The Prank War Ages 13-17

 By Calah Keup, age 13

Picture prompt # 9 - Young Carter Brothers

13-year-old Justin stared in wonder, as he often did, at his new baby sister Melinda. He couldn’t get over how adorable she was! With her curly blond hair, and big eyes, she looked like a baby angel!

A voice called from the hallway, “Justin? Where are you?”

Justin groaned inwardly, “In Melinda’s room, Mitch.”

4-year-old Mitch peeked his head in the door, “Can you help me saddle Coco?  I wanna ride’im, but I can’t get his saddle on, an’ Chad won’t help me ‘cause he’s  pactice’n slingshotin’.”

Justin sighed. His little brothers always needed him for something right when he just wanted a little bit of peace! He hoped he would get at least a little time alone on his birthday; it was in just a week! Justin looked down at Mitch, who was now clinging to his leg. “Oh, alright,” Justin ruffled his little brother’s curly brown hair, “I’m coming.”

“Yay!” Mitch grabbed Justin’s hand with his own chubby one, and pulled him outside.  

Justin hefted Coco’s saddle onto the pony’s back and tightened the cinch.  Coco had started out as his pony, but then he was handed down to Chad, and when Chad had turned eight, Father had promised him any foal on the ranch.

 Chad picked the dun foal, who he named Sky, and couldn’t wait to ride him once Sky turned three. He always said that he wanted to ride a ‘real horse’.  Except he had just lost both of his two front teeth so it was more like ‘horthe,’ instead of ‘horse’.

Mitch clambered on Coco like a monkey and Justin gave the pony a slap. “Whoopee!” Mitch hollered and kicked Coco into a trot, the fastest the pony ever went. Justin looked around for his own horse’s bridle. He had gotten a new one for Christmas. It was fine, fresh-cut leather, and the buckles were shiny and new. It wasn’t on its hook. Justin was puzzled; he knew he had put it back yesterday.

After a few minutes of searching, Justin found it stuffed in the oats bin, covered in fine oat dust. 9-year-old Chad had pulled another prank on him. He and Chad were in the middle of a huge prank war; Chad was obsessed with pulling pranks on his big brother, and Mitch usually followed along behind, and together, they created disaster wherever they went. Now Justin had to get them back with another prank. Hanging the bridle back in its proper place, Justin ran across the yard to the chicken coop, pulling off his bandana as he went. 

Justin crept up to the henhouse and opened the door, wincing as it creaked. Swiftly, he stepped inside and dropped his bandana over the smallest hen. The bird squawked once, then fell silent. Justin picked up the still cloaked chicken gently and went to find his brother.

He found Chad aiming his slingshot at a target that hung on a tree. His big ammunition satchel lay on the ground a few yards away. Thwack!  Justin quickly ducked out of sight and waited till Chad had turned his back again. Then, he tucked the chicken in his little brother’s satchel, and ran silently around the corner and waited. Thwack! Still, Justin waited, any second now.. BUK-BWAK! BWAK-BUK-BUK! “Ahhh!” Instead of a pebble, Chad had gotten a handful of chicken feathers! Justin stifled a laugh and ran to help his father.

After the chicken trick, Chad was hopping mad. He was sure it had been Justin, because Mitch wasn’t near clever enough to pull a prank like that off. Now Chad was itching to get his big brother back. He knew all sorts of pranks, jokes, and tricks. The key was to not use any one prank twice.

Chad had already put cold oatmeal in Justin’s slippers, stuffed his horse’s bridle in the oats bin, and dumped his underwear out his window while his friend was over. He’d waxed Justin’s saddle with butter, so when he mounted, he just slipped right off, and Chad had used leftover fence paint and painted Justin’s bay, Thunderbolt, with white stripes. Ouch. He’d gotten in trouble with Father for that one. Something about it not being good for the horse’s skin. Now Justin had gotten him back after the bridle in the oats trick, and Chad needed to come up with a new prank. He planned to dunk Justin with water on his birthday, so he couldn’t do that; Chad racked his brains for an idea. 

“Hey, Father, is there anything I can help with?” Justin called up to James Carter, who was on the stable roof, fixing some of the wooden planks.

“Can you nail in these last planks for me while I go and help mend the broken fences?” Father clambered down the tall wooden ladder and dusted off his overalls.

“Yes sir! I can do that,” Justin had helped fix the barn roof before; this would be a breeze! Father went to help the farmhands and Justin shot up the ladder. There was a hole in the roof where the roof planks had started rotting away and had been taken out. New boards lay a few feet away. A small box of nails sat next to a hammer. Justin picked up the first board, set it in place, and nailed it down smartly. He picked up the second board and hammered down one corner. He grabbed a second nail and swung; Thud!  “Owww!” 

Chad raced around the Circle C Ranch, looking for a new prank idea. Chad heard the sound of hammering and spotted Justin high on the barn roof, patching a hole. Chad looked at Justin, twenty-five feet from the ground. He looked at the tall ladder that connected Justin to the ground.

A mischievous smile crept across his face. He tiptoed over to the ladder and took it down by walking backwards and moving his hands rung over rung till it was laid flat on the ground. Chad dragged it away and hid it behind the cattle barn. A hand over his mouth to stifle his giggles, Chad ran and found the perfect place to watch.

Meanwhile, Justin had finished nailing in the third plank of wood. He picked up the last one and secured it in the remaining gap. Justin looked over his work; it wasn’t bad. A few of the nails were a little bit out of line, but the hole was patched, the hay inside was dry, and that was what counted. As Father would say, nobody would see it all the way up here, so it didn’t have to look pretty, it just had to get the job done! Justin tucked the box of nails in his bibs pocket and slipped the hammer in his back pocket. He crawled to the edge of the roof and looked for the ladder. It was gone. “CHAD!” Justin yelled, “ YOU BETTER  GIT THAT LADDER BACK OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!” 

James Carter looked up from the fence that he and a young ranch hand called Buck  were mending. Was that Justin yelling? Buck looked up too, startled by the rather angry words that floated over the ranch. “Was that Justin, boss?” Buck asked, “He don’t sound too happy.”

“I’d better go see what the problem is. Can you finish this fence?” James sighed and stood up.

“Yessir, we’re almost done, I can finish it up,” Buck nodded.

“Thanks,” James walked to the barn where he had left his son to work. He hoped Justin hadn’t gotten off track. When he arrived, James found that Justin had finished the job and was now yelling something about Chad and a ladder. “CHAD, YOU PUT IT RIGHT BACK, YOU HEAR ME? YOU BRING THAT LADDER RIGHT BACK!”

James glimpsed Chad peeking out from behind the henhouse holding his stomach, laughing. “Boys! What’s all this ruckus? Justin, I can hear you hollerin’ from the other side of the ranch! What’s going on?” James yanked Chad out of his hiding place by the arm and dropped him right under where Justin was leaning over the edge of the roof, his face red and angry. “What’s going on?” He repeated. 

“Chad took the ladder down!” Justin hollered.

“Juthtin put a chicken in my ammo thack!” Chad retorted.

“Chad hid my new bridle in the feed bin!” Justin hollered back, “I’m stuck up here!”

James put his hands up, “Whoa! Slow down. It sounds like there’s a prank war going on. Who made the first prank of the day?”

“Me,” Chad said proudly, “I alwayth make the firtht prank of the day.”

“Okay, and what prank did you pull?” James pressed.

“He hid my new bridle that I got for Christmas in the oat bin!” Justin hollered, twenty-five feet above them. 

“Okay, and then who made the next pranks?”

“Juthtin put a chicken in my ammo bag!” Chad said.

“And then Chad took the ladder down!” Justin hollered.

“Calm down Justin, we can hear you just fine,” James chided gently. “I think you two are getting a little carried away with all these pranks.”

“But Father-” Chad whined.

“I didn’t say you had to stop,” James reminded his son, “But I do think that before you make a prank, you need to make sure that it isn’t dangerous. Justin’s prank wasn’t dangerous, nor was your first prank, Chad, but taking a ladder away isn’t safe. Suppose Justin hadn’t looked for the ladder and fell?”

Chad hung his head, “Yeth Father.”

James looked up at his oldest son too, “Remember the Golden Rule, boys, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you.’ Chad, if you make a big dangerous prank, you can only expect a worse prank back. Just because someone pranks you, doesn’t mean that you have to prank them back. That’s revenge, and Romans 12:19 says, ‘Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.’ We shouldn’t try and get revenge, boys. Revenge is the Lord’s. You can prank back and forth, but let it be fun and games, not competitive; yes? If someone asks you to stop pranking them, you should stop too.”

The boys nodded, “Yes, Father.”

“Can I get down now?” Justin added.

James chuckled, “Chad, go get that ladder, but don’t try to put it up yourself, please.” 

The next morning, Justin roused himself earlier than normal. Father said that he could help count cattle in the pastures that day. He pulled his overalls on, buttoned his shirt and tugged a comb through his tangled dark hair. Then, he stumbled sleepily downstairs to the kitchen. Feeling more awake, Justin made himself some oatmeal and dumped in two spoonfuls of sugar.

He sat down cheerfully, and scooped a large spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth. A horrible taste coated his pallet and Justin sputtered and coughed. “Salt!” Justin checked the sugar jar. He dipped his finger in and licked it: salty. He dipped a finger in the salt jar: sweet. Yep. Someone had definitely switched the sugar for the salt. “Chad strikes again,” Justin muttered. He must have known I would be the first one awake!

 Quietly, Justin put each ingredient in the right jar and threw out his ruined breakfast. He grabbed a snack for on the range, settled for some breakfast toast, and ate it on the way to the stable to saddle Thunderbolt. Justin brushed the bay horse off and buckled his new bridle and freshly waxed (not buttered!) saddle. Justin grabbed his rope and stuffed his snack in his saddlebags. He hitched on his leather chaps, and plonked his hat on his head. Justin swung up on Thunderbolt and trotted out into the stable yard. As he and Thunderbolt passed the corral fence, Justin picked up his lasso to lasso a fencepost, but instead of whirling above his head, the weathered rope wrapped around his arm. It was tangled in a big knot. Justin frowned; another Chad prank. Justin tied up Thunderbolt and finally untangled the lariat; he would answer Chad’s pranks later. 

“The cattle should be over this next hill,” Father said, urging his grand bay, Caesar, up the cow-mowed ground. The ranch hands who’d come to help, Jake, Buck, and Eddy, followed behind. Justin kicked Thunderbolt into a cantor, and reached the top of the hill first. “Whoa!” Before him lay what seemed like millions of cattle, all marked with the Circle C brand marking, like his father’s belt buckle. “How are we going to count them all, Father?”

“Well, you, Buck, and Jake are going to cut a section of cattle off to one side, and Jake will tally them off. Eddy and I will keep herding more cows into the bunch until we got’em all,” James chuckled at his son’s daunted reaction. “It sounds like a lot, I know,”

Buck rode up beside Justin, “But we do have all day.”

Eddy, who had been on many a cattle counting, said, “It goes quicker than you’d think.”

Jake, who hardly talked at all, suggested quietly, “Why are we just sitting up here, then? Let’s get goin’.” The five riders barreled down the hill and began the counting. 

“Mother! You’ll never guess how many cattle we have!” Justin burst into the kitchen. He was hungry, saddle-sore, and sweaty, but he was pumped. Mother gave  him a smile and shifted Melinda on her hip, “I don’t know Justin, how many cattle?”

“Tell! Tell!” Mitch shouted. For some strange reason, he was playing under the table .

Justin plopped into a chair and took off his cowboy hat. “3,985, exact count.” 

“Wow! Three thouthand?” Chad poked his head in the doorway, “That’th a lot of cowth!”

Father entered, “It is a lot. We’ve had higher numbers, but it’s still a good count.” He gave Mother a peck on the cheek before washing his hands.

“Boy, Justin, you stink,” Mitch wrinkled his nose and backed away, “Go jump in the creek.” 

“He doesn’t need to go jump in the creek dear, they still haven’t eaten supper yet,” Mother reminded him, “If he really wants to go jump in the creek, he can go after he eats.” 

Justin strolled to the barn to make sure that Thunderbolt had everything he needed. The sky was streaked with pink, yellow and orange splashes. The once scorching heat had cooled to a mere uncomfortable warmth. He whistled a tune as he strolled to the barn.

“Hey, boy,” Justin reached over the stall door and patted Thunderbolt’s neck. He refilled the water trough and hung up the hay net. With one last pat, Justin strolled out of the stable, taking off his hat to feel the breeze in his hair. Splat! Splat! Splat! Slippery egg whites dripped into Justin’s eyes and down his collar. He looked up. Two dark heads grinned at him from the hay loft window.

“Gotcha, Justin!” Mitch called down.

Chad said, “C’mon! Mother thaid we could go twilight fithing!”

 Justin shook wet hair out of his eyes, relieved to wash out the egg. He crawled out of the deep part of the creek and pulled his clothes back on. “Hey, Justin, can you help me get my worm hooked?” Mitch asked.

“Sure,” Seeing a chance to prank, Justin took the fishing hook and while Mitch wasn’t looking, hooked it onto the back of the brim of Chad’s cowboy hat. “You’re all set, Mitch,” Justin stepped back, trying not to grin. 

Mitch swung his stick forward. Whoosh!  Chad’s hat flew off his head and landed with a sploosh in the water. “Hey!” Chad exclaimed, “My hat!”

Justin couldn’t hold the giggles in any longer, he burst into laughter, “Your face, Chad! Oh! Your face!”

Chad, his face very red, jumped up, “Oh you-!” Leaping at him, Chad tried to shove Justin into the creek, but he was still too small.

Still laughing, Justin hoisted Chad and dunked him in the water, “There you go, go get your hat.” Shrieking with glee, Mitch dropped his stick and jumped into the creek too. Justin jumped in after him and went home very wet that night. But Justin didn’t notice Chad lugging the bucket full of water behind his back. 

“Justin, could you please go wake your brothers? It’s time for breakfast,” Mother asked Justin the morning before his birthday.

He sighed; he had been playing with baby Melinda on the living room rug. “Yes, Mother.” At least he could pull off his next prank. Justin crept into Chad and Mitch’s bedroom. In his hand he carried a jar; inside were two lizards. Carefully, Justin took the lid off and slipped his hand inside. With a lizard gripped tightly in each hand, Justin tiptoed to the boys’ bed and slipped a lizard down each of their shirts. Justin grabbed the jar and flew out of the room and into his own.

Shrieks of ‘eek!’, ‘aggh!’, and other incoherent sounds emitted from the bedroom. Justin could barely keep from laughing as he strolled innocently into the dining room. Mother took one look at his  face and only smiled and shook her head. When the boys trooped in, Chad gave Justin a look but said not a word.  

  Half asleep and half awake on the dawn of his birthday, Justin heard the doorknob click. Thinking nothing of it, Justin closed his eyes again. Maybe he would get a break from the prank war for his birthday. SPLASH! Justin sputtered and sat up as he was engulfed in cold water. He gaped in dripping wet shock at the two little boys at the foot of his bed. They grinned, “Happy Birthday!”