Brotherly Love

The cold of the night air stung his lungs as his body panted,

the adrenaline now slowing in his veins. He looked up, scowling at the sky for it being such a late hour. Jackson didn't intend to stay out that long, but the kid had proved to give quite the fight. He timidly touched his eye, feeling the inflammation already. He would certainly have a black eye tomorrow.

'What would Ma think? What would Pa do?' the thoughts crossed his mind with a streak of worry. But he didn't care. He was being the role he was born to be, the big brother. And no one, NO ONE messes with his sister.

Hearing the groans behind him, he set his jaw as anger once again flooded his entire being. He ignored the painful scuffling his opponent did behind him, walking away for home. Dang it, Tom's pa would have it in for him. He could just see the door on their cabin bowing from the force of the pounding that would beat upon the outside tomorrow morning. Maybe even in the middle of the night. Depends on how angry Tom's pa would get. And then there would be the lecture from his own father, the trip behind the woodshed, and the sound of his father's belt being stripped off as he faced the wooden wall.

Hopping over the fence that lines the outskirts of the sheep pen, he determined that he didn't give a dang. Give him a whipping! He settled the matter himself anyway. Tom wouldn't be doing that anymore.

Taking long strides across the field, Jack passed through the sheep, their bleating a soothing salve to his pricked nerves. "Hey, Milly. Snoozy, come on, you stay over here. Snaffle, Bert, quit fighting!" he whispered.

The sheep all gathered around him, the presence of their master being the classic sign of there being food in the nearest future. "No no, we're not going out. It's too late."

Jack reached the gate, swinging it open just enough to squeeze his thin hips through. "Ssshhhhhhhh!" He hissed furiously at the sheep. The gate shut with a clink, and Jack trudged up the little hill to the barn.

The lantern and matches were still under the horse blanket just as he had placed it earlier. Striking a match, he lit the wick and a flame immediately flooded the area he was in. The light made the horses' eyes shine a golden eerie luminance as they turned their heads to him, reminding Jack of the eyes in the darkness of the woods he sometimes saw. He shivered, casting the thought from his head. The cows gave a lazy moo, their tails flopping side to side in anticipation. The horses gave a nicker.

"It's too late to eat, folks," Jack chuckled, giving them a pat on their muzzles as he walked past them.

He walked over to the corner Pa had his equipment, and bent down to the plow's shiny blade. Holding the light closer to the blade, he squinted as it showed his reflection. "Aw dang it," he muttered, moving his long brown bangs from his eyes to reveal a puffy red eye, swollen almost completely shut. "Ma's not gonna like this."

Jack shook his hair, throwing the dirt that caked it in all directions. He grabbed a work cloth that Pa used to wipe his hands with after milking, dunking it into the water trough and wringing it out. He wiped the dirt off his face and the sweat from his neck, closing his eyes at the feel of the cool water. Tossing the rag over the plow handle, he pulled up the collar of his white cotton shirt enough to dry his face. The cat began curling around his bare feet, purring and scratching up at his pant legs for attention. Jack brought a hand down, scooping her up into his arms. "Not like it's anything new though, huh Tabitha?" Lantern in one hand, cat in the other, Jack left the barn, pushing the door shut with his foot.

The stars were brilliantly shining tonight. Not a cloud traced the sky, and the trees made not a sound. A bright, round, pale moon looked down at the teenager, it's beams providing enough light for Jack to maneuver around the yard. He passed Ma's garden, heading around to the back of the house where his window was. Letting the cat down, he blew out the light and pulled the lantern handle up to his elbow, grabbing the limb of the tree that grew behind the house. Hoisting himself up with ease, he climbed until he reached the second floor of the house, the attic, which served as he and his sister's bedroom. He lightly rapped his knuckles on the window.

Almost immediately, a candle flickered on, his sister's face coming into view at the window. "Pippa!" he whispered against the window, his breath making fog on the pane.

She set the candle down, reaching to push the window up. "Jack, where were you? You're gonna get in trouble if Pa catches you again!"

The brown eyed boy leapt through the window, planting his feet on the wooden floor. He chuckled, "Relax, little lady. I had to take care of some business."

"This isn't about Tom earlier, is it?"

Jack froze at his sister's brilliance. Calmly untying his leather cape, he walked right past her. "Maybe."

He heard her sigh as she tugged on his this leather vest. "Jack, why? It wasn't a big deal. I got over it."

Jack whipped around, brown meeting brown. "Nobody treats my sister like that. NObody."

Pippa's eyes darted back and forth at his, a form of shock making her hold her breath. Jack slowly exhaled, realizing how harsh he reacted. "I'm sorry. Tom just really set me off."

Pippa casped as the light caught the eye under his bangs. "Your eye!"

Jack's hand flew to it in reaction. "Yeah, well. If you think this is bad, you should see the other guy."

"That's not funny, Jack," she said firmly, pulling his hand down. "You better have a good explanation for Ma in the morning."

Jack straightened and moved to his side of the room. Pa had set up a curtain to divide the room for the siblings' privacy. He had built the house before Pippa came along, not counting on the fact that he might need more than one bedroom. Consequently, Jack had a little girl invade his personal space. But he didn't mind one bit... well, most of the time anyway. Jack tossed his winter cape to the floor, plopping on the straw mattress. "Yeah well, I don't think there's any gettin' by this one easily."

Pippa pulled the curtain over a little more. "I wasn't meaning that you should lie, Jack. I thought you stopped that."

A grin sketched across his face. "Mostly. There's a couple of white ones thrown in here and there."

Pippa shook her head, pressing down her white nightgown. "You're trouble, Jack."

He turned to look at his little sister. She stood there as cute as a button, her brown hair messy from having been asleep a few hours earlier, her cotton nightgown reaching her toes, and her big brown eyes highlighted by the candle she held. She was the spittin' image of himself, only in the female version.

A loud pounding on wood caused them both to jump, Jack startled from the bed. They stood there, peering for any indication of what made the noise, the truth suddenly hitting Jack. His palm pressed against his forehead. Here it comes.

"Jack?" Pippa said, her voice worried and edged with fear. "It's not an attack is it?"

Jack shook his head, making his way towards the ladder. "No, Pippa. Stay here." She watched as his head disappeared down the hole to the rest of the house.

Jack landed right in front of Ma, her hands flailing as she stopped herself just short of running into him. "Sorry, Ma!" He apologized.

His Pa's voice floated through the cabin as the door squeaked open. "Mr. Butler. What in tar nation are you doin' poundin' on my door at this late hour?"

Jack looked from over his shoulder back to Ma, worry suddenly building in his chest. Her eye caught his and she grabbed his shoulders. "Jackson Overland, I have a good mind to whoop you right now, even though I don't know what you did yet." Her white sleeping cap bobbed as she shook her head, brushing past him.

Jack inwardly groaned, reluctantly tugging himself around to the door where both his parents stood in their nightdresses. "I would like to speak with yer boy, Bennet," he heard the voice rasp from the other side of the door.

"What do ya need Jack for?" Pa asked. "He's asleep upstairs, and you got me right here for what ya need."

"Oh, he's asleep eh? That's what he wants you to think! Onnacounta he took a trip over to my place and beat up my boy!" Ma's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped.

"Beat ol' Tom up, huh? Well, I suppose he needs to get down here and do some explainin'."

"I'm right here, Pa," Jack ventured, raising his hand behind them. His parents turned to face him, disappointment heavily hitting their faces as they took in his appearance. His clothes were messy, his brown hair tousled, and his eye red and fat. All a dead giveaway. There wasn't even a point in trying to cover it up.

"What did ye do, boy?" Pa asked in a quiet, stunned voice.

Jack felt the thick spit slowly make its way down his throat. "Um... Well... Me and Tom got in a fight."

His Pa crossed his arms, speculation in his now flaming eyes. "You 'got in a fight'? Son, you don't just get into fights in the middle of the night."

"He was being a jackass earlier!" Jack retorted.

"That is no excuse to go beating up on people," Ma was just as angry as the men. "What happened?"

Mr. Butler crossed his thick, muscular arms, making sweat bead on Jack's forehead. He thought quickly, not wanting Pippa involved as much as he could prevent it. "Earlier he.. Threw a rock at me after school. I would've given it to him right there, but then Teacher came out and broke us up. Tom told me to meet him at his place tonight when everyone was in bed, and I took him up on his offer." He inwardly congratulated himself. The lie was perfectly reasonable.

Pa rubbed his face in frustration. "Jackson, you're the jackass. Apologize to Mr. Butler!"

Jack straightened, sticking his chest out in a personal act of defiance. "I'm sorry, Mr. Butler. But only 'cause my Ma and Pa want me to be." He watched the man's jaw tighten as he gaped in astonishment, Jack's Ma suddenly grabbing the teen by the ear.

"You, Jackson Overland, are in so much trouble!" She dragged him, whining and groaning in pain, into the house, plopping him right down on a hard wooden chair at the table.

"I apologize, Mr. Butler, for my son. He was just bein' a boy and clownin' around. And I'm sure Tommy-boy has hardly any more of an excuse than that," he heard his Pa's voice say.

"Alright, Mr. Bennet. But I want that boy of yours at my place tomorrow to chop the wood Tom was going to do. We need firewood for the winter, and with Tom's busted arm, he can't do nothin' but lie there still the Doc said."

'Busted arm?' Jack thought. 'Whoa.'

"He'll come. I need him to take the sheep out to the west paddock, and then he'll be over directly."

"Much obliged, Bennet. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Hal."

They heard the door click shut. Jack looked up to his ma and cringed. The look on her face was enough to send the boogeyman out from under the bed and head for the hills. "Jackson, I'm very disappointed in you."

His head bowed as shame crept into his heart. "I'm so sorry, Ma. But I had to do it."

"All for a petty strap of pride," Pa said, coming into the kitchen.

Tears pricked the boys eyes as he gracefully took the blows. "I know, Pa. That was wrong of me, and I shouldn't have done it."

Pa slumped into his chair at the head of the table. His greying hair curled at the base of his neck, his beard full and thick for warmth during the winter. He spread a worn hand out, thick and calloused by the farm work he did his whole life. The crows feet at his eyes never smoothed out these days, adding to the leather exterior his face now had, tanned from the sun. "Why, Jack?.. Why do you have to get yerself into so much trouble?"

Jack slowly blinked, moving the edge of his shirt material inbetween his fingers in nervous habit. "I had good reason for what I was doin', Pa."

The older man sighed, his own brown eyes set on Jack's as he pondered the boy. "I believe ya, Jack."

Jack's head snapped up, surprised at his Pa's words. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again in shock, finding he had nothing to reply.

Pa shifted in his chair. "I don't understand you, but I believe you. You're a good young man, and a hard worker."

Jack felt the tears pool at the brim of his lids, blinking quickly to push them back. His Pa just commented on him being a man, and he was going to cry? Pft, what a baby.

"Tomorrow though," Pa stood up, leaning his hip against the table's edge. "I'll meet you at daybreak at the back of the woodshed. Just because you're forgiven doesn't mean ya didn't do nothin' wrong."

Jack hung his head again, biting his lip.

"And after that, you got a long hard day ahead of ya. So, ya best get to sleep." The man walked past Jack, ruffling his hair affectionately as he walked by.

Jack grinned, despite the promise of the punishment he had in store for him. But he swallowed his pride and set his chin up. He did it for his sister, for Pippa. And he was going to take the heat with dignity.

Ma walked over to her boy and put her hand on his cheek. She looked down into his face a moment, most likely examining his swollen eye. Shaking her head, a smile cracked at the corners of her mouth and she leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Turn down the oil lamp on your way to bed."

"Goodnight, Ma," Jack called after her when she left. He sighed softly, leaning his head back against the chair. Mission accomplished. Remembering Pippa probably still awake upstairs, he jumped up, blew out the light, and crawled up the ladder to the loft. He found her laying face down into her pillow, her shoulders shaking. "Pippa!"

He rushed to her side, placing his hands tenderly on her shoulders, shaking slightly. "Pippa? Hey... What's the matter?"

He heard her sniff in the pillow before she lifted her head, immediately covering her face with her hands. "Hey.." His voiced cracked, softened at her sobbing. He gently took her hands into his, poking his head down into her face to get her to look at him.

"Jack," she sobbed, giving him one glance before retreating into his shirt.

A worried frown furrowed Jack's face as he wrapped his arms around her tiny frame. "Pippa, tell me now. You're scaring me." She wiped her face again, mumbling into his shirt. Jack rolled his eyes, "I can't hear you."

She sniffed again, finally breaking away from him to face him. "Jack, you-.. You're in trouble now, because of me."

Jack's eyes widened. "No! No no no, Pippa, don't blame yourself."

She clenched her fists together. "No! It's true!"

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "I was protecting you. I'm your brother, it's my job. I hold no regrets about it."

"But Tom probably lied about what you did to him, and there is no way he would ever tell the whole truth. And now you're in big trouble."

Jack waved his arms in the air. "That's his problem! Now me, I have a clear conscience. I had good reason for beating him up." He smirked, everything that he did to the boy his age replaying in his mind. "Besides, he probably couldn't lie about what I did to him. He had the proof of it."

Pippa's eyes widened. "... Was it that bad?"

Fighting back the evil chuckle he wanted to utter, he only nodded. "Yup."

She whistled through her teeth. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

Jack scooped her closer to him. "I would never do anything to you remotely close to what I did to him."

Pippa sighed. "But he only pulled my hair and called me a few names."

"He got everything he deserved," Jack said with finality.

The wind whistled past the window, making the cabin creak and snap in places. Pippa's breath blew softly through Jack's shirt, steady and warm. He shivered as his hair bristled at the cold that started to nip around them. His eyes slowly closed as the silence filled their hearing.

"I made him do it, you know.."

Jack snapped awake, looking down at Pippa. "Hm? What, I didn't hear that." She hesitated, making him frown in confusion and flap his arms to nudge her. "Come on, bugger, tell me."

"I made Tom pull my hair and call me names."

Jack blinked in surprise. "Pippa... you beat all. Don't blame yourself about any of this. It isn't your fault."

She frowned. "But it is!"

"How so?" He asked, a smirk adorning his face.

She sighed sharply. "Tom was standing there talking to Billy and Toby, and I made a snowball and threw it right at his face. He got mad, but then kind of ignored it. And so when we had lunch, I switched our lunches. Again, he didn't notice much difference. So, I found a snake under a rock and put it in the outhouse right before he went in. He blew up at that point, which is when you walked over to see him yelling and pulling my hair."

Jack's face fell emotionless, his eyes wide and shocked.

Pippa's face fell in shame. "I was sick of him being a bully and took it as an opportunity to tell him off." She slowly looked up at him, fear evident in her eyes. But to her surprise, Jack burst out laughing.

"Pippa! You're a regular old trickster!" He heehawed as loud as he dared, planting his face into her pillow to muffle his laughter at one point to prevent waking his parents. When he was through, he slowly sighed, rolling over onto his back and holding out his arm. Pippa laid down next to him. "Oh Pippa... I have taught you well."

She giggled, nuzzling into his side. It wasn't too long before he heard her quiet snores occupy her steady breathing. Jack smiled, turning his face toward the window. The moon was big and bright in the dark sky, it's craters making out a face that smiled down on him. He chuckled softly, closing his eyes. He certainly had a lot going on tomorrow: a whipping behind the woodshed, moving the sheep, chopping the wood, helping Pa tend to the farm, and squeezing in time to goof around.

His eyes suddenly shot open, the reality dawning on him and fear slowly creeping up his spine in tingles of dread.

He was getting a whipping in the morning.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*G*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Being an older sister, I take everything you do to my siblings personal. I spotted this plot bunny. So, I grabbed a carrot and caught it. And here ya go, folks. I'm debating whether or not to continue. Let me know how ya like it, and we'll see.

Btw, I'm not sure what Jack's sister's name is. So I went with "Pippa" because of what wiki said about it. And as usual (*sob*) I don't own anything here.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review? :)