Hey guys! Hope you enjoy part two, out of what is now three. Partly because I got to a good stopping point, and partly because it's nearly midnight here and I keep nodding off.

Thank you to the reviewers! You guys rock and give me all sort of inspiration to keep on writing. Thanks, Chrissysmiles, Annie Jones, Mamabear2Two, Millie2077, 487carrie, aranow, guest, mhart, ulls!

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Josiah smiled warmly at Mrs. Potter as they walked down the boardwalk chatting about nothing in particular. It had started out with her asking if he intended to give an Easter service this year, but then they'd moved on to other topics and now were strolling together, slowly heading back in the direction of the Potter's store. She'd only taken off her mourning clothes two months before, but both Ezra and Nathan had been teasing him that she had had her eye on him for awhile now. At first the big man had just ignored it as his brothers having too much time on their hands, but there had been a few days lately that she had sought his company out, and he'd begun to do the same, to her apparent pleasure, and certainly to his. Gloria Potter was a handsome women, strong and smart to carry on in this small town after the murder of her husband and keep their store thriving. He wondered if she would be open to more formal courting gestures or if it would be too soon? Josiah was a romantic at heart, and had made the mistake of moving too fast before.

He was laughing at her tale of a difficult customer, planning to share a tidbit about one of the more eccentric farmers he'd encountered while patrolling on the edges of Four Corner's territory, when he saw Nathan, looking absolutely murderous, storming down the middle of the street, with his head turned up to the roof line, and eyes moving like he was searching for something. He headed past the Potter's store, the hardware store, and the bank, stopping in front of the hotel and turning to face it with his hands on his hips, and Josiah didn't know what was happening, but he was suddenly a hundred percent sure that whatever Nathan was furious about, the younger boys were the cause.

Gloria had seen what he had by now, and they started walking that way, curious, right as Nathan started shouting. "Get down from there right now! Are ya tryin' to kill your fool selves, what the hell do ya'll think your doin', runnin' around the roofs like ya think your wildcats! Ya ain't! I know ya'll can hear me! I'm gonna tan both your hides, see if I don't!" By now Josiah was jogging that direction, turning his head to see just which two boys it was and what they were doing and sucked in a breath as he saw Ezra and Vin chasing each other about on top of the two story roof of the hotel. Good God! Josiah stared, mouth agape for just a moment, before it snapped shut, jaw growing tight with both fear and anger. He opened his mouth to roar, but a firm touch on his arm startled him into stopping, Gloria's voice cutting into his thoughts.

"I wouldn't yell too loud, if they startle they could fall." Seeing the sense in that, he nodded, taking in her tense, anxious face with a glance, before gluing his eyes back on the boys-in time to see Ezra look down and freeze in his tracks as he saw him, and Vin, behind him, try and fail to stop before he crashed into the younger boy. Ezra started to topple forward, but Vin, who'd slipped down on his rear as he tried to stop, snagged him by the back of his belt and jerked him backwards, hard enough that Ezra wound up behind him, and down on the shingles. Unfortunately, that sent Vin sliding forward even faster, towards the edge of the roof, and Josiah moved quick, thinking that if nothing else he could try to break the fall with his own body.

He could hear the prayer coming from his mouth, but it was as though the words were springing from his lips on their own, Josiah having no more control over them than he did the color of the sky. Just as he thought the worst would happen, could see that Vin was having no luck as he desperately tried to grab onto the shingles he was passing, digging his feet in slowing him, but not enough, was terrified that the next service he gave would be a funeral, Ezra, his feet hooked over the ridge that formed when the roof moved from the flat surface of the middle to the sloping edges, swung his belt down, the end tied in a loop and Vin, miracle of miracles, grabbed it tightly, coming to what must have been a bone-jarring stop no more than a yard away from the edge. He watched intently, a fervent prayer of thanks on his lips, as Vin, clearly breathing heavy and shaky from his scare, scooted himself up the roof backwards, one arm through the loop of the belt until he got to the ridge and then he and Ezra were pushing and pulling each other back onto the flat part of the roof, disappearing from view as they tumbled back onto a blessedly flat, stable surface. "Josiah! Did ya see that? Could of killed themselve! What the hell did they think they were doing? I told them to stop!" Nathan was more upset than Josiah had seen him in a long time, face contorting as he shouted and eyes glossy with the beginnings of tears as he turned to him, clearly needing to share his outrage. Ordinarily Nathan was the calm one, the peacemaker, but nearly watching one of his brothers die had simply been too much.

Josiah was too angry to offer him more than a growled, "I saw, Nathan, I saw." The hotel manager who'd taken over for Maude, Mr. Fitts, had come out to see what the fuss was about was still gaping at the roof, and Josiah turned to him, demanding, "Do you have a ladder that goes high enough to get to that roof? I need it." The man just stared at him and Josiah, who was just plain done, took a step towards him. "Do you?"

The man shook himself out of his stupor, "No...I don't think so..." Josiah really felt like hitting something. Not anyone in particular, not the hotel manager, certainly not the two young men he was never going to let out of his sight again, just something.

He turned back to the building, cupping his hands around his mouth and calling up as loud as he could, "Ezra, Vin, are you alright? Answer me, now!" There was silence for a long moment, what felt like an eternity, and then a hand came up, holding a-Josiah stopped, astounded as he realized that the hand was waving a white handkerchief in the air. 'Lord, grant me the serenity...' That would be Ezra, and sure enough, a second later, another hand was reaching up and jerking the hand holding the handkerchief down again, and then Vin's head was peaking over so he could see him.

"We're fine, 'Siah!" The last time Vin had told Josiah he was fine he'd had a bullet graze on the outside of his thigh that was still bleeding, so he'd take that with a heaping tablespoon of salt, but at least it didn't seem like either of them was likely to be going into shock.

"You stay put and wait for me and Nathan to come up, you hear me?" Vin waved at him and then disappeared again, and if those two didn't do as he'd said...he looked over to Mr. Fitts, who was muttering unhappily to himself, "Is there anyway for me to get up on that roof and get my boys down safely? An access point in the hotel? My ladder won't reach that high, and I'm worried they could have hurt themselves." If Ezra's shoulder hadn't gone at least slightly out of joint after being jolted with a good chunk of Vin's body weight that would almost be worthy of being called another miracle. Vin had to have cut his hands up, trying to grab at the shingles while he was sliding like that, and could easily have hurt his back with that sudden stop. That they both had to have been scared out of their minds went without saying. Once he'd made sure they were alright...then he would kill them.

"My roof...look at those loose shingles. I can't believe this, after the damage that we had to repair when I took over, this is just too much!" The man didn't shout so much as bellow, reminding Josiah disturbingly of a hippopotamus, not an animal he was fond of. He sure didn't like the man being so concerned about his roof he couldn't even bother to answer his questions, they'd pay for any damage, but right now there were more important things to worry about then shingles.

"I don't give a damn about your shingles." Disgusted, he turned away, calling to the small crowd that had gathered to watch the show, half aware that Nathan was now lecturing the man about his priorities, but not actually listening, "Anybody have a ladder that can reach the second story?" Michael Johanson from the hardware store stepped forward, raising his hand as though he were a schoolboy.

"I do, out back of the store, but it's a mite long for me to carry by myself." Josiah nodded, but before he could step forward to go with him the bartender from Digger Dan's, Paul, said he'd go and then they were both jogging that way. He couldn't say he wasn't relieved, as ludicrous as it was, the idea of walking away from the roof line made him more than a little nervous.

Lord, he was going to tan those boys. Josiah couldn't believe the reckless disregard they'd shown for their very lives. It was one thing to risk your life for a cause, for something greater than one's self (though the older peacekeepers did their very best to keep the younger members of their family out of any direct danger), it was another to nearly throw it away for a moment of foolishness.

"Oh my...", Gloria was peering down the alley next to the hotel, her head shaking with disapproval at whatever she saw, and knowing he wasn't going to like it, and hoping he was wrong, Josiah looked as well.

No. He wasn't. Vin and Ezra were walking towards the front of the alley, neither looking too much worse for wear, but that didn't change the fact that he had told them to wait for them. Marching that direction, a growl in his throat, the boys froze, and he could see Ezra getting ready to run, the slight depression of his Achilles heels as he prepared to spring away. Only Vin, showing the first bit of sense Josiah had seen from him so far, reached out to stop him, encircling his wrist with a loose hand. As he got nearer Vin began to look like he'd wished he'd run after Ezra, not stopped him. First things first, when he was close enough to do so Josiah reached out and grabbed them, pulling them both forward into a huge bear hug and squeezing them close, ignoring the squawk of protest from the gambler and the embarrassed mumble from the tracker. Finally, he stepped back and regarded the two of them with a hard, serious, look on his face. "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. The two of you have been very foolish today, very foolish indeed, and I will be correcting that." The wincing, guilty expressions when they heard that didn't do as much to calm him down as they usually did.

"Foolish is right," Nathan snorted it, coming to stand next to Josiah, his arms crossed across his chest as he glared at the younger men, "The way the two of you were carrying on I'm surprised you got brains in your head at all. Either of ya hurt? No lies, now."

Josiah saw the look the two exchanged and before Ezra could out get more than, "No-", he interrupted.

"I don't think we should take any chances, the two of you get up to the clinic with your brother and you let him look you over."

Neither of them moved, even when Nathan made a shepherding gesture with his arms, trying to get them to start walking towards the clinic, Vin grumbling, "'Siah, we're fine."

"Now!"