"Little Britches" Universe

It was the middle of night when Chris was jerked awake by an erie scream coming from the boys' room. He ran in to the room looking around trying to find what was wrong ,but by the time he got there both Vin and JD were sound asleep. From the looks of them no one would believe that a scream came out of one of them. But which one? They both look so peaceful; it was just like looking at angels. Morning would be soon enough to find answers, for now his bed was calling.

At breakfast, the boys appeared to be happy and nothing seemed to be bothering them, so Chris decided to leave well enough alone.

It was midmorning when JD fell asleep in the barn on the fresh hay and it was here that he began to mumble ".Wallbee, Wallbee where are you? Please come home, I miss you. Noooo… please don't take him away he needs me, he's too little to be alone. Please don't hurt him." JD kept saying, over and over.

Chris was just coming into the barn when he heard the boy cry out. Not wanting to hurt him or frighten him, Chris carefully shook the boy awake. As he shook him, he kept saying, "Its' all right JD, its' all right, come on now open your eyes and look at me. JD, tell me what has you all upset. Maybe there's something we can do to make it all better."

JD trembled as he held on to Chris. When he was able to speak again, he told Chris about his friend 'Wallbee' and how they took him away from him in the home. Now in the comfort of Chris' embrace , JD curled up and fell back to sleep.

Vin was up in the loft listening to JD tell Chris all about 'Wallbee'. He waited until Chris took JD back into the cabin and laid him on the bed. Then he pulled out a box he'd kept and carried everywhere, before Chris and Buck took them in. Chris was just about to question Vin about Wallbee when Vin handed Chris a piece of cloth that appeared to have a face on it .Vin explained, "It's JD's. He used to sleep with it.It's the only thing he got from his Ma and they took it away from him in the home. He cried every night after that, until they told him if he didn't stop they'd put him in a closet and lock it. I thought he forgot about it. I found it one day and this is what it looked like so I kept it. I was hoping I'd be able to get it to a doctor. Chris do you think Uncle Nathan could heal it?"

"Well let's see," Chris said, " Maybe we can fix it before JD wakes up. I believe all it needs is some new stuffing, so why don't you get some fresh straw and I'll open him up."

Before they knew it, Wallbee was like new again. They placed the doll next to JD on the bed and waited for the boy to wake.

As JD slowly woke, rubbing his eyes, he nearly fell out of the bed screaming Wallbee's name. Never before had Chris seen a happier face then that of JD Dunne as he stood clutching his treasure, the gift his Ma gave him.

That night, their little cabin was so quiet you could hear only the squeak of a mouse.

THE END

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