First Snow

By Marion

Adam Cartwright stepped out onto the porch. The air was crisp and cold and the sun was starting to sink behind the mountains. He looked towards those mountains, was that snow he saw? He hoped not. His father, Ben Cartwright had decided yesterday to take an overnight hunting trip, and Adam was concerned that it might snow before Pa came home. Adam suspected that his father needed to get away from the responsibilities of running a ranch and raising his children. Pa had left Adam in charge and Adam had been doing a fine job, in his opinion.

Adam's reverie was destroyed by the sounds of fighting. "You take that back!" "You take it back!" He looked over near the corral and saw his brother Joe and his cousin Annie rolling around on the ground. "Joe! Annie!" he shouted as he ran towards them. Hoss came out the door behind Adam and ran after him. Together they pulled the two fighters apart. "Joseph Cartwright! You know better than to hit a girl!" Adam put his leg up on the corral and threw Joe over his knee. He spanked him twice and put him down.

"You shouldn'ta spanked him! I hit him first!" Annie struggled to get at Adam, but Hoss held her tight.

"Fine, Anna Marie, you're next." Adam grabbed Annie from Hoss's arms, put her over his knee and spanked her.

"You can't do that Adam!" Annie yelled at her oldest cousin. "Uncle Ben didn't say you could spank us! You wait'll he gets home, you'll be sorry you ever laid a hand on me!" Joe didn't look so sure that Pa would take their side over Adam's but he just stood quietly trying to fight back tears. Not that Adam hit hard, he thought, but he was embarrassed that Adam hit him, and in front of Hoss and Annie, too.

"Well, we'll see about that. Here he comes now." Adam pointed up the hill; sure enough Ben was riding down towards the house. As soon as he came riding into the yard, Annie ran up to him.

"Uncle Ben, Adam's being mean to me! He hit me!"

Ben dismounted. "Annie, let me get off the horse first. Oh, thank you." That was to Hoss, who had taken the reins from his father. Ben waved Adam over. "Adam?"

"Pa, I came outside and the two of them were rolling around on the ground fighting. Hoss and I separated them, and I gave Joe two smacks for hitting Annie. She told me that she started the fight, so I gave her two smacks, too."

Ben sighed. So much for his relaxing hunting trip. "Anna Marie, I think you know that if I had been here, you would have gotten more than two smacks for fighting with Joe. When I'm not here, Adam's in charge and you treat him the same way that you treat me. He will deal with you the way I would. I'm not going to question him when he punishes you as deserve. Do you understand?"

Annie looked at her feet but Ben forced her chin up so she would look at him. "I said do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry Adam." Adam nodded quickly as Hop Sing called everyone in for dinner.

The next morning was cold and clear. Annie poked her nose from under her blanket when Uncle Ben knocked on the door, but she just couldn't bring herself to crawl from under the covers. She had no idea anything could be this cold ­ certainly November in Santa Barbara had never been like this! At least it was Saturday and she didn't have to go to school. She could rush through her chores and then spend the day by the fire. Mr. Taylor had loaned her a new play, and she was enjoying it. Adam promised to read with her when he was done with his chores. Reading with Adam was fun, he understood some of the words better than she did and sometimes they acted out the parts, to the amusement of Pa and Hop Sing and the poorly disguised annoyance of Joe and Hoss.

Suddenly the door opened. "Annie?" Ben Cartwright poked his head in the room. "Annie, it's time to get up. I knocked on your door 10 minutes ago, why aren't you up? Are you sick?"

"No, Uncle Ben, it's just so cold I can't bring myself to get up."

"It's not that cold, sweetheart. Just make sure you put on your woolen underthings." Annie blushed at the mention of underwear. She needed to figure out how to tell Uncle Ben that her underthings weren't wool, and didn't provide much warmth in the cold Sierra Nevada autumn. He was just about to close the door when she blurted out "I don't have any." She hoped none of the boys were standing near the door. Ben stepped into the room.

"You don't have what?"

"Wool..wool..you know." Ben nodded in understanding.

"I think maybe we'll go into town. We'll go see Ruth and she can help you with everything you need, all right? For now just put on a couple of layers of clothes, it'll keep you warmer." He pulled the blankets off her. "Come on now, the faster you get dressed, the sooner you'll be near the fire. And, Annie, you don't need to be embarrassed to talk to me. I won't tell anyone what you say." With that, he kissed her and left the room.

Ben realized that Annie didn't have any appropriate clothes for the coming winter. Her shoes were worn and she needed gloves, hat, wool stockings, everything. He kicked himself for not noticing sooner. Joe was all set ­ he fit into hand-me-downs from Adam and Hoss. At least he fit into Hoss's old clothes once Hop Sing cut them down. Fortunately he had some of the money from the sale of Edward's ranch, so it would be no problem getting Annie everything she needed.

Hop Sing served a breakfast guaranteed to keep everyone warm until lunch. While they were eating, Ben told the boys that he and Annie were going to town, and the boys were welcome to come if they wanted. He observed that it looked like snow soon, so they didn't know when they'd get to town next. Everyone, even Hop Sing, decided they would go with Ben and Annie, so after they rushed through morning chores Hoss hitched up the team. He and Adam would ride in on their horses, but everyone else rode in the wagon. Joe fussed a little at having to ride in the wagon, but he quieted down when his father suggested that perhaps Joe would rather stay home.

Annie huddled miserably next to Joe in the back of the wagon. She was so cold and she didn't believe Hoss at breakfast when he said it would get a lot colder before it got warmer. Uncle Ben and Hop Sing were sitting up front and Annie overheard them talking about the weather.

"I think we'll have snow before the middle of next week, Hop Sing. Looks like snow up in the mountains." Hop Sing nodded his agreement.

"Hey, Joe." Annie nudged Joe. "What's snow like?"

"What do ya mean, what's snow like? Ain't ya ever seen snow before?"

"No. Have you ever seen otters and whales before?"

Joe pushed her. "No, stupid, there's none of them around here. Move over, you're hogging the seat."

Annie pushed him right back. "Well, there's not a lot of snow in Santa Barbara, either." Joe started to shove her again when a hand reached between them. "You two will be very sorry if I have to stop this wagon." Two quick "yes, sirs" and silence descended on the back seat.

They reached town and Adam and Hoss headed over to the livery. Adam had his eye on a new saddle and he wanted to show Hoss. Hop Sing told Ben he wanted to go visit his cousin and then he would meet them back at the wagon. Joe started to head off towards a group of boys when Ben grabbed him by the collar.

"I know, Pa, no fighting, no gambling, no bothering other folk." Joe answered his father's question before he could ask it and Ben released him.

"Come on, Annie, looks like it's you and me. Let's go see Mrs. Orowitz. She'll get you fixed up right away."

Once Ben explained the problem to Ruth, she took Annie into another room to talk about what she needed. That's what Annie liked about Mrs. Orowitz, she knew when Annie needed privacy. Mrs. Orowitz took Annie's measurements, and then went back into the store. She tsked a bit, pulling things from the shelf, holding dresses up to Annie, discreetly placing under garments behind the counter. Finally she stopped and looked at Annie thoughtfully. "You need a good dress. The holidays are coming, and you want to look pretty. But, I have nothing here. Come." Mrs. Orowitz took Annie's hand and led her into the couple's private rooms. She went into her bedroom and opened a trunk. "It is here, I know it is." She rummaged about and then pulled out a dark green dress with white lace trim. She held it in front of Annie.

"Yes, it will fit, I think."

"Oh, Mrs. Orowitz, it's a beautiful dress."

"I made it for my little girl, many years ago."

Annie frowned. Uncle Ben had told her about the Orowitz's tragedy, how both their children had died. "Oh, I couldn't take it. It means to much to you."

"It will mean more to see you wear it. Please, it would make me glad."

Annie took the dress, then hugged Mrs. Orowitz tight. "I'll take good care of it, I promise."

"I know you will. Come, your uncle is waiting for you." They went back into the store and bundled up Annie's new clothes. Ben protested that they could not accept the dress, but Ruth would not listen and Eli told him he would not win this argument. As they were loading the bundles into the wagon, Adam and Hoss joined them.

"Pa, Big Dan has a couple of new horses and he'd like your opinion of them."

"All right, Adam. Annie, stay with Adam and Hoss. Hop Sing should be back in a few minutes and Adam, I want you to help him get supplies. I think we're going to get snow soon, and I don't want to be caught unprepared." All three rolled their eyes as soon as Ben's back was turned. Ben had them preparing for winter for the past two months; certainly they couldn't think of anything left undone.

"Hoss, I'll wait here with Annie. Maybe you can go round up Little Joe so we're ready to go when Pa gets back." Hoss agreed.

"I'll be back to help you load up the wagon. Here's Hop Sing now." With that, Hoss headed off for Joe's last known location.

"Annie, you wait right here. Hop Sing and I need to get supplies. You can sit on the bench like a good girl." Annie flung herself on the bench. Who does he think he is, anyway? Every time Uncle Ben leaves him in charge, Adam starts giving orders. She was sick of him. Just then, the swinging door of Shelby's saloon caught her eye. I wonder what it looks like in there? Annie got up, peeked in the mercantile to make sure Adam was occupied and then headed to the saloon.

She was just about to look under the swinging doors when she felt a hand grab her. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to wait on the bench." Apparently Adam was not as occupied as she thought. He dragged her back to the wagon just as Ben walked up.

"What's going on here?" he demanded.

"Pa, I told her to sit on the bench while Hop Sing and I went to get the supplies. I came out to ask her something and she was gone. I found her trying to sneak into Shelby's saloon."

"Wasn't trying to sneak in, Mr. Bossy Pants. I just wanted to look." Adam looked madder than ever. "See Pa, she doesn't pay any respect to me."

"Adam, please go finish in the store." Ben's voice was low, a sign that he was very angry. "Anna Marie, we have spoken before about minding Adam, haven't we?" She nodded. Ben picked her up and set her in the wagon, but not before giving her bottom a smack. "Sit down and wait there. Don't move from the wagon or you won't sit on the way home. When we get home, you will eat lunch, clean the dishes and spend the rest of the day in your room. Perhaps then you'll remember to listen to Adam."

Annie sat at her window looking out at her cousins and her uncle playing in the snow. Dumb snow, who wants to play in it anyway? Trouble was, they looked like they were having fun. Adam and Hoss seemed to be teamed up against Uncle Ben and Joe and they were all throwing snow at each other. Every once in a while someone would slip and fall and everyone would pelt him. They were all laughing. Annie wondered what snow felt like. When it hit the window it melted, so she guessed it was wet. Joe said it was cold, and they certainly looked cold playing outside. The snow didn't start until after they got back from town and were inside the house, so Annie still didn't know what snow felt like. True to his word, Uncle Ben had sent Annie to her room when she was done with the dishes. She had been in her room for almost four hours and it looked like a lot of snow had fallen. Stupid snow.

Suddenly Annie realized that Uncle Ben was no longer outside. She heard the front door close and then the sound of someone walking across the room to the fireplace. She heard Uncle Ben and Hop Sing talk about something but the only thing she was able to understand was Hop Sing saying "dinner ready soon." Then there were footsteps coming close to her door. I bet it's Uncle Ben coming to talk again. He never sent her to her room without talking about it afterwards. She watched the doorknob turn and the door slowly open. Uncle Ben came in and Annie stood up expectantly. He shut the door behind him and crossed the room to stand near her.

"Well, have you thought about why you're here?"

She wanted to say she was here because he sent her here, but fortunately what came out was "'cuz I tried to peek in the saloon?"

"Is that all?"

"Sir?"

"Is that all you thought about?"

Annie wanted to say she thought about a lot of things ­ about the snow and about being cold and about how she was tired of bossy-pants Adam telling her what to do. But, she shrugged. "I dunno."

Uncle Ben stepped towards her impatiently. She stepped back. He frowned and pointed to the space right in front of him. She reluctantly shuffled forward to stand in front of him.

"Do you really think I sent you to your room because you tried to peek into Shelby's?" Uncle Ben didn't pause for an answer. "Try again, why are you here?"

"Because Adam told me to stay at the store and I didn't listen?"

"Because Adam told you to stay at the store and you didn't listen. We've talked about obeying Adam before haven't we?" Annie nodded. "Then why don't you listen to him?"

"I dunno. Sometimes he's just bossy. He tells me to do things because he can."

"Really? Do you think I'm bossy and I tell you to do things because I can?" Annie was stumped. Don¹t all grownups do that? But, if she answered Uncle Ben's question honestly she'd get a spanking for sure. Fortunately for her, he didn't wait for an answer.

"I tell you things because I'm concerned about your safety, and because I want you to grow up to be a decent young woman. When Adam was a boy he had to obey me, and even now that he's a man, he still gives me the respect I deserve as his father. But now that he's a man, he deserves the respect and obedience of children. I am not going to tell you that again."

"Yes, sir."

"When you decided to disobey Adam in town, what were you thinking?"

"I was just wondering what the inside of a saloon looked like."

"Exactly. Did you think about the dangers?" Annie shook her head. All she did was go across the street ­ how dangerous was that? "Did you think about how busy that street was and that riders often race their horses down the street? Did you think that the men at the saloon might not like being peeked at by a little girl, or that some of the men might be drunk? Did you know there were shots fired there last week by someone who got into a fight?" Annie shook her head again. "Adam is older than you, and he knows the dangers. Even Little Joe knows them, that's why he can go off with his friends. Annie, this is a wilderness, it's not Santa Barbara. Your obedience may save your life! That's why you are in here. I think you need some more time thinking about it. I'll bring a tray in and you can spend your dinnertime and the rest of the evening thinking about what I've said." He left the room and Annie turned back to the window. She saw Adam, Hoss and Joe coming in from the evening chores. The snow was still swirling outside her window. She turned away and closed her curtain. Stupid snow.

When Annie woke the next morning, the earth was covered in a beautiful white blanket. She couldn't even see footsteps where her cousins had played the night before. The bright sun sparkled on the frost on her window. Annie looked outside with a renewed happiness. Today would be different, she thought. She'd stay out of trouble the whole day. She got dressed quickly and headed out of her room to help Hop Sing with breakfast. She paused a minute before she turned the doorknob. Did Uncle Ben tell her she had to stay in her room this morning? She thought back to last night when he came to get her tray. She didn¹t remember him saying she had to stay in the room once it was morning.

She opened the door and stepped into the main room. Adam and Uncle Ben were standing in front of the fire. They had obviously just come inside and were warming their hands. Annie took a deep breath and walked up to them. "Good morning Uncle Ben, good morning Adam. Adam, I want to tell you I'm sorry about disobeying you yesterday and it won't happen again." The words tumbled out of Annie as if she wanted to get them out before she got sent to her room again.

Adam smiled and gave her a hug. "I forgive you Annie. I missed my reading buddy last night." Uncle Ben bent down to kiss Annie. "I¹m glad to see you're in a better mood this morning." was all he said.

Annie finished setting the table just as Hoss and Joe came in from their morning chores. She ran up to Hoss before he could take off his coat and grabbed some of the snow that was stuck on his sleeve. "Oooo, it is cold."

"What're you talking about Annie?"

She held out the rapidly melting snow. "It is cold, just like Joe said it would be."

Hoss looked at her like she was crazy. "Of course it's cold. Didn't need Joe to tell you that. Haven't you ever seen snow before?" Behind him Little Joe snorted. "As if they have a lot of snow in Santa Barbara." Joe rolled his eyes, as if he couldn¹t believe how stupid Hoss was being.

"Annie, you mean you've never seen snow?" Adam came up behind her. She shook her head. "Have you ever slid on ice?" She shook her head again. Joe and Hoss looked excited at the though of sliding on ice. Adam turned to Pa, who was sitting down at the table.

"Pa, would it be okay if we took Annie to the pond to go sliding? Maybe after lunch? We'll make sure all the chores are done." Ben almost laughed to see his oldest son looking as excited as Joe. Adam loved sliding on ice; it was his favorite part of winter. Adam had seen pictures in books of children sliding with metal blades on their shoes, but he hadn't figured out how to make the skates yet.

"Annie, will you mind Adam?"

"I will, Uncle Ben. Honest." Ben frowned, but then decided he was just borrowing trouble.

"All right, you can go after lunch. But I think everyone's forgotten that it's Sunday" he paused to glare at Joe and Hoss who groaned louder than they meant to. "Since there's no service today, I think we can spend a few hours after breakfast reading quietly."

After breakfast, Annie and Joe had to sit at the table reading from the Bible. Ben had them read a story and then he discussed it with them. Ben had long ago decided that Adam and Hoss were too old for these home Sunday school lessons, but he still expected them to spend the morning reading quietly. When he was a boy, his father kept a strict Sabbath, and neither Ben nor his brothers were allowed to play or even talk loudly. They spent most of the day in church and then came home to a cold meal. Ben wasn't as strict as his father was about Sabbath, and circumstances didn't always permit the family to attend church on Sunday, but they still honored the Sabbath in their own way. The morning was spent reading quietly, but the afternoon he allowed the children to play. Only the most necessary chores were done on Sundays.

Lunch was a happy meal. Ben told some stories of when he and Edward were boys playing in the snow back in Boston. Hoss asked Adam if he was going to take the new girl in town to the Thanksgiving Dance. Hoss was hoping to talk Pa into letting him take Tess. Joe rolled his eyes at his brothers mooning over stupid girls, but then he remembered something. "Hey, Annie, maybe Willie Johnson will ask you to the dance." Ben looked up, startled and both Hoss and Adam stopped talking about girls long enough to look at Annie. Annie just glared at Joe. "Shut up, Joe."

"Who's Willie Johnson?" Ben asked in a conversational tone.

"Just some boy in school, Uncle Ben." Ben nodded, looking relieved.

"You didn't think he was just some boy when you spent the whole lunch and recess talking to him last Friday." Annie kicked Joe hard under the table.

"I told you to be quiet Joe. Don¹t make me pound you again!" Annie was turning beet red. Oh, ho! So that's what the fight was about, thought Adam.

Annie's threat didn't shut Joe up. "He's 15, Pa, and he uses trouble words a lot." Ben's look of relief vanished.

"I was just trying to be nice to him because he's new, Uncle Ben. He's not going to ask me to any dance." Ben nodded.

"That's a good thing, because you wouldn't be able to say yes. You won't bgoing with any dances with boys until you're older than 12."

"I'm going to be 13 in a few weeks."

Ben shook his head. "A LOT older than 12."

Hop Sing told Annie she didn't have to help clean the dishes after lunch so she could go play with her cousins. Annie started to complain about all the clothes she would have to wear until Uncle Ben told her she had a choice ­ go out bundled up or stay inside. She had so many clothes on that she couldn't put her arms down properly. Finally everyone was ready to go slide. Ben and Hop Sing decided they would rather be warm, and Hop Sing promised he would have hot chocolate ready when they came home. Hoss looked like he was ready to come home before he left but Ben shooed them all out the door. "Remember, Annie and Joe ­ you mind Adam!"

As soon as Annie ran out the door, she pulled off her mitten and picked up a handful of snow. The snow was deliciously cold and Annie was surprised to feel how fluffy it was. She held it up to her lips and tasted it with her tongue. She shivered with cold and with delight. Joe came running up behind her. "Hey, careful that ain't yellow snow you're eating!"

Annie looked at the snow curiously. It seemed white. She held it out to Joe. "Yeah, that's white. You don't wanna eat yellow snow 'cuz that means something peed on it." Annie made a face and looked at Joe. "Hey, I didn't mean me!" he protested. Quickly he bent down, smushed some snow together and threw it at Annie. The snowball hit her square on the chest and the snow started to melt on her coat. Laughing, she bent down and made her own snowball and launched it at Joe. Before he could retaliate, balls thrown by Adam and Hoss pelted them both. Pretty soon there was an all out snow battle going on and Annie couldn't remember the last time she laughed so hard.

Finally Adam decided they'd better get to the pond before it started to get dark. As they headed to the pond, Adam explained what they were going to do. "The ice is real slippery and you can run and then slide along the top. But remember, you can't go near where the stream feeds in because the ice will be too thin."

Annie was walking in front of Adam, which was a good thing because that meant he didn't see the look on her face. There goes Mr. Bossy Pants again. Do this, don't do that.

They approached the pond and suddenly Adam took off running. He raced to the pond and slid, throwing snow up around him as he went. Joe and Hoss followed and after watching a few minutes, Annie joined in. Adam was right, sliding was a lot of fun. If you worked at it, you could slide really fast and go a long way. She watched Joe slide into snow banks along one edge of the pond. He slid towards them, then threw himself headfirst into the big pile of snow. That looks like fun, but Joe had smashed down his snow piles. She wanted new fluffy snow piles, so she headed to the other side of the pond.

"Hey, Annie, I told you to stay away from that side of the pond. The stream feeds in there and the ice doesn't get as thick."

Annie pretended that she couldn't hear Adam. She ran towards the snow, started her slide and headed towards the snow pile. She almost got to it when she heard a large cracking noise and then the ice gave way beneath her. She screamed as she hit the icy cold water. As she struggled to come up, all she could feel above her was ice. Her only thoughts were of Uncle Ben, telling her the wilderness was dangerous, and of Adam and how he would blame himself because she died. Then everything went black and she thought no more.

Hoss and Adam scrambled into action as soon as they heard the ice crack. They grabbed the ropes and the plank that they brought with them. Joe just watched in stunned horror as Adam tied the rope around his waist and then laid the plank as close to the hole as he could. Hoss tied the other end of the rope around his waist and held the plank as Adam slid forward on his stomach. Joe jumped when Hoss yelled to get the blankets and then he ran to obey.

Adam reached the hole and tried not to panic when he couldn't see Annie. He knew he had to get her out right away or she would die. Then he saw a flash of red. It was Annie's mitten. He grabbed it, praying it was still on her hand. It was and he pulled Annie up and out of the water. He didn't dare get up and run in case the ice broke more, so he had to slowly inch back to Hoss and Joe. Joe looked as frightened as when his ma died. He just looked at Annie, unmoving in Adam's arms. Hoss held out the blanket and he and Adam rubbed Annie as hard as they could, trying to dry her off. They wrapped her in a dry blanket. Hoss picked her up, cradling her like a baby while he instructed Joe. "Joe, you run ahead, you tell Pa and Hop Sing. They'll know what to get ready. You tell Pa I'm coming as fast as I can."

Hoss and Adam approached the house, and Ben met them on the porch. He stepped aside to let the boys in and then closed the door. Hoss set Annie on the sofa, which had been pushed closer to the fire. Ben grabbed the towels Hop Sing had hung near the fire to warm. "Boys, you should get changed. Give Hop Sing and I a few minutes here." He started stripping off Annie's layers of clothes. He had to get her dried and warmed as soon as possible so that frostbite wouldn't set in. He rubbed her with the warmed towels and then pulled her heavy nightgown over her head. Once her legs were dry, he put on her woolen stockings, thanking Heaven for all the time he had to help his pregnant wives get dressed. Once she was dressed, he wrapped her tightly in another warm blanket, then sat her up on the sofa.

"Thank you, Hop Sing." Hop Sing handed him a small glass of brandy that Ben held to Annie's lips. By now the boys were back out and they were watching Ben and Hop Sing work. Ben forced some of the liquor into Annie's mouth and was rewarded with a sputter as she tasted some of the strong liquid. She opened her eyes briefly, looked at him and smiled. Then she leaned back and fell asleep.

Satisfied that she was going to be all right, Ben stood up and turned to his sons. Worry turned to anger and he advanced on Adam. "You were supposed to be watching her, to make sure this didn't happen!"

Hoss actually stepped between his father and brother and held up his hands to stop his father. "It weren't Adam's fault, Pa. He told her to stay away, but she pretended she didn't hear him. He tried to stop her but it was too late. Pa, Adam was the one who rescued her." Hoss knew Adam was going to blame himself if anything happened; he didn't need Pa's help.

Ben stopped, then motioned Hoss to step aside. He grasped Adam's arm. "I'm sorry, son. It's just that...I'm sorry." Adam nodded. He knew how Pa had felt. He blamed himself, too. Ben looked at Annie, his mouth a thin line. Suddenly he strode to the door, grabbed his hat and coat and slammed the door loudly on his way out.

Joe whistled softly. "Boy, I'm glad I'm not Annie. He's real mad."

"Ain't nothing she don't deserve." Hoss opined.

A couple of hours later, Annie was sitting up, drinking hot chocolate with her cousins. No one said anything, and Ben had still not returned. Annie hadn't been completely asleep when Uncle Ben left, and she knew she was in a lot of trouble. But, she agreed with Hoss, she deserved whatever she was going to get. Everyone jumped a little when the door opened and Ben walked in. "Joe, Hoss, please start the evening chores." He gestured to Adam when Adam made to join his brothers. "You stay here."

He sat on the sofa next to Annie and Adam sat in the chair. Annie wasn't sure if she was supposed to stand up or what she was supposed to do. She sat looking at her cup. No one spoke. Finally Annie looked up. "I'm sorry."

Ben nodded. "Seems to me we heard that this morning. Why should we believe you this time?"

Annie bit her lip and looked up at her uncle. She couldn't tell what he was thinking by his expression, but she knew she had a lot to explain. "Uncle Ben, I know I deserve the worst tanning of my life..." she faltered when he nodded his agreement. "But, Uncle Ben, I really am sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"Everything. I'm sorry I didn't listen to Adam, I'm sorry I didn't obey you. I'm sorry I've been a brat. I'm sorry you had to leave your own house because you were so mad at me. Mostly, I'm sorry that Adam feels guilty because I did something stupid."

Ben raised an eyebrow and glanced at Adam who sat impassively. "What do you mean?"

"When I fell in the water, the last thing I remembered thinking was that I was going to die and that I was sorry because Adam would feel guilty and it wasn't his fault. It was my fault. I pretended I couldn't hear him because I wanted to play. I could have died, and what's worse, Adam or Hoss or Joe could have died trying to save me. That was selfish, and I'm sorry. I'm ashamed of myself, and I hope you'll forgive me."

Ben leaned forward, nodding slowly. "Go to your room, please. I'll be in to see you in a few minutes."

Annie stood up and looked at Adam. He didn't look at her, only at his father. She hurried to her room and quietly closed the door. She sat on the bed, waiting. Knowing that she deserved the worst tanning of her life and waiting for it were two different things. She couldn't sit still, and she got up to look on her dresser. She walked over to the window and looked at Adam heading out to the barn. She figured she didn't have long to wait, and she was right. Uncle Ben opened the door without knocking. She jumped, and then went to stand in front of him. She couldn't bring herself to look at him though.

He looked down at her for a few moments, then picked up her chin, forcing her to look at him. "I forgive you" was all he said. Incredulous, she asked. "Aren't you going to tan me?"

"Adam and I talked about it. He thought you were sincere and that you learned your lesson, and I think so too. You've punished yourself pretty well, I'd say."

"You're not going to punish me?"

Ben smiled. "I didn't say that. You are restricted for the next two weeks. You will do every chore Adam tells you to do and you'll do it without complaining. When you're not doing chores, you will be restricted to the house. And in case you're thinking you've gotten off lightly, I should warn you that Adam is ruthless when it comes to punishment chores. Just ask Joe."

Annie looked at her uncle. "Thank you" she said softly. "I'll listen to Adam and I won't let you down again." He gave her a hug. "No, I don't think you will."