Disclaimer: This Jim and Little Blair are creations of Klair (title on the original are held by PetFly, et al). Paddy and Justin belong to BCW.
This is for fun, not profit. Please, do not sue.
Klair is off on her vacation. She wanted to leave you something to hold you until she got back.
OW: Peaches
The air hung hot, heavy and thick with the scent of sun-ripening fruit. Chores
finished, Blair and Justin joined each other in a rare afternoon together at play.
They had ridden double on Ceylon out to the picturesque creek by Paddy's
orchard, wanting to stay out of range of the ranchhouse in case something was
found for them to do.
They dismounted and Blair tied his horse to a bush after allowing Ceylon to
drink from the stream.
He look speculatively around him before asking, "What do you want to do?"
With a shrug, Justin said, "I don't know, what do you want to do?"
Justin shook his head. "Naw, maybe next time. Don't feel like gettin' wet."
"Want to work with our lariats?"
"Tired of 'em."
A gentle breeze blew over them, filling Blair's nose with the sweet scent of
peaches. Blair eyed the fruit ladden branches around them with a gleam in his
eye. Supper was a long time off and lunch forgotten. "We can climb trees."
"What?" he asked, innocently.
"Paddy said to leave the peaches alone."
The younger boy waved a hand dismissively. "He didn't say peaches, he just
said fruit. And that was because we hadn't eaten lunch yet." Blair headed
towards the nearest tree. "This is before supper. Like a treat."
Justin followed at a slower pace. "I don't know, Blair."
"I don't plan on eating the whole tree, Justin. Just one or two." He jumped to
grab the lowest branch and began pulling himself up. Justin watched him until
he'd settled on the limb.
"Well? You comin'?" Blair asked as he selected a peach and took a bite. Juice
dripped down his chin and he munched the firm fruit with a contented smile.
"They do look good."
"Ummm, they are." Blair grinned wickedly and took another bite.
He couldn't stand it any more. Justin followed Blair's path and made himself
comfortable on the branch opposite his young friend. He reached out and
picked a peach, the fruit firm to his touch. The first bite filled his mouth with a
tangy sweetness. Too soon all he held in his hand was a pit. He picked another
one, noticing that Blair had finished his second and had quickly picked a third.
The fruit's sweetness was like candy to the boys, readily in reach and free! One
lead to another and another. They ate and talked, lazily stretched out on their
respective branches, and watched the summer sun track across the sky.
"Mama and me moved around a lot. We lived with Uncle Herman for awhile,
and I remember Uncle Peter and Auntie Lizabeth, and--"
"Hey, if you have all these relatives, why didn't any of them adopt you instead of
Mr. Ellison?"
Blair laughed. "They're not my real uncles and aunts, silly. They were just
friends we lived with for awhile. They were nice to me and I liked them, too.
Going around calling everyone mister and ma'am gets tiresome, so they let me
call them 'aunt' and 'uncle'. It made it feel more like a home, but then we'd
leave." The younger boy look sadly out into the open blue sky.
"I hope you don't leave here."
"Nope." Blair brightened. "Papa is very different from my mama. He likes
things just so. I think we'll stay for good."
"That's great! Then we'll be friends forever!"
"Yeah!" Blair quieted again and looked down at the partially eaten fruit in his
hand before meeting his friend's eyes. "Justin, do you think Mr. Choate would
mind if I called him Uncle Paddy?"
Justin nodded his head slowly while he thought it over. "Probably not." He
thought some more before asking, "What about your father? If I called him
Uncle Jim?"
A huge grin spread across Blair's face. "I think he'd like it."
"You sure he won't mind?"
"Why don't we just try it and see?" Blair asked before taking another big bite
from his peach.
"Ok," Justin replied, his bite a little more tentative.
The unfinished peach fell from Blair's hand to the ground to join the small
mound of pits at the base of the tree, as he groaned. "Oh, I don't feel so good,
Justin."
His friend eyed the fruit in his hand with a growing sense of dread as his
stomach, too, started to rumble.
~~~
As Jim helped his friend unload supplies from the wagon, he unconsciously
tracked the two boy's actions since hearing them ride in a short time before.
Straightening, he searched the horizon thoughtfully.
Choate stopped in the act of stacking the bags of grain. "What's wrong?" he
asked, frowning.
Ellison placed the sack he held on the pile and hurried to assure Paddy,
"Where are they?"
"They just left the outhouse and are heading up to Justin's room," Jim said as he
turned his full attention back to the job at hand. The boys were fine.
~~~
A half hour later, Paddy called the boys for supper while Jim finished bedding
down Blair's horse.
Receiving no answer, the rancher bounded up the stairs and opened his ward's
bedroom door.
Both boys were stretched out on Justin's cot, moaning pitifully.
"Justin, chiquito," Choate rushed to the side of the bed. He placed
his hand on the child's brow. "¿Quien es?"
Jim rushed in moments later. "What's the matter? Blair?" He scooped the child
up in his arms.
"My stomach hurts real bad," the boy said pitifully, trying to burrow deeper into
his father's embrace.
"Do you know why?" Jim asked calmly, stroking Blair's curly head soothingly.
With a sorrowful look to Justin, Blair said in a very quiet voice, "We ate a few of
Uncle Paddy's peaches."
Jim glanced up at Paddy. "A few? How many is, 'a few'?"
The rancher sat on the side of the bed and pulled the child into his lap. "How
many did you eat?"
Paddy shook him gently. "Tell us, nino! How many?"
Blair started to cry, too. "I don't know. Lots."
"Lots and lots!" Justin said. He turned his big, green, tear-filled eyes up to his
guardian. "Are we going to die, Paddy?"
The men glanced over at each, smiling their relief.
Both boys groaned miserably, and continued to sob.
After three trips to the outhouse, the boys were still groaning in discomfort.
"I have a bottle of castor oil in my room," Paddy said, unable to bear their
suffering any longer.
"Please, no, Uncle Paddy," Blair sobbed. "It'll only make me sickerer."
Jim and Paddy exchanged questioning looks at yet another reference of kinship.
Paddy just shrugged his shoulders and Jim returned the gesture.
"Well, maybe Chu Wa has something that will help a bellyache that'll go down
easier."
The sun had set by the time the two boys felt up to eating some soup for supper.
The mystery tea that Chu Wa had prepared helped to ease the cramps, although
after having to drink several cups of the vile tasting brew, the boys shared the
view that a tablespoon of castor oil would have been the better choice.
"Uncle Jim? Could you pass me the biscuits, please?" Justin asked
nonchalantly.
"Boys, where did this "uncle" thing come from?" Jim asked, a puzzled frown on
his face.
"It's not that we object," Paddy added quickly, "we're just curious."
Justin looked at the men shyly. "We decided."
"Yep," Blair pipped in. "We decided it would be better than 'mister'. It's okay,
isn't it?"
Jim smiled broadly at the boys. "Yeah. It's okay, Little Bit, Squirt." He turned to
Choate. "Patrick?"
Justin looked up at his guardian. "Paddy?"
The big rancher mirrored the broad smile. "Sí, hijito. Muy bien. Y tu, poppet."
by Klair and BCW
June 3, 1998
The Chelsea, Early June, 1874
"Swimmin'?" Blair grinned hopefully.
Justin eyed his playmate suspiciously, following his gaze. "Blair Ellison!"
"Nothing. I just thought the boys would be in the orchards longer."
Justin moaned in pain, tears sparkingly in his eyes as he looked up at his
guardian. "I'm sorry, Paddy." He started to weep.
"I told Blair we shouldn't. But they were so good. Now it hurts."
"No, squirt," Jim informed him. "But in a few hours you might wish you had."
The end