"Soda!" Pony cried, relieved to see his older brother.
"Get off a me, Ponyboy," Will groaned to his friend, who was sitting on top of his chest. Pony crawled off and both boys sat up and took account of themselves, testing limbs here and there. Will had scraped both elbows and banged his head up a little. Pony's back was sore and there were scrapes up his legs from falling through the branches. Both seemed alright besides those cuts and bumps.
Soda plopped down beside them, tired from wandering the woods and running so hard. The younger boys cradled their minor injuries breathing heavily. They felt secure now that Sodapop had found them.
"So is this what you've been working hard at all morning?" Soda asked, looking the fort up and down.
"Yeah," came the reply. Pony and Will realized that their fort was no longer a secret, and silently mourned the fact.
Soda whistled. "Not bad." The three were silent for a minute, not knowing what to say. The rain was still pouring down on them, with the thunder rumbling and the lightning flashing. "What do you say we head back to camp?" Soda suggested, rising to his feet. He pulled Pony to his feet. The little boy winced a little and staggered towards camp. Will pushed himself off the ground and followed the brothers back, tired and sore.
When they finally returned, the wind wasn't howling so much and the rain was beginning to slow down. Mr. Curtis leaped from the truck as soon as he saw them at the edge of the woods and ran to his boys and Pony's friend.
"Glory kids, you're gonna give me gray hair. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, Dad, we're fine," Pony answered, worn out.
Darry reached the others soon after his dad. He looked over his brother and Will silently, noticing the scrapes and bumps. "C'mon, Pony," he bent down and offered his back to his youngest brother. "Hop on." Pony gladly climbed onto Darry's back.
Soda looked down at Will for a second and for the first time noticed the look in the little boy's eye. He saw the neglect and the fear and even the jealously. "Want a ride, Billy?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. The little boy's face lighted up, but he tried not to look to eager.
"Sure," he said.
Mr. Curtis cooked on the propane stove that night, because the wood was too soggy to start a fire. Pony and Will had been well taken care of and checked over thoroughly. Bandages covered the scrapes, ice put on the bumps, and both boys were wearing dry clothes. Soda, Darry, and Mr. Curtis all got the story of what happened over supper.
"I was climbing the tree to hang a rope," Pony explained. "Then it started raining and got really slippery. And I slipped off." His eyes bugged out when he talked about falling out of the tree. "When I landed I was on top of Will and Soda was there." The little boy kept it brief, but part of him enjoyed the attention.
"That's 'cause Will caught you," Sodapop piped in. "I ain't never seen nothing like it." In the couple of hours since finding the boys in the woods, Soda had warmed up to Pony's friend immensely. Pony noticed it and wondered a little, but was too distracted in telling his story. Will was basking in it. All his life he had wished for a brother, and for the past few hours he was as close to one as he'd ever been.
Pony's eyes got even wider. "You did, Will?"
The ten-year-old's ears reddened, and he nodded.
"Wow," Pony said, surprised. He hadn't realized his friend had saved him by purposely breaking his fall. He quieted down about his story and chewed on all of it for a while.
Later on, when Mr. Curtis had a weak flame in the fire pit and the older boys were taking the gear out of the truck, the boys had a few minutes to sit in silence. Pony was still thinking about Will saving him. He had decided that if it weren't for his friend, he would have broken his back. And of course, breaking his back meant death in his mind. It took him a little to muster the courage to say something.
"Hey, uh, Will," Pony started.
"Yeah?" said the boy. He wasstaring into the flame andthinking about his family.
"Well, I just wanted to tell you… That you're my best friend. You saved my life." Pony said it matter of factly, but on the inside he didn't know what to say that would be enough.
Will turned from the flames to his best friend. "Shoot, it was nothing. I didn't do nothing that anyone else woulda done. If it was your brother or dad or something, the wouldn't have fallen when they caught you, either. Besides, you've always been my best friend."
Pony didn't know what to say. He sensed there was something going on in his friend's mind, something deeper than he knew yet. His mom would always look into his greenish gray eyes and say his eyes had depth, and the eyes were the window to the soul. But he had the feeling at that moment that maybe he wasn't as deep as he thought.
Will watched the fire crack and pop and sizzle as the wood dried out in the flames. Of course Pony was his best friend. He was one of his only friends. Sure, he had kids that he played around with on the playground at school, but he wouldn't have run underneath them to break their fall from a tree if given the chance. The boy wondered if he would have done it for his own sister. That thought bothered him, because somewhere in the pit of his stomach he felt a need for revenge on her. This camping trip was the first time he ever felt like he belonged, truly belonged. Pony might as well have been his brother. He pondered that idea for a minute. He would have loved to be part of the Curtis family.
Then his mom came to mind. Will didn't like to think of her. He almost hated her, almost. There was a part of him that begged her to love him, begged her to… He couldn't think about it. He wanted Ponyboy's mom. She was golden and beautiful, always had a smiled, and always looked at him like he was something special. His own mom looked at Will and his sister like they were mistakes. Sometimes Will felt like his family was one big mistake. He understood more than they thought. He knew about his mom's past, about why she was sick, and what it meant. He remembered the day they had him tested for AIDs, too. Will hated it all, every bit of it.
The little boy buried his face in his hands, wiping out the bad images. He tried to think of the fort, but then he remember that it was no longer a secret, and all that had happened that day. He was, in short, miserable.
"Will, what's wrong?" Pony had been staring at his friend the whole time.
"Uh," he started, "nothing." The little boy wiped a tear that had been forming.
"Boys! Everything's set back up. Come on and go to bed!" Mr. Curtis called to them.
Pony gave Will one last look and then walked off with his friend trailing.
"Hey! It's still dry in here!" Pony exclaimed. He and Will had gone back to the fort the morning after the storm.
Will's head poked in the doorway. "Glory, you're right. We make a pretty tuff fort together, don't we?" He grinned proudly.
"We sure do," Ponyboy said. "Cummon, let's go swimming today!"
"Sure!"
The boys ran through the woods to the river. It swelled a bit because of the rain and was a little muddy, but neither of them cared. It was only about ten in the morning, but the day was already growing hot.
"Hey Will, look at this!" Pony had found rope tied to a branch that was overhanging the river. "I bet Soda put this up. Watch this!" With that, the young boy swung out over the river and let go.He hit the water with a satisfying splash and surfaced thoroughly satisfied. "Try it!" he demanded.
"Alright," his friend grinned, climbing out of the water.
Will and Ponyboy were having so much fun swinging on the rope that they didn't notice the dark brown eyes peering at them, dancing. Sodapop was planning a big surprised for his little brother, along with Darry. Darry nudged Soda upstream a ways. There they entered the water silently, sneaking their way to the unsuspecting victims.
"Hey Pony, watch this!" Will cried, twisting in the air before landing in the water. Right before he went under, Pony screamed. He pushed to the surface as fast as he could, forgetting about his masterful jump. "Pony?" He called, breathing in water.
His friend was no where in sight. Suddenly, he felt a violent yank on his leg. He kicked, trying to get away, but it was no use. The force beneath the boy was strong, too strong for him.
Pony felt himself dragged under for what seemed like an eternity. Then he was thrust upwards out of the water and flung downstream. Evil laughter could be heard through his waterlogged ears. Witha splash, Will was beside him, sputtering and treading water.
"Soda you creep!" Pony yelled, battling the weak current towards his older brother. Sodapop was doubled over in a laughing fit while Darry tried to sneak off. His youngest brother noticed, and turned from Soda to him. "AHHH!" Ponyboy yelled, attacking the 16 year old rock with all of his seventy-five pounds. Of course, it did nothing, and he ended up with a mouthful of water. But the battle had begun.
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I take long to put up chapters, and I'm sorry. Especially because I left you on edge. That wasn't nice. Anyhow… I'm writing for pleasure.
ScarletFugitive: Thanks for pointing out the fact that I don't accept anonymous reviews. I had no idea that it was on. I turned it off, so now anyone can review. ..what would I do without people keeping my head on straight?