THE GAME -Chapter Seven

 THE GAME

By Terri

12th in The Surprise Series

 

 

This story can be read without reading the other SURPRISE stories, but there might be some references that don’t make sense. Of course, this whole story doesn’t make sense!

 

Thank you to my beta, Lacy

 

 

Chapter Seven

 

“You want US to climb up on the barn and catch a monkey?”  Teresa gasped.

“Why not?” Johnny smirked.

“I’m a woman!”

“Have you looked in a mirror lately?” Johnny smirked.

“Yes but, well, I can’t because… just because.”

Johnny and Scott just stared at her, eyebrows lifted.

“I’ve never caught a monkey.  I…I…I’m not sure I’d even know how to do it.”

“And you think we do?” Johnny asked in disbelief.

“No, but…” she looked at Johnny hopefully. “Can’t you just shoot it?”

“What happened to ‘don’t harm a hair on his cute little head?’”

“My priorities have changed,” she retorted. “Besides, I’m not a professional.”

Johnny and Scott both choked.

“I hope not,” Johnny managed to gasp.

 “So will you?” She looked at the brothers hopefully.

“Not me,” Scott stated.

 “Nope,” Johnny said. “You had your chance. You want it murdered, you shoot it. Besides, I don’t work for free. Now you’d better go after it before it winds up in the next county.”

Jelly grabbed Teresa’s arm. “Come on. Let’s show those two smart alecks a thing or two.”

Scott and his brother silently watched Jelly and Teresa walk toward the barn.  “Johnny, that was brilliant. How did you manage to come up with that?”

Johnny watched until he could no longer see Teresa and Jelly, then spun around.

 “Desperation, that’s how!” he said as he grabbed the front of Scott’s shirt.

“What are you talking about?”

“I had to figure out a way to get rid of Teresa! You’ve got to help me, brother!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I gotta go!”

“You mean…”

“YES!”

“Teresa’s going to kill you!”

“I don’t care! Scott, what do I do?”

“Well, you just… you have to…well first we have to get to the outhouse.”

“Why?”

“Just because, that’s why. Teresa’s going to kill you, that’s a given. But she’ll do it slowly if you just lift up her skirts where everybody can see.”

“Who’s gonna see! The grasshoppers ate everything that moved!”

“Nonetheless, it just isn’t proper. Now come on!” He said as he dragged Johnny over to the facilities next to the bunkhouse.

Johnny cautiously opened the door. “It’s full of bugs!”

“Ignore them.”

“The roof has holes in it.”

“So what?”

“Maybe I can wait.”

“JOHNNY! You’re stalling!”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“If you don’t hurry up, Teresa’s going to catch you.”

Johnny jumped in and slammed the door shut.

“Now what?” came the muffled voice.

“You’ve got to lift your skirts.”

Johnny said something under his breath that Scott was glad he couldn’t understand.

“All right,” Johnny finally mumbled.

“Can’t you speak up?” Scott complained.

“I’m trying not to eat any of these damn locusts. They’re all over me. So what do I now?”

“You have to…” Scott hesitated. “You have to pull down your …unmentionables.”

“How am I supposed to do that when I’m holding up my skirt?”

“How do I know!”

Scott put his ear to the door. “Are you ok? It sounds like you’re wrestling something in there.”

“I am! This damn skirt is catching on everything. Why does it have to have so many frills?”

“Whatever you do, don’t rip it. It’s one if Teresa’s favorites.”

“Ooops. Not anymore. You should have said something sooner.  Dang thing just won’t cooperate. Damn it! This thing catches on everything!  I don’t know how the hell…There! I put my skirt over my head.”

“Good thinking. Do you have everything…adjusted?” Scott asked.

“More or less. I can’t believe I have to go to this much trouble just to pee. So how do you aim?”

“You don’t aim, you sit down.”

“Sit down?  What for? I told you I just had to pee.”

“Do it!”

More muttering. “Oh!  I get it!  Ooof. I missed the seat.”

“How did you manage that?”

“I have the skirt over my head, remember? Besides, I’m keeping my eyes closed, and I tripped on those “unmentionables.”

“Teresa’s not going to like that,” Scott observed. He put his ear to the door once more. “What are you doing in there?”

“What do you think I’m doing, Boston?”

Several minutes later the door slammed back open and Johnny stepped out. “That was the most god-awful traumatic thing that I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.   I don’t think I’ll ever recover from it.”

“I’m sure you won’t,” said an icy voice from behind them.

Johnny and Scott spun around.

“Teresa! I was just…I was…”

“I KNOW exactly what you were doing Johnny Lancer! How COULD you!”

“Well, I just lifted up my…

 “That’s not what I meant and you know it! Quit acting dumb!”

“I don’t think he’s acting,” Scott offered.

“You stay out of it!” she snarled.  “You’re in enough trouble!”

Scott threw his hands in the air. “What did I do?”

“You HELPED him!”

“Teresa, really…”

“I don’t want to hear it! I’m humiliated,” she sobbed.

“Come on, Teresa, don’t cry. I didn’t even look, I swear.” Johnny said.

She looked up at him hopefully. “You didn’t?”

“Nope. I swear.”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked him up and down.  “You tore my dress!”

“I’ll buy you a new one.”

She turned and looked at Scott. “What about you?” she asked suspiciously.

“You want me to buy you a new dress, too?”

“Did… you… look!”

He held up his hand. “Never.”

She glared at both of them for a long time, then sighed. “All right. I guess you couldn’t help it.”

Johnny relaxed. Teresa might not kill him after all. He decided he’d better change the subject. “So did you and Jelly get the board back?”

Teresa shook her head. “Not yet. I think that monkey is on the roof of the barn, so Jelly sent me back to get a rope. I found some in the tack room. The door was closed and nothing had gotten in to bother it.”

“A rope?” Johnny asked. “What for?”

“Well, Jelly said we can rope it.”

“You’re going to rope a monkey?” Scott asked in disbelief.

 “Why not?”

Scott shook his head. “I…I have no idea,” he finally said, looking at his brother for help.

Johnny was biting his lip as he looked at his sister. “Hey, Teresa. If you still have to…, you know, maybe we can figure something out.”

Teresa looked at him pertly. “No need. I already took care of it.”

Johnny’s eyes got wide. “You? You…took care of it?”

Teresa nodded. “Jelly helped me.”

“Jelly…helped you…” Johnny moaned before collapsing against his brother.

“I think he’s in shock,” Scott observed to Teresa. “You’d better take that rope and leave. I don’t think it’s wise to have the makings of a noose anywhere near him for a while.”

“What about his gun?” Teresa asked worriedly.

“Good idea.” Scott slipped the gun out of Johnny’s holster and put it aside.

“What if he needs it?”

Scott shook his head. “What for?  We haven’t needed any of our guns yet, and I doubt if we will. Johnny’s just a pessimist.”

 

 

 

 to be continued