"Come on, Chrissie, I dare you," challenged Maddie. "Able will never know, and even if he did, what's he going to do about it?" Maddie squelched the thought that she knew what Heath would do about her wearing pants, but she was feeling particularly defiant this morning. Besides, she was still aggravated that her parents had told Chrissie and Able about Heath spanking her the day she had run away. Chrissie had been dying to tease Maddie about it for weeks; the basic reason she was feeling so defiant!

"Well, he won't spank me, anyway," gibed Chrissie again, a smirk on her pretty face. Then she felt bad when Maddie's beautiful face flushed with embarrassment. "Oh, I'm sorry, Maddie, I just can't help but tease you. It's so ... so ... barbaric, it's almost fascinating."

"Heath is not barbaric," declared Maddie, although privately she thought it was too. Chrissie had unerringly used the very words Maddie had spouted to Heath.

"Of course not," Chrissie conceded soothingly. "I didn't mean Heath is barbaric, it's this backwoods country you live in, Maddie. Down in Louisville, the women aren't in this position. They don't have to put up with such indignities."

Or, if they did, she didn't know anything about it, Chrissie reflected. No one talked about things like that. Poor Maddie lived in the hill country, and everyone was fifty years behind in progress it seemed!

Also, Chrissie was an obedient wife, and she didn't like to cause Able displeasure. She had been taught to be pleasing and cultured and to care for her husband and her family.

Being of a mild temperament, Chrissie had never given Able any cause to be unhappy with her. They had been married for five years, and she had only received a few scoldings, the like of which had brought tears to her gentle eyes. Outright defiance was not a part of her nature.

Maddie, on the other hand, was totally different and sometimes Chrissie found herself wishing she were more fiery and temperamental. She found the idea of Heath spanking Maddie oddly disturbing. Her curiosity was peaked. It both repelled and attracted her for some reason. She had tried to put her feelings down to sheer horror at the thought, but found herself wandering back to it now and then, feeling goose bumps run down her arms when she did.

Maddie stared at her lovely sister-in-law, chewing on her bottom lip as she did so. It just didn't seem fair! Chrissie was so perfect! She eyed the wonderful black curls that Chrissie had drawn up into a neat chignon. Some of the restless links had slipped out and hung around her slender neck. Her eyes were the color of a robins egg, that beautiful light blue and adorned with small golden specks. Her rosebud lips were set off to perfection by her porcelain skin, so smooth and pale, with a blush of the rose itself on her high cheekbones. Chrissie was taller than Maddie by three inches, and her five foot, eight inch height gave her a willowy appearance. Maddie knew that Able had been in love with this banker's daughter from the time she had been sixteen years old and had married her at eighteen.

"Then what do you have to worry about?" scoffed Maddie, pushing the denim pants towards her. "I'm the one that will have to worry if Heath catches me."

Chrissie eyed Maddie speculatively, unable to stop herself from asking. "Do you really think Heath would spank you, Maddie? Just for wearing pants?" Her tongue rolled over the work spank, and she felt a quiver in her stomach. She was so glad Able didn't do that!

Able was a gentle giant, and he adored her. He could be very firm, though, especially with the children. Five-year-old Luke was a handful, and Chrissie was hard put to discourage him from naughtiness sometimes. He usually settled right down for Able, although he had never laid a hand on him.

"It's against the law for women to wear pants, so you figure it out, Chrissie." Maddie's blue eyes raked her sister in law scornfully.

"I really don't know Heath that well. He has always seemed so gentle and soft-spoken, its hard for me to imagine him ... er.... spanking you." There it was again, that frisson of something that stabbed her in the tummy when she spoke that word. What was it, for heavens sake?

"Well, he is ... except when he is worried about me. But he is a big stickler for not breaking rules, neither God's, nor man's." Maddie scowled in frustration.

For an instant, a daring thought crossed Chrissie's mind, and she shocked herself by taking the pants Maddie held out. Just as quickly, she pushed the errant thought back down and handed the pants back. Wearing the pants just to see if Able would try to spank her was an evil thing to do! She didn't want to be spanked--what a horrible idea to cross her mind!

"I ... I don't want to upset Able. Heath is right; we need to obey the laws. You better return those pants, Maddie."

Maddie grinned wickedly. "What's the matter, Chrissie? Are you afraid Able will start spanking you if you disobey him?" She was unprepared for the sudden blush that lit Chrissie's refined features.

"Of ... of course not," she snapped indignantly. "Besides, he wouldn't do it, anyway, he never has."

Maddie pushed the pants back towards Chrissie. "So what are you scared of then ... do it!"

"No, Maddie, I won't." Chrissie pushed the pants back again.

"Chicken," taunted Maddie as she threw the offending pants back on the bed. She slipped her skirt off and reached down to unbutton her ankle boots. The light of childish battle was in her eyes as she watched Chrissie staring at her.

"What are you doing, Maddie?"

"I'm going to wear these pants and go for a ride on Eggs. After all, the men took the children with them to town and won't be back for hours. This is the chance I've been waiting for--to try them out."

"No, Maddie, you can't," squeaked Chrissie in alarm. "Heath will find out!"

"Are you going to tattle?" Maddie taunted sharply. Why did she suddenly feel like she was twelve years old again and arguing with Able over whether or not their Mother would find out Maddie took her shoes off to cross the swollen creek. She shrugged the thought away. She was going to wear these pants!

"Tattling is for children." Chrissie drew herself up to her full height and looked down her nose at Maddie.

"I didn't think so. Come on, Chrissie," wheedled Maddie. "What's the harm? No one is going to find out."

Finally, caving in under Maddie's verbal assault, Chrissie grabbed the pants off the bed and began to remove her skirt. Her stomach flipped in excitement as she drew the pants on and up over her rounded hips. "Oh, they are kind of tight in the seat and big in the waist," she commented, surprised.

"That's because they are men's pants," Maddie replied, tucking her shirtwaist into the pants. She wrinkled her small nose. "They don't make women's pants, of course."

The girl's quickly slid their ankle boots back on and buttoned up the sides of them, then let the pant legs fall back down. At last, they stood in front of Maddie's mirrored dresser and surveyed themselves.

Maddie twirled around in delight, falling in love with the denim pants immediately. They fit her slender hips perfectly, drawing snug across her backside and lovingly molding her heart shaped cheeks. "I love them!"

"I don't know," replied Chrissie doubtfully, looking at her backside. "They sure show everything, Maddie, unlike our dresses and skirts. I can see why they don't want us to wear them." She smoothed the waistband against her tiny waist. "I think I need a belt or something, these are so loose in the waist."

At the mention of a belt, Maddie cringed, thinking of Heath's broad leather belt. "We'll just have to get a piece of rope and tie them," she replied. For a moment, she played with the idea of backing out of this, and then decided against it. She lifted her chin defiantly and stared at herself in the mirror, her hands running down the sides of the rough material. Heath would never know ... because she wasn't going to tell him!

With Luke and little Beth ensconced safely behind them in the wagon, Heath and Able sat talking on the buckboard seat as they headed towards town. Able glanced sideways at Heath. "So how are you and Maddie doing? I haven't seen you in several weeks. How is married life treating you?" He grinned knowingly at Heath.

Heath was always amazed at the size of Able every time he saw him again. Heath was no shrimp, but Maddie's brother was a good bit bigger, his broad chest muscled and hard. Able raised quarter horses, and he and Chrissie had a large ranch outside of Louisville. His shock of unruly blonde hair seemed to stand straight up; thick and heavy until he smoothed it back with hair cream.

His face was always in good humor, the bushy eyebrows often waggling to amuse the children. Like Maddie, he had the same baby blue eye color, but where Maddie's face was oval and smooth, Able's face was square jawed. It invariable looked like he had a shadow along his chin. His even white teeth gleamed in his weather-tanned face, and he was an easygoing character, always with a ready smile.

Heath chuckled wryly at the teasing glint in Able's eyes. "Life is good Able. Going very well. The ministry is in no major crisis at the moment. Maddie is doing well, and we are both healthy, so I can't complain. The good Lord is watching out for us."

"Do you mind if I ask you something personal?"

"No, go ahead. What's on your mind?" Heath flipped the reins to keep the horses moving smoothly when they began to slow down.

"Father told us about you and Maddie ... I have to say, Heath ... I'm surprised at you. I didn't think you had it in you." He sounded approving, and Heath glanced at him curiously.

"Just because I'm a minister--it doesn't make me a wimp you know," he finally drawled, amused at Able's good-natured grin.

"No ... no, I know it don't," assured Able. "But sometimes, being churchified takes the starch out of man, if you know what I mean."

Heath wondered what Able would say if he knew he had learned to box when he was a young man and was quite adept at defending himself. Of course, being twenty-four didn't make him an old man yet, he reflected, but those years of learning to box had been put behind him when he had decided to go into the ministry.

Chuckling, Heath shook his head at Able's bald statement. "You know as well as I do, that Maddie can be headstrong and willful. It was bound to happen sooner or later. The thought had already crossed my mind a time or two, I just didn't take it seriously until this last summer."

"Boy, do I ever!" Able declared fervently. "I love my sister, but I'm darn sure glad that Chrissie is sweet and biddable. I don't think she has ever defied me in our five years of marriage."

"And if she did?" Heath asked curiously, glancing sideways again at his brother in law.

"I'm not sure," confessed Able. "I know Father sure wailed the tar out of me a couple of times, but I'm not sure I could paddle Chrissie." He looked at Heath earnestly. "I do admire you, I'm just not sure if I could or not. Chrissie has never pushed me that far."

Heath nodded in understanding. "No, it's not easy to do. And, it's not something I enjoy, but I know if I don't keep a firm hand on Maddie, she will run me in circles. We've already been there."

Able clapped him on the shoulder, mutual understanding passing between them. "I hear you, brother, I hear you." He grinned broadly, and then checked behind him to see that the children were snuggled securely under their blankets. The wind was picking up, and the atmosphere around them was changing.

"We better get those supplies and head back as soon as possible," said Heath uneasily, looking at the deadening sky. The air felt heavy, and clouds were moving in. The gray overcast pallor of the heavens was a sure signal that snow was on the way.

Sam looked up as Heath, Able and the children all trooped into the mercantile. He had a stove going in the back, and he invited the children to warm their hands near it. "It sure looks like it's brewing up some bad weather, Heath," he commented, taking the list from him. "Let me get this filled for you, so you can get back before it hits."

"That would be good, Sam," replied Heath gratefully.

The men continued to chat with Sam as he went about getting the supplies Maddie had written on the list. She had several other small errands and chores for him to attend to, but he thought he might cut some of them short. He didn't want to get caught out in the open with the children if snow was on the way.

Maddie and Chrissie were racing along the mountain ridge, their billowing hair having long ago fallen out of the combs that had held it back.

Maddie laughed in delight as Bacon crossed the imaginary finish line at the stream first, and she began to rein him in after he jumped the small creek. She and Chrissie had Bacon and Eggs, while the men had taken Chrissie and Able's matched Bays to town.

"That's not fair," complained Chrissie, but she laughed at the triumphant expression on Maddie's face. "You knew Bacon was faster, because he's Heath's horse, didn't you?"

"Sure," replied Maddie, grinning unrepentantly. She sat astride Bacon's broad back, delighting in the freedom of the pants she wore. Even though she had a riding skirt, she always had to watch it to make sure it didn't hike up and show some leg. These pants were perfect!

"Aren't these pants just great, Chrissie?" she crowed exultantly.

"I have to hand it to you, Maddie, they are wonderful," Chrissie agreed, but she thought uneasily of her easygoing husband. She had never hidden anything from him before.

The girls meandered along, allowing the horses to cool down. The wind had picked up, and Chrissie suddenly noticed the darker clouds moving in. "Don't you think it looks like snow, Maddie?" She shivered and pulled her sheepskin collar up higher around her ears. Her cheeks were getting cold and looked like rosy apples, where the wind had nipped them.

"Yes, it really does," agreed Maddie surveying the sky.

"How long do you suppose we've been gone?"

"I don't know for sure. It's hard to tell. The sun is gone. It's been awhile, though." Maddie was beginning to feel the cold bite through her gloves at the end of her fingers.

"I think maybe we better head back."

"I think you're right," Maddie replied, a twinge of concern in the pit of her stomach. "We don't want the men to get back before we do." She began to urge Bacon forward, trying to hurry him into a canter.

"There's always the possibility of them coming home early, since they have Luke and Beth with them," shouted Chrissie behind her, urging Eggs forward as well.

Maddie hadn't thought of that. "Come on!" she yelled back, spurring Bacon into a gallop once again. "We better hurry!"

The girls began to fly along the woodland path, taking a shortcut along the river. It was well over an hour later when they cantered into the yard, relieved to see that the buckboard was not in its usual place near the barn.

Quickly, they dismounted and took care of Bacon and Eggs, safely ensconcing them in their stalls and rubbing them down. Leaving the horses with food and water, they hurried to the house to change clothes.

"I feel like I'm five years old," giggled Chrissie as she yanked the pants quickly down her slender thighs and stepped out of them.

"I know what you mean," agree Maddie, trying to hurry too. She grabbed the pants from Chrissie and folded both pairs, then stuffed them into a box underneath her bed.

The girls were just buttoning their shoes when they heard the horses and the buckboard pull into the yard.

"Boy, that was close," breathed Maddie, straightening her hair, her cheeks flushed and her eyes shining with mischief. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and tried to exude as much decorum as possible.

Chrissie's fingers were trembling as she finished the last button and straightened herself up. "Do you do this all the time?" she asked nervously, beginning to see why Maddie got herself into so much trouble. "I'm a nervous wreck! I just know Able will be able to see we've been up to something!" She hurriedly picked up Maddie's hairbrush and tried to brush the windblown tangles out of her hair.

Maddie simply twisted hers on top of her head and fastened it with some pins. She didn't have time to brush it before they would be coming into the house.

"You'll be fine," she hissed. "Just act normal!"

"How can I act normal?" Chrissie pinned her long dark curls into place and took a deep breath. "I don't even look normal!"

"Deep breaths," instructed Maddie, breathing in deeply and slowly exhaling. Chrissie followed her example, and after a couple of breathing exercises, Maddie opened the door, and they entered the kitchen just as the children came in the back door.

Heath and Able followed them in, the cold air bursting in with them. Their arms were filled with sacks of flour, sugar and staples that Maddie had ordered. She was glad she had banked the cook stove before she and Chrissie had left. The kitchen was nice and warm.

"Can we make gingerbread cookies, Aunt Maddie?" Luke asked excitedly. His round boyish face was apple cheeked from the cold.

"Of course, we can," laughed Maddie, ruffling his brown hair. She leaned up to give Heath a kiss.

"Me, me!" came the demand from just beneath her right elbow. She looked down to see little Beth staring up at her, her cupid bow mouth demanding the right to make cookies too.

Maddie laughed again and bent down to take off Beth's hat. "Of course, you can, darling," she said, her eyes twinkling at the youngster. "We'll do it tomorrow morning. We have all day. It's Saturday." She smoothed back the little girl's dark curls, so like her mother's.

"So what have you two been doing all afternoon?" Chrissie laughed nervously at Able's question, and he stared curiously at her.

"Oh, nothing much," replied Maddie. "We went for a ride on Eggs and Bacon." She avoided looking Heath in the eye as she glanced sideways at Chrissie.

"Oh, yes, it was such fun," enthused Chrissie. "Although it started getting cold, so we came back. We got back just before you did."

"So, that explains the redness in your cheeks," teased Heath, pinching Maddie's cheek softly. Maddie tried not to think about the redness of her other cheeks should Heath find out they had ridden in pants. She simply smiled brightly at him and nodded.

The girls bustled around and began to put supplies away; Able and Heath taking the things that belonged in the cellar underground.

The family had all met at Maddie and Able's parents' for Thanksgiving, and then Able and Chrissie had returned with them to stay for a while. Then they would all meet back at the Owens's for an early Christmas before Able took his family back to spend the final holidays with Chrissie's family in Louisville.

It was much later in the evening when a knock sounded on the front door. They were all seated around the family table in the country style kitchen, and Heath got up to answer it. Maddie and Chrissie had put the wild afternoon out of their minds, and it had been forgotten for the time being.

When Maddie heard Heath call her name, she stiffened uneasily at the tone. He sounded ... concerned, somewhat stern. Even Able and Chrissie noticed, and Able's eyebrows raised questioningly as all three adults got up to go to the living room.

Standing just inside the living room door, was Elmer Pritchett, their neighbor along the East Ridge. The look on his pinched face was one of righteous indignation. His thinning gray hair was askew on his head where he had taken the heavy cap off inside the warm house, and his dark eyes pinned Maddie and Chrissie in an accusing stare.

"Mr. Pritchett says he has something I need to know, Maddie," said Heath evenly. His eyes spoke volumes. "He says it concerns you."

"W ... what might that be, Mr. Pritchett?" Maddie's voice came out in a squeak, and she tried to clear her throat. Her fingers nervously pinched the material on the side of her skirt, but she faced him bravely.