Blood Brothers (A brief account of their days before Bloody Kansas)
Hannibal Heyes walked quietly through the woods and stopped when he reached the clearing that led down to the banks of the river. He knew he'd find Jed there, sitting on the ground near a bend in the river where the cattails grew in high clusters and the water lilies nearly covered the surface of the water. Fishing in that spot was always bountiful.
But today was the first time in their young lives that Jed had ventured here alone. Their Saturday afternoons were almost ritualistic. Jed would walk across the fields to the Heyes farm as soon as his morning chores were complete. There he would dig around in the flower garden for worms to add to his already half-filled tin can while he patiently waited for his cousin to finish his own Saturday chores. Then, together, homemade fishing poles slung over their shoulders and a rusty tin can in Jed's hand, the two boys would head to that spot along the river for hours of fishing, swimming, laughing and day dreaming.
Jed hadn't come to the Heyes farm that morning so Han had first checked at the Curry farm where he was told Jed had left over a hour before. So Han headed directly to the river and he breathed a sigh of relief when he spied his cousin in his usual spot.
"Why didn't you stop by this morning?" Han asked as he sat down beside his younger cousin and reached into the can for a worm to bait his hook. Han looked at Kid and saw that his eyes were red and puffy and his cheeks were streaked with now dried tears.
"Figured I should start getting use to fishing alone, Han."
"What are you talking about?"
"I heard Ma and Pa talking behind the barn this morning. I had gone in to the barn to milk the cow. I don't think they knew I was there."
"So, what were they talking about?"
"Pa wants us to move to Missouri."
"Missouri? Why?"
Kid shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
"Did he say it was a sure thing?"
Jed shook his head.
"Did he say when you'd be moving?"
"He said he'd like us to go next month... Han, I'll never see you again."
"Now that's not true, Jed. We're cousins. My family will come and visit yours after you get settled."
"Pa said Kansas is getting too dangerous with all the soldier raids."
"I see."
"You think they'd let me stay here with you, Han?"
"Aw, Kid, your Pa needs you. If you were to move, he'll need your help clearing the land, building a house, planting a crop," Han said, trying to bolster Jed's spirits by showing him just how needed he was.
"But I don't want to leave you, Han. You're like...a brother to me."
"You're a brother to me, too, Kid. So... let's make it official."
"You mean... ask your Pa to adopt me?"
Han laughed. "No, I mean blood brothers. Let's become blood brothers, Jed."
"How?"
"It's easy," Han said reaching in to his pocket for his pocketknife. "We make a little slit in both our hands and then we rub the blood together. Doing that makes us blood brothers for life. Forever, Jed."
Jed bit down on his bottom lip. Becoming blood brothers sounded enticing, sounded permanent, but letting Han cut him with a knife was a little unnerving.
"That the only way to do it?"
Han nodded as he held the knife in his hand. "I'll cut my hand first," he said.
Jed watched with fascination as Han pulled the blade of the knife out and turned his left hand palm side up. With the knife in his right hand, Han brought the tip of the knife to the palm of his hand. He looked up at Jed who was staring at the knife point. Without another thought, Han dug the knife into his skin and pulled the blade toward him. Immediately blood oozed from the small incision.
"Now give me your left hand, Jed."
Jed swallowed hard and looked at his cousin. Slowly he extended his hand palm side up and Han took a firm hold of Jed's wrist. Jed squeezed his eyes closed, but didn't so much as flinch when Han cut Jed's flesh. Jed's eyes opened and he saw the blood on his hand. His eyes rose to meet his cousin's eyes and he smiled.
"Now, we just press our hands together and rub the blood around, you know, mixing our blood together."
Jed nodded and the two boys pressed the palms of their bleeding hands together and moved them about.
"There, now we're blood brothers, Jed. We're brothers forever, no matter where we are or what we do, we will always be brothers."
Jed nodded his head and smiled gratefully, proudly. "We're brothers, Han. Forever."
Because of their newly formed bond, the fear of separation ebbed and they spent the afternoon as they did every Saturday afternoon. They caught enough fish to take home for supper. They went skinny dipping in the river, splashing and giggling and baking in the sun. They dressed and walked home together in the late afternoon and promised to spend next Saturday just as they had this one.
Jed went to bed that night still apprehensive about the possible move to Missouri, but confident and reassured of his new eternal bond with his cousin. In the light of the moon that streamed into his window, Jed held his left palm open and traced the knife slit with one finger as he recounted every detail of their ritual bonding. Even if his father did take the family off to Missouri, Jed knew he would always have a brother in Kansas.
So on his last Saturday in Kansas, and the last day before they were to leave for Missouri, Jed Curry was given permission for forego his morning chores and he grabbed his fishing pole and his rusty can of worms and raced across the fields to the Heyes farm.
Han had not been granted the same reprieve so instead of digging in the flower garden for worms, Jed pitched in to help his "brother" finish his chores. With Jed's help, the two boys managed to add an extra hour to their leisurely final Saturday afternoon together. They fished, they skinny dipped, and they basked in the warm sunshine while making promises to write each other every day and remain blood brothers forever.
In the late of the afternoon they gathered their poles, the rusty can of worms, and their cache of fish and started back toward their homes. It had been a perfect day, well spent and full of lasting memories. They chatted and laughed as they climbed the hill where they would divide up the fish and head their separate ways toward home.
"Blood brothers forever, Han."
Han wrapped his arm around Jed's shoulders. "Forever, Kid."
But they stopped cold in their tracks when they reached the top of the hill and gazed down at the horrors below, the burning house, the strewn bodies, the pilfering soldiers, the devastation that violently changed both their lives forever.
And planted the seeds of an even deeper bond between them.