"Hannibal?" A short pause "Hannibal?"
"Yeah, Jed?" He didn't turn. He didn't look at him.
"What happened?"
Heyes stared into the fire. The smoke curled up, was caught by the breeze and pushed away into the darkness.
"Hannibal?" The voice held a note of fear.
Hannibal rubbed his hand, still crusted and caked with blood and dirt, over his face. In a far away voice all he could say was "I don't know".
"Are… are you going to be okay?"
Hannibal took in a deep breath, slowly let it out "I suppose Jed. We just need to push on early tomorrow. If they catch us… no, if they catch me, I'll more 'n likely end up in jail. Hell, knowing those bastards you'll end up there with me. If not there then back at the school." He paused, gritting his teeth "I ain't going to jail and I won't let them separate us."
He stood up turning to peer into the black that surrounded them, it felt familiar. "We'll be okay but we need to move on early in the mornin'. Get far away..." He stepped further into the dark "I'm going to get more wood."
He stepped away from the firelight and his mind drifted back to earlier that morning. Had it just been that morning? It already seemed like a lifetime ago.
Mr. Palmer, one of the school's teachers, was a short, ill-tempered man. He particularly disliked Hannibal. He disliked Jed just because they were best-friends and cousins.
In class Mr. Palmer was often applying a ruler to Hannibal's knuckles or rapping him on the back of the head with it. Mr. Palmer often sent him to the headmaster's office where he had been told in no uncertain terms that if he couldn't keep himself out of trouble he would be put out.
Hannibal at almost 14 was just as tall as Mr. Palmer although he fell far short of his weight. The only reason he hadn't yet openly defied him was because of Jed. At not quite 12 he wanted to keep Jed in school for as long as he could.
"Hannibal?" He started from his reverie. "Hannibal?" Jed called once more from the light of the fire. Hannibal looked at the stick that he had picked up and was clutching so tightly that his already bruised knuckles ached more.
"Coming Jed." Instead he stepped a little further into the darkness, he needed its embrace to clear his head.
His thoughts drifted back to the school. Richard Van Stuben was nothing more than a thug, constantly picking on everyone smaller or weaker than himself. He had stopped trying to bully Hannibal and Jed shortly after they had arrived. Hannibal had used a winning smile and a few card tricks to gain his friendship and his willingness to see the usefulness of his talents so he would leave them alone. Van Stuben still would try and bait Jed, though, not seeing much use for the younger boy but Hannibal had always seemed to smooth it all over. Jed had been in line for the wash tubs a few days earlier, when Van Stuben had felt like he needed to show a new boy, that he was the top dog. He immediately started picking on the young boy, Jed, unable to just stand by and watch had stepped in. Van Stuben may have been bigger but it didn't give him the right. Mr. Palmer had stopped the fight but had then proceeded to whip both boys without even waiting to hear what happened. The other boys had tried to tell Mr. Palmer but he had refused to listen and had just kept on whipping Jed until he was actually bleeding. Jed was mad but he just pulled it all in, wrapped it up and put it away deep within himself. Hannibal felt they rage course through him like a hot and dusty wind. He was tired of that stupid, little man taking his frustrations out on the boys, especially his cousin.
The next few days just passed. The calm he showed was like a tranquil day on the Kansas plains. Inside it was as if each breath he drew in stirred up a dust devil fueled by the hot fury. Each gust of wind brought with it a plan that would ensure Mr. Palmer never hurt them again.
This morning he had held Jed back as they lined up for breakfast. As they left the dormitory hall Hannibal stopped him "Meet me at the big tree on the northwest corner of the barn." He had then shoved a small sack towards him and pushed him out of the door.
Mr. Palmer's voice pierced into his skull, "Mr. Heyes, you should be in the dining room. What are you doing here?"
The winds that had driven him along rushed out of him as he turned towards the man. Caught him square in the jaw. He didn't stop. Just kept punching him. Before he knew it he found himself sitting astride the repugnant little man, his fists pulverizing his face. Then it was all gone, one fist still in the air. He pushed himself off of the bleeding man. His chest heaving, his hands trembling, a drop of blood rolled from a finger and hit the floor. Before walking off he stooped down and put his mouth close to his ear, "Mr. Palmer? If you can hear me - you ever hurt Jed, or any other boy again..." He paused, took in another deep breath "I will kill you."
He stood up and hurried to the door but, when he saw Jed looking back at him through the glass, he stopped. He started to look over his shoulder, stopped himself and then burst through the door. He grabbed Jed by the arm, "Come on! We've got to go NOW!" Jed stumbled over his own feet and then hurried after him. They ran.
A zephyr brought him from the past, to this morning, to the future. It carried it all into the dark. Hannibal moved to the edge of the fire's glow, the darkness behind him. He looked at his cousin, felt the warmth of knowing that they would always have each other. He knew that they would be okay. He stepped into the light of the fire.
"Hey, Jed?"
A tear streaked face looked up.
"It's going to be okay. We're going to be okay. Let's get some sleep."
Author's Note: A very sincere thank you to AllegraW who beta'd this story for me many months ago. Her courage pushed me to write a better story. Forgive any style and grammatical errors those are still mine.