He carried it to the wood box next to the back door and went in to ask Susan what to do next. "I want you to take the car into town and pick up a couple of bags of seed and fertilizer. Here's the keys. He drove into town and parked the car in front of the hardware store. As soon as he entered he sensed that he was being stared at. The wife of the owner of the store came over and asked, "Can I help you ma'm?" Terry figured that he should set her straight from the start because he might have to come here again and there was no reason that he should have to be treated like this. "I'm a boy, ma'm, and I'm here to pick up some seed and fertilizer for Mrs. Borden." The woman called to a young girl that was in the back stocking some shelves. The girl came over and the woman shouted, "Will you look at this, Jeanie! comes in here with a big bow in his hair and he expects me to call him sir!" Both women burst into laughter as Terry quickly reached up to touch his hair. He worked the knot free and a pretty piece of velvet ribbon fell into the palm of his hand. He blushed deeply and mumbled something about keeping the hair out of his eyes. "I'll get those things for you dear," the woman said when she finally stopped laughing. He didn't say another word to the clerk but quietly loaded the and drove back to the house. "Why did she do that to me!" he kept thinking. "Doesn't she like longhairs after all? Is she trying to shame me into getting a haircut? He put the sacks into the barn and went into the house.

He

car

"You took the ribbon off!" was the first thing Susan said when she saw him. "The people practically laughed me out of the store," he exclaimed. "Why did you put a ribbon in my hair!" "It kept the hair out of your eyes didn't it," she countered. "You could have used a rubber band," he said raising his voice. "I just grabbed the first thing I found. Now let's forget the whole thing! You go get washed up for dinner."

As he walked through the living room a photo on the wall caught his eye. He went over to take a closer look at it. It was another picture of her daughter, except in this one her hair was tied back with a big velvet bow.

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CHAPTER FOUR

A Skillful Demonstration

He began his work the following morning by raking the front yard. The rain had knocked most of the leaves off of the trees and left quite a mess. He was just about finished when Susan came out, with coils of black leather wrapped around her left arm. "Have you ever seen one of these?" she asked. "Only on television," he replied. "Then you've never had the chance to try one," she said as she uncoiled the long bullwhip from her arm. It looked sinister and dangerous, much like a huge menacing snake. She placed the handle in his palm and said, "Go ahead and knock the rest of the leaves off the tree. They'll fall eventually anyway and it's a real challenge to try and hit them" He figured he might as well give it a try. It looked easy when the cowboys did it on television. He whirled it into the air with a fast move of his hand and waited for the solid crack as it snapped. Faster than he could react, the whip tangled itself around his arm. Susan chuckled softly as he prepared for his second attempt. This time it wrapped around his legs and the tip stung him in the rear end. "It takes practice," she said. "Let me show you how it's done." He unwrapped himself and handed the bullwhip back to her.

She whirled the whip around gently a few times and then ... CRACK...CRACK...CRACK.... three leaves were floating gently to the ground. "That is incredible," he gasped. "When you get the hang of it you don't even have to whirl it around." No sooner had she spoken then the whip shot out and cracked louder than before. A small branch tumbled to the ground as he watched in fascination. "That thing hits pretty hard," he commented. "It all depends on how you use it," she replied.

"you

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