The Last Laugh novel Chapter 2

***

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??"

"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."