Page 60 of Their Little Foursome

“Nooo!” Lori squealed and turned to flee, only to run into her Mommy. “Save me from the mummy, Mommy!”

“Daddy, I believe you’re channeling Frankenstein and not The Mummy,” Beverly said.

“Are you sure?” Gordon’s arms dropped and he gave an exaggerated moan of disappointment.

“I’d think our Mommy would be the expert on mummies,” Blake said, then grinned. “Right, Lisa?”

His Daddy chuckled and scooped up Lori as she looked between the other three.

“Is anyone ever gonna tell me who this Lisa is?”

“No time for stories, sweetpea. We don’t want to be late for lunch, now, do we?” Gordon said as they piled out of the cottage and into his car.

As they drove through the Ranch gates, he shook his head. He’d never seen so many decorations in his life and had positively stated that not another single thing could be added anywhere. That had been a week ago. It had taken exactly oneday to prove him wrong as more popped up every day. New jack-o-lanterns were added daily to the steps and railings of the porch to the point that when he glanced over, he had to admit they were beginning to unnerve him a bit. The LED candles placed inside each one flickered, making jagged teeth and skewed eyes appear far too sinister for his comfort.

If the carved pumpkins weren’t enough, it seemed that every bush within a five-mile radius had been invaded by a mutant hoard of arachnids. Webs were spun in bushes, spanned branches of trees, draped from the corners of the front porch. And what lives in webs? Spiders. Though these weren’t just your regular spiders which always made his heart beat a bit faster. Nope,thesespiders were the size of his head, many with glittering red dots on their bellies or brown hour-glasses on their backs. In case those two definitive markings weren’t enough to warn you not to come too close, the five-inch fangs dripping with venom would most certainly do the trick.

When he’d mentioned the fact that maybe some of the scariest web inhabitants as well as a few of the most frightening jack-o-lanterns should be discreetly removed so as not to scare the Littles, Beverly had laughed and asked him who the heck he thought had placed all those spiders into their webbed homes and carved the lovely pumpkins.

So many skeletons hung from branches of trees that it looked like an entire cemetery’s occupants had abandoned their final resting places to dance on the wind. The first time he’d walked outside and seen one glow in the dark, he’d almost fallen off the porch. While Beverly smiled and explained they were painted with something that soaked up the sunlight and allowed them to glow at night, Lori and Blake had a giggle fest that lasted far too long in his opinion. When they began to jump out from behind furniture, around corners, and pop out of doorways, he’d warned that the next time they shrieked “boo” in his face, he’dshow them how well he could make their bottoms glow without the use of phosphorescent materials. It had only taken Blake witnessing him doing exactly that when Lori decided to test their Daddy’s word to have the heart-attack-inducing pranks come to a screeching halt.

The decorations didn’t end outside either. As he held the door open for his family to enter the lodge, he knew he’d see drawings hanging in every hallway. What he hadn’t expected was to enter the lodge and find not a single person lined up for these supposedly spectacular mummy dogs. Instead, what appeared to be every person on the Ranch was standing facing toward him and his family. He looked at Beverly to see she appeared as puzzled as he felt.

“Are we too late for lunch?” he asked.

Lori was bouncing up and down and clapping her hands. “Surprise! He won!”

“Who won?” Beverly asked before he could.

“Blake! His drawing of us won the major prize! Master Derek is gonna put it up so everyone can see it anytime they come into the lobby! Isn’t that awesome!”

Gordon and Beverly exchanged a look that told him they were both thinking of the sketches drawn up every Saturday. Evidently, their boy was a better mind reader than his Mommy or Daddy because as he started to walk across the lobby, he called out, “Don’t worry, we’re not all naked in this one.”

While everyone within hearing either raised an eyebrow, chuckled or giggled, Gordon quietly asked Beverly to identify the man with the huge grin and very blue eyes standing beside Derek.

“That’s Gavin Doyle, he’s one of Megan’s Daddies.”

“One?” Gordon asked.

“Yes. Hunter is Gavin’s husband and Megan’s second Daddy.” Beverly discreetly pointed to where a cute Little stoodbeside a Big wearing glasses and a huge smile. “Gavin uses Landon as his last name for his work. He’s quite the famous artist. Every time he offers art classes, they are filled before he finishes listing the dates. Blake just loves him.”

Gordon stood completely awestruck as he watched Blake shake Gavin’s hand before accepting a frame from his idol. He then passed it to Master Derek who placed it on an easel in front of the check-in desk. At Blake’s nod of approval, Derek stepped aside so the winning drawing could be seen.

While they most certainly werenotnaked, the four people in the picture couldn’t be mistaken for anyone but the four people standing before the drawing. In fact, it was a bit like looking in a mirror as Gordon looked down at his costume, back to the painting and then at each of the other three. Live or inanimate, the groups of four wore exactly the same thing. Cavalier hats of black were on each head. On one side, the brim had been pinned up and trimmed with an ostrich plume. Pants were tucked into knee-high boots.

While Gordon and his family’s swords were presently in scabbards on their belts, those in the drawing were unsheathed and lifted, the points touching in the air to form a single point. Beverly wore a cape the color of the merlot he’d drunk with dinner the night before. Lori’s was pink and her blonde curls swirled around her as if caught in a gale-force wind. Gordon was in a green the color of the trees in the woods where he and Blake walked, and the artist was in a royal blue. Every detail was incredibly realistic.

Blake was sandwiched between Gavin and Derek, his eyes bright and his cheeks slightly pink, but it was his crooked grin that had Gordon’s heart skip a beat as Derek called for everyone’s attention. Gordon felt Beverly’s clasp on his fingers tighten. Her smile said it all. She was as proud of their Little boy as he was.

After everyone had quieted, Derek nodded to Gavin who stepped forward. When he realized his student hadn’t followed, he reached out and dropped his arm around Blake’s shoulders, drawing him closer.

“As you know, besides my husband Hunter and our Little Megan, I don’t believe there’s anything better than expressing oneself with art. It doesn’t matter what form it takes, but using your skill to portray moments, places, and people who have touched our hearts in some way gives the piece a spirit, a life of its own. I love nothing more than to watch my students discover what it is that speaks to their souls. Blake, I can’t tell you how very proud I am of you. There is no question that this piece is more than charcoal and paint, it is a part of you. It gives me great pleasure to declare you as the winner of this year’s award. You’ve certainly earned it, and I want to thank you for sharing it with all of us.”

Everyone clapped as Blake accepted accolades from his teacher, but when Blake thanked Gavin for teaching him and his friends the beauty and joy found in art before throwing his arms around the artist and giving him a hug, the clapping became cheers.

It took a few moments before Derek could speak though Gordon knew the Ranch owner didn’t mind. Once the room quieted again, Derek said, “It gives me great pleasure to present Blake with this year’s trophy, but before I do, I want to say how incredibly proud I am of you as well, Blake. Not just for your artistic skill, but for using it to depict your family in a way that instantly tells a story that is the one you all will carry forward forever.” Derek paused and gestured to the drawing. “Can you tell everyone why you chose this theme?”

Gordan’s thoughts went to all the times he'd seen Blake before they'd all come together as a family. First in a courtroom, then, much later, in a grocery store aisle. He saw images of thetimes he'd seen Blake at the Ranch: in a marble-floored hallway, huddled beneath a bush, telling a story that had haunted him for years, and, finally, sitting on a boulder.

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