Welcome To Life On A Dude Ranch, Addie!

 To say the least Allie was surprised to not only hear Josh's voice but to see him in her kitchen. "I thought you were supposed to stay in bed, Josh. You don't want to hurt yourself any worse than you did." Josh grinned at her and said, "For some reason I feel like a million bucks. What's with all the kiddos in the kitchen? What's going on?"

Allie said, "I'll explain later, but if you could be in charge of drinks for everyone, I'll help Maxine make some pallets for the kids upstairs. I knew I should have gotten the cabins ready, but I wasn't expecting an emergency situation. I'll be right back, okay?" Josh assured her that he was perfectly capable of getting juice and milk for the little ones. He turned to the adults and asked if they wanted coffee. He would make some if they would like. They said, that it was too late at night for coffee, just juice or water would be fine. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a mop of curls crawling up on the window ledge. She and the blinds were about to have a battle and the blinds were going to win. "Hey watch out, little one!" About that time Addie fell down and started to cry. "Oh I'm so sorry. It's late at night and she is out of sorts. She does like to climb, however. I'll try to keep a closer eye on her. Come to Grandma, Addie. Now you sit here and eat your sandwich, okay?"

Josh looked around and saw the three older children. "So, sheriff, what's their story? Are their parents coming to get them? Are they lost or hurt? Do I need to call someone? What's going on?"

"I don't know what's going on, but they are tired and hungry. I told them they could stay overnight with Allie. I asked Maxine if she would help. I had no idea this lady and her granddaughter would be here too. This is a lot to ask of Allie. Are you able to help her until  Child Services come to get them? They say they ran away from an orphanage because they hate it there. I have to verify everything in the morning. Have you got this? If you don't mind, I'm going to run back into town after I check on Maxine and Allie. It seems that tomorrow might be a long day. Oh and by the way Jean is here because of K.R. He sent her a letter saying that he needed money or he would sell her daughter's horse. Yup, even in jail he messes with peoples' lives. Okay, I'm on my way upstairs. I'll let you know when I'm on my way back to town. Oh no, little one! Not blue frosting on my uniform! Sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. Maxine! Allie! Can you come get this little blue cupcake eater so I can go to the dry cleaners in the morning? Maxine! Please!"

Soon Addie's grandmother pulled her off the sheriff's leg and once again apologized for the mess. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what got into her..." The tears were running down both the grandmother's and Addie's cheeks. Allie heard sobbing as she entered the kitchen. "Josh, what did you do to this nice lady? What's the matter with you?"

 "What? I didn't do anything? Why do you always do that, Allie? You always blame me for stuff I didn't do! Dog! Quit licking the sheriff's pants! Get that dog outside. She doesn't belong in the house." Suddenly all three orphans started crying. "Please let the dog stay with us. We are so scared and she is our friend. Please! We won't be any trouble and we will be really quiet and go to sleep right away. Please?" Willow backed up to the three children she was in charge of with fierce determination and a low growl in her throat. This assignment was going to go well if she had anything to do with it.

Addie looked at Willow and said, "Dog! Want dog!" Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. There stood a cowhand that proudly announced, "Ma'am you've got yourself triplets out in the barn. Three little baby goats! By golly if they aren't the cutest I ever did see. I took a picture of them for you, but you should come see for yourself!"

Allie was astonished. "How did that happen? I only have one goat! This is the craziest night in my life!"

The cowhand grinned and said, "Well, now you have four. 'Night! Welcome to life on a dude ranch."

Addie said, "Goat. Want goat!"

 The four adults looked at Addie then looked at each other and started laughing. They laughed and laughed until they thought they would be sick. This was the funniest mess they had ever seen. It was just like something you would watch on television. The sheriff finally realized he had to get serious and said, "Maxine, do you and Allie have a room ready for Jean and Addie? Great. Okay you two go get settled and you children follow Allie and Josh up the stairs. Is it okay if they keep the dog for one night?" Allie said, "Of course it is." She frowned at Josh and said, "Really, Josh, you know nothing about children. You are something else, ya know that?"

On a farm several states away was a young couple that desperately wanted children. They had a big house on a farm. They had hoped and prayed, but children didn't seem to be a part of their lives. This year they decided that they needed some time away from the farm. They loved to travel and decided to do something completely different this time. They had seen an ad in a magazine that a dude ranch needed help. The ad said that if you wanted to be part of ranch life that you were invited to be a cowhand, a cook, a housekeeper anything that you wanted to do plus the fun things like bonfires, trail rides, riding lessons, even fishing and many other fun outdoor activities. The stay would be free all that you needed to pay for was food. They knew about farming and she loved to cook. They both loved to fish. This sounded like the perfect getaway. They decided to leave the next day for Texas.