Chapter 4

Three weeks later, food was still a rare commodity. People were starting to starve to death in the snow encased camps. Like everyone else, the Harper family was looking quite pitiful. They were just walking skeletons with their ragged clothes hanging off their bones. But even with no food in his stomach, Seamus still managed to find the energy to visit Spooky every other day. It kept him going. It was something to look forward to during the endless days of hunger. So today, like every other day, the stick of a boy headed off into the wintry woods for some escapism. But today was different. Unbeknownst to Seamus, he brought a guest with him to his burrow.

Brendan had been watching his cousins behavior carefully and noted the disappearances into the woods. The thirteen year old suspected that Seamus was hiding food somewhere in the forest. It would explain why the boy had so much energy. So today, Brendan was going to follow the boy to his secret stash of food.

Seamus didn't have the energy to run through the deep snow anymore, but he could still walk rather quickly, especially considering how short his legs were. "Damn that kid", Brendan growled under his breath as he struggled to keep up with the little ball of energy.

Luckily, soon Seamus slowed up as he neared his peaceful spot. Brendan caught up just in time to see his little cousin crawl into a tiny hole in the ground. "I knew it!! That little scank is hiding food!!" Brendan hissed as he rushed forward toward the hole. "SEAMUS ZELAZNY HARPER!! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE THIS INSTANCE!!" he yelled sounding more like an adult than any young teenager should.

A dirty small blond head popped out of the hole. "Oh, hey Brendan. Whacha doing out here?" Seams said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible when your sticking your head out of a hole in the ground and have a rabbit digging in your bum.

"I'm following you, you little twit! What do you have in that hole?! It's food ain't it?! How could you hide food from your starving family!!??" Brendan yelled as a new vein came to the surface of his forehead with each new sentence.

Seamus looked aghast. "I'm not hiding food. I would never hide food!"

"Then what is it?'" the older cousin asked . He was getting frustrated with the kid's antics.

"Nothing", replied Seamus wishing his cousin would just leave.

Brendan had had it with the games. He was cold, tired and hungry. "That's it!" he yelled as he lunged forward, grabbed Seamus by his thin shirt and flung him out of the hole and into a nice pile of snow.

"Umpf", was the only reply Seamus could make as he hit the snow.

Brendan then proceeded to stick his head into the hole only to be greeted by a set of whiskers tickling his face. "A RABBIT!?!" he screamed.

Seamus proceeded to stand up and dust off the snow. "Yeah", he replied pitifully.

"This whole time we're starving and you've been hiding a rabbit!!?? What's wrong with you?!!" Brendan screamed as he approached his scared little cousin.

"What? What are you talking about? Spooky's not food!" Seamus sputtered out.

Brendan glared down at his cousin in disbelief. "NOT FOOD!? Are you an idiot!? MEAT, Seamus, MEAT!! It's meat! And don't tell me you named it!!"

Seamus rushed around Brendan to protect the hole and his pal with his small fragile body. "I don't care how hungry we get, we're not eating Spooky! He's my friend! He's not meat! He's as much meat as you are meat!", the boy managed to get out as tears welled up behind his eyes.

The older cousin looked down at the naive boy. Sorrow and anger battled each other in Brendan's eyes. He leaned down to be face to face with Seamus and spoke in a gentle tone, "Shay, we are all starving to death. That rabbit will fed us for days if we ration it. We have to kill it."

"NO!" cried Seamus. Tears had managed to break through and were falling down his dirty face.

"I'm sorry Shay, but I have ta do this." Brendan stood up and took off his top layer of ratty clothing for a makeshift bag.

"NO! I won't let you! NO!" Seamus screamed with all his heart. He gripped harder onto the roots, blocking the source of his happiness with his body.

The larger boy pushed Seamus aside to get to the hole. A crying and screaming Seamus kick and punched his cousin with no avail. Brendan reached inside the hole. When his hand came back out, a terrified white rabbit was in it's grasp.

"NOOOO!" yelled a now horrified Seamus. He continued to attack his cousin will all his might.

Brendan put Spooky in the makeshift bag while trying to fight off his hysterical cousin. When the bag was tied up, he grabbed Seamus's bone thin arm and dragged the struggling and screaming boy back toward camp. Halfway back, Seamus had given up fighting and simply let his older cousin lead him home as tears continued to fall down his cold face.

TBC.....