“Shit, shit, shit!” Nessa exclaimed.

“What’s wrong now?” questioned her twin brother Xander.

“This fucking marker. It’s dry. The fucking markers are always dry.”

“Fact of life,” Xander observed. “What is it you need it for anyway? Can’t you use some other color?”

“No.”

“So what do you want me to do?”

Nessa gritted her teeth. “I don’t want you to do anything. I didn’t ask you to do anything. Grrr!”

“Remember when we used those markers playing Cowboy?” Xander asked.

“And Mom got so mad,” Nessa remembered.

“It was fun,” Xander said.

“It was,” Nessa agreed. “Remember one time I was the cowgirl and you were the cow?”

“I was the horse,” Xander said. “And I gave you a ride.”

“Cow,” Nessa said. “And I branded you. So you wouldn’t get rustled.”

“Oh yeah? If you branded me, it didn’t stick.”

“How would you know?” Nessa asked. “The brand was in a place you couldn’t see.”

“Was not.”

“Okay, let me check,” Nessa said. “Pull down your pants.”

“Not unless you do too.”

When they were both naked, Nessa searched for the brand. “I guess you’re right, it must’a wore off,” she admitted. “Guess I’ll just have to rebrand you.”

“No way will any strange galoot dare to rustle you now,” Nessa declared after the branding. “To celebrate, how ‘bout before dinner we go for a little ride?”

Xander was up for it.