Disclaimer: The Wonder Woman characters are not mine, just borrowed for this story.
Warnings: language and violence.
Reviews are always welcome and appreciated
Do Something or Do Nothing
"Wait up Davey!"
The desperate shout rolls over the hills and fields to reach Davey standing on top of the gentle hill overlooking the long flat stretch of land the army has been so enamoured with lately. Davey takes his eyes off the commotion and excitement taking place over the crest of the hill and turns to look at his brother frantically trying to close the distance between them. "Hurry up, Steve. You're going to miss it!" he urges before turning back to watch with ruptured fascination.
"I can't run as fast as you," whines Steve, making the last push to ascend the gentle slope of the hill. His legs aren't as long as his big brother's nor is he as fast. One day he'll beat Davey when they race from the apple tree by Mr Pickler's fence to old oak tree by the bank of the river behind the school. Today he has to settle for being the slower younger brother.
Davey rolls his eyes and sits down to comfortably wait for what should be the most amazing sight ever behold. He's lucky they haven't missed it yet. Steve is like a shadow he can't shake and while he takes his responsibility his mother placed on him to look out for Steve seriously, he just can't keep up with Davey all the time. He should have seen Steve to school and let him there but ten year olds are prone to ratting out their big brothers when not included, and so Davey had no choice to drag Steve along, taking a real chance that it would slow him down.
"You could have waited for me," says Steve with a petulant pout as he finally makes it to his big brother. He crosses his arms to show his displeasure at being left in the dust when Davey took off like a wild horse running towards the test field. He's as excited about this as Davey though and doesn't want to put up too much of a fuss for fear Davey will tan his hide and make him miss the big event.
Davey just grabs Steve's arm and pulls him to sit down next to him. "Just shut up an' watch." He points out towards where the soldiers are standing around the marvel of invention they're going to test today. To his surprise Steve does sit down without protest and keeps his mouth shut, if only fidgeting slightly.
Their father has been talking about this test flight for months; the Wright brothers finally cracking the code to flight late last year and spurring the imagination of man to take it even further and more successful heights. They haven't had much success out here but their father had been pretty sure this was the attempt that was going to work; that all their months of hard work were finally going to pay off. Davey can see him in the crowd, performing last minute checks before today's pilot climbs into the plane.
The excitement about what could happen today had penetrated their bedtime stories for weeks now. Tales of spies making great discoveries and unspoken heroics that incited excitement rather than drowsiness yielded to their father's current passion. Their father weaving tales of giant planes that could take you anywhere you wanted. Steve can hardly wait until they're ready and he can finally escape this small farming town in the middle of nowhere for the fascinating and vibrant towns of the world his father has spoken of. He cut his teeth on his father's adventures in faraway lands, saving the girl and narrowly escaping death thanks to his trusty watch that never fails. He's going to be an adventurer like his father; in the air though, not by sea.
Davey is the one who dreams of being a sailor and recreating their father's spy journeys on the old rickety sailboat their father takes them out on at the end of summer. At least he used to make the trip to the coast to take them out on the water, until Steve got a little too excited and a little too careless, and found himself tumbling overboard into cold rough waters.
It was the scariest moment of his life. Nothing around him except water trying to trade places with the oxygen trying desperately to claw its way out of his lungs. One minute he had been safe on the boat laughing with Davey the next he was in the ocean's deadly grip with no sense of which way was up or which way was down. He really thought that was going to be the end to his short life until he felt his father's strong arms wrap around him and pull him to the surface.
His father had dragged him back onto the boat and immediately ordered Davey to take them back to shore. Steve can still feel what it felt like to have his father's heavy coat draped around him as he clutched tightly to his father until they made shore. They haven't gone sailing since and Steve knows Davey blames him for taking the open sea away from him.
This though, is something they can all be excited about again. The prospect of being able to fly with the birds is fantastical. Lying on the bottom bunk listening to their father tell tales of this day, Steve saw the spark his father used to get when it was just the three of them on the sailboat heading away from shore towards endless possibilities.
The propeller starts to whirl and the plane starts its run down the dirt road, going faster and faster, quickly approaching the end of the road and the natural wall the rolling hills have created. Excitement and tension build raising both boys to their feet as failure or success approaches rapidly in the form of a trip ending hill.
"Come on, come on," mumbles Steve, his small hands curling into fists. It has to work this time, it just has to.
The nose of the plane goes up as it hops a few times, unsure if it's brave enough to take that bold leap into the air.
"Let's go," chants Davey as his heart begins to pound. His body slowly turning as the plane passes by.
At the last second the plane takes off clearing the hill by the skin of its teeth and heading towards the freedom of open air.
"Yes!" scream the boys as they get their own little taste of history. They both explode with hoops and hollers of jubilation, jumping and waving their hands in the air to celebrate. It doesn't matter that they're not supposed to be here, they just saw their first plane take off towards the heavens. No one can sit idly by composed in such events.
The soldiers on the ground do the same as they watch the plane dance through the sky. Everyone shakes hands and pat each other on the back. It's a magical moment where determination and hard work reveal the glory of success. As exciting as it is for them, it's nothing compared to the exhilaration exhibited by the ten and thirteen year old dancing on the nearby hill.
Sam Trevor glances over to the intruders on the hill and shakes his head. They're ushering in a new age for the world so he understands his sons' willful disobedience of skipping school and trespassing in a restricted area but a father can't stand for such actions, even if the explorer in him can. He steps away from his fellow soldiers so his boys can see someone has noticed them and angrily points towards them and then the direction of home. He doesn't need words to convey the trouble that's going to be waiting for them tonight.
Davey's eye catches a man standing out from the crowd; his blood runs cold as he realizes the jig is up. "Crap," he hisses, dropping to the ground and dragging Steve along with him. It's a vain attempt to keep their father from seeing them. One that probably didn't work but he has to try.
"What?" asks Steve, his excitement being replaced with dread.
"I think dad mighta seen us." Steve gives him a worried look, the one that pulls at everyone of his big brother heartstrings. "Come on," Davey says, starting to crawl backwards down the hill. "I'll get you some candy at the store before we go home."
Steve nods enthusiastically, his worry at being caught already forgotten in favor sweets.
They get to the bottom of the hill, out of sight of the test field, before standing back up. It's a good hour walk back to town and then another half hour to the farm. With any luck they'll make it home before their mother notices they're 'late from school.' They're going to catch hell for cutting out of school but it was well worth it. Even with the promise of trouble on the horizon both boys have a bounce in their step. What they saw was magic come to life.
"I'm going to be a pilot, Davey," he tells his older brother. "I'm already half way there." He lifts his arms to the side and makes the noise of the plane engine spitting to life before he runs forward, zigging and zagging across the field as they go.
"And two of those," instructs Steve, pointing to the jar of bright blue candies on the top shelf behind the counter.
Mr Teller smiles and brings down the jar at Davey's nod of approval. He places the candy in the brown paper bag and passes it over to Steve's eager hands.
Davey fishes around in his pocket for some of the money Mr Dally paid him for fixing the fence last week and passes it over to Mr Teller. He gives his thanks and pushes Steve out the shop door as he nabs one of the candies for himself. They just step foot out of the shop when they walk headlong into someone on the street. They stumble but keep their feet.
"Sorry Mister," starts Davey but stops as his brother interrupts him.
"Dad?" gasps Steve.
Sam stands there, looking as intimidating as ever. His lips are pressed in that hard line the boys know means he's cross. "You weren't at the airfield by chance, where you boys?"
Steve swallows hard. His father rarely ever raises his voice; he doesn't have to, he has a long dead stare that makes grown men weak in the knees. He thinks it's why his father is such a great spy in all the bedtime stories he tells them.
Davey scuffs his shoe on the ground. It's a test. If they lie and say no, their father won't give them any grief over being at the field but there will be a ton of chores and the silent treatment that follows the look of utmost disappointment at them lying to his face. Saying yes will end with a willow branch across the ass and the inability to sit for a few days but there won't be that look of disappointment.
"Yes sir," they say in somber unison.
Sam grabs them both by the ears and starts to haul them down the street. "Get in the truck," he orders, heat in his voice as he finally lets go. Both boys scramble to get in the back of the truck, sitting on top of the bales of hay.
"Mr Trevor!"
Sam looks down the street at hearing his name. Mr Dally comes towards the truck as fast as he can manage at his age, waving his hand to get Sam's attention. Sam turns to towards the boys. "Stay here!" he orders before turning and closing the gap between him and the elderly man.
Steve and Davey both move as close as they can to the side of the back of the truck to try and hear what has Mr Dally all in a frenzy.
"What can I do ya for Mr Dally?" asks Sam, his usual jovial voice burying the anger he feels for his boys' transgression.
"I was wonderin if you might take pity on an old man down on his luck sir, and allow me to use the stream that runs through your property to water my crops. Them Carter's have bought up the land around my place and damned all my water sources. They're tryin to run me out by forcing a drought on me. They say they don't want no people of color standin in the way of them buyin up the land around here but they won't pay me nothing for the land when they asked me to sell," explains Dally, the desperation at losing the only means his family has to make a living clear in his voice.
"Have you talked to the authorities?" asks Sam.
"They say they can't stop them from doing anything to the streams on the Carter's land, even if it means the lands downstream run dry."
Sam chews on his lip and turns to look at his boys clearly eavesdropping from the back of the truck. He weighs the scenario carefully, what it means if he does nothing and what it might mean to his family and their livelihood if he does. "Sure thing Mr Dally. I can come by tomorrow afternoon and help set up the irrigation network. I even know two boys who are eager to put in some manual labor."
"Bless you sir," says Dally as he grabs Sam's hand and shakes it vigorously. "Thank you."
Sam smiles politely and tips his hat before getting in the truck and driving home.
When they pull up to the farmhouse the boys are painfully slow to get out of the truck but Sam just stands there waiting patiently. "Davey, go get my stick," he orders and the oldest boy heads in the barn to fetch it.
Steve follows beside his father as they start heading towards the barn; a thousand thoughts and questions running through his head. Anything about the plane will just get them in more hot water and in the face of a whipping would be an exercise in poor intelligence. He settles on something else. "Why would anyone want to run Mr Dally out of town?" Mr Dally is one of the best neighbours they have. He lets the boys cut through his field to get to school and lets them have all the apples they can eat if they fill one bucket a week and leave it at his front door for him.
Davey comes back and hands over the willow branch to his father's out stretched and waiting hand.
"Some people don't like Mr Dally cause of the color of his skin," says Sam with a shake of his head.
"That ain't right," mutters Davey.
"Look boys when you see something wrong in this world, you can either do nothing or you can do something. Tomorrow, I'm going to do something."
Steve is in awe over his father's conviction. It's a simple concept to what has to be a complex matter. It's an idea he can see using in the future.
"Now, you both know you shouldn't skip school and you shouldn't be trespassing. Do you have anything to say for yourselves?"
"We're sorry, sir," says Davey.
"But it was worth it," adds Steve sagely.
It takes all Sam has not to smile before he doles out the boy's punishment. He can't agree more, seeing that plane take off today would absolutely be worth it.
Steve pushes his way through the crowd of chanting kids that have formed a circle in the back field behind the school house. It takes a lot of effort to break though, none of the kids want to give up their spot to see the fight that's about to take place. Steve finally gets to the front in time to see one of the older boys drive a vicious punch to Davey's gut.
Davey drops to the ground with an umph as the boy that hits him stands over him with a wicked smile. "Say it!" demands the boy. "You're father's a liar. He never disarmed a bomb and save a prince. Say he's a liar and you're stupid for believing him."
"He's not a liar!" shouts Davey before the boy hits him again. Blood runs from his nose down his face dripping onto his shirt.
Steve sees red, and not just the blood coloring his brother's shirt. He lets out a war cry as he charges the kid who's about to hit his brother again. Steve is unrestrained fury as he tackles the boy to the ground, fists flying hard and fast. "Our father isn't a liar, he's a hero," screams Steve over and over again until his voice is hoarse and his firsts are starting to ache. He doesn't stop until the one of the teachers yanks him off and drags him back to the school house with Davey trailing after him.
Steve and the other kid Billy get most of the blame and all three boys have letters sent home to be signed by their parents and a month's worth of detention and after school chores to look forward to. This kind of trouble on the heels of missing school the other day is going to mean even bigger trouble at home. Steve doesn't regret jumping in to help his brother but having to explain it to their father is terrifying.
"Come on," says Davey as they slowly trudge home when he notices Steve falling even further behind. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the last chocolate bar he bought from Mr Teller the other day and hands it to Steve. "Thanks for what you did back there."
Steve takes the bar and breaks it in two handing half back to Davey. "He shouldn't have said that about dad and he shouldn't have said that about you," he says solemnly. He's in the right as far morals and ethics are concerned but their father doesn't want them fighting and their mother can't stand violence.
"Do you regret it?" asks Davey, knowing exactly what's in store for them when they get home. A willow branch hurts to start with; it hurts even more when you already had your ass tanned the day before. At this rate they'll be doing chores for the rest of their lives.
"It was absolutely worth it," Steve insists. He wasn't about to stand there and let his brother take a pounding when he could save him; even if it is just so they can get a whupping from their father.
Davey sticks his hand out. "Give me your letter."
Steve pulls out his letter from his pocket and reluctantly hands it over.
"Don't breathe a word about this to mom and dad and I'll sign it when we get home."
Steve grabs the letter back before Davey can pocket it. "You're not going down alone," he insists. If he wasn't somewhat prepared for the fallout, he wouldn't have jumped into the fight in the first place.
Sam wipes the sweat off his brow and glares at the blazing sun overhead. The heat isn't making the backbreaking labour any easier but the job still has to get done. He's impressed with the work the boys have put in to help Mr Dally get the irrigation system repaired. It may be fueled by their need to sooth the sting of punishment and restore harmony but they're work has been extraordinary. The boys are dog tired but still pushing like a pair of work horses. He glances at his watch then calls the boys over.
Steve and Davey come running at their father's call, standing at attention when they get there. "Yes sir?" they ask in unison.
"You have an hour and a half till mama has supper on the table. For your hard work I'm going to give you some money so you can head into town and buy yourselves a treat, but you better be washed up and sitting at that table before mama puts the food down. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," says Davey with renewed enthusiasm. They've been slaving away for days without a moment to play. It's also the first sign that their father isn't mad anymore.
Steve looks torn, his mind turning over all the possibilities. If they're late, their father will find a worse punishment than the one they have now. Normally he wouldn't doubt they could make town and back in ninety minutes but it's horribly hot and he's already exhausted. "How will we know if we're going to be late?"
Sam kneels down to eye level with Steve. His youngest is more cleaver than he gives him credit for, already finding all the angles and potential pit falls to any scenario. "Then you'll just have to keep an eye on the time." Sam begins to unfasten his watch; it's not his intention to set them up for failure. "This will make sure you get home on time. Remember the story I told you about having to blow up the bridge to stop the motorcade from crossing?"
Steve's eyes light up. He remembers that tale well. "You used your watch to make sure you had enough time and didn't get caught in the explosion."
"That's right." He fastens the watch around Steve's wrist. It's loose on the smallest notch but should stay on provided Steve doesn't go sticking his arm in all sorts of things. "This watch has seen me through it all, so you better take care of it."
Steve presses his arm against his chest, a serious look on his face. He will not take this task lightly. "Can you tell us the story again tonight?"
"Sure kiddo." Sam ruffles Steve's hair. "Now get going before you end up being late. I'll see you boys at home." He stands there and watches the boy scamper towards town until they're out of sight then gets back to work."
"Where do you think dad is?" whispers Steve so only Davey can hear him. Their mother is trying very hard to pretend she isn't angry or worried about Sam being late for dinner but her pacing in front of the window instead of sitting with the boys at the dinner table is giving her away. "You don't think it's cause he doesn't have his watch, do you?" adds Steve when Davey refuses to answer him.
"Don't be stupid," snaps Davey. "He probably got stuck fixin something important for Mr Dally and he can't leave yet."
Steve nods in agreement but he can't shake the feeling in his gut that something isn't right. They finish dinner and do the dishes before sitting next to the radio to listen to the evening radio show about men in the future going to other planets and saving the galaxy. The story isn't as exciting as it should be wondering what is keeping their father so late.
Their mother is tense, ready to bubble over with anger and before the program has ended she order them to bed early. They go with minimal protest crawling in bed but sleep doesn't come.
Steve's wide awake when a knock comes at the door. Davey apparently couldn't sleep either, as he slips out of bed behind Steve and they both sneak out of their room to see who's at the door this late at night. Their mother's soul wrenching scream and hysterical sobbing tells them all they need to know about the deputy at their door.
Steve absently rubs at the watch on his wrist as the Deputy explains how the Carters didn't take to kindly to their father helping Mr Dally keep his land and shot him to show everyone what happens when you help Mr Dally.
Look boys when you see something wrong in this world, you can either do nothing or you can do something.
Doing something has left Mrs Trevor a widow and Davey and Steve without a father. Steve thinks maybe doing something wasn't the answer after all. Not when this is the devastation it leaves in its wake.
The thing about flying is the freedom that comes with it. Not just the freedom of escaping the confines of gravity but how problems are too heavy to take up there in the sky with you. Flying releases Steve from all the burdens he's carrying. It's not the illustrious career he dreamed for himself, flying a crop duster over the family farm, but it offers him a taste of the sky and way to escape life for half an hour at a time.
His father's death secured a chain around his ankle trapping him to the mundane existence of being a farmer; which is fine because there were no more fanciful tales at bed time to tempt young imagination with the adventures of the world. If anything Steve has a more realistic view of things now and the tales his father would spin were probably just that, spun tales.
All they had was the farm and their mother's little means to see the work done on it except for what Davey and he could do. They persevered, earning enough to be comfortable and now that their mother has passed on, it provides income for Davey and himself. While the world and its many adventures calls to him he can't bring himself to walk away from the only thing they have left and the memory of the family they were.
The sun starts to set painting the sky with pinks and oranges. Steve checks his watch before heading back to the ground. Davey is waiting for him when he lands, leaning causally against the tractor. It's a pleasant surprise, Steve wasn't expecting his brother home until the end of the week.
"Have you seen this?" asks Davey, holding up the newspaper without so much as a greeting.
The smile vanishes from Steve's face. He read the headlines when he picked up his own copy in town this morning. He walks past Davey and begins hauling the bales of hay into the barn.
Davey trails in after Steve, newspaper still clutched in his hand. "Well?"
"I seen it," Steve huffs but doesn't stop in his chores. He knows where this conversation is going to go before it even starts.
"War is coming, Steve."
"It might not. What happens overseas doesn't matter anyways." Steve throws the bale in his hands harder than necessary.
"So, we should join. We could make a difference. You know what dad used to say, when you see something wrong in this world, you can either do something or you can do nothing. Besides you always wanted to see the world, experience dad's stories for yourself. This is something wrong and we can't do nothing," insists Davey, stepping boldly in front of Steve.
Steve has no choice but to stop or stumble into Davey. He grits his teeth before spitting, "Yes we can." He feels queasy as the words leave his lips but he learned his lesson years ago. Doing something has devastating consequences for the ones you love. While he wants to follow in his father's footsteps both morally and physically he won't be cause of heartache for Davey. This is one plan he won't support and since he and Davey have been inseparable all their lives, his refusal will keep Davey here where he belongs, not risking his life in what will likely be a futile exercise half a world away.
"Maybe you can," says Davey. There's disappointment in his eyes and accusation in his voice. "But I can't. I won't."
Steve yanks off his gloves and throws them across the barn while yelling, "Didn't you learn anything from dad!" He thought the lesson had been pretty clear as they watched their mother fall to her knee sobbing, an inhuman wail failing to capture just how it felt to have one's soul ripped from them. Losing his hero has been a constant ache in his life that he can't sooth. If that wasn't enough to hammer home the pain the month that followed should have been. Steve can't forget the endless days their mother locked herself in her bedroom staring blankly out the window never uttering a word to either boy. It was then that their alliance had really been forged, when the day to day needs of life fell to them to fulfil.
"Yes," counters Davey, equally as heated as his younger brother, "I learned to want to make a difference!" Making a difference had mattered so much to their father, he was willing to give his life for it. How could they claim to be his sons if they weren't willing to do the same?
"Wanting to solve other people's problems is what got dad killed. And for what? Mr Dally still ended up losing his farm in the and what did we get? Stuck here." Steve thinks back to watching the first plane he ever saw take off and how that was going to be his ticket to escaping the cornfields for adventure. It had all seemed so grand and so simple back then and had their father not died, he knows he'd be living that dream now. But life doesn't work out the way you want it to.
"This is your chance to leave. We join the army, do all the things dad talked about doing. He was a spy that made difference in people's lives."
There's a certainty in Davey's voice that Steve is envious of. Davey isn't as attached to this place so much as the memories and he can take those anywhere. It wasn't Davey in the room when their mother first broke her silence and in a broken whisper told Steve to never leave, to never sell the home their father built with his own two hands. She begged him to not be Sam at all despite how much he was already like his father.
"Those were just stories. Made up shit to put us to bed with." Deep down he doesn't believe they were lies; at least not completely. There were obvious embellishments but he's always known his father was a natural hero. But he's desperate and will say anything to kill this idea before it grows legs and carries Davey away.
A wounded look passes over Davey's face and he thinks this is the first time he's really seen his brother. "You don't really believe that do you?"
Steve clenches his fists by his side and goes in for the kill. "If dad was so great, you think a couple of bigoted lowlifes would have been able to gun him down over a land dispute?"
Davey stands ramrod straight, a coldness radiating off him that may never thaw. "I'm going Steve." His voice is firm and no argument is going to sway him. "I'm going, cause I can't stay and do nothing."
They stand there staring at each other. The oppressive silence fills the barn making the space between them seem insurmountable.
"Come with me please," begs Davey in a small voice.
Steve turns and storms into the house. He can only hope Davey will change his mind about going before it's too late. Doing something is going to end in disaster; nothing is the only thing that will keep them safe, more importantly keep Davey safe.
Despite their fight, Davey sends weekly letters back home to Steve. Steve never writes back but he's grateful for the letters. His brother moves around too much for the letters to reach him in a timely manner and based on the contents of the letters that come home, Steve knows he's not expecting a reply. They're mostly depictions of daily life, the major events that happened the week Davey sent the letter. Reading about Davey's adventures is like having his father tell him bedtime stories again.
As things really start to heat up overseas, Steve alternates between reading the day's paper and rereading Davey's letters. He tries not to worry when his next letter is late. There are lots of reasons letters from the war can be delayed and Davey himself might have been too busy to send one that week.
Steve can't describe the relief he feels when one of Davey's letters finally shows up eight days later than usual. It's proof that his big brother is still out there; alive. He wants more than ever to write Davey back and ask him to come home. He misses his big brother and the worry that he's off getting into trouble that Steve can't bail him out of eats away at Steve constantly.
The letters come more spatially after that, the news from the front grimmer and grimmer. The words 'I told you so' circle around his head waging their own war with Steve's desire to keep Davey safe. It's not the first time he entertained the idea of joining the war effort, charging the front and drag Davey back home where he belongs; where he's safe.
Steve just finishes feeding the chickens when a black car comes down the driveway. His heart beats in anticipation counting every second it takes for the car to come down the long dirt road to the house. His stomach ties itself in knots over the news he fears is coming. It's like the air has been sucked out of the world as he stumbles on autopilot to meet the car.
Two official looking men step out of the car and approach Steve in unison. He briefly entertains the idea that recruiting is so low for a war that's not even fought on their continent that the army is coming door to door looking for support. He can tell by their solemn faces that's not the case no matter how hard Steve hopes it to be true.
They stop before him, all formal and commanding. "Steven Trevor?" asks the older man.
"You don't have to say it," whispers Steve, like if no one says it out loud Davey will come running down the driveway the way he used to when they were kids.
"It's my sad duty to inform you..." Steve doesn't hear the rest of the speech; nothing penetrates the fog that's settled over his world, blocking out the sun and all the light of hope the world could bring. A medal is pressed into his hand as these men who have come to destroy Steve's world talk about the heroic sacrifice Davey made and then they leave and Steve is left all alone on the farm and in this world.
His knees buckle once the car is out of sight and he lands on his ass in the dirt; the medal still clutched in his hand.
A piece of metal in exchange for his brother's life.
Because Davey just couldn't stand by and do nothing when something wrong was going on in the world.
He's glad their mother isn't alive for this moment because it would surely kill her. Steve thinks it might kill him. He sits there staring at the medal long past sunset, not even noticing the chill in the night air or the chirping of the crickets. When Steve's teeth start chattering and his hands shake from the night air so hard he drops the medal, he finally makes his way inside and collapses into bed.
After that he loses all track of time. He barely eats, barely sleeps. When his skin feels too tight and confining and the walls feel like they're closing in, he manages to drag himself outside to feed the animals. He goes through the minimal amount motions he can get away with and somehow even that seems too much. His father's watch seems very loud in the silence that has shrouded his life. On Steve's darkest days, the constant ticking almost sounds accusatory.
A letter arrives and the messy scrawl across the front makes his heart almost stop. It's a letter from Davey. An eeriness settles over Steve. His brother has been dead and buried now for weeks so the letter has to be from what turned out to be his final days. He can't bring himself to open it; afraid it will be filled with accusations for Steve not being there when he needed him.
It's a thought that run through Steve's head constantly. What if his being there made the difference between Davey being alive now and not? Why the hell couldn't Davey just stay home? This is what doing something has brought their family again. Davey is dead and yet the war still rages on. Steve tosses the letter on the kitchen table and sets about fixing all the things that have fallen into disrepair while he was grieving; anything to put distance between himself and that letter.
The wind howls something fierce and the shutters crash and bang against the house as the rain pelts the windows. The world is pitch black except for when lightening cracks across the sky paving the way for the rolling thunder to shake the land. Only a fool would venture out in such a storm. Steve's trapped inside, with that letter. He can't take his eyes off of it as it sits there and calls him a coward.
With a shaking hand he snatches it off the table and rips it open. The black ink stands out boldly in the pale orange light of the candle on the table. There's no accusation or blame directed at Steve within. Davey actually seems happy in this letter, he feels like he's making a difference while on a grand adventure like their father. He saved a young lady while liberating a small village, saved her whole family in fact. He's in love and the girl, Marie, seems to return his affections. If Davey hadn't been there, they all would have been killed. Something good has come out of doing something. Davey helped save a town, a family and quite possibly the love of his life and wishes Steve could be at his side just like the good old days.
Steve crumples the letter then rips it into a thousand pieces. While Davey was out saving everyone he might have been able to save Davey. Doing something has cost his family greatly but doing nothing hasn't gotten him anywhere either nor spared any heartache.
He has nothing else to lose now. The next morning Steve makes arrangements to sell the farm. He hops on a train to New York and from there a ship headed for London to join the war effort. There are other people and families that Steve can spare the pain and heartache he's endured by doing what he can to right this wrong. Steve tried doing nothing and found he can't live with it. This time he'll try doing something.