Chapter 50 - Making Plans

As the night went on and the laudanum wore off, Han's sleep became restless. He began to thrash about and moan. Jed tried everything he could to silence him until finally, Han uttered a piercing scream that woke the whole household.

Everyone was tired and out of sorts the next day.

Han - having finally given in to exhaustion - slept on, and Leah decided that was her chance to take over the care of her brother.

Jed had other ideas. Han had looked after him and now he would look after Han. Jed was angry about the way Leah had behaved before. They didn't need her; Jed and Han would take care of each other.

The Monroes set out for church, again asking the girls to stay behind and watch over the younger children.

After the service, they stood before their neighbors.

Albert cleared his throat. "I'm sure that by now, you all know the details of the terrible tragedy that has befallen our dear friends, the Currys and the Heyes. You may also know that three of the children survived - Leah and Jed Curry, and Han Heyes. Leah was staying with us and, thankfully, didn't see any of it. Unfortunately, it seems the boys were not so lucky, and no doubt saw and heard much that was… unpleasant. Hopefully, they will soon be able to put it all behind them. To that end, we need your help and advice."

The minister looked out over his flock. "I'm sure that we would all like to help in any way that we can. What do you need from us?"

Julie took over from her husband. "We're happy to take in Leah and raise her as our own. She's our daughter's best friend and has stayed with us so often that she's already like a member of our family. However, we simply cannot afford to take her brother or the other boy."

There was a silence. Times had been hard that summer. Border raids seemed to be a constant danger and everyone was losing money as more things were being stolen. There was a lot of whispering amongst the crowd until eventually, Sally Jenkins raised her hand.

"We could take Jed."

Everyone looked pleased. The Jenkins were a nice couple but so far, childless. They knew Jed slightly and had heard him spoken of as a good boy. There were a few rumors about Fred Jenkins and his drinking, but perhaps it would be alright. Jed and Sally would be company for each other.

Mrs. Collins, the sour woman from the Mercantile, spoke up. "You'd be no good at raising a boy like that; a child of that age needs discipline. We could give him a much better life and he'd have a business to come into when he gets older. It would be better to give the boy to us."

Lena Sorensen stood up then. "The child was born and raised on a farm. We have a farm and could use some extra help, and he'd have brothers and sisters to play with. He'd have a very good life with us."

Reverend Elliot frowned. "What about Han? Could any of you take him as well? The boys are very close, it would be better if they could stay together."

Sven Sorensen shook his head. "No. The other boy, he didn't grow up on a farm; he wouldn't know our ways."

"I know he's worked on his parents' farm and the Currys. And surely you could teach him anything else he needed to know?"

"I haven't time to teach. We can't take him."

John turned to look at the others. He knew Mrs. Collins disliked Han, so he appealed to Mrs. Jenkins. "What about you? Could you take Han?"

Sally Jenkins looked away. "I'm not sure we could manage a boy like Han."

"Like Han? What do you mean?"

A voice from the back of the church shouted out, "The boy's trouble!"

John could see that most people in the room were nodding in agreement. He tried again. "Han is a good boy. He's very smart and he works hard. Someone here must be able to offer him a home?"

Everyone avoided his eyes as he searched the crowd. "No-one?"

One of the husbands called out, "Boy's done nothing but cause trouble since he got here, everyone knows that. And no-one even knows where he came from."

"Believe me when I tell you that most of what you've heard isn't true."

The man gave a short bark of laughter. "Ha! Most! Even you can't say he's innocent."

"Like most boys, he's had his fair share of mischief but no more than any other boy."

"What about spreading diphtheria and killing half the town, eh?" shouted another man.

John felt his temper rising. "It has been proved that he had nothing to do with that!"

There was a sudden swell of voices.

John heard enough to tell him that most people still believed the boy to be guilty. "He was accused falsely because he was the first to get sick."

Someone else called out, "And because he's a whore's son, don't forget that!"

There was a ripple of shocked horror throughout the hall. It was not a word that should be spoken in church, even though most of them were thinking it.

The minister tried again. "Please, I'm begging you! As good Christian men and women, surely someone could offer him a home? In this house of God, is there no-one that could open their hearts to a boy that has lost his parents not once, but twice in his short life?"

Edwin Miller, the pharmacist, stood up and John felt a flicker of hope. It quickly died.

"John, we would love to take the boy in, but we just can't do it. Times are hard right now and we're barely making enough to feed ourselves."

John saw a few other people nod. His heart went out to Han as he bowed his head in resignation. "Thank you, Edwin."

Albert stepped up and addressed the group once again. "Thank you, everyone, for listening to us. We'll talk to the boy and his sister, and see who we think will be most suitable to adopt young Jed."

That night, after they settled the boys into bed, Albert and Julie asked to speak to Leah and Charlotte.

Jed heard the request and was curious. Han was sleeping fitfully beside him, but Jed decided that he needed to know what was happening. He crept downstairs and put his ear to the door.

Julie Monroe began. "Leah, we'd like you to come and live with us. You're already like one of the family and Charlotte would love to have you as her sister. Would you like that?"

Leah's eyes widened and she flew out of her chair to throw her arms around Julie. "Oh, yes! Yes, please!"

Charlotte also ran to hug her parents. "Oh, it will be wonderful! Leah, you'll be here all the time now!"

Julie smiled, "She already was!"

Albert adopted a more serious tone. "I'm afraid there is a little more we need to discuss."

Leah sat back down, concerned.

"We can't take the boys as well. We simply can't afford to."

Leah felt ashamed when she realized that in her excitement, she hadn't even considered what would happen to her brother and his friend. "What's going to happen to them?"

"Well, it's not very bad news. Three people in town would like to adopt Jed, so even though you won't be able to share a house, you'll still be able to see each other from time to time."

She smiled, relieved. "That's wonderful! Who?"

"The Jenkins, the Sorensens and the Collins. We have our own ideas about who would be best, but we wanted to talk to you first. After all, you are the head of the family now."

She preened a little at their flattery. "The Jenkins are very nice, but they don't have much money and Ma used to say," she lowered her voice a little, "that he drank."

The Monroes nodded in agreement.

She paused for a few minutes. "The Sorensens are nice too… but they live miles away and I'd never get to see him if he went there. If he went to the Collins at the Mercantile, he'd be close by, so I could visit him all the time. And they have lots of money. He'd probably get lots of free candy, he'd like that." She smiled at the thought, imagining him passing his free candy on to her. She sighed. "But I don't think he'd like living with Mrs. Collins. I think he'd like the Sorensens best."

The Monroes beamed at her. "We agree. He can stay on a farm and he'll have plenty of other children to play with. And we can always take you out there whenever you want to go, you can still see him as often as you like."

"When will you tell him?"

"We don't want to worry or excite him just yet. We'll give the boys another day to rest and then tell him right before we take him there. That way, he won't have time to get nervous."

Behind the door, Jed gave an offended sniff. As if he would get nervous! But they hadn't said anything yet about Han. Jed knew Leah didn't care much for Han, but he prayed for her to ask the next question. To his surprise, she did.

"What about Han? Who's going to take him?"

The Monroes exchanged a glance. This time it was Julie that answered her. "I'm sorry, Leah. You know what a difficult child Han is. No-one wants to take him. I'm afraid he's going to have to go back to Valparaiso."

There was silence for a few minutes before Jed heard Leah's voice again. "Everyone was very angry when Doctor Masterson sent him there before. They said it was a home for waywards and he didn't belong there because he wasn't wayward. They said he was treated very badly there."

Jed listened to Albert's answer. "I know they were all very fond of the boy, but you can't deny that he does seem to cause a lot of trouble."

"Yes…" She sounded doubtful. She knew that he'd been blamed for a lot of things that weren't his fault.

"A lot of orphanages are over-crowded because of the recent troubles. We haven't the time or resources to try and find somewhere else that will take him, when in all likelihood he'll end up at Valparaiso anyway. You know better than anyone what he's like!"

Jed felt a rush of anger. He knew better than anyone what Han was like! Han was a good friend and he always tried to do the right thing, even if his plans sometimes went wrong. He didn't deserve to go back to Valparaiso. He hadn't told Jed everything about his time there - in fact, he never wanted to talk about it at all - but Jed knew that it had been terrible. The little he'd heard was bad enough, and he'd seen the marks of the cane on Han's back when he'd returned.

Jed heard Leah say, "Of course, you're right, sir."

He could hear the smile in Albert Monroe's voice as he answered. "Call me 'Pa'."

Charlotte gave a happy giggle as Leah answered, "Yes, Pa."

Jed went back to his room. Han was whimpering in his sleep, and Jed climbed in next to him and put his arms around him. He felt Han move closer to him, needing the comfort.

Jed's mind was whirling.

He thought about the Sorensens. He liked them and he knew their children. They didn't go to school - Lena taught them at home - but he'd met them at church and social events and he liked playing with them. He'd driven past their farm with his father. It was a nice farm with lots of horses, and dogs that would run out and bark whenever a wagon passed. Jed liked horses and dogs. They'd probably let him have a dog of his own; he'd love that. His mother had always said he could have one when he got older.

He felt a sharp stab in his chest as he thought about his mother. Missing her and his pa was like a pain he felt all the time. He remembered the last time he had seen her. She had been laughing, telling him not to get into too much trouble with Han.

He wondered what she had looked like when Han had last seen her. Han hadn't said anything, but it must have been pretty bad. Jed hadn't seen anything but he'd heard the screams and seen the blood on Han's shirt…

He gave a sudden sob and felt Han turn in his arms. Han's face was blurry with sleep, but he reached out for Jed.

"Jed?" he whispered, "You okay?"

Jed tried to nod, but to his horror he found himself starting to cry.

Without hesitating, Han sat up and pulled the boy into his arms. Jed cried and cried, no longer just for what had happened, but because of what was about to happen. Han held him tightly and rocked him in his arms, making soothing noises and stroking his hair as Maggie would have done.

When his crying finally stopped, Han wiped away his cousin's tears. "You okay now? Think you can sleep?"

Jed nodded. Han climbed out of the bed and gestured for Jed to move over to the wall.

Jed looked at him curiously. "I'm okay here."

Han shook his head. "You're better there. It's more protected. You have the wall on one side and me on the other. No-one can hurt you like that."

Jed realized that Han had been doing this ever since they'd got here. "You're tryin' to protect me."

Han looked at him seriously. "Yeah. Blood brothers, remember? I'll always look after you."

Jed believed him. Without another word, he moved over to the wall.

Han lay down beside him and pulled him close. He whispered again, like a vow, "I'll always look after you, Kid."

Jed believed him.