The wind blew fiercely, picking up the dirt outside the ranch. Little Joe chased his hat around as Ben worked fixing the posts on the corral.

"You know," Ben said. "This might all go just a bit faster if you helped out a little." Little Joe still tried to get hold of his hat. "And where is your brother?" Ben continued. "He was supposed to be cleaning the barn."

Little Joe finally caught up with his hat. "Who, Adam?" Joe asked. "He's...uh...he's still sleepin'."

"Sleeping!?" Ben's voice raised. "Go inside and wake him up."

"I tried already, Pa. I told him that the snow was comin' and that we had to finish workin' but he wouldn't move. He told me to leave'm alone and let'm sleep."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Ben said. He placed the post on the ground and started towards the house.

"What do ya want me to do, Pa?" Little Joe called after him.

"Start working in the barn"

Little Joe forced out a long, complaining, gust of air as he kicked up the dirt on his way to the barn. Ben continued into the house and to the boys' bunk room.

Adam lay in his bunk, the blanket pulled practically over his head. Ben approached him, pulling it back. "Up!" Ben said before getting a good look at his son. "You look terrible."

"I feel terrible, it's a package deal." Adam slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He brought his hands up and rubbed his eyes. Yawning, Adam climbed out of bed and into a pair of pants he had draped over the chair. he went for his shirt, and as he put it on and buttoned it, Ben spoke.

"If you feel that bad, stay inside. Me'n Little Joe can handle the rest of the work."

"No," Adam said. The dark bags could be seen under his eyes. "I got it, Pa."

"At least eat something before you go out there," Ben said. "Hop Sing made flapjacks."

"I'm not really very hungry. I'll get to work."

Ben stood back as his oldest son walked out of the room. Adam grabbed his jacket and hat at the front door before he exited the house. He again yawned and rubbed his eyes as he approached the barn and entered.

"I got a lot of it cleaned already, Adam," Little Joe said. "We'll be done in no time."

"Yeah," Adam said. He shut his eyes and rubbed them again. He started towards Little Joe but had only taken a few steps when his knees gave out underneath him and he fell to the ground.

"Adam!" Little Joe cried. He didn't see his brother move. "Pa!" Little Joe ran out of the barn and back towards the house. "Pa! Pa!"

"Woah," Ben said, getting hold of his son's shoulders. "What happened?"

"There's somethin' wrong with Adam," Joe cried. "He fell...in the barn... He just fell, like his legs were jelly. Please help him, Pa."

"Stay here, Joe," Ben said, quickly grabbing an apple from the table and heading for the door.

"But..."

"I said stay inside." Ben ran out to the barn. He got there just in time to see Adam start to sit up and attempt to brush himself off.

"I'm OK," Adam said, noticing his father walking towards him.

"You don't look OK," Ben said. Adam tried to stand. "Stay down there, Adam." Ben took a seat next to him. "Take this." He handed him the apple.

"Really, Pa," Adam said taking the fruit from his father's hand. "I'm fine."

"You may be able to fool yourself, Adam," Ben said to him. " But you can't fool me. I've raised you since the day you were born. I think I know you a little better than that."

"I'm..."

"Don't argue with me, son," Ben interrupted him. "What's bothering you?" Adam didn't answer him. "Look at yourself, Adam. Look what this is doing to you. For God's sake, you scared your brother half to death."

Adam's eyes began to water. He fought to hold it back, but no longer could. "Oh, God," he cried. "It's my fault. I did this to him." Ben was silent as his son finally bore his emotions. "He pushed me out of the way, Pa. Hoss took the bullet for me. He would have died for me. I should be the one who's blind."

Ben was taken back. This was the first time he had heard the true account of what had happened that day.

"This is not your fault, Adam," Ben said. "You didn't pull the trigger."

"I might as well have." Adam struggled to catch his breath. "Why did he do that? What made him do something like that?"

"You're his brother. He would do anything for you. He's always been like that, even when you boys were small."

Adam paused. "I should have been paying attention," he said. "It was my responsibility to..."

"Is that what this is about, Adam," Ben interrupted. "Responsibility? You can't lay all that on your shoulders."

Adam wiped his eyes. "I shouldn't be carrying on like this. I should be the one Hoss and Little Joe can come to when something's wrong."

"Even the biggest of men need to show their emotions at times. That's what makes us human. Look at what holding this all in has done to you." Ben paused. "Adam. Don't feel that you need to be stronger than anyone else. By hiding your feelings, by keeping them bottled up, you only grow weaker."

"I only wish I could have seen the weapon before it was fired. Then maybe Hoss wouldn't be blind."

"You need to look at this the other way too. What if neither of you had seen it? You might both be dead."

Adam was silent. He tried to compose himself, but couldn't. Adam threw his arms around his father and was finally able to let go of all the pain he had been hiding from him.