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“Is this one of the famous boys’ clubhouses?” smirked Ian.
“No,” laughed Miller. “Pops always said Halo Island was special, and we couldn’t use it to separate ourselves from the girls. Besides, it’s easy to get to. It’s the last of the islands that we own. If you look toward shore, you can see some of the old homes that belonged to sharecroppers in the area. Super easy to get to by small boat or canoe.”
“People still live in those?” frowned Ghost.
“It looks like it,” said Gaspar. “Y’all know who lives there?” He turned to his brothers, all of them shaking their heads.
“Maybe we need to pay a visit,” said Antoine. “They’re awful close to our land, but I’m more worried about the condition of those homes. One good wind, and they’ll be gone.”
“I’ll ask Pops about it,” said Luc. “He seems to know everyone in the area.”
“Why are we here?” asked Nine as they stepped onto the island.
“I got to thinking about the boys and kids at the school,” said Gaspar. “Giving them an updated home is awesome. Giving a few gifts for them that they need, great. But Mama and Pops always gave us experiences.”
“Experiences?” asked Ian.
“Yea. We got to go somewhere, do something that we’d never done before. What if we gave these boys an experience here? What if we created an island where they can climb and jump and run, where they can experience different games in a different way. We’ll make this amazing, like a theme park without all the noise.”
“I can see that,” grinned Luc. “We could put up a holiday theme for the first event. Trees everywhere, lights, ornaments. Epic!”
Gaspar laughed at his little brother, shaking his head. Miller gave him a smirk. Luc was always the one that got so excited at Christmas he made himself sick. For some reason, Miller was feeling nostalgic. Being the second oldest had a lot of responsibility when there were fifteen children.
With Gaspar only a year older, they were the ones that put together bikes and dollhouses to help out Matthew. It gave them pride and joy seeing the happy faces of their siblings on Christmas morning. He looked toward Alec, the ‘baby’ of the group. He was the last one that allowed them to play Father Christmas.
“What do you think? Pierre?” asked Luc.
“What?”
“I was asking what you think about making it a full Christmas park. Romantic walks for couples, kids playing on Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds, that type of thing. Thousands of lights, maybe a food stand over there, games, all of it!” he said excitedly.
“I think it’s a great idea,” smiled Miller.
He looked across the narrow bayou and saw a young boy standing on the front porch of one of the battered shacks. An old man stepped out, touching the boy’s shoulder, nodding at him. He got into a pickup truck and drove off as the boy just watched.
“Shouldn’t he be in school?” asked Hannu.
“It’s Thanksgiving break,” said Nine. “But I think we should speak with him. Those places should be condemned. Who owns them?”
“I’m not sure,” said Gaspar. “Just five hundred yards back is the start of our property line. You can see our fences in the brush.”
“I’ll send Tailor and Alec to speak with them. See what’s going on,” said Nine. “No one should have to live like that.”
“Hey, y’all see that tree?” asked Antoine. Gabe squinted, looking off into the distance on the edge of the tree line on the island. “That big branch could easily hold two, maybe three thousand pounds. We could place swings over the branch, line the ropes with lights. Kids would love it; adults would think it’s romantic.”
“I think we’ve got some great ideas,” smiled Gaspar. “We just need to put them all into action and get this shit done. We’re now counting down until Christmas Eve.”
By the time they made it back to Belle Fleur, their wives were already wondering where they were.
“Why won’t you tell us where you’ve been?” asked Erin.
“Baby, it’s Christmas time. Just go with it, okay?”
“Fine, but so help me God, if you’re doing something dangerous, you’re going to be asking Santa for something to keep you warm at night because it won’t be me.”
“Agreed!” yelled Lauren.
“Same,” said Alexandra. Faith, Grace, Lena, and the others all nodded.
