Summary: Just a very short story about what one brother would do for the other one.

Rating:  PG for violence (1,650 words)

 

The Hostage

“No, take me.” Joe moved forward, closer to the man in the red shirt. There was a protest from Adam, and Joe almost looked towards his brother, but he forced himself not to. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man who was tying Adam’s wrists paused. The man in the red shirt looked down at him, and Joe tried to keep from trembling as he met his eyes. The rest of the man’s face was obscured by the neckerchief he wore over his nose. Joe moved a bit closer. “Take me instead,” he repeated.

 

The man almost seemed to laugh. “Why?” he asked.

 

Joe thought of all the things he could respond with, but finally said, “I’ll make a better hostage.” He looked at his brother, and tried to explain why with his eyes. Adam had protested when the robbers first came into the bank and pushed Mrs. Clark to the floor. The robbers had told everyone to get down, but she was frozen in fear. Two of them had punched and kicked Adam, and he tried to only defend himself, and not cause a bigger fight. Joe had seen his brother fight before, and he knew. There were several women and a couple of children in the bank, and Adam’s concern must have been for them. But now, it was Joe’s turn to be concerned for his older brother. They wanted a hostage to help get them out of town, and Joe knew they would probably injure his brother further. How much further, he was afraid to imagine. Adam was already pretty bruised, and he had a nasty cut over his eye. Joe couldn’t let them take him.

 

The man walked up to him, and once again Joe wished he was tall like his brothers. When he was 15, they said he would probably be taller by 16. Growth spurts, and becoming a man, and things like that. It didn’t happen though. He didn’t even really need to shave yet.

 

The man grasped Joe’s chin, and tilted his head back. “I’m not taking a kid.”

 

Joe pulled away from him. “I’m not a kid, I’m 16,” he replied, a little hotly.

 

The man laughed and shook his head. “No way, kid.”

 

He started to turn away, but Jo ereached out and grasped his arm. “I won’t resist in any way; I’ll go quietly with you until you’re far enough away. “Please…” Instantly he regretted the ‘please’; it was a little childish.

 

“Joe, no!” Adam once again protested, but his action had the opposite effect.

 

The man said, “Very well, we’ll take the kid instead,” smirking in Adam’s direction.

 

One of the other men knocked Adam to the floor as the man grabbed Joe’s arm and pulled him closer to his brother.

 

“Anything you want to say?” he asked, and shoved Joe to his knees next to Adam. He began to tie his hands behind his back.

 

Adam looked up at him, and it was the first time Joe could remember seeing anything close to tears in his brother’s eyes. “Joe…no,” Adam whispered. “They might…”

 

Joe nodded. “I know,” he whispered back, and then the man pulled him to his feet. Joe couldn’t break his gaze away from Adam, and as the men led him towards the door, he wondered if he would ever see his brother again.

 

Outside, Joe could see the ends of shotguns and rifles pointed at him, and he closed his eyes, hoping they wouldn’t shoot. He felt the man behind him tighten his grip on his shoulder, and he grimaced. “I’m not going anywhere,” he hissed.

 

“Hold your fire!” Joe heard Sheriff Coffee yell, and he let out a sigh of relief and opened his eyes. He glanced quickly through the men standing around the bank, and noticed almost immediately his father and brother standing near the sheriff. He tried to smile slightly at them, hoping to relieve the fear that had taken over their faces, but it didn’t seem to work. He was glad at least that he had been able to see them.

 

The man pushed Joe towards the horses tethered a few yards from the bank, keeping his gun pressed against Joe’s head. Joe was lifted onto one of the horses, and he did his best to hook his feet through the stirrups. They were too long, and his feet didn’t nearly reach them. One of the men grabbed the reins, and then all of them rode away from the bank. Joe was afraid that if he turned to look back, he would either fall off the horse or burst into tears, so he stared straight ahead at the top of the horse’s head.

 

Too soon they were out of town. As they veered off the road, Joe couldn’t help but think that Hoss would have no problem following their trail. He figured by now Hoss and Ben had entered the bank and untied Adam, and hopefully had made him take care of the cut. Joe hoped there were no other serious injuries. The men had been pretty angry with him, even though he had done nothing wrong.

 

“That’s no way to treat a lady,” was what he had said when they threw Mrs. Clark to the floor.

 

The man in the red shirt had become furious, and snapped at him, “Don’t be telling me what to do!” before commanding two of his men to beat Adam while he and the last man took all the money. Joe was hoping if he did everything they told him, they might at least not beat him the same way. He figured he had a better chance than Adam.

 

As they started up a steep incline, his horse slipped; and even though it quickly caught itself, the movement was enough for Joe to lose his balance and topple onto the ground. He rolled onto his knees, gasping a little as the wind had been knocked out of him. There was the sharp sound of a gun hammer being cocked, and Joe looked up.

 

“Trying to get away?” the masked leader asked, pointing his gun at him.

 

Joe shook his head. “No, sir, the horse slipped and I fell off. I’m sorry…” He tried to sound as apologetic as he could, even though his nature fought against being polite to someone who had hurt his brother the way he had. He was trying hard to not give them a reason to kill him, but as he looked up at the man in front of him, he was afraid that he wouldn’t have to.

 

“Stand up,” the man said.

 

Joe managed to stand, rather unsteadily, as the man in red rode towards him. He looked up as he came to a stop. “Turn around,” the man said.

 

Joe slowly turned. He had hoped to remain alive longer than this. It all seemed so useless; there was so much more still that he had to do. He waited, holding his breath, as the leader commanded the others to ride ahead. It became quiet again, and then the man asked, “Why did you want to switch places with him? You knew what was going to happen, didn’t you?”

 

Joe nodded as tears pricked his eyes. “I knew. He’s my brother,” he replied quietly. The silence was deafening, and seemed to drag on forever. He almost wanted to ask him what he was waiting for.

 

“Start walking, back the way we just came. I’m sure you’ll run into someone soon.”

 

The man called out to his horse, and then the sound of hoof beats retreating could be heard.

 

Joe turned, afraid to believe what he had just heard. He saw the man riding away in the distance, and then let out a laugh of joy. He almost couldn’t believe he was still alive! He turned and started walking back down the hill, tugging against the ropes that bound his hands. About fifteen minutes later, he heard horses in front of him, and he started to run towards them. “Pa!” he yelled as he recognized the riders. “Hoss, Adam!” The dozen or so riders came to a stop, and Joe ran towards his father. “Pa!” he called out again. His father hugged him tightly and then pulled him away, looking him over to see if there were injuries, before holding him close again. Joe felt the ropes fall away, and he gladly hugged Ben in return.

 

“Are you all right?” Ben asked, finally releasing him.

 

“I’m fine now, Pa,” Joe smiled. He glanced up as he felt his brother’s hand on his arm.

 

“What happened?” Hoss asked.

 

“They let me go,” he replied.

 

“How far ahead are they?” Sheriff Coffee asked.

 

“Not far, maybe a mile or so,” Joe replied.

 

Ben looked at Adam, who nodded. “I’ll take him home, Pa.”

 

“And put something on that wound,” Ben said to him, and then he and Hoss mounted their horses again and followed after the posse.

 

Adam went back to his horse, and helped Joe into the saddle before swinging up after him. He turned back towards town. After a few minutes he said, “Don’t ever do that again. Do you know what Pa would have done if something had happened to you?”

 

Joe thought for a moment, and then replied, “What would he have done if something had happened to you?”

 

Adam sighed, and then said quietly, “They might have killed you, Joe.”

 

Joe nodded. “I know. But I couldn’t let them kill you, Adam.”

 

Adam didn’t say anything for a long time. Just as Joe was about to glance back, Adam spoke. “You’re some brother,” he said, and Joe could hear the emotion in his voice.

 

Joe settled back against him, and watched the scenery as they rode home.

 

The end