3 Murder and Imprisonment

Chapter 2 Murder and Imprisonment Temujin's family survived by eating berries and roots. The boys made fishing hooks out of sewing needles. They made arrows from wood and bone and made clothing from the skins of mice and dogs. Occasionally, they shared campsites with other clans. A boy named Jamuka camped alongside Temujin's family every winter. He became Temujin's best friend. Temujin and Jamuka hunted and played together. They skated on the frozen Onon River. They threw knucklebones, small toys made from the anklebones of sheep.

When they were eleven, they gave each other special knucklebones as gifts. The next year, they made arrowheads for each other. Then they sealed their friendship with a ceremony. By

drinking a few drops of each other's blood, they became andas: blood brothers. One winter, Jamuka did not return. Would the blood brothers ever meet again? In steppe society, when no father was present, the oldest male in the family was in charge. In Temujin's family, that was his older half brother, Begter. Begter picked on Temujin. Once, he stole a fish Temujin had caught just to show Temujin who was in charge. But Temujin, now twelve or thirteen years old, wanted to be the boss. He decided to kill Begter.

One day, Temujin and his younger brother, Khasar, approached Begter. Khasar was better with a bow and arrow, so he stood in front of Begter. Temujin aimed his arrow at Begter's back. Begter knew he had been defeated. He knelt down to surrender and asked that Temujin let his younger brother, Belgutei, live. Temujin agreed. And with that, Temujin and Khasar shot their arrows and left Begter to bleed to death. Hoelun became angry. She called her sons

murderers, animals, monsters. She told Temujin that his only companion now would be his shadow. Word of Temujin's actions traveled to his father's tribe that had abandoned him years earlier. They rode to Temujin's camp to punish him. Temujin hid but was soon discovered. A yoke—a wooden bar used to harness animals— was placed over his neck, and he was taken to their camp as a prisoner. Every day, he was moved to a different ger, where he would be guarded by a servant. One day, while his captors were celebrating a festival, Temujin made a break for it. He swung his yoke, knocking out the boy guarding him. Temujin ran to the river and hid in a clump of weeds. He was spotted by a man who told Temujin to remain there until dark, then run home.

Instead, Temujin ran to the man's ger at nightfall. The man was angry at Temujin for putting his family in danger. But there was something special about Temujin, a fire in his eyes. The man wanted to help. He removed Temujin's yoke. The next day, the family hid Temujin in a cart of wool. At night, they gave him food and a horse. Temujin was grateful. His own clan had left his family for dead on the steppe. Years later they returned, only to imprison him. But a poor family with