1. Rafe

1

RAFE

"Guy! Where are you going?"

I looked over my shoulder as my legs whirled faster and faster. Cash was always trying to follow me wherever I went to make sure I didn't get into trouble. That's what big brothers did. But he was only three minutes older than me and I was tired of him always telling me what to do.

I pushed the tall blades of grass aside as I ran through the meadow, catching glimpses of him over my shoulder every few seconds. He wasn't going to stop chasing me. As soon as I reached the large oak tree, the grass thinned out and I could run faster. The river was only a little bit further, and Cash didn't like going near it. He was always afraid it would sweep us away and we'd never be seen again.

I grinned as I got closer, knowing Cash would be scared when he saw me up in the tree. He was such a scaredy cat. I was out of breath by the time I reached it, but I didn't stop to take a break. If I did, Cash would catch me and drag me back to Dad. There would be hell to pay if he found out I was playing by the river again.

He wasn't home often. My dad was in the military and constantly leaving for weeks at a time. I wasn't sure what his job was, but it wasn't like other men in the area who deployed for months at a time. Mom said he had a really important job, and it was really stressful. It was the same thing she told me every time I got in trouble. I was the bad son—the one always causing trouble—the son who made my father's life difficult.

I saw Cash's head bobbing in the distance as he tried to catch up to me. Grinning, I jumped up and grabbed the lowest hanging branch. With my feet, I climbed the tree until I pulled myself onto the first branch. From there, it was a lot easier. The branches were clustered together, making it easier for me to climb higher. I was just getting to my spot when I heard his voice down below.

"Guy, don't fall!"

"I'm not gonna fall, you sissy!" I shouted, sliding on my belly toward the end of the branch that hung out over the river.

"Dad's gonna be mad at you!" he shouted.

"Dad's always mad at me."

Cash always worried about everything. I just wanted to have fun, but it was hard when my brother was always watching over me. He wasn't going to ruin my fun today. Very carefully, I grabbed onto a branch above me and got to my feet. The branch was plenty thick beneath my feet, but it bowed as I stood. I watched the river rushing below as I stood just above it. I'd always wanted to jump from this branch into the river and let it carry me downstream. It looked like so much fun, and if I jumped just right, I would avoid hitting the rocks.

"Guy, you're gonna kill yourself!"

"Stop being such a loser!" I shouted.

"I'm not a loser!"

"Yes, you are. You always do everything Mom and Dad tell you to! You don't know how to have any fun!"

"Yes, I do!"

"Then jump with me!"

He wouldn't jump. He was always too cautious to have any real fun. I looked down at him, wishing he would have some fun with me just once, but I knew he would walk away. He always did.

"Don't come crying to me when you hurt yourself."

"You sound like Mom!"

I took a deep breath and jumped off the branch, feeling it crack under my feet as I leapt. The water rushed up to greet me and I let out a yelp of glee as I hit the water at full force. I sank to the deep blue depths, then pushed myself to the surface, laughing as I broke through. I could see Cash on the shore, shaking his head at me as I was carried downstream. The feel of the cool water rushing around me was awesome, but nothing was as cool as floating in the water so effortlessly.

There was a slight drop ahead where I needed to get out. After that was a mini waterfall. It wasn't that far, but there were a lot of rocks at the bottom. I knew better than to go over the waterfall. As the water slowed, I grabbed ahold of a vine dangling from a tree, pulling myself toward the shore. The water grew more shallow and I could put my feet down, barely touching the slippery rocks beneath my feet. I was about halfway to shore when I slipped on one of the rocks, losing my grip on the vine.

I was instantly swept back into the flow of the river, and for a moment, I forgot about the danger ahead. I looked over my shoulder in panic, staring at the drop up ahead. I swam with all my might, fighting the current desperately, but I wasn't a good enough swimmer. I knew I was going to go over the edge. In a moment of desperation, I called out for my big brother.

"Cash! Help!"

My eyes widened as I felt the tug of the river. And then, as if something was tugging my gaze back in the direction of the shore, I looked and found Cash rushing to the side, his face pale with horror as he realized what was about to happen.

The water dropped suddenly and I was falling, unable to stop myself or grab anything to hold onto. I stared up at the blue sky as I plummeted to the rushing water below. I braced for impact, knowing I would be lucky if I survived the fall.

The pain came immediately as my head smacked into the rocks below. I didn't know what happened after that as I felt my lungs fill with water and my body being carried off down the river. I tried to tell myself to swim to shore, but my body didn't want to work.

Blackness overwhelmed me until I felt a hard pressure on my chest. I started coughing, spitting up water. The black started to fade and I realized I was no longer in the water. I peeled my eyes open and stared up into my big brother's eyes. His face was dripping water as he breathed heavily, staring at me like I was about to die.

I squinted up at him, cocking my head to the side. "You're wet."

"You idiot!" He slammed his fist into my face. The punch hurt, but not nearly as much as the knot on my head.

I rolled to the side as he got up and walked away. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"Away!"

"But the fun was just starting!"

He turned back to me, stomping his feet as he got closer. "Fun? You almost died. I had to jump in and save you. You're bleeding!"

I pressed my fingers to the gash on my head and shrugged. "Yeah, but ? —"

"No buts! If I hadn't been here, you would have died."

He stormed off and I quickly got up and followed. "Hey, stop being a sissy."

He ignored me, stomping back to the house as if I wasn't there. I followed him mostly in silence. Every once in a while, I cleared my throat just so he would know I was still there.

"Are you gonna be mad at me forever?"

"Yes," he grumbled.

"I was just having fun."

He stopped suddenly and I didn't need to ask why. I could feel the change in the air as I peeked out from behind him. My brother stood tall, defending me even though he had no reason to. My father stood on the porch steps, staring down at us disapprovingly.

"Guy, what the hell did you do?" he asked, stomping down the steps.

"I—"

"It was my fault," Cash spoke up.

Confused, I didn't say anything right away.

"I wanted to play in the river," Cash explained. "I…I jumped in."

"How many times have I told you not to play there?" Dad shouted. "You could have gotten yourself killed." He stormed over to me and grabbed my chin, forcing my face toward his. "Where'd you get this?"

I swallowed hard, knowing I was going to get the belt. "I ? —"

"He got it saving me," Cash said quietly. "It was my fault."

My father stared into my eyes, waiting for me to confess. I probably should have, but I was always the one who got in trouble, and I didn't want to get my butt whipped again.

"Go inside and have your mother clean you up."

He released me, taking a step back. Looking warily at Cash, I hurried past him to the house. The slam of the screen door echoed around me as I stood waiting for the screams of pain. Would Cash get beaten this time? My father wasn't a bad man. He was just strict. I liked to push him, even knowing I would pay for it later. He had to know that Cash hadn't jumped into the river, so why did he let me go?

I didn't stick around to find out what would happen. Mom cleaned me up, fussing over me as if I were going to die. I was anxious to get out of the house and find out what happened with Cash. As soon as she slapped the bandage on my head, I was racing out of the house in search of him.

I searched everywhere for him. He wasn't in his room or out in the workshop. He hadn't followed Dad to the firing range. He wasn't in the treehouse or out playing ball. Finally, I found him sitting under a tree, reading a book. Relieved and a little irritated, I made my way over to him.

"So, what happened?"

He shrugged, still reading.

I plopped down on the ground beside him, pulling at the blades of grass. "Did he yell at you?"

"Not really."

My jaw dropped open in shock. "But…he always yells at me."

"Because you always get in trouble." He flipped the page and continued to ignore me.

"That's not fair."

"You could say thank you."

"For what?"

"For taking the blame for you."

"He knows it was me," I grumbled.

Finally, he shut the book and looked at me. "Of course he knows it was you."

I plucked a few more blades of grass, angry that even when Cash supposedly did something wrong, he still didn't get in trouble. It wasn't fair.

"You shouldn't have said it was you."

His shoulder lifted in a shrug. "You already have the gash on your head."

"Why did you do it?" I asked hesitantly.

I didn't think he was going to answer. He just stared at me in silence, as if waiting for the answer to come to him. "You're my brother."

As if that was all the explaining he had to do, he went back to reading his book. He had saved my life and took the blame for it. My old man would have whipped my ass and cursed me the entire time. I never thanked him for looking out for me that day, or any of the days after that.

He was always there for me, and I knew he always would be.