Disclaimer- The title of this chapter is a lyric from Don McLean. I own no part of the song.

Meadow567- Who is Kelso? Yes I am glad that Fischer is okay. Also, I am slightly angry at my boyfriend because he won't take me to see the Pens play the Minnesota Wild. (I wanted to see Mike Ramsey, lol.)

Lia06- After the cat chapter, Kylah just had to be upset about the moose.

Strangexbutxtrue- Craig is hard to write sometimes because its hard to picture Noah as horny, flirtatious, etc. but I am getting better. Thanks about my hand, its coming along well. And about your trip…did you go over the river and through the woods? Lol

Emador- Hope you say the same thing about this chapter. I was trying to make them a cute couple, thanks for the support.

Klinoa- I should hope Craig is a guy, lol. Glad you like his more 'open' side. I was worried that would scare people. My hand is feeling better, I no longer need a bandage.

October, Saturday
Minneapolis, 1979

"Kylah, you did a great job decorating this place, but where did you get a pumpkin that big?" Craig asked, indicating the lathe pumpkin sitting on my coffee table.

"I stopped by that farmers market next to the plaza. This farmer had big pumpkins…I probably spent too much, but the holidays are so much fun." I said. "That's also where I got the corn stalks, gourds and Indian corn. Those I can also use to decorate for Thanksgiving."

I giggled as Smokey woke up, stretched and walked across the couch to nuzzle on Craig's knee.

"Smokey is getting some weight on him." Craig said.

"I know, and he is eating good too. I think he'll be just fine. Of course I have to wait until he is six weeks old to worm him." I said. Craig made a face.

"What got you so excited about Halloween?" Craig asked.

"Oh I dunno. Back home, we'd always decorate for Halloween and have fall festivals with hayrides and haunted houses." I said. "I remember one year, daddy and I set up a haunted hay maze out behind the barn. We let the local kids walk through it for free at night…….that was so much fun."

"When I was a senior in high school, me, my brother and a few of our friends decided to scare some of the girls from our high school." Craig laughed. "My buddy's girlfriend was having a slumber party for Halloween."

"This sounds like the plot to every slasher flick in recent years." I said.

"You don't know the half of it. It was about 10:30 Halloween night, when we snuck into the backyard of the house the party was at. We did all the classic corny scare tactics…..you know howling noises, jiggling door handles, tapping on windows and prank calls from a pay phone nearby. Unbeknownst to us, a local convenient store had been robbed that night by some teenagers. Well the neighbors saw us sneaking around my buddy's girlfriend's house and thought we were trying to escape police and called the authorities." Craig said. I collapsed laughing.

"What did you boys do?" I giggled.

"When the cops showed up, we had to admit we were just pulling a harmless prank and the girls at the party did tell the cops they knew us. So we got a lecture and were let go." Craig said.

"That's funny. I have such a hard time seeing you as a teenager." I giggled.

"Me and my brother were always into something." Craig smiled. "What about you? You have any brothers or sisters? You've never mentioned any."

I looked at Craig for a moment, thinking of what I should do. Finally I took a deep breath and walked across the room and opened the cabinet in the bottom of my end table. I pulled out a picture and handed it to Craig.

"That is my brother." I said. Craig stared at the picture of the young man, dressed in military fatigues, showing off his rifle in front of his barracks at Camp Lejeune.

"I see the resemblance. What's his name?" Craig asked.

"Jake. Jake Felix Jenkins." I said. "He is five years older than me."

"Why haven't you mentioned him before? I never knew you had a brother." Craig said.

"I don't talk about him much." I shrugged.

"Were you two close growing up?" Craig asked.

"Very close. I was his little sister that followed him everywhere. He took me fishing, taught me how to shoot a rifle, and taught me how to drive using the farm tractor." I smiled.

"Sounds like a great guy." Craig said. "Where is he?"

"Arlington." I said.

"That's just in Virginia; maybe he can pop up and see you when we're in Massachusetts." Craig said.

"No Craig, you misunderstand. He's in Arlington Cemetery." I said. Craig looked up at me. "He's dead."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Craig said.

"It's okay. No one on the team knows. I don't talk about it often." I said.

"Would you tell me what happened to him?" Craig asked.

"He was killed in Vietnam in 1973." I said.

"That's terrible…..so he was killed in action?" Craig asked.

"No…he was captured and taken to the Hoa Lo POW camp in Hanoi. The military sent us a wire that Jake was a POW in April 1973. We got the word that he had been murdered that July. Apparently he had been dead since May, the Viet Cong traded Jake's body and a few other prisoners in return for Vietnamese POW's that the US had captured. Jake's flag covered coffin arrived in the states in late August." I said.

"Kylah….I am so sorry. Why didn't you tell me, or one of the boys you're close to?" Craig asked.

"Jake enlisted as soon as he graduated high school. We tried to talk him out of it and told him he'd be shipped to Vietnam but he wanted to serve his country." I said. "When boys Jake had went to high school with came home from Vietnam, they were called 'baby killers', they were hated and looked down on. Jake's best friend was spit on at our high school's homecoming game. If the whole country hated your brother that you loved so much, would you want to talk about him? Would you want to subject his memory to that kind of hate and ridicule?"

"Kylah, from the way you talk…Jake sounds like a hero. He left his home to serve his country, killed in the line of duty……that's a great brave man. Forget what small-minded bigots may think." Craig said.

"I know Jake's a hero. It's just, I never know how others will react to hearing my brother was a Vietnam vet. If someone were to actually say something bad about him….I'd react a lot worse than the night I slapped OC." I said. "Poor OC didn't know my brother was dead, he was just running his mouth."

"I don't see any of the boys reacting that way if you told them about Jake." Craig said. "It might do you good to talk about Jake. Share his memories with others."

"I don't know…I wouldn't talk about him with anyone for six months after we buried him. Finally I was able to talk about him with my parents." I said.

"This explains why sometimes you look so sad for no reason." Craig said. "The nightmare you had…it was about Jake wasn't it?"

"Yeah…the boys had been watching something on the news about POW camps….it brought up a lot of emotions and memories." I said. "After Jake's death, I decided I wanted to know what he went through in his last days. I thought it would help me somehow, give me closure. I flew to Oregon to talk to a soldier who had been at Hoa Lo with Jake."

"Let me guess, you'd have rather not known?" Craig said.

"I don't know. I think for me, personally, I had to know. I couldn't have ever stood the guessing what happened. If I knew for sure, my mind couldn't play tricks on me. And I was having this horrible guilt that I was not there to comfort him as he died. I know that sounds so irrational but I couldn't help thinking, 'I should've been there. I could've held his hand, wiped his forehead, said goodbye.' That was another thing that still eats away at me….I never got to say goodbye."

"So what did the man in Oregon tell you?" Craig asked.

"He said the Viet Cong would break American GI's down…physically, emotionally, psychologically……wanted them to admit the war was wrong and they were criminals. Jake wouldn't budge….stubborn, strong-willed. The Vietnamese kept him in seclusion and refused him food and water. When that didn't work, they broke and re-broke his legs…….even if Jake had lived, he'd have never walked again. But he wouldn't give in. He'd never admit he was a criminal……Jake studied the POW camp, trying to devise an escape plan…..the Viet Cong overheard him talking to the other prisoners and decided to make an example of Jake." I swallowed hard and continued. "Jake was burned alive in front of the other prisoners."

Craig closed his eyes. "No wonder you have nightmares."

"So, his charred remains were thrown out until the Vietnamese needed something to bargain with…offering knowledge on a missing GI was a great bargaining chip for them……..whatever their motivations it at least gave me some peace knowing he was dead and being able to lay him to rest." I said.

"You're very brave to have endured hearing that about your brother." Craig said and took my hand. "You shouldn't hide Jake. You're proud of him and you love him….let other people know that."

"Maybe I will. It's just so hard because I know how some people view soldiers from Vietnam. And it makes me so angry….and I just want to sometimes scream and say 'Don't you understand, my brother died there. You didn't even go and he died!'." I said.

"I can't imagine what you feel. But I am sure Jake wouldn't want you to carry around so much hurt. And talking about it will help. I'm always here to listen and I know the team…they wouldn't see Jake as anything but a great man." Craig pulled me into his arms.

"Would you stay awhile? I don't want to be alone." I said.

"I'll stay as long as you like." Craig said.

I closed my eyes…I had a lot to think about. And a lot of emotions were flittering through me at once.