PART 2
“I was thinkin’ last night and came up with the perfect thing that we can do for Mrs. Jo’s birthday,” Nat informed the others the next afternoon up in the loft.
“We can get Nick to surprise her with a midnight ride and we’ll surprise her with a picnic in the afternoon. It won’t interrupt school, ‘cause her birthday is on a Saturday,” he quickly explained what he’d been thinking of for awhile now.
“So, what do ya think?” Nat asked finally when no one said anything.
All seemed to stop and think for a moment.
“Sounds good, Nat,” Dan said, nodding his head.
“Yeah! We can get Asia to cook lots of food,” Tommy grinned excitedly.
“Better ‘en anythin’ else we’ve thought of,” Nan offered rather dryly.
“That’s a wonderful idea, Nat,” Bess smiled sincerely, liking his idea.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Emil agreed after a minute.
Beaming with pleasure, Nat quickly began to inform them with the rest of the ideas he’d had.
Maybe Mrs. Jo’s birthday would turn out okay after all.
Nick forced his eyelids opened, shaking his head to keep from falling asleep. It wasn’t time to go to bed yet – livestock was still waiting to be fed in the barn.
Pushing the barn door open, he sighed deeply and walked to get on with his chores. Nick measured out the correct amount of feed for the horses, and quickly distributed it among them.
Penny whickered, nudging him thankfully before turning to bury her muzzle in the full bucket of grain.
“Ya’re welcome…” He mumbled tiredly, returning the bucket to its correct place.
Stifling another yawn, his thoughts went back to Jo. She’d been aloof and lethargic all day, not doing much then retreating to bed almost right after dinner.
Nick bolted the barn door securely and walked to his room, feeling exhaustion wash over him. Sitting down on the bed, he fell back and was asleep before he could even take off his boots.
He’d have to worry about Jo tomorrow.
Jo rolled over, staring at the top of her bed. How could you do that? How could you sit there and laugh! She bit her lip, to the point of being painful, trying to keep the tears of frustration in check.
“How could I do that?” She threw the covers back and slipped out of bed, walking to the window.
The moon hung high above, casting dim light over Plumfield. Trees rustled gently as the breeze toyed with their heavy branches. An owl flew across the yard, landing safely in tree as he found a comfortable branch.
Jo pulled back and rested against the wall. With a long, depressed sigh she padded back over to her bed and climbed up into the warm sheets.
Turning on her side, she forced herself to sleep.
“Can we ask ya a question, Nick?” Nat asked, stepping into the barn.
Nick looked up from his work of mending a saddle pad and nodded. “Don’t see why not,” He shrugged.
“Ya know how Mrs. Jo’s birthday is comin’ up and all. Well, we were wonderin’ if you’d…Maybe…Take her for a midnight ride like Mr. Fritz used to do? Please? We’ll tell her it was our idea,” Nat looked at him hopefully, almost pleadingly.
“A midnight ride? Do ya think that’s a good idea? I mean, are ya sure Jo would want ya to do that? Maybe she might not like the idea of us tryin’ to do somethin’ he did,” Nick fumbled with the hefty thread he was sewing up the saddle pad with.
“I-I don’t know…” Nat bit his lip, thinking. “Do you think we could just try it? If she gets mad, I’ll tell her it was all my idea.”
“Well…” Nick hesitated, looking at Nat’s face. Silence filled the room, as everyone crossed their fingers tightly.
“Well…” He swallowed again, finally just putting the thread down. He’d dropped it three time already and just decided to leave it be until the kids left.
“I’ll think about it, and let ya know tonight,” Nick finally promised, shaking his head.
Nat’s shoulders fell a little. He had hoped Nick would like the idea and agree to it right away. “Okay, thanks,” he smiled, trying to really sound thankful. It wasn’t that he was really upset or anything, he just really wanted this birthday to be special since it was the first one after Mr. Fritz’s passing.
“See ya later, kids,” Nick waved to them as they piled out of the barn.
“Tonight…Should I do it?”
At dinner that night, Jo again left the table before anyone else did. Gathering her plate, she told them, “I’ll be up in my room if anyone needs me,” then walked to kitchen, depositing her dirty dishes into the wash bin.
When her footsteps were heard on the stairs, everyone began to eat quietly.
“What’s wrong with my mother?” Rob asked innocently, looking at Asia worriedly.
“Don’t you worry about your mom, Robby. She’s just a little tired, I’m sure,” Asia tried to comfort, offering him a smile.
He sighed, and slowly finished his dinner.
“I hope so…” Rob whispered.
Nick looked up as Nat stepped into his room after knocking. “Hey, Nat,” he greeted from his seat on the bed.
“Hi, Nick,” Nat replied, rather timidly. An unnerving silence followed for a few minutes.
“Uh, um, I don’t want to seem like a pest or anythin’, but have ya—”
“Yep, I have and I’ll do it,” Nick finished Nat’s sentence, smiling over at him.
“Really? I mean, you will? That’s great! Thanks Nick!” Nat smiled broadly and quickly left the barn, hurrying back up the house.
Nick sighed and rolled back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Boy I hope this turns out okay. ’Cause if it don’t… ”
PART 3
