"Blair, what's the matter? I thought you liked fried chicken?" Jim said, noticing the boy stabbing the very dead chicken leg with his fork.
"I like the way you make it. This isn't the same." Blair made a face.
"Well, eat it anyway or you'll insult the cook. We need to get over to Sheriff Banks' house soon, too."
"Why?"
Jim looked Blair right in the eyes and began calmly, "Because tomorrow morning I'm going with the sheriff and some other men to catch the outlaws who have been terrorizing some of the ranches around here. You'll be staying with Darryl while we're gone and Miss Rhonda will look after the two of you."
"But I want to go with you!" Blair shouted, drawing the disapproving glances from the other diners.
"Keep your voice down, child. A posse is no place for you. You're staying in town."
His guardian's no nonsense tone checked Blair's rising tantrum. He stirred his mashed potatoes in a dejected manner. "When will you be back?"
"That depends on how long it takes. I hope only a few days, but it could be as long as a week."
"I'll miss you." Jim almost missed the softly whispered words.
"I'll miss you, too, Little Bit," Jim tenderly reached over and tousled Blair's curls, trying to reassure the boy, "but I have to help the sheriff."
He smiled at the pouting child and patted the boy's shoulder. "Besides, this will give you a chance to play more with Darryl. You two seemed to get on well this afternoon." Sighing at the bigger frown that comment created, the rancher returned to eating his meal. "It'll be all right, Blair. Finish your supper. We need to get going."
"Yes, sir." Blair sulked, but managed to do as requested.
Morning came too early for the men of the posse. Still predawn, Jim and Simon got their last minute gear together in the chilly darkness and saddled their horses before peeking in on the still sleeping Blair and Darryl. They kissed their sleeping boys goodbye and headed out.
Blair and Darryl lay in the dirt yard on the side of the Banks' home watching a line of ants. The posse had been gone two days and the restless boys had run out of things to do.
"Wanta go to the train depot and watch the train come in?" Darryl asked with no real enthusiasm.
"No. We done that yesterday and the day before that...wanna watch Mr. Brown make horseshoes?"
"Nah, we done that already, too."
They lay there in companionable silence, teasing the ants with a stick, when a bright grin overtook Blair's face.
"Hey, Darryl, I gots an idea. Let's pretend we're explorers discovering some unknown land."
"Yeah! We can 'splore the woods."
"Yeah, I'll bet there's lots of un'splored land there. Let's go!" They packed up a lunch of bread, cheese, apples and sassparella before heading out. It took almost two hour to walk to the forest covered hillside. The boys ate and romped through the trees, making all sorts of discoveries until night fell.
"Sure's gettin' dark," young Darryl remarked, moving closer to Blair.
"Yep, too late to go back to town. Hey! Let's make a fort by those big boulders and we can camp-out."
"Yeah!" Darryl instantly felt better and began gathering leaves for the 'floor' of their ‘fort'. Blair assembled some fallen tree branches for a roof and sides, and the two boys huddled inside. They finished off the last of their food before sleep overtook them.
The weary posse returned to Cascade about dusk. The Kincaid Gang had evaded capture again. Although disappointed by their lack of results, Jim Ellison and Simon Banks were anxious to see their boys. Riding into Simon's yard, they were barely out of their saddles when Miss Rhonda ran frantically from the house.
"Oh, Sheriff Banks, thank goodness you're back. I don't know what happened, but I can't find the boys anywhere. I've looked all over town. They never came in for lunch or supper. I'm so worried."
"Settle down, Miss Rhonda, I'm sure they're just off playing and lost track of time. It's getting dark and Darryl knows to be home by then. They'll be tearing up the walk any minute."
Two hours later Jim, Simon and half the town are doing a house by house search for the missing boys. The dawn came, giving way to a crisp morning with no sign of Darryl or Blair. Jim fought down the panic rising in him, knowing it would do nothing to help find the boys. He downed the last of his coffee, heaved his exhausted body out of the chair and joined Simon outside, ready to continue the search.
"Simon, they must have left the town limits. We've searched everywhere."
The sheriff wiped a hand across his face, trying to erase the terrible pictures going through his mind. "Darryl knows better than to leave town. Jim, I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
"Me, too, Simon. Blair knows better than to wander off without telling people where he's going. I'm going to saddle my horse and extend the search out a ways."
"I'll come with you."
A half hour later they were ready to ride, along with a few other volunteers. They began to mount up when two familiar voices stopped them.
"Daddy!"
"Jim!"
The sight of his very healthy, seemingly unhurt, little boy running towards him melted the rancher's heart and he ran to meet his curly-headed imp. He swung the child up into his embrace, crushing Blair to his chest in a fierce hug. Jim Ellison felt tears of joy fill his eyes, his life had been given back to him and he silently gave a hearty prayer of thanks. A glance at the sheriff told Jim, Simon was doing likewise with Darryl.
The rancher and sheriff were brought back to reality when a happy child's voice asked, "Did you catch them?"
"Where the Sam Hill have you been?" The coldly asked question, coming simultaneously from their guardians, wiped the smiles right off the boys' faces.
"Sorry, Daddy," Darryl whispered, tears forming in his eyes.
"Blair?" Jim fixed the boy, still held in his arms, with a hard look.
Blair gulped, knowing he'd made a huge mistake in judgment and didn't want to add to his troubles by lying, admitted quietly, "'Sploring in the woods."
Simon, holding the softly crying Darryl, announced to the crowd. "Thank you all for your time and concern. We'll handle it from here." He began walking toward the house. "Come on son, we have some serious talking to do."
Jim put Blair down, and grabbed him by the upper arm to march him toward the Cascade Palace Hotel. The furious rancher said nothing to the trembling boy as he paid for the best room in the hotel and led Blair to it. Once inside, Jim took a seat in an armchair and held Blair in front of him.
"Do you have any idea of the worry you've caused me? Caused most this town? What were you thinking going off like that?"
Blair had never seen his guardian this angry before. Not even when he almost got trampled by the horses did Jim have this stone hard face, with voice to match.
Unable to look away from Jim's piercing stare, Blair squeaked out, "I don't know."
"You don't know?" Blair shuddered as Jim's voice got colder still. "That's not a satisfactory answer, young man."
Tears spilled down his cheeks and Blair squirmed under his beloved guardian's stern glare. "We just wanted to have fun. I'm sorry, Jim. We didn't know you were back."
"What about Miss Rhonda? Did you ever think of her? She's been frantic and blaming herself
for your disappearance. After we're through you will apologize to her, is that clear?"
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, Jim. I'll never do it again. Please don't be angry. I missed you so much."
Jim's voice and posture soften some what at the genuine remorse he saw in the doleful wide blue eyes before him. "I missed you too, Little Bit, and it scared me to death not to find you waiting here, safe, when I got back. You did a terrible wrong and I am going to punish you for it. I intend to make very sure this kind of thing never happens again."
Blair's crying increased when Jim quickly pulled down his pants and placed him across his lap. Jim unbuttoned the flap to Blair's drawers and began to swat the errant boy's backside with his hand. Judging from the sting on his palm, the wails of distress coming from the boy were real not calculated. Jim stopped the spanking after ten swats had been meted out. The rancher fixed the sobbing boy's clothes and pulled him close into an embrace, allowing Blair to cry out his apologies and pleas for forgiveness into Jim's shoulder.
Jim gently rocked as he spoke to the sobbing child. "Shh, you're forgiven, but your punishment's not over yet." Jim tightened his embrace when Blair's crying increased. "No, I'm not going to spank you anymore." He waited for the boy to calm down a bit before continuing. "Blair, you are to lie down on the bed and you are not to move from there until lunch time, unless I give you permission to do so or you need to use the commode. You can sit or lie down, but no talking or playing. Is that understood?" Blair had quieted during Jim's sentencing and nodded his head against Jim's shoulder with a loud sniffle. "Good. You're a bright boy, Blair. Too bright to be doing such foolish things. What if you or Darryl had been hurt? It would have been a long time until help arrived. I want you to think about the worry you caused the people around you." Jim set Blair down and turned him toward the bed on the other side of the room. "Get a move on now," he ordered with a firm spank to get the boy going.
Blair walked quickly to do as he was told, one hand rubbing his behind while the other wiped tears from his eyes. Lying on his side, he curled into a ball, clutched his mother's locket under his shirt, and cried his misery into the pillow. He cried louder when he felt Jim pull a blanket up over him, tucking it around his shoulders before lightly kissing his head.
"I need to run some errands. I'll be back by lunch time. Stay put." With that final order, Jim left the room.
Jim walked around the block a couple times to get his emotions back in control. He'd been on a wild ride the past sixteen hours. His gratefulness and elation at having Blair turn up unharmed warred with his disappointment and anger at his ward's reasons for being missing in the first place. He'd have to work with the boy on responsibility and obedience. No son of his was going to be so poorly behaved.
That thought brought the rancher to a dead stop. Blair, his son. The idea swelled his heart with pride. Why couldn't he? Jim Ellison walked with purposeful strides to Judge Pendergrast's office and strode right past the secretary.
"Jack, we need to talk."
The judge only startled modestly. He'd heard about the boys being found. "Yes, we do, slick. The address in New Jersey turned up a friend. According to her, Naomi had no one. You are clear to become the boy's guardian, if you still want to."
"No, Jack, I don't want to be his guardian anymore." Before the judge could open his mouth to say he understood, Jim continued. "Jack, I want to adopt him."
Not hiding the surprise from his face, the judge put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, tempting his fingers. "That's a little trickier, slick."
"I'll do whatever it takes, whatever it costs, whoever's ass I need to kiss." The judge arched his right eyebrow. Who was this man pacing in front of him? Not the rigid, ‘by-the-book' Jim Ellison he served with in too many bloody battles.
"Jack he is my son in everything but name. He should have that too. I couldn't love this boy more if he were my own blood. I know what I'm getting into," the judge, father of four, couldn't help but snicker, "so don't give me that look. I've comforted him when he's been hurt, lost, had a bad dream. I've taught him through example, and discipline, better behavior. Well, we're still working on that."
The judge looked into the intense blue eyes of the man he called friend for over ten years who had stopped pacing like a caged animal to lean over his desk. "He's taught me...he's taught me what's really important in life, how to laugh and how to let someone close again. I'll fight for him, Jack. You know you owe me, I've never brought it up before, but this is too important. Help me adopt this boy."
The judge contemplated the man before him, so sincere in expression, more vulnerable than he'd ever thought possible. "Before I do, I need to talk to Blair. He had to want this, too."
Jim leaned back, standing ramrod straight, jaw clenched, the Ellison the judge recognized. "Fine, but don't tell him about the adoption. If by some horrible mistake this doesn't happen, I don't want him hurt."
"I agree. I'll just talk with him and if I'm satisfied he wants the same thing, I'll do everything in my power to make it so. That's the best I can do, slick. In the meantime, I'll have the guardianship papers drawn up."
Jim nodded and turned to leave. He had his hand on the office door when he turned to face his old friend again, his jaw set. "I can get letters of reference from Grant himself if need be, Jack. I'm a financially stable, decorated war veteran. We both have friends in high places, call in some markers."
The judge watched Jim walk out of his office without another word. One mighty special boy, he thought before calling to his secretary. "Serena, I need to place some telegrams and draw up an adoption request."
Walking back to the hotel, Jim played back his conversation with Jack Pendergrast. He knew his army comrade would come through for him, and if not, he'd still have Blair as a ward. His heart knew Blair was his. Nothing would ever change that, no matter what the child's last name.
Jim entered his hotel room slowly taking care not to tip the tray he carried or disturb the boy who he knew slept on the bed. He set the tray on the nightstand before gently sitting on the mattress next to the sleeping boy. Jim tenderly moved a finger along Blair's cheek, wiping away a lingering tear. It was enough to wake the child. When the sleepy eyes registered Jim's presence, they opened wide and Blair flung his arms around Jim's neck.
"Jim! You came back. I'm sorry. I'll be good. Please don't hate me."
The rancher held the boy tightly in his arms murmuring comforting words into the long, soft curls that tickled his nose.
"Shhh, child, it's all right. I'll never leave you. I love you so much, Blair. I was so afraid something terrible had happened to you. Don't you ever do that again."
Blair hung on tighter, head pressed close against Jim's neck. "Love you, too. I'll be good."
Jim kissed the curly head before gently pulling Blair away. "I know. Ready to eat? I brought up some lunch. Didn't think you'd want to stand in the dining room to eat." Jim moved the tray to the bed and pulled the napkin off revealing soup, sandwiches, two pieces of apple pie and two glasses of milk.
"I'm okay, Jim. I can sit just fine," Blair said, ducking his head a bit.
"Good," Jim said, rising with the tray, "then let's move this party to the table."
"Aw, Jim. Why can't we have a picnic right here?" Jim's glance slid from the imploring, big, round, deep blue eyes to the table by the window and back again. The eye's won.
"Okay, imp. This once only." At Blair's bouncy reaction, the rancher bit back a chuckle. "Stop that or you'll tip the tray. I don't want to sleep in chicken noodle covered sheets." When Blair dutifully quieted, Jim set the tray back down on the bed and put a napkin in the boy's lap. "There, now we can have a picnic."
After lunch, Jim had Blair change clothes and clean up so they could pay some calls. Jim explained during their meal that they had several people to see that afternoon. The first, to see Sheriff Bank's and Miss Rhonda.
As they neared the sheriff's house, Blair's grip on Jim's hand tightened. Maybe they'd never get there, he thought, dragging his feet. Maybe a giant eagle would swoop down and carry them back to the ranch. Maybe Jim would do all the talking.
The front door suddenly loomed in front of him
Jim spared a glance down at the gloomy-faced child and gave the hand in his a little squeeze before knocking on the door. Blair gulped audibly as the door opened and moved a step behind his guardian.
"Jim," Simon Banks' voice thundered, "I'm glad you came by. I have someone who wants to talk to you. Come in."
"Thank you, Simon. I brought someone who wants to say a few words himself," Jim replied, pulling Blair in behind him.
Simon ushered them into a small sitting room before excusing himself to get Darryl and Miss Rhonda. Jim took a seat on the divan and motioned for Blair to sit next to him. A few minutes later, Simon returned with a sympathetic Rhonda and a contrite Darryl.
Simon began. "Darryl, isn't there something you want to say to Mr. Ellison?"
The little boy looked at the floor when he talked, his voice hardly more than a whisper. "I'm sorry I took Blair to the woods."
"It wasn't your fault," Blair piped up quickly, "I'm older. I know better than to go off like that. I'm very sorry, Mr. Banks, Miss Rhonda, for not being 'sponsible. Can Darryl and me still be friends?"
The adults in the room shared a smile. Jim tousled Blair's curls while Simon hugged Darryl to his side.
"Of course, Blair," Simon responded with a grin. "In fact, why don't you two go play in Darryl's room?"
"Sorry, Simon, but we'll have to take a raincheck." Jim replied, ignoring the frowning pout on his ward's face. He rose from the divan, and motioned Blair to do the same. "We have a number of errands to do before we leave tomorrow. We only stopped by so Blair could apologize."
They made their farewells, Jim inviting the Banks' out to the ranch anytime, and continued on their way.
Jim found the teacher's house using Simon's directions, and they spent the next hour and a half having Blair's scholastic abilities evaluated. Jim couldn't hide his pride as Miss Erwin went on and on about how far above his peers Blair's abilities were in reading and writing. Blair's arithmetic needed work though. She gave Jim a reading list, as well as a list of needed supplies, saying she would have lesson plans ready for him by tomorrow morning. Thanking her for her time, Jim let Blair ride his shoulders as they made their way toward Taggert's Emporium.
Blair's eyes bulged at the sight of the sweets displayed. Licorice, peppermint sticks, gumdrops, popcorn balls, taffy, fudge. He tried to mind his manners while introduced to the round, friendly, Negro store owner, Mr. Joel Taggert, but his eyes kept wandering back to the treats.
"Joel, here's a list of school supplies I need and here's my regular supply request," Jim said, handing the merchant two lists. "I'll also be needing to outfit the boy for winter. Blair, come over here."
Blair reluctantly came away from the candy counter to Jim's side. For the next thirty agonizing minutes, he had to try on various shoes, pants, overalls, shirts, hats and coats, and endure stern admonishments to, "quit fidgeting." Finally, Jim was satisfied with the selections and he released Blair to look around the store.
The boy made a beeline for the sweets, not that either of the two adults noticed, much to Blair's displeasure. He didn't want to voice his desire for even one stick of candy for fear Jim would say no because of his recent misbehavior. With a heavy sigh, Blair looked away from the enticing treats. He wondered if he'd lose dessert tonight, too.
"Thanks, Joel. How long will it take to arrive? I'd really like those books as soon as possible," Jim said sliding a catalog back to the merchant.
"That's a pretty big order, especially with that encyclopedia set. I'd say three months."
"We'll be snowed in by then. You'll need to hold them for me 'til spring."
"No problem. I'll have the rest of your list ready by tomorrow morning, just bring your wagon around back for loading. Anything else I can get for you today?"
"Yes, I'll take a look at the books you have in stock. Need something to read when we're knee deep in snow." Both men laughed.
Jim glanced out the corner of his eye at the little boy trying not to pout or stare at the candy. The rancher smiled tenderly. He'd suffered enough. Jim dug a coin out of his pocket. "Blair, here," tossing the boy the nickel, "see how many gum drops you can buy with that." His smile broadened as Blair stared wide-eyed with open mouth at the coin in his hand. "Just remember it's got to last the entire winter. I wouldn't get too much fudge or popcorn balls if I were you."
Eavesdropping on the negotiations at the candy counter, it took Jim awhile to select a few titles. He wished Miss Erwin were here to see this. Problems with math indeed. Blair certainly knew the value of money, judging from the questions he peppered the beleaguered merchant with. "Well, how many pieces of taffy for a penny?...Oh, well, what about the licorice?...Why are they so different?" Jim stayed over by the books until Blair decided on a combination that got him the most pieces of what he wanted for a nickel.
Jim joined Blair at the counter to pay for the books. Before the boy could grab the three large bags of sweets before him, Jim intervened.
"I think we'll pack most of this up with the supplies, Little Bit. Pick a few pieces you'd like to have now and on the trip home tomorrow, and the rest we'll save for later."
Blair began to protest when the no nonsense look he had become very familiar with masked his guardian's face. He quickly and quietly chose a handful of pieces to put in a small bag Mr. Taggert offered him. Blair gazed longingly at his carefully picked hoard, left in the merchant's care, as Jim ushered him out the door.
"Come on, Bit. We have one more stop to make."
A few buildings away from Judge Pendergrast's office, Jim stopped to spit clean a sticky Blair. Satisfied that the boy looked presentable, Jim explained where they were going as they walked.
"Blair, we're going to see an old friend of mine. We were in the army together and now he's a judge. He's the man who helped me become your guardian. He'd like to meet you and talk with you for a bit."
As Jim ushered him into the judge's lobby, Blair asked, "are you coming in with me?"
"No, Blair. I'll be waiting right here." When Blair furrowed his brow and pouted, Jim drew him in for a quick hug. "He's a nice man. You behave, Little Bit."
Jim held the child's hand and knocked on the judge's office. After hearing a muffled, "Come in," Jim pushed Blair ahead of him into the room.
"Jim, I was hoping it was you," Jack Pendergrast greeted the rancher warmly before turning to the boy standing very close to his old friend. "And you must be Blair. I'm very glad to meet you." Jack extended his hand, pleased the boy shook it without prodding from Ellison. Taking his hand back, he noted with amusement a mild stickiness to his palm.
"Blair, this is Judge John Pendergrast, an old friend. I'll let you two get acquainted," Jim said, giving Blair's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before closing the door behind him.
The judge motioned the apprehensive boy to a chair in front of his desk. Blair climbed into the chair, sitting on the edge, slowly swinging his dangling legs. His eyes idly scanned the room taking everything in.
"I hear you had quite an adventure last night."
The judge's attempts to break the ice brought Blair's attention back to the gray haired man sitting across the large mahogany desk from him. Even though the judge's face was smiling, Blair's face paled, his eye's widened and he balled his hands into fists in his lap. "Are you going to send me to jail?"
"No, child. I'm sure Jim made it clear what an error in judgment that action was. No need for the law to get involved." He schooled his features to be serious, fighting back the laughter building in his gut.
"Yes, sir." Blair brightened somewhat at that news, although still puzzled to the reason for this meeting.
"Do you like living with Jim? Does he treat you well?"
Remembering the cruel remarks Tommy had made days ago, he replied, "yes, sir, very much. Jim's real good to me. He doesn't eat children."
Not able to contain his amusement any longer, Judge Pendergrast let go a belly laugh. "No, I've never known him to do that."
"Me neither. That's why I called Tommy a liar. Jim can be real strict sometimes, but he loves me."
At the conviction heard in the child's voice, the judge grinned broadly, a pleasant warmth spreading through him. "And do you return these feelings?"
"Uh, huh," Blair nodded vigorously. "Jim teaches me lots of stuff, and he's a real good story reader. He does different voices and everything! I get to ride Sentry around the yard sometimes, if I get all my chores done. He plays with me, but he's not a very good checker player, but he's learning." The last statement bringing on another peel of laughter from the judge.
"No, Jim was never very good at checkers. He's more a poker player. Is there anything he does you don't like?"
The boy pondered a moment. "I don't like greens, but Jim says I gotta eat 'em. And I have to keep my things put away, take baths even when I'm hardly dirty." Blair searched for something else to say. "That's 'bout it." The boy ventured a question of his own. "What did you and Jim do in the army?"
With a twinkle in his eyes and a quick glance at the closed door, Judge Pendergrast began to regale this new addition to the Ellison family with edited war stories.
Jim paused in his pacing of the outer office, fighting the urge to eavesdrop, when he heard another burst of laughter through the door. Blair had been in there almost half an hour, what could they be talking about? Jack wouldn't...
Before completing the thought, the door opened, Jack escorting Blair out with an arm across his shoulders, both of them smiling like cats who swallowed a flock of canaries.
"Jim, you've got a fine boy here. You're a lucky man." The rancher gave his friend a knowing grin as the rancher collected Blair to his side.
"Thank you, Jack. You two find lots to talk about?"
"A few things," he said, walking back to his office. "See ya, slick." And with a wink at Blair, he shut the door.
Jim pulled the giggling boy out to the street, determined to find out what his old friend filled the boy's head with before the night was over.
After a hearty meal of meatloaf, mash potatoes, greens, biscuits, milk and red velvet cake, as well as pleasant dinner conversation, topping off a very full day, both boy and man were ready to hit the sack by eight. After very quick baths for both, with surprisingly little complaint from Blair, and their bedtime ritual complete, Jim turned out the light looking forward to a good nights sleep.
"Jim?"
The quiet plea roused the exhausted rancher from the brink of sleep. He didn't bother raising his head out the pillow to mumble to the child resting against his back, "Go to sleep, Blair."
His command was met with a sing-songy, "Just wanna ask one question."
The rancher did turn his head this time, speaking very clearly and firmly. "Go to sleep."
"Please?"
Jim sighed heavily, not able to block the picture in his head of two big watery eyes looking imploringly at him. Better to just get it over with so they could both get some much needed rest. "What is it?"
"Can I have a puppy?"
"What?" Jim hissed incredulously, turning over to face the asker of the outlandish question. In the dim light of the room, Jim could just make out the pouty face of his ward. The pout quickly changed to a sincere expression as the boy rallied to win his point. Jim patiently listened to Blair's hope filled argument.
"The blacksmith's son, Jimmy Brown's, dog had puppies. Darryl and me played with them while you were gone. They're real cute and I just thought we could use a good watch dog. Please, Jim. I'd take real good care of him. Honest."