Mail Order Madness (15 page)

Chapter
Eight

After breakfast the following morning, Susan sat down with just Albert at the table. 
She’d let him slide on the absolute obedience rule as he’d gotten used to her, and
she couldn’t let that happen any longer. 

Albert sat back in his chair and glared at her, letting her know he didn’t appreciate
her presence in his house or her insistence they have another “little talk.”

Susan cleared her throat before speaking.  “I want you to know I’ve noticed you’re
not being obedient the first time I tell you to do things.  I’ve been here for long
enough now that you know you need to obey.  I will start using consequences if you
don’t obey immediately the first time I tell you to do something.  It doesn’t matter
whether or not you like me.  I’m your mother now and I’m here to stay.”

“You don’t really expect me to do whatever you tell me to do, do you?  I mean, you’re
not my real mom.  You’re just some girl my dad married.”

Susan took a deep breath, mentally counting to ten before responding.  “I’m the only
mom you’ve got, and yes, I expect absolute obedience every time I say something. 
From now on, there will be consequences, and they will be swift.  Is that understood?”

“You can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do.  I don’t care what you say!”  He
stood up quickly tipping his chair over in the process.

“Pick your chair up.”
  There was no time like the present to assert her authority and make sure he knew
he was going to obey.

“No!  You can’t make me!”  He ran from the room and straight out the front door to
the corral where he knew his father was spending the day working with the horses.

Susan left the chair on its side and warned both Sadie and Mrs. Hackenshleimer not
to fix it before she followed at a more sedate pace.  She’d give Albert time to complain
to David about her and tell her what a terrible step-mother she was before she made
him do exactly what he’d been told to do.

*****

David looked up to see Albert running toward him, his face red with anger and his
fists clenched. 
He probably had another run-in with Susan.  When is he going to understand that she’s
not going to give up, and he’s going to obey her or suffer her consequences?

“I hate her, Pa.  She’s so mean to me.  Why did you marry her?”  Albert had angry
tears running down his face and his voice was shaking.

“She’s mean to you?  What has she done that’s mean?”  David’s voice was calm.  He
wanted the boy to explain what Susan had done that was so terrible.
  He was certain she hadn’t been mean in any real way, but she did tend to threaten
to use a switch on the boys more than he would like.

Albert took a deep breath winded from his run from the house.  “She said I have to
do whatever she says whenever she says it.  If I don’t, she’s going to punish me.”

“She’s your mother now.  She has the right to expect o
bedience from you.”  David’s voice was matter-of-fact, trying to let his son know
he would back up Susan if necessary.

“But she doesn’t have the right to punish me!”

“What kind of punishment are we talking about?  She doesn’t have the right to spank
you, but she has the right to do anything else necessary to get you to obey.”
  David folded his arms over his chest to see what Albert would say about that.

“She said if I don’t obey the first time, I have to do what she told me to do ten
times.  That’s just stupid!”

“Whether you think it’s stupid or not, it’s your job to do exactly what she says. 
Did she tell you to do something you didn’t do?”
 

Albert kicked at a clump of dirt on the ground not meeting his father’s eyes.  “Well,
I knocked over my chair by mistake, and she told me to pick it up, but I ran out here
to you instead.”

David sighed.  “Why didn’t you just pick it up?  Wouldn’t that have made more sense?
  Especially if you knew you’d have to pick it up ten times instead of one if you
didn’t?
”

“I just don’t understand why I have to listen to her.  She doesn’t want me to have
any fun anymore.”

“She doesn’t?  Didn’t she let you have fun yesterday?  Didn’t she even encourage you
to have fun by fixing a picnic lunch?
  And she certainly didn’t stop you from joining the baseball game.
”

Albert shrugged.  “I guess.”

“I think she does want you to have fun.  She just wants you to have fun in a way that
doesn’t hurt others.  She wants you to be well-behaved in your fun.”
  He knew at Albert’s age, he’d have fought Susan’s influence as hard as Albert was,
but he needed his son to see she was there to help not hurt.

“I like things the way they were before she came here!  Can’t you send her back to
Massachusetts?”

David grinned despite all his efforts not to.  “No, I can’t.  I married her.  You
heard the judge.  He said, ‘Til death do you part.’  That means I’ll be married to
her until one of us dies.  And if I kill her, I’ll just have to go to prison and never
see you again,” he added quickly before Albert suggested it.

“Well, I don’t want you to go to prison….”

“Good.  Because even for you, I wouldn’t kill my wife.  I happen to like having her
around.”  He saw Susan walking toward them.  Squeezing Albert’s shoulder, he said,
“It’s time for you to face the music, son.”

Albert looked toward the house.  “I guess she’s the music.”

David chuckled.  “She is right now.”

“Well, she’s definitely not a tune I like.”

When Susan reached them, she held her hand out for Albert’s.  “Are you ready for your
punishment?”

Albert looked down at his feet.  “I guess so, but do I have to hold your hand on the
way back to the house?”

Susan nodded solemnly.  “It’s part of the punishment.  You have to talk to me, too.”
   She knew Albert would rather do anything than hold her hand, so she made a big
deal about holding hands with him, swinging their hands back and forth.

David met her eyes and winked at her as he watched them walk back toward the house. 
He realized a little more every day just how incredible the woman he’d married was.

Susan waited until they were out of earshot of David before saying, “You know you
broke the rule we were talking about during our conversation about it.”
  Her voice portrayed just how silly she thought that was.

Albert sighed and kicked at a weed in his path.  “I know.”

“You know I’m going to punish you for it, right?”
 

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Do you remember the punishment for disobedience?”
  As if he could forget the punishment when they’d just been talking about it.

“I have to do whatever I was told to do ten times.”  His shoulders sagged as he said
it.  “
So I get to knock over a chair nine times and pick it up ten?” 

Susan shook her head.  “No, knocking over the chair is fun, so I get to do that part. 
You just have to pick it up ten times, and set it right at the table.”
  She did her best not to smile as she told him, because she didn’t want him to think
she was laughing at his punishment.

“You do know that’s stupid, right?”

“I tried to talk your pa into letting me take a switch to your bottom instead, but
he said I couldn’t.  So I have to get creative with ‘stupid’ punishments.”  She grinned
down at his bowed head.  “Would you rather I used a switch?”

“That doesn’t sound as stupid as picking up a chair ten times.”

She laughed.  “It doesn’t sound as stupid to me either, but your pa feels differently.” 
She opened the door and waited while he preceded her into the house. 

He walked straight to the dining room and picked up the chair he’d knocked over. 
“One,” he said with a groan.  She bit her lip to keep from laughing as she knocked
it over.  He picked it up.  “Two.”

After he reached “ten” she told him to go into his room for an hour and think about
how things could be calmer around the house.  After he’d stomped off to his room,
she looked up and saw her audience.  Sadie, Mrs. Hackenshleimer, Lewis and the twins
had all been watching.

She shrugged at the older women.  “Well, that was fun.”
  The sarcasm in her voice told the older women she thought it was anything but fun.

Mrs. Hackenshleimer shook her head.  “That boy needs his bottom beaten.”

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to convince David of that,” Susan said with
a sigh.  “Don’t worry, though.  It’s all a game, and it’s a game I’m going to win!
  Children in large families tend to be competitive, and I come from one of the biggest!
”

She went back to the family parlor to make clothes that weren’t identical for the
twins.

*****

During dinner that evening, David was amazed at the difference in his boys.  They
were all demonstrating the kind of table manners they’d had for Susan’s first visit
to their house.  The twins were even eating with their spoons more and less with their
fingers.  His eyes met Susan’s across the length of the long table.

He gave her a slight smile trying to communicate the difference he saw and how pleased
he was about it without bringing it to the attention of the boys.  He was truly amazed
at how much better all of his boys were behaving after less than a week.  He prayed
it wasn’t just the calm before the storm.

“So what did everyone do today?” he asked.

Albert sighed.  “I spent some time in my room thinking about my behavior, and then
I found the perfect tree for the tree house you said you’d help me build.  When can
we get started?”

David was surprised Albert even remembered the promise.  It had happened before the
twins were born and Albert hadn’t mentioned it since.  David studied his oldest son. 
Did he truly understand how difficult life had been for him as a single parent, but
now things would be easier because of Susan?

“It’s going to be a while.  I have three colts I’m training right now, and each one
is needed as soon as possible.  That means ten hour days six days a week for a while.”

Albert pushed his peas around on his plate, obviously annoyed by what his father had
said.

Susan had a thoughtful look on her face for a moment before saying, “I could help
you, Albert.  I helped my younger brothers build a tree house when I was around your
age.”

Albert stared at her in disbelief.  “But you’re a girl!”

Susan hid her grin as she shrugged.  “I am.  I’m also really good with a hammer and
saw.”  She looked at David.  “How soon could you get us some lumber?”

“I can request it tomorrow and we could have it by Wednesday.  Would it be okay with
you if your ma helped with it instead of me?”
  He held his breath waiting for the answer.  This would be such a good way for Susan
and Albert to come to terms with one another.

Albert seemed to think about it for a minute.  “She wouldn’t be allowed in it after
she was done, because she’s a girl.”

Susan shook her head looking very solemn.  “Oh, of course not.  I would never dream
of going in there when it was finished.  I’ll just help you build it and make sure
it’s safe.”  She looked at Lewis who was squirming in his chair with excitement. 
“You’d help, too, wouldn’t you Lewis?”

“Yes!” The single word was shouted in his excitement.

David hid a chuckle as he watched his wife endear his boys to her.  Walter looked
down at Susan.  “Twee house?”

Susan nodded.  “Now you boys are too little to climb up in the tree house, but when
we’re done with the tree house, maybe our building team could build a fort for you.”

“Fort?” Thomas asked.

“Do you know what a Fort is Thomas?”

Thomas shook his head, his eyes wide with wonder.

Susan directed her attention to both Thomas and Walter when she told them.  “It’s
a building for just the two of you to play in.  No one else would be able to play
in your special fort.  We could keep blocks and trains in it for you.”

“Twains?” Walter asked.

Susan nodded.  “Trains.  Do you boys want a fort?”

Both Thomas and Walter nodded their heads before
returning their attention to their dinner.

Susan met David’s eyes.  “That’s settled then.  If you’ll get us some wood, the boys
and I will start building the tree house on Wednesday.”

Albert looked slightly disappointed that he’d be helped by Susan and not David, but
he wasn’t going to quibble because he wanted to have his tree house as soon as he
could.  “Will you, Pa?”

David nodded.  “I’
ll order it tomorrow.”  He could get one of the ranch hands to build it for them,
but knew it would be a better experience for the boys, and for Susan, to build it
themselves.  He hoped this would make Albert feel less animosity toward his new step-mother.