5//Julian-April 30, 1843, Missouri

The four kids of my family hopped into our wagon and we pulled away, other wagons on each side of us so that each row was three across except the back line of wagons, being two only. After ten minutes of Papa, Mr Clancy and Mr Millaray, Mingan’s father, yelling back and forth at each other to catch up as they drove, Lydia got antsy. 

“Ma, can Jules and I go out and run ahead? Please? I want to go look at the creek over there, it looks so pretty,” she whined. Ma rolled her eyes but nodded and Papa told the other two men that we older kids were going out of the wagon. Lyds and I hopped down as the wagon was still moving and I saw Rose, Billy and Miles doing the same, and on the other side, Mingan. Lydia quickly ran between the moving wagons and over to where there was a thin line of trees on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a small creek. The rest of us followed and Lydia spun, throwing her head back and laughing. She started taking off her shoes and placed them next to a tree. 

“Lyds what are you doing?” I asked. 

“Wading into the creek, of course! Come on guys, it’s nice,” she encouraged the rest of us. Rose was the first to reluctantly slip her boots off and hop down the small banks and into Lydia’s waiting arms to steady her. Us boys followed suit, and Lydia was right, it was refreshing. The two girls had tied their dresses up at their waists, rolled their bloomers up a bit higher, and were wading through, picking up small stones and little things that caught their interest. Mingan and I trailed behind the other two boys and just silently walked as we watched the water trickle over our feet, the sand and the rocks. Rose and Lydia laughed as they splashed each other. I noticed that Scotty had taken a bag with him and had grabbed all of our shoes. 

Mingan suddenly shrieked, jumping his feet one at a time out of the water. I looked up to see where the others were but they were ahead of us a little ways. 

“It’s a leech! Get it off! Get it off! Julian!” he yelled, his face contorted in panic . 

“You need to stop moving and sit on the bank while I get this little sucker off,” I say a bit harshly. He frowned but quickly sat, and I squatted down and pried the little parasite off of his ankle. I chuckled and dangled it in front of his face, smiling as I watched him squirm. His dark eyes still held anxiety from his oh, so terrible encounter with the bloodsucker and he then looked away from the critter and glared up at me. I gave him a small smile as I helped him up, and touched his hand with the leech.  

“What the fuck!” he shrieked. Then he shoved me, making me trip. I went to grab onto something, anything, to avoid getting soaked, and that something turned out to be the tanned boy beside me. We both fell into the water with a splash and a little grunt as I landed back against the sand and Mingan landed on me, his face nearly slamming into mine. I smiled up at him and he picked his head up a couple inches, frowning, but didn’t make any efforts to move. He kept glaring as my smile fell, my hope of him smiling back gone so instead I touched his hair. His small gasp and slight noise of discontent gave me butterflies and I grinned once more.

It was all I was thinking about for the past three hours since I had met him. Just craving to run my fingers through his dark, curling locks. To my delight, it was as soft and silky as it looked when I combed my fingers through it. I suddenly came aware of our eye contact, his dark brown eyes boring into my lighter eyes. He looked down, disgusted, and sat up when I went to touch his hair again and he started walking briskly away, getting out of the creek to go faster. 

“Fuck you,” he yelled at me as he walked away.  

“Love you too buddy,” I responded.

I let out a loud sigh and stepped out of the creek as well, but to go catch up to Lyds and the others. As I walked the couple hundred metres to where they were, I replayed what had just happened. My stomach had been fluttering and my heart was beating way too fast. It felt like the time Mary Oleson and I had kissed behind the school house a couple of weeks before we found out we were moving. That could never compare to how just touching his hair felt. I had not even kissed him. Just touched his hair and then he ran away before I could do it again. I wanted to chase him and just talk to him more, maybe throw another leech at him so he would need my help again. 

Back home, Will Johnston had kissed another boy. I don’t know who it was, but his parents castrated him and sent him to go live with father McCarthy at church to make him normal. He was never the same witty bully he had been afterwards. He never came to school again and we only saw him at church. I couldn’t have that happen although I knew my parents wouldn’t react that badly. 

When the whole thing happened, Ma and Papa strongly expressed their opinions around the house. Papa said he didn’t understand how they could do that to their own son. Ma had said that they should just let him be a teenager, and he might grow out of it, but if he didn’t that would be okay, because he would be happy. I don’t know if they would think the same if it were me that was the one kissing boys. It doesn't matter though. I would meet a nice girl out west and get married and have a family with her. I sighed, taking my soaked shirt off and jogging to catch up with the others.