Second Draft Chapter 3

“Wake up Jon! Wake up!” I lay still and pretended not to hear. Not only was Abel being too loud, his voice was way too cheerful for this time of the morning. What time was it anyway?

“Wake up, wake up, wake up!” He shook my body.

“Go away,” I grumbled. My hand made a lazy backwards swing in his general direction.

“Dad said I wasn’t supposed to let you sleep late.”

At this point I knew it was useless. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. Abel drew back the curtains. The sunlight streamed in through the windows. It was morning already.

I was tired, but even still, summer mornings are never altogether unpleasant. Once I had woken up, I realized that today was another free day to fill up anyway I wanted. Except…

“Don’t forget I’m coming with you today,” Abel chirped.

I got out of bed and walked to the window. It was too early in the morning to deal with Abel. I stood there for a minute in my pajamas and welcomed the new day. Then I walked over to the closet up to get some fresh clothes.

“I’m still coming with you, right?” There was a slight desperation in Abel’s voice. He feared that if I didn’t confirmation it, it would slip away from him.

Because it was early in the morning, and because I was still cranky from sleep, I had the urge to play on Abel’s fear. In the end I would have to take him, but I could scare him first. Since my father had already left for the office, there would be no recourse left for Abel other than to beg and plead with me. And then in the end, when I finally relented and agreed to take Abel, I would feel better about it because I made him suffer first. And maybe he would even enjoy his day out more because he had to earn it.

But I suppressed this urge. I wasn’t angry at Abel. I understood that he wanted to get out of this house. I would have done the same thing if I were his age. I was upset that I was the one who had to take care of him, but that wasn’t Abel’s fault. “Yeah, you’re coming with me,” I said. “It’s still early yet. Go down and tell the cook to get some breakfast ready.” I fumbled around for some new clothes, and then went downstairs to find the water basin to wash my face with.

After breakfast, we set out. It usually took me about an hour to get into town, but with Abel’s slow, meandering walk it took double that time. I went by David’s house first, and then Simon’s. Neither of them were in. I eventually found them near the town center.

Simon was less than pleased to see Abel. “What is he doing here?” Simon demanded.

I figured the best thing to do was dodge the question. I tried to act as if Abel hanging out with us was the most natural thing in the world. “He’s coming with us today,” I answered casually.

“He can’t keep up with us,” Simon protested.

This was true in one sense, but it was also unfair in another sense, because we hadn’t even decided what we were going to do yet. For instance if we ended up just sitting down and fishing by the river, like we sometimes did, then Abel wouldn’t have to keep up anything.

I shrugged my shoulders. “What do you want me to do Simon? My Dad says I have to take him with me today.”

“It’s okay,” David put in. “We can go swimming in the river. He can do that with us.”

“I don’t want to go swimming,” Abel said in a whiny voice.

“Will you shut up?” I yelled at him. “You’ll do whatever we decide.”

But David didn’t seem to mind Abel’s finickiness. He just paused for a moment and looked off into space while he tried to think of another suggestion. “Well…OK,” he mumbled, and then seemed to strike upon a new thought. “I suppose he could stay at my house while we go swimming. My mom could watch him while we’re out. He could even help her with the cleaning.”

Abel’s voice now wailed worse than before. “I don’t want to help with the cleaning.”

“How about this then,” Simon cut in. He stopped and licked his lips before continuing. He seemed slightly hesitant, as if he knew what he was going to propose might be unpopular. And I had a feeling I was would be the one who wouldn’t like it. “David and I can go off, and you can stay here with your brother, and just meet up with us some other day.”

That bastard! I opened my mouth to yell at Simon, but as I turned to look him full in the face I saw someone coming down the street. “Hey, is that Emma?” I asked.

Simon and David turned to look. “I think it is,” David responded.

Emma was a girl in our class. She hadn’t seen us yet, but she was walking by herself and headed in our direction.

The wheels in my head began turning. Emma was a girl. And girls liked taking care of little kids, right? Perhaps this was the answer to everything.

“I’ve got an idea,” I announced to David and Simon. I turned to Abel. “How would you like to play with Emma this afternoon?”

“I don’t want to play with girls,” Abel said.

I was loosing my patience with Abel fast, but David stepped in before I could yell at him. “Emma’s not like the girls your age Abel,” he said soothingly. “She’s like an older sister for you. Didn’t you ever wonder what it was like to have an older sister?”

Abel shook his head no, but stayed quiet as he contemplated David’s words. David could be really good with Abel sometimes.

“Yeah, she can show you about dolls, and dresses…” Simon began.

“Damn it Simon, you’re not helping,” I snapped. I turned on Abel next. “You will go where I tell you to go and be quiet about it! If you blow this thing with Emma, I’ll…I’ll…I’ll leave you here all alone for the rest of the day. And then I’ll go home without you.” This seemed to frighten Abel into silence.

Emma had reached us by now. Once she saw usm she broke into a huge grin and waved her hand. She bounced over to us. “Jon, David, Simon, how are you guys doing?”

“Good,” I answered. “What are you up to Emma?”

“Me? Oh, nothing much. Just out for a walk.”

“Not doing anything at all?”

“No. Why?” She looked eagerly at me, almost as if she were expecting some sort of invitation.

“How would you like to take care of my little brother Abel for a while?”

Her face fell. “What?”

“Just for the afternoon. He’s a real cute kid. You could have all sorts of fun playing with him.”

She thought for a moment, and then her face lit up again. Maybe I had managed to say the right thing. “Sure…. If you pay me.”

“Pay you?”

“Yeah. I’m not going to baby sit for you unless you pay me.”

“But look at what a cute kid he is. Just think of all the fun you could have with him.”

“Well Jon, if he’s so much fun, why don’t you take him with you?”

“He slows us down. Besides he’d be much happier doing girl stuff with you.” Abel must still have been scared from the warning I gave him earlier, because he did not object to this.

Emma knitted her brows and thought for a moment. “Two units an hour,” she declared at last.

“I’m not going to pay you,” I said.

“Then I’m not going to take him Jon. What are you guys doing that is so important anyway?”

“Nothing,” I responded automatically.

Emma smiled triumphantly. “Well, there you go then. There’s no reason you can’t watch him yourself.”

Oh, everyone was having fun with that joke now. Emma and my father must meet at nights and plan these things out. It was a figure of speech and they both knew it. “You know what I mean,” I said irritably. “I mean we don’t have any plans yet. I didn’t mean we’re really doing nothing.”

“Really?” Emma said playfully, as if she enjoyed seeing me squirm like this. “What sort of things do you usually do?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to say “nothing special”, but I checked myself. “All sorts of things.” Emma responded to this by simply raising her eyebrows. “I can’t talk about it in front of Abel,” I sputtered. “We do all sorts of dangerous things.”

Abel hopped up and down. “I want to know. Tell me. Why won’t you tell me?”

This comment sparked something in Simon. “Hey, that reminds me Jon, is it true what I’ve been hearing about you?”

Emma seized on this. “What have people been saying about you Jon?” she asked.

I looked at David. “Oh, yeah I mentioned to Simon about the other day. I hope that’s all right.” He had an apologetic look on his face, but I was not upset. I wanted my heroics to be talked about.

I turned back to Emma and Simon. “I’ve been busy,” I answered proudly. I wanted to say more, but I didn’t trust Abel with too much information. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut, even if he wanted to. Sooner or later he was bound to let something slip in front of my father.

“What did you do?” Emma sounded irritated at being kept in the dark. I decided to use this as leverage.

“I can’t say in front of Abel. But I’ll tell you if you agree to watch him.”

Emma simply rolled her eyes at this offer. She turned to Simon instead. “What did he do?” she demanded.

“He stole a Police man’s hat,” Simon blurted out.

“Simon you idiot!” I took a step towards him.

David quickly inserted himself in between us. “Easy Jon,” he said, gently pushing me back.

I allowed David to stop me, but I was still furious at Simon. I couldn’t believe his nerve. Had I not made it perfectly obvious I didn’t want Abel to know? “Are you brain dead? He’s going to tell my Dad now.” I pointed to Abel with my finger.

“No I won’t. No I won’t.”

Emma laughed. She was very pleased at the ease with which she had broken our ranks. “So that’s why you want me to watch your little brother? So you can steal hats off the heads of the police?”

“We do different things everyday,” I said defensively. I was beginning to be sorry I had ever asked Emma. She had so quickly turned the situation to her own advantage.

Emma gave me a mischievous smile that made me uncomfortable. “O-kay,” she said, drawing out the word, “If you’re so brave Jon, why don’t you hit the policeman in the back of the head,” she stopped to scoop up a stone from the ground “with this stone here.” She pointed with her left hand to indicate a policeman on the far side of the street. With her right hand she tossed the stone up in the air and then caught it. “If you can do that, I’ll take care of your little brother for the afternoon while you boys go off and have your adventures.”

It was an impossible request, and I saw that as an easy out. “I can’t hit him from here.”

“Then get closer,” she said, still tossing the stone up and down.

David must have sensed I was slightly tempted, because he spoke up in a bit of a panic. “Emma, don’t be ridiculous. Why in the world would he nail a policeman in the back of the head with that stone? That policeman didn’t do anything to us.”

“I just want to test his bravery,” she said. “I want to see if it’s true.”

“He can show you the hat,” David said.

“That hat doesn’t mean anything,” Emma responded. “For all I know the policeman gave it to him.”

“Emma don’t tempt him like that, you’re going to get us all in trouble.” David was practically shouting now. Emma just looked at me. She didn’t even need to say anything. Her eyes gave the challenge.

I stepped forward. As she threw the rock up, I snatched it in mid air. I could hear David yelling. “Jon, no!”

I started walking towards the policeman. I wasn’t sure if I was going to actually throw the rock or not. I figured I would make up my mind as I was walking over there.

As I started walking, I could hear movement behind me. David was running after me, but it was Emma’s hand that sprang out and grabbed my wrist. “That’s enough Jon,” she said. “I just wanted to see if you actually had the guts to do it.” I stopped walking and dropped the rock. I could hear David draw in a deep breath. Simon’s face showed that he had been slightly worried. Even Emma seemed more at ease now that I had let the rock go. “I have to admit,” she continued, “I didn’t think you would actually do it. I’m impressed Jon.”

There was a slight pause during which I think everyone expected me to say something. Maybe give a short inspirational speech about my bravery, or something like that. But my mind was swimming and I was trying to figure out what had just happened. Was I really going to throw the rock? Did I have that in me?

Emma spoke, once she realized I wasn’t going to make a reply. “Well, fair is fair I suppose. I’ll watch your little brother for the afternoon then.” There was a slight air of defeat, or maybe just resignation in her voice. “But this is for today only,” she added quickly.

She stretched her hand out to Abel and as I looked over at Abel I noticed the new way he was looking up at me. There was a look of awe on his face. And pride I think.

This seemed like a perfect time to remind him about the importance of secrecy. If he was ever in a mood to listen to what I had to say, it was now. “Remember,” I said in my best authoritive voice. “Don’t tell Dad about anything that happened today.”

“I won’t!” he exclaimed. “Really Jon I won’t tell him anything.” He was desperate now to gain my trust and approval. I could tell he meant it, but it wasn’t his good intentions I doubted. He just couldn’t keep a secret even when he wanted to.

Emma bent down so that she was eye-level with him. “What did you say your name was?”

“Abel.” He had lost all shyness around Emma. [Add shyness earlier?] He kept his back straight and looked right into her eyes.

“Abel, how would you like to spend the afternoon with me?”

Abel gave one more look in my direction to see if this was what I really wanted. Yes, yes, for heaven’s sake go with her. I motioned with my hands for him to go with Emma. He followed my directions unquestioningly.

As Emma started to lead Abel away, she looked back at us and added, “Remember this is for today only. And next time, why don’t you invite me along on one of your adventures?” We agreed to meet again at 4 in the same place at the end of the day. And then Emma and Abel left.

And so, as easily as that, the problem of Abel was solved, and we were free to do whatever we wanted for the rest of the day. The complete freedom possibility stretched out before us.

In the end we ended up doing nothing. We argued for a while about what we wanted to do. We couldn’t decide on anything. I had a bunch of good ideas but Simon didn’t want to do any of them. Even simple things like swimming in the river he objected to in the strongest of terms. “That’s a stupid idea Jon. It’s almost fall now. It’s getting too cold to go swimming in the river. Besides, I don’t feel like getting wet today.”

And then he proposed a bunch of stupid ideas that I immediately shot down. Eventually it was lunchtime, and we were hot and cranky from arguing in the sun in the middle of the street all day. We were also very hungry, but David and Simon didn’t have any money on them to buy lunch. So we went back to David’s house where his mom made us sandwiches. Then we just ended up down in David’s room talking.

With summer vacation quickly drawing to a close, I thought it was criminal to waste a day like this. We had to be sure the same thing didn’t happen tomorrow. “What are we going to do tomorrow?” I asked.

“Tomorrow?” David paused as if mentally checking something, and then replied, “Jon, tomorrow’s Sunday. We’ll be in church all day.”

“Is it?” It was easy to lose track of the days during summer vacation, but I tried to count on my fingers the number of days since I had last been in church. Let’s see…it was Monday when we went hiking. The next day when Simon, David, and I went fishing was Tuesday. And then Wednesday and Thursday we went swimming. That means yesterday when I had stolen the hat was Friday, and tomorrow is… “Sunday,” I said aloud. The weeks just fly by. Tomorrow I had to sit through church all over again. “Damn it.”

David flinched slightly. “Jon, watch your language. You can’t swear when you’re talking about church.” Simon nodded in agreement. Of course both of them swore just as much as me, and I pointed this out. “It’s worse when you’re talking about church,” David maintained firmly.

I tried to justify my position. “I’m not mad at God or at Church. I don’t mind church by itself. I have no problem if other people go. I’m just upset that I have to go. So it doesn’t count because I wasn’t swearing at the church, I was swearing at the idea of going to church.”

“Jon, that’s the same thing as swearing at the church.” David’s voice was getting annoyed.

“Church isn’t so bad,” Simon said. “It’s only in the morning, and besides it’s a chance to see everyone.”

Typical Simon, always thinking only of himself. He didn’t even stop to think that his situation was different from mine. “You guys get to see everyone else,” I said, laying emphasis on the “you guys” part. “No one else goes to the same church as me.”

“Your church is much better than ours,” Simon said. “Our church is left over from before the Restoration. Your church is clean and brand new.”

“Were you listening to what I just said? I don’t care about the building. No one I know goes there.”

“Rosa does,” David volunteered.

“Yeah, there you go. Rosa goes to your church,” Simon said. “She’s the most beautiful girl in the whole school. I would love to be able to sit and watch her all morning.”

“You be my guest then. You stare at her all morning, and you see how friendly she is.”

“You’re just shy Jon.” Simon said.

“Well how come I never see you talking to her then,” I said.

“I’ve got my eye on someone else,” Simon said.

I waited for him to elaborate, but then I realized he intended to leave the mystery hanging. “Well, who is it?” I asked impatiently.

Simon didn’t answer, but he gave a quick look over to David, and I realized that the two of them had some sort of confidence I was not in on. Simon must have confided to David long ago which girl he liked, and I had been left out of the loop.

It’s amazing how the feeling of being left out plays on your mind. A couple minutes before, I could not have cared less who Simon liked. I wouldn’t have listened even if he told me. Now, suddenly the fact that the two of them both knew, and I didn’t, drove me crazy. “Come on Simon, just tell me who it is.” When Simon still didn’t respond, I looked appealingly at David, but I knew David well enough to know he would never betray a friend’s secret.

“Do you really want to know Jon?” Simon asked. “If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone else.”

“Of course I won’t,” I said irritated. That last part was such an ancient and well known piece of the school yard code that I felt Simon was patronizing me just by mentioning it.

“I like Leda.”

“Leda!” I hadn’t been expecting that. Sure, she was pretty enough, but… “Isn’t she going out with Joshua?”

“No, they’re just good friends.”

“But they’re always together.”

“That’s because they’re good friends.” Simon’s voice rose with annoyance as he repeated himself.

“Yeah, but…” But of all the girls in school, why fall for someone who was so attached to another guy, even if they were only good friends? But I wasn’t quite sure how to phrase this last part without starting a fight, so I opened my mouth, gaped like a fish for a few seconds, and then looked appealingly at David to see if David might be thinking the same thing I was. David’s face was flat and unemotional, and gave no signs of sharing my objection, so I just closed my mouth and dropped it.

But Simon could see my confusions, so he continued. “When you think about it, why in the world would she be going out with Joshua anyway? I mean he’s not good looking. He’s not strong. He’s got absolutely no athletic skills. Really there’s nothing about him at all which would attract a beautiful girl like Leda to him. They’re just good friends because they’ve been neighbors ever since they were little kids. That’s all.”

He did seem to make a good point. But enough about Simon. It was time to get the conversation back to me. “I don’t think I’d mind church quite as much if I could go to the same church as you guys,” I said. “But there is absolutely no one to talk to at my church.”

David made one last attempt to cheer me up. “Flash goes to your church, doesn’t he? That must be exciting.”

“Exciting? How do you figure that? Flash is the most boring person imaginable.”

“But at least you know him Jon. I’ve never even seen him. We’ve all heard the restorations stories about him ever since we were born, but I’ve never seen him once. And you’re good friends with him.”

“He’s my dad’s friend.” David just shrugged his shoulders as if the distinction was unimportant, so I pressed the point further. “You don’t hang out with your dad’s friends, do you? It’s the same thing.”

David mumbled some sort of acquiescence to my point, and then let the point drop.

We talked about pointless things for the rest of the afternoon. And then it was four and it was time for me to get Abel back from Emma. I had to leave at four because of the long walk home. David and Simon both had another couple hours before they had to worry about being back for dinner. Just as I was leaving, Simon and David were getting ready to go swimming in the river. Simon seemed to have forgotten his earlier objections to swimming in the river, and the two of them seemed excited to be actually doing something after we had sat around all day. I cursed Simon under my breath as I left the house.

I met up with Abel, and thanked Emma. My conscious was beginning to catch up with me, and I now felt slightly guilty about leaving her with my little brother all afternoon, but she didn’t seem to mind too much. “Oh, it was no problem really,” she said. “We had a good time together, didn’t we Abel?” Abel nodded vigorously in response to this. “Just don’t stick me babysitting every time Jon,” she added. “Next time I want to come out with you guys. What did you guys do this time anyway?”

“Um, nothing I want to talk about in front of Abel,” I answered.

She looked at me intently for a minute. “You didn’t do anything, did you?” Smart girl that Emma. When I didn’t answer, she just yelled out, “I knew it. I knew you guys weren’t going to do anything this afternoon. That’s what you get for ditching me with the little kid. You should have let me come with you. Then you would have had some fun.” She didn’t seem upset, just pleased with herself for guessing correctly.

I think I would have preferred it if Emma had been angry. Her gloating about it was almost unbearable. She was so happy when she found out we had wasted the afternoon. She began talking about all the fun things she and Abel had been doing together, but I cut her off and said that we needed to start heading back or my father was going to be furious.

This also didn’t faze her too much. She didn’t react to being interrupted, and just said, “Okay, well I’ll see you at school on Monday, right Jon?”

Ah, don’t remind me Emma. I mumbled something in reply, trying to avoid the subject of school, and then Abel and I headed home.

Abel didn’t talk much about what he and Emma had done that afternoon. Which was just as well, because I didn’t want to hear it. If Abel and Emma really did manage to have an exciting afternoon while Simon, David and I sat bickering in David’s room, then I didn’t want to know about it.

I did try and impress upon Abel the importance of keeping his mouth shut about the day’s events. “Don’t say anything to Dad about how I almost threw the rock at the policeman,” I said. “And whatever you do, don’t tell Dad about how I stole the policeman’s hat. And,” I added with a certain amount of weight, “this is very important: don’t tell Dad we left you with Emma all day.” I wanted to give special emphasis to this last point because I figured it was the one he was most likely to mess up.

Abel had a confused look on his face. “What do I say when Dad asks what I did today?”

“You can tell him about today. Just don’t tell him about any of those things I told you not to.”

“But then I won’t have anything to say.” There was something about Abel’s voice. It was almost like a perpetual whine.

He did have a point though. If he didn’t talk about the time he spent with Emma, he wouldn’t have much to talk about except going to the city and then walking back again. I decided to give in on this point. “Okay, you can tell Dad about spending the day with Emma. But don’t tell him how about the policemen or the hat. Can you do that?”

“I promise I won’t tell. You can trust me Jon, I promise.”

I was worried despite the promises, but what could I do? There was no taking the knowledge back from him. At this point he knew, and there was nothing I could do about it.

We arrived at the house. It was still light out, and my father’s carriage was not back yet. “Can I see the hat? Can I?” Abel pleaded.

We were still out in the yard at this point, but I was seized by an irrational fear that some of the servants in the house would overhear. “Not so loud!” I glanced around nervously. “You see what I mean Abel? You’re going to blow everything.”

“No I won’t.” Abel was distraught at how easily he had lost my trust.

I hesitated. On one hand, I was uneasy about taking loose-lipped Abel to the scene of the crime. On the other hand, what damage could it possibly do? He already knew everything.

“Alright, come on,” I said, putting my finger to my lips to indicate silence.

There was nothing wrong with going into the backyard, and nothing about it was inherently suspicious. Yet we still felt like criminals doing it. I took the long way around, staying behind the bushes and out of view from the house windows. Abel followed my lead.

We arrived at the shed. I grasped the door handle with a grand gesture, and perhaps a bit of showmanship. I slowly opened the door. Abel, not willing to wait for my dramatic introduction, rushed inside as soon as the door was open enough for him to slip his body through. I was annoyed that my ceremony had been disrupted, but I chose not to say anything.

With Abel jumping up and down by my side in anticipation, I removed the hat from behind the old sacks. I held it out. Abel’s mouth dropped open in awe. A ray of light suddenly shined through the window, illuminating the hat. Or at least it did in my mind. And I could have sworn I heard angels faintly singing as well.

Abel reached eagerly for the hat. I was appalled by this sacrilege and jerked the hat away. “What are you doing?” I asked angrily.

Abel immediately assumed the face of a penitent sinner. “I just wanted to see it,” he said. I looked at the hat protectively. “I won’t hurt it.” Abel’s voice was so quiet I could hardly hear it. I thought for a minute, and then handed over the hat.

Abel carefully took the hat from me, very aware of the importance of what was in his hands. “Wow,” he whispered. The hat was balanced loosely on the top of Abel’s hands, as if he were afraid he would damage it by gripping it firmly. “How did you get this?”

I shrugged. “I just took it. He took it off his head. I grabbed it. Then I outran him.”

“Tell me,” Abel pleaded.

So I told him the whole story with all the details, just like I had done for David. I might even have exaggerated a thing or two, or made it slightly more dramatic than it actually was. With each time I retold this story it was getting more and more fantastic.

Abel interrupted me frequently with questions, which I did my best to answer. When my epic tale was finally completed, Abel and I went into the house.

Our father had come home while we were out back. He greeted us in a cheerful voice when we walked through the door. “Good evening boys.” He was in a good mood. Work on Restoration Week was finally nearing completion. “Glad to see you’re still together. Abel, has Jonathon been taking good care of you the whole day?”

“No, he left me with Emma as soon as we got into town.”

I cringed. Damn it Abel! Sure, I had told him he could talk about Emma, but I was hoping he would have phrased it a little differently. This is a perfect example of why I never wanted him to have any potential harmful information. He just had no sense about how to use it.

“What? Jonathon is this true?” 　The look on my father’s face was almost more of betrayal than anger.

“No. Well I did leave him with Emma. But she really wanted to take care of him so I thought that it would be a good idea. He couldn’t have kept up with us anyway. We did a lot of running around today. And he had fun with Emma so everyone was happy.” The words spilled out of my mouth rapidly. I was trying to get all my explanations out before he cut me off.

“I did have fun with Emma,” Abel confirmed.

“Jonathon.” My father didn’t shout, but there was enough of a heaviness laid on the syllables of my name that I knew he wasn’t happy. “Jonathon I hope you didn’t take advantage of that girl.”

“What? No, I-.”

“Did you pay her any money?”

I was confused as to what would be the right answer, so I just replied with the truth. “No.”

“Well, it sounds like she did you a favor. You should give her some money the next time you see her. Her family doesn’t have a lot of money you know. I don’t want you taking advantage of her generosity.”

“But she didn’t ask for any money. She wanted to play with Abel.”

“She did you a favor Jonathon, and her family needs the money. Five units an hour sounds like a fair price to me. How long did she watch Abel for?”

“All afternoon,” Abel volunteered before I could say otherwise.

“So why don’t you give her 40 units for that. We’ll take it out of your allowance money. Does that sound fair to you?”

Well, no, not really, but what was I supposed to say. “Yes,” I said in a reluctant voice with my eyes on the floor.

“I’m doing you a favor Jonathon,” my father continued in his usual self-righteous voice. “It’s important that you learn generosity at an early age. And I want you to be sure to always treat Emma with kindness when you see her. Remember that not all families are as fortunate as ours.” I nodded automatically. “Now then, I think dinner is almost ready. Shall we sit down at the table? If you’re good tonight, I’ll read you some more about the Restoration.” This last bit was directed at Abel.

“I don’t need those stories anymore.”

“Oh you don’t?” My father raised his eyebrows.

“No. I’ve got a new hero now. Jon.”

I blushed slightly, but beneath my pride I was also nervous about where this line of conversation would lead. But Abel stopped there. The kid wasn’t doing bad after all.

My father didn’t know how to react. He was surprised, but I could tell he was not entirely unpleased. Even though he said, “I think you need to find a new hero Abel.” Abel ran in ahead to the dining room, and my father just turned around and looked at me with a curious expression.