Peter and Elizabeth 1

By Peppe1951

Summary: Into the lives ofPeter and Elizabeth Burke come a little laughter, anxiety and love in the form of a small boy named Neal. This is the first in the Burke Family series.

Author's Note: This is an Alternate Universe story which means I can have stuff in my story that may not normally appear in our 1870 universe.

Prologue:

It is 1870, five years after the Civil War has ended, in Brookville, Kansas. Peter Burke is the Sheriff and with Clinton Jones as his Deputy Sheriff they strive to keep the peace; and in the month of March the town finds itself besieged by a group of kids who have made it their task to steal as much as possible before moving on.

Chapter 1

Sheriff Peter Burke had just finished his last drop of coffee when the door to the office opened and in walked the Sheriff's beautiful wife, Elizabeth. The Burke household had yet to have the pattering of young ones but the couple hoped soon to remedy that.

"Are you busy, dear?" Elizabeth asked or El as her husband liked to call her.

"Nope, I thought that I would walk around and see if I'm needed anywhere. Clinton just left a few minutes ago to look around but I wanted to finish my coffee first."

Clinton Jones was Peter's deputy. He had applied just a few months ago and Peter was impressed with all he saw and heard about the young man and had hired him on the spot and now he was glad that he had him.

The town was being over run with a gang of boys ages nine through eleven as best they could tell and these boys were stealing the town blind. They had hit the hotel only yesterday and that is where Peter had sent Clinton. Peter just knew that these young thieves had to be working with an older individual who would direct them to where to hit next and if they could only catch one surely their keeper would come running and maybe they could arrest him and put this crime spree to an end.

"What do you want El?" asked Peter gently.

"I was going shopping at Rucker's Mercantile and was hoping that you could be persuaded to carry my purchases home?" El said with a smile.

"Well, for the right price I might be so tempted," replied Peter as El quickly gave him a kiss.

"Was that the price you were wanting, dear," she said with a laugh.

"It will do nicely," he replied as he offered her his arm and they left hand in hand. They made pleasant conversation on the way until they saw a curious sight…a large crowd gathering outside of the mercantile.

"It looks like the whole town had the same idea to go shopping today," murmured Peter until they got closer and could hear a wailing filter its way through the crowd.

"Peter! That sounds liked a child crying," El said alarmingly as her husband pushed through until he found himself watching with disbelief as Dirk Rucker, the Mercantile owner, continued to spank a young boy and walking around he discovered the boy's bottom as red as a ripe apple.

"Dirk! Why are you spanking this child?"

"He's one of the thieves that has been stealing me blind…only yesterday he was in here with a few of his friends stealing my apples and when I tried to catch him he threw one that hit me in the stomach. He got away then and I promised that if I ever got my hands on him again I would paint his butt the same color as the apple he stole and by golly when I came back from the bank I found his friends distracting my clerks and this one with his hand in the til. I made little time in bringing him over here and relieving him of his britches and have been spanking him ever since. He tried to be brave and not cry out but that didn't last long and he has been crying for the last fifteen minutes or so. So if you will excuse me Sheriff I will continue my chastisement and this young thief will find it hard to sit for the next few weeks," Dirk explained as he began to spank the boy again this time zeroing in on the boy's sit spots and would have continued if not for the entrance of Peter's wife.

"Peter, how can you stand by and watch this boy be brutalized like this. How are you Dirk?" she said as she interrupted herself.

"I'm fine, Elizabeth but this boy deserves this thrashing…he's just lucky I decided to use my hand instead of a strap," replied Dirk as he continued to bring his down harshly on the boy's rapidly burning backside.

"But surely he's had enough…"

"El, he's one of the young thieves we have been trying to catch," Peter explained as he interrupted his wife.

"Although, I think you have made your point now Dirk. I'll be taking him with me," he ordered calmly.

With one more last lick Dirk suddenly let the boy over his lap go and returned to his counter. Peter and El were left with one sobbing youngster who pulled up his pants and tried to take off all in one move. Peter was too quick for him and latched on to his arm and pulled him from the store. The boy had to hold on to his britches with one hand as he was pulled from the store.

After learning that this boy was one of the thieves plaguing the town some of the men in the crowd made sure to show their anger by smacking his sore rump as he moved past. This action would have continued except that El, seeing what was happening, placed herself right behind him and thus protected him as best she could.

Clinton had just returned when the threesome entered the office and Peter locked the boy up much to the disapproval of his wife. "El he broke the law, I've got to lock him up," cried Peter.

"Yes he did and he was punished for it by the one he stole from…isn't that enough. Peter he is only a little boy," she pleaded.

"Do you think I like to arrest a small boy, but I have no choice if I want to arrest the one in charged of them? He knows who that person is and if we can persuade him maybe he will help…and get off with a lighter sentence," Peter tried to explain.

"Are you going to question him now?" asked Clinton.

"I'm going to try," replied Peter as he took off his holster and left it along with the revolver with his deputy before unlocking and entering the cell. He found the boy reclining on his side on the bunk since his backside was too sore to sit upon.

"Boy…I want to talk to you…"

"M-My name is N-Neal and I d-don't want to t-talk to you," Neal sobbed as he vainly tried to get his tears under control.

Peter was about to try again when El entered the room and motioned for her husband to leave. He reluctantly left but stayed nearby just in case. He watched as his wife sat on the bunk next to the still weeping boy and pulled him to her making sure to keep his sore bottom from resting on anything.

All it took was for El to hold him for him to grab her tightly by the neck and cry into her shoulder as she began to hum quietly. All too soon the sniffles and cries began to quiet down and for Neal to lay his head on her shoulder and sigh.

"Neal, how old are you?" asked El to put Neal at ease.

"I'm nine…my birthday is the end of March, on the thirtieth," replied Neal.

"Sweetheart, why were you stealing from the town?" El asked gently.

"Because Jacob says I have to…and it is kind of fun to see if I'm smart enough to get away with it. Jacob says that I'm his best pupil…I never get caught," the child boasted.

"Until today, you mean," corrected El as she lightly patted his bottom.

"Yes, ma'am," Neal replied as he winced, "until I tried to take from the register. Jacob is going to be mad that I got caught," sighed Neal as she began to rub his back and he grew sleepy.

"Will he try and rescue you?" she asked quietly.

Neal nodded, "he'll come for me tonight," yawned Neal as he fell asleep still in the arms of Elizabeth Burke. She gently laid him back on the bunk and covered him with the blanket before kissing him on the forehead and leaving.

Peter looked at her with amazement, "it looks like I'm going to have to deputize you hon for interrogation only. How do you do that?"

"Every boy wants a mother, dear; and Neal is no different….did you find out enough to catch this Jacob who is ruining this boy and every other in the gang?" she asked with anger.

"Oh, yeah, we will lay a trap for him tonight. Clinton go out and round up a couple of men willing to be deputized for this mission and tell them not to come in to the office until later tonight after everything quiets down and it is too dark to see," Peter said quietly as he laid out his plan. He knew from Neal that this Jacob fellow would try and rescue is best pupil tonight and he figured that the gang of boys would hit two locations on opposite side of town from the jail. He would have the two temporary deputies run out of the jail as soon as the action began and it being so dark that Jacob wouldn't realize that it was him or Clinton and then when he tried to release Neal they would spring and hopeful be jailing him as well.

So around ten o'clock that night when the town became quiet a great uproar came from the hotel and Peter sent one of the temporary deputies to check it out while they wait for the next. It came about ten minutes later from the Mercantile and the other temporary deputy went out leaving the sheriff's office empty of law enforcement agents or so it seemed. It was only a few minutes later that the door opened a gravely voice whispered, "Neal? Where are you boy, its Jacob?"

The person connected to the voice to a couple of steps inside before a light was lit and the door slammed and he quickly turned around to see that the door was guarded by a man wearing a star and then turning back he was greeted by the Sheriff himself.

"If you will be so kind as to move into the cell section and we can lock you up," Peter said firmly.

Jacob nodded dejectedly and did as he was ordered. Peter searched him first and then locked him in the cell next to Neal's. "You wanted to see your star pupil and there he is next to you…pretty soon we are going to have the whole gang locked up," promised Peter as he turned the key and locked Jacob in.

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