“Where you going Luke?” Bo asked
     “Fishing.” Luke said, as he climbed onto his bike.
     “Can I come?” Bo asked.
     “You always make too much noise and scare off all the fish.” Luke said.
     “I promise I’ll be quiet.” Bo said.
Luke laughed. “Yeah right, you never keep your mouth shut for more then two minutes.”
Bo started to pout. “I promise to be good, please let me come with you.”
     “I want to actually catch something.” Luke said.
Bo was about to say something when Jesse came out of the house.
     “Where are you going Luke?” Jesse asked.
     “Fishing at Sunset Pond.” Luke responded.
     “Well take Bo with you.” Jesse said.
Luke sighed. “Do I have to?”
     “I have a few things to do, so I don’t want Bo to be here alone, I won’t be back until dinnertime.” Jesse said.
     “But he talks too much and scares off all the fish.” Luke complained. “Can’t he go with you?”
Jesse shook his head. “If you don’t take him fishing then you can’t go either.”
     “Fine.” Luke said and turned to Bo. “Go get your fishing pole.”
Bo smiled and ran into the barn to get his fishing pole. Jesse got into his white pickup truck and drove off down the road. Bo rode his bike over to where Luke was.
     “Why do you always have to get your way?” Luke asked.
Bo shrugged. “Why are you so mad that I am going fishing with you?”
     “Because you talk so much you scare off all the fish.”
     “I told you I’ll be quiet. Don’t you like no more?”
     “Just because I don’t want you to go fishing with me don’t mean I don’t like you. Why do you always have to do what I do?”
Bo shrugged. “Because you always do fun stuff.”
Bo didn’t want to tell Luke it was because he looked up to him and he wanted to do everything Luke did because he wanted to be just like his older cousin.
     Luke peddled quickly along the edge of the dirt road. Bo peddled as quick as he could to keep up with Luke.
     “Wait up Luke.” Bo said, as he tried to catch back up to Luke.
     “It is not my fault you can’t keep up, it is your fault since you forced your way into coming with me.” Luke said, saying the words nastier then he had meant to.
He didn’t mind spending time with Bo, but lately Bo want to do everything he was doing and Bo couldn’t always keep up with him.
     “Why are you being so mean?” Bo asked.
Luke didn’t reply to Bo’s question, he slowed down enough for Bo to catch up to him.
     They were just about to turn onto the dirt trail that led to the pond when Luke saw three boys he knew from school, Joel, Timmy, and Justin. They rode over to where Bo and Luke where.
     “Hey Luke.” Justin said. “What’ca doing, babysitting?”
     “My uncle MADE me bring him fishing.” Luke said.
Bo stood there, hating the way Luke talked like he was being forced into spending time with him, and hating them for talking like he was just some little kid.
     “Too bad you got the little kid with you or you could come to our clubhouse with us.” Joel said.
Luke frowned suddenly very angry that he had been forced to bring Bo fishing, these were the coolest kids in his class and they would be spending time with him if it weren’t for Bo.
     “Can’t he come to?” Luke asked. “We can make him stay outside the clubhouse.”
     “We’re SUPPOSE to be going fishing.” Bo said.
Luke gave Bo a look to be quiet, then turned back to look at the other boys.
     “I don’t even let my brother near the clubhouse, nobody else knows where it is but us.” Justin said.
     “Why don’t you just send him back to your farm?” Timmy asked.
Bo hated the way that they were talking like he wasn’t there.
     “Because Uncle Jesse would tan my hide, I am suppose to be looking after him.” Luke said.
     “That sucks. My pa use to try to make me spend time with my little brother, I hated every minute of it.” Justin said.
Luke just gave a half smile, it wasn’t that he hated spending time with Bo, it was just that Bo was so much younger.
     “Well since I know how you feel being forced into babysitting your little cousin, he can come this time, just make him stay outside, and next time ditch him somewhere.” Justin said.
Luke smiled. “Okay.”
The other boys started off down the road.
     “C’mon on Bo.” Luke said.
     “You said we were going fishing.” Bo complained.
     “Well I changed my mind.” Luke said.
     “I don’t want to go anywhere with them, just sit outside of some stupid clubhouse.” Bo said.
     “You’d better come. I am in charge so you’d better listen to me.” Luke said.
     “What are you gonna do if I don’t?” Bo asked defiantly.
     “I’ll tell Uncle Jesse that you were being bad and he’ll tan your hide.” Luke said.
Joel stopped his bike and turned around. “You coming or not, Luke?”
     “Yeah. I am coming I am just making sure that Bo is gonna be good.” Luke said, and turned to face Bo again. “You had better not mess things up for me or you’ll be sorry.”
Bo mumbled something under his breath. He felt tears in his eyes but refused to allow Luke to see them. He hated when Luke acted so mean to him, something he usually only did when other kids his age were around. Luke tended to act different around them, though it didn’t diminish Bo’s high opinion of Luke; he still looked up to and idolized his older cousin. He hoped someday that Luke would accept him as a friend and not treat him like just another little kid, and that friendship wouldn’t change juts because some older kids came around. Bo sighed softly as he followed Luke, trying hard to catch up to his cousin, who had already caught up to his new friends.
     The boys rode their bikes deep into the woods and Bo had trouble keeping up with the older boys. Bo had tried asking Luke to slow down but Luke refused to listen to his requests. Finally after about ten minutes they reached the clubhouse.
     “Stay out here and don’t go nowheres.” Luke said firmly.
     “Why can’t I go inside?” Bo asked.
     “Because it is our clubhouse and we don’t want no little babies in it.” Justin said.
     “I ain’t a little baby.” Bo complained.
     “You sure look like one to me.” Joel said.
     “I do not. I AIN’T a little baby.” Bo said.
     “Then quit acting like one.” Luke said.
Bo looked at Luke with hurt eyes, lately Luke had been acting like such a jerk and Bo couldn’t understand why, he and Luke had always been really good friends before. Bo sighed and sat down under a large old tree as the other boys went inside the clubhouse.
     ‘It’s not fair.’ Bo thought to himself as the sounds of the older boys laughter reached him.
Bo stood up and brushed his pants off and looked around the woods for something to do, he decided to look around for a bit and wandered into the woods. Bo found a small little woodland stream and sat down on a rock by the stream’s edge. He took off his shoes and dangled his feet into the cool rushing water. Bo felt very alone suddenly and tears started to streak his cheeks.
    It was about an hour later when the boys walked out of their clubhouse, they had decided that they wanted Luke to be a part of their club and tomorrow, when he met them at the clubhouse they would make him and official member if their club. Luke around for Bo, frowning when he didn’t see Bo anywhere.
    “Bo where are you at?” Luke called out, no response meet his questions. “Dang it, Uncle Jesse is gonna whoop me if Bo took off and I can’t find him.” Luke mumbled.
Luke walked into woods looking for Bo.
     “BO . . . BO! Where are you?”
At first Bo didn’t hear Luke calling him, he looked up quickly when heard Luke. Bo grabbed his shoes and slid them on and ran back through the woods towards the cabin.
     “Dang it Bo I told you to stay put.” Luke said.
     “What was I suppose to do sit there while you and your new friends had fun?”
     “You were the one that forced your way into coming with me.” Luke said, anger apparent in his voice.
     “You don’t have to get so mad, I was just down by the stream.” Bo said.
         “Why didn’t you come the second I called you then?” Luke asked.
 “’Cause I didn’t hear ya.” Bo said.
Luke frowned and grabbed Bo by the arm and pulled back over to where they had left their bikes. He wasn’t so much mad that Bo hadn’t stayed put when he told him to, when Bo wasn’t answering Luke had begun to fear that something might have happened to him.
     “Ow, you’re hurting my arm.” Bo said trying to pull away from Luke.
Luke turned to face Bo letting go off his arm. “I should tell Uncle Jesse you took off on me.”
     “And I’ll tell him you lied you never went fishing and played with your friends making me sit outside the clubhouse.” Bo said.
     “You tell him that and you won’t have to worry about Uncle Jesse whooping you because I will do it first.” Luke said.
     “Why are you being so mean?”
     “I am not being mean Bo. This is your fault, I didn’t want to bring you today and you know it.” Luke said.
Tears began to form in Bo’s eyes and looked away from Luke. “You don’t have to be so mean.”
Luke sighed softly, he hadn’t meant to make Bo cry, he couldn’t really explain to Bo why he didn’t want to spend time with anymore and because he didn’t really want to hurt Bo’s feelings.
     “C’mon on stop crying like a baby.” Luke said.
Bo didn’t say anything he just turned and got on his bike and started to ride down the trail. Luke shook his head and got on to his bike, quickly catching up with Bo. Neither of them spoke a word the whole ride back to the farm.
     After they got home Luke went into the bedroom that he and Bo shared, to read a car magazine and Bo was sitting outside on the porch swing. Jesse pulled his truck to a stop and got out. Jesse saw Bo was being quite quiet and looked upset, he wasn’t even swinging on the porch swing. Jesse walked over and sat down next to him.
     “Are you feeling okay Bo?” Jesse asked.
Bo shrugged, and then remembered Luke’s threat. “Yeah I’m fine.”
     “Did you catch a lot of fish?” Jesse asked.
Bo shook his head. “And it wasn’t my fault.”
Jesse noticed that Bo’s voice sounded distant and he wondered if he and Luke had a fight. “Did you have a fight with Luke?”
Bo wasn’t sure what to say so he didn’t respond; he was worried that Luke would actually carry through with his threat if he told. Jesse sighed and stood up and went inside, deciding to go and talk to Luke to see if he knew what was wrong with Bo.
     Luke looked up from the car magazine when Jesse knocked on the partly open door and stepped into the room.
     “Hey Uncle Jesse.” Luke said.
     “How’d the fishing go?” Jesse asked, even though he knew the answer.
Luke shrugged. “We didn’t catch anything worth keeping.”
    “Did you any Bo have some kind of fight?” Jesse asked.
     “Why do you ask? Did he say we had a fight?” Luke said almost defensively.
Jesse shook his head. “No he is sitting out there and he wouldn’t really talk to me, he just looks like he lost his best friend. Did you boys have a fight?”
     “No. He is just acting like a baby.” Luke said.
Jesse narrowed his eyes at Luke. “That is not a very nice thing to say.”
     “It’s the truth. We didn’t have a fight or nothing.” Luke said.
Jesse sighed, deciding to give up asking Luke about it, deciding from the way Luke was acting so defensive about it that they did have a fight, but knew he wasn’t going to be able to get either of them to talk.
     At dinner the three of them sat in silence. Jesse noticed that Bo barely seemed to be eating and Luke seemed to be throwing nasty glances at Bo. After the boys went to be bed, Jesse sat by the window reading. The house seemed so quiet, normally the boys stayed up for a while talking at night, tonight there was only silence. Jesse sighed thinking it must have been some fight the boys had. He wondered if their three years age difference was starting to have something to do with it, he prayed that wasn’t the case, knowing that things could be like for years if it was. Luke had never seemed to care before that Bo was younger them, but lately he had been acting different and spending less time with Bo, and now today things seemed to have come to a head. He almost regretted making Luke take Bo fishing with him today, but he couldn’t have taken Bo with him and didn’t know who else he trusted enough to leave Bo with, and Bo was too young to stay home alone. Jesse closed his book; the only sound he could hear was the chirping of the crickets outside. He hoped that tomorrow things between Bo and Luke would be better, normally whenever they had a fight it was only a few hours later that they made up, the longest ever being over night, by the next morning things were always back to normal. Jesse tried to assure himself that this is how things would be this time but he had a nagging feeling that this time things would not be solved so easily.
     At breakfast things seemed to be about the same. Bo and Luke still weren’t really talking or more accurately Luke wasn’t talking to Bo. Bo made a few attempts to have a conversation with Luke, but Luke gave him a cold shoulder not responding to anything Bo said. After a few tries Bo gave up trying to talk to Luke, and sat there with a rejected look on his face, appearing to be almost close to tears.
     “ I want the both of you to stay at the farm today while I work in the field.” Jesse said.
     “But Uncle Jesse . . .” Luke started to say.
     “No buts, you are both to stay here all day.” Jesse said firmly.
Luke scowled. “Yes sir.”
Bo only nodded, he was glad that they weren’t suppose to leave the farm thinking perhaps then Luke would spend time with him.
    Jesse left the house about an half hour later. Luke grabbed his jacket and left the house.
     “Where are you going Luke? Uncle Jesse said to stay home.”
     “I told my friends I was going to meet them at the club house today.” Luke said.
     “Uncle Jesse told us to stay home.” Bo said.
     “Well you are staying home.” Luke said, walking faster away from the farm.
Bo followed after him. “You are gonna get in trouble if you leave.”
     “No I’ll be back before Uncle Jesse is so the only way I’ll be in trouble is if some little brat squeals on me for leaving.” Luke said.
Bo frowned. “Stop acting like a big meany.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “Stop acting like a little baby Bo, go back home.”
     “I ain’t acting like a baby.” Bo said.
     “Yes you are.”
     “Am not.”
     “Are to.”
     “AM NOT!”
Luke was going to argue further when he saw his new friends riding down the road. “Go back to the house Bo.”
     “No.”
Luke’s friends stopped by where Bo and Luke were standing.
     “You coming or not Luke?” Justin asked.
     “Yeah.” Luke said.
     “Uncle Jesse told you not to leave the farm.” Bo said.
     “He won’t ever know.” Luke said. “Get back to the house now.”
     “You ain’t welcome at our club house so go home you little baby.” Timmy said.
     “I ain’t a baby.” Bo said, he dark blue eyes flashed with anger as he looked at Timmy.
     “Just shut up and go back to the house Bo.” Luke said.
     “No. If you are going then I am going to.” Bo said.
     “No you’re not.” Luke said.
     “Yes I am.” Bo said.
     “No you are not.” Luke said and shoved Bo backwards, pushing him harder then he meant to.
Luke raised his hand as though to strike Bo. Bo looked up at Luke with trusting eyes, trust that his older cousin would never do anything to hurt him. Luke saw that trust and couldn’t find it in him to do anything that would destroy that trust, and lowered his hand.
     “Go back to house now Bo.” Luke said flatly.
Bo felt tears in his eyes, and not wanting to let Luke see him cry he scrambled to his feet and ran back to the house. Luke sighed, a part of him cursing himself for hurting Bo the way he was, Bo had always been a good friend to him, yet another louder speaking part wanted friends his own age, the three years age difference between him and Bo seemed like so many years lately.
     Bo ran into the bedroom that he and Luke shared, he threw himself down on the bed and buried his head in his pillow and cried until he had no tears left to cry. Jesse came back to the farm a few hours later for lunch, Luke hadn’t come back yet. Jesse wasn’t too surprised to find the house quiet, it was a nice day and he hoped that Bo and Luke were playing out in the yard somewhere or the barn. Jesse heard a rustling noise coming from the boy’s bedroom and went to investigate, he frowned when he saw Bo sitting on his bed, alone in the room.
     “Where’s Luke?” Jesse asked.
Bo shrugged slightly, refusing to be a snitch.
    “He left the farm didn’t he?”
    “I can’t tell you, Luke will be mad if I do.” Bo said and then bit his lip, realizing that he had already said too much.
Jesse frowned. “Where did he go, that he wouldn’t take you with him?”
     “I am not allowed to tell you, I’ll be a snitch if I tell.” Bo said.
     “Does this have anything to do with yesterday?”
     “I don’t want to talk about it.” Bo said.
Jesse said, he knew he couldn’t force Bo into talking if he didn’t want to talk. Bo seemed so determine to protect Luke, wanting Luke’s friendship more then anything.
     “I’ll talk to Luke when he gets home.” Jesse said.
     “If you do he’ll think I squealed.” Bo said.
     “Don’t worry about it Bo, I’ll have a talk with him.” Jesse said, and left the room.
     Luke came home a couple hours later, Jesse had parked the truck on the far side of the barn, so Luke didn’t notice it. Luke walked into the front room and stopped when he saw his uncle sitting there, a look of surprise spread across his face.
     “Where have you been Luke?” Jesse asked.
     “I was out in the yard.” Luke said.
     “Don’t you lie to me boy.” Jesse said sternly.
Bo heard Luke come in and went quietly out to the front room.
     “I ain’t lying.” Luke said.
     “Yes you are. I told you to stay home today.”
Luke turned to face Bo. “You told didn’t you? You little snitch, you are such a baby.” Luke said nastily.
Jesse could see that Luke’s words obviously hurt Bo. “You have no right to talk to your little cousin that way.”
     “I didn’t tell him.” Bo said, hurt that Luke actually thought he would snitch.
     “I have been home for the past four hours so I KNOW that you left.” Jesse said.
     “So what if I did? I told my friends I was going to met them today I couldn’t exactly not go.” Luke said.
     “I told you to stay home. You deliberately disobeyed me and then lied about it.” Jesse said sternly.
     “You just don’t want me to have any friends.” Luke said.
Bo was standing quietly by the couch, looking obviously upset and near tears.
     “I think you and I should discuss this further in the barn.” Jesse said to Luke.
Luke frowned as he followed his uncle to the barn, he figured he would be getting a hard spanking and he blamed it on Bo, still thinking he had told on him. Bo knew he shouldn’t follow them but he snuck out after them anyway. Bo listened through the partly open barn door.
     “Just what were you thinking Luke? Not only did you take off you left Bo here alone, what if something had happened?”
     “It is not my responsibility to look after that little baby.” Luke said.
     “Why are you so suddenly being so mean towards Bo?”
     “Because I am sick of him always following me everywhere.” Luke said.
     “He follows after you because he looks up to Luke.” Jesse said.
Luke shrugged. “So what I am sick of always being made to take him along with me, he is such a baby.”
Jesse frowned. “You are the one acting like a baby.”
     “No I am not. I am sick of always being forced to take Bo with me everywhere. I want to have my own friends that are my own age and not have be babysitting Bo.” Luke said.
     “Before you always got along so well with Bo.” Jesse said.
     “Three years is a big age difference.” Luke complained.
     “No it is not Luke. Bo looks up to and only wants your friendship in return. You aren’t treating him very nicely. I think that you are throwing away the best friendship you could ask for.” Jesse said.
     “You are always taking his side. What about my side?”
     “And what is your side?”
     “I want to be around people my own age and not have be babysitting Bo. You can’t force me to be friends with him.” Luke said.
     “So you don’t want to be friends with Bo?”
Luke shrugged. “He is a baby and a snitch.”
     “He is neither of those. Definitely not a snitch he refused to tell me anything in fact, because he didn’t want to get you in trouble.” Jesse said.
     “It don’t change nothing he is still a baby.” Luke said.
Jesse sighed and frowned. “I have heard about enough of your mouth for one day, I think you had best get to your room.”
Luke turned and stormed out of the barn, accidentally knocking Bo down as he left. Bo looked up at Luke with hurt tear filled eyes; Luke’s words had hurt him more deeply then anything else Luke could do to him. The second Luke saw the pain in Bo’s eyes he wanted to say sorry to tell Bo he didn’t mean it, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit that he was wrong. Besides that he liked his new friends and they didn’t like Bo, they didn’t want a little kid hanging around. Luke desperately wanted to be a part of their club, so he shoved away Bo’s friendship for theirs. Luke turned and went into the house. Jesse stepped out of the barn and gently lifted Bo to his feet. Jesse felt bad for Bo, knowing he heard every word Luke had said, and those words had cut through him like a knife. Bo bit back his tears refusing to cry, not wanting anyone to think he was a baby. Jesse put a gentle hand on Bo’s shoulder.
     “I am sure he didn’t mean any of that Bo. Luke is just going through some changes.” Jesse said.
Bo nodded, not knowing what else to say. He thought to himself that if he could prove to Luke that he wasn’t a baby then Luke would be his friend again.
     Bo went inside and into the bedroom that he and Luke shared. Luke was sitting, cross-legged, on his bed, he glared at Bo when he walked in.
     “Can we talk?”  Bo asked.
     “We CAN talk but I don’t WANT to talk to you.” Luke said.
Bo frowned. “Please Luke, I want to talk to you.”
     “Well I don’t want to talk to you so beat it. It is your fault that I am in trouble.” Luke said.
     “No it ain’t. It is your own fault you didn’t listen to Uncle Jesse. I NEVER told on you.” Bo said.
     “I told you I don’t want to talk to you, so go play somewhere.” Luke said.
     “This is MY room to.” Bo said.
     “Yeah so I am older so what I say goes.” Luke said.
Bo just turned and left the room not really wanting to get into a fight with Luke. Before Luke had always been nice to him, always been his friend, now all that seemed to have changed and all because their age difference. Bo thought of how some of his friends with older brothers all told him their older brothers acted like Luke was now, before he had never thought Luke would treat him this way, he though things between them were different. Bo thought to himself that he would have to find a way to prove to Luke that he wasn’t a baby, and that would be the only way to save their friendship. Later that day Jesse told Luke we grounded for one week, Luke didn’t argue knowing it would do no good.
     Luke was outside doing his morning chores, when his new friends came riding up on their biked.
     “Hey Luke want to come swimming with us?” Timmy asked.
     “I can’t.” Luke said in an almost sullen tone.
     “What not?” Joel asked.
     “Because I am grounded.” Luke said.
     “Ah man that sucks.” Justin said. “Why ya grounded?”
     “For leaving the farm yesterday.” Luke said.
     “What a bummer.” Timmy said.
     “Did you cousin rat on you?” Justin asked.
     “He claims that he didn’t. My uncle was home earlier then I thought he would be.” Luke said.
     “Are you sure Bo didn’t tell on you, my little brother always snitches on me.” Justin said.
Luke had time to think about and he had come to believe that Bo hadn’t told on him. “No I don’t think he would do that. He said he didn’t and he has never lied to me.”
     “Yesterday you talked like he was a little brat and now today you talk like he is your friend, which is it?” Joel asked.
     “He is a brat at times . . . but he is still my little cousin.” Luke said.
     “Oh.” Joel said, not really understanding what Luke meant, he was an only child and had no close kin.
Justin nodded, he understood what Luke meant, since he had a little brother that was Bo’s age. He might diss him a lot and pick on him but he was still his little brother.
     “Okay see you in a week Luke. Meet us at the clubhouse.” Justin said
     The week slowly passed and Luke did most everything to avoid Bo, and not much talking to Jesse. He was mad at Jesse for grounding him just for having fun, he took most that anger out on Bo. As Jesse watched the two boys grow more distant and wondered if he should start to fix up the spare room so that the boys could each have their own room. He knew Bo wouldn’t like that at all, but it seemed what Luke wanted and he figured Bo would adjust eventually. The last time he had mentioned that they could do that both boys turned to notion down saying that they liked sharing a room, now it seemed Luke hated sharing the room. He figured to give it one more week before bringing the issue up. He remembered Bo saying once he loved sharing a room with Luke because the monsters wouldn’t bother him with Luke there to protect him. Bo was only six, still a young enough age to be afraid of there being monsters under the bed and Jesse wasn’t sure how Bo would handle being in his own room. Jesse sat on the porch swing watching the last light of the day slowly slip over the horizon, Bo and Luke were out in the yard each involved in their own game.
     Bo watched as Luke left and decided to follow him. Bo tried to be careful not let Luke know that he was following him. They were about five minutes from the farm when Bo stepped on a twig. The dry twig snapped under his weight, with a sound like a firecracker. Luke spun around, and frowned when he saw Bo standing there.
     “Dang it Bo, what are you doing following me?” Luke asked.
     “Because I want to go with you.” Bo said.
Luke walked back over and stood in front of Bo. “I don’t want you to come with me.”
     “Why not?” Bo asked.
     “Because you are a baby.” Luke said.
     “No I ain’t I am six.” Bo said.
     “Just go home.” Luke said.
Bo shook his head. “No. I want to go with you. There is nobody to play with.”
     “Well I don’t want to play with you so go home.” Luke said.
     “Please Luke. I’ll be good. I am a big boy if you’d just take me with you you’d see that.” Bo said.
Luke sighed softly, he admired Bo’s determination, and knew all Bo wanted was his friendship, he wanted them to be friends like the once had been, but the three years age difference seemed like an eternity to Luke. “Just go home Bo.”
Bo shook his head. “No. I am going wherever you go.”
Luke shoved Bo backwards knocking him into a mud puddle. Bo was coated with a thick layer of dark brown mud, he had streaks of mud on his face and in his hair. Luke couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. Bo looked up at Luke with watery eyes, he slowly stood up, almost losing his footing and falling again.
     “You had better go home and wash up Bo.” Luke said.
     “You did that on purpose.” Bo said.
Luke shrugged. “So what if I did?”
Luke had shoved Bo into the mud on purpose, knowing if Bo was dirty he would have to go back home and would give up following him, and knew that it wouldn’t actually hurt Bo.
     “It wasn’t very nice.” Bo sulked.
     “So what just go home Bo.” Luke said.
With teary eyes Bo turned and went back home.
     Jesse looked up from reading the paper when Bo walked into the house, covered in mud.
     “What happened to you?” Jesse asked.
     “I . . . fell.” Bo said.
Jesse frowned, and figured the truth was Luke had pushed him into the mud, but knew that Bo would never tell on his cousin.
    “Go to the bathroom and get cleaned up, put on some clean clothes. And take those muddy shoes off at the door, don’t be traipsing mud all through the house.”
     “Yes sir.” Bo said and walked to the bathroom.
Jesse took out a bucket and filled it with warm water and began to mop the floor. A few minutes later Bo walked out to the front room and sat down on the couch, with a towel over his head. Jesse sat down beside him and began to dry Bo’s hair with the towel. He could see the pain if rejection in Bo’s dark blue eyes and sighed feeling bad for his young nephew.
     “What really happened Bo?”
     “I fell.”
     “Okay then how did you fall?” Jesse asked.
     “I tripped over a rock.” Bo said, he didn’t like lying to his uncle but didn’t want to tell on Luke either.
      “I doubt that Bo, Luke pushed you didn’t he?” Jesse asked. “And don’t you go an lie to me about it.”
Bo sighed and nodded. “Please don’t let him know I told he don’t like me much as it is and if he thought I snitched he’d be SO mad at me and never talk to me.”
     “I’ll have to discipline him for doing it though.” Jesse said more to himself.
     “Please don’t Uncle Jesse. He didn’t hurt me or nothing . . . I shouldn’t have followed him.” Bo said.
Jesse just sighed and shook his head, Bo still looked up to Luke and still wanted nothing more then for Luke to accept and return the friendship that he was offering. He decided that he would have a talk with Luke after he got home.
     Jesse was sitting on the swing when Luke arrived home. Jesse stepped off the porch and approached Luke.
     “I think we need to talk Luke.” Jesse said firmly.
     “What did I do this time?” Luke asked.
     “It is the way you are treating Bo that we need to talk about. You haven’t been at all nice to your little cousin lately, it fact you have been down right mean towards him.”
         “I haven’t been that mean to him.” Luke said.
     “What do you call shoving him into the mud?”
Luke shrugged. “I didn’t hurt him . . . I wouldn’t.”
     “You hurt his feelings, or didn’t you ever stop to consider that?”
     “I want to have friends my own age.” Luke said.
     “You can it don’t mean that you have to ignore Bo, you could spend a little time with him.” Jesse said.
     “You don’t know what it is like having a little kid following you around all the time.” Luke said.
Jesse only smiled. “I had three younger brother, I know what it is like. I loved all them very dearly and considered all of them to be my friends.”
     “It is not that I don’t like Bo Uncle Jesse . . . it is just he is younger.” Luke said.
     “Perhaps that is something you should be telling him, he thinks that you hate him. You knew three years isn’t that big of age difference it might seem like a lot now but in a few years it’ll be nothing. However if you turn you back on the friendship Bo has to offer you now you’ll never know what you are missing. Because when he gets older and you have been ignoring him and treating him bad for so long he won’t want to be your friend.” Jesse said.
Luke sighed thinking about what Jesse said, wondering if it was true, he decided to go and talk to Bo. He thought that perhaps Jesse was right he had been being quite mean to Bo lately.
     Bo was laying on his bed reading a book about race cars. Luke walked in and stood by Bo’s bed, not really knowing what to say. Bo looked up at Luke with questioning eyes.
     “Do you want to go fishing tomorrow?” Luke asked.
Bo eyes lit up with joy that faded quickly. “Uncle Jesse made you ask didn’t he?”
Luke shook his head. “No, I just thought . . . we should spend some time together.”
     “Really?” Bo asked, a glimmer of hope sparkling in his eyes.
     “Yeah really. So do you want to go fishing or not?”
     “Yeah I do.” Bo said, his eyes once again sparkling with happiness. “Thanks Luke.” Bo said practically jumping off the bed knocking Luke to the ground.
Luke began to feel that maybe Jesse was right. The two of them wrestled around for a bit when Jesse came to the door interrupting them.
     “What are you to doing?” Jesse asked.
     “Wrestling.” Luke said, standing up and giving Bo a hand to stand.
     “Guess what Uncle Jesse.” Bo said excitedly.
     “I don’t know what?”
     “Luke’s gonna take me fishing tomorrow.” Bo said happily.
Jesse smiled at Luke. “Well ain’t that nice of him.”
     “Yeah. I can’t wait.” Bo said.
Jesse smiled and turned and left the room, hoping that this meant thing would return to almost normal, Bo looked happier then he had been in days. Bo turned and looked at Luke.
     “I was starting to think that you hated me.”
Luke shook his head. “No I don’t Bo it is just you are so much younger and I want friends my own age.”
Bo frowned. “What about me?”
     “That don’t mean that we can’t be friends . . . I’ll still spend sometime with you.” Luke said.
Bo smiled. “I guess that is better then nothing.”
    Bo barely slept that night, as he was so excited about going fishing with Luke. Bo and Luke sat down by the Hazzard Creek fishing. Luke didn’t mind Bo’s almost constant rambling. Suddenly they heard someone coming up behind them, they turned to see Joel, Justin and Timmy standing there, holding their own fishing poles. Bo frowned at them, worrying that with them around Luke would stop being to him.
    “Hey Luke.” Joel said.
    “Hey guys.” Luke said.
    “Mind if we fish with ya?” Timmy asked.
    “Go right ahead.” Luke said and then looked at Bo. “Why don’t you go sit over there.” Luke said pointing at a at a big elm tree a few feet away.
    “You said WE were going fishing.” Bo said.
    “And we both still will be fishing.” Luke said.
Bo frowned. “It is not the same.”
     “It is still the same creek so technically . . .” Luke said.
     “Fine, be that way you big jerk.” Bo said, grabbing his fishing pole and walking quickly over to where Luke had told him to go.
     “What a little suck.” Timmy said.
     “Yeah . . . really.” Luke said, though he felt kind of bad for how he had just hurt Bo.
He had seen the hurt and disappointment in Bo’s eyes and felt bad but wanted to be with his new friends, afraid they wouldn’t accept him if Bo was around. He figured he could make it up to Bo later. Giving it no further thought Luke started to have fun fishing with his friends.
     A few minutes later Bo caught a big old lake trout. It took him a while to reel it in. The fish felt slippery and slimy as he tried to hold on to it’s wriggling body. The hook was caught deep into the fish and Bo was having trouble getting it out. Suddenly the fish wriggled free at the same moment the hook slipped out. Bo gave a surprised cry of pain as the hook sank deep into the index finger on his left hand. Luke heard Bo’s cry of pain and quickly looked over to see what was wrong with Bo. He jumped to his feet and ran over to Bo when he saw the blood.
     “What happened Bo?” Luke asked as he knelt by his cousin.
Bo couldn’t manage to say anything and only held his finger up to show Luke. Luke flinched at the sight of the hook which was deeply in imbedded into Bo’s finger, he saw the fish thrashing around on the ground and deduced what had happened, he had almost done the same thing a few times himself. Luke gently took a hold of Bo’s hand in his left hand.
     “Just hold still Bo I’ll pull the hook out.” Luke said softly, ignoring the fact that his own hand was being soaked with Bo’s blood.
     “It hurts.” Bo cried.
     “I know it does just hold still.” Luke said.
Luke gently and slowly started to pull the hook, Bo whimpered softly at the pain. The hook seemed to be deeply lodged into Bo’s finger and took Luke a while to get it out. Luke’s friends and had stopped fishing and stood watching not knowing what else to do. Luke took a hankie out of his pocket and wrapped it tight around Bo ‘s finger.
     “Let’s go home and have Uncle Jesse look at that okay?”
Bo nodded sniffling back the tears. Luke picked up Bo’s fishing pole, and the fish, which had died, figuring with all the trouble, that had been caused, they should have fish for dinner. Luke went back and grabbed his own pole. Bo didn’t go near Luke’s friends, and stood waiting for Luke. They walked home quickly and in silence, Luke had no idea how to tell Bo just how sorry he was. Luke knew that if he had kept his promise to Bo that this probably never would’ve happened.
     Jesse was working on the tractor when Bo and Luke got back, he saw the blood soaked cloth around Bo’s finger and became worried. He quickly wiped his hands off on an old rag and rushed over to the boys.
     “What happened?” Jesse asked, the worry was apparent in his voice.
     “The hook slipped and went into my finger.” Bo said.
     “Let’s get you inside and take a look at that.” Jesse said.
The three of them went inside. Jesse sat Bo on the counter by the sink in the bathroom and slowly unwrapped Bo’s finger. He gently rinsed Bo’s finger off under cool water and look at the cut, then he took out a bottle of antiseptic.
     “This will sting a little.” Jesse said softly and poured the antiseptic over the cut.
     “OW! That stings A LOT.” Bo said as the antiseptic fizzed and burned as it washed over the cut.
     “How did you manage to get the hook the in there so deep?” Jesse asked.
     “The hook was stuck in the fish’s mouth and it slipped when I was trying to get out and went into my finger.” Bo said.
Jesse turned and looked at Luke. “Why didn’t you help him get the hook out?”
     “I . . . I didn’t know.”
     “How could you not know? You were there, weren’t you?” Jesse asked.
     “Yeah but my friends came so I was fishing with them and . . .”
     “Not keeping an eye on Bo.” Jesse said, finishing Luke’s sentence.
     “Yeah.” Luke said hanging his head slightly.
     “Go to your room now. We’ll discuss this later.” Jesse said sternly.
Luke turned and walked out of the bathroom. Jesse turned back to tend to Bo’s injured finger. He wrapped it tightly in gauze, taping the gauze in place.
     “There, that should do it. I don’t think it is deep enough to require stitches. Why don’t you go out to the kitchen and get yourself a couple cookies.”
Bo nodded, as Jesse lifted him off the counter and set him back down. Even though Bo was hurt by Luke breaking his promise he didn’t want Luke to be in trouble. Bo glanced at the bedroom door, as Jesse pulled it shut, and then went into the kitchen.
     Jesse walked over and stood in front of Luke, he had a ver disappointed look on his face.
     “How could you go fishing with your friends after you promised Bo that you would spend the day with him?”
Luke shrugged. “They just showed up . . . I didn’t intentionally break my promise.”
     “Is that so?”
Luke nodded. “I didn’t mean to break my promise nor did I mean for Bo to get hurt.”
     “None the less those things happened didn’t they?” Jesse asked.
     “Yeah.”
     “You know I doubt Bo’s finger hurts as much as his what you did to him hurts. You promised to take him fishing and then abandoned him for your friends, breaking your promise. You knew how happy he was at the fact you were going to spend some time with him.”
     “So what?” Luke asked.
     “You hurt Bo. If you had been paying attention he wouldn’t have got hurt.”
     “It is not my responsibility to look after him. I was only taking him fishing out of pity, not cause I really wanted to.” Luke said.
Jesse took Luke by the arm and hauled him to his feet he swung him around and gave him a firm spank on the behind. “I don’t know why you decide to take this kind of attitude towards your little cousin but I have had enough of it. You are gonna go out there and apologize to Bo, and you are grounded for the next two weeks.”
Luke pulled away from Jesse. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
Jesse didn’t respond to what Luke said, he only looked at him sternly, a look that held disappointment and anger. Luke gave up trying to argue, knowing it would get him nowhere. He turned and walked out of the room.
     Bo was sitting on the couch when Luke walked out and stood in front of him.
     “I am sorry I lied to you and that you got hurt.” Luke said, though his voice was insincere.
Bo just shrugged, he could tell from Luke’s tone that he really didn’t mean it. Luke turned and went back to the bedroom slamming the door behind himself. Jesse stood there shaking his head. He walked over and sat down next to Bo, he could tell Bo looked upset.
     “It’ll be okay.” Jesse said softly.
Bo forced a small smile and then went outside to play.
     Two days later Bo saw Luke sneaking away from the house and followed him. Luke was almost to the clubhouse when he realized he was being followed, he turned around to face Bo.
     “What are you doing following me?” Luke asked.
     “What are you doing leaving the house, you are grounded.”
     “I can do whatever I want.” Luke said.
     “Well if you can then so can I.” Bo said.
     “Dang it Bo just go back home now.” Luke said, his voice sounded irritated.
Bo shook his head. “No. I don’t have to.”
Luke was about to argue further when his friends came.
     “Hey Luke.” Joel said. “What is he doing here?”
     “He followed me.” Luke said.
     “Go back home you little baby.” Timmy said.
     “No. I don’t have to and you can’t make me.” Bo said.
Timmy walked over to Bo and shoved him to the ground. Luke’s eyes flashed with anger and turned and shoved Timmy to the ground.
     “Don’t you dare shove my cousin.” Luke said.
Timmy looked up at Luke with startled eyes and slowly stood up, Luke was bigger then him and he didn’t think it was a good idea to try to fight. “You do all the time. You are always dissing him shoving him around.”
     “Yeah he is my cousin I can do those things you can’t.” Luke said firmly.
     “Yeah but . . .” Timmy started to argue.
     “Just drop it Timmy, Luke’s got a point.” Justin said.
     “Yeah let’s just go. We found this great place to play.” Joel said. “C’mon Luke.”
Luke smiled, and then turned to Bo. “Go home.”
Bo shook his head. “No. I am going to.”
Luke frowned and then took off with his friends. They were all walking quickly and Bo had trouble keeping up with him.
     After five minutes they reached the old wooden train track bridge. Timmy started across first, walking along the outside of the frame, not by the tracks. Joel went next and then Justin. Luke went to go when Bo grabbed his arm.
     “You shouldn’t be going across it ain’t safe, what if a train comes?”
     “You are such a baby. Since you are too chicken to cross go home.” Luke said, pulling away from Bo and starting across.
Bo wanted to prove to Luke that he wasn’t a baby and was not too chicken to go across. Bo stepped onto the first board. The boards were spaced quite far apart, and Bo had to reach his legs quite far to get from board to board. He held onto the frame structure of the bridge and slowly made his way across. The older boys were all just to the other side when the sound of a train whistle pierced the mid day air. The train was blaring its whistle in long steady blasts. Luke wasn’t sure why he turned around but he did, his face paled when he saw Bo, who was about half across the tracks. Luke could see the fear in Bo’s eyes and Luke began to curse himself, knowing he had placed Bo’s life in danger.  Bo trembled with fear as the sound of the speeding train approached. Luke didn’t know what to do, he wanted to run out and grab Bo pulling him to safety, but his legs were numb. Bo was frozen in fear, he was an equally distance from both ends of the bridge and knew he couldn’t reach either side before the train reached him. The engineer saw the young boy on the side of the tracks and hit the brakes of the train even though he knew he would never be able to stop in time. The train rolled onto the bridge, the force of it going by knocked Bo off the bridge. Bo fell and landed in the shallow riverbed a hundred feet below and lay unmoving in the shallow muddy water, just inches from having been impaled on a pile of jagged rocks. Luke felt numb, as he looked down the embankment at his younger cousin’s still form, his heart beating widely in his chest. Luke was fearing the worst, fearing that Bo had been killed.
     “Oh my god he’s dead, let’s get out of here.” Joel said, turning to run.
The other boys nodded and started to take off as well.
     “WAIT! You have to help me . . .” Luke said his voice trailing off as the other boys vanished.
Luke took a deep breath and slid on the embankment, rushing over to Bo’s side.
     “Bo . . . Bo are you okay?”
Fear clenched at Luke’s heart like an icy cold hand when Bo didn’t reply. Tears of worry burned at Luke’s eyes and he struggled to hold them back. He placed two fingers against the side of Bo’s neck to check for a pulse. He gave a sigh of relief when he felt there was one, it was slow and weak but was there.
     “I am so so sorry Bo I never meant for you to get hurt.” Luke said.
Luke tried to think of what to do but couldn’t, the only thing he could think of was that Bo could die. Luke lifted Bo’s head slightly out of the water and placed it on his lap. Luke sat in the shallow muddy water by his cousin, and as hard as he fought not to cry a couple tears slid down his cheeks.
    Bo suddenly gave a soft whimper of pain and his eyes fluttered open. Luke smiled when he saw Bo had woke up.
     “Oh Bo I was so worried. Are you okay?”
Bo’s lips moved as though to respond but no sound came out, his eyes were filled with pain and were unfocusing. Luke gently used one hand to brush Bo’s hair away from his eyes.
      “You just hang in there kiddo, okay?”
Bo didn’t respond or even try to speak; his eyes drifted shut again.
     The engineer of the train had called for help after knocking Bo off the bridge, and the ambulance sped towards where Bo laid injured. The sound of the sirens filled the air.
     “Hear that Bo help is on the way.” Luke said.
A moment later the ambulance arrived. Two attendants rushed down the embankment, and they carefully lifted Bo on to a stretcher. Luke followed them up the embankment and over to the ambulance.
     “He is my cousin, I want to go with him.” Luke said.
The attendant with the strawberry blonde hair nodded, and gave Luke a hand into the back of the ambulance. Luke sat quietly by Bo, holding his right hand between his own as the attendant checked Bo over.
     Once they reached the hospital Luke watched as they took Bo away. A nurse led him to a small room.  Luke sat alone in the small room, and broke down crying. Luke was worried about, knowing it was all his fault that Bo had got hurt and that his life was in danger. Before he had tried to remain strong to keep Bo from worrying and becoming more scared then he already was, now that Bo wasn’t there he didn’t even try to hold back the tears.
 Jesse sped towards Tri-County hospital wondering what had happened to Bo. He knew it had to be serious because they wouldn’t tell him over the phone. It had been almost two hours since he had found that the boys had left the farm. He had been angry at Luke until he received that phone call now he was only afraid for Bo’s life. Jesse walked over to the nurse’s desk.
     “I am Mr. Duke, you called me about my nephew Bo. Where is he? Is he okay?”
     “He is still with the doctor’s, You can just have a seat in the waiting room until there is word.”
     “What happened?”
     “I don’t know sir. I’ll show to the waiting room, I am sure a doctor will be with you shortly.” The nurse said and led Jesse to the waiting room where Luke was.
     Luke looked up when the door opened, and saw his uncle standing there, he ran over to Jesse and buried his tear stained face against him. Jesse sat down on a small couch, holding Luke against him, allowing the boy to cry, while hiding his own tears of worry. Luke expected Jesse to be angry and was afraid to tell him what had happened he hoped in a way that Jesse wouldn’t ask, but knew in that he would.
     “What happened?” Jesse asked softly.
Luke lifted his head to look at his uncle, he took a deep breath and began to tell him everything that had happened.
     “You shouldn’t have been anywhere near there, it wasn’t safe and you knew it. You placed Bo’s life in danger.” Jesse said.
     “I am sorry. I never meant for it to happen, I would never want anything to happen to Bo. I know I shouldn’t have been there . . . I should’ve stayed at home like I was suppose to it is all my fault.” Luke said.
     “It is not all your fault Luke.” Jesse said softly. “You should’ve known better but you had no idea that this was going to happen.”
Luke said nothing further and the two of them sat in silence for the next hour.
     Dr. Mertz walked into the waiting room. Jesse stood up to greet him, shaking the doctor’s hand as they introduced themselves.
     “So how is my boy?” Jesse asked.
     “He is incredibly lucky. There doesn’t seem to have been any permanent damage done we have to keep here for the next few nights for observation to be sure though.” Dr. Mertz said.
Jesse nodded. “How is he doing?”
     “He has a hair line fracture on his left ankle, and three broken ribs, there was internal bleeding but we had no problem in stopping that. He has numerous cuts and bruises but seems just fine otherwise he is really quite lucky. He is resting in room seven; he still is asleep from the painkillers. I’ll give you a few minutes to visit and then will need you to fill out some forms.” Dr. Mertz said.
     “Thank you doctor.”
     Luke followed Jesse to the room. His heart filled with grief seeing Bo lying on the hospital bed, cover in bandages. Jesse brushed a stray lock of Bo’s bangs off his forehead and spoke in soft whispers to him. Jesse then left Luke alone with Bo as he went to fill out the forms.
     Luke sat quietly beside Bo, holding his younger cousin’s hand between his own, still blaming himself for what happened to Bo. Bo slowly started to wake up, he made a soft moaning sound as began to awaken his fluttered open and he looked at Luke.
     “Hey Bo, how ya doing?” Luke said, his voice was filled with joy to see Bo awake.
     “Kinda sore, kinda tired.” Bo said, his voice sleepy sounding.
     “I am really sorry about what happened . . .” Luke started to say his voice trailing off as he didn’t know the words to express just how sorry he was.
     “It’s okay.” Bo said.
Luke shook his head. “No it is not. You could’ve been killed because me.”
     “I told ya it’s okay Luke, I don’t blame you. I was the one who was following after you and you told me to go home.” Bo said.
     “That is the point Bo. I should’ve been at home to and not with them. I should’ve been looking out for you . . . and being your friend. I guess I’m just a polecat.” Luke said.
Bo smiled and gave a small laugh. “You sure don’t look like one.” Bo said and then his young face grew serious. “What happened is my fault. I should’ve went back home you made it clear you didn’t want me around.”
     “That is not true it is my fault. You have always been like a brother to me and a really good friend . . . my best friend, I was being stupid to think that three years age difference means something, I know now it don’t. I am sorry that I hurt you.”
     “It’s okay Luke, I forgive ya.” Bo said.
Luke smiled and leaned forward and hugged Bo. “Friends?”
     “Friends.” Bo said as he returned Luke’s hug.
Luke sat back and looked at Bo. “From now on I ain’t gonna be friends with anybody that don’t want to be friends with you as well.”
Bo smiled, and started to drift back into a light sleep, all his worries of the past while were gone now that he and Luke were friends again, to Bo it made everything seem okay.
     Bo was released four days later with no signs of any permanent injuries. Luke stopped hanging around with the members of the club, keeping his promise to only be friends with people who would be friends with Bo as well. Luke didn’t mind that he was still grounded, it didn’t seem to matter at all. The summer seemed to pass quickly and Bo was healing rapidly, nobody could tell that his life had recently been in danger. Bo and Luke’s friendship grew to be stronger then ever before and the two of them became inseparable.