The story takes place before Adam sings to his brothers "Sobbin Women" and after the brothers finished singing "Lonesome Polecat"

One -shot!

The freezing snow, icey conditions, and winter came early in the territory of Oregon that year. Which would have been alright for the tough Pontipee brothers, because after all, they were used to living in hard conditions since childhood. However, the younger six Pontipees weren't looking the same after the barn raising that occurred in the beginning of August. All of them were acting 'strange' as Adam would put it. But the oldest Pontipee didn't give too much thought to it. Milly however, was very concerned and heartbroken for the boys. She knew that they were lamenting the loss of the girls they met at the social. If only there was a way to help them.

The arrival of early winter made the younger six Pontipees even more upset and disappointed with their lives.

It was late afternoon, the boys had finished their outdoor chores lazily, and all of them gathered in a barn. You see, they were discussing with one another what to do with their lives. All of them had fallen so quickly and yet so deeply with the local town girls.

"Let's leave Adam out of this." Benjamin said sternly and continued playing with his pocket knife.

"How about we just go to town!" Frank announced frustrated. He was pacing back and forth in the barn.

"What a genius idea, Frank!" Exclaimed Daniel. "Why didn't we think about it after all these months?" He added sarcastically.

Frank glared at his brother with annoyed expression.

"Oh, Frank you know very well that we're banished from town." Gideon whined.

"So? Who cares!" Frank growled. "We can easily sneak into town and meet the girls."

"Yeah, right." Ephraim hung his head.

Frank stopped for a minute and then continued pacing like a lovestuck young stallion.

"Sit down, will ya?" Benjamin barked unhappily.

"What do you think, Shakespeare?" Frank asked Caleb who remained silent in this exchange.

Caleb looked up at his brother and sighed heavily, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

"Well, we gotta think logically here." He said calmly. That caused Frank to roll his eyes.

"You and your logic." Benjamin said and shook his head unsatisfied.

"How bout we apologize to the parents for what we did?" Gideon suggested after a while.

"How're we going to do that when we aren't even allowed to town, Romeo?!" Frank snapped again.

"It was just a suggestion." Gideon spoke glumly.

"I'm surrounded by idiots..." Caleb mumbled annoyed.

"Oh shut your trap!" Ephraim exclaimed at his brother.

"Yeah, who do you think you're? Some kind of a saint or something?" Frank agreed.

Caleb stood up and turned directly to his brothers. "Y'all are just making me sick. I'm sorry but you're ideas suck, Frank. And if you have a better plan Ephraim, I'm all ears."

Ephraim glared at him silently, while Frank was fuming with anger.

"You won't believe how I miss Ruth. Every night I think about her soft curls and her beautiful pale hands. I would give everything to kiss that hand." Caleb confessed with eagerness.

"That's nothing!" Daniel answered him. "All I see is Martha with her twinkling eyes."

Frank let out a laugh. "Oh, sure! You two are nonsense compared of what I've been through." He rose from his seat again and walked towards the stables where they kept horses.

"When I close my eyes I see Sarah and her long silky hair." As Frank said this he leaned and petted one of the horse's manes and closed his eyes, clearly imaging Sarah.

"Be careful there, tiger. Horses bite." Ephraim sneakered

"Oh brother, don't be jealous." Frank turned to him with ease. "You're probably still bitter that you're precious Liza jumped into my arms."

"At least I got a chance to interact with her. Unlike you. You know, I think Sarah's quite afraid of our little Frankincense." Ephraim answered.

"I think it's you who should be afraid now!" Frank made an advance towards his brother, but Benjamin stepped in. "Enough!" He braked.

"This won't help us get the girls." Gideon spoke with a disappointed tone.

"Told you I was surrounded by idiots." Caleb mumbled again and shook his head.

"Can you all just shut up?!" Daniel growled, clearly annoyed with the situation. "Instead of making decisions, y'all are acting like some sort of wild animals!"

"Thank you." Caleb whispered in agreement

"Daniel, be quiet. Ephraim, sit down. Frank, lighten up. Gideon, stop whining. And Caleb, just end this. I'm sick and tired of your 'I'm better than any of you' attitude!" Benjamin announced furiously.

"Looks like somebody had too much Dorcas on his mind." Frank said sarcastically.

"You know what? I don't care anymore! You do whatever you want. I'm getting out." Benjamin spoke up again.

"What?" Gideon asked surprised. "Where you think you're going?"

Benjamin took a deep breath and then started talking once more. "Well, I spoke to Milly this morning. I want to leave the farm. I think I'm gonna go and start my own life."

Brothers were all silent and kept looking at the second oldest Pontipee in disbelief.

"But what about our farm?" Gideon asked dumbfounded.

"Adam and Milly will take good care of it." Benjamin answered. "I need to find my own place."

"And when exactly were you planning to tell us this?" Caleb raised his eyebrows.

"He wasn't!" Frank barked. "He was planning to sneak out!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Frank? Ben would never do that." Daniel rebuked Frank.

"Would you Ben?" He turned to his older brother and questioned him with his eyes.

Benjamin stood there in silence and then hung his head clearly looking guilty.

"No way!" Caleb explained. "So you were planning to sneak away in secret, after all."

"I can't believe you! Frank was right!" Daniel said enraged.

"What do you think I was supposed to do? If I told this to Adam or any of you. You would stop me!" Benjamin tried to explain.

"Stop you?" Frank asked with a laugh. "I don't know about others, but I would've joined you. I'm sick of this place too."

"How dare you Frank!" Caleb exclaimed. "Ma always wanted us to live here and grow this place."

"So did Pa!" Gideon added anxiously.

"Well, they're gone!" Frank yelled overwhelmed with emotion and broke down in tears. "For goodness sakes they're gone! And they're never coming back, alright?! I'm tired of watching Adam and Milly all in love, and knowing that I'll never experience something like that!"

Gideon quickly descended the first loft and hugged his brother close. "It's alright, Frank." He said softly and comforted him.

"Let go off me, Gid." Frank pushed his baby brother away, for he was embarrassed. He didn't mean to show so much emotion.

"It's alright, Frank. You're allowed to show us way you feel." Caleb said thoughtfully.

"We feel the same way." Daniel added gently.

"Listen, how bout we just speak with Adam and tell him how we feel?" Ephraim suggested at last, and spoke with an ease, but serious tone was echoing in his words.

Benjamin and the rest of the brothers nodded. "That's the sensible thing to do." Benjamin agreed.

They set down in the barn, each found their comfortable spot and were silent for hours. They loved the girls and wanted to reunite with them. The thought of those town boys being all over them like hungry hyenas made their hearts ache. The six Pontipees were becoming so lovesick that they didn't want to utter another word anymore. Why was love so painful? Why couldn't they just forget the girls and move on. After all, they had met them just once. Just once!

Everytime they tried to shut them out, it never worked. Benjamin was still thinking about the gorgeous tall Dorcas and her catlike eyes. Caleb was still dreaming about cheerful and optimistic golden haired Ruth. Daniel still had tough and bold Martha on his mind. Ephraim kept seeing pretty Liza dancing in his arms. Frank still imagined how petting Sarah's silky hair would feel. And Gideon still thought of soft featured Alice, who made his heart flatter like no other.

And that's when Adam entered the barn proudly and looked at his lovestruck brothers.

"You just get a look at yourselves." He laughed, not taking them seriously. "Y'all look like bunch of lovesick bull calves!"

Well, I think we all know what happened afterwards...lol!

Thanks for reading it and please, leave reviews! Merci, Gracias, Obrigado, Spasibo, Grazie!