Author's Note: This is an idea I have had floating around in my head for a year and a half. I finally found the time to write it. I will apologize in advance for any mistakes made, especially for the horrible Norwegian I included in some of the dialogue (translations found at the end of the chapter). I also did my best to research colonial/postcolonial history in America but I am NOT an American so forgive any errors made in my research. Feel free to critique and offer suggestions (review :) ).

Warnings: This story will contain sex and content some may find triggering. Please read all warnings before reading a particular chapter.

Chapter 1: The Incident

Sweat dripped from his brow, slipping down his neck and adding to the dampness of his soaked shirt. The afternoon sun was particularly vicious this day, as if it was still well into July and not creeping into the start of September. As Jack surveyed the last of the corn crop, he swiped the back of his dust-covered hand over his face, silently bemoaning the labor he would have to put in for this year's harvest.

"How's the crop looking, Jackson?" his mother called.

Jack readjusted his straw hat and scanned towards where he had heard her. He could see a woman bent over, brown hair peppered with gray, pulling roughly at a few weeds off to his left. Carefully stepping around the corn stalks, Jack knelt down to help her.

"I've got it. You need to take a break, mom. You're going to overwork yourself again."

She swatted his hand away. "Jackson, I did not raise you to be lecturing your mother when there's work that needs to be done. You're making me feel like an old maid."

Jack smirked. "Well, if the shoe fits—"

She playfully cuffed him but Jack wasn't fooled by the stern look she was giving him. He could see the way her lips quirked as she tossed the weeds into the basket with the others. When she attempted to lift it, however, Jack was letting her have none of that.

"I'll get rid of these. Why don't you head in and take a rest? I'll finish up here."

"How sweet of you to let your 'old maid' of a mother take a break," she teased. Mrs. Overland wiped her hands on her soiled skirt. "If only your sister were as considerate. Lord knows where Emily's run off to this time of day."

If there's one thing that Emily and Jackson shared, it was a playful and energetic spirit. Ever since turning 13 a few years before, and with his father's unfortunate death on the job, Jack had to give up his days of running around and getting into all sorts of mischief with the Liabråten sisters. Emily helped out a lot more, too, but the days were long and the life hard for a farming family so whenever he could, Jack would take on some of Emily's duties so she could enjoy what remained of her childhood.

Today was one of those days and, unfortunately, the disapproval in his mother's voice meant that this hadn't gone unnoticed.

"She's probably gone off with Anna somewhere," Jack said, with a shrug. "Maybe down by the creek. I can go check."

Hell, jumping in the creek didn't seem like such a bad idea after spending all day in the field.

"Could you send her back home? The least she can do is help with dinner."

Shouldering the basket, Jack nodded. But before leaving, he tried to defuse what could be a rough scolding for Emily. "Don't be too hard on her."

"She's got to grow up sometime, Jackson."

"I know, but…"

He sighed. But with dad gone…haven't we been pushed enough?

Seeing the concern on his face, his mother gave him a small, reassuring smile. "I'll try to go easy on her, sweetie."

Satisfied, Jack left to dump the weeds out of the crop fields. Returning the basket to the tool shed, he bent over the basin where they kept washing water and cleaned off his hands. The flies swirling around the muddied water made him think twice about wiping off his dirt-smeared face and he once again toyed with the idea of dipping into the creek.

Why not? He had to go and find Emily anyway.

The walk to the creek was a good mile away, at the edge of the farmlands that separated the Liabråten fields from the Overland's. Unlike the Overlands, whose lands were small and modest, the Liabråtens had nearly five times the crop space and even hired a few hands to help with the tilling and harvests. The Liabråtens had done quite well for themselves since arriving nearly a decade before from Norway and there was even talk of them purchasing a neighboring piece of land for cattle ranching.

The American Dream, Jack thought, somewhat wryly.

He wasn't without his envy. When the Liabråtens arrived, they had a plot of land no bigger than the Overlands and could barely speak English. He even remembered how often their eldest daughter, Elsa, would push herself to use more English whenever they played together. The whole family worked hard and was rewarded through their hard work but Jack couldn't help but wish some of their good luck had rubbed off on their neighbors.

As he reached the outcrop of trees separating their lands, he forced his dark thoughts aside. "A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot,"(1) his mother would say. She was quite fond of Proverbs and would often have Jack read it to her, since she had never learned herself. Jack wasn't the most faithful but he found there was a lot of truth held in those words.

Hidden beneath the canopy of trees, Jack unbuttoned his shirt and fanned his hat over his exposed chest. His skin was sticky, the product of a hard day's work, and the relief he felt at being out of the intense bite of the sun could only be matched by a plunge in the creek. He trekked forward, already seeing the break in the trees that led to the bank of the creek, when a loud splash gave him pause.

Huh? So I guess they did come here, he surmised.

Unless it was some of the men who work on the Liabråten's farm. Most of them were nice folk so Jack had no issue sharing his leisure with them.

Shedding off his shirt and discarding it with his hat, Jack kicked off his boots and crept towards the bank. He could hear more splashing coming from a few yards to his right. Peering around the tree, he saw a head of flaxen hair emerge from the water, water cascading off her bared shoulders, her milky skin shining—

…bared shoulders?

Jack's eyes bulged as he realized he was staring at the very naked backside of Elsa Liabråten. With a loud squeak, he stumbled headfirst off the bank and into the creek.

"Hva faen!" (2)

The expletive was something Jack had only heard Elsa use a handful of occasions, usually when she was taken by surprise. Even then, it would color her cheeks, a trait he found endearing about her.

But right now, he could see her cheeks coloring for entirely different reasons as she threw her arms over her breasts and crouched in the waist-deep water. "Jack! What is the meaning of this?"

Her accent sounded thicker than usual, only adding to the obvious distress she must have felt.

His knee hurt something fierce from his tumble but not as much as his head as it raced through every excuse he should be using to save his ass. But he was far too distracted by the vision before him to think anything coherently.

Her usually carefully braided hair was unrestrained, blanketing her shoulders beneath the water's surface. Although covered, he could see her cleavage peeking out from her hands, skin pale and un-kissed by the heat of the sun. It made something tingle inside of Jack, lit a flame that threatened to roar into a fire as he watched her teeth draw in her lower lip. How he would love to close the distance between them, take that lower lip himself, and taste her…

But as his eyes locked onto hers, he realized there was no desire in the way she was biting down on her lip. She was trying hard not to cry.

"I can explain," he began.

The hurt in her eyes made him feel immeasurable guilt. Belatedly, he ducked his head and stared at the surface of the water. "It was an accident. I was looking for Emily."

Somehow, the truth sounded as unbelievable as any lie he could have told.

"She's with Anna. They went for wild berries," Elsa said quietly.

This only made Jack feel even more stupid. Emily had mentioned earlier that she wanted to go to the wild berry patch. How could he have forgotten?

"I-I'm really sorry, Elsa," he said. "Really. I wasn't spying, I swear! I mean, trust me, if there was some way I could make it up to you—"

And that was when he was struck with an idea. A brilliantly stupid idea but one that would hopefully rectify the situation they found themselves in.

Turning so that his back was facing Elsa, Jack began unbuckling his drenched trousers.

"Jack, what are you…"

"It's the only way, Elsa," Jack said, with a mock serious tone.

"Jack, no, really, there's no need—"

"It's only fair."

"Jack, I believe you, please don't—"

"Too late!"

"Jackson Overland, I insist that you keep your pants on—!"

But Jack was already crouching in the water and tugging off his trousers. Once free, he tossed the wet garment up onto the bank and slowly turned to give Elsa a cheeky grin.

"See? Now we're both naked!"

Elsa stared at him.

And stared.

And kept staring at him as if he had lost his head.

Then she splashed him in the face.

"How is this better?!" she demanded.

Jack shook water from his brown hair and shrugged. "It's not like we haven't done this before."

"We were 6!" she replied, incredulously. "And both of our dads spanked us, remember? I wasn't allowed to see you for weeks after that!"

Jack did remember. It was probably the most boring month he could recall from his youth. Emily had been too young to play outside with him so he had to contend with playing alone until Mr. Liabråten was no longer convinced he was trying to corrupt the man's daughter.

"That's why we keep this between you and I. Besides, if the other girls found out you got to see Jackson Overland's naked backside, they'd be quite jealous," Jack said, winking.

Elsa looked torn between her worry and wanting to rip Jack's head off. Luckily, her hands were preoccupied with saving whatever modesty she had left, ruling out the possibility of the latter.

"…it is a rather nice backside," Elsa admitted, lips quirking in a secretive smile.

That, if anything, nearly made Jack's heart stop.

But he could see the mirth in her eyes. She was taking great joy in teasing him.

"Elsa Liabråten, are you mocking me?" Jack asked, gasping and pressing a hand to his chest. "You know my fragile heart can't take such cruelty."

Maybe it was their equal exposure in this strange turn of events but it seemed to spark a confidence in Elsa that Jack had hardly seen before. She waded a bit closer to him, arms still carefully covering her, causing the cool ripples to lick at Jack's skin. There was electricity in the air that was only matched by the teasing heat in her saccharine tone.

"How fragile a man's ego is. But I know better than to feed a fool. I see nothing to praise."

"Then I guess I really am a fool," Jack whispered. Heat rose up his neck, creeping into his cheeks, as he blurted the first thought that popped into his head. "Because all I see is beauty."

The seriousness in his tone caused Elsa to stop her advance. Her face seemed to flush further, her gaze dropping shyly. Her surprise made her hug herself insecurely, as if she was trying to hide in herself. He could now see her nipples, perked and rosy beneath the water's surface, and how maddening it was that he couldn't reach out and grasp her breasts, stroke her skin softly, taste the white flesh that not even the sun had chance to taste…

He was hard. And no amount of prayer or the wrath of God could stop his blood from pounding from his impure thoughts.

"Søster?! Hva gjør du?!" (3)

"Jack?!"

The surprise made nearly both of them jump out of the water. Anna and Emily stood on the bank, baskets of wild berries forgotten at their feet, as they gaped at their older siblings.

"We were—it's not—trust me, I wasn't—"

Jack's babbling brought no explanation while Elsa was silenced by the shame coloring her cheeks.

"Eww, are you naked?!" Emily said, making a disgusted face. "Gross! Jack, you're so gross!"

"Please, it's not like you haven't seen me naked before," Jack retorted. Living in a two room house meant sleeping and bathing arrangements demanded less privacy and how many times had she stormed in while he was bathing, demanding to know where the waste bucket was?

"I am so telling mom!" Emily said, her face blanching.

Elsa's eyes widened and she looked about ready to burst into tears.

Shit!

For what was childish banter to Emily was really social suicide for Elsa.

"Mom's already pissed off about you shirking your chores today. How about we don't make her more angry," Jack started. "It's just a silly mistake. We weren't doing anything. Just ask Elsa."

But as he glanced over at Elsa, he could see her entire posture stiffen. The humiliation hit both of them like a tidal wave. And while Jack swam against the angry current, using his words to spare him whatever fate awaited them, he could already see Elsa drowning in it.

"Elsa?"

The look she gave him silenced any excuse he was about to babble. He felt all her hurt and betrayal in those deep, blue eyes and his defiance melted into shame.

Silently, and no longer caring about her exposure, she waded towards the bank. This time, Jack had enough humility left to look away as Elsa dressed and conversed quietly with her sister in Norwegian. The minutes that passed felt like hours of quiet torture.

Retrieving one of the baskets, a somberness fell upon the two sisters as Elsa turned towards the trees. "We should go home, Anna."

Anna nodded. "See you later, Emily."

Emily halfheartedly waved off her friend, watching until the sisters could no longer be seen in the shadows of the trees. The remaining siblings stood awkwardly, Jack still waist deep in the creek. Seeing the worried look on Emily's face, Jack realized she understood just how bad this was.

"This stays between us," Jack said, quietly.

Emily sighed but lost all the fire to continue their bickering from earlier. She bent down to pick up her basket when Jack cut in, "Oh and, uh, could you toss me my trousers?"

Grabbing the drenched garment, she muttered under her breath and flung it at Jack's face.

.

1 Proverbs 14:30

2 "What the hell?" denoting surprise.

3 "Sister, what are you doing?!"