ATOP Chapter Ten

"All the way up there, eh?" Mac craned his neck up at the old oak, grimacing in the darkness. Emma's tire swing still dangled from the biggest limb and the pond glittered dangerously beneath in the moonlight. "You gotta be kidding me..."

"Too much for you, is it?" Josh muffled his laughter. "I knew it. We gotcha beat, buddy. Might as well accept defeat."

"Nah, I mean you gotta be kidding me, I've climbed trees three times as high as that, is this all you got?" Mac quickly rectified his momentary slip, descending back into the depths of apparent fearlessness, and nobody even noticed. 

"Go on, get up there," Jafe grinned, giving Mac a shove. "Show 'em what we Scotts are made of."

Mac gulped in silence, glanced back up at the top of the tree, swaying in the wind, and then up at Katie's window, just opposite. The light was on, the window open, he could see movement behind the gently-blowing curtains. Well, she was up there, sure enough, and suddenly his determination swelled. Climbing this tree for Katie, well that was a little thing. He could do this.

Or could he? He found out right away that climbing a tree with only one leg that actually worked properly was no laughing matter. At least it wasn't a laughing matter to him. Those on the ground did plenty of laughing. But he pushed and pulled and dragged himself, somehow managing to get a considerable distance up the tree. And that... was when Josh got a ridiculously diabolical idea. 

"Challenge number three," he called up. "Dive in the pond. From up there. And remember the consequences if you don't..." he grinned up at Mac and then glared threatiningly at Ronnie who was looking suspiciously about to intervene. 

Mac said not a word, just shot him a jaunty salute from under a low hanging tree limb that very conveniently stuck past his nose, giving every impression of a very green mustache, and hoisted himself up by the greater portion of said limb. He hung there for a moment, looking down at the group on the bank, and grinned. Because ridiculous stunts or no ridiculous stunts—here he glanced wryly at Josh—something around about the vicinity of his heart had a curiously warm glow to it. He’d known it once, back in the days of two-leggedness and coffee-tainted tea, but it had been a long time since…. And it was good to have brothers.

The bunch on the ground lifted their eyebrows at him. Was he going to jump, or was he not? Was this final challenge too much for the courage and dignity of Malcom Isaac Scott? Just as Josh was about to clamber up the tree after him, and see what tricks he could still do in the upside of trees, there was a rustling in the branches. There was a whoop of “Look out below!”, and a large-ish object of a Mac-ish shape came hurtling through the air, a long and beautifully enunciated “Geronimo!!!” trailing after him. 

There was a split second of silence, probably as Mac’s lung capacity bottomed out, and the waters of the pond ceased to shine. In fact, they leapt up on the shores, churned nearly frothy in his wake. The frogs gave horrified croaks and dove under them in search of more peaceable places of habitation. In short, it was a very successful cannonball. 

The cannonball, however, did not sink, as the conventional variety do when introduced to water, and Mac, dragging himself to shore after a hearty struggle with the pond (in which his artificial leg gave little encouragement), gulping for air.

There was a circle of grins standing around him the next time he looked up. He counted them. One relieved, one hearty with the slightest touch of pride to it, and the final grin was a very decided combination of slightly disappointed and trying very hard not to be impressed. This was the one that tickled his funny bone most. 

He gave a soggy grin at his old comrade. “Thanks, buddy. I always did want a crack at hollering that….” Here he rose, stretched himself with something between a laugh of glee, and a wide groan, and clapped a dripping hand on Josh’s shoulder. “Now. Somebody go get me another leg, this one’s about to fall off. Apparently it don’t like bathtime as much as the rest of me.” 

Ronnie scratched his chin contemplatively. He didn’t look at Josh, but there was no mistaking who the words were aimed at. 

“Hey buddy, didn’t I see a pair of old crutches up at your place awhile back? Beside the petrified frogs, I b’lieve it was. Can’t believe you keep those things.” This was in reference to the long-ago collected treasures, not the crutches. 

Josh spoke up indignantly. “I’m saving them for my first kid, I’ll have you know. Ain’t easy to petrify frogs.”

Ronnie swallowed a laugh and aimed his best In-Command frown at him.

“The crutches. Scram.” 

Josh groaned. “Aww, but that’s all the way back up at the house!” Ronnie leveled him with a look that brooked no disagreement, and Josh threw up his hands in  surrender. “Alright, alright, I’m going, don’t gotta get all riled up about it!” 

♡♡♡

Up in the house, Katie had started at the not-too-faraway sound of a yell outside and then a splash. Exchanging startled glances with Marjorie, she ran to the window, trying to peer out in the darkness. She caught a glimpse of a soggy figure crawling from the pond and three other shadowy figures standing around, apparently shaking with laughter. She looked back to Marjorie again, as if asking for clarification, and received an amused grin and head shaking in answer.

"Ach, those laddies," Marjorie sighed. "Thankful I am that they never really grew up... although there are days when they're like t'drive me wild with their shenanigans..."

"He's a perfect fit for the Cavalry, isn't he," Katie giggled, recognizing Mac as he stood, shaking water from his hair. "Haven't a clue what they're doing out there, but maybe it's better not to ask... Josh better not be too hard on him, though, so help me..."

"Mac can take it, he's equal to any challenge," Marjorie laughed, shaking her head again. "Here, lass, d'ye want this blue dress with your trousseau or in this bigger trunk here?"

♡♡♡

"That's it, move along, hup, two, three four!" Josh cried as Mac, flanked by Jafe and Ronnie, swung himself along on crutches. Josh was bringing up the rear with Mac's wooden leg in tow. "Move it, prisoner!" 

"You're in for it, Torpedo" Mac called laughingly over his shoulder and ducked as Josh swung at him with the wooden leg. "Better watch your back, I'll have my revenge!" 

"Reverting back to their army days, I'm guessing?" Jafe shook his head at Ronnie, who groaned in agreement.

"You've no idea what those two put me through all the way across Africa..."

"Dinna they say that food calms the wild beast?" Jafe grinned. "There's yer next challenge, Mackie... gotta make something to feed that there human torpedo." 

"I give up all hope of sleep tonight," Mac answered mournfully as Josh agreed enthusiastically with this new idea.