The Turtles had celebrated Christmas with their friends and had a New Year’s party a week later. This winter was colder than last year and they talked about a great, relaxing week on the Jones Farm. They deserved to rest a bit in the beautiful environment of Northampton.
All of them agreed so Casey and April went to the farm a day earlier to make a fire to heat up the rooms, preparing the extra mattresses for the Turtles where they could sleep, Splinter preferred to sleep on the sofa, and of course, pillows. Lots of pillows.
The next day, in the morning, the Turtles and Splinter arrived with warm clothes and a few items they brought with them. Mikey was the first who entered inside the building and greeted Casey and April waving his hand.
Raph and Casey did a fist bump while April gave a gentle hug to Donny. Leo and Splinter stayed with the traditional 'Hi' greeting. The house was already warm and cozy, the fireplace sure did the job right. Of course, Mikey hurried to the fire and moved his hands close to the heat. Nobody blamed him, the weather was chilly and snow began to fall after they arrived at the farm. Sure, they brought clothes with them, but none of them planned on staying outside all day long.
April had some plans for what they could do in the week. If there they get enough snow over the next few days, they could ski in the mountains, have a snowball fight, build snowmen, or even ice skate on the lake; if it froze and was safe enough. All of them liked April’s ideas. Of course, if the weather wasn't good, they could still play some board games or watch TV.
The next day, in the morning, Donny got his hot coffee and looked through the window, admiring the snowfall. The snow didn't stop falling after they arrived, so the ground had a decently thick layer of snow to do a few of April's plans.
"We are running out of wood." Casey rubbed the back of his head. He was sure they had prepared for this holiday. It seemed he was wrong. But, neither Casey nor April expected the weather to get so cold so fast, and of course, Mikey didn't like cold so he used up a lot of wood to keep the fire alive.
Raph stood next to Casey, patting his shoulder. "Don't ya worry Casey. Me and Donny’ll get ya some wood."
Casey looked to his friend. "The brain and the muscle, huh? Well that is a great combination."
"Ya can come with us If ya want."
"I would like to, but someone needs to watch over Mikey. He found the kitchen and he had a great idea of what to cook." Mikey already used a lot of wood, he didn't want this to happen with food ingredients as well.
"Yeah, ya should do that. He loves making a mess."
Casey nodded. "Just be careful and wear something really warm. It's pretty cold outside."
Raph gave a few pat on his back. "Don't ya worry about us. We'll be fine."
Casey headed into the kitchen while Raph approached his brother.
"Alright Don, get some clothes and let's chop some wood."
The purple banded turtle sipped the remaining of his coffee and put the mug on the table. "Sounds good to me."
Both of them prepared for the inclement weather. They brought only the necessary items they needed and the green pair walked into the snowy nature to gather wood.
"Any smart ideas which trees we should chop?" Raph could go nuts and chop every tree he saw, but he wanted to hear Donny's opinion first.
"We should find the thickest tree, that should be enough, or many smaller ones. Either way, the method takes time and strength. And, that’s not even taking into consideration the weather and the snowfall. When we’re working, then we’re sweating and there is a higher chance to catch cold."
"Sheesh, Don I only asked ya what trees we should chop, but thanks."
The snow crackled beneath their boots as they walked on it.
"Say Raph, may I ask a question?"
"Sure, hit it."
"Why me? Why not Leo or Mikey?"
"Does it really matter? I thought it would be more logical going with ya."
"Well I could understand why you wouldn't chose Mikey, but Leo would be a good choice as well."
"Just realized we don't really spend much time together that's all."
"Huh, I see." Donny nodded. It was a bit unexpected from Raph but he didn't complain about it.
Soon, Raph discovered a few very thick trees on the other side of the lake.
"Hey, those trees are perfect."
"Raph, there are other trees we could chop, plus we would need to go around the lake and It's a very long walk."
"Walking around? This lake is frozen, we could just walk on it."
Before Raph could take a step forward, Donny stopped him with his arm.
"It's still dangerous. Even if the weather got colder, there is no guarantee the ice is thick enough to handle our weight. Especially when we bring the wood back."
"Ya worry too much Don. Relax, It's fine." He stepped on the ice, showing his genius that sometimes he can be wrong. "See? I'm still standing." He gave a big grin to his brother.
"It's still not safe."
The red banded turtle grunted. "Fine, I'll go myself then." And he walked forward.
"Raph, don't be like this, the ice could break beneath you at anytime!"
"Where’s yer side of adventure?" He mocked his brother while continued walking.
"Back in New York city actually." Don looked grumpy and followed his hot head brother, being cautious.
"I'm in the middle of the lake, and no sign for danger." Raph chuckled.
"Luckily." Answered Donny with a low tone.
Suddenly the ice started to crack beneath them and the cracks got closer under Raph.
"Raph, watch out!" He didn't have time to think, he moved by reflex and pushed Raph away and the ice broke under Don who fell down into the ice-cold water immediately.
Raph's eyes widen. "Donny!" He crawled carefully to the hole and looked into the water, tried to figure out what he should do. Soon, a part of Donny's bo staff came out from the water. It has to be Don's plan, to pull him out, Raph thought to himself. He grabbed the staff fast and used all of his strength to pull him out. The olive green turtle's upper body was above the water now. Raph grabbed his arms and pulled him out from the water.
Donny's whole body trembled and his teeth shivered. It would be dangerous If Raph stood up and carried Don, so he tried to find the best solution. He quickly removed all of his brother's wet clothes and after that he took off his own clothes as well, then he put it on Donnie's to keep him a bit warmer.
"Alright Don, carefully lie down. I'll slide ya out from the lake."
The sudden temperature lost made him stiff, it was the best that they could do. He lay down on the ice with the help of his brother and he started to push Donny as he crawled on all fours back to safety.
Once they arrived on the snowy ground, Raph picked Donny up and ran back to the farm house.
There was no time to be polite, Raph kicked the door in, caused a big surprise to the family.
"Raph, what happened?" Leo's eyes widened as he saw Raph without his clothes, holding Donny in his arms.
"Donny fell down into the lake." He quickly ran close to the fireplace and put the shivered turtle down on the floor gently.
"He what?" Mikey just came out from the kitchen, seeing his genius brother trembling shocked him.
"I'll bring more blankets." Casey shouted as he ran up the stairs.
"I'll make some hot water." April headed to the bathroom fast, getting hot water into a basin.
Mikey stepped closer to the purple banded turtle. "Is he gonna be okay, sensei?"
Splinter put his hand on Donny's forehead to check his temperature. "He is very cold. The warm blankets and the hot water will help him."
Leo crossed his arms. "How did he fell down into the lake?" He looked down to Raph, maybe he would answer his question.
"It was my fault." Raph let out a deep sigh. "I told him to go to the other side of the lake to chop some wood. He warned me, but I didn't listen. He saved me from falling down into the lake."
"So because of you, Donny is now shivering like a leaf." Leo scolded his brother.
"I know, and I'm sorry, I just-" A sneeze interrupted Raph's sentence.
"You should rest as well, my son." Splinter stopped him from talking. "Wandering outside in this cold weather without any clothes is dangerous. But then again you saved your brother. That's what matters."
Raph nodded. "Thanks Sense- ACHOO!"
"Bless you. And next time listen to your brother." Splinter scolded him as well.
Casey and April arrived back with more blankets and a basin filled with hot water. Mikey pushed the sofa closer to the fireplace and Leo picked Donny up, placing him down on the sofa gently. Casey wrapped the blankets around Donny's body. April put the basin down in front of Don's feet and helped him put them into the hot water slowly, giving him time to get used to it.
Casey, Leo and Mikey went outside this time to chop some wood while Splinter and April stayed with Donny and Raph. April brought another blanket for Raph and wrapped him because soon he got mild fever. Splinter made hot tea for both Donny and Raph who gladly accepted.
After some time the rest of the boys came back with wood. At night, everybody fell asleep, except Don and Raph, who watched the fire dancing. Though the room wasn't quiet, due to the soft snorts from Mikey and Leo, Splinter slept quietly while April and Casey slept in a different room.
"I'm sorry Don." Raph whispered. "I should have listen to ya. Then none of this would have happened."
Don placed his hand on Raph's. "It's okay Raph. I should have known you love danger and adventure. I just wanted you to be safe. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you."
Raph looked into his brother's eyes then he continued.
"You mean a lot to me, Raph. I have always admired you, the way you face danger and you are not afraid of it, it inspires me."
Raph looked away, feeling a bit ashamed. "Even if it is true, it only caused trouble to ya or the others."
"That's not true. There have been a lot of times we were in danger during a mission but you always found a solution even if it was very dangerous. You saved us many times, because you are not afraid of danger or death."
This made Raph smile and he leaned back on the sofa, not letting go Donny's hand. "Thank you, Don."
Donny smiled back and closed his eyes and both of them waited until they went to the world of dreams.
The rest of their holiday was spent mostly taking care of Donny's and Raph's sickness and that made Mikey grumpy, but during the week, Donatello and Raphael spent their time together more than in the lair. And in the last of the days they managed to play some border games. So, all in all, it wasn't a bad week after all.
