Our Boys

Big Brothers, Little Brothers Pt. 1

An incident teaches Harry what the true meaning of being a big brother is.

"Come on Vik hurry up!" Harry urged.

Without looking behind him to see if the four year old really was there, he waded across the stream at its shallowest point. Once out on the bank on the other side he turned and looked at Vik still standing nervously on the far bank.

"Hurry up Vik or they'll catch us, come on it's not deep!"

Vik put one foot down into the fast flowing muddy water. Instantly his small booted foot sank in the soft mud and ice cold water poured in over the top of his wellies. Grabbing a nearby branch for support he pulled his water filled boot back to dry land.

"Oh come on Vik, it's only water!" Harry was getting frustrated by now.

"No, I don't wanna. My foot's all wet, I wanna go back now," whined Vik, already turning away.

"No Vik, we won't win if we go back, 'sides I don't think we can get back."

Vik looked up at the steep wooded valley side they had just climbed down and knew Harry was right. Either he crossed the stream or he was stuck, but he didn't want to put his feet back in the water, one was already wet and cold. Unsure what to do about this dilemma, Vik began to cry, as he stood forlornly on the bank.

"Please Vik it'll be alright, hurry they're coming," Harry pleaded. They could clearly hear the sound of their pursuers crashing through the woods.

"Vik, Harry!" JJ's voice boomed out through the trees.

Vik spun around instantly. He didn't want to play the game any more, he wanted Papa to take him home and make his foot all better.

"Papa!" he shouted. "I'm here!"

...

It had seemed like a good way to end the afternoon. A race back to the house through the woods. The weather was clear, bright and frosty. After days of rain the two youngest boys in the family had so much energy they were driving everyone crazy and Simon and JJ decided to run off some of that energy with a walk in the country. Harry couldn't get enough of the outdoors. He would walk for miles given the chance and was also naturally inquisitive although his attention span was somewhat limited and he was more interested in collecting things and poking things than listening about them.  A typical four year old, Vik also had boundless energy but unlike Harry, he absorbed every scrap of information about the wildlife, the trees and plants, even the geology. Simon had been forced to do some actual research in order to keep the four year old happy.

They had walked up and around the hill behind the farmhouse and were now at the beginning of the trail that lead back down to the house. The trail was wide enough for a four-wheel drive to negotiate with care; it zigzagged down the narrow little valley crossing the stream via a wide plank bridge about half way down. JJ and Simon reckoned they could follow at a distance close enough to make sure nothing happened and far enough back to let the two boys think they were winning on their own.

"Boys what about a race?" Simon asked squatting down in front of the youngsters.

"A race?" Vik asked, unsure what he meant.

"Yep, we'll give you a head start, first one back to the house gets to choose where we go for dinner tonight, okay?"

Harry thought a moment, then he took hold of Vik's shirt and pulled him back a fraction before whispering in his ear. A big smile came over Vik's face and he nodded enthusiastically. Since they intended to let the boys win the two men were resigned to eating at Nando's tonight, given the choice the boys always chose Nando's, JJ would choose pizza and Simon fried chicken. Oh well, at least their older brothers would approve.