A depressed Lucas missed his boy badly, but he knew he still had a job to do to keep the ranch going should Mark ever find his way home. He finally had to hire a part-time ranch hand to tend to the place while he ran errands and continued with the search parties to find the missing Mark. In the two weeks that Mark had gone missing, Lucas had become depressed enough to grow a mustache and beard.

His friends had taken notice of just how bad Lucas's depression was getting, but he had to keep the place going for Mark. His boy wasn't going to come home to a ruined ranch. He walked out to the barn and gently petted Blueboy before feeding him.

"I know," Lucas gently whispered with a small kiss to the horse's mane. "I miss him, too. Where ever he is, I'm sure he misses you, too."

As he brushed the horse's hair to keep looking in pristine condition, Micah rode in and sighed. It just wasn't the same without the teenage Mark doing his chores, rushing about to hurry up for school, and asking his father if tonight they were having dinner at the hotel.

"You could use a shave, Lucas boy," Micah said as he stood at the barn doorway. "And a haircut."

"I'll do both the second my boy comes home safe," Lucas said. "And not a second before."

"We've searched everywhere for 100 miles," Micah said. "The word's out to every nearby city, everyone's keeping an eye out. I've called in every favor to every contact I have and no one's seen anything, not so much as a hair has been found.

"He's out there," Lucas said. "He's alive, otherwise we would have a body for me to bury next to his mother. I'm not giving up."

"No one's asking you too," Micah told him. "But you need to start looking after yourself. When's the last time you slept?"

"I'm afraid that if I sleep, he'll come riding up and ask where I'm at," Lucas said. "That boy means everything to me, Micah. I'd give the world for him to come home. And God help any man keeping him from coming come."

A shirtless young man, having been working on the fence, walked up for a drink of water.

"Fence is almost done, Mr. McCain," David Chase said. The job didn't pay much, but David needed the money for his family, with his step-father still in prison and mother and sister having part-time jobs of their own. Lucas felt sorry for the boy, and with Mark missing, there was a position open.

"Thank you, David," Lucas said. "After that, you can take Mark's horse out for some exercise."

"Yes, sir," David smiled. "Is there any word on Mark?"

"Not yet," Micah said. "The search parties haven't turned anything up yet."

"I miss Mark, he was a good friend," David said. "I hope he comes home safe. I remember the days that me, Mark, and Dollar-Ten used to hang out by the river on a hot day. Now Dollar-Ten has his adopted dad and Mark… Better get back to work, I'm already behind."

David ran off, Lucas noticing the boy was on the verge of tears. The boy really did care about Mark, after all, the three of them were an inseparable trio some time ago.

"There's my darling Jeremiah," Ellie said as she kissed the top of Mark's head as she walked by. "Look at my handsome boys, all together. It does a mother's heart proud."

Mark stared angrily at her as he ate his eggs. Caleb came into the room and kissed his mother.

"Mother, I'm heading into town to try to sell a few heads of cattle in the morning," Caleb said.

"Just be careful, you know how those townspeople treat us mountain folk," Ellie told him. "Maybe you should take one of your brothers."

"I'll go!" Mark told her. "I haven't been to town in weeks."

"You're not ready," Ellie told him. "Nor old enough. Take John."

"But—"

"No, she's right, I don't think you're ready," Caleb told him. "I'll be back with the money, mama. You boys behave yourselves."

"I know what you're planning," Kit said as he put a hand on Mark's arm. "But the nearest town isn't even Northfork. No one would recognize you or be able to tell your Pa. Come on, it's our day to do morning dishes."

Over the last few weeks, Mark and Kit had grown to be best friends, a hard-working duo around the property, always lending each other a hand and learning about each other. Although there were several things Mark still didn't know about Kit and was frankly sure he wasn't ready to ask like the strange looks Kit would give him when they went to bed or washing their clothes by the river. Mark had his suspicions but didn't want to upset Kit by directly asking something he was sure he knew the answer to.

"We have to start getting ready for winter soon," Kit told Mark. "We'll be able to wear our winter boots when the first frost hits."

"That means I won't have to run down the hill barefoot," Mark told him. Although he's noticed that his feet had been becoming more rough and callous due to the terrain. He was thinking that he might not even need boots to run soon. He just needed to reach the nearest farm or passing wagon and he was home free.

After a day of chores, the brothers got ready for bed. Gabriel stayed up later to spend time with his mother as Mark and Kit got ready for bed.

"Ah," Mark said as he felt his sore body.

"What's wrong?" Kit asked.

"My shoulder. Shouldn't have carried such a big load of firewood that last trip," Mark told him as he tried to rub his shoulder.

"Let me," Kit said as he got behind Mark and set him on the bed. He put his hands on Mark's shoulders and started to gently massage him.

"You're tense," Kit said.

"No foolin'," Mark told him. "I'm a hostage and my Pa has no idea where I am. That feels great, Kit. You're a miracle worker. Maybe when we get to Northfork you can open a massage parlor. A lot of people could use this after a hard day's work."

"I ain't goin'," Kit said quietly. "You gotta go on your own when it's time."

"But you don't like it here any more than I do," Mark said as he turned to face Kit. "You're miserable in this place. I told you, my Pa will take you in and you can work as an extra hand. Pa won't be able to pay much, but there are plenty of odd jobs around town you do to make extra money. And you can sleep in the loft."

"It ain't that," Kit told him as he stared away.

"It's because you're kinda different," Mark told him. "You like boys, don't you?" Kit remained silent as Mark hugged him. "I don't mind. Pa says you can't judge a book by its cover. I mean, I kinda thought about that a few times myself over the years, especially when I get fed up with girl's attitudes. But my Pa wouldn't like it if I didn't bring a girl home to make babies with."

"I just feel like I'm all alone in the world," Kit told him.

"You're not alone, you still got a friend like me," Mark smiled. "I won't make fun of you or try to lynch you for being different. We're best friends and ain't nothin' gonna change that."

Kit hugged him and cried a little, finally finding someone who understood him. He couldn't help himself, gently brushed Mark's hair out of his eyes, and gently pressed his lips to Mark's. Mark was caught off guard but didn't resist or push Kit away. Instead, he rolled with it and returned the kiss, not knowing what was happening, but for the first time in weeks, he felt good. Mark felt like he was finally finding someone that truly cared. They heard the door open as quickly pulled back as Gabriel walked in.

"Go to bed, we gotta see Caleb off in the morning," Gabriel told them as he headed to change out of his clothes for bed.