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Adam had to bite into his biscuit to hide his grin as he saw Joe and Will fumble down the stairs for breakfast, tired from their late night gambling. Will was faring much worse than Joe- Joe had been out late playing poker before, but this was Will's first experience. Once he sat down on his chair he bobbed his head once, twice, and a third time before he gave in and crash-landed his head on his hand for support. "Late night, Will?" Adam asked, catching the attention of Ben behind the newspaper Joe had thrown on the kitchen table when they got home.

"What time did you boys get back from Virginia City?" Ben asked, staring down both of the boys from the head of the table.

Joe shrugged, "It wasn't that late," he mumbled tiredly, avoiding a direct answer.

"Joseph," warned Ben.

Joe squinted down at his plate of scrambled eggs and scooped up a forkful, "Around one thirty."

Ben noisily placed his coffee cup in its saucer, startling Will into consciousness with a jolt. "I've told you time and again to stop gambling late at night, have I not?" Joe didn't look at his father and instead chose to look down at his plate where he was chasing his eggs around his plate. Ben raised his voice to grab his son's attention, "Joseph, look at me and answer my question."

Joe grimaced and set his fork down before looking up at Ben, "Yes, you have."

"I want you and Will to make repairs on the barn roof today, so both of you better be awake and alert by the end of breakfast."

"Yes, sir."

Satisfied, Ben went back to his newspaper, but it wasn't long before he spoke again, "Another ranch was robbed, four days ago."

Will immediately woke up and sat straighter. Joe's eyes narrowed.

"What ranch was it this time?" Adam asked, taking a sideways glance at Will.

"The Williams' Ranch."

"That's no more'n fifteen miles from here!" Hoss exclaimed. "What was stolen?"

Ben scanned the article to find the amount before replying, "Fifty dollars. Again, it was stolen during the day- early morning." He folded the paper with thin lips and placed it down next to his fork before looking at both Joe and Will, "Boys, while you're up there on the roof, you also have a bird's eye view of the ranch house. Keep a close eye on it, will you?" Both Will and Joe nodded.

"I can't believe you," Joe spoke in a low voice as he and Will were gathering supplies from inside the barn.

Will was in the middle of grabbing the ladder when he stood still for a moment, "What d'you mean?"

"You know what I mean." Joe sent Will a nasty look when he passed him with an armful of new boards for the roof. He checked Will's shoulder with his own as he left the barn. Will stuck up his chin and grabbed the ladder before following Joe.

Taking large strides to catch up, Will was starting to feel hot underneath his collar, "If you think I stole that fifty dollars, then you've got another thing comin'."

"Oh, put a sock in it, will ya?" Joe dropped the boards on the ground and spun around to look Will straight in the eye, "I know you're the one stealin' from every ranch this side o' the Rockies. Why don't you just admit it?"

Will jutted out his chin, "You don't have any proof that I'm the ranch thief."

"You act real suspicious whenever we touch the topic with a ten-foot pole. Was that job you had before you came really an honest, payin' job, or do you plan on making thievery your occupation?" Joe let his question sink in before he snatched the ladder from Will's slackened hands. "Don't want this stolen. Now if you don't mind, I've got a job t' do as well, though it's a mite more lawful than yours."

Will dropped his hands to his sides, fighting against every fiber in his being to slug Joe then and there. "That hits below the belt, Joe."

Joe leaned the ladder against the roof of the barn, "Then maybe you should start tellin' the truth."

"I've never told a lie."

"You've kept things from us," Joe retorted. He grabbed the tool kit from the ground and put one foot on the first rung of the ladder, "I know all those tricks: I was a handful when I was a kid. Who knows, I probably still am, so I know what you're doing and it ain't workin'." He shimmied up the ladder to dispose of the kit before he climbed back down to start lugging up the boards. "Your sister did the same thing when she was over here last. You're no better now than she was then."

Will was quick to raise his fist in the air in anger. Joe didn't even flinch; instead, he frowned. "You're more like your sister than you realize. She slapped Adam after he accused her of being no better than your father."

Will was on the brink for a moment, his eyes conveying a mix of emotions before he closed his eyes and dropped his fist at his side. "No," he muttered. Will sighed and his shoulders slumped. "I haven't been completely honest with you, Joe, though you've probably guessed by now that I've stolen from all those ranches. I only steal just enough to get by and I haven't stolen anything at all since I found you."

Joe furrowed his eyebrows at Will's confession. Yes, he had suspected for some time, but it was still disheartening that Will could turn into a seasoned ranch thief before the age of eighteen. "Did you even think to start a new life that included an honest pay?"

"I didn't know how!" Will exclaimed. "I know how to lie and steal and that's it. Sure, I can read and write, but that won't help much in the way of chores and labor." Then Will motioned to the barn, "I don't even know how to fix a barn roof."

"I can teach you," Joe offered. "You can stay on the Ponderosa as a hired hand." Joe watched Will's face brighten, though Joe had one condition, "But you have to tell the Sheriff what you told me."

"What? No!" Will exclaimed. "If I do that, I'll go to jail or get hung!" He felt around his neck, imagining what the noose would feel like.

"Just because you haven't been stealing for a week doesn't mean you're not a thief anymore," Joe said. He straightened his shoulders, "Besides, if you don't tell Sheriff Coffee, I will."

Both anger and fear tinted Will's voice. "You do that and you'd be digging my grave, Joe."

Joe shrugged as if to look nonchalant, though on the inside he would've given anything to see Will get off scot-free, still remembering the little boy that came to the Ponderosa eight years ago. "Perhaps if you were to turn yourself in and guaranteed to repay the damages, they wouldn't hang you."

It looked as if Will was thinking it over, but he was actually just numb with mixed feelings and thoughts that spun around in his head. "Please, Joe, just give me time to tell the Sheriff, won't you? I need to think this over still. Promise me you won't tell the Sheriff yourself?"

Joe hesitated before responding, taking in Will's pleading looks. "I'll give you five days to think about it, though there really isn't anything to think about. You have to confess to Sheriff Coffee." He looked back at the supplies that were scattered near the barn. "Now c'mon, let's fix this roof before my Pa has our hides."

Will's mixed look of blind fear, indecision, and gratitude nearly tore Joe in two: he didn't promise to stay away from the Sheriff and if he had any suspicion that Will was going to run away, Joe would race to Roy at the same speed. He hoped Will would realize what he should do in five day's time, otherwise Joe would have to make a very long trip into town.