Feeling revitalized and stronger, Danny put his mind on the task at hand. Milkers already carried back into the milk room, he lifted the dirty towel bucket, heavier due to half being soaked in the iodine/water mixture. Dale glanced up at the thump of Danny setting it down by the door, in the middle getting the milk ready for the calves.

"Getting some muscles there, aren't you Danny?"

Grinning cheekily, Danny flexed. Not like Dale could see since Danny always went for long sleeves to avoid as much possible splatter from the cows. Plus, it was starting to get cold enough at night to call for sleeves.

Dave still grinned back and nodded approvingly.

Danny shifted restlessly, dancing on his feet and tapping fingers against his pants.

"Want me to carry that out?" He offered, asked, hoped, ready to burst into action.

"Nah, I'm good. You should head back in. Finish up homework. I'll finish up out here. Plus, you probably don't want to overdo it after practice."

"I'm fine." Danny chirped out. "Didn't have much. And I can always do it on the bus."

On the edge of the school district and first ones picked up, the bus ride was a full hour. Plenty of time.

"Let me carry that for you. I won't spill it."

Dale's mouth quirked up at that. "Sure about that? It's two near full 5 gallon pails. And the calf building is back behind the big machine shed. Not a short distance. Even Elizabeth spills some still."

"Let me try."

"All right then Mister muscles."

Danny swooped in on the pails, adjusting the plastic handles in his hold, focusing on the task.

He should be feeling zapped at this point. After a long day of school, practice that included the weight room, then straight out here to the barn. Yet Danny was not. He felt energized and vibrating, a thrum of gogogo firing from nerve to nerve within him.

Tight pains kept happening in his chest the last few days, enough to start freaking him out. Enough to notice a possible pattern.

When he was busy doing, busy not thinking, it went away. Emotions. It got stronger with emotions, concentrating and building.

Danny feared it was ghost related.

He feared it bursting out.

Badly.

So he was doing what he could to not feel, to not think and dwell, to shake himself off at certain thoughts and emotions that triggered it.

Focus on what was at hand.

And Dale was absent in the best way. The man was good for living in the moment, enjoying his work and jokes, caring for his family and celebrating what they did. And trusting.

Unlike Edi, he didn't press and ask and give looks. He took things as they were, not questioning much deeper. A simple man.

The other Kauffman kids were busy doing homework or assisting their mom with baking cookies for a fundraiser of some sort. Edi had a look on her face earlier in inviting him to join that Danny recognized. He leapt at going outside to help with milking the cows. She could ask or bring up the wrong thing, things Danny was trying not to think too much upon.

More so than Dale.

Danny needed to think about answers, turn through in his head of why this was happening.

And pray whatever it was wasn't going to be his worst fears, his worst parts coming out, his worst enemy.

"You spilled."

Danny swore and tried to adjust the balance of the sloshing milk in the pails. Swarms of barn cats raced up, eagerly drinking and twining around his legs, begging for him to spill more. He squinted and sputtered.

"Oh, now you like me!"

McGee twisted around his leg one more time, then sat on his barn boot, meowing as cute as can be up at him.