Family Camp Out: The Homestead Twins - Part 2

By Jannis Hibberts

Welcome to the Homestead, and the second in a series of stories featuring the twins, Richard
and Rachel, who live there with their parents, Mama and Papa. The twins are home schooled,
and they live in the fertile and beautiful Pacific Northwest of the United States. They help their parents cultivate and care for their little farm so it produces mos

• Language: English
• Publisher: Healthy Life Press, LLC
• Release date: Jul 16, 2015
• ISBN: 9781939267573

Book preview

Chapter 1

The early morning sun woke Richard as it shined brightly through his window blinds, the rays from the warm August sun letting him know it was time to get up. But Richard did not want to get up. Ughhh he complained to nobody but himself. He squeezed his eyes shut as he rolled onto his side away from the direct light; but the bright sun still insisted it was time to get up. Onto his tummy he turned, burying his face deep into the fluffy pillow . . . and then all at once his eyes popped open wide and he was fully awake, remembering the exciting plans that had been made. He threw off his covers, jumped out of bed, and dashed through the door and noisily crossed the hall to wake up his twin sister Rachel.

Richard skidded to a halt, just inches from her bed, and softly leaned against her mattress to see if she was awake. Her eyes are still closed, sighed Richard. For what seemed like one whole minute he wiggled and he hopped, bouncing from one foot to the other, trying to decide whether to shake her or wait, but at the same time, afraid he would just bust wide open if he couldn’t share his excitement with someone. Mostly, it was because it’s just way too hard for a seven-year-old to wait. Finally, he reached over and poked her on the nose with his finger.

Even though her brother was noisier than any alarm clock, Rachel pretended to be half asleep, to tease him a little, and to watch his reaction. Richard stood by her bedside observing, trying to figure out her mood. Rachel pulled the covers tightly up against her chin, expertly concealing her excitement and keeping her eyes shut. Richard stared at her expression and movements with unease as she made a grumbling sound, behind firmly closed lips, and a grumpy noise erupted from deep down inside of her throat.

Richard wasn’t quite sure what to do, because sometimes his sister was a teeny tiny little bit grouchy early in the morning. But as Richard considered what to do next, Rachel’s eyelids opened, and she stared back at him with a squinting kind of sneer. In return, Richard smiled at his sister with a toothless big grin. And his smile only got bigger when she playfully smiled back at him.

Rachel, always prepared to play the dramatic actress, sat up in bed rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and lazily stretching out her arms like a waking barn cat. With a drawn out drowsy voice she purred, Pleeease let me sleep . . . pleeease.

Richard could not hold back his excitement any longer, so he impatiently urged, Get up Rachel, c’mon let’s get started.

Still acting sleepy and lazy, Rachel yawned, and in one swift motion with deliberate intention, she rushed to the edge of the bed, and without warning and quicker than a blink of a wink she jumped up, landing with both feet hitting the floor signaling a challenge for a race. Always ready, and more than willing to play along, Richard whooped loudly, IT’S ON, and off he scampered after her, and with laughter tinkling behind them they both took off running toward the kitchen.

Mama and Papa were in their chairs sitting at the kitchen table with steaming mugs of coffee, chatting between each cautious sip. The sound of two sets of bare feet running on the floor warned them of the twins’ speedy approach. Mama and Papa quickly set down their cups, and just in time, too, as the rowdy children skidded to a full-stop, only a bump away from the edge of the table.

Rachel and Richard giggled while catching their breath. Rachel leaned into Papa for a big ol’ bear hug, and Richard did the same with Mama . . . and then the twins switched huggees, completing the morning ritual.

Mama got up and poured her children some fresh, cold, naturally sweet goat’s milk. The conversation slowed as the twins stopped talking long enough to enjoy tasty slurps from their glasses.

Rachel, who had just finished reading about wildlife in the Pacific Northwest wanted to share and reported, I’ve memorized a lot of the species from my book. We may not see all of them but we just might, and she began to name her favorites, the area has bald eagles, chickadees, squirrels, falcons, deer and. . . . before she finished her list, Richard interrupted to add a few of his favorites too, mostly because they were the