The air was a smothering cloud of humidity as Buck Wilmington straightened up and drew a kerchief from his back pocket to wipe away the sweat clinging to his brow. The air was still. There was not a breath of wind to give any relief as the late afternoon sun beat down on the man and his fellow regulators. Remembering the last few days spent wishing for the sun to shine reminded the tall dark-haired man of how his mother had always told him to be careful what he wished for because he just might get it.
The small community of Four Corners, where Buck worked as a peacekeeper with his friends, had experienced a record-breaking rainfall. Heavy thunderstorms had raged for over a week causing creeks and rivers to overflow and flood most of the surrounding area. The gunmen had been forced indoors along with everyone else. For eight long, wet days they had watched as Mother Nature ran rampant in their little corner of the Earth.
Ezra and Vin, the twin boys Buck and his oldest friend Chris Larabee had found and taken in, had developed a severe case of cabin fever by the time the rain finally stopped falling and the floodwaters started receding. The two men had been at their wits ends for ways to keep the boys occupied and out of mischief after being stuck inside for so long. It was a tremendous relief all around when Chris finally announced that it was safe for the children to venture forth again.
Directing the rebuilding of the waterlogged town was a job that had somehow fallen on the peacekeepers shoulders. All the townsfolk looked to the five regulators for help and the men steadfastly provided what they could. They were currently out at the Wells place helping Nettie and her niece, Casey, rebuild the corral fence that had been swept away by rushing flood waters from the creek that ran parallel to her spread. The old widow woman was especially appreciative and had promised the men a feast in return for their hard labors.
While the men worked, the twins gleefully played among the large puddles that remained around the ranch and its pastures. The two took turns chasing each other and periodically stopping to sit on their heels to examine some curiosity left behind by the floodwaters. Although working hard, the men still managed to keep a close eye on the two at all times. When the boys jumped up from where they were hunkered down by one of the biggest puddles and took off running for Nettie's cabin, the regulators watched in puzzlement.
"What do you supposed they're up to now?" Buck asked with an amused smile.
"With those two, there's no telling," Chris replied with a fond chuckle as he wiped his sleeve across his own brow.
When the pair returned a few minutes latter, each clutching a long piece of string in one hand and the regulators looked at each other in curiosity.
Vin and Ezra began looking around and the men saw them pick up and discard several different tree branches that had been deposited in the ranch yard by the floodwaters before finding two to their liking. The twins were grinning widely and speaking to each other but the men were too far away to hear what they were conversing about. As their foster fathers watched, the boys each tied their string around the end of a branch then Vin reached into his pocket and handed something to Ezra.
Completely ignoring the adults and not aware they were being scrutinized, the boys carefully tied the objects in their hands to the dangling end of the strings. Then both boys ran to the puddle they had been crouched beside before and dropped the ends into the water.
Curiosity aroused, Buck called loudly to the boys, "What are you boys doin'?"
"Gonna catch some fish," Vin called back with a grin and a wave then returned to his fishing.
Buck started laughing at Vin's answer.
"They're fishin' in the puddle," he chuckled. "Don't that beat all!"
The regulators had to laugh at the sight of the boys with their homemade fishing poles squatting next to the puddle.
"What's all the ruckus?" Nettie asked as she approached the laughing group with a bucket of drinking water for the men that JD took from her and set on the ground.
A still laughing Buck just pointed at the twins and grinned.
"You think we should tell them they can't catch a fish in there?" Chris asked, the grin still wide on his face.
"Nope," was Nettie's succinct reply.
"You know," JD said tentatively, "It's kinda mean to laugh at ‘em. I mean, they're too young to know any different."
"It's all the better for them then," Nettie stated with a wise look. "If they don't know it's impossible, then maybe, just maybe, they'll wind up doing it."
"Ah come on, Miss Nettie," Nathan shook his head at the woman as he spoke, "You know that while it's probably fun to pretend they're fishin', they're just wasting their time if they expect to catch something. You know that, and we know that."
"But they don't know that so they stand a much better chance of doing it than you or I would. I've been around a lot of years and I've seen a lot of things," Nettie lectured him. "And one thing I've learned is to never believe in the impossible. Most times something that people think is impossible to do is really just something nobody has figured out a way to do YET. It doesn't necessarily mean it can't ever be done."
"Very interesting argument," Josiah intoned, his ears perking up at the first hint of a debate brewing. "But I've been around a lot of years too. I've seen fish that lived in the ocean, and fish that lived in a stream or creek. I've even seen ‘em living in a glass tank once, but I ain't never seen a fish living in a puddle."
"Maybe you just haven't been looking in the right puddles," Nettie informed the ex-preacher with an enigmatic smile before changing the subject. "You boys want some water or not. I got to get back into the kitchen before supper burns."
The peacekeepers passed the water dipper around until each had enough then Nettie returned to her cabin. The men turned back to their work, laughing and talking about the silly notions people could latch onto, especially as they got older.
Ezra's excited voice drew their attention again several minutes later, "Now, Vin! NOW!"
The five peacekeepers turned just in time to see Vin, a look of intense concentration on his face, suddenly jerk his makeshift fishing pole back pulling the string from the water abruptly. Buck felt his own jaw drop in amazement as a slim, silver body came with it. The men could only stand in stunned disbelief as the boys raced to grab the fish, which was flopping on the ground, before it could flip itself back into the water. Vin managed to get both his hands around it and held it up in triumph for his brother to see.
"You did it,Vin!" Ezra crowed, very pleased with his brother's accomplishment. "You got him!"
"Yep," Vin grinned at his twin, "He's a beauty, ain't he?"
"Absolutely," Ezra assured him. "A most fine specimen, I must say."
Vin eagerly turned to the watching men and held up his prize for his foster father to see.
"Look, Buck! I caught a fish all by myself!"
Buck swallowed his incredulity long enough to praise the child for his accomplishment saying, "You surely did! That's quite a catch you got there. Good job, buddy!"
"But how?" Nathan stood staring at the children, shaking his head in wonder and trying to figure out if he was actually seeing things or not.
JD, equally mystified, looked from the children to the cabin porch where Nettie had come out and stood watching the commotion with a knowing smile. All of a sudden the light dawned on the young man and he began to hoot with laughter.
"The stream," he wheezed at Nettie as he tried to catch his breath from laughing so hard, "It flooded and washed the fish out here then they were stranded in the puddle when the waters went down, wasn't it? You knew there were fish in there, didn't you?"
"It's not the first flood these old bones have lived through on this place," the old woman acknowledged with a satisfied smirk.
Vin and Ezra joined the laughing group, the small fish clutched carefully in the blond boy's hands.
"Can we have it for dinner, Miz Nettie?" Vin asked hopefully as he looked up with pleading eyes at the old woman.
"Yes, please, ma'am," Ezra added his own plea.
"Tell you what, boys," Nettie said smiling down at him, "If you get someone to help you clean it, then I'll fry it up. How's that?"
Vin's excited eyes to Buck who nodded agreeably and replied, "We can do that."
Vin's answering grin was blinding. Ezra's was a mirror image. The large man led the two small boys away while the boys regaled him with their "fish" story
Watching the threesome walk away Josiah started to chuckle again. "Well that ought to teach us but good," Josiah said. "We were all so sure that they couldn't catch a fish in there. Guess even us folk that have been around a few years still have a few things we can learn from the little ‘uns."
"And from the older ones too," Chris said casting a look full of respect at Nettie.
The old woman accepted the compliment with a nod. She turned toward her cabin, calling over her shoulder, "I best get back to the kitchen. You boys better get busy if you gonna be finished with that fence by suppertime. I'd hate to have all that food I been fixin' go to waste."
"Yes, Ma'am!" JD replied, his growling stomach a testament to how powerful a threat the woman's last words were.
Vin and Ezra intercepted her on the way to the cabin with their now cleaned catch while Buck rejoined the other men.
Ezra looked up at the woman with a little frown and asked seriously, "You wouldn't really throw the food away just because they did not complete their task before dinnertime…would you, Miss Nettie? They worked so hard. I am sure they will be quite famished when their labors are completed."
The old woman smiled down that the worried little boy and replied, "No child. I wouldn't do that. They've been a big help to an old woman. I wouldn't repay kindness like theirs with such meanness. I was just teasing them a little, but they don't have to know that, now do they? That'll be our little secret."
Nettie's faded blue eyes twinkled with laughter as she looked down at the boys. Vin and Ezra exchanged a delighted look and gave identical giggles. Their sniggers could still be heard as they followed the widow woman inside.
The End
