Jake’s Testimony #7

I ran. There’s no other way to see it. I had seen my brother before, when he was enraged and I knew the damage he could do with his fists—or worse, if he were drunk.

I ran to our old uncle’s Labyn’s grazing lands, west by the great sea. I could tend sheep for him, or perhaps I could learn to fish. At least I wouldn’t starve. And I wouldn’t have to face Esse or father again over what I’d done.

After only a few days, I arrived at Labyn’s flock, and he welcomed me in. Perhaps Becca had sent word by a fast courier, guessing where I’d go. She was canny like that.

Laybn put me right to work. Of course he put me to work. Work, and his flock, were the extent of his world. His heart was good, but his views were limited to what he could see and touch. That also applied to his daughters, whom I married. First the ugly one, and then later the pretty one. But this isn’t their story.

It was at least ten years of this life before word came that my brother was seeking me.