This one is going to be a bit different than the others. Why just write about the characters that I don't like? (because I can) Why not write another ending for a character I do like. Sylvie from Sarah Orne Jewette, I think she deserves at least this:

The Cow-Spotted Horse

          After the first time Sylvia climbed the great pine-tree her grandmother could not keep her out of the trees. She was excellent at climbing them and would spend hours in their branches. The hours another child might have played with friends Sylvia was learning how to twitter with the songbirds. The hazy summer days other country children were heading out to waterholes to swim Sylvia was climbing to the highest branches and being rocked by the breezes that only reached the tops of the trees. In the fall Sylvia would even help the squirrels, one would show her the fullest acorn or hazelnut trees and she would climb them and shake the heavy boughs so the squirrels could collect and burry more nuts than they could eat (she never knew how many trees were started because of her actions). The squirrels got fat and happy. The birds learned a few more songs and Sylvia grew tall and strong.

          One day, as she was about to leap into her favorite tree, she heard a furious whinnying coming form the swamp, she wasn’t in a hurry to get the cows, they were always in the same spot, so she went to investigate.

Their “horned torment” had passed on a few years ago but had mysteriously turned up pregnant one year, and fortunately for everyone involved, she had easily delivered the twins. How and Now Sylvia had proudly named them, but because they were brown like their mother no one could ever figured out how they had occurred.

They were slightly less capricious than their mother, once they started milking they dutifully came to the barn in the morning, but Sylvia had to bring them in for their evening’s milking. It was a game their mother had taught them, but they seemed to be a little confused on the rules. They were always in the same spot, by the fence line. Sylvia had a sneaking suspicion that was where they may have occurred, but it was never confirmed.

Sylvia had plenty of time, once she had been tasked with getting all three, so the simpler two cows were no difficulty. Her grandmother had even let her go “to get the cows” early with a gleam in her eye, as if she knew Sylvia liked quiet time in the woods. Not that there wasn’t work at the house, the two cows made a lot of milk, some of which they made into cottage cheese and some of which they churned into butter.

Sylvia followed the sounds and came upon quite a sight. The boy from the adjacent farm was pulling on a horse’s reins trying to dislodge it from the muck to no avail.

“It’ll never work that way,” Sylvia said quietly. He turned and jumped noticing he was no longer alone with his horse.

 “Do you have experience removing horses from these damnable swamps?” The boy asked impatiently, still pulling the reins.

“Not horses, cows,” she turned fully ready to leave them both to his bad temper.

“Wait,” When he called out to her, his voice cracked, before returning to its original register, and Sylvia realized that he was about her age, and in truth not really a boy at all. “I’m sorry, I’ve had a really horrible day. I was riding in the forest when out of nowhere comes this huge white bird. It spooked Charley good. He threw me and ran out here.” He sighed again, “I would be appreciate if you could help me get him loose.” He gave her a rather sheepish look. Marcus was his name, she remembered now, they had been introduced once but neither of them had been paying much attention, her grandmother had been trying to got Marcus’s family to buy some of their butter, and after a spell they had come to terms.

“Your horse’s name is Charley?” Sylvia couldn’t help but smile.

“Well he is my family’s,” the boy blushed a little bit, “but my little sister named him.”

“Well let’s get Charley free,” Sylvia hiked up her skirts and grabbed up the horse’s reigns.

It took a while but between the two of them pushing, and pulling, and urging Charley to fight through the mire they finally got him free. The sun was setting now. While they had been extricating Charley How, and Now had wandered up. They lowed impatiently, tired of waiting for her, and with their udders painfully full, they were more than ready to be lead home.

Sylvia suddenly remembered, “I have to go, grandmother will be worried about me being so late,” she started moving the cows toward home.

“You’re Mrs. Tilly’s granddaughter, right?” Marcus said suddenly right beside her leading Charley behind them. “Sylvy, that’s your name right?” She was surprised he remembered her name, and a small part of her was happier than she wanted to admit.

“Yes, we’ve met before.” Suddenly meeting his eyes was harder for her, “But I’ve really got to get them home now.”

“And what kind of person would I be, to leave you to walk home alone, after keeping you so long helping me save my Charley horse,” It was Sylvia’s turn to blush, but she quickly covered it with her laugh. “I’m in trouble for sure once I get home, but I could tell Mrs. Tilly why you’re late.”

He was very thoughtful, Sylvia thought, as she agreed to him helping her herd the girls home. They talked comfortably along the way, and Sylvia found if she didn’t look at him she wasn’t as nervous, but she never really had liked too many people.

Strangely when Sylvia arrived at their home with Marcus, her grandmother wasn’t nearly as worried as Sylvia thought she would be, but the knowing gleam in her eyes was even brighter as she asked Marcus to stay for dinner. He was already resigned to the dressing down he knew he was getting when he got home, and they might even send him to bed without any supper, so he gladly accepted. As they ate he told Mrs. Tilly the story of his misfortune and of Sylvia’s great heroism and quick-wittedness in helping him rescue his horse form certain death. Sylvia blushed quite a bit as his tale grew but he embellished the tale only enough to make Sylvia seem like his God-sent savior. He also praised Mrs. Tilly’s cooking as if he hadn’t eaten in years. Sylvia noted that her grandmother enjoyed his complements a great deal. Marcus was really rather charming, she found herself thinking as she watched him talk.

Before he left Her grandmother gave Marcus the butter his family usually got from them, saying she had been meaning to bring it over soon anyway. Before he left he took Sylvia’s hand, thanking her again. He made a great show of bowing and kissing her hand gently.

After he left her grandmother crossed her arms over her chest and addressed Sylvia with the gleam almost a blaze in her eyes now, “So is that what’s been sending you out earlier to bring the cows in?”  

“Oh, no grandmother!” Sylvia was horrified thinking her grandmother thought she was doing things she had no business doing, “This is the first time I’ve seen him on my way to get them, I swear.”

Grandmother gave her an appraising look with a final look into her eyes for good measure and made a noncommittal sound, “Is that so?” Sylvia nodded emphatically “Then I suppose we’ll be seeing a bit more of young Marcus in the future.” Sylvia thought that was a strange thing for grandmother to say, but it turned out she was right.

That night Marcus’s mother remarked that she had never seen a boy so happy to be sent to bed without supper (because he wasn’t supposed to be riding Charley anyway, and his father had walloped him good for that.), but from that day forward he always offered to get the family’s butter from the next -door farm. Even though his father made him walk the first few times, as a punishment, he was happy to do it. But from that day forward he always had a sugar lump or apple piece for Charley, and whenever he went fishing or gigging frogs he always grabbed at least one or two extra and left them near the nest Sylvia showed him on their second walk. It seemed only right, to thank that heron for spooking Charley. If it hadn’t then Marcus might never have seen that sweetest smile in the world. The one that made him decide, that when they were old enough, he was going to marry Sylvia. And once he set his mind to something, Marcus usually got it done.