Matthew 10:12 - Part One

The sound of children’s laughter echoed across a nearby field, followed shortly by the soft rustling of small feet through the green grass and a flapping of wings as a young white-furred fruit bat with tousled blonde hair came flying over the top of a large grassy mound in what could only be described as a makeshift cart. This was then followed by a slightly older-looking green and white-furred bat who tumbled after the wooden contraption, both of the boys ending up in a heap at the bottom of the hill, the cart on its side, wheels still spinning.

“Hah! That was the best one yet! Did you see how I flew over that hill? Whoosh!” the younger male exclaimed happily as he sat up, his hands gesturing wildly, beaming at his older brother.

The other fruit bat grinned back, before grabbing his brother in a headlock, grinding his knuckles playfully against the younger boy’s head gently. “Hey, it was me who pushed you, remember?”

“Jonathan, let go!” the white bat giggled, trying to pull out of his brother’s grip. “Yeah I know! We make such a good team, don’t we?”

“We sure do.” Jonathan loosened his grip, ruffling his brother’s blonde hair instead, before his ears pricked, hearing their mother calling them.

“Johnny! Anthony! It’s time to come back inside now!”

Her voice floated from the other side of the mound that they had just flown over, and Jonathan pushed himself to his feet, pulling his brother up also, picking up the wooden cart and holding it under his arm.
“Coming, mother!” he called back to her, pulling Anthony gently by the hand to walk back over the mound, a large group of Gypsy caravans coming into view.

The Grey family had been travellers for many generations, and this was the only life that they knew, though they wouldn’t trade it for anything else. They were a well-liked and respected family within the small community. Anthony was the youngest son, his brother Jonathan older by five years, but the two connected on such a strong level you would have thought they were identical twins. Their mother, Hera, was a stunningly beautiful woman with white fur, long flowing blonde hair and kind blue eyes. She was the kind of mother that all children dream of having, and the two brothers loved her dearly. The leader of the small Gypsy community and the boys’ father was Kaiser, a strong, silent man who was known throughout as someone who would take no fuss from anyone.

Hera smiled softly and waved at her sons as they appeared over the top of the mound.
“Dinner is almost ready!” she called, watching as Anthony pulled away from his brother and ran full pelt down the mound towards her to wrap his pale arms around her in a loving hug.

“You should have seen me fly over that hill, mother! It was amazing!” he giggled, nuzzling his head against his mother’s stomach.

“I bet it was, darling…” she laughed affectionately, stroking her slender fingers through Anthony’s hair, gazing down at him, before looking up at Jonathan as he arrived.

“Only because I pushed.” Jonathan added with a smile, placing the wooden cart down onto the grass near to their caravan.

Hera smiled back at Jonathan, pulling a few pieces of dry grass from Anthony’s hair, before patting him on the back gently. “Go and sit down for dinner… it will be ready in about 5 minutes!” she said softly, watching as Anthony scampered up the short flight of steps into their caravan.

“Where’s father?” Jonathan asked, now leaning in to give his mother a hug also.

“He’s gone to speak with Nathaniel about something. I think it’s to do with moving the caravans. Nothing too important, love…” she leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Jonathan’s blonde hair. “Go and sit down with your brother so you’re ready when he gets back.”
Jonathan lifted his head and smiled at his mother, nodding, before moving to climb the steps after Anthony.
Hera watched her elder son disappear into the caravan, before looking out across the field where the other caravans were stood, unable to see her partner anywhere, letting out a soft sigh. Kaiser had been going out a lot lately and she knew that something was wrong, but he was not the type of person to reveal his problems, not even to her. She turned and followed her sons into their caravan, seeing them sitting down on one side of the couch waiting patiently for their dinner.

“It’s almost ready!” she laughed softly as she heard the quiet rumble of Anthony’s stomach, and the boy giggled and pressed his hand against it.

The sound of heavy boots on wood were heard next, and Hera turned her head from the cooking to see her partner climb into the caravan, silently relieved to see him back, moving to him.
“What did Nathaniel say?” she smiled gently at Kaiser as he lifted a large hand to stroke his fingers along her cheek. There was a short silence as Kaiser gazed at Hera before he spoke, his voice deep but soft.

“He still thinks that we should move the caravans.” he murmured, clearly not happy about this idea.

“Oh Kaiser…” Hera sighed softly, resting her delicate hands against his chest. “I don’t know why Nathaniel is causing so much trouble recently. It’s just not like him…”

Kaiser stayed silent, his piercing blue eyes averting their gaze to look over at his two sons.

“If he wants to move, that’s up to him. He can go wherever he likes. The others won’t follow, not while we’re still here.”

Hera nodded and moved back slightly, tending to the cooking again. “I just wish it didn’t have to come to that.” She said softly as she started to ladle out the contents of the cooking pot into bowls, watching her partner sit down opposite Jonathan and Anthony.

“Father, guess what? I FLEW over that hill today!” Anthony beamed happily, too young to understand what was going on with the caravans, pointing out of the small window over at the hill he had hurtled over earlier. “Jonathan helped me!” he added, grinning at his brother.

“Well done, son… I’m proud of you.” Kaiser replied softly, smiling affectionately at his youngest son, before glancing at Jonathan, saying nothing to him.
Jonathan looked downwards, used to the silent treatment from his father, though he was never sure why he hardly praised him or spoke kindly to him like he did to Anthony. He wasn’t jealous of his brother, but it did hurt him, though he, just like his father kept his feelings hidden most of the time.

“Here we go… this should stop that tummy from rumbling!” Hera laughed softly, glancing at Jonathan as she handed he and Anthony their bowls full of hot stew and a spoon each, before she moved to sit down next to Kaiser, giving him a bowl also.

“Yum…” Anthony murmured happily as he scooped a spoonful of stew into his mouth and then gasped as it burned his mouth. “Hot…!”
Jonathan chuckled as he blew gently at his own spoonful to cool it down. “Of course it’s hot, Tee, it’s just been made!”
‘Tee’ was the affectionate nickname that Jonathan called his brother on occasions. It was derived from the latter part of Anthony’s name – Tony.
Anthony pouted and gazed down at his bowl again, before scooping up another spoonful, copying his brother this time and blowing it cool beforehand.
Hera watched her sons with loving eyes as she also ate, before she turned her head slightly to look over at her partner, seeing that he seems lost in thought as usual, lowering her eyes and continuing to eat without a word.

--

Later that night, after Jonathan and Anthony were safely tucked up in bed, Kaiser left the caravan to have one last talk with his friend, Nathaniel. Things between them weren’t as friendly as before however, and Kaiser feared the worst. He had trusted Nathaniel with a secret; something that he had told him in deepest confidence; but as the secret had become more dangerous and out of hand, Nathaniel decided that he didn’t want to be part of it anymore, out of fear for his family’s safety.
Kaiser’s eyes narrowed as he reached his friends’ caravan, seeing the grey fox packing away the last of his belongings.

“I told you already, Kaiser, we’re leaving.” Nathaniel spoke without turning his head, his sensitive ears having heard the sound of Kaiser’s boots against the soft ground.

“I know. And I’m not here to stop you…” the green-furred fruit bat paused for a few seconds, watching his friend. “But… you know that the other families won’t follow, don’t you? Nathaniel… it’s dangerous out there alone.”

Nathaniel turned to face Kaiser now, his shock of black hair waving gently in the soft evening breeze, his green eyes staring back into his friends’ ice blue ones.

“It’s dangerous staying here with you, too.” Nathaniel growled. “Look, I already said everything I wanted to say to you. Leave us alone.” The grey fox turned away from Kaiser once more, but found himself being instantly pulled back around to face his friend again by the taller males’ strong hand.

“I told you, it won’t come to that! He can’t control me, Nathaniel...!” Kaiser hissed in reply.

“It’s not him controlling you that I’m worried about. It’s the debt that you’ve gotten yourself into. What you’ve gotten your family into. What about Hera, Kaiser? And the boys? Didn’t you think about them?”

Kaiser stayed silent, before releasing his grip on Nathaniel’s shoulder. He knew that his friend was right; he had leapt into something dangerous with both feet before thinking of the consequences.

“I think about them all the time…” he looked away as he heard the soft echo of a chuckle somewhere inside of his mind, frowning to himself.

“I’m sorry, old friend, but I’m not going to risk my family’s lives just because of your mistake.” Nathaniel turned again, picking up a wooden bucket from the ground. “I hope for your family’s sake that you get everything sorted.”

“The next meeting is tomorrow. He wants us to do something important for him. I can only hope that it’s the last task.” Kaiser said in a quiet voice, watching his friend hang the bucket onto a hook on his caravan.

Nathaniel nodded, and glanced at Kaiser once more. “Don’t let Carreau stop you from doing what’s right.”

Kaiser stiffened up a little, but did not reply to that. “When are you leaving?”

“Early. I’m sorry… I wish that it didn’t have to be this way, but I have to do what’s best for my family.” Nathaniel reached out a hand and patted Kaiser’s strong arm gently, managing a slight smile. “Maybe one day we’ll meet up again, eh? Take care of Hera…”

Not a word of reply emitted from Kaiser’s lips, and Nathaniel took back his hand, letting out a sigh, knowing that it’s impossible to know what Kaiser is thinking sometimes. “Goodnight, old friend.” he murmured as he moved to the steps of his caravan.

“Goodnight.” Kaiser looked up, meeting his friends’ eyes once more, before he turned to walk slowly back to his own caravan, trying to ignore that all-too-familiar voice in his head.

“Do you remember our plan, Kaiser?”

Kaiser swallowed hard, replying to the voice mentally. “Of course...”

A long silence came, before the voice spoke again.

“It begins… tomorrow.”