulders was the only reply he received.

“Was it perhaps before sunrise… again?”

Looking everywhere but at Ezra, the young boy answered, “Maybe.”

“I see.  So, in fact, Mary was probably in the house, just still in bed?”

Another shrug.

Giving a sigh, Ezra pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial for his sister’s home. 

“Larabee residence,” the youngest household member said into the phone.

“Good morning, JD.  This is Uncle Ezra.  Could I speak to your Aunt Mary, please?”

“Hey, Uncle Ezra!  Guess what?  Vin is missing again.  Aunt Mary is sooo mad!”

“Yes, I know, JD.  Could you please put your Aunt on the phone,” Ezra repeated.

“Sure.  AUNT MARY!  UNCLE EZRA’S ON THE PHONE AND WANTS TO TALK TO YOU,’ JD yelled, causing Ezra to jerk the phone away from his ear. 

“Guess what! Buck took the microwave apart again and Nettie said she was gonna nail him to the barn door, so me and Buck are gonna go build some walkie-talkies today and then we’re gonna go play army.  Buck said he gots all the parts we need.  We just gotta put ‘em together.  Do you want to come play army with us, Uncle Ezra?”

Chuckling at the child’s chatter and glad he didn’t have to play peacemaker, Ezra graciously declined the offer, pleading work as an excuse.

“Okay, Uncle Ezra.  Maybe you can play next time.  Oh, here’s Aunt Mary. Bye!”

“Hello, Ezra,” a slightly frazzled-sounding Mary said.

“I believe you are currently missing something from that household, are you not?” Ezra inquired.

“Let me guess.  You found Vin in the horse barn again,” Mary stated.

“Just so.  Apparently our young nephew was under the impression that lessons had been canceled for the day, since he was unable to find you in the school room…when he rose at the crack of dawn,” Ezra finished dryly.
 

“That boy is going to drive me to drink, I swear,” Mary huffed and laughed.

“Should I drive him back?” he asked.

“No.  Don’t bother.  The public school is out today for a teacher’s work day, so Vin might as well get a day off as well, but you tell him we’re going to have another long talk about his school hours when he gets home,” Mary threatened.

Ezra laughed and said, “I will certainly inform him, and I will bring him home myself in time for dinner.”

“Thanks, Ezra.  I’ll talk to you later.”

“Goodbye, Mary,” Ezra said then disconnected and returned the cell phone to his pocket.

 “Well young man, it would seem you have been given a reprieve for today,” Ezra drawled out.  He watched the boy’s head raise and the blue eyes start shining with renewed hope.  “Your Aunt Mary has declared this a free day for you since your brothers are not attending school today. I would prepare myself for another lecture on the importance of school work if I were you, though.  Your Aunt is most perturbed with you right now.  I suppose you might as well stay and help Jake groom the horses since you are already here.” 

The smile that spread across the eager face could have rivaled the sun in Ezra’s opinion.  Vin wrapped his arms around Ezra’s waist in an enthusiastic hug and said a quick thanks, before dashing away to locate the stable hand he had just been assigned to help.  Ezra stood looking after the child for a moment in affectionate amusement, then returned to his potential buyer.

“So, Mr. Grayson, have you found one that strikes your fancy?”

 Part Two

Chapter 6

Buck Wilmington Larabee was in his element. Elbows deep in his current project, he felt a measure of peace and contentment that had been missing from his young life since the night Uncle Chris and Uncle Ezra and gathered up the brothers and told them their Mama and Daddy wouldn’t be coming home.  Buck had been floundering in a dark sea of grief, fear and uncertainty ever since, sure that with the death of his parents he was about to lose everything he had come to love. 

This was not like the last time he lost a parent.  Buck remembered that before his birth mother had died she had taken great care to prepare him, and he had known exactly what was going to happen to him and JD beforehand.  He had time to get comfortable in his new surroundings and learned to love and trust his new parents before his mother had been taken away forever.  He had missed his mother terribly, but had still felt a measure of security.  This time it had happened so unexpectedly that all security had been stripped away.  He had been left to wonder where they would go, who would take care of them, and if he and his brothers would be separated. 

When Timmy Johnson had informed him that they would now have to go live in the orphanage, he hadn’t known whether to believe him or not.  Before, they hadn’t been orphans because they had two new parents, but this time they didn’t.  It seemed entirely logical to his nine-year old mind that the orphanage would be where they would wind up.  The thought of leaving his home and his brothers had made him feel like a heavy weight was lying on his chest, making it difficult to breathe sometimes.  He wanted to cling to JD, Vin, and Josiah just as tightly as JD was clinging to him.

When Uncle Chris had made it clear that he and his brothers were staying in their home and his aunts and uncles would be coming to take care of them, Buck had felt the burden lift and took what felt like his first real, deep breath in days.  He still missed his parents something awful, but felt better knowing his future and that of his brothers was secure.

“Are you almost done with the walkie-talkies, Buck?” JD’s excited voice asked.

“Almost, JD.  I just need to finish connecting these wires,” Buck said as he returned his attention to the job at hand.

Buck happily snipped the last wire, connected it to the battery terminal, and closed the plastic back to the case surrounding his home built radio.

Eileen and Cody had discovered the young child they had adopted was insatiably curious about all things mechanical and electrical, and had an uncanny ability to understand the way they operated.  Whenever Buck would get too quiet and they went looking for him, they would usually find him tearing apart a motor or appliance to see how it worked.  Although at first reasonably upset at this demolition of their household appliances and vehicles, they were soon astounded to discover that the boy has able to rebuild whatever he had dismantled, and was usually able to make it work better than it had before he had taken it apart. 

Cody had found Buck would react to a trip to Radio Shack™ as any other child would to being turned loose in a toy store.  At Christmas while JD was pouring over the Toys R Us™ wish book, Buck was drooling over component catalogs.  Where his brothers might be happy with pizza, ice cream, or toys as rewards for good behavior or grades, Buck asked for toggle switches, torque wrenches, or soldering irons.

Over the last three years the employees for both ranches had gotten into the habit of bringing their broken equipment or appliances to the boy who was more than happy to fix them if possible, and if not, he salvaged the parts to add to his growing collection.  Said collection had grown to such large proportions that Cody had cleared a shed in the ranch yard and converted it into a workshop for the boy, where he happily puttered making new devices from the scavenged parts.  During haying season Chris’ ranch foreman would “borrow” the boy to fix the cantankerous hay bailer that no one else ever seemed able to get to work.  Everyone in the whole area agreed that Buck had the magic touch with machines.

“There,” Buck sat back in satisfaction, “all done.  Here, you take this one over there and see if you can hear me.”  Buck handed the second radio to his brother and waited until he reached the corner before pressing the talk button on his radio.

“Buck, calling JD.  Can you hear me, JD?” Buck said pressing his mouth to the microphone.

“Hey!  I can hear you, Buck!  Can you hear me?” JD yelled in excitement.

“You got to push the button to talk, JD.  Like this,” Buck held up his radio and demonstrated, “then you let the button go to hear.”

JD carefully held down the send button and shouted into the radio, “Can you hear me now, Buck?”

“Dang, JD!”  Buck winced as he pulled the speaker away from his ear, “You don’t have to shout.  Just talk normal.”  Realizing what he just said and who he was talking to, Buck corrected himself, “I mean, talk soft, okay.  I can hear you without you yelling.”

“Sorry, Buck,” JD apologized.  He held the button down once more and said, “Is this better?”

Buck smiled and answered on his radio, “Yeah, like that.”

JD danced in excited circles.  “This is so cool, Buck!  Can we go play army now?”

“Let’s play spies instead!” Buck suggested.

 “Spies?”

“Sure!   We can be secret agents sent in to get the secret formula. We’ll go spy on Nettie!  You can go see where she is and you can watch her and tell me if she comes to the kitchen.  I’ll go get the secret formula from the cookie jar.” Buck said with a grin.

“Why can’t I steal the secret formula?” JD whined.

“Cause you can’t reach the cookie jar, JD,” Buck pointed out.

“Can too!” JD yelled.

“No you can’t. You’re still too little.”

“NO, I’M NOT!” JD screamed and closed his hand around the nearest object, which happened to be a broken circuit board from a radio, and hurled it at Buck.

Buck, used to JD’s tendency to throw things when he was angry, calmly ducked out of the way.

“Do you want to play with my radios?” Buck asked with a smirk.

“Yeah,” JD grumbled.

“Then I get to get the secret formula,” Buck finished firmly.

JD’s face screwed up in a pout, then realizing he couldn’t win this one his face relaxed as he gave a disappointed sigh.  “Okay, you can get the secret formula,” he agreed grudgingly, “but you better get enough for me too!”

“Deal,” Buck agreed.

With the crisis resolved the two boys skulked out of Buck’s workshop intent on their mission of cookie liberation.

Chapter 7

Chris was in a conversation with his foreman about the growth curve and weight ratios of the ranch’s newest crop of calves when he saw the familiar blue pickup come to a halt in the ranch yard.  Chris nodded to his foreman and walked to meet the man exiting the truck with a large, canvas bag.

“I can’t leave you boys alone for a minute, can I,” Nathan joked.

Chris smiled and reached out to shake the doctor’s hand before replying, “We wouldn’t want you to feel like we didn’t like you anymore.  The hands are sure if you didn’t get called over at least once a week you’d think they were mad at you or something.”

“It’s hell being popular,” Nathan joked.

“It’s the price you pay for being so good at what you do.”

Nathan Jackson was an exceptional physician and everyone in the local area knew they were damn lucky to have someone of his ability willing to work in the small rural community that he serviced. 

Nathan had been in his last year of residency when Chris’ father had approached him with a job offer.  Almost completely bedridden for the last 20 years of his life, William Larabee had been acutely conscious of the lack of medical care that could be found in the small rural community.  The closest real doctor had been almost an hour’s drive away, and of little use in an emergency. 

William Larabee had spent his last year on earth funding, building and finally staffing a small, but well equipped medical clinic for the area. He donated land from his ranch to build the clinic, and set up a trust fund for its operation.  Then with the help of an old friend, who was affiliated with the University of Texas School of Medicine, William scoured the ranks of last year residents, looking for the best of the best.  He had finally settled on Dr. Nathan Jackson, a doctor with specializations in both family practice and surgery, and had approached the young doctor with an offer Nathan found too good to resist. 

William offered Nathan a handsome salary, and payment of all his student loans in exchange for a five year contract to operate the new medical clinic.  When William learned Raine Jackson was a registered nurse he offered her the job as Nathan’s nurse and office manager.    William had sweetened the deal by offering them a lovely house not far from the clinic rent free.  Knowing a great deal when they saw one, the Jacksons had leapt at the opportunity.

They had made their home on the Larabee ranch for the last four years, making a place for themselves in the tightly knit community.  They could not imagine living anywhere else now.  Much to the satisfaction and relief of the local residents, the Jacksons had decided to continue to run the clinic after their contract was up.

Nathan ignored Chris’ compliment and got down to business.  “Raine beeped me on the way into the city and just said to get over here.  I assume since everything seems pretty quiet that it’s nothing too serious?”

“Randy Johnson managed to slice his hand pretty good mending a fence.  Got him resting in the barn office with pressure on it.  Isn’t bleeding too badly anymore, but I figured it was deep enough to need a couple of stitches.  I was gonna bring him over to the clinic, but when I called to let you know we’d be coming Raine told me to just sit tight and she’d send you over.”

Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Nathan followed Chris through the large barn and into the office built in the far end.  Chris entered the room where the wounded ranch hand was sitting quietly, pressing a gauze pad tightly into the palm of his left hand.  Randy Johnson eyed his boss with a nervous smile. 

Chris had spent several tense minutes of their wait for Nathan expressing his opinion of Randy’s middle son Timmy’s chosen topics of conversation in regards to his nephews.  Randy and almost fallen over himself reassuring his boss that he would have a long talk with his son about his insensitive behavior.   

Randy was a long time employee of The Lazy L, and thought Chris Larabee to be a good boss. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy, who expected a lot from his employees and gave a lot in return.  He was demanding, but fair… unless you did anything to hurt or threaten his family, then you better be ready to run for your life.   Everyone in the area knew how much Chris Larabee cared for his young nephews.  That Timmy would say anything that stupid to someone who had just lost his parents was bad enough, but to say it to one of Chris Larabee’s nephews was bordering on the insane. 

“Hey, Randy.  I hear you did a number on that hand of yours,” Nathan grinned at the ranch hand as he set his medical bag on the wooden floor, and reached out to grasp the gauze covered hand in a gentle grip.

“Just doesn’t seem to be my day, Doc,” Randy hissed as Nathan unwrapped the bandage and examined the wound. 

“Gonna need stitches alright,” Nathan shook his head.  “When’s the last time you had a tetanus shot?”

“About six months ago when I dropped that roll of barbed wire on my foot.”

“Oh, yeah.  I remember that one.  You certainly do have the worst luck when it comes to fencing.  As your doctor, I would recommend you give it up completely,” Nathan joked as he withdrew the suturing kit and sterile gloves from his bag.

“Hey, tell it to the boss, Doc,” Randy grinned.

Nathan expertly injected an anesthetic, cleaned the wound, sutured it, and bandaged the hand while he continued to joke with his patient. 

“You go easy on that.  Keep it dry and stop by the clinic on the way home and I’ll have Raine give you some antibiotics just in case. You come see me at the end of the week.  Don’t you even THINK of removing those stitches yourself, you hear me?” Nathan warned.

Randy nodded agreeably, “Sure, Doc.  I hear ya.” 

“Why don’t you head on home for the day, Randy,” Chris said.  “You need someone to drive you home?”

“No, I can manage.  Thanks, boss.  I could use the extra time to talk to a certain little blockhead who’s probably driving his mother crazy about now,” Randy grimaced.

Chris nodded but remained silent as the injured ranch hand left the office and headed out of the barn.

“You want to tell me what that last part was all about,” Nathan asked as he removed the stained gloves and tossed them and the used equipment into a container in his bag.

Chris tersely repeated the events of the night before.

“He’s just a kid, Chris.  Kids say a lot of things without realizing how hurtful they can be.”

“I know than, Nathan.  That’s why Timmy is getting a talk from his old man instead of me.”

Imagining the child’s reaction to having an enraged Chris Larabee “talk” to him made Nathan laugh.

“That kid would have to be in therapy for years to recover from a talk like that.” Nathan said with a chuckle.

Chris answered with a slightly feral grin of his own.

“I gotta go,” Nathan said, picking up his bag and slinging it over one shoulder.  “I need to go pick up that new ultra sound machine in San Antonio, so I’ll be gone for a few hours.  Try not to rough anybody up while I’m gone, okay?”

“Gee, Nate, you never let me have any fun,” Chris joked.

Nathan exited the barn still laughing.

Chapter 8

“Just put them down on the table there, Josiah,” Inez told the teenager as he entered the kitchen door with both arms loaded with grocery bags.

“Okay Aunt Inez.  That’s the last of them,” Josiah replied, setting the bags down where Inez had indicated.  “Do you need some help putting things away?”

“You can put the milk in the refrigerator if you would,” Inez tossed over her shoulder as she emptied one shopping bag and transferred the contents to the cabinet.

Josiah obligingly hefted the gallon jug of milk in one hand and swung the refrigerator door open with the other.  He stood gazing into the interior of the well stocked appliance, then turned to face Inez with a grin.

“I think we have a problem, Aunt Inez.  There’s no place to put it.”

Inez joined the boy in front of the refrigerator and placed one hand on his shoulder as she bent over slightly to peer inside.

Josiah stilled at the feel of the soft hand on his shoulder.  He stood motionless, absorbing the feel of his aunt’s touch.   Josiah found it hard to express the simple joy he felt whenever he had physical contact with any member of his new family. 

Displays of physical affection had not been something he had received much in the years before he came to live with the Larabees.  His father was generally too busy to bother and his mother was too wrapped up in her own problems and alcoholism to want him around unless she had an immediate use for him.  The nomadic lifestyle his family had led from the time he was an infant had not allowed him any time to make any close friends that might have felt comfortable showing him any physical affection.

In stark contrast to his birth parents, Eileen and Cody Larabee had been great believers in showing their children love.   The giving and receiving of hugs, and kisses, and the playful ruffling of hair were all commonplace occurrences in the Larabee household.    The sudden flood of affection after so many years of drought had unsettled Josiah at first, but soon he came to revel in the loving touches of his family

Josiah had felt like an outsider the first few weeks of his life as a Larabee.  He had not really accepted emotionally that he was now a member of the family until one day in town when they had to cross a busy street, and young JD had slipped his hand into Josiah’s and looked up at him, waiting patiently for Josiah to lead him across.  The feel of that small, warm hand in his own had rocked Josiah’s world as he came to the sudden realization that the small boy looking up at him with such absolute trust was now his brother.  HIS brother.  A part of HIS family.  Josiah had to blink away the tears that had suddenly tried to fill his eyes before he could lead HIS little brother across the road safely.  Once on the other side, Josiah had kept hold of JD’s hand, cherishing the warmth that seemed to spread from the child’s hand into his own until it seemed to fill his whole body. 

Ever since that fateful day Josiah couldn’t get enough.  Where other boys his age were trying to avoid hugs from their mothers, Josiah actively sought them from his.  Standing on the porch watching the sun go down with his new father’s arm relaxed across his young shoulders brought Josiah a sense of peace and happiness he had never known in his short life.  Touching became his way to reassure himself that his new life was real, that this was really his family, and that he was loved at last.  Fighting his cravings to drink was always a little easier when he was wrapped in the arms of his new mother or father.

With the death of Eileen and Cody, Josiah found himself craving the physical contact with the remainder of his family more than ever.  The inherent love behind Inez’s simple, unthinking touch was a panacea to his battered soul and helped remind him that he was not alone, that he still had family.

“I think if we move this jar to the door, and shove this back…”  Inez said shuffling things in the refrigerator, “I believe… there. That should do it.

 

Josiah set the jug in the cleared space and threw another smile at Inez. 

“Perfect fit.”

“You boys aren’t eating enough.  That’s why it’s so full.  You’ll have to start doing better,” Inez smiled

“I guess I haven’t been too hungry lately.”  Josiah turned his head away slightly.

Inez wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. 

“I understand.  I know it’s been hard on you boys.   It’s been hard on all of us, but it will get better.”  Inez pulled back and took his face in her hands.  She looked deep into his troubled eyes. “It will get better.  I promise you, Josiah.”

Josiah wrapped his own arms around her waist and held on for a few precious minutes before letting go and stepping back.

“What else can I help you with?” he asked with a warm smile.

Chapter 9

Vin tensed as he heard the slight sound of a board creaking in the barn behind him.  He was standing in one of the horse stalls on a low box that let him reach the back of the chestnut mare’s coat with the brush.  He carefully stepped off the box, as silent as he could be, but continued to murmur his soothing song to the horse.  He stepped around the animal and carefully snuck a look out of the stall before pulling back quickly.  Sighing in relief and relaxing, Vin smiled at what he had seen.  Buck and JD were hugging the side of the barn quietly making their way to the stall he was in, trying to sneak up on him.  This was a favorite game of the three.   In the thirteen months that Vin had lived with them they had never managed to catch him by surprise. With his senses honed for survival, Vin’s awareness of his surroundings at all times always alerted him to their attempts. 

Grinning to himself in glee, Vin positioned himself to one side of the stall door and waited.  When Vin sensed the two boys on the other side of the doorway, he jumped out at them, yelling at the top of his lungs.  JD screamed and fell on his bottom trying to get away from the loud noise and Buck tripped over him and took his own tumble to the floor.  Vin had to hold his sides because he was laughing so hard. 

“I gotcha ya,” he gasped between guffaws.  “I gotcha ya good!”

Buck looked at JD then both boys started laughing too.  Buck rose to his feet and helped JD up, both still laughing.

“Good one, Vin,” Buck congratulated his brother.  “I was sure we were gonna get you this time.”

“Never happen, Buck.  You two couldn’t sneak up on a deaf and blind man,” Vin kidded.

“Hey! Is that any way to treat people who bring you cookies?” Buck said with a grin as he reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew two sugar cookies wrapped in a crumpled paper napkin.

Vin’s eye lit up when his saw the treat and he reached out to grab them but Buck pulled them back quickly and hid them behind his back.

“Not so fast, junior,” Buck smirked.

“Okay, okay.  Maybe you guys could sneak up on a deaf and blind man,” Vin said.  After Buck passed him the cookies Vin finished with, “but you sure couldn’t sneak up on anybody else!” Vin quickly ducked the smack Buck aimed at the back of his head.

“Look at the walkie-talkies Buck built, Vin.” JD shoved the radio at Vin.

“We’ve been playing spies.”

Vin turned the device over in his hands, and held one up to his lips and pressed the send button.  “Do they really work?” he asked.

Buck used his radio to reply “You betcha!”

“That’s cool, Buck,” Vin grinned.  “Now we can talk to each other after bedtime!”

“Or when you run off again,” Buck punched him lightly in the arm.  “Aunt Mary was gonna send Uncle Chris out to find you when Uncle Ez called this morning.  She was getting all red in the face and everything.”

Vin shrugged.    He didn’t really see the need for learning all the stuff she tried to teach him.  He already knew everything he needed to live.  Why waste time indoors taking lessons when he could be outside hunting, or exploring the two ranches, or working with the horses. 

Vin was very used to being own his own, and doing what he wanted or needed to do.  It was only his deep love of Eileen that had caused him to start paying attention to how his actions affected other people. 

The first time he had gone exploring the ranch on his own and returned to the house after being gone for several hours, he had found his new mother in tears, crying in fear for him.  The sight of the woman he was coming to care so much about in such a state because of him wretched Vin’s poor little heart.  From that day on, Vin and Eileen had come to an agreement.  Eileen tried to give him more freedom when possible, and Vin was careful to let her know his whereabouts so she wouldn’t worry. 

Vin was still a wild creature to a certain extent, and the only way the independent child could ever be truly controlled was through his heart. Although Vin had come to love Mary, too, she didn’t have the same hold on his heart Eileen had claimed, and he didn’t feel the same need to please her that he had felt for his mother.  

“You think she’s gonna make Vin go to bed without his supper?”  JD asked.

“A fat lot of good that would do, JD.  He’s got almost as much stuff stocked up in his closet as Nettie has in the kitchen.”  Buck snorted in disdain at the idea of his brother going hungry with all the packaged and freeze-dried food Eileen had allowed him to keep in his room. 

Buck rubbed his nose in remembrance of the one time he had relieved Vin of his cache of food as a joke.  Buck had been forcibly shown that his little brother took food very seriously, equating it with security.  Buck considered himself lucky that Vin had let him get away with only a bloody nose.

“She won’t send him to bed without supper, but I heard her tell Nettie she was gonna talk to Ezra about not letting him in the horse barn for a week,” Buck shook his head in sympathy at the other boy’s stunned gasp.

“No!  Uncle Ez wouldn’t do that…. Would he?” Vin groaned.

Buck shrugged and said, “I don’t know, Vin.   She was pretty mad.  She might be able to convince him it’s for your own good.  You know he’d do it then.  He might do it just to calm her down.  Who knows?”

While Vin was contemplating this unforeseen disaster, Josiah entered the barn and approached his brothers.

“Josiah!”  JD yelled in relief, running to his brother and grabbing his hand, “You’re back!” 

Josiah squeezed JD’s hand in greeting.  Since their parents had been killed JD hated to have Josiah go into the city for his weekly appointments, scared his brother would not be returning either.  He was always deeply relieved when Josiah got back home.

“Yep, I made it back, squirt,” Josiah teased.  “Aunt Inez sent me to get you guys.  She said Uncle Ezra’s going to drive us home.  He promised Aunt Mary he’d have us back before supper.”

Buck raised one eyebrow slightly and threw Vin an “I told you so” look causing Vin’s shoulders to sag in dejection.

“We’d better go before we make Uncle Ezra mad too,” Buck advised Vin, “because you sure don’t want him already upset with you if Aunt Mary does decide to talk to him.”

Nodding in agreement, Vin hurried to the door.

“Come on, JD,” Josiah said with a smile. “I’ll give you a piggy back ride.”

JD willingly accepted the offer, and the remaining three brothers followed their fourth out the door.

Chapter 10

“Good morning, Mary,” Inez said as she entered the kitchen door. She crossed to the cabinet and took down a mug and filled it with coffee from the half –full pot on the warmer. 

“Good morning, Inez,” Mary smiled up at her friend.  “You’re up early for a Saturday morning.”  The sun was just barely rising and although Mary had a tendency to wake early, she knew Inez and Ezra tended to wake at a much later hour.

 “I thought we might as well get started with the plans for us moving in,”  Inez answered with a heavy sigh as she took a seat at the kitchen table, “since I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

“Uh-oh.  Sounds like bad news.” Mary reached out and took her friend’s hand and held it between both of her own.  “Didn’t happen?” she asked.

“No,” Inez confirmed, “Another month without results.  I’m starting to get so frustrated.  I’m beginning to think it will never happen again.”

“Don’t start thinking like that, Inez.  When the time is right it will happen.  You just have to relax and not let it take over your life.  That kind of stress just starts a vicious cycle, you know that,” Mary advised.

“You’re right.  I know you’re right… but it’s just so hard!” Inez whispered as tears started to fill her eyes.

“Oh, Inez,” Mary stood up and moved behind Inez and wrapped her arms around her friend.  “I’ve been there.  I know what you’re going through.  At least you have a husband that’s willing to try.  Chris still won’t even consider the idea of a baby.”

“Oh, I’m being so insensitive,” Inez moaned.  “I shouldn’t be going on about this when I know it must be hurting you.  I’m so sorry, Mary.”

“No, no, no!  You have every right to be upset, to mourn.  That’s not being insensitive, that’s being human.  You’re my friend and you have the right to expect me to share in your sorrows,” Mary said.

“I wish I was as good a friend to you as you are to me,” Inez said wiping her eyes with the back of her hands and then laying them on top of Mary’s arms and squeezing gently.

“You stop that!  You’re a wonderful friend.  You’ve done your share of supporting me when I needed you, and don’t you worry about me.   Chris’ refusal to consider another child is something I’ve lived with for along time, Inez.  You’re not hurting me.  I promise.”

“I don’t know what I would have done without you in the last year, Mary.  I think Ezra would have to come visit me in the looney bin by now if you hadn’t been there.”  Inez sniffled and hugged Mary close.

“Hey, you’re my friend.  Besides, I couldn’t just sit back and let you go round the bend.  It’s too far a drive to visit you if they carted you off to the funny farm,” Mary joked and brushed a stray tear from Inez’s cheek.

Mary and Inez had first come to meet each other soon after Mary’s marriage to Chris.  They had met while attending meetings to organize a charity event for the local little league and over the course of the event had become fast friends, much to the chagrin of their respective spouses. 

When Inez and Ezra had lost their three month old daughter Eleanor to SIDS, they had both come apart.  Ezra especially couldn’t deal with the loss and pushed everyone, including Inez, away in his grief.  Mary had been the one that Inez had clung to for sanity.  Mary had been the one Inez poured her heart out to, and Mary had been the one to hold her when she cried. 

Ironically enough, it had been Chris that had, quite literally, knocked some sense into Ezra and made him realize he would be losing not only his daughter but his wife if he didn’t snap out of it.  When Ezra had finally come to his senses and reached out for his wife, Mary had joyfully stepped aside, glad to see the two finally working together to mend their shattered lives.  

The ordeal had bonded the two women and their relationship had become as close as sisters, so when Inez and Ezra had decided it was time to try again for a child, Mary had been Inez’s sounding board and personal cheerleader.

“I’m not going to let this get me down, not today,” Inez stated firmly.  “We’ve got enough to worry about right now.  We’ve somehow got to combine three households, and keep your husband and my husband from strangling each other in the process.”

Giving Inez one last hug, Mary returned to her chair and picked up her coffee mug.

“Maybe we should go talk to Raine,” Mary suggested, hiding a smile behind her mug.

“You think she might have some ideas about how to get them to get along?” Inez asked.

“No, but maybe we can talk her into giving us prescriptions for Valium,” Mary grinned.

“Better yet,” Inez giggled, “Get her to give the prescriptions to Ezra and Chris!”

Both women broke down laughing.

Chapter 11

“Busted¹,” was all Buck could think when Nettie Wells quickly turned to see him as he hastily pulled his head back under the kitchen table and tried to stifle his giggles.

“Buck Wilmington Larabee!  I’m gonna tan your backside, boy!” Nettie threatened, desperately trying to control the grin that was attempting to break across the angry face she was having trouble maintaining.

Though most people saw Nettie Wells as a blunt, straightforward, tough type of woman, she actually had a wicked sense of humor, and a tremendous soft spot for the four little hooligans that lived in the home she took care of.  She had a tendency to spoil them rotten in her own no-nonsense way.  All of the boys saw past her façade to the kind heart underneath and adored the woman.

On this fine Saturday morning, Buck had just played another of his practical jokes on the poor woman, rigging the toaster to sling the toasted slices of bread out of their slots with a great deal more than normal force.  The bread had been propelled so forcefully from the toaster that brown crumbs could now be seen on the ceiling where two slices had collided with it before falling to land on the kitchen floor.

Buck quit trying to be quiet and started laughing in earnest, crawling out from under the table and standing up.

“I’ll clean it up, Miss Nettie,” Buck assured her.

“You see that you do, you young hellion,” Nettie growled, turning away to hide her smile. 

While Buck was busy cleaning toast crumbs from the floor and tossing them into the garbage, Nettie made a new pot of coffee.  Within minutes the welcoming smell of fresh coffee wafted from the kitchen and down the hall.

Chris entered the kitchen with a yawn a few minutes later.

“Morning, Nettie. Morning, Buck”

“Morning, Uncle Chris.”

“Morning, Chris,” Nettie answered, setting a large mug of coffee in front of the man.  “What would you like for breakfast, Chris?” she asked.

“Don’t bother, Nettie.  I think I’ll just make me some toast,” Chris said around another yawn, missing the conspiratorial look between the other two.  Nettie and Buck both quickly turned away and tried to look busy, as Chris rose from the table and slipped two slices of bread into the sabotaged toaster.  Buck returned to the table with a bowl and a box of cereal and tried to look innocent, a look that would have set off alarm bells in Chris’s head if he had been awake enough to notice. 

Chris walked to the refrigerator to get the butter while the toast was browning then returned to stand in front of the toaster, mouth stretched wide in another yawn.  Hearing the slight metallic sound that always preceded the bread being ejected from the toaster, Chris started to reach out for the toast when it suddenly sprung out of the toaster past his hand.  Chris jumped back, startled as the bread passed his face, and stared at the flying objects in disbelief as they rebounded off the ceiling and fell back down, one landing on the floor and the other on his boot.

Chris turned his shocked eyes to face Buck who had laughed himself out of his chair and was now rolling on the floor, and the older woman who was holding her sides and had tears of laughter starting to run down her face.

Shaking his head in disgust, Chris looked at the hysterical duo and said, “I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning.” 

Chris watched them for a minute more before the humor of the situation struck him and he joined in their laughter.

“On second thought, I think I’ll pass on the toast this morning,” he said with a smile.

“Too late, Uncle Chris,” Buck blurted out, “I think the toast already passed on you!” sending all three back into spasms of laughter.

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¹ Sorry, bad joke… but just couldn’t resist :-).

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 Part Three

Chapter 12

Ezra watched his nephew approach him as he leaned against the door post of the horse barn, recalling the phone conversation he’d had with Mary the previous night.  As Buck had overheard, she had indeed asked Ezra to bar Vin from the horses for a week in punishment for his skipping out of his lesson, but Ezra had not agreed with her solution and had informed her so.

“I agree that he needs to keep up with his lessons, Mary, but I don’t agree with your methods.  If I refused to let him help with the horses I’d be striking a serious blow to his trust in me.  That boy trusts me not to hurt him, and keeping him away from the horse barns would hurt him rather badly.  That child has already had way too much pain in his life, and I refuse to inflict any more if I can possibly avoid it.  With the loss of Eileen and Cody  still so raw he needs whatever comfort and joy he can find, and I will not take that away from him,” Ezra said firmly leaving no doubt that he meant every word he spoke.

Mary sighed on the other end of the phone.  “I don’t want to hurt him either, Ezra, but he needs to learn.  To learn, he needs to be in the classroom.”

“Perhaps that’s part of the problem, my dear,” Ezra mused.  “Vin is a creature of the outdoors. He hates being cooped up inside.  Perhaps you’d find him more responsive if you could move your classroom outdoors when the weather permits.”

“I don’t have a problem with than, Ezra, but to have a class outside you still need your pupil to show up.  I don’t know how to keep him from taking off whenever he feels like it, short of locking him inside his room!”

“Given the fact that his birth parents thought it necessary to teach him to pick locks, I doubt very seriously if that would solve the problem,” Ezra said dryly.

“Do you have a better idea then? Because I’m fresh out.”

“Actually, I might at that,” Ezra mused.  “Why don’t you let me talk to him tomorrow?  I may have a way to get through to him.”

“Alright, Ezra.  You give it a try, but if it doesn’t work we’re going to have to take drastic measures,” Mary warned.

“Trust me, my dear.”

Ezra roused from his musing as Vin stopped by his side and glanced at his uncle with a mixture of despair and rebellion on his face.

“Aunt Mary said you wanted to talk to me, Uncle Ez,” Vin said.

Ezra’s heart clinched to see that sorrowful look on the boy’s face and hurried to remove it.

“Why the long face this morning?”

“You’re going to tell me I can’t come work with the horses for a week,” Vin muttered.

“Why would you think I’d do that, Vin?”

“Because Buck heard Aunt Mary tell Nettie she was going to ask you to because I left before my lessons yesterday.”

“Do you trust me, Vin?” he asked.

Vin nodded reluctantly keeping his eyes on his shoes.  Ezra lifted the young chin until blue eyes met green. 

“I would never deliberately do anything to hurt you, Vin.  You know that don’t you?”

Another silent nod was his only answer.

“So why would you believe I’d hurt you by forbidding you to help with the stock?”

Vin’s eyes widened in surprise as he took in his uncle’s words.

“I, more than anyone, know exactly how you feel about the horses, Vin.  I know what it would do to you to be away from them for a week.  There may come a time when it becomes necessary to bar you from the barn, but you will have had to do something a lot worse than play hooky for me to do it.”

Ezra watched as the tension Vin had been feeling left his body in a rush of relief. 

“I still believe you need to attend your lessons, but I don’t believe this would be the proper punishment, do you understand?”

“Sure, Uncle Ez,” Vin was all smiles now.

“Good.  I’m glad we understand each other.   Well, now that that’s out of the way, I have a surprise for you, Vin,” Ezra said.  “Come with me.” 

Ezra led the boy to the back of a large pickup truck.  “It’s there in the bed of the truck.”

Vin started to climb up on the bumper of the truck to peer over the tailgate when Ezra stopped him. 

“No, you can’t touch the truck.  Just tell me what you see, Vin,” Ezra said with a serious look.

“I can’t,” Vin replied in confusion.

“Why not?”

“I can’t see over the sides.”

“Why not, Vin?”

“I’m too little.”

“But I can see into the truck just fine, Vin.  Why is that?”

“Because you’re bigger than me.”

“Exactly, Vin.   I’m an adult, and I have a larger range of vision because I’m bigger than you.  You are a child, and see things with a more limited vision because you’re smaller.” Ezra paused and looked at Vin with one eyebrow raised slightly then continued, “Do you agree that as an adult I am able to see things you can’t yet?”

 

Vin was still confused as to exactly where this conversation was leading, but nodded his head in agreement.

“You can’t just keep skipping out of your lessons because you don’t see the need for them, Vin.  You’re still looking at your schooling with a child’s eyes.  You can’t see what you’ll need in the future, just like you couldn’t see over the sides of this truck, because you’re still too little.  

Your Aunt Mary is an adult, too, Vin, and she can also see things that you can’t.  She sees the skills and knowledge you are going to need when you get older.  That’s why you have to trust Mary to teach you what you will need to know to prepare you for the rest of your life. 

Your birth parents tried to teach you what you would need to know to survive in the wilderness.  Your Aunt Mary is trying to teach you what you’re going to need know to survive in the world beyond the borders of this ranch.   Do you see what I’m trying to tell you, Vin?” Ezra finished, watching Vin carefully.

Vin’s face was scrunched up in concentration as he sifted through all Ezra had said.  Ezra stood waiting silently as the child processed this new information.   Finally the little face cleared and Vin turned his blue eyes to his uncle and nodded.

“I understand, Uncle Ez.  Just because I don’t think I need to know what she’s telling me now, doesn’t mean I won’t need it later, right?  That’s why I need to go to my lessons.”

“Very good, Vin.  That’s exactly what I’m saying. So, please, give your Aunt Mary a chance, alright?” Ezra smiled down at the boy and dropped his hand to the boy’s shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze then let go. “Can you do that for me?” 

 “I’ll try, Uncle Ez.”

“Good.  That’s all I ask,” Ezra ruffled the blond hair and smiled. He reached over to the pickup truck and released the catch on the tailgate, letting it down and allowing Vin a glimpse of what was laying on the truck bed.

“A saddle!” Vin grinned.

“Not just any saddle, Vin,” Ezra grinned, “your saddle.”

“Mine!  You really mean it, Uncle Ez?  It’s really mine?”  Vin squealed in delight.

“Absolutely.  See?  It even has your name on it.”

 

Vin threw his arms around Ezra and squeezed as hard as he could.

“Thanks, Uncle Ez!”

“My pleasure, Vin.  Would you like to go try it out?”

Ezra laughed at Vin’s enthusiastic whoop, and hoisted the saddle from the truck.  “Lead on, McDuff,” he said playfully, and the two started back into the horse barn while Vin tried to decide which horse he wanted to try his new saddle out on first. 

Chapter 13

“Broke²!”  JD wailed.  It’s broke, Ms. Nettie.”

Nettie rolled her eyes at JD’s theatrics.  “JD it’s just an egg yolk.  It’s gonna break when you eat it anyway,” she said in exasperation.

“But I don’t like ‘em broke, Ms. Nettie.  They run all over the plate and make my toast all soggy.  It’s yucky!”  JD screwed up his face in disgust.

“Here, JD,” Josiah said with a smile, “You can have mine and I’ll eat those.”

“But yours are scrambled,” JD moaned.  “They’re all slimy.  That’s yucky too!”

“That’s nothing, JD.  When I was little we lived in this village in the Philippines where the villagers used to take these great big bugs, like HUGE cockroaches, and….”

Josiah proceeded to regale them with a detailed description of food preparation in the backwater village, stopping every other sentence to take a bite of his breakfast.  Fascinated, JD began eating his own breakfast, completely forgetting his earlier protests. 

Nettie turned slightly green at the tale Josiah was spinning, but JD was completely ensnared, taking in the story with a relish of the disgusting that only a five year old boy can muster. He was so lost in the tale that he finished everything on his plate without further complaint and continued to sit enthralled as Josiah finished his own breakfast and gave Nettie a surreptitious wink when she removed JD’s empty plate.  Nettie stifled a laugh and turned back to the dishes waiting to be washed in the sink.  

“That boy has more insight into his little brothers than a boy his age should have,” Nettie thought to herself, “but sometimes he can be a real lifesaver.  Score another round to Josiah!”

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² You didn’t honestly think I could let this one slide by after the first one, did you? <BG>

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Chapter 14

Chris Larabee rode his black gelding, Diablo, into the barnyard of The Four Aces Ranch and sat on his horse waiting for the greeting he knew was coming.  To his right, an even bigger black horse trotted happily beside his horse.

“Well I see we have visitors… again,” Ezra’s voice drawled from the doorway of the barn.”

“Standish, I’m really getting tired of having to drag your horse’s sorry butt back here every other day.    If you can’t control him, why don’t you just shoot him and put him out of my misery.”

“Uncle Chris!” Vin’s shocked voice reached the man on horseback causing him to glare at the now smirking horse rancher.

“Don’t worry, Vin.  I’ve been threatening to shoot your Uncle Ezra for years and he’s still walking around,” Chris assured the boy, “I think the horse is safe for awhile.”  Chris gave a wink and threw the boy a smile which he returned.  “Why don’t you go put him away, Vin.  I think he’s had enough adventure for one day.”

Vin approached the horse who happily lowered his head to allow the boy to scratch between his ears.  Vin patted the long neck a few times then turned to re-enter the barn with the black horse now contentedly following behind.

Both men waited until boy and horse were out of sight before continuing their conversation. When Cody and Eileen had first adopted Buck and JD they had made it abundantly clear to the two feuding men that they would not allow their children to be exposed to the kind of hostility the men threw at each other at every opportunity. Cody had threatened them with bodily injury and Eileen had threatened to cut off their contact with their new nephews if they didn’t call a truce when the children were present.  For the last three years the men had both gotten into the habit of maintaining that truce whenever any of the boys was around. 

“I don’t know what kind of unnatural feelings that beast has for my horse, but I can tell you right now I don’t like it,” Chris growled.

“Come now, Errant Ranger, simply goes to his friend Diablo to commiserate with him on having to deal with you on a daily basis.”  Ezra drawled.

Everyone on both ranches had been amused by the fact that Ezra’s horse, Errant Ranger, lived up to his name by constantly escaping his keepers and heading for the Lazy L ranch at every opportunity.  The horse seemed to feel the grass really was greener on the Lazy L side of the fence, and he appeared to enjoy the company of Chris’ horse, Diablo, as well.  It was a proven fact that no matter where Diablo was on the Larabee ranch, Errant Ranger could find him.  Chris was well used to hearing the thundering sound of hooves approaching him out on the range, and seeing the lustrous black coat of the animal approaching on the horizon. 

Although Chris hid it well, he actually had a soft spot for the incorrigible equine ever since the day the horse had helped saved his life.  Chris had been out alone rounding up some strays before a severe winter storm was supposed to hit the area when Diablo had stepped into a hidden gopher hole and gone down hard, throwing Chris over his horse’s head.  He landed badly and hit his head on a rock, knocking him out cold. 

When Chris had failed to return before dark, the Lazy L ranch hands had begun searching and Mary had phoned Ezra for assistance.  Ezra had immediately mustered his own ranch hands to join the search. 

Remembering that Mary had informed him that neither Chris nor Diablo had returned home, Ezra had come up with the idea of letting Ranger loose to see if he could find Diablo, hoping the horse might still be with his master.  Ezra had followed on his own mount, Gambler’s Luck, and Ranger had led him straight to the lost man and horse.  Ezra had then been able to use his cell phone to alert Nathan and the other rescuers to the location of the injured man. 

Chris had been out of commission for a week with a concussion, but thanks to Ezra and Ranger, had escaped the hypothermia that would have been his fate if he had been left out in the winter storm.  Ezra had received a grumbled, but sincere, thank you from Chris who had also presented Ranger with bag of peppermint candy and another of carrots for his part in the rescue.

That act had been the first stitch taken to mend their once deep friendship;   a friendship that had been broken by misunderstandings, angry words and hurtful fists when they were only teenagers.  The next stitch occurred over a year later when Chris was able to return the favor.

Inez had phoned Mary in hysterical tears when Ezra had disappeared from their home three weeks after the death of little Eleanor.  Ezra’s disappearance was nothing new as he had been seeking solitude for most of the days since the terrible morning he had found the baby in her crib.  What frightened Inez so badly was she had discovered his forty-five caliber pistol was missing from the bedside table where he usually kept it.  Mary had immediately gone to Inez while Chris had set out to look for Ezra. 

Chris had driven straight for the cemetery where little Eleanor had been buried, instinctively knowing that was where the grieving father would be.  When Chris arrived at the cemetery he found Ezra kneeling beside Eleanor’s grave with his head hanging down, weeping.  The pistol was loosely clutched in his hands.  Chris had approached quietly and wrenched the gun away from the distraught man before Ezra even knew he was no longer alone. 

Ezra had jumped to his feet in anger yelling, “Give that back.  You have no business here!  Just go away and leave me alone!”

“Leave you alone to do what?  Kill yourself?  That ain’t gonna happen.”

“You have no right to tell me what I can or can not do.  This doesn’t concern you.  You have no idea how I feel,” Ezra had screamed.

“I don’t know?” Chris had ground out, a sudden rage filling him, making his voice go chillingly quiet. “I don’t know!”

Chris had grabbed the grief stricken man by his shirt front and hauled him closer, “You can look at me and say I don’t know what you’re feeling?”

Chris, with fury-inspired strength, had started dragging the resisting man through the cemetery to another tiny grave side, and forced him to look at the words carved on the grey marble tombstone. 

Adam Christopher Larabee

Beloved Son

1993 – 1996

Chris had jerked Ezra around and stood almost nose to nose with him, fingers still fisted tight into his shirt.

“I know exactly how you feel, Standish.  I know the pain, the grief.  I know the guilt because you couldn’t stop it from happening.  I know what it feels like to beg God to take you instead and let your child live.  I know!”  Chris had punctuated his words by shaking the other man hard. 

“I also know the need to make it all just go away.   I tried to do that by burying myself in a bottle for months after Adam was killed, but you know what?  It doesn’t work.  Nothing makes it better except time. 

Inez just lost her baby, too, Ezra, did you ever think about that?  Are you so selfish, that you’d cause her the additional anguish of having to bury you too?   At least you have a wife that loves you…that’s faithful to you.  You don’t have to live through this hell alone, like I did.   You should be with Inez, helping each other get through this not sitting here all alone wallowing in the pain. 

Inez loves you, and she needs you right now… and you need her.  I’d advise you to get your sorry butt home and start looking after that woman right now, because if you don’t you stand to lose more than just your daughter.  You’ll probably end up losing your wife, too.  You think about THAT awhile, Standish.” 

Chris had shoved Ezra away from him violently, causing the man to fall on his knees, one arm flung out to the ground to catch himself.  Chris had then walked away leaving the fallen man to watch his departure in silence.  Ezra had remained on the ground for several minutes processing the home truths Chris had just flung at him, then slowly picked himself up and started to his car.  He had gone home, found Inez, and started the long healing process. 

Neither man had ever mentioned that day, but a door had been opened slightly in the invisible wall that had stood between the two men for so many years.  The sharing had helped heal some of the old hurts by reminding the men of the things they had in common, and the friendship they had once enjoyed. 

The years of resentment and dissension couldn’t be washed away in one day, but each man found himself a little more comfortable in the other’s presence and a little more willing to make peace.  They still delighted in pushing each other’s buttons, both knowing from long experience exactly which ones would rile the other the most, but the verbal rancor each had continued to direct at the other after that incident had been scaled back considerably and been done more from pride and habit than from any real need to wound. 

“Whatever reasons that damn crazy horse has, you just keep him on your side of the fence from now on, or I’ll fill his butt with buckshot the next time I see him,” Chris snapped then turned Diablo around and started him out of the ranch yard with a nudge of his heels on the horse’s flanks. 

Feeling like the winner in the short verbal skirmish, Ezra grinned and gave his patented two finger salute to the back of the retreating figure then reentered the horse barn, the smile still gracing his face.

Chapter 15

JD was dreaming.  He knew he was dreaming because he was seeing his birth mother.  He had no real memories of her but recognized her face from the photos in the family albums that were kept in the family room.  Eileen had shown the pictures to him many times while telling him about the wonderful, loving woman she had been.

In his dream Rebecca Dunne was holding him tight and kissing him on the top of his head.  She held him away slightly and smiled.

“You be a good boy for your new family, JD,” she said, “and always remember that I’m proud of you and I’ll love you forever. Now it’s time to go.”

She gave him one last hug then turned him around and gave him a gentle nudge forward.  When JD looked over his shoulder she was smiling and waving goodbye.   JD turned his head back around and there stood Eileen standing with outstretched arms.  JD ran into her arms and held on tight.

“Mama!  You’re here!  You went away and I missed you so much.  Please don’t leave me, Mama!  I don’t want you to be gone anymore.” JD pleaded.

“I love you too, baby.  I’ll always love you, my little JD, never forget that.    I wish I could stay with you but I can’t.  You’re going to have to be my brave little man.  You watch out for your brothers for me. 

Remember, I love you and I’m so proud of you.  Now it’s time to go,” Eileen gave JD one final hug and released him.  She took his protesting shoulders in her hands and turned him around and gave him a gentle nudge forward.  When he looked over his shoulder again she was blowing him kisses and waving goodbye. 

JD wanted to turn around and run back to her but found his feet would not obey him and continued to carry him forward.  JD faced front once more only to jerk to a terrified stop.  There was nothing in front of him but open darkness.  Looking at his feet he realized he was standing on nothing but the same darkness.  JD tried to scream in terror but no sound carried in the endless void that suddenly surrounded him.

“NOOOOO!”  JD tried to yell has he woke up but the word seemed to stick in his throat.  He fought the covers that had entangled his legs and managed to sit up in his bed, chest heaving, heart pounding, and tears running down his face.  Quickly crawling from the bed, JD hurried out of his bedroom door and down the hall to Buck’s room.  JD quietly opened the door and peeked inside.  Spying Buck’s sleeping form in the bed he gently shut the door again, and went to Vin’s room next.  When he had reassured himself that Vin was in his room, JD continued on to check on Josiah.   Satisfied that his brothers were where they were supposed to be, JD sighed in relief.   Swiping at the tears still falling down his cheeks with the back of his pajama sleeve JD made his way down the stairs to the family room.

JD made his way through the familiar room and climbed on the sofa, reaching up to turn on the lamp that sat on the end table.  He jumped down from the sofa and went to the bookcases built into the wall to the right of the fireplace and removed a large photo album and returned to his seat on the sofa.  JD placed the large album on the cushions and then climbed up and dragged it into his lap.

JD quickly turned the pages to find the photo he wanted.  It was the only picture he had that showed both of his mothers together.  Rebecca and Eileen were sitting on the steps of the front porch with their arms around Buck and JD, all four smiling radiantly for the camera.  JD just stared at the picture while his silent tears continued to fall.

That’s how Mary found him a half hour later when she was on her way to the kitchen to start the coffee.   Puzzled by the light in the family room she detoured to investigate.  Mary started forward in concern as soon as she saw the little boy sitting there.  Her heart broke to see the evidence of his distress still sliding down his cheeks.

“Oh, JD, honey!  What’s wrong?”  Mary sat beside him on the sofa and drew him into her arms.  “Are you all right?”

JD wrapped his arms around her neck and clung with all his might.  Mary could feel the little body trembling and drew him closer.

“Sweetheart, please tell me what’s wrong.  Why are you up at this time of night?  You should be sleeping.”

“Don’t want to sleep,” was the mumbled response.  “They’ll just go away again and then there won’t be anything left.”

Mary caught a glimpse of the photo showing in the open album and the pieces fell into place.  “You mean your mothers, don’t you, JD.  Honey did you have a dream about them tonight?” Mary asked.

“Every night,” JD mumbled again.  “They always come to see me but then go away again.  Then everything goes away and it’s just dark.  I can’t find anybody.  I’m always alone.  I want my mama and daddy to come back!”  JD started to cry harder. Mary felt the trembling increase to large shudders that wracked his small frame.

“I know you miss them, sweetheart.  We all miss them.”  Mary tightened her arms around the child, rocking him in soothing rhythm.   “If I could bring them back for you JD I would, but I can’t… no one can.   They went to be with God and they can’t come back.”

“Why can’t they come back?  Why can’t God let them come home?”

“They’re angels now, JD, and angels belong in heaven with God.  Heaven is an angel’s home.”

“But I want them to come back to our home,” JD whimpered.

“So do I, JD,” Mary whispered, “but they have to stay in heaven.”

“It’s not fair!” JD cried.

“No, love, it’s not,” Mary agreed.

JD continued to cry softly and Mary continued to rock him.  Eventually his tears ceased and the exhausted child slumped against Mary, but refused to give into sleep.

“Why don’t I take you back to bed and you can sleep a little longer this morning,” Mary started only to be interrupted by JD.

“NO!  I don’t want to sleep.  It will all go away again, and I’ll be alone.  I don’t to be alone anymore!”

“I tell you what,” Mary began, “why don’t I go back to bed for a while too, and you can sleep with me and Uncle Chris then you won’t have to worry about being alone, alright?  We’ll both be right there with you.”

Mary lifted the little head resting on her shoulder back far enough to look into the boy’s sad brown eyes.    “How does that sound?  Do you think you could sleep a little that way?”

JD gave a big yawn and nodded his head before lowering it back to Mary’s shoulder and tightening his arms around her neck.

Mary rose from the sofa and carried JD upstairs to the bedroom she and Chris shared. She pulled the covers back and placed JD in the middle of the wide bed.  The movement caused Chris to wake and open sleepy eyes that took in the sight of the little boy in momentary puzzlement. 

Chris raised his eyes to Mary’s and her worried look finished the waking process.   Gazing between Mary and the small child laying beside him, Chris guessed what had happened and reached out with one strong arm and pulled JD to his chest, wrapping his arms securely around the child and holding him close.  Chris felt the warm breath of JD’s sigh against his shoulder and the boy finally relaxed enough to slip into sleep.  Mary joined the two in the bed and spooned up behind JD, letting her hand rest on his waist. 

Chris met Mary’s eyes over the boy’s head and they shared sad smiles.  Chris loosened one arm from around JD and laid his hand over Mary’s where it rested on the child, their fingers intertwining.  The two adults lay wrapped around their grief-stricken nephew in silence, giving him the only comfort they could, wishing it was more.

Chapter 16

The peaceful afternoon calm was broken by the yells and laughter coming from the rough and tumble free-for-all that suddenly erupted between the four brothers.  Each was armed with a super soaker and all were delighting in stalking and blasting the others. 

Chris exited the house unobserved and leaned against the porch railing watching in amusement as his nephews tried their best to drown each other with the water guns, each stopping occasionally to refill the large reservoirs from the garden faucet.  It was good to see the boys relaxed enough to be rowdy again.  The past few weeks had been much too quiet for the man’s peace of mind.  He took this as a good sign that the boys might be starting to adjust to the loss of their parents.

The three smallest brothers had started to gang up on Josiah, who retaliated by grabbing JD by the waist and holding him in front of him as a shield while he continued to shoot water at his two remaining attackers.  Vin and Buck didn’t let a little thing like their youngest brother getting in the way stop them from doing their best to soak Josiah.  JD squirmed and yelled and retaliated in kind, shaking water from his drenched hair like a dog.

 Chris felt the familiar fist of sorrow squeeze his heart as he watched the boys at play.  He couldn’t help but imagine how his own son would have been in the middle of things right now, if he had lived.   Adam would have been just a little older than Buck, and would probably have given his cousin a run for his money in the mischief department, Chris thought with a sad smile. 

Even though it had been almost seven years since the car accident that took his son’s life, Chris still felt the loss deeply.  Time had made it easier to live with, but the scar on his heart left from his son’s death had never completely faded.  The same could be said for his rage at his faithless first wife whom he blamed solely for the loss of his son. 

Anna Larabee had been the beautiful but spoiled daughter of older parents who had lavished her with attention and given her everything she wanted.  Anna had taken one look at Chris while they were both seniors in college and made up her mind he was going to be hers.   She had ruthlessly set out to claim him using every feminine weapon in her arsenal and finally resorted to the oldest in the book: she got pregnant.  Chris had done the honorable thing and married her, and tried his best to make their marriage work.   

Although she attracted him physically, she was never able to inspire any emotions deeper than fondness in Chris.  To a woman used to having her every wish granted by doting parents, his lack of adoration was not something Anna could tolerant, especially when it was so obvious how much he loved their infant son.   Anna didn’t tolerate it for long.  Within a few months she had begun shopping around for another man to give her the worship she felt was her due.  Before their second anniversary she had taken a lover, starting a long term affair, the man himself married with a child of his own.  

The adulterous pair had eventually decided to run away together.  They had stolen away one afternoon taking both of their children with them.  Anna didn’t really want Adam along but took him knowing how his loss would devastate Chris.  She considered this fitting revenge for his failure to give her the attention she considered was owed her.  She made her feelings more than clear in the letter she had left behind for Chris.

The lovers had planned to disappear with their children and start a new life together, but they had only managed to get about 40 miles away when their car was broadsided by an eighteen wheeler who missed a stop sign.  The impact had instantly killed Chris’ wife and her lover’s son, and left the car’s other occupants critically wounded. 

Chris had managed to make it to the hospital in time to have Adam die in his arms.   His wife’s lover had died in route to the hospital, leaving Chris with a burning rage that had no outlet except the man’s grieving widow.  Chris had turned his anger on the woman, placing the blame for her husband’s infidelity squarely on her shoulders.  To his surprise the woman had returned as good as she got, then further amazed him by collapsing in his arms in a dead faint, the day’s traumatic events finally overcoming her strong spirit.  Chris had felt like a complete bastard when he had learned that the woman’s son had not survived the accident either. 

In a twist of fate that no one could have imagined, the two wound up being each other’s source of strength and comfort through the following weeks and months.  They came to be friends and eventually lovers. Now Chris couldn’t imagine his life with out his Mary, for it had been Mary’s husband Steven that Anna had eloped with and her son, Billy, who had died in the accident.

Chris and Mary had been married for four years, and had a very happy marriage.  The one blight on their relationship came from Mary’s desire for a baby, and Chris’ refusal to consider the idea.  The pain of losing his son was too great for Chris to be willing to risk giving another hostage to fortune.  As much as he wanted to make Mary happy, he just couldn’t give her what she asked him for.  Instead he poured all the paternal love he had left to give into his nephews. 

Chris was brought out of his musing by a stream of cold water hitting him squarely in the chest.  Jumping back and holding the soaked shirt away from his body, Chris looked up to see his four nephews watching him with impish challenge, water guns unanimously pointed in his direction.  For a moment no one moved, as Chris made eye contact with each of the boys.  A slow devilish smile stretched across his face and then giving a fierce yell, he made a sudden dive off the porch taking the boys by surprise.  He managed to grab the super soaker away from Buck, and following Josiah’s example, used the child as a shield to avoid the streams of water now being directed at him by the other three boys.  Turning his own weapon upon his attackers with a wide grin that matched those on their faces, Chris shed the last of his melancholy thoughts. 

“Four against one.  Now I ask you, is that fair?”  Chris laughed as he quickly blocked a stream of water headed toward his face by lifting a squirming Buck up a little higher and ducking his head behind the wriggling body.  Chris returned fire and caught the giggling Vin in the chest.

“They do say all’s fair in love and war, Uncle Chris,” Josiah managed to shout as he evaded the jet of water Chris aimed his way, never stopping his own firing.

“So,” Chris yelled back, “which is this?” taking a wet round to his back as JD managed a sneak attack from the rear.

“I’d say it’s a little of both,” Josiah laughed.

Chris tried to dodge the stream of water Josiah loosed at him, but slipped in the mud that had formed during the afternoon of watery fun and wound up flat on his back, giving Buck a chance to escape from his suddenly loosened hold. 

Buck quickly took advantage of his new freedom by reacquiring his stolen water gun.  Backing away quickly, Buck pumped up the pressure in his gun and took his revenge against his late captor by landing a shot right in Chris’ face.  Unfortunately for JD, Buck continued to move away and managed to knock into the child causing him to wind up face first in the mud beside Chris.  When JD sat up, Buck saw his muddy face and started laughing.  He was laughing so hard that he didn’t notice a smirking Josiah coming up behind him.  Buck suddenly found himself joining JD, helped along by a shove from his oldest brother.  Not to be outdone, Vin tried his own sneak maneuver on Josiah, who was prepared for the attack and managed to send Vin sliding into the mud to join the others. 

The four mud covered people looked at each other and came to a silent agreement as Josiah stood over them laughing.  As one, they reached out and grabbed the laughing boy, pulling him down in the mud too.  As Chris, Vin and Buck held the struggling teen down, JD grabbed two handfuls of mud and smeared them across his cheeks.  Josiah managed to get his arm free enough to grab his own handful of mud and throw it at Vin, landing it in the boy’s hair where it slid down and left a dark brown streak on his cheek.  With that the free for all started again, with mud flying in all directions, as the battle continued with different ammo.

 The laughing and shouting was suddenly suspended as everyone froze at the sound of the back door slamming.  Five pairs of guilty eyes rose and met those of the blond haired woman standing on the back porch with her hands on her hips.  The males watched as the woman slowly climbed down the porch steps, shaking her head in disgust, mumbling something under her breath about men, boys and toys.  They remained motionless as she disappeared around the corner of the house.

The muddied warriors were just starting to heave grateful sighs, and smile at each other in relief for escaping the expected scolding, when they were suddenly deluged by an icy cold jet of water coming from the water hose aimed at them by a laughing Mary.  Whooping with glee, the boys grabbed their weapons and eagerly plunged into battle with this new opponent. 

Chris just sat in the mud, a silly grin on his face.  It was times like these that made him realize that although he had seen his share of sorrow, there was still plenty of joy to be found if he only took the time to stop and look for it.   For this one moment in time, Chris was content to remain where he was, enjoying the sight of his family at play.

Chapter 17

Ezra applied the brake and brought the car to a gentle stop in front of the house that was going to be his home for the next twelve months.  He put the car in park and turned off the ignition then let his hands drop into his lap and sat gazing out the windshield in silent contemplation.

Never had seven days passed more quickly.  Ezra had stayed busy with the myriad tasks associated with changing residences, but still had plenty of time to reflect on the changes the next year would bring to all their lives.  While the thought of having his nephews close kindled a flame of affectionate feelings and anticipation, the realization that he would be sharing living space, and parenting responsibilities, with the bane of his existence for the last twenty years acted like a wet blanket thrown over a fire. 

Inez had done her best to help him remain positive, but the dread he had tried to push into the back of his mind kept resurfacing continually over the last week.  He had spent many midnight hours contemplating the strange twist in his fate…worrying if he was up to the challenge of raising the boys…trying to come up with a strategy for dealing with Chris on a day to day basis. The loss of sleep had made left him more irritable than usual and tended to make his outlook a little bleaker than it normally would have been.   As much as he loved his nephews, Ezra couldn’t help feeling like an inmate walking into a prison and hearing the gates slamming closed behind him.

Ezra’s reverie was broken by the opening of the home’s front door and the excited greetings of his nephews.  The three younger children rushed down the sidewalk toward his car, and Josiah followed behind at a more sedate pace, grinning at his brothers’ enthusiasm.   Ezra opened the car door and stepped out.

“You’re here!” JD shouted, jumping up and down in his excitement.  “Aunt Inez said you’d be coming soon, and she was right!  Now we’re all together!”  

“I take it that meets with your approval, JD?” Ezra asked, smiling down at the excited boy.

The grin on the young face stretched almost ear to ear when JD nodded, and replied, “I like it best when we’re all together.” He reached up and grabbed Ezra’s hand and held on tight. 

Ezra smiled down in understanding and squeezed the small hand in reassurance and said, “Me too.”

His eyes were drawn to the other brothers gathered around him in a half circle.  Their faces and body language revealed a mixture of emotions to the man skilled at reading people.  He saw relief and humor in Buck, excitement and happiness in Vin, and acceptance and welcome with a touch of grief in Josiah.

“I don’t think you could officially consider me here until all the suitcases are unloaded from my car,” Ezra teased.  “Since you seen so eager to have me here, perhaps you would consider helping by carrying some of them inside for me?”

“Sure thing, Uncle Ezra,” Buck said with a grin.  “Come on guys, you heard the man.”

With much laughter and exaggerated groans, the boys divided up the bags according to size, leaving the two largest, heaviest suitcases for Ezra.  As Ezra closed the now empty trunk of the car, the boys made their way into the house and disappeared, leaving the man watching their departure alone once more.

Ezra wrapped his hands around the handles of the suitcases, lifted them, and slowly made his way up the walk to the front door which the boys had left standing open for him.  Ezra stood at the open door, a suitcase in each hand, listening to the sound of the boys teasing each other as they made their way upstairs.  

Ezra turned his head to the side and gazed on the long wooden swing hanging from the rafters of the porch, remembering the times he had spent there with his sister laughing …telling stories …sharing dreams and disappointments.  If he closed his eyes he could see her sitting there with one foot tucked underneath her and the other on the porch lazily rocking the swing, giving him that laughing smile.  He could almost hear her whispering to him that it would be alright. That she loved him.  That she had faith in him. 

She’d always had more faith in him than he’d had in himself.   She thought he could do this.  He wasn’t so sure but for her he’d try his hardest, no matter what it cost him personally.  He could do nothing less…for her.

With a silent goodbye, and a sad smile, Ezra faced the open door once again and tightened his grip on the suit cases.  He drew a deep breath, and squared his shoulders.

“Hey Uncle Ez, are you coming or not?” Vin’s raised voice reached him from upstairs, causing the smile to change to one of amusement.

“Morituri Te Salutant³,” he whispered, then he stepped across the threshold, set the suitcases down, and quietly closed the door behind him.

Ω

This is not the end.  This is not the beginning of the end.  This is the end of the beginning. – John Varley  

(Now how presumptuous is that? ;-) )

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³ Morituri Te Salutant  : We who are about to Die Salute you.

March 6, 2003

Return to OBFH Stories

Part One

Part Two

Part Three