Vaasco Sanchiz had a belly ache. Tears were waiting just below the surface but he valiantly forbad them escape. They were not compatible with his eleven years even if he had a belly ache, was a thousand miles from his mama and, God knows how far it was to Golden where his papa was. He had really wanted to stay with Wili and be an Indian until the Colonel came back from the east. It would only be about three weeks. He just hadn't planned on Wili having to be gone working with his papa some days and Billy was with his papa and Echo had to help in the store and his bottom hurt from learning how to ride a horse and as hard as he tried, he couldn't love the prairie as much as Wili did and - he didn't care if he was eleven. His belly hurt and he wanted his mama.
It started hurting about a day after his papa had gone back to Golden. It hardly ever hurt at home. If it did, he would go to his mama and act like a baby. Mamas don't pay much attention unless you cry and act like you're almost dying. At least his mama didn't. There were eleven kids now and she fussed about all the work they made and if the Pope had to take care of all those kids, he'd change his mind about doing things to keep from getting another baby in you. She'd fuss but Vaasco knew that she didn't want any of her children dying so, if you acted like you were, she'd pay attention. She was a good mama and Vaasco loved her and right now, he really missed her.
Vaasco really liked Wili's mama but she wasn't his mama. You don't just go up to somebody else's mama and tell her that you haven't pooped for about a year and your belly hurts.
He wished he could catch some fish. He sat there almost all day when all the boys were with their papas. At first, he went with Wili or Billy but when you've never been on a horse before - well, when it comes to sore bottoms, he'd rather take his from his mama's switches. So, for the last few times the boys had to work, Vaasco fished. The first day or two after he was too sore to sit on a horse, he went to Broken Bough's shop but it's hard to get interested in how a chair is made when your belly hurts.
Vaasco had grown up on fish. He loved fish but all he got here was beef. He liked beef and Wili's mama made it taste real good but he thought if he could get some fish in him, maybe the belly ache would go away. But, he never caught any and the frustration and homesickness was just too much. He was alone so he let go and cried - just as Billy's fourteen year old sister came for water. She didn't say anything but she had seen him crying and the whole village would know. If Indians were anything like Portuguese, he'd be teased to death.
Actually, the whole village never found out but Fern did. Violet Hawk's concern for the boy led her to tell her mother and Bess Hawk told Fern. Both went to the creek to see what the matter was. Violet watched the Fox children.
It took a while but the women eventually wormed the problem from Vaasco. Fern wasn't sure what the cause might be but Bess, much more experienced having borne seven children, four of whom had died at Sand Creek, quizzed Vaasco until she had arrived at a diagnosis. The boy had eaten mostly fish all the life. Fish is a much lighter food than beef. His stomach was like a baby's. You don't go right from the breast to beef with a baby. You give broth and smashed up vegetables. First, Vaasco needed a good tonic and then he should eat only broth or chicken and add the beef slowly.
Well, that solved the problem, but for a day or two Vaasco wasn't sure which was worse, the belly ache or the tonic. Billy's mama made it out of some roots she dug up and a lot of other things. It was the worse tasting stuff he'd ever been given and for almost two days, he couldn't be more than ten feet from the privy. (Privies had replaced the hole in the prairie.) He pooped so much it made the place where the poop came out burn. He didn't tell anyone though. If he sat in the creek, it felt better.
Vaasco had not realized how handy mamas were to have around. She was always there when he'd had problems of a "personal" nature. He wasn't sure why it embarrassed him to talk to Wili's or Billy's mamas about stuff like that. Everybody had to poop and everybody probably got a sore bottom once in a while. He still ran naked at home and like all the boys his age did here. But so far as he knew, even Indians didn't look inside people's bottoms unless, maybe, they were doctors. Billy's mama was kind of like a doctor. He probably shouldn't be embarrassed. He just was. He wished that his own mama was there.
But he got broth and chicken and in a few days everything was back to normal. Most of the spring work like notching calves' ears that boys could do was finished so Wili and Billy usually stayed home during the day and Vaasco was getting better on a horse. Vaasco still kind of missed his mama but when your belly or bottom doesn't hurt you don't feel like crying when you think about her.
Actually, within a week, Vaasco felt comfortable on a horse and, after much regular boy begging to go down to the Big Sandy, the boys were instead given permission to go up to the Republican but only if they could get seventeen year old Ulysses Raven to go with them. That thrilled the three village boys. If Ulysses would go, his papa would probably let Jack go.
Wili had to think hard about if he wanted to go to the Republican. It did not hold happy memories for him. Major Chester had told Wili that Rube Miderding had disappeared but he hadn't been caught. Wili was considered a leader among his peers, tough and fearless and yes, he was those things. But, he was also eleven years old. Probably being kidnapped if you were twenty would be scary so Wili didn't feel that his fear was cowardice but he did have a reputation to maintain. Reputation won out but it was a somewhat edgy Wili Fox who headed north at sunrise with three other very animated boys.
Fern had not wanted to let him go. She favored the first of the boys' requests - to go south to the Big Sandy. She didn't want her son in danger and had a rather animated discussion on the matter with Abraham - highly unusual for an Indian woman to challenge her husband. The clan was moving to the new ways faster than Abraham appreciated at that moment.
She felt as uneasy as Wili did as the boys rode off that morning, but Abraham had insisted that Wili had learned from his experience and he had to learn to face his fears. Abraham knew Wili's grit better than Fern. Wili had said nothing about his concerns but Fern was a mother. She read the boy's uneasiness but Abraham knew his son's self-respect depended on this trip.
Within fifteen minutes, Wili had forgotten that he had ever been kidnapped. A group of four unattended mostly prepubescent boys does not lend itself to moroseness. On a dare, Wili was showing-off, standing on the rump of his cantering horse, the reins in Billy's hands so that if Wili fell off, the horse wouldn't run off.
It was scary but fun. None of the other boys would try it and Vaasco, who knew Wili to be fast and strong, was now highly impressed with his skill and bravery. Wili knew, however, that if his papa had seen him it would have been considered reckless and foolish. He might even have gotten a switching. He still might if his papa found out about it. He swore Vaasco to secrecy.
All of Abraham's horses were too young and spirited so he had borrowed an older, gentle horse for Vaasco to ride. It had been Broken Bough's favorite war pony and was now just a pet. Broken Bough still rode him occasionally just to keep him trained and for old time sake. He was still hearty but he was almost twenty and the boys had been told not to run him too much. So they ambled along, trotting and cantering occasionally but mostly walking the horses, talking, laughing and, now and then, inspecting some anomaly that took their attention.
There was no real hurry. They could make the twenty miles to the Raven's cabin in about five hours if they rode steady and well before dark even if they spent too much time playing. They stopped to lie under their horses out of the sun to eat their jerky and have a few sips of water. Vaasco had to be convinced that it was not a good idea to drink all he wanted, that water on the prairie was scarce and it was never a good idea to run out of water under the hot prairie sun. When you live near an ocean, it's hard to imagine a place with too little water.
They rested a bit. The horses stood good and they made good shade. They probably were sleeping. Vaasco couldn't believe that horses could sleep standing up but there were many things on the prairie that he found hard to believe even when he was looking right at them.
They had the obligatory peeing contest. Echo won. The other boys calculated that it was because his thing was the longest. Not by much but what other reason could there have been for them to have been out-peed. Echo let them theorize for about half an hour but then admitted that he had learned how to pee far when he and Amos used to have peeing contests. "You got to pull the skin back so the pee don't have to fight its way through all that extra. If there ain't nothin' after it comes out that red part, it goes farther."
Well, that made sense. All the boys were familiar enough with that part of their anatomy to know that that skin would pull back, at least far enough not to slow down the pee. Echo could get his all the way back but then, he and Amos had worked with it considerably and now it got almost daily exercise with the twins. Wili and Billy almost could get theirs back and Vaasco, although it was a sin, couldn't stop himself from playing with it but he always felt guilty and frightened of what the priest would say at confession and of going to hell. His older brothers played with theirs, the ones who had hair there, until some white stuff came out and they said that the priest was full of shit. But Vaasco, still afraid of the stern nuns and the dour priests, wasn't ready to take too many chances so he hadn't "worked" with it enough to have made much headway with foreskin retraction.
The noon sun was high and hot and even with their rest, the boys became sleepy and quiet. There was a somewhat worn trail and the horses preferred that to the taller prairie grass so they took no guiding. They rode, almost dozing, speaking only occasionally for almost an hour before Vaasco asked, "What's that?" He pointed off to the west.
Whatever it was was pretty far away but it looked like a man walking. A man without a horse this far from a town or a cattle camp was in trouble. They didn't think of any possible danger. They rode toward whatever it was. They knew about mirages but if this was a mirage, it was a walking mirage.
As they drew closer, it was obvious that it was a man but not a very big man. They became more cautious, finally realizing they could be riding into danger. After another five minutes of walking their horses, Echo let out a shriek and yelled, "Amos!" and galloped off toward the "man."
It was not a small man. It was a boy, a naked, badly beaten and sun burned boy. When Echo got to him he was off his horse just in time to cushion the boy's fall. It was Amos and he was still aware enough to recognize Obadiah and realize he no longer had to struggle to save himself. He'd either get help or wouldn't die alone.
"Water! Give him some water!"
Wili brought the water skin and trickled some on Amos' lips. "Can't give him too much. Make him sick. Grandfather said that when he was teaching us how to be old time Indians. Remember?"
They were still a little over five miles from the Raven's cabin and they knew that Amos was too weak to hold on while riding on a horse. The boys all looked at Wili. This was a crisis and in a crisis, Wili usually knew what to do.
"Billy, you got the fastest horse. You ride on to Raven's and get Jack's papa and Ulysses. Get them back here fast. If they got a wagon or buckboard, have them bring that. Have them bring a gun too. Somebody's been beating on this boy and he probably run off. They are probably looking for him."
Billy galloped off and the boys moved a horse over Amos to shade him. They continued to slowly drip water on Amos's lips and he slowly seemed to become more aware. He finally could bring Echo into focus again.
"Obadiah?"
"Ain't Obadiah no more. Name's Echo."
Amos looked confused.
Wili again took charge. "Just be Obadiah for now. He's too worn out to think good."
"Ya, I'm Obadiah. What happened to you?"
"Do he don't be drunk no more, he be lookin'."
"Who he?"
Amos could not completely collect his thoughts. Echo's question puzzled him."
"Let him be, Echo. When we get more water and some food in him, then ask him."
They were quiet for several minutes. Vaasco was almost in a state of shock. He was in the middle of nowhere with a beat-up kid that looked like he was dying. Stuff like this doesn't happen in New Bedford. Sometimes a boat doesn't come back and everybody's all sad and the priest says a lot of masses and people throw flowers in the ocean. Vaasco knew people drowned but he had never watched someone die before.
As they gave him more water and he had lain resting in the shade of Wili's horse for about half an hour, Amos became more lucid. "Do he find me, he kill me."
Echo looked at Wili and Wili nodded.
"Who he?"
"'Lias. When I goed from Ma, 'Lias seen me in Denver and say I go with him. I done it but shu'nt. He a mean drunk. Mercy say that 'fore he hit her and she don't get up no more. 'Lias looped her leg and dragged her off. She never come back."
"Why he beat you?" Echo fell back on his Dugood speech patterns.
There was exasperation in Amos's voice. "I telled you, he a mean drunk."
Echo kind of wilted for just a moment but then seemed to remember who he was now. Amos had never been cruel to him when he was Obadiah, just older. Echo never doubted who was the boss cow. When Amos got huffy, Obadiah knew to be submissive or be hurting. But, then, Echo had hit Amos when he was angry. Since Amos was always bigger and stronger, Echo had always regretted it but he had done it. What else do you do when you're mad? Indians hit you when they are mad.
Echo and Vaasco were worried. What if 'Lias did come. They had nothing to defend themselves with. Amos was still too weak to stay on a horse so they had to stay here until Billy and them got back. What if 'Lias got here first. Yes, Echo and Vaasco were worried but Wili was thinking.
Amos hadn't spoken for several minutes and had his eyes closed. Vaasco was horrified. "Is he dead?"
Now Echo was exasperated. "Don't you know nothin'? See his belly movin' up and down. He's breathin'. He ain't dead. He's all wored out. He's sleepin.
"Sure is a lot more puny then when he goed from Ma."
Now Wili was exasperated. "You're not Obadiah any more. Don't talk like you were. Anyway, Vaasco knows a lot of things you don't know so don't be downing him 'cause he don't know prairie stuff."
Echo definitely wilted now. Wili was respected. He was their leader and you just didn't want him upset with you.
Elias Whitmore sobered up and found his boy gone. He really didn't need the boy. He stayed drunk most of the time and had allowed what cattle he had to wander off. He was also worried that someone would find Mercy's body and reckon that he'd done it. He'd looped her leg and wrapped the rope around the saddle horn and drug her far enough from the shack so the stink wouldn't get there.
Occasionally Elias stayed sober long enough to contemplate his situation. How had he gone from a preacher to this? He'd preached hard against the whiskey. His father had been a mean drunk. As a boy, Elias had vowed never to taste a drop. But as the years passed, whiskey hung heavy on his mind. He'd wondered how it tasted. He tried it and he liked what it did for him and kept at it. He was a hypocrite and he fretted about that and drank more to forget. It got so he couldn't hide it. His church in Iowa ran him off.
He had fallen so far. He had even fallen to fornication. He should have married Mercy. And - he was probably a murderer. He didn't remember doing anything to Mercy but he had sobered up and found her dead.
He wasn't sure why but he wanted his boy back. He knew he was cruel to the boy and he drank to forget that too. But in a kind of perverse way, he felt responsible for the boy. He had enough "goodness" left in him to know a boy that young shouldn't be left on his own. That's why after he found the boy wandering around Denver, he brought him to Mercy. Even in his semi stupor he knew a boy that size shouldn't be left on his own.
Elias never knew what he did when he was drunk but those bruises probably came from him beating on the boy. The boy had been in rags when he came and Elias never even got him more britches when what he came with went to nothing. Elias always planned to do better for the boy and that was probably why he was driven to find him.
He had no idea which way Amos had gone but he was astute enough to devise a plan. He'd ride ever widening circles around the shack. Eventually he'd have to come across the boy.
Wili caught a glimpse of movement to the northwest. Eventually they could make out a man on a horse. He was riding south and looked to be a half mile away. By now, Amos could lift his head. "That be 'Lias." The boy lay his head back on the ground with a look of resignation. He was still too confused to think of the other boys but he did think of himself. He was sure he was dead.
Wili started pulling off his clothing.
"What you doin'?"
"He's looking for a naked boy. This far off he won't know I'm not Amos. The grass is tall and I can keep him looking for me until Billy and the other's get here. You just act like you're resting your horses. I'll keep him from coming too close to you."
Wili crawled through the tall grass toward the northwest. The grass was still green but was starting to brown so some of the blades were sharp. Wili soon had small cuts on his arms and legs - actually all over his body. One got him there and he was glad he had a foreskin. He knew that if it got the red part, it really would have hurt. But, he wasn't in any hurry so he made sure he pushed any dry grass away from that part as he crawled.
When he was probably two hundred yards from the boys, he stood up and yelled and waved his arms. Elias thought the boy was asking for help and started to gallop in that direction. He had a flask with him and by now he was not dead drunk but almost. He had enough acuity left, however, to realize that he was too drunk to stay on a galloping horse. He walked his horse toward where the boy had been. When he could finally let go of the pummel and look up again, the boy was gone.
Wili had ducked back into the tall grass and was again crawling, this time straight north. After about another two hundred yards he stood again and yelled.
Elias had been sure that he was headed for the boy but now the boy was over there. He reined the horse in that direction but the boy again disappeared.
This time Wili crawled northeast, stood yelled and disappeared. Elias took another swig and reined toward the boy. He didn't realize he was being toyed with. He realized that he was drunk and assumed that he just couldn't keep his bearings.
Wili repeated the process four or five more times, each time moving further away from Amos. He wasn't sure how long he could keep this up. His body oozed blood but he was not severely injured. His hands and knees really hurt but he didn't know what else to do. This was prairie and there was no chance he would find a tree branch or anything else he could use as a weapon.
He crossed a trail that he had no idea was there and a weapon presented itself about thirty feet up the trail - a Prairie Rattler sunning itself. Wili knew that horses hated snakes and he quickly devised a plan. He picked up a sun-baked and hardened road apple and stood in the middle of the trail and yelled. As he had done every time, Elias headed in Wili's direction.
Wili again disappeared and made a wide birth around the snake, then crawled back toward the trail. He knew by now that Elias was drunk and even if he had his head above the grass, Elias would not notice him and, if he did, he'd keep coming. He wanted to be sure that Elias used the trail so he waited until he was on it then stood and yelled about thirty feet beyond the snake. Elias tried to make his horse gallop but almost fell off and let the horse walk. This time the boy didn't disappear.
Wili knew that he could hit the snake with the road apple at that distance. Many of the games they played involved throwing things at a target, in Lance and Hoop, a moving target. Sometimes it was a grass ball or even a road apple at a circle on the ground. Wili had gotten good at hitting the target.
When Elias was about fifteen feet from the snake, Wili threw the road apple. He hit the snake, woke it and got the desired response. The snake lifted his head into the striking position and let loose with the rattles. Elias's horse shied to the left causing Elias to fall off to the right. Then the horse reared and galloped away to the north. Wili watched in horror as Elias, his right foot caught in the stirrup, was dragged away.
Wili hadn't wanted to kill the man but he knew that when Elias was found he would be dead. He felt a knot in his stomach and a strong sense of guilt but he could think of nothing else he could have done. He also had no idea where he was. He was pretty sure that he was northeast of the boys so he started back in that direction. He knew that the trail was headed southwest so he followed the trail. He walked for about fifteen minutes when he saw Ulysses riding up the trail toward him.
Wili cried - both in relief at being found and at the horror of what he had caused.
Ulysses had brought Wili's clothes with him. Wili was glad. There were little grass cuts even on his bottom. He knew that sitting behind the saddle on a sweaty horse, the salt in the sweat would make his bottom burn. He composed himself, explained what had happened to Ulysses and Ulysses took great pains reassuring Wili that he had done what had to be done and that if Elias were dead, it was not Wili's fault. Wili realized that was true but it did not make it much easier. He had caused a death, unintentionally and probably necessarily but when you're eleven, that's hard to process.
He also had another concern. Wili knew that it was small compared to Elias but when you're eleven and an Indian it was no small matter. Ulysses had seen him crying. Ulysses understood and promised that he would never tell.
George Raven did have a wagon. Amos was laid on a buffalo robe. Echo rode with him and continued to dribble water on the boy's lips. Jack Raven had ridden on the wagon with his papa and he rode Echo's horse back to the Raven cabin. Wili rode his own horse. It wasn't the most enjoyable ride he'd ever had. That rough denim on those little cuts made him glad he was riding a saddle. He stood in the stirrups most of the way.
Jack's mama saw to Amos. She soaked a cloth in water and had Amos suck on it so that he would get the water slowly. Later she soaked a cloth in broth. She knew that if he took broth too fast in his dehydrated condition, he would vomit it back up. She put him in her bed. George slept on a mat in the teepee with the boys. When Amos stirred in the night, she would give him either the water cloth or the broth cloth and by morning the boy was far from normal but he was much better.
The Raven's lived only two miles from the Republican. It was near dark when they got to the Raven's cabin but Wili needed a soothing swim and a chance to wash the blood off himself. Ulysses took the boys to the river. Vaasco was in heaven. Finally enough water to at least give the feeling of an ocean. And a river that big had to have fish in it.
It did. The Ravens kept a fish trap in the river all the time. There was fish in it every morning. If they didn't want to eat fish some days, they released the fish. But that morning, Vaasco got his fish for breakfast. They had one happy little Portuguese Indian on their hands.
Wili's little cuts had scabbed over and they itched a little but he spent most of the day in the river so it wasn't that bad. It was a great day. Ulysses was so much fun. He was strong enough to throw a boy in the air and let him splash down into the water. Toward evening, George even came up and they played horse and rider in the water. Ulysses was almost as strong as his papa so there were some long, tiring tussles before one or the other was knocked over or his "rider" displaced. All the village boys agreed that Jack was lucky to have a big brother. Jack didn't completely agree.
By the next morning, Amos was able to sit up and even walk around some. He was probably thirteen, maybe just turned fourteen but he was still a boy so his lack of clothing was not a problem. His story, however, infuriated the Ravens and when he got there, the sheriff.
Pa Dugood had never beaten Amos. He had paid almost no attention to the children. Ma would occasionally switch them but Amos had no idea how a "normal" man related to a boy. He assumed that all boys got beaten and that all men got drunk. Early on, before his ratty britches fell apart and while he was still strong enough, he could have left Elias. But, so far as Amos knew, everyplace would be like this. He had finally come to the conclusion that he was wrong. If every man did boys like "Lias, they would all be dead. There must be something different out there. He was almost too weak to walk but he decided that he had to go looking.
Even if Elias' death had not come as it had, it would have come soon. He never ate anymore and never provided Amos with food. While Mercy was alive, Amos was fed but sparingly. After Mercy, Elias only drank whiskey. Amos didn't know anything about money and he gave no thought to how 'Lias might be getting the whiskey. He had never seen 'Lias work. What was actually happening was, a neighbor had absorbed Elias' cattle into his herd and felt it his Christian duty to keep Elias in booze until he died. The neighbor wasn't really a bad man. He knew that Elias was beyond help so he might as well let the man die "happy". He never knew about Amos.
Actually, Amos was a tough kid. His physical condition was such that most thirteen-year-olds would have just laid down and died. But all Amos knew in his life was survival so he did what he knew. He fought to survive.
George and Martha (If her husband was going to be George, she was going to be Martha) Raven discussed keeping Amos with them but also saw a bond between Echo and Amos. They weren't sure what to do about him. When Keechee delivered the groceries, they asked him to ask Paul Mann what should be done about the boy.
By the fourth day, Amos was able to keep down some solid food and felt strong enough to beg to go with the boys to the river on the fifth day. Martha allowed it only after a promise from Ulysses that he would not allow the boy to overdo. Amos did have fun. He splashed in the river some but he mostly sat on the bank and watched. Something was happening among those boys that he didn't understand. He didn't understand it but he knew that it was good - something he wanted. He slept some but was still so tired when it was time for supper that Ulysses carried him back to the cabin.
That night, Martha let Amos sleep in the teepee with the boys. George moved back into the cabin. The unsupervised boys were rather boisterous. There was some teasing, some roughhousing, being careful not to injure Amos who didn't participate but enjoyed the spectacle. But eventually even prepubescent boys get sleepy. They lay still but continued to talk. In the course of many random subjects, Jack, giggling, asked Echo why he didn't bring the twins along and got an elbow in the ribs from Wili along with a whispered admonition not to talk about that stuff when Vaasco was there. Echo understood not to respond but all the Arapaho boys found it confusing as to why that subject should be taboo.
The boys were to be at the Republican for a week. By the seventh day, Amos was much more perky but still far from robust. The Ravens had heard nothing from Paul Mann as to Amos' future. The boys would be leaving in the morning and Amos was not strong enough to ride twenty miles. Martha had decided not to let him go and Amos cried. He liked the Ravens but Echo was a kind of security blanket that the frail boy needed right now. Martha gently tried to explain her reason but Amos couldn't understand why if he had to stay, why didn't Echo. Martha knew that Paul needed Echo in the store. She couldn't let him stay. The last few days, Amos had experienced real life for the first time and in his mind, it was Echo that had made life something more than drudgery. Amos had loved Echo at Ma's but just as had Echo, he had no idea he was loving. Having Echo back, even if he had a new name, made something inside him - well - satisfied. It was too soon to call what he felt, 'happy'. It would be a while before he acquired the normal human emotions.
Amos eventually acquiesced but was tearful. Martha felt for the boy but she was doing what was best for him. She was greatly relieved when about sundown; Paul arrived with Abraham's wagon.
They headed south at sunrise. Wili was pretty much healed but as much as he loved his horse, when his bottom got sweaty, it itched. He tolerated it for about an hour when he realized he was being foolish. Why sit a saddle with an itchy bottom when he could shed his britches and lay on his belly in the wagon and let the air dry him off? He tied his horse to the back of the wagon and rode inside with Amos.
Amos took that for a friendly act. Wili had come in to keep him company. The idea of having friends was becoming important to Amos. He understood now that he'd seen real friendship among the boys at the river. Friends had to be with each other. When Wili realized what Amos was thinking, he wished that that had really been the reason. Had he thought about Amos wanting someone there, he would have come even if his bottom did not itch. Wili had seen Amos increasingly come alive, not only in body but in spirit and he knew Amos was trying hard to move from an "old life" to a new one.
Friends had helped Wili make that journey and friends must guide Amos on his journey. The boys chatted and Amos glowed at Wili's playful teasing. Amos had seen at the river that teasing was an important part of being friends so if Wili was teasing him, Wili must be his friend.
Fern became very motherly when she saw the still red residue of Wili's healing tiny cuts. She'd use them to prove the correctness of her previous position on the trip. Abraham, however, had heard the story. Wili's ingenuity and bravery were the talk of the village. He was so proud of his son that Fern had no chance to put her argument forward. Abe scooped the boy into his arms, hugged him firmly, sat him on his lap and recounted the story for the family.
The pique had left Fern. How could she complain about tiny cuts when her son had been so resourceful and brave? How fortunate she was. She knew that he was special when she had seen him run that first day. As she had grown to know him and love him, she realized that he was more special than she'd thought. It was her deepest hope that De would grow to be as wonderful as his big brother.