Snow White

Sometimes revenge isn't saccharine sweet…
sometimes it's ice cold.

“Robert Andrew Belden!  What have you done?”  Trixie stared at the disaster that was the kitchen.  Ice was melting all over the counter and floor, creating huge puddles of water.  But Trixie was far more concerned by the bright, fluorescent colors staining the counter.  The blues, yellows, and purples might have been pretty, but she suspected her mother would feel it clashed with the white countertop and red curtains.  Especially with the formerly pristine white countertop.

“I'm making a snowball with my snowball machine, what does it look like I'm doing?”  Bobby licked blue raspberry syrup off his hand as rolled his eyes at his sister.

“It looks like you're making a mess.  Do you know how hard it is to clean these stains off the counter?  And you better clean up this water on the floor before someone slips in it.”

Bobby rolled his eyes again.  “No one is going to slip in the water.”

Trixie started to return the eyeroll until she realized that she was supposed to be the mature one.  Having just turned seventeen two months ago, she was very aware of her age and the expectation that she behave accordingly.

“You better hope it isn't me.”  She carefully made her way through the puddles to the sink where she grabbed a sponge and bleach powder.  “And you better hope this stain comes off the counter.”

“Gleeps, it is pretty bad.  Moms is going to kill me if it doesn't come out, isn't she?”  Bobby rushed over to inspect the damage.

And immediately slipped in the water and fell down, hard.  The snowcone in his hand flew straight up in the air and landed, with perfect aim, right on top of his blond curls.  Trixie almost fell down herself, she was laughing so hard at the beautiful picture he made with purple, blue, and yellow dye flowing down his face and onto his T-shirt.  Bobby scowled darkly, but that only made her laugh harder.  When she was finally able to breathe again, she smiled sweetly at her brother.  “I told you someone might slip.”

“Yeah, but that someone wasn't supposed to be me!”  Even at ten years old, Bobby still had a phenomenal pout.

“Anyway, small fry, why don't you head upstairs and take a shower?  And don't track dye through the house.  I'll clean up in here.”

Just as quickly, the pout became a beaming smile.  “You know what, Trixie?  Sometimes you're an alright sister.”  He walked over and tried to hug her.  Trixie swiftly evaded him and his sticky, multi-colored embrace.

“Yeah, whatever.  Anyway, you'd better hope the dye comes out of your hair, too.  Although, if it doesn't, that might distract Moms enough that she won't even notice the counter.”  She smirked at Bobby's panicked look and turned around to clean.  Luckily, with a little bit of elbow grease and a lot of bleach powder, she was able to whiten up the counter, good as new.  Grabbing some paper towels, she cleaned up the ice and water from the floor.  Once everything was dry and spotless, she turned her attention to the snowball machine.  She hadn't yet used the machine, which had been a birthday present for Bobby.

She was tempted to try it now, although she usually thought snowballs were too sweet.  However, since the New York summer was at its typical horrid heat and humidity, she was craving something cold.  Grabbing some ice out of the freezer, she dropped them in the machine, watched the ice crystals fall into the bowl.  Once she formed the ice into a ball, she added her syrup flavoring, solving her dilemma of choosing a flavor by using all three.

As the icy coldness of the first bite hit her tongue, she smiled.

“No, Honey, you grip the ball like this.”  Trixie turned the baseball in her hand, showing Honey the seams.

“But there won't be any seams on what we're throwing,” Diana pointed out.  Dressed in dark blue short shorts, a purple tank top, and a New York Yankees cap, Diana was still, to her dismay, perspiring profusely in the heat.

“No, but it'll help get the feeling right.  And if I'm going to show you how to throw, I'm going to teach you right.”  Trixie gripped the ball again.  “See, then you raise your arm above your head, arc the ball forward, and snap your wrist.”  She demonstrated, sending the ball soaring until it bonked against a tree, the one towards which she had been aiming.  Trixie, like Jim, could play most sports, and play them well.  She would never admit it to the others, or even to herself, but it annoyed her that Diana was the best at the self-defense lessons they had been taking for the past year.  Not that she begrudged Diana that, but since Trixie still occasionally worried that Diana and Honey were prettier than she was, she enjoyed being more athletic than they were.

Diana took a ball from Honey and tried it.  The ball went soaring further than before, but it didn't come anywhere near the tree. 

She frowned at the ball.  “You know, if it wasn’t for our Tae Kwon Do class, I’d say I’m not good at sports.”

Trixie concealed her own frown as Di’s comments so closely mirrored her own thoughts.  “You are getting better, Di.  Just watch your follow through.  At least you’re not throwing like a girl anymore”

“But we are girls, Trixie.”  Honey bent down to pick another ball out of the bag.

“True, but that doesn't mean we want to throw like one.”  Trixie smiled at her best friend, and smiled even wider when Honey finally got that last flick of the wrist perfect on the throw.  The follow through was perfect as well, causing the ball to hit the tree.  “Much better.  Okay, let's try throwing to each other.”

After a couple hours of practice, Trixie was ready to call it quits.  Honey's aim and throwing had improved, but Diana was still unable to throw where she was aiming.  She was throwing hard and throwing long — Trixie had gone after a number of wild pitches that afternoon — but her aim was horrendous.

“Forget it, Trixie.  I'll never be able to hit what I'm aiming for.”  Diana took off her cap in frustration, wiping away sweat.  Removing the ponytail holder, she ran her fingers through her dark hair.  “Or who I'm aiming for.”

“But we've got to get all three boys,” Honey said, looking towards the Manor House.  “I must get my revenge on my beloved brother.  He hit me two or three times… although mainly I think he was aiming for Trixie.”

Trixie nodded her head in acknowledgment; she had noticed that as well.  “Yeah?  Well I have two brothers to go after.  That's why we need a third person.  I don't think I can manage to throw at both of them at the same time.”

Diana smiled slyly.  “Well, maybe we can get Danny to help us.  After all, he wasn't with them, so we have no need to get revenge on him.  And he throws well.”

“Yeah, but would he actually do it?  He's best friends with Mart.  Do you think he'd really go against his fellow 'men'?” Trixie curved her fingers in the air, miming quote marks.

Tossing back her hair, Diana tucked her baseball glove under her arm.  “Look, I may not be able to throw worth a darn, but trust me, I can talk a man into anything.” With that, she took off in the direction of Maypenny's cabin, the other two trailing behind her.

“I can't believe I'm agreeing to this,” Dan said.  “Especially since you're not even letting me hit Mart.  I still owe him for that joke he played on me.”

Dan glared at Diana when she started giggling. “It wasn't funny, Di. Mart almost ruined my chances with Christina. I'm there talking to her at the party when suddenly Mart came over and told me that my 'wife' had called and asked me to bring home milk for the baby. It took me the rest of the party to convince her that I didn't have a wife.”

“Or a baby, for that matter,” Trixie said, grinning at Dan.  “Anyway, I said you could throw the second one at him.  But I get to nail him first.”

“Okay, but I swear this is the last time I let you three talk me into anything.”

“Of course, Danny.  But you know we always appreciate it when you help us out.  You're such a sweetheart,” Diana said, stroking Dan's arm and his ego.

“I'm such a sucker is what I am.”

“Maybe,” Trixie agreed.  “But you're a really hot and sexy sucker.”

“Hot and sexy comment appreciated, but more of an emphasis on the sucker.  Anyway, when are we planning on doing this?”

Honey took out her calendar.  “Well, why don't we do it next Saturday? Mart will be back from college orientation, and Brian will back from visiting hospitals.  We can do a picnic at the lake and attack.”

“That's a plan,” Trixie said.  “They'll never know what hit them.”

Saturday dawned nice and hot.  The perfect day for a snowball fight.

Trixie had already “borrowed” Bobby's snowball machine and carried it over to Dan's house, the one place free from the prying eyes of both older and younger brothers.  She had spent the week prior working on the perfect consistency for the snowball.  Initially she had just compacted the ice into ball shapes and stored them in the freezer.  However, when she removed them a few hours later, she found they had frozen into a rock-solid mass.  Since she hadn't planned on giving the guys concussions, she quickly nixed that idea. 

Several experiments later, she discovered that adding a bit of salt to the mixture, and only storing them for an hour or two, produced the best results.  It was more a slushball than a snowball, but she preferred that to making something that could cause injury.  So, she and Dan only had a small window of opportunity to form as many snowballs as possible before the picnic.

“So, how many snowballs are we making?” Dan asked as he quickly molded the ice into the perfect shape.  Although he hadn't had the opportunity for many snowball fights as a kid, he was more than making up for it now that he lived in Sleepyside.  Luckily, he was a quick learner.

“Well, I think they had stockpiled up quite the arsenal at the Meads Mountain.  I know the barrage of ammo took a while.  No matter how long we stayed underwater, every time we'd surface, one of the guys would hit us with one.” She grinned evilly.  “And I intend to pay them back for every one.”

Dan gave a mock shudder.  “This might be one of the few times I'm glad I didn't get to go along on a trip.  I'd hate to have your sworn revenge directed at me.  Not that I'd ever do something evil like that to you girls.”

Trixie snorted.  “Right, it probably would have been your idea. Actually, I wonder whose idea it was?” Noticing Dan's smug smile, she turned on him.  “Okay, spill it, Mangan.  Whose idea was it? It was Mart, wasn't it?”

“I'm not telling, Trixie.  You've already gotten me to betray my fellow men enough already with this snowball idea, I'm not betraying them further.”

“The hell you're not.  Come on, you have to tell me.” Trixie tried her best to emulate Diana's techniques on male manipulation, lowering her eyes and batting her eyelashes up at him.  When that didn't work, she fell back on her own techniques.  Picking up one of the snowballs, she began lofting it up and down.  “I'd spill it I was you.”

Dan narrowed his eyes at her.  “You wouldn't dare.”

Several snowballs later, they had one huge mess in the cabin.  Maypenny had rushed downstairs at the sound of commotion, stared for a moment, grunted, and then headed back up, muttering that they'd sure as sugar better clean that up.

But Trixie was satisfied, since she had her answer.  After knocking Dan to the floor with a leg sweep, the threat of having the entire bowl of snowballs stuffed down his clothes had done the trick.  She still couldn't believe that Brian, the supposedly nice older brother, had been the instigator of the plot.  Perhaps she had underestimated him; she'd have to be more wary from now on.

It took them ten minutes to clean up from the first batch of snowballs before they could even begin to start fresh. 

“Great going, Trix.  Now we'd better hurry.”

Trixie smiled at him, that smile that always won forgiveness from everyone.  “Sorry, Dan.  But you were withholding information.”

“Well, I wouldn't recommend that interrogation technique when you become a detective.  I'm fairly certain it would be frowned upon.  You know, cruel and unusual punishment.”

She laughed.  For a while, they concentrated on forming the ice into sphere shapes.

Dan broke the silence.  “You know, things would be different if we went to Mead's Mountain now.  After all, can you imagine enjoying the heated pool differently now that all you guys are dating?”

Trixie paused a moment as she envisioned Jim in that pool now.  The steam rising around his bare, muscled chest; water dripping off his hair as he leaned in to kiss her, pressing his body against hers; the heat level increasing rapidly and having nothing to do with outside temperatures…

She blushed as she looked up to see Dan eyeing her and realized how long she had been fantasizing.  She cleared her throat.  “Well, I suppose it would be different.  And you'd be the odd man out.” She paused and looked at him closely.  “Does that ever bother you? I mean, I hope we don't do anything to cause you to feel like… like a seventh wheel.”

“You don't, honestly.  I mean, sometimes when I hang out with just one couple and they are way into each other it can get uncomfortable.  But honestly, when it's all seven us together, it feels like it's always felt.  Seven close friends enjoying each others' company without any pressure or stress.  Sometimes I can't believe how different the Bob-Whites are from the Cowhands.  They always talked about loyalty bullshit in the gang, but you knew when push came to shove, it would be every man for himself.  But with the Bob-Whites, I know there's nothing you wouldn't do for me, and nothing I wouldn't do for you.  And that's given me stability and love that I haven't had since my Mom died.”

It was Dan's turns to blush. 

Trixie was smart enough not to say anything.  Although Dan was opening up more and more, he wasn't one for long speeches.  She was flattered that he had chosen to share it with her.  And tactful enough to change the subject. 

“So, we have our plan, right? We'll let the other guys go in the lake and get far enough away from the dock while we remain next to the cooler.  Diana said she's going to do something to distract them, I don't know what—”

“I hope she wears that purple bikini.  That always distracts me.”

Trixie ignored Dan's interruption and continued.  “Then, we'll hit them while they're distracted.  Remember, for the first volley, I get to drill Mart.  Honey wants to get Jim, so you throw one at Brian.  After that, it's a free-for-all.”

“Sounds good.  Just don't miss Mart on that first attempt, Trix, or you won't be the one to hit him first.  I owe him.”

Trixie sniffed as she picked up the cooler.  “I won't miss.”

By the time Dan and Trixie got to the lake, everyone else had already arrived and set up for the barbeque.  Jim gave her one suspicious glance when he noticed her arriving with Dan, but before Trixie could even get annoyed at him, he seemed to brush it aside and came over to greet her.

“Hey gorgeous.” Jim kissed her lightly as he reached for the cooler.  “Can I help you carry that?”

Trixie yanked it out of his reach.  “No, that's okay, I've got it.” She cringed internally as this earned her an even more suspicious look from Jim.

Dan managed to distract Jim by talking about the Yankees' chances of winning the World Series this year.  This quickly turned into a loud group debate as the Yankee fans good-naturedly disagreed with the Mets fans in the group.

The debate ended when Diana pushed Mart off the dock and into the lake.

He surfaced, sputtering.  “You Yankees fans are always sore losers.  Anyway, who else is ready for a swim? Diana, sweetheart, why don't you join me?” he invited with an evil glint in his eye.

Diana smiled at him.  “Sure, Martie.” She took off the long, loose top that had been covering her swimsuit to reveal a new, teeny purple bikini that wasn't covering much.

Mart stared at Diana, his thoughts on revenge replaced by thoughts of lust.

“Is this the distraction?” Honey whispered to Trixie, edging towards the cooler.

“I don't think so,” she whispered back.  “The plan was that they were supposed to be in the water when she distracted them.  I think this is just Di enjoying being the center of attention.” Trixie growled quietly as she realized that Diana was the center of attention.  Not that she minded that normally, but Jim and Brian were doing their best to ogle Diana discretely, but in this case, their best wasn't good enough.

Dan wasn't even bothering with discretion.  He had no trouble admitting his admiration for the female Bob-Whites, even if he was smart enough not to speak it aloud.  And there was no way he'd ever make a move on any of them, even if they weren't dating his best friends.  But there was nothing wrong with looking.

Trixie, Honey, and Dan putzed around as Jim and Brian dove into the lake, following Diana into the cool water.  Carefully, Trixie moved into position, expecting Di's distraction any moment.

“Remember,” Trixie whispered to Dan.  “I get Mart, Honey gets Jim, and you get Brian.  Although, now that I know it was Brian's idea… no, we'll stick with the original plan.”

“Yes, sir, Lieutenant Dallas,” Dan whispered back, referring to the girls' favorite books series.  He opened the cooler and passed Honey a snowball before turning back towards Trixie.

Smiling at him in appreciation, Trixie grabbed a snowball, using the cooler lid for cover, and made note of Mart's location.  She turned her attention back to the others, grinning as Diana, submerged to the top of her shoulder, dramatically shouted, “Oh no, I lost the top of my bikini.”

The grin disappeared as she noticed all three men in the water swivel their heads, with enough force to cause whiplash, and focus on Diana.  Trixie’s eyes narrowed with purpose as she turned her body around to face Jim.  Next to her, she could see Honey doing something similar, switching attention from brother to boyfriend.

Dan laughed to himself as he caught the girls' reactions and prepared to do what he wanted to do in the first place.  He got ready to fire a round right at Mart.

Honey got off the first volley, and her aim was true.

Brian jumped in shock as something ice cold hit him in the back of the head.  He turned around just in time to take a second slushball directly in the face. 

“What the…” Wiping ice off his face, he stared in shock as he noticed that Jim and Mart were similarly under attack.  After getting hit in the side of the head by another snowball, he quickly dove under the water.

Unfortunately, that didn't work for long.  As soon as he'd surface, he'd again be drilled by a really cold snowball. 

But others had a better strategy. 

Jim quickly figured out what was happening — three freezing cold snowballs provided a solid clue — and even though he had no idea how they were doing this, he had figured out why.  And just as quickly, he dove under water and swam beneath the dock.  Here he was out of the line of fire until Trixie knelt down, leaning over the side to find him.

This was a tactical error on her part.  Jim just reached up and yanked her into the lake with him.  With no ammunition, she wisely surrendered as soon as she surfaced.

“Surrender, huh?” Jim looked around and noticed everyone was busy paying attention to the attack.  He quickly pinned Trixie to one of the dock pilings and negotiated some surrender terms.

The only one who noticed was Diana, who had wisely distanced herself from the three targets after her very effective distraction routine and had also wisely retied her bikini top.  Although she couldn't help but witness the treaty negotiations, she opted to let Jim and Trixie have some privacy.  Besides, the combat was much more entertaining.  A few seconds later, she was glad she was paying attention when she saw Mart, who had just taken one more snowball in the face, turn towards her with a cunning look on his face.  He dove under once again. 

Although Di figured out his intentions quickly enough, she wasn't quick enough to evade.  Mart grabbed her, dragged her underwater, and surfaced with her in front of him.  He started inching toward the dock, using her as a shield.

“Okay, I have a hostage!” Mart yelled out.  “Everyone put down their snowballs, and no one will get hurt.”

Honey and Dan paused for a moment, lowered their arms, and then looked at each other.  “Shoot the hostage!” they quoted in unison as they both threw at Mart, hitting Diana in the process. 

Brian used this distraction to his advantage, quickly swimming to the dock.  Ignoring whatever Jim and Trixie were doing since he didn't want to think about it, he pulled himself up and reached for the cooler.  At the last moment, Honey turned around.  She raced over and grabbed the handle.  A tug-of-war ensued.

Brian had the strength, but Honey had better leverage.  For a few moments, they struggled over the cooler, both of them leaning back to get better power.  Then, with a sweet smile, Honey let go.

Brian and the half-open cooler went tumbling into the water.  Although it did mean a total loss of their remaining ammunition, Honey calculated it was worth it. 

And just like that, the battle was over.

The splash of Brian hitting the water distracted Jim and Trixie from their negotiations.  They both swam out from under the dock, meeting Mart and Di as they reached the dock.  Trixie grinned at Diana, who was trying to get the ice out of her hair.

“Oops, look like we've had some casualties.  The innocent bystander always gets hurt.”

Jim laughed.  “I don't think Snow White here is innocent.  I suspect that her little bikini routine was a deliberate distraction attempt.  An effective one.” When Trixie glared at him, he rushed to finish.  “I was just worried because I heard the panic in Di's voice.  I didn't even hear what she said.”

Mart was too busy glaring at Dan to worry about glaring at Jim.  “Traitor,” he accused.

“Hey, I'm just getting back at you for Christina.”

Mart grinned.  “Yeah, well, I guess I do deserve some retribution.” He looked over at his sister.  “And I know this was just the girls getting us back for Mead's Mountain.  But I have to ask, how the heck did you manage to get snowballs in the middle of July?”

Brian grimaced.  “I suspect Bobby's new snowball machine has something to do with it.” He started to hand the cooler up to Honey.  When she reached down, he reached up, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into the water.  Then he threw the cooler up to Dan.

“I saw that one coming,” Dan said, laughing.  “And yes, Brian, Bobby's snowball machine is even now sitting in my kitchen, having had quite the workout today.  You guys only got to see half the snowballs we made,” he said, with a quick fake glare at Trixie.

She smiled back at him innocently.  “I have no idea what you mean.  Anyway, why don't you stop being the odd man out and jump in.”

Setting down the cooler, Dan took off his shirt and dove into the water, ready to join his friends in an afternoon's play now that the battle was over.

But the war has just begun, Brian thought.  And he began to plot.

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