Double Trouble

 by Josie L. (ages 10-13) 

 

This story features Andi and Riley’s twin girls, who were born at the end of “San Francisco Surprise,” from the Milestones book, Stranger in the Glade.

 

It was a warm November afternoon. Lilly and Lottie sat on the front porch, bored.

“I wish this Indian Summer would end!” exclaimed Lottie.

Lilly glanced at her twin sister. She sighed. Lottie had been complaining all morning. “What exactly will you do when it’s over? In winter, we just get rain and mud. How is that any better than the heat?”

Lottie shrugged.

The two girls sat quietly for a few minutes before Lottie took up her whining again. “I’m soooo bored.”

“Then find something to do,” replied Lilly. If I hear much more of this grumbling, I’m going inside. It didn’t matter that the humid air would probably stifle her. Lottie was about five seconds away from driving her crazy.

Lottie sat with her chin cupped in her hands for a few minutes. Then, her eyes lit up. “I know what we can do! Let’s run away like Mama did when she was little.”

Lilly furrowed her eyebrows. “Do you even remember how the story goes? Someone stole Mama’s horse, and she had to work as a servant to find Taffy.”

Lottie shrugged. “We won’t go to any towns. Just over to the woods. Then we’ll come home in time for supper.” She gestured to a copse of trees some distance off.

“What if we get hungry? What will we bring for food? We had lunch twenty minutes ago. There’s no way Mama will let us get a snack right now,” Lilly said, always the practical one.

“It shouldn’t be too hard. Mama made a pie earlier. It’s on the window sill. Taking it will be, well, easy as pie.”

Lilly’s eyes lit up. “What kind of pie?”

A smile spread across Lottie’s face. “Lemon,” she said in a sing-song voice. “Your favorite.”

Lilly licked her lips. She and Papa shared the same taste when it came to pies. They both declared lemon to be the most delectable of any pie. “Okay, let’s go.” Like almost any girl, Lilly’s heart was persuaded by sweets. And horses, of course.

The twins stepped off the front porch and rushed around to the back.

Lottie held a finger to her lips. “Shhh.” She placed one foot on the stairs to the back porch, careful not to make it creak. She tiptoed up the stairs. A quick peek in the window showed Mama busy at work, not paying any attention to the pie on the window sill behind her. Lottie waved a hand to Lilly, who hurriedly followed.

“Feast your eyes on that beauty,” said Lottie. She pointed at the flaky, golden-brown pie. While Mama wasn’t necessarily the finest cook, she knew how to make the best pies.

Lilly pursed her lips. “How will we carry it? I assume we’re bringing the horses, so we can’t hold it the whole way.”

Lottie rolled her eyes. She loved her sister, though sometimes she wasn’t very good at problem-solving. “We can get a sack from the tack room.”

Lilly nodded. Then, to Lottie’s surprise, she snuck up to the window and swiped the pie from the sill. Lilly grinned at her sister. “Let’s go.”

Lottie leaped off the porch steps. Lilly followed at a slower pace, not wanting to drop the pie. They hurried to the barn and pushed the squeaky door open.

“I’ll start saddling up the horses. You get a sack for the pie,” said Lottie.

Lilly nodded and followed Lottie into the tack room. She grabbed a sack off the floor. Then, she snatched a saddle blanket from a stack in the corner. She stuffed it into the bag for extra cushion before setting the pie inside. “All set,” she said.

“Good,” Lottie grunted, hefting a saddle off the rack. The twins had never saddled their horses before. The saddles were so heavy that Papa or Jared had to help them.

The sisters heaved the saddle over to Lilly’s horse, Starlight.

“Three, two, one,” The girls grunted with exertion as they lifted the saddle onto Starlight’s back and set it firmly in place. After cinching it up, Lilly stepped back to admire her horse. Starlight was a handsome gelding, palomino colored with a thick, flowing black mane.

“A little help here,” said Lottie. Her arms shook from the weight of her saddle.

“Sorry,” said Lilly. She hurried over to help. Soon, Lottie’s horse, Nightfall, was saddled up, too.

Lottie patted Nightfall’s neck. “Good girl.”

Nightfall was a black horse with white spots dappled across her hindquarters.

Lottie’s horse would have been Starlight’s half-sister, Morning Dew. However, Morning Dew had broken one of her legs and had to be put down. Not long after, the twins had been riding nearby, Lottie using a spare horse, when they found Nightfall. She lay hurt, deserted in the tall grass.

No one knew how she had gotten there or what had caused her injury, although Papa suspected she’d run away and gotten attacked by coyotes.

They’d told the sheriff about Nightfall. Then, the Prescott family had waited two months for someone to come get her. When no one showed, Nightfall was officially declared Lottie’s horse since Lottie had been the one to nurse her back to health.

“Ready to go?” asked Lilly, mounting onto Starlight’s back.

Lottie grinned. “Sure am.” She climbed up on Nightfall and squeezed her knees.

The horses ambled out the barn door. Then they walked around to the backside of the barn. Lottie had just nudged Nightfall into a trot when Lilly’s conscience started poking at her.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” asked Lilly. She pulled Starlight to a standstill.

“Why not? We’ll be back by supper. Where is your sense of adventure?”

I think I left it back at home, thought Lilly. Nevertheless, being Andi’s daughter, she always accepted a challenge. Lilly jutted out her chin and clucked to Starlight. They started off at a canter before she turned back to her sister. “I brought my sense of adventure. Where’s yours?”

Lottie smirked. She nudged Nightfall into a gallop and flew past Lilly. “I’ll race you to the woods!” she called over her shoulder.

“No fair!” yelled Lilly, speeding after her sister.

Lilly felt the wind tug at her hair. She saw blurred flashes of the land around her as she raced toward her sister. This is what riding is all about, thought Lilly contentedly.

Lottie felt that you needed adventure and danger to have fun, but Lilly believed all you needed was faith, family, and horses for an enjoyable life.

When the girls reached the trees, Lottie declared herself the winner of their race.

“Only because you cheated!” exclaimed Lilly. She guided Starlight farther into the trees.

“Nuh-uh! I told you we were racing as soon as I started to gallop!”

“Like I said, cheating,” replied Lilly.

“You act like such an old biddy, following all the rules all the time,” said Lottie. She reached out a hand to caress the reddish-brown leaves of the oak trees whose boughs hung over them like a canopy.

“I don’t follow all the rules,” objected Lilly.

“Oh, yeah? When was the last time you did something you weren’t supposed to?” asked Lottie.

Lilly thought for a minute. “I didn’t finish my schoolwork that one time.”

Lottie laughed. “You’d have finished it, except Mama had you watch Rose and Baby Aaron.”

“So? I still didn’t get it done. Mr. Foster looked extremely vexed when I told him I needed an extra day.”

Lottie laughed harder. “He wasn’t so mad when Mama took the blame on herself. Mr. Foster knows how studious you are. Even when it got late, you still tried to finish your homework. You fell asleep while doing it, for goodness' sake!”

Lilly frowned.

When Lottie caught the look on her sister’s face, she stopped laughing. She walked Nightfall closer to Lilly and wrapped an arm around her twin. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be unkind. I love you exactly the way you are. I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”

Lilly smiled at her sister. “Thanks.”

The girls trotted through the forest in companionable silence, marveling at the beauty of the fall colors and enjoying the crunch the leaves made as the horses walked through them.

 

***

 

  Andi looked up from the sourdough biscuits she was making for dinner. She suddenly realized she hadn’t seen the twins in hours.

  “Jared?” Andi called. The blond head popped out from underneath the table where her oldest son liked to play with Aaron and Rosie. Andi smiled. “Could you go find the twins, please? I need them to wash up and set the table for dinner.”

“Yes, Mama,” replied Jared. He crawled out from under the table and headed for the door. Twenty minutes later, he came back. “I can’t find them.”

“What?” said Andi. She paused from cutting the biscuits out of the dough. “You can’t find them?”

“Nope,” Jared said.

Just then, Riley came in and placed his hat on a hook. Turning around, he saw the look of worry on Andi’s face. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“We don’t know where the twins are.”

  Concern etched itself into Riley’s face. “They aren’t in the barn? Or out with the chickens?”

  “No,” said Jared, “They didn’t answer me when I called them, either.”

  Riley rubbed his forehead and replaced his hat on his head. Before leaving, he kissed Andi on the cheek. “Don’t worry. I’ll find them.”

 

***

 

Lilly noticed the sunlight that had before dappled the ground now began to fade. She decided it was time to go home. “Lottie? It’s going to be suppertime soon. Can we go home now?”

Lottie glanced at her sister. “Sure. Only…”

“What? What is it?” asked Lilly.

Lottie bit her lip. “I don’t know where we are.”

Lilly gulped. “You mean… We’re lost?” When Lottie nodded, terror gripped Lilly. She tried to remember what Mama always said to do when you were lost. “Do you remember what we’ve been told to do if we ever got, you know, off track?”

Lottie tugged on the reins. “She told us to stay put. I think.” Both girls dismounted and plopped their tired bodies onto the ground.

Lilly’s stomach grumbled. “I’m hungry. Can we eat the pie now?”

Lottie shrugged. “Why not?” We might be here for a while. She didn’t dare say these last words out loud for fear of scaring Lilly any more than she already was. She untied the sack from her saddle horn. With a quick toss, the bag landed in Lilly’s lap.

Lilly opened it and stuck her hand in. “Eeeew.” She wrinkled her nose. When she pulled the pie out, Lottie raised her eyebrows. The top had been squished in, and the lemon filling was squeezing out the sides. It also smelled ever so faintly of horses.

“I’m sure it still tastes the same,” said Lottie. She broke off a piece of the flaky crust and scooped some lemon onto it. Then, she popped the morsel into her mouth. “A little messy, maybe. Otherwise, it’s delicious.” She gestured for Lilly to take some.

The two girls soon devoured the pie. Like many young children, after a tiring day and a good meal, the twins curled up together in a bed of leaves and fell fast asleep.

 

***

 

  Lilly awoke with the feeling she was being watched. Then, she heard a howl not far off. Her blood froze, and her heart beat ten times faster. She shook Lottie until she woke up. The moon silhouetted Lilly’s pale face as she spoke one word. “Wolves.”

  Lottie shot up. “Quick! We have to get the horses!” They both stood and searched the surrounding area for Starlight and Nightfall.

Tears were streaming down Lilly’s face when they met back up. “I can’t find them! Oh, how will we get home without the horses?”

A deep growl resonated behind them. Lottie slowly turned around. Not fifteen feet from the girls, a sharp-toothed black wolf crouched, ready to attack.

“Up the tree!” cried Lottie. She boosted Lilly up to the lowest branch. Then she clambered up behind her sister. The vicious wolf snapped at their heels. The girls screamed.

“Go away!” shrieked Lottie. She chucked sticks at the wolf. But that only made it even more enraged. The wolf clawed at the tree, trying to get to the sisters. They screamed even louder. Lilly hid behind Lottie, sobbing.

The wolf’s claws dug into the tree. It scratched at the bark, peeling it away. The ravenous canine swiped at the girls, narrowly missing one of Lilly’s feet. Lottie tried to reach up and get to the next branch, but it was too high.

So here they were, trapped in the tree.

The wolf barked and snarled mere inches below them. Suddenly, BANG! BANG! BANG! Three shots rang out, and the wolf slumped to the ground. A horse and rider trotted closer to the tree. The rider dismounted. He poked the wolf with his rifle. “Yup. It’s dead.” Then, he turned his face to the girls. A shaft of moonlight illuminated it.

“Papa!” squealed the two girls, falling from the tree into their father’s arms.

“Why are you two all the way out here?” asked Papa. He set his daughters on the ground.

“We were running away,” said Lottie. At the look of shock on Papa’s face, she quickly added, “We were going to be back in time for supper, except we got lost.”

“And then we fell asleep, and our horses ran away,” finished Lilly. Her eyes welled up with tears again.

Papa smiled kindly at her. He whistled, and two large, dark forms walked closer to him. “You mean these horses?” The outline of Starlight became more distinct as he came nearer. Nightfall soon came into view, too.

The two girls raced toward the horses. Lilly wrapped Starlight's graceful neck in a joy-filled embrace.
            Papa hugged his girls again. “Let’s go home.”

 

***

 

  One month later…

  Lottie and Lilly once again sat on the front porch, though this time, they weren't bored. They were shelling peas for Mama, as they discussed the past month. After arriving home, the twins had gotten an abundance of extra chores as punishment for their escapade. On top of that, they hadn’t been allowed to go riding without Mama, Papa, or Jared.

  Lottie dropped some peas into the metal bowl with a light ping! “I think I’ve learned my lesson. I’m never running away again.”

  “Me either,” said Lilly. She glanced at her sister. “I never got to thank you for saving my life. You know, from the wolf.”

Lottie smiled. “No problem. That’s what sisters are for.” She hugged Lilly. Then, she popped one of the peas into her mouth.

Little did the sisters know, their mother stood in the doorway, watching them. Both girls still had much to learn, though Andi knew they truly had understood their lesson this time.

Over the coming years, the sisters would learn numerous other things, too, not merely from their experiences in the world but from each other.

Andi smiled and thanked God for her children. She was so happy the twins had come back, safe and sound. Hopefully, they didn’t have too many more crazy adventures. Then again, she thought, they are my children. Who knows what they’ll do tomorrow?