Chapter One: A Summer Holiday
Reggie and Molly were excited, as they jumped out of bed, got dressed and ran outside to explore their new campsite, deep in the heart of the
“Look at the river!” said Molly. “I want to go swimming.”
“Molly and I are going swimming in the river,” Reggie hollered to their parents, who were drinking coffee while looking at a map of recreational trails. “We will have breakfast later.”
“Have fun, but be careful!” Mattie, their mother replied. “Take our pup along and maybe he will go for a swim, too!”
“Sure Mom. Come on, pup. Let’s go!”
“I’ll race you,” hollered Molly, grabbing her towel and leaving her brother far behind, as she tore down the pathway towards the river, with the pup on her heels.
Chapter Two: The First Encounter
“Was that a good idea? asked Barth, the children’s father. He was a tall, well-built, blonde man, who was normally relatively cautious. “Mattie, we don’t know this park.”
“The children will be fine,” insisted Mattie, a happy-go-lucky, fair-haired, young woman. “We have to trust them. This is a designated family recreation area.”
Just then, a large, black, recreational vehicle pulled up beside them. A dark-haired boy jumped out and ran towards the children. A young couple got out and headed directly towards Mattie and Barth.
“Hello. We are Chuck and Sandy Sampson. Our son, James, spotted your children with their pup. Mind if he spends some time with them?” a chubby, bald man asked.
“You should have asked first,” she said to her husband.
“Hello, we are Barth and Mattie Boyd,” replied Mattie, with a warm, welcoming smile. “We have hot coffee brewing, if you want to join us. Our children are Reggie and Molly, but we have not named our pup yet.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t be so friendly,” thought Barth, sensing something was wrong. Chuck did not look him straight in the eye, or shake his hand. Barth, was still determined to be polite, but took an instant dislike to him.
Mattie chatted with Sandy, who seemed friendly enough. “It will be nice having someone else around,” said Mattie. “It is lonely here.”
“I sure hope these folks don’t ruin our vacation,” thought Barth.
Chapter Three: The First Incident
Reggie was upset because Molly appeared to be attracted to James, who was around her age. He was also vying for the attention of their puppy, but not in a nice way.
“Throw sticks in the water for him, not at him!” Reggie hollered at James. “Don’t hurt him.”
The pup swam towards Molly. Obviously, he was not enjoying this kind of play with James, but Molly seemed to be oblivious to that fact.
"I can see that he does not own a dog,” thought Reggie to himself.
“Hey, that is not how you teach a pup to swim!” yelled Reggie, as James grabbed the pup from her, and tossed him into deeper water. “That was mean!”
Reggie swam after the frightened pup, grabbed him and held him close.
“Stay away from James!” ordered Reggie, a few moments later.
.
“But, James seemed so nice,” replied Molly, noting the serious look on her brother’s face. “I was almost falling in love with him!”
“Puppy love is the worst thing that could happen!” replied Reggie. “Just for once, trust the judgment of your older brother. James has already lost his credibility with me. Doing something out of duty like playing with a up, or out of love, can be two completely different things.”
Reggie was twelve and aware of his growing responsibility for his younger sister.
“I am ten years old!” argued Molly, who was not about to submit to her brother’s authority. “I can choose my own friends.”
“What James did to our new pup, was not an act of love.”
“It was to me,” said Molly. “James was only playing with him.”
“That was only an act of duty,” replied Reggie. “There is a difference.”
“Mom, James is not being nice, at all!” Reggie told his mother later. “He is frightening our pup. I don’t like having him around Molly. He may hurt her, too.”
“Your little sister is old enough to take care of herself,” replied Mattie, suspecting some twinges of jealousy on Reggie’s part. “James does not have any brothers and sisters, or a pup. Let them work it out between them.”
“He's a bully!” argued Reggie, wrapping the shivering puppy in a beach towel. “And he is mean.”
“How about going to get some firewood for our campfire?” suggested Mattie. “Barth, help Reggie, please.”
“I think you may be right, son,” said Barth, a few moments later. He recognized the signs of a dysfunctional family. “We have to keep an eye out for Molly.”
Just then, they heard Molly scream.
“Help me!”
“It was an accident!” explained James, as Reggie ran to the river and helped Molly. “She fell off that rock.”
Reggie was furious.
“That was no accident,” he said to James, sternly.
Molly said nothing and everyone believed James, except Reggie.
"You say anything and you might have a more serious accident, next time,” James whispered to Molly, a few moments later.
She knew she had been lucky, as she only had a few scrapes and bruises. Molly backed away from James. Her face appeared pale. She was cold and frightened. Reggie wrapped a towel around her and walked her to their trailer to change.
“I love my sister,” thought Reggie. “Whether it takes an act of love on my part, or an act of duty, either way, I have to keep those two apart. It may take both.”
The remainder of the day seemed uneventful. Molly stayed close to Mattie, helping prepare the barbecue the adults had planned for later.
“I am busy,” Molly told James, who invited her to go with him for a hike after lunch. “Go with Reggie.”
“No, then I will just read.”
It was apparent that there were problems in the Sampson family, as the parents disappeared into their recreational vehicle for most of the day, leaving James outside alone.
At suppertime, when the Chuck and Sandy came out, Barth suspected the couple had been drinking. They were argumentative and unappreciative of the amount of work involved in preparing supper. They made no effort to help either. After supper, they disappeared again, while the Boyd family cleaned up.
Chapter Four: The Campfire
As the evening wore on, Barth lit the campfire, brought out his old guitar, tuned it and tried to teach James some basic chords, much to Reggie’s dismay.
“This is our dad, not his! First, James went after our new pup, then my sister and now, our dad. Mom, this is not fair. James is getting all of our dad’s attention.”
“James has to have some attention from someone, son. He needs to be loved unconditionally, like your dad and I love you two,” suggested Mattie. She knew there were problems in the Sampson family and suspected James was acting out because of it.
“Reggie, you can help me. Please take the wieners out of the freezer. We have enough hot dog buns, ketchup, mustard and relish for everyone, so you bring them, too. There is a large package of marshmallows in the top cupboard. I will chop up some onions and make hot chocolate, while you and Molly cut some long, willow poles for everyone. Take the pup along with you, and be careful with your pocket knife.”
“Come on, pup. Molly, want to come?”
Reggie could see that in spite of everything that had happened, Molly was still attracted to James. She was reluctant to leave him, but consented to go.
“What happened down by the river?”
“Nothing,” replied Molly, looking away from him. “There is a young willow tree with long branches over there by the rocks.”
“If you cannot tell me, then tell dad,” ordered Reggie. “But, stay away from James.”
Molly nodded, as she reached for the pup. “Reggie, you cannot tell me what to do,” she reminded him. “Pup, what should we call you?”
“That was no accident. She is too frightened to say anything. I love my sister. It is my duty to take care of her,” thought Reggie.
In the distance, they could hear the Sampson family arguing. They were becoming increasingly vociferous. They heard James yell, “I did not do it!”
Reggie and Molly cut enough willow poles for everyone.
The sun was setting and the campfire was glowing, as they bundled the poles together and headed back. Mattie and Barth were serving hot chocolate to Chuck and
“That was no accident either,” thought Reggie.
“Mom, this pup of ours is so smart! He tried to help us carry these poles,” said Molly. “They were too long for him.”
“He is just another dumb dog!” said James angrily, poking at the pup with the sharp end of his willow pole.
The pup yelped and ran to Reggie.
“Leave him alone!” ordered Reggie. “He is our pup, not yours.”
“James!” said
“No apology needed,” replied James. “It is true.”
Molly avoided James most of the evening. Reggie was glad and kept the pup close by, so that James could not taunt him.
As the evening progressed, the Sampson family continued to argue. They kept trying to draw Mattie and Barth into their disputes, but they refused to participate knowing appearances were more important for the children.
Chapter Five: Another Incident
Reggie and Molly continued to be polite to James, who was anything but nice, as they sat on the log toasting their marshmallows. By then, the adults had headed down to the river for a quick swim.
“Molly, want this marshmallow?” asked James. “It is burnt, but it is good.”
Molly hesitated, uncertain as to what to do. Finally, she accepted it from him.
“It is full of gravel and ashes,” she said, tossing it into the campfire.
Reggie said nothing, knowing that Molly would probably defend James.
“Here is another one,” replied James, pulling a marshmallow off the willow pole and handing it to her in such a way that it burned her fingers. “It’s a toasty one.”
“Ouch!” said Molly, bursting into tears.
“I warned you about accidents,” whispered James. “I could really hurt you, next time.”
Reggie, who had pretended to fall asleep, heard what James said and stood up.
“This is your last warning, James! Leave my sister and our pup alone.”
“Or what?” replied James arrogantly. “You will do what?”
“You are a bully. You hurt them for the last time!”
“You are just a sissy.”
Chapter Six: Moving On
“We are pulling out in the morning,” said Barth to the Chuck, as they all headed back to the campfire wrapped in beach towels. Chuck looked surprised.
“I thought you had booked this recreational site for a full two weeks,” said
“That was our original plan,” replied Barth, after a moment of silence. “Plans change,
“Where are you folks going?” asked
“We have not decided yet,” replied Mattie, gazing at the children and wondering what was happening. They appeared to be arguing.
“We will follow you,” suggested Chuck. “It will be more fun for everyone, if we stick together!”
Mattie and Barth looked at each other, but said nothing. As they drew closer to the campfire, they saw that their children were upset.
“Molly burned her finger on a marshmallow,” explained James. “Girls are so dumb!”
“Let’s take care of that burn, right now, Molly,” suggested Mattie, beckoning for Reggie and Molly to follow her into the trailer. “Bring the pup too. We need a name for him. We cannot call him pup, forever.”
“Mom, I told you James would hurt her again and he did,” said Reggie, after Molly was asleep. “I love my little sister. It is my duty to protect her and our pup.”
“I am your mother and I love you both,” replied Mattie. “I am sorry your first day of holidays has been so rough. It will not happen again. We are a family. We stick together as a family. Will it upset you if we go to another recreation area?”
“I think that is for the best, Mom.”
“As your father, it is my responsibility to take care of everyone, Reggie,” said Barth, who had just walked in. “We are leaving first thing in the morning, before they get up. Hopefully, we will not run into them again.”
“Do you think we should say goodbye?” Like his mother, Reggie always tried to do the right thing, regardless. “Molly may want to do that.”
“Son, we don’t have to say goodbye,” said Mattie. Continuing any kind of a relationship with the Sampson family no longer seemed like a good idea.
Little did she know how much danger they would all be in, if they moved on together.
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