The Last Laugh

Chapter 2 - Heather and Sawyer

***

The first down was Heather. I recognised her. Her pretty face hadn't changed much but she'd grown

taller. Not taller than me though.

"Uncle Paul!" she screamed happily and ran over to hug him. She hadn't noticed me.

"Ooh, my pretty little Heather! How are you??"

"I'm fine, uncle Pauly," she giggled.

"I can see that," my dad laughed. "And where is my other princess? Sawyer?"

Sawyer too appeared at the bottom of the stairs. She was different from what I expected. She had

nothing to do with the baby I'd known. It was like her face had changed. She was pretty too. But not as

much as Heather. Sawyer had a more serious face. The kind of kid who hardly smiled.

"Uncle Pauly!" she too called happily as she ran to hug him too.

"My pretty Sawyer! You're almost as tall as Heather! Wow! You grow fast."

They both giggled.

"I'll be ten next week uncle Paul! You'll buy me a present right??" Heather asked.

"Really??" Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

"Yeah, she will be ten! Uncle Paul I turned eight last month! You owe me a present too!" Sawyer added.

Guess I missed out on their ages but they were right. I was turning twelve at the end of the year.

"Girls, stop disturbing uncle Paul and sit down for breakfast," Aunt Christina said.

"Oh, okay," Heather said softly and obediently went to her seat. Sawyer on the other hand rolled her

eyes first before going to her seat.

"Sawyer, what did I tell you about rolling your eyes at your mother," Uncle Ken said strictly.

"Sorry, mommy," she apologised. My dad chuckled.

"This one's gonna be as tough as you, Christina," he said.

"I'm afraid that might be true," she replied and they all laughed.

Heather still hadn't noticed me. Like seriously?

"Who's this?" Sawyer asked courageously pointing at me. And that was when Heather looked up from

her plate and noticed me.

"You can't remember him, Sawyer. You were too little. It's my son, Sheridan."

"Sheridan??" Heather asked surprised in her low voice.

"You didn't recognise him?" her dad asked amused.

"N– no I didn't," she smiled shyly at me. "Hi,"

I smiled back.

"Hey."

"Hello," Sawyer cut in troublesomely for being left out.

Everyone laughed.

"Hello," I replied with an amused smile. She didn't smile back though, she gave me a little smirk.

Almost not visible. She was probably a tough kid. She didn't seem to appreciate me.

"Okay, now let's eat," Aunt Christina said. We said the Lord's prayer and began to eat.

*

After breakfast, aunt Christina sent the girls to go clean their room while dad and uncle Ken went out. I

decided to go sit on the grass outside and watch the cows from the front of the house.

I stayed there for like 20 minutes, watching cows until I heard:

"PST! Pssssst!"

I turned and looked up. It was Heather on the little balcony of her room. She smiled shyly. I smiled

back.

"You've changed," she said in a low voice. I stood up and went to stand below the balcony so I could

hear her better. She couldn't speak loud because her mother would surely scold her for not arranging

her room.

"You haven't changed much," I replied in a loud whisper.

"I know," she smiled again. I smiled back.

"Let me finish with my room. I'll be joining you downstairs in some minutes so we go stroll round the

ranch."

"Good idea. Won't your mom scold?"

"No."

"Okay," I smiled. " I missed you."

"I missed you too," she replied shyly.

At that moment, Sawyer appeared by her, giving me an impassive stare. Heather turned to me.

"Later."

"Okay."

She went back into the room. Sawyer remained. I waved at her. She didn't wave back.

"I don't like you," she said all of a sudden.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know."

And with that she went back into the room. Wow.

I returned to my grass.

*

I waited patiently for Heather. After about ten minutes, she appeared behind me.

"Stand up. Let's go stroll," she said happily. I smiled and stood up.

We walked together, exploring the ranch. We went to parts of the ranch where we used to play.

"Hey, Heather?"

"Yes?"

"Remember that little lake not far from the ranch where we used to go to play?"

"Oh yes, I remember."

"Should we go?"

Her smile faded.

"No, we can't. Well, I can't."

"Why?"

"Mom would scold us. She says it's dangerous. Especially because it's out of the ranch. Anything can

happen to us there."

"But we used to play there."

"I know. But I really don't want mom screaming at me."

"She's still so strict?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, I see," I changed topic. "Sawyer said she doesn't like me. Do you know why?"

"She said that??"

"Yeah."

"I don't know. Maybe it's because she doesn't know you well. Give her time. Sawyer is very stubborn

you know."

"I noticed. Nothing to do with you."

We went into the stable where horses were kept. We greeted the employees and offered to help feed

the horses.

As we fed them, I noticed a beautiful white horse. It looked a lot like strike, my own horse. I ran to it.

"Wow! This horse is beautiful!"

Heather joined me.

"Really?" she asked, giving it a carrot.

"Yeah!"

"Dad gave me this one. He said when I'll be ten I could learn to ride it. I called her Dove."

"Wow. She looks a lot like my own horse. As white too. But mine is a stallion. Strike."

"Oh, that's nice," she caressed her horse.

"Maybe when we'll grow older we'll ride our horses together. Right?"

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea."

I smiled at her and she smiled back, her cheeks reddening. Heather was my first crush.

"Heather??" Sawyer called, coming into the barn.

"Yes?"

"We were supposed to play together." she grumbled, pouting her lips.

"Sure. We will play. But with Sheridan too."

Sawyer turned to me.

"I don't want to play with him!"

"Why?" Heather asked.

"It was supposed to be only the both of us, Heather!" she cried.

I got it. Sawyer didn't like me because she felt that with me around, her sister would not play with her

anymore or spend more time with her.

"Cmon, Sawyer. It'll be fun. Let's play hide and seek. I'll count," I proposed in a friendly manner.

She looked doubtful.

"Don't worry, Sawyer. He's right. It'll be fun. We'll hide while he looks for us. We'll give him a hard time,"

Heather giggled.

Sawyer smiled. Finally.

"Okay. The last person found wins!" she screamed happily.

"Fine," I replied and went to the wall. "One...two...three..."

I heard them giggle and run to go hide.

-

I reached fifty and started my search.

"Where are you??" I shouted while I looked around.

I searched for quite a while to no avail. I went into the barn and that was when I spotted Sawyer hiding

behind a stock of hay. I pretended not to see her. I believed that if I made her win, she'd stop being

cold.

"Where are you??" I shouted again and left the barn. I strolled around the ranch when suddenly

someone tapped me on the back. I turned and it was Heather.

"Let's suppose you found me first. Sawyer would be happy," she whispered with a giggle.

I smiled.

"That's what I thought."

We both returned to the barn.

"Oh, nooooo! Sawyer, Sheridan caught me!" Heather said as we entered the barn.

A joyful Sawyer hopped out of her hiding place.

"Yes! Ha! I win!" she said happily.

"Yup, I guess," I smiled.

"That means I have the right to ask you what I want now," she said, folding her arms.

"Um, okay," I shrugged.

"Good," she held Heather's hand. "I want you to leave my sister and I to play together in peace!"

Oh.

"Oh..."

Guess she didn't want to be friends. I decided to give up. I wasn't going to beg.

"Sawyer, you shouldn't say that," Heather said.

"Heather, if you refuse to play with me, I'll tell mom."

Wow.

Heather looked at me.

"You can go, Heather. Don't want aunt Christina scolding."

"Um, okay. Sorry," she allowed her sister to drag her out of the barn.

***

For the start of a short holiday at High Meadows, I was having a good time. We'd already made three

days there and honestly, at my age, I was quite happy and looking up to seeing Heather every morning

made it better.

So far aunt Christina hadn't scolded me yet. I avoided that. Sawyer on the other hand was still as cold

and rude with me. I avoided her and decided to ignore her throughout my stay in the ranch.

--

On Tuesday morning of the first week, after breakfast my dad and uncle ken decided to have a ride in

the nearby woods on horseback.

"Hey son, wanna come too?" Uncle ken asked.

"Sure!" I replied excitedly.

"You should know that we'd be returning late."

"Why?" I asked.

"We wanna have a hunt actually. We wanna eat good meat that isn't cow meat or pork."

"Oh, okay! I'm still coming," I said excitedly.

"Okay, son. Go get the food basket from my wife. That's what we'd be eating once we'll take a break in

those woods."

"Okay!"

I ran into the house and straight into the kitchen.

"Aunt Christina?"

She turned to me with a frown.

"What did I say about running in the house?" she asked angrily. I gulped.

"Um, I'm– I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"Pff! I hope so. Don't bring your bad manners along whenever you come to this ranch."

What?

I stared at her, intimidated and lost.

"Well, don't just stand there staring, you idiot! What did you come for?" she asked strictly.

"Uh, um, the food basket."

"Was it hard to say?" she sighed. "Get it on the table."

I turned around to get the basket. That was when I noticed Sawyer leaning against the door post. She'd

heard her mother scold me. She had a satisfied little smirk on and then to my surprise, she stuck her

tongue out at me. I shook my head, took the basket and left the kitchen.

I was angry within. I was embarrassed and felt humiliated. Why had aunt Christina insulted me that

way? My eyes watered and I tried not to cry.

As I walked down the little corridor, I met with Heather. I winked away my tears.

"Sheridan? Your eyes are red. Were you crying?" she asked in her low soft voice.

"No, Heather," I forced a smile. She smiled back.

"Okay," she noticed the basket. "What's that for?" she asked.

"I'm going hunting with uncle ken and my dad."

Her smile faded.

"Oh. That means we won't play?"

"I guess."

"Plus, it means I will see you tomorrow only."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Dad always comes back from hunting at about nine in the evening. Nine is our bed time."

"Oh um, don't worry. We'll play tomorrow," I reassured her. She smiled.

"Okay," she replied shyly before walking past me. I turned and looked at her go. As if knowing I was

watching her, she turned and gave me another shy smile before disappearing down the hall way.

I went to meet my dad and uncle ken.