Trust and Obey Part One

I have to say, readers, that this story moved me. It is exceptionally well written. The only negative was that it was too long to qualify as a fan fiction story, so the young author divided it into two fan fiction stories. Here is Part 1. Part 2 is HERE.

Trust and Obey
by Claire M.

To all of you Andi fans who gave me ideas and encouraged me to keep going! Also a shout out to Andi fans who (like me) don’t write fan fiction stories that much or ever. I ask that you would try to write some fan fiction stories as fans would like to have something new to read.=) You might be surprised at how many writing obstacles you can overcome (I know I was surprised how many I could overcome)! This is also my first fan fiction story so bear with me! 

Chapter One: The Deal

“Wait up, Kate!” seven-year-old Melinda Carter shouted as she raced across the school yard to catch up with her older sister. She shoved one of her long, blonde braids away as the California breeze blew it in her face. It was Monday and Melinda knew she had a long, boring week of school ahead of her.

Katherine Carter turned around and rolled her eyes at Melinda. “Hurry up, Melinda and stop dawdling or we’ll be late.”

Melinda scowled at her; there was twenty minutes until school started and Kate knew it. She just wants me to hurry up so she can talk to Ethel, Melinda thought with a frown. But she kept silent the rest of the walk to the school house.

“Ethel, I’m so glad to see you!” Katherine squealed.

Melinda rolled her eyes as the two fifteen year old girls embraced just as if they hadn’t seen each other in months. The two girls soon forgot that she was standing there and were absorbed in conversation. Melinda scanned the faces of the kids playing around the school yard, looking for her own friends.

“Hey, Mindy!”

Melinda turned to the voice of the person who had called her by her nickname. She preferred to be called Mindy because the name Melinda sounded too proper. Melinda smiled when she saw her best friend coming towards her. “Howdy, Zeke!” she returned. Ezekiel Turner was two years older than Melinda, but they were still fast friends.

Even from a ways away, Melinda could see a mischievous twinkle in Zeke’s green eyes. When he reached her he held out his hands which were tightly closed around something. “Look at this, Mindy.” He opened his hands and Melinda gasped with delight at what she saw. Resting on the palms of his hands lay a beautiful little corn snake. Its black bulging eyes stared up at Melinda as it flicked its delicate forked tongue out. “You can hold it,” Zeke said as he handed the snake over to her. Melinda already loved the little snake and hardly wanted to give it back to him. “You can keep it if you give me something in return,” Zeke said with a sly smile. Melinda looked at him suspiciously: “What do you want?”

Zeke grinned. “The arrow head you found last week and your three best marbles.”

Melinda pulled the objects he had named from her apron pocket and fingered them uncertainly. Then, she looked at the snake; his eyes looked at her and his tongue flicked out again. Just then, there was no doubt in Melinda’s mind. “It’s a deal.” She said just as Miss Hall rang the school bell.

Chapter Two: Recess Gone Wrong

Melinda sighed to herself as she watched some older girls jumping rope a ways away. It was recess time, but her mind was still on the events of earlier that afternoon. Miss Hall had found the snake in Melinda’s desk and made her take it outside. Melinda would never forget those black eyes staring up at her when she had set the snake down under some bushes. When She had gotten back in the classroom she was made to stand in the corner the rest of the afternoon. Now she had no arrowhead, no marbles, and no snake. Melinda was just glad that she was allowed to have recess. She sighed again, still thinking about the snake.

“Hey Mindy, come on over; we need a second baseman!” Zeke’s shout drove Melinda from her sorrowful thoughts. The boys were starting a baseball game and they were just one player short. Melinda was about to decline; not because she didn’t like playing baseball, she just didn’t want to get scolded if she got her dress dirty.

“Girls can’t play baseball.”

Melinda’s face turned red at Herbert’s sneering remark. At just nine years old, Herbert Stone was, in her opinion, the meanest boy in the school. He killed frogs and snakes, pulled little girls’ braids, tripped people, and worst of all, he always tried to get other kids in trouble. Herbert was the reason Melinda’s snake was gone; he had tattled. She remembered her brothers telling her about the time when they took revenge on Herbert’s older brother, Freddy, because he had made fun of Kate for having an accident on her first day of school. Melinda wished that somebody would stuff Herbert’s mouth full of dirt.

Melinda suddenly forgot all about not wanting to get her dress dirty. “I can play baseball better than most boys!” She retorted, scowling at Herbert. “And I do want to play.” They chose sides and Melinda was on a team with Zeke and some other boys. She was glad she wasn’t on the same team as Herbert.

The ball game started in full swing, with Melinda’s team in the lead in the very first inning.  But with fifteen minutes to go, Herbert’s team started to make a comeback. The score was nine to eight when it was Melinda’s team’s turn to bat. Melinda was desperately hoping that her team could add on some extra runs to give them a bigger lead, but she watched in dismay as the third and final batter of the inning struck out like the two who had come before.

Now there were only seven minutes left until the bell rang, which meant only enough time for Herbert’s team to bat. The first player to bat in the inning instantly got to first base. Melinda’s hope soared when the next two batters struck out, but her joy was short lived when she saw who was batting next; Hebert. Even though she didn’t like Herbert, she had to admit he played baseball better than any boy in the school. Melinda positioned herself closer to second base, determined that she would let no flying baseball pass her.

The tension was thick in the air, and it seemed as though in that one moment, time froze for everyone else in the school yard besides the baseball players. Herbert put the bat over his shoulder, signifying that he was ready for the pitcher to throw the ball.

THUD! Melinda knew that this was a good hit the second she heard the bat make contact. She looked way out to left field, the direction the ball was speedily heading to. Game over, was her disappointed thought as she watched the ball go dangerously close to the tree that marked the home run boundary.

But to her surprise, the ball never went past the tree, but instead landed with a thump on the ground next to the astonished left fielder. Herbert and the other base runner seemed caught off guard too, because they were slowly making their way around the bases in the manner of a team who had just hit a home run. They realized all too late that this was no home run. But Melinda watched with joy as Hebert decided to go to second base, instead of back to first which was closer. By now the left fielder already had the ball in his hand and chucked it as far as he could in Melinda’s direction.

Just then the school bell rang but none of the baseball players paid any attention. Melinda firmly planted one foot on the base and the other on the dirt. As the ball came near her she stretched out as far as she could without stepping off of the base. She closed her hand around the ball before it could get away. YES! He’s out! We wo—

“Mindy, look out!”

Zeke’s warning came too late. She felt Herbert’s foot bump her leg as he slid into second base. OOF! Melinda found herself in the dust. Zeke ran over and helped her up. “You okay, Melinda?” She tried to brush herself off the best she could, but the dust clung to her dress.

She straightened, “I’m fine.”

Zeke covered his face with his hand; it looked to Melinda like he was trying hard not to laugh. “You’re a sight Mindy! What will your mother say when she sees you looking like this?”

Melinda gulped; she knew all too well what her mother would say when she heard about her behavior.

Chapter Three: Drownded

“You should be more careful of your clothes and not play rough games with boys.”

The words still rang in Melinda’s ears as she pounded up the steps two at a time. So what if her dress was a little dirty? It could be washed. And baseball, rough? That wasn’t the word Melinda would describe it as. Fun, exciting, delightful all seemed to fit much better. Now Mother was displeased with her and had sent her to her room. Just because I played a little ol’ game of baseball and got a little dust on my dress, I can’t go riding this afternoon.

When Melinda reached her room she yanked the door open and swooshed in. She was just about to slam the door close, but then she thought twice about it and shut it a bit more gently then a slam. She dropped down on her bed and rested her chin in her hands. A tiny knock on her door brought her back to reality a couple of minutes later. She turned away and didn’t answer the knock because she didn’t feel like talking to anyone. The next sound Melinda heard was that of the door opening with a bang and little toddling feet on the floor.

“M’inda! I heard you got in trouble!” the little voice squealed.

Melinda groaned. Of all people, why did it have to be Baby Andrea coming to pester her with questions? She looked down at her not quite two-year-old, dark haired, blue-eyed baby sister. Little Andrea was cute, and Melinda loved her dearly, but sometimes she had a way of getting on people’s nerves. Especially when she looked at you with her big puppy-eyes, like she was doing right now.

“Can I sit wiff you, please? Can you tell me about today?”

Melinda couldn’t resist the huge eyes staring up at her. Besides, Andrea would just start crying if she sent her away now. That wouldn’t do either of us any good.

“Oh, all right.” She finally agreed. “But don’t go interrupting every two minutes.” At little Andrea’s nod, Melinda plunged into the whole long story of the baseball game, getting her dress dirty, and standing in the corner two times that day because of the snake and playing baseball. “So now I can’t go riding this afternoon because Mother wants me to stay in my room. I also have to wear nice clothes to school the rest of the week because Mother said it will help me to think about keeping my clothes nice. So I am grounded for the rest of the week.” Melinda finished with a huff. Andrea’s wide blue eyes got even wider at Melinda’s last sentence.

“You got drownded? You mean like when I almost got drownded last week? Why would Mother try to drownded you? Were you scared? I was scared when I almost got drownded ‘cause—”

“Drownded? No, grounded.” Melinda corrected. Little Andrea was always saying one word or another wrong. She talked too much for such a little thing.

Way too much,” big brother Chad often noticed. “It’s not natural for all those sentences to come out of a itsy bitsy toddler.”

“And anyway, you didn’t almost get ‘drownded’, you almost got ‘drowned,’” Melinda added.

Andrea wrinkled her nose in confusion. “Grounded? Is that like when you get drownded in the ground? How can you get drownded in dirt? What did it feel li—”

“Oh, never mind,” Melinda huffed. “Why don’t you go play with the kitten?” She was getting kind of fed up with all of Andrea’s pesky questions. Didn’t she ever get tired of asking them?

            “Okay M’inda!”

Melinda watched as Andrea plopped off the bed and went toddling towards the door. “I’ll ask Mother what grounded means,” she threw over her shoulder as she walked out the door. 

Melinda smiled to herself; she knew Andrea would forget to ask Mother, she always did.

Chapter Four: Not Quite Right

           

The evening meal was rather an unpleasant affair for Melinda. Everyone in her family had heard about her day at school and they were all trying not to address it. Well, most of the members of the Carter family were trying not to address it. Only two of them were willing to address the topic: a certain Chad Carter who loved to tease, and a certain Andrea Carter who wasn’t old enough to realize that everybody else was avoiding this particular subject.

“I heard you had yourself quite a day, Mindy,” Chad began with a grin.

Melinda scowled. Why does Chad always want to talk about stuff he knows I don’t want to talk about?

Just then, little Andrea put in her two cents worth. “M’inda almost got grounded.” She said proudly because she had used the right word. She smiled and started humming a happy song to herself, clearly impressed with her success. At Chad’s next words, Melinda saw the smile wiped off her face.

            “You don’t even know what that means, do you?” Chad chuckled.

Andrea’s little face turned burning red. She jumped up and put her tiny hands on her hips; clearly annoyed at her brother’s quick conclusion. “I do too know what it means!” She took a deep breath.

It looked to Melinda like she was about to make the most important speech of her life.

“Grounded is when you drownded in the dirt.” She gave Chad a triumphant look. He appeared ready to burst with laughter. Justin warned him to contain himself with an amused look in his eye. As usual, Mitch broke the silence that had since occurred.

            “Good for you, little sister.” He said with a wink. Mitch hadn’t gone to school that day; he got to stay home and help around the ranch. Andrea cast one last victorious look at Chad and sat down.

Melinda sighed her relief when the dinner conversation turned to its normal flow of cattle, horses, and just ranch business in general. Andrea is very good at distracting people.

Melinda happened to glance at Kate just then and was surprised to see what looked like the very description of disgust on her face. She had never noticed that about Kate before. I wonder what’s wrong. I didn’t take long for Melinda to realize it: Kate didn’t like the talk about the ranch. And the more and more Melinda watched, the more and more evident it became. She looked like she was ready to die of boredom.

Could it be that Kate didn’t like the ranch? No, that CAN’T be true. But Melinda still felt that something wasn’t quite right.

Chapter Five: Not There

Melinda hopped out of bed with a thud and began getting ready for school. Friday at LAST! That means I only have to wear those fancy clothes for one more day! As she dressed, she scowled at the frilly dress. But then she brightened, “After today I can throw you in my closet and never look at you for school again.” Melinda started to hum as she got ready.

When she finished, she headed to Kate’s room to wake her up. Kate was pretty much always a late riser, unlike Melinda. Melinda didn’t like it when she woke up late, because it felt like she had slept half the day away.

            “Wake up, sleepy hea—” But as soon as soon as she entered the room, her words died away. Melinda scanned the neat, tidied-up room that surrounded her. Kate wasn’t there. Melinda didn’t know why she was shocked, after all Kate sometimes got up early. She shook her head and went downstairs.

***

            “Good morning, everyone.” Melinda greeted her family as she sat down at the table. She scanned over the faces of all the members at the table. “Where is Kate?”

            “Are you kidding?” Chad asked with a laugh. “You know she is never down this early in the morning.” He added, “She's just upstairs in her room.”

Melinda bit her lip. “No she isn’t.” Her heart started pounding hard as she saw the surprised look on her family’s faces. “I peeked my head in her room to wake her up, but when I opened the door, she wasn’t there.”

Stunned silence met her remark.

Finally, level-headed Justin cleared his throat. “Are you sure she’s not in her room? She could’ve been in the closet, you know.”

Melinda considered this. She hadn’t checked the closet. She shook her head. “She’s not in there, Justin. She would have responded to my call.” Melinda’s voice wavered as she spoke. She felt a shiver go up and down her spine. She didn’t know why she was so scared, but she was. Suddenly it was all there, the constant complaining, the boredom, the disgust, all of it floated into Melinda’s mind so that she barely noticed her family’s nervous chatter about where she might be.

            “I bet she ran away,” Melinda murmured. It clicked all at once. She had never thought that Kate would want to run away, but now it made sense. For the first time in her life, Melinda realized that she had never seen Kate truly happy.

            “What did you say?”

Justin’s question brought Melinda back to the here and now. “She’s not here, Justin, she ran away.”

Absolute silence met her remark. No one tried to deny it. Melinda felt like crying. Why doesn’t Kate like it here? Doesn’t she love us? Doesn’t she realize how easy it is to see the beauty of God’s creation, right here on the ranch?

            Justin leaned over to look Melinda straight in the eyes. “Do you know this for certain?” he asked. Melinda wasn’t quite sure what that look on Justin’s face was, but he didn’t look surprised by her conclusion. In fact, it almost seemed he agreed with her.

            “No, I don’t know but…” Melinda trailed off. How could she tell her family all that she had seen in Kate?

            “Of course she didn’t run away,” Father said. “Katherine’s probably in the barn with Esmeralda; she spends a lot of time with that new horse of hers, you know. Why, she probably didn’t even know we started breakfast yet. She’ll be in shortly, you’ll see.” Father seemed so sure of this.

It made Melinda relax a little, but only a little. She wouldn’t put it past Kate to run away. Even if it did seem like a loco idea. But after breakfast, Melinda was even less convinced that Kate was just in the barn with her horse, for she hadn’t come to breakfast at all.

Now everyone looked worried. Even Father look concerned and started giving orders for a search to begin.

            Melinda tugged at her mother’s sleeve. “Can I help look for Kate too?” She held her breath. She hoped Mother would let her skip school just this once; this was such an important matter.

            “‘May I help look for Kate too.’” Mother corrected. “No, don’t worry about such matters. We will most likely have found Katherine by the time you get back from school. I’ll not have you waste an entire school day to look for her, especially since we will probably find her within the first hour or two of you being gone.” Mother smiled to reassure her, but Melinda could still see the worried look on her face.

Chapter Six: Found…for Now

           

Melinda plopped down on the bottom step of the staircase with a sigh. It had been three weeks since they had seen Kate last, and there was still no news of her. By now there were posters all around that told about her and offered a reward, and still, nothing had turned up. The town was in a stir about the whole thing, and the town busy bodies’ wagged their tongues endlessly. She had never seen tiny Millerton so aroused by something. Melinda was heartbroken over the whole mess; she looked up to her big sister and loved her. Is she ever planning on coming back?

            A knock at the door an instant later made Melinda jump. Maybe someone knows something about Kate! She hopped up to answer the door. When she opened the door she saw a boy holding a telegram in his hand. When he handed it to her she took it with a hasty “Thank you” but then realized the boy still wanted money for delivering.

Like magic, Justin appeared and handed the boy a coin, and the boy was off like a shot.

            Melinda looked at the telegram, anticipation soaring. But her heart sank when she realized who it was from. “Oh, it’s only from Aunt Rebecca.”  What a time for Aunt Rebecca to be sending us a telegram. We have more important things to worry about.

            Justin looked thoughtful. “You know, Aunt Rebecca doesn’t usually send us telegrams. She usually writes one of her famous long letters. This might be something important.”

That was true enough. Aunt Rebecca usually wrote pages and pages in her letters, not just one tiny card-sized one. She turned it over and read. It was only two sentences, but it was the happiest thing Melinda had ever laid eyes on:

Katherine is here with me. She is safe.

            “Justin, she’s with Aunt Rebecca, and she is okay! Let’s go tell everyone!”

***

            “… and thank You that Kate was found, and that she is safe. Amen.” Melinda finished her prayer and crawled into bed. She reached over and turned off the lamp beside her bed, but she didn’t go to sleep, for so much had happened that day. She had found the whole family assembled in the library, discussing plans for where to look next. She broke the joyous news and showed them Aunt Rebecca’s telegram. Father had shaken his head when he saw it. “Rebecca will never be able to look after a strong-willed girl such as Kate. But Kate won’t forgive me so easily if I go and get her now. She may stay with Rebecca for a little while longer.”

And so it was a grateful family that had gathered around the table that night.

            Melinda sighed happily and burrowed deeper into the warm quilt. Any number of things could have happened to Kate on her run away journey. And yet, in spite of her disobedience, God had led her safely to Aunt Rebecca’s. Katherine was safe, but somehow Melinda felt that Katherine wouldn’t give up so easily.

At least she’s found… for now.