Alliance owns these characters; I merely wish to borrow
them for a while with the promise of returning them unharmed. Please do not archive anywhere without
my permission.
Title: Wallets
and Underwear
Author: Lys,
contact me at LysTYKDS@aol.com
Rated G
No Pairings
Seven-year-old Benton Fraser was excited. He had been saving money from his chores for 6 months. He had a new wallet he had made himself
and his Dad was coming for a visit and had promised to take him shopping. He ate his breakfast quickly and helped
his grandmother clear the table. With
a leap and a jump off the porch, he ran to the outbuildings to do his
daily chores.
Feeding the chickens was not his favorite job. Ben hated standing there and tossing
out the grain to the feathered foul that lived near their barn. Several of the hens loved to attack
his shoelaces while he stood there throwing feed. Grandmother kept a huge old white goose too as a pet. Ben was sure that bird hated him. Every chance it got it would chase
the boy flapping its wings and making loud honking noises. Martha Fraser loved that bird, she'd raised it from a hatchling
and the darn thing seemed to adore her as well. But let Ben show up and the bird would honk and flap until
he removed himself from the area. Ben
knew his grandmother always knew when he was about done feeding the chickens
because Henrietta the goose would be at her loudest then.
Ben loved to water the dogs, and he took particular
pride in keeping the puppy Scamp well groomed and fed. Scamp was developing well and Ben had no doubt at all that
Buck would pick the pup for his new team.
There were 12 huskies on the property and Ben knew the character
of each one well. He spent several
minutes with each animal, making sure that their bedding was clean and
their water bowls filled. His
grandfather was proud of the way Ben handled the dogs. He watched Ben carefully when he was teaching the boy to
train Scamp and knew that Ben's gentleness was well received by his team.
When he had filled the last water bowl, Ben took off
with a run back to the cabin. He
was grimy and sweaty and he wanted to clean up before his father arrived. He took his shoes off at the cabin
door and ran inside only to be pulled up short by his grandmother's sharp
words.
"Benton, you're rushing too much. Slow down before you hurt yourself. You've got a couple of hours yet before you father arrives." Martha Fraser smiled at Ben's back
as he disappeared down the cabin hallway.
Ben slid on stockinged feet into his bedroom and ran
over to his dresser. He opened
the top drawer and scooped out fresh underwear. He dropped the things on his bed and went to pull out a
clean pair of jeans and a nice sweater.
Picking up his fresh clothing he retreated to the hallway and
entered what passed for the cabin bathroom. He laughed when he realized that his grandmother had already
filled the old, claw foot bathtub for him and laid out a fresh towel
and washcloth. Divesting himself
of his work clothes, he stretched up on his toes and pulled himself up
and over into the water. He began
scrubbing himself until his skin was a rose pink color. He washed his hair and relaxed in the warm tub for a few
minutes before pulling the plug and climbing out to wrap himself in the
towel.
Ben struggled into his underwear that was much too
big. The one-piece long john that
his grandmother insisted he wear in this cooler weather hung on his small
frame. A smaller size would have
been much more comfortable for Ben, but he wore what he was given. His jeans fit better, but his sweater
was starting to show signs of ill fit, the sleeves being way too short.
When he was finished, Ben dropped his dirty things into the laundry basket next to the tub and returned to his room, his hair still dripping over his eyebrows. He pulled open the bottom drawer of his dresser and pulled out the leather wallet he had made for his father under his grandfather's watchful eyes. He was proud of it. He had even made a matching one for himself. Hours of careful work had gone into each wallet and both were sewn together with great care. Ben had saved and saved and he knew he finally had enough to buy presents for his grandparents. He wanted to do something for his grandmother that would make her smile at him.
He put his wallet in his back pocket and carefully
wrapped the one for his father back in the tissue paper he kept it in. He carried his prize package back out
to the table where he laid it on the kitchen table. Then he walked as calmly as he could over to the window
and climbed up on the chair he kept there. His feet still didn't reach the floor and he began swinging
them back and forth as he watched out the window with his head resting
on the windowsill on his folded hands.
Robert Fraser pulled into the Fraser property and
drove right up to the front door of his parents cabin. The front door open and his son rushed out to stand on the
porch where he stood seeming to devour Robert with his eyes. Robert climbed the porch steps and
stood looking down at Benton. "You
ready."
"Yes sir." Ben
said hoping for a hug.
"Good, let's go in and say goodbye to your grandmother."
"Ok" Ben said in a light whisper. He followed his father into the cabin.
Martha smiled at her son and watched him sit at the
table as he said hello to her. She
watched Benton walk in from the porch to stand watching his father with
huge eyes. "Aren't you going to
give you father your present Ben?"
"Yes Mam." Ben
moved forward and picked up his prize package. "This is for you."
Robert took the small package with a smile and watched
Ben staring at it. He slowly opened
the tissue packaging to reveal the beautiful leather wallet inside. His initials were on it and it was
sewn together with sinew that had been softened carefully. "This is quite a wallet Ben."
"Thank you sir." Ben said his chest rising with pride. "Grandpa helped me make. I made one just like it for me." He pulled his own with equal pride
and placed it next to his father's.
Robert swallowed and tried to find his voice that
seemed to have gone into hiding on him.
"I think you did a good job Ben.
I shall carry mine all the time."
Martha turned her back on her two boys and smiled. Ben needed reassurance so badly and
got so little of it from Robert. She
was pleased that this time they seemed to have found equal footing.
Robert rose from his chair and said, "Well mother,
we'll be off. I'll bring Ben back
tomorrow morning just as we planned."
Martha put her hand into her apron pocket and drew
out a small envelope she handed to Ben.
"Your grandpa and I have a little bit here for you to spend Ben. Buy a new sweater, one you like."
Benton reached out and gratefully took the envelope. He looked inside and his eyes got wide. There was more in there than he had
saved doing his chores. He clutched
the envelope in his hand and hugged his grandmother. "Thank you."
Robert opened the cabin door and headed out, "Come
along Benton. We need to get on
the road."
Several hours later, Ben woke to find their car parked
in the shade of a old tree, his father had a cloth spread out under it
and was opening a basket. Ben
crawled out and stretched then walked over to his father's side.
"Sit down and eat boy.
Always take a bit of time on the trail to stop and relax a few
minutes. You can cover more ground
that way. Traveling from one place
to another can be a tiring business."
"Yes sir" Ben plopped down on the cloth to sit cross-legged
next to his father. He reached
out and picked up a sandwich.
"We're going to a bigger city than you've been in
before Ben. I need to buy you
supplies. You know clothes that
fit. Your grandmother told me
you're growing a lot right now."
"Yes sir"
Robert watched the boy taking a bit out of his sandwich. He noted the dark curly hair and the
pale complexion on his son. When
Ben looked up at him trustingly with his clear, gray-blue eyes, Robert
lost his heart all over again to his son.
He cleared his throat and sounded gruffer than he cared to sound. "Two things about big cities Ben. One, you can get lost in a big city
just as easy as you can in the wilderness. And two, you have to protect your money and valuables."
"Why"
"Because not everyone is honest son. Now I know you wouldn't steal from
someone but there are plenty of people out there who would steal from
someone. So it's wise to hold
back a bit of your money. You
need money in a city son. It's
not like the wilderness where you can survive by living off the land. No sir.
In a city you have to be prepared to pay your way." Robert smiled.
"I keep my money in my wallet that's what the wallet
is for isn't it?"
"Sure, but where do you keep your wallet?"
"In my pants pocket."
Ben replied and pulled his out of his back pocket.
"For a guy your age that could be the wrong place
to keep that wallet." Robert considered
carefully as he watched the boy. He
dug around in his pocket and found a safety pin amongst his things. "Come here Ben."
Ben stood up next to his father and waited. He put the last of his sandwich in his mouth and chewed
carefully. "Ben I think we'll
pin your wallet inside to your underwear." He smiled, "If the wallet was smaller I'd say we put it
in your shoe or boot."
Robert carefully opened the safety pin and hooked
it through Ben's wallet. "Ben,
you'll have to unzip you jeans so we can pin the wallet inside."
Ben quickly undid his jeans and lowered the zipper
and watched as his father pinned the wallet at his waist. But the wallet was heavy and dragged the underwear down
a bit. Ben pulled his jeans closed
and zipped them noticing that he felt a little uncomfortable with the
added girth at his waist.
"This is what we'll do Ben. When you want to buy something, you tell me and I'll pay
for it then later you can pay me back.
Deal?"
"Deal."
They cleaned up their picnic site and returned to
the car. They drove for another
hour and a half before they drove into the city. Ben sat in the car marveling at the tall buildings and heavy
traffic. This wasn't a two road
town like the one his grandparents visited. This was a new modern city with more than one building that
was three stories high. They parked
their car near a hotel and went in to register.
Robert Fraser enjoyed watching Ben gap around him
at all the sights. He led Ben
on a walk towards the business section of town. Soon he noticed Ben lagging behind a bit. Then the boy would take a little run and catch up to him. Robert frowned but didn't ask Ben what
the problem was. They went shopping
in several stores and soon Ben was supplied with new jeans, including
some that he would have to grow into as well as new sweaters and underwear
that might just fit right. Robert
carried most of their packages and was surprised when Benton kept walking
slower and slower and seemed to fidget as he moved.
They went in to several stores that had lovely things
for women. Ben kept looking for
something for his grandmother. Robert
watched his son eagerly searching through counters of displayed items. He was surprised when Ben finally stopped
be one counter and didn't move. Ben
was looking at a ladies piece of jewelry that was small white goose with
raised wings and a small bow painted in pink around its neck. Ben craned his neck trying to see a
price on it. The saleslady looked
from Robert to Ben and smiled when Robert indicated that she should bring
the pin out.
"That's what I want Dad, do you think grandmother
will like it?" Ben said with excitement
in his voice.
"Yes, I think she will." Robert put his packages down and pulled out his new wallet
and paid the lady. Ben took the
small package and held it tightly in is hands before putting it in his
father's jacket pocket.
"Thank you." Ben said to the lady as he moved away.
"Thank you" The lady said with a smile to Ben's father
as she watched them walk away.
After some more searching, Ben found a small box with
woodworking tools in it for his grandfather. Again, Robert paid for it and wound up carrying it in his
pocket. They left that store and
began heading back to their hotel. Ben
began lagging behind again, but the same as before would eventually take
a few running steps and again be walking evenly with his father.
By the time the two got back to their hotel, it was
well after 4 p.m. and Ben was looking dreadfully tired. Robert opened the door to their room and set Ben's packages
down on the floor. Ben almost
stumbled into the room and quickly lay down on his bed.
"Tired son." Robert
asked.
"Yes sir." Ben
said, as his face seemed to flush scarlet. He wiggled about on the bed.
"What's the matter with you Ben. Got ants in your pants boy."
"No sir, but I think a snake might be in there."
Robert laughed but leaned over and tickled Ben a bit
before opening the boy's jeans. Robert
drew back and sat on the bed. Ben's
one piece long johns were stretched way out of shape. The side where the wallet was pinned was pulled down way
below Benton's waistline. Taking
a hold of the hemline of Ben's jeans, Robert pulled the boy's pants intending
to pull them off of Ben.
"Dad, don't. That hurts." Ben gasped. "The snake is biting me." The boy wiggled a little more, and
then lay still.
Robert carefully slid his hands to the jeans waist
and began inching them down Ben's waist. Suddenly Ben started crying. "Please Dad. It really hurts."
Robert was beginning to get a little frightened and
couldn't image what was wrong with Ben.
He pulled out his pocketknife and began cutting Ben's jeans open. "Your grandmother is going to be very
mad about this." He slight the
jeans open, straight down the leg and exposed Ben's wallet still connected
to Ben's sagging underwear but the pin was open and digging unmercifully
into the boy's leg.
Carefully Robert pulled the pin away from Ben and
noticed the white long johns had small spots of red on them. He picked Ben up off the bed and walked into the bathroom
with the boy. He filled the bathtub
and helped a very tired Ben climb into the warm water. Once he was certain that Ben's injuries were only very small
pinpricks, Robert relaxed and watched his son bathe. He marveled at the boy's courage in not whining or complaining
all day.
"Ben, why didn't you tell me that the pin was hurting
you?"
"Wasn't anything you could do about it Dad."
"Next time say something. I could have done something." Robert hesitated. "Forget
pinning your wallet to your underwear Ben. I'll get you a money belt."
"Money belt's have pins in them Dad?"
"No."
"Good."
Hours later, Robert settled Ben into bed and finally
slept himself. Robert wondered
where Ben had learned to hide pain like that. As he fell asleep, Robert the tiredness ease out of his
body.
Martha Fraser sat on the porch next to her husband
as they waited for their son to return home. She was privately glad that Robert had come to spend some
time with Benton. The boy needed
his father badly but right now, there wasn't a thing they could do to
change things. Fate had done that
for them.
Robert's car pulled up to the cabin in mid-morning. They had been on the road since early
morning and Robert was glad to be back in the familiar sites and sounds
of the wilderness. Ben climbed
out wearing new jeans and a peacock-blue sweater. His hair was scrupulously brushed and he carried two small
packages.
Benton hugged his grandmother and placed a package
in her hands and then hugged his grandfather laying another one in his
hands.
Martha opened her package slowly knowing Ben was watching
her closely. When the goose pin
was exposed, she laughed in merriment and pinned it right on her shirt
with shaking fingers. "Thank you
Ben."
Watching his father open the package from Ben, Robert
kept an eye on Ben's excited face. When
the woodworking tools were opened Ben stood next to his grandfather and
said, "Will you teach me to carve, Grandpa will you." Ben laid a gentle hand on his grandfather's arm, "When I
get big enough, I want to make a boomerang just like those I read about
in Australia. Will you teach me?"
And therein lies another story.