Our Brother's Keepers
"Lottie, I don't think they are even breathing. What do you think?" Candy asked.
"Oh, they are breathing, darling, but just barely." Lottie answered sadly.
The two ladies were watching Joshua and Jeremy as they sat huddled together on the sofa in their cabin. Ben Perkins and Aaron Stempel had brought them home after their brother, Jason's funeral.
Three days earlier, the Bolt brothers had been working together to cut the top out of a particularly tall pine tree. The three of them went up the tree bound together by a triple harness. Joshua was in the middle.
The brothers worked on the tree for about twenty minutes when one of the safety straps broke. Suddenly Jason and Jeremy were dangling from the tree. Joshua was still secure because the middle of the harness had more reinforcement.
The blond brother instinctively did what he and Jason had always agreed upon if such a situation as this occurred, he grabbed Jeremy. Tragically, the broken safety strap tore further, and Jason fell to his death.
Jeremy was hysterical. Joshua screamed for help. Big Swede, Corky, Sam, and McGee came running. After confirming that Jason was dead, Swede grabbed a harness and put it on fast. He climbed the tree to help Jeremy and Joshua come down.
When the brothers were on the ground, Jeremy threw himself on Jason's body screaming and crying for Jason to wake up. Joshua was crushed. He couldn't believe their big brother was gone.
In spite of his pain, Joshua tried to console Jeremy. "Jason is dead, Jeremy. He can't wake up. I'm sorry, brother. I know you are destroyed. So am I."
Jeremy looked at Joshua with anger and hatred flashing in his eyes. "You should have saved Jason! Why the hell did you save me?!"
"That's what Jason and I decided years ago when I was eight years old. We agreed that if one of us had to choose between you and the other one, the choice was you." Joshua cried.
Jeremy hugged Joshua tightly. "I hate you, Josh!"
"Why do you hate me?" Joshua sobbed.
"Because you saved me instead of Jason!" Jeremy bawled.
"I hate you too, Jeremy!" Joshua choked.
"Why do you hate me, Josh?" Jeremy blubbered.
"Because I had to save you instead of Jason!" Joshua screamed.
The two brothers clung to each other. They cried until they couldn't breathe.
The next few days were horrendous. All of Seattle was in shock. Jason Bolt was dead. It couldn't be true. It was like saying the sun wasn't going to rise anymore or that no trees would ever grow again.
Doctor Wright was extremely concerned about Joshua and Jeremy. They were in shock. She wanted them to stay at the clinic. Joshua refused. Jeremy wasn't able to speak at that point. Lottie told the doctor that she and Clancy would take care of them. Doctor Wright agreed to that. She said she would stop by often to check on them.
Lottie and Clancy took the heartbroken Bolts to their cabin. Joshua and Jeremy did not want to be out of each other's sight. They sat side by side on the sofa staring blankly into space.
Lottie tried to get them to eat a few bites at supper. They refused all of her efforts as far as food. She managed to persuade them to drink a little coffee.
Several hours later, Joshua and Jeremy went to bed in Jason's room. It was their choice. Lottie and Clancy sat by the bed holding their hands as they cried themselves to sleep.
Joshua and Jeremy made it through their brother's funeral. Clancy and Lottie along with Candy and Biddie stayed close to them. The logging camp and the sawmill were closed for the day along with most every other business in town.
Jeremy had one screaming outburst at the service, however, he calmed down when Candy took him in her arms whispering I love you to him over and over.
So here they were now at the cabin on the sofa staring off into space barely breathing. Lottie was trying to be hopeful. Candy was frightened. Clancy was drinking. Biddie was at the dormitory cooking supper for the two brothers. She was there instead of the cabin because the sounds and smells of cooking made the Bolts nervous and physically sick.
That night Biddie brought the food to the cabin. Everyone ate except for Joshua and Jeremy. When Lottie tried to get Jeremy to eat he cried for Jason to make her stop. Joshua threatened to punch Clancy in the face when he suggested that Joshua needed to eat and maybe if he did Jeremy would.
Several weeks went by. Joshua and Jeremy returned to work. They worked hard for awhile, but their hearts were not in the logging business anymore.
When the family business went under, both of them tried various jobs. Nothing worked.
Sadly, Joshua and Jeremy became bank robbers. They traveled throughout Washington Territory and surrounding areas robbing a record number of banks. Every few weeks they returned to Seattle to hideout. The residents who weren't their friends were too afraid of them to turn them in to the authorities. People weren't sure if the brothers had murdered anyone. However, it was rumored that each time they came home to Seattle, Jeremy killed one of his former classmates who ridiculed him for stuttering years ago.
One day it finally happened. Joshua and Jeremy killed a man. He was Phillip Theodore Oglethorpe, the owner of the Lumberman's Friend. It was the harness company which made the faulty harness that sent Jason plummeting to his death.
The brothers ran into Oglethorpe during one of their robberies in Port Angeles. The man was at the teller window bragging about his company and his wealth when Joshua and Jeremy walked in.
Jeremy walked up to him and told him through tears and stuttering about Jason and his death. Mr. Oglethorpe stuck his nose in the air and looked Jeremy up and down as if Jeremy was something stuck to the bottom of his shoe.
When Jeremy cried harder and clung to Joshua for support, Oglethorpe laughed a big hearty laugh. Joshua pulled his gun and shot the buffoon dead.
Jeremy was arrested along with Joshua because of their past bank robberies. Jeremy told the sheriff he would have killed the man if his brother hadn't done it.
Joshua and Jeremy were found guilty of robbery and Joshua was convicted of murder. Their appeal failed. They were returned to Seattle and hanged in the town square.
A few months later, Candy died when she gave birth to Jeremy's baby. Biddie took care of the baby boy named Jethro Bolt Pruitt until she grieved herself to death over Joshua.
The baby was taken in by Ben and Emily Perkins. They loved the Bolt brothers in spite of all they had done. Ben personally didn't blame Josh for killing the bastard who inadvertently caused Jason's death and laughed so cruelly at Jeremy.
Lottie could not live in Seattle without any of her Bolt boys. She sold the saloon and married Clancy. They sailed away on the Shamus O' Flynn to circumnavigate the globe.
Aaron Stempel woke up earlier than usual. He had to get busy now that he owned the sawmill and the logging camp and the mountain.
He was finally the proprietor of Bridal Veil Mountain. He wasn't happy about it though. The price was too high. Much too high.
Aaron Stempel actually had tears in his eyes over the Bolt brothers. Who would ever believe it? Certainly not the Bolt brothers.
Aaron got ready for work and headed into town. He stopped at Lottie's. Ken had bought the business but he was going to keep calling it Lottie's for awhile it seemed. Aaron got out of his buggy and went inside.
He was stunned. Lottie was behind the bar! When had she returned to Seattle? Where was Clancy? His ship wasn't docked.
Aaron ordered breakfast, got a cup of coffee, and sat down at a table. He picked up the newspaper someone had left and began reading it.
Aaron was absorbed in an article about a new sawmill opening in Olympia when the doors to the saloon burst open.
"Good morning, Lottie! How are you on this beautiful day?" Jason asked exuberantly.
"Bolt!" Aaron shouted slapping the newspaper on the table.
"Yes, Aaron, it's me along with Joshua and Jeremy, my brothers." Jason acknowledged smiling at him.
Joshua and Jeremy smiled at him too as they said good morning.
Aaron didn't know what to think." All three of you are here and you are alright. Each one of you is okay."
"Yes, Aaron, we are all here and each of us is okay. How are you?" Jason asked.
"I'm not sure." Aaron cut his eyes at Jason. "I don't own your mountain, do I, Bolt? Or your logging business?"
"No, Aaron, you most certainly do not own our mountain or our business. What's this about, Stempel?" Jason was curious.
"Well, Jason, uh, I'm confused." Aaron was racking his brain trying to make sense of things. When he went to bed last night, the world was upside down in Seattle and now somehow it had turned right side up again or so he hoped.
Aaron stood up from his chair. "Jason, when was the last time we saw each other before now?"
"Last night here at Lottie's. I offered to buy you a drink. I told you to drown your sorrows. You said if you did that, they would hang you for triple murder." Jason reminded him.
"That's right, I said that. I remember now. Well, that's it! Everything is really alright like it's supposed to be." Aaron smiled his huge smile.
"Would you care to enlighten me, Aaron?" Jason wondered.
"Not right now, Jason. Maybe one day soon. We have to eat our breakfast and get to work." Aaron replied.
"That's true, Aaron. I'm glad you are okay. See you later." Jason crossed the room. He sat down at a table with Joshua and Jeremy.
Lottie served breakfast to the Bolts and to Stempel. As Aaron was eating, he chuckled to himself, a nightmare. I had a nightmare about the Bolts. Guess that's what I get for even kidding about drowning them.
A short while later, Aaron was leaving the saloon at the same time as Jason and his brothers.
"What do you have going on today, Jason?" Stempel asked.
"My brothers and I are going to top a very tall pine tree this morning." Jason replied.
"Top a tree!" Aaron was alarmed.
"Yes, Mr. Stempel. We do it all the time." Joshua spoke.
"But all three of you don't usually do it together, do you?" Aaron asked nervously.
"No, not usually, Mr. Stempel. This is a huge tree." Jeremy told him.
"A huge tree." Aaron repeated feeling sick. "Listen, Bolt, be extra careful today, alright?"
"Sure, Aaron." Jason answered as he and his brothers went out the door. " I didn't know you cared." He joked as they started toward the logging camp.
"I care more than you know, Jason." Aaron watched the three brothers walk down the street.
Later in the morning, Harve ran into Stempel's office. "Mr. Stempel, did you hear?! Jeremy Bolt fell while he and his brothers were topping a tree! Jason and Joshua are flying down the mountain bringing him to the clinic!"
"Jeremy fell! Oh, my God!" Aaron grabbed his coat and ran out the door.
When Aaron got to the clinic, the Bolt buckboard was there. It was empty so the brothers were inside.
Aaron jumped from his buggy and ran into the facility. He didn't stop running until he found Jason, Joshua, and Jeremy in an exam room.
"Jason! Dear God! I'm so sorry! Does the doctor think Jeremy might make it?" Aaron's voice trembled.
"Aaron, Aaron, calm down." Jason spoke softly. "Jeremy is going to be just fine."
"Fine? How can he be fine when he fell from a huge tree?" Aaron questioned.
"Mr. Stempel, Jeremy didn't fall. He almost fell but Jason and I caught him. Jeremy, sit up so Mr. Stempel can see that you are okay." Joshua replied.
Jeremy sat up and smiled at Aaron. I am okay, Mr. Stempel. I might have sprained my back a little. That's all."
"You are okay. That's great, Jeremy. That's really great." Aaron spoke as he sat down.
"You look pale, Aaron. Are you alright?" asked Jason.
"Yes, I'm alright. I was just worried about Jeremy."
"Well, you can stop worrying. He's fine. We caught him when his harness broke." Jason said.
"The two of you caught him?" Aaron pointed at Jeremy.
"Yes, we caught him. Aaron, can I speak to you in the hall a moment, please?" Jason asked. Brothers, I'll be back by the time the doctor comes back in."
Joshua and Jeremy nodded.
Aaron and Jason went about halfway down the hall. Jason exhaled loudly.
"You have been holding your breath for awhile, haven't you, Jason?" Aaron smiled.
"Yes, Aaron! Yes!" Jason exclaimed. "When Jeremy's harness broke, my heart stopped. I'm not exaggerating, Aaron. It stopped for a few seconds. When I realized that Joshua and I both had a firm hold on our brother and he was coming up instead of going down, my heart started again."
"I imagine that was pretty scary for you and Joshua. Not to mention Jeremy." Aaron sympathized.
"Yeah, Jeremy was pretty shaken. We rushed him here to the clinic to make sure he is alright. He said his back was hurting." Jason spoke.
"Yes, well, word around town is that you and Joshua flew down the mountain bringing the youngest brother here because he fell from the huge tree." Aaron looked Jason directly in the eye.
Jason couldn't help but smile. "That's why you came charging in to find out if Jeremy was going to make it."
"Yes. I was frightened for all of you, Jason. I know how much you mean to each other. I strongly believe you would die without each other." Aaron told him.
The oldest Bolt looked pensive for a moment. "Yes, I believe we would, Aaron. Back when Joshua was very young, about eight years old, he and I made a pact that if the three of us were ever in danger and one of us had to chose between Jeremy and the other brother, Jeremy was the choice. Fortunately, we didn't have to chose today since Jeremy was the only one in danger."
Aaron's jaw dropped as he stared at Jason Bolt. "You have never told me that before, have you?"
"I don't think so, why?" questioned Jason.
"Oh, no reason, really. It just shows even more how much you Bolts love each other." Aaron responded. There was no way Aaron could tell him that he dreamed about a Bolt brothers pact that he didn't even know about!
"Thank you for your concern, Aaron. I see Doctor Wright coming from her office. I had better get back to the exam room with Joshua and Jeremy. See you later." Jason smiled and walked down the hall toward the exam room.
"See you, Bolt!" Aaron said and then turned to leave the building. As he was leaving the clinic, he ran into Candy and Biddie coming in to see about Jeremy. The three of them exchanged a brief hello.
When Aaron was in his buggy, he paused a minute before leaving. He looked around Seattle. It was the happy little energetic town that it had been for many years thanks in part to the Bolt brothers. Aaron thought about his nightmare with all of its death and sadness. Seattle had turned into a sad lonely ghost town in that scary dream.
Aaron looked up to the sky. "Thank You, Lord for the Bolt brothers! Yes, Lord, You heard me right. I said thank You for the Bolts!"
Aaron laughed a joyful laugh as he headed for his office.
The End
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