Summary:\u00a0 A WHN for \u201cA Far, Far Better Thing.\u201d\u00a0 In the quiet of a moonlit night, two brothers reflect on loyalty, loss, and the love that binds some people together.<\/p>\n
Rated:\u00a0K+ WC 1700<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Reflections on Killing His Friend <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hidden in the shadows, Hoss watched his brother.<\/strong>\u00a0 In the past ten minutes, Joe hadn\u2019t moved.\u00a0 The moonlight flooded the yard like somebody\u2019d set up a pair of torches, just lighting the edges of his hair and the tiny sliver of his face that Hoss could see from the back.\u00a0 Even with most of Joe silhouetted by the moon, though, Hoss could see the tense set of his shoulders.<\/p>\n To say something or not to say something.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t quite like what Adam read from that play by Mr. Shakespeare, but right then, it was what Hoss needed to know.\u00a0 Leave Joe alone, or go out there and be with him.\u00a0 Not that there was anything Hoss could do.\u00a0 Sharp Tongue was dead, and Joe had killed him.\u00a0 Being with his brother wasn\u2019t going to change that.<\/p>\n Just as Hoss was about to go back inside, Joe sat down on the porch step and dropped his head into his hands.\u00a0 That settled it.\u00a0 Hoss closed the door behind him.\u00a0 Moving quietly\u2014at least, quietly for him\u2014he sauntered over to Joe as though it was midday and there was nothing at all unusual about either of them being there.<\/p>\n \u201cHey,\u201d was all he said, but Joe\u2019s head snapped up like he\u2019d been caught doing something wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d\u00a0 Anybody who hadn\u2019t known Joe all his life would have thought he was being rude or nasty right then with that rough edge in his voice, but Hoss knew what was underneath.\u00a0 He always knew.\u00a0 He might not know the why of it, but he knew whether he was hearing tiredness or orneriness or something else, like grief that was too raw and deep to come out the regular way.<\/p>\n So, he settled himself on the step, close enough to reach out and touch his brother without being so close that Joe would get up and move away.\u00a0 \u201cJust wonderin\u2019 how you\u2019re doing,\u201d he said.\u00a0 Some men might have made up an excuse for being there, but that wasn\u2019t the way things went with Hoss and Joe.\u00a0 Adam would probably have eased into things by starting with some other subject and taking the long way around; even Pa did that on occasion.\u00a0 Not Hoss, though.\u00a0 It had never been his way, not with Little Joe, any more than Joe would have hidden his concern about Hoss.\u00a0 They dealt straight with each other, even about the parts of life that most men didn\u2019t talk about.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was my friend.\u201d\u00a0 Joe\u2019s voice was husky, a little bit shaky.<\/p>\n Hoss grunted to let Joe know he\u2019d heard and understood, but he didn\u2019t say anything.\u00a0 Joe was just talking at this point.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t asking for Hoss\u2019s thoughts.\u00a0 Not yet.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we were in school\u2014I never thought\u2014\u201d\u00a0 Joe broke off, turning his face from Hoss.\u00a0 Hoss waited, and finally Joe continued, \u201cI never killed a friend before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t give you a choice.\u201d\u00a0 The words seemed almost unnecessary.\u00a0 They both knew it had come down to self-defense\u2014either Sharp Tongue would kill Joe, or Joe would kill Sharp Tongue.\u00a0 One way or another, somebody wasn\u2019t going to walk away.<\/p>\n But Joe wasn\u2019t quite ready for that.\u00a0 He tried anyway, just like Hoss knew he would.\u00a0 Just like he\u2019d probably been doing from the moment the life seeped out of Sharp Tongue.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe I could have\u2014I don\u2019t know, maybe there was another way.\u00a0 I could have just wounded him or something.\u00a0 Stopped him without killing him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot likely.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss let the words sink in before he continued, \u201cRemember who you\u2019re talkin\u2019 about.\u00a0 Sharp Tongue was a mighty tough brave.\u00a0 You really think he\u2019d have given up if you just wounded him?\u201d<\/p>\n Unexpectedly, Joe gave a small snort of derision, almost like he was mocking his own suggestion.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I reckon not,\u201d he admitted.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019d have kept coming after me as long as there was breath in his body.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen there\u2019s your answer.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss kept his tone as easy as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0 The word was barely audible, but the pain came through loud and clear.<\/p>\n There was a lot more Hoss could have said.\u00a0 He could have talked about how Sharp Tongue had grown and changed since their school days.\u00a0 He could have reminded Joe how Tuck would undoubtedly have died if Joe hadn\u2019t stepped in.\u00a0 With that bad leg, Tuck could never have outrun Sharp Tongue.\u00a0 He\u2019d have been caught, and he\u2019d have been killed.\u00a0 And so Joe had taken Tuck\u2019s place, running that desperate race where only the fastest man survived.\u00a0 Lucy and her pa had called Joe a hero, and while Hoss didn\u2019t disagree, he knew his brother well enough to know that Joe didn\u2019t want to hear anything like that.\u00a0 Not with his friend\u2019s blood still staining his hands.<\/p>\n \u201cYou ever kill a friend?\u201d\u00a0 It was like Joe was trying to sound casual but something was caught in his throat.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 He almost wished that he could say\u00a0yes<\/em>.\u00a0 \u201cBut Adam had to once.\u00a0 Remember Ross Marquette?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe nodded.\u00a0 \u201cRoss\u2019d gone crazy, though.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t himself by the time it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe not,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cBut I don\u2019t recall that making much difference to Adam.\u00a0 He still had a mighty rough time of it.\u201d\u00a0 He thought briefly of suggesting that Joe talk to Adam, but he discarded that notion almost as soon as it came into his head.\u00a0 Joe knew where to find Adam if he wanted to hear about Ross.\u00a0 That wasn\u2019t what he needed right now.<\/p>\n The brothers sat without speaking for a long while.\u00a0 Then, just like they hadn\u2019t stopped talking, Joe said, \u201cI wish he\u2019d been crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n It took Hoss a minute to get at what was underneath Joe\u2019s words.\u00a0 \u201c\u2019Cause then, it wouldn\u2019t have been like he meant it?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe nodded.\u00a0 With a note in his voice that was almost like wonder, he said, \u201cHe really wanted to kill me.\u00a0 All those years, all those times I stood up for him\u2014it didn\u2019t mean anything to him.\u00a0 I was just another white man, and he was just another Indian.\u201d<\/p>\n There wasn\u2019t anything Hoss could say to that.\u00a0 The lines between one world and another that were barely discernible in childhood had gotten hard and clear when the boys became men.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t mean to defend Sharp Tongue, but he could see how it would have happened.\u00a0 Spending years among his own people, listening to the ones who spoke hatred about the white man\u2014it wasn\u2019t even close to surprising that Sharp Tongue could have turned on his boyhood friend.<\/p>\n But Joe would never see it like that.\u00a0 If his little brother had a failing, it was that he expected more than some people could deliver\u2014more strength, more character, more honor.\u00a0 He believed that his friends were upright, good people.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter how often he was proved wrong\u2014next time, he\u2019d still be found standing with the people he cared about, right up until they turned and ran away.\u00a0 His faith and loyalty were absolute, and somehow, he was always surprised when they turned out to be less than he\u2019d believed.<\/p>\n Of course, he\u2019d come by that honestly, Hoss reflected.\u00a0 Truth be told, all the Cartwrights had the same flaw.\u00a0 None of them could seem to get it through their thick skulls that other folks just weren\u2019t as apt to stand by their principles or their friends.\u00a0 As a result, all four of them had had times when they\u2019d sat here just like Joe was doing now, trying to figure out how they hadn\u2019t seen a bad end coming a mile down the road.<\/p>\n Joe ran his hand through his hair.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s getting cold,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI guess we should go in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cProbably ought to be gettin\u2019 to bed,\u201d Hoss said, but neither of them moved.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss\u2014\u201d\u00a0 Joe\u2019s voice broke, and Hoss slid over next to him, wrapping his strong arm around his brother\u2019s shoulders.\u00a0 As Joe begin to shake, Hoss felt the kind of pain that a man can only know when someone he truly loves is hurting so deep that he aches for not being able to make it better.<\/p>\n \u201cI know,\u201d he whispered as he drew Joe closer, letting the young man muffle his sobs against his big brother\u2019s chest.\u00a0 \u201cI know.\u201d\u00a0 He stroked Joe\u2019s curls, his own helplessness squeezing his heart even harder than Joe was clutching his arm.\u00a0 He could feel his own tears welling up.<\/p>\n Come sunrise, the two would face the day just like normal.\u00a0 No mention would be made of the night.\u00a0 At some point, Hoss would likely catch Pa watching Joe for signs of upset about what had happened, and he would nod quietly to let Pa know that everything was all right, that they\u2019d handled it.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the first time, and it wouldn\u2019t be the last.\u00a0 It was just the way life was sometimes.<\/p>\n But that was small comfort now, as the brothers sat together on the porch steps, bathed in moonlight and grief.\u00a0 The Bible promised that joy would come in the morning, but it also said that first, weeping would last for a night.\u00a0 So Hoss held his brother close as they mourned for lost friends and desperate acts and choices that weren\u2019t choices at all.\u00a0 For boys who crossed bridges between worlds, only to turn into men who forgot that they once knew how not to hate.\u00a0 For the love that some people stood firm on and others never understood, even when it was running right in front of them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Disclaimer:\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary:\u00a0 A WHN for \u201cA Far, Far Better Thing.\u201d\u00a0 In the quiet of a moonlit night, two brothers reflect on loyalty, loss, and the love that binds some people together. \u00a0<\/p>\n Rated:\u00a0K+ WC 1700<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":4581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[23,1092,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-hoss-joe","category-whn","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-1092-id","wpcat-13-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Calamity-on-the-Comstock-2.jpg?fit=500%2C379&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}