And Along Came Jake (5 page)

"Jake, my dear." She said "I had no idea—you know, I think my family and I tend to take too many things for granted. I mean, I've always had a certain perception of you. But now, after I've gotten to know you a little better—well I'm very ashamed of myself, that's all—I mean, everyone's told me I tend to have somewhat of a snobbish attitude at times, but that's all going to change, right here and right now!" She cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and regained her composure. "Jake my dear boy, you are more than welcome to stay in that old barn just as long as you'd like."

"Abigail!" Mr. Brierly snapped, choking on some water. He wiped his chin and slammed his napkin down on the table. "May I see you in the living room for a moment?—Please excuse us children, Abigail—NOW!"

While Mr. and Mrs. Brierly were in the living room quietly bickering yet again, both Jake and Madison smiled at each other, then started giggling.

After a few minutes of quiet disagreement, Madison's parents walked back into the dining room and sat back down. "Okay Jake," Mr. Brierly said. "We'll allow you to stay at the old barn with a few conditions."

"Okay sir, no problem!" Jake said as he smiled and nodded his head.

"Don't you even want to know what the conditions are?" Mr. Brierly asked.

"Oh...yes sir." He chuckled.

"Jake!" Mr. Brierly said in a stern voice, "We're going to allow you to stay in the old barn if you will agree to a few conditions, but if you break one, just one of these conditions at any time, you will be out so fast you'll think Smitty was chasing you down the street. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir!" he replied, smiling, remembering all the times he cunningly outwitted Smitty.

"Condition number one," he said folding his arms, "you will get a job a-s-a-p; this will keep you busy and out of trouble. Condition number two: Since we are allowing you to stay on our land; you will be given chores, and be expected to do them every day. Condition number three: you will go to school regularly, when the school year restarts in the fall, to continue your education. If you can keep those conditions, you may stay at the old barn as long as you'd like. You may also come and eat supper with us every night, just make sure that you're not late. Abigail serves dinner at seven o'clock sharp, you got it!"

"Yes sir!" Said Jake

"And as for you young lady," pointing towards his daughter. "If you and Jake are to visit one another, you will do so here in the house, under our supervision. If I ever catch you anywhere near that old barn without our permission, Jake will be out, and you will be grounded until you're thirty. Is that clear?"

"Yes Pa, I understand." She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Good" interjected Mrs. Brierly, "it's all set then. Now Jake, you and Madison clear the table and wash the dishes. After you're through, you need to go back to the barn and get some sleep, because tomorrow you need to start looking for a Job."

That being said, Jake and Madison did as they were told, cleaned the table and washed the dishes. Jake walked back to his little barn, laid his head down, and began to think about his new living arrangements and conditions, and how this could be a great opportunity for a fresh new start.

—

Big Paul

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Jake's peaceful sleep was rudely interrupted early that next morning, as Mr. Brierly kicked open the barn door banging two feeder pans together, yelling from the top of his lungs.

"Rise and shine, let's go Jake! We're losing daylight, come on now! The animals are hungry, and the crops ain't gonna tend to themselves! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Jake slowly sat up, shook his head and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He was still trying to comprehend exactly what was going on.

"Aww come on Mr. Brierly!" He said in a groggy voice. "We've got all day. It's barely six a.m. Can't I just have five more minutes of sleep?"

"Five more minutes?" A puzzled look crossed Mr. Brierly's face. He started banging the feeder pans together again. "My crops could die in five more minutes! Get up, get up, get up!" He continued banging and shouting as he stormed out of the barn.

After he was completely out of sight, Jake laid back down and fell right back to sleep. He must've only closed his eyes for just a few seconds, when all of a sudden, a bucket of cold water dumped on him, causing him to jump up, gasp for air, and wildly look around.

"Why'd you have to do that, Mr. B?" Jake pouted, wiping pieces of wet hair off his face. "Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm up!" He grumbled.

"That's more like it!" Mr. Brierly nodded, and placed the empty bucket on the ground. "Now get dressed, grab the bucket, and head to the big barn to give Madison a hand. She'll tell ya what all needs to be done!"

"Get dressed...grab this...meet Madison...blah, blah, blah."
He mimicked under his breath, as Mr. Brierly walked away.

As Jake neared the big barn, he saw Madison mixing dry feed, in a large basin with her hands. "Over here Jake!" She called "Hurry up, I need that bucket!"

"Okay, I'm comin'!" he replied walking faster. He hoped Madison would explain the chore-list, as he was completely unfamiliar with all this crop and farming stuff.

"Well, well, well..." Madison teased, "Look who finally decided to wake up!"

"Give me a break, I'm not use to waking up this early."  He sighed.

"So" Madison said "I heard you had an early morning shower… did ya like it?" Before he could say a word, she handed him a large scoop and continued. "Okay, take this scoop, and fill the bucket with feed!"

He took the scoop and slowly started filling the bucket. He wasn't working slow on purpose, or even to get on Madison's nerves. He was simply uninterested, and his actions showed it very well.

"Today Jake!" She yelled. "You need to hurry, there's still a lot to do!" She demanded, hands on her hips. "Look…the faster we get this stuff done, the sooner we can go do whatever we want, got it?"

"Got it!" He nodded in agreement, and began to work a little faster.

After Jake filled the remainder of the bucket, they started walking towards the chicken coup. "So," he asked "We ain't gotta do this kinda stuff all day?"

"Well" she replied "My dad does this kinda stuff all day but I––" She paused, cracked a smile and continued, "I mean, we just have a few chores in the morning, take care of the dishes after supper, and that's basically it. It's pretty easy, but it does change a little during the school year. We'll have to wake up a bit earlier and take time for our studies, but other than that, it's not so bad."

Madison unlocked and opened the wire gate of the chicken coup. "Okay Jake, get in there and start spreading the feed around. But be careful for the rooster, he's a feisty one!"

"Everything's under control Maddie, just leave it to me!" he assured, making him seem fearless.

As the feed fell to the ground, the chickens and rooster instantly pecked at the ground, following Jake wherever he went. Just then, Mr. Brierly walked over to Madison, who was leaning on the wire fence. "Did you remember to warn him about the rooster?" He asked.

"Sure did Pa!" She replied "But he doesn't seem too concerned about it. He said that he had everything under control."

"Oh he did, did he? Well, this is gonna be good!" He chuckled.

"See, I told you!" Jake smiled. "I'm a professional at this already."

Jake decided to show off, as he began stomping his foot, taunting the rooster.

"Whatcha' got little chicken, whatcha' got?" He teased, testing the animal's patients.

As he started to walk away, he looked over and smiled at Madison, giving her a wink. "This is a piece of cake." He scoffed. "I can do this all day!"

Suddenly, Madison's eyes widened, and she began pointing behind him. "Jake, look out!"  she yelled.

Jake smiled and slowly turned to look behind him. His expression changed as he dropped the bucket, sending feed flying throughout the coup. He began running around the inside of the chicken wired fence, pleading for help.

Madison and Mr. Brierly were laughing so hard they both fell to the ground. Tears of pure joy and laughter began streaming down their faces. While Jake tried dodging the roosters attack, the chickens pecked away at the pile of feed, hastily dumped on the ground.

Just then, Mrs. Brierly walked up, letting everyone know breakfast was almost ready. When she saw Jake, and the rooster hot on his heels, she immediately joined her husband and daughter in laughter.

Jake was finally able to opened the gate and let himself out, but fell to the ground, trying to catch his breath. "What's—what's wrong with that darn chicken?" He huffed with exhaustion.

This made the Brierly's start laughing even harder. They tried to say something funny, but all that came out were broken words and pure laughter. Madison continued giggling, and tried to correct Jake's error.

"Jake, it's not a chicken, it's a roo—it's a roo—it's a––" Madison couldn't finish her sentence, and continued to cry with laughter, at Jake. "That was priceless Jake, just priceless!" Madison chuckled.

"I'm so glad my near death experience was able to amuse you!" He said, picking himself off the ground, and dusting off his clothes. "But if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go to the house, wash up and have breakfast."

"Aww, come on Jake!" laughed Mr. Brierly. "You can't tell me that wasn't funny."

Jake slowly cracked a smile, started to laugh and fell back to the ground. "Did you—did you—did you see that chicken?" He said "It almost—it almost killed me!"

They all laughed, as Madison tried to tell Jake it wasn't a chicken that attacked him, but a rooster. As they walked back to the house, the Brierly's continued to joke and carry on. Jake Patterson looked up toward the sky, closed his eyes and smiled as he felt the morning sun on his handsome face. He was trying to submerge himself in the moment, something the Brierly's may or may not have taken for granted.

Jake was basking in one of life's simple pleasures, something he realized he hadn't felt in quite a long time. Could it be something that he unknowingly lost? Or maybe, it was something he chose to forget? Whatever that something was, it didn't matter now, he was just happy to feel like part of a family again, or at least as close as he possibly could.

His deep heartfelt thought was suddenly interrupted by a sharp slap to his back from Mr. Brierly, who put his arm around Jake and gave his shoulder a good squeeze.

"Well Jake, I hope you learned a lesson back there. And, I hope you've got a big appetite son, because Abigail sure can cook a hearty breakfast!"

Jake didn't say a word, looked up at Mr. Brierly, smiled and nodded his head as they walked into the house, and sat down at the breakfast table. While they were eating, Mr. Brierly remembered another important discussion topic.

"Okay Jake," he said "After you finish here, you need to go into town and start looking for a job!"

"Aww, come on Pa!" sighed Madison, smacking her lips together. "I thought I was getting help with my chores this morning?"

"You'll get the help tomorrow honey. Jake really needs to find himself a Job!" Her father repeated.

"I always gotta do everything!" She mumbled under her breath, stabbing her scrambled eggs with her fork.

"Well, what's so important that it can't wait until your chores are done—you got a big date or something?"

"No!" she said. "I just wanted to finish the painting I've been working on."

Madison Brierly always had an odd knack for painting. All she had to do was look at something, and she could paint it perfectly, down to the smallest detail. When she was younger, her mother and father noticed her artistic skills, so three Christmases ago, they decided to buy her, her very own painting set, and she's been creating the most beautiful artwork ever since. In fact, almost all of the paintings that hang in the Brierly's home were painted by their daughter.

"You know Jake," Mrs. Brierly smiled, lightly tapping his hand. "Most of the paintings in this house were done by our little Madison."

"Mom, stop embarrassing me!" Madison glared, rolling her eyes.

Jake looked at all the paintings on the walls and was intrigued. He pushed his plate forward, got up from his seat and began to inspect some of them up close. "Wow Maddie!" he said "You painted all these? They're—they're amazing!"

"Thanks Jake!" She said blushing.

"No Maddie, I'm serious!" He said sitting back down at the table. "You should sell some of them."

Mrs. Brierly, who wasn't too keen on the idea of selling her daughters paintings, started to get agitated.

"Okay children" She said hastily. "If you're done eating, go ahead and clean the table and take care of the dishes. Jake, you need to go look for a job and Madison, you need to finish your chores. If you all will excuse me, I'm going to go and freshen up."

Mrs. Brierly walked away, she silently began to sob. Mr. Brierly looked at the children, shrugged his shoulders, then took a deep breath, exhailing very slowly.

"Go on now." He instructed. "You heard the lady. Clean up the table, and let's get a move on."

He excused himself, and followed his wife up the stairs to their bedroom. When he opened the door, he noticed Abigail on the bed, crying.

"I'm a mess Nate. I look horrible, and I've embarrassed myself in front of the children. I just can't believe it, our little girl's growing up, and I'm so afraid I'm gonna miss something." She stood up, and began pacing the room. "When Jake started talking about selling her paintings, I just––" She put her face in her hands and wept.

"Abby!" Her husband called, putting his arms around her. "Our little girl has a great talent. I know you don't want to part with any of her paintings—well heck, neither do I, but you have to face the facts Abby, people are interested in them. Remember at our Christmas party last year, both the McFarland's and the Nelson's asked what gallery we bought them from?"

"Yes!" she sniffled. "And remember the look on their faces when we told them Madison painted them?"

"Oh, I remember alright" he replied. "Our little girl sure can put a brush to a canvas, huh?"

"Thank you Nate!" She smiled, wiping her tears "I need to stop being selfish, that's all." She pointed to a certain painting which hung over their bed, "that painting of the Beven's old barn isn't going anywhere. That's my favorite!"

"No worries Abby, that ain't goin' nowhere." He confirmed, giving his wife a kiss on the forehead, grabbed his hat, twirled it around until it topped his head, then gave her a wink and a smile. "I'm gonna go tend to the crops; I've got a long day ahead of me."

"My Madison sure can paint!"
Mrs. Brierly thought to herself, as her husband left the room.

As she walked back down to the kitchen, she noticed Jake and Madison sitting at the kitchen table talking.

"Hi Ma!" Madison smiled, seeing her mother, knowing she was supposed to be out doing her chores. "We finished clearing the table and the dishes!"

"Shouldn't you be doing your chores young lady, and Jake, shouldn't you be in town looking for a job?" Ms. Brierly asked.

"Blah, blah, blah. I never get to do anything!" Madison grumbled as she rolled her eyes and went to do her chores.

"Thanks for breakfast Mrs. B." Jake said getting up from the table. "And have a good day!" He added, smiling.

"Good luck out there today. Dinner's at seven sharp, don't be late!"

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Jake headed into town, hoping to land a job allowing him to continue living in the old barn. When Jake arrived in town, he put his hands on his hips, and took a deep breath.
" Here goes nothin"
He told himself, as he walked into Mr. Cobb's hardware store.

Mr. Cobb politely excused himself from the costumer needing help, and walked over to Jake. He bent down to eye level and pointed a finger in his face.

"I've got my eye on you, Jake Patterson." He warned "The other day, I was taking inventory, and noticed a handful of nails missing. One of my loyal customers and I were discussing it, and we both agreed you must have been the one that took them. Did you take my nails, you little thief?"

"N-N-No Mr. Cobb!" He answered nervously, shaking his head. "I didn't take the nails from the store, I didn't—honest. In-fact, I was waitin' for you to get done talking with that customer, so I could ask you for a job."