Duncan watched as David took another long pull on the bottle. "That gonna be your breakfast?"

David glared at him over the neck of the bottle, taking another swallow. "You startin' in on me now?"

Duncan shrugged. "Just bein' practical. There's a lot to be done around here. You have any luck with the ransom?"

David stared at him blankly.

"The ransom!" Duncan repeated impatiently. "Nothin' went wrong, did it? That was a real good story to get 'Melia out of here for a while - about the funeral."

David tilted his head at him. Then he grinned. And guffawed. "Yeah…" he snorted at last. "That was good, wasn't it? Looks like I got the brains in the family." His eyes darkened. "Damn, they gave me a hard time in town, though - you'd think he was the King of Siam er somethin'."

Duncan wrinkled his forehead. "Who?"

"Cartwright! Who else!" David tilted the bottle for another drink. "All that big fuss over a big nothin'."

Duncan brightened. "So they paid? We gonna return him while 'Melia's gone?"

David stared at him again. "You know brother…you ain't near as dumb as you appear to be sometimes."

Duncan grinned appreciatively at the compliment. "So, we gonna fetch him?"

David narrowed his eyes at him, moving then to stare down thoughtfully at the trap door that led to the root cellar. "Somethin' like that."

"Want me ta go hitch up the buckboard? We gotta get him outta here 'fore 'Melia gets back or she's gonna pitch a fit - stealin' her bridegroom."

David kept his speculative gaze on the trap door. "Oh, we got time."

Duncan shifted from one foot to the other. "You think? She sees what we're doin', she's gonna latch onta him like pine sap. Best - "

"Lotsa time. Good long drive out to the lake." He looked up with a sudden smile that sent a trickle of ice down Duncan's spine. "'Sides, we need some time to prepare him proper. He can be a real handful. Need to fix him so he'll be quiet. Cooperative. Or it's bye-bye ransom."

Duncan squirmed a little. "You mean - give him some of that white stuff 'Melia's been givin' him?"

"Somethin' like that. Settle him down."

"Well…I guess you know best. Keep him from recognizing us if he's asleep."

David grinned genially at him. "Sure. Take a while for it to take effect, though. Tell you what - you finish up them chores and then hitch up the buckboard and I'll take care of him. Check on back with me in - say - an hour?"

It made perfect sense. Duncan couldn't begin to understand the shiver of foreboding that shook him. "Okay," he said finally, reluctantly. "If you're sure you don't need help…?"

David chuckled. "Thanks, brother. But I can manage just fine."

Duncan moved slowly toward the door, then stopped. "You don't think - ?"

David raised his eyebrows. "Now, weren't you just tellin' me how much work there was to be done around here?"

Duncan nodded slowly. "Call me when you're ready?"

"Sure thing."

Duncan was almost at the door when he turned around again. "David - what are you gonna tell Amelia? When she finds out he's gone?"

David dragged his eyes from contemplation of the trap door. "Oh, I'll just tell her that he got away."

Duncan nodded again, started to leave, then paused once more. "Um…you think she's really gonna believe that?"

David shrugged. "Why not? She always believed it about those bunnies of hers."

*

Joe stood in the carriage house, mindlessly unhitching the wagon. Scotty nickered at him and he patted his flank absently as he made his way to the front of the team to strip them of their harnesses. What a day. What a crazy, awful…he closed his eyes for a second, trying to steady his racing heart.

Oh, God. They had done it. They had buried Adam. And as if that wasn't bad enough, everybody else had seemed to go crazy as well – Pa spouting something about visions, Amelia Fairchild babbling something about family and then Hoss…he paused and shuddered. Hoss. Somehow that had disturbed him most of all. Pa and Amelia he could sort of make sense of – some kind of reaction to grief, he guessed – but as Roy had led the protesting Amelia away and for one horrible, wild, and uncharacteristic minute he had been sure that Hoss was going to take a swing at her. Gentle, over-sized Hoss, who treated every woman as though she were made of china and born of royalty. The look on his face had frozen Joe to the spot even as he told himself he had to move – to intervene. Instinctively he had looked over his shoulder – Adam usually handled things like this – and realized, with a sinking sense of loss and despair, that Adam was gone. Pa was beside himself. The only one left to intervene was…him. His stomach bottomed out. Oh, no. He was so – unready. Unequipped.

He rested his elbows on Scotty's back. What were you thinking, Adam, to leave me like this? To leave this in my hands? I can't do it, I can't, I can't…he saw the splotches of water dot Scotty's coat and made a dash at his eyes with his sleeve. Where do I go with my feelings if Pa and Hoss are both gone crazy? What did you do when Ma died, and we were all half crazy with grief? How did you manage? Please, Adam – I don't really want to know – I just want you to come back and fix it for me. Please, Adam – you never denied me anything that really mattered. Except…he sniffed, leaning his head against Scotty's warm neck for a minute. Except when Ma died. Even you couldn't fix that. So maybe you can't fix this, either. He felt a sob escape him and was about to give in to a really good cry when he heard the carriage house door squeak on its hinges and a shaft of sunlight brightened the dimness. He straightened abruptly, swallowing hard and fumbling busily if uselessly with the harness buckles.

"Thought you might like some help."

Joe didn't bother to look up. "How's Pa?"

"Asleep, I think. Hop Sing is keepin' a eye on him."

Joe nodded, focusing on the buckle in his hands. "What were you thinking?" he blurted at last. "I thought you went crazy."

Hoss ducked his head over Brownie, the other horse, fussing with his tack. "Don't know what you mean."

"I mean at the – Amelia Fairchild! Hoss, I really thought you were going to hit her! A woman! I thought you'd gone crazy!" He was looking right at Hoss now, through damp and swollen and accusing eyes, saw Hoss pull in his lower lip and chew it thoughtfully.

"Had no right," he grumbled at last.

"What, to be at the funeral? She just came to pay her respects! I know she acted a little – weird – but funerals do that to people! We don't know how close she really was to Adam anyway!"

Hoss's head jerked up, his eyes blazing with an unholy light. "You take that back," he growled.

Joe stared at him in mounting exasperation. "Take WHAT back? Hoss, you ain't makin' any sense! I know David - "

Hoss's eyes narrowed. "I ain't talkin' about David – I'm talkin' about Amelia. I know how Adam felt about her – he was polite, that was all – jest polite. And she stalked him like a wounded deer."

Joe snorted. "So she liked him. So what. Ain't like that's so unusual. Lotsa girls had a thing for Adam. He was real good at handling that kinda thing – heck, I learned how to do it from him."

Hoss shifted his shoulders. "Was different with Amelia. You didn't see…even when they was real young. The way she looked at him when he weren't lookin'…she didn't jest…" he closed his eyes, trying to make himself clear. "He was like…a sickness with her. Tweren't natural. Tweren't healthy." He clenched his teeth. "An' now he's dead an' she STILL cain't leave him in peace. I tell you, Joe, if'n I could get my hands on her…" There was an odd snapping sound and they both looked, simultaneously, at the harness in Hoss's hands. It dangled in two torn pieces. Joe rubbed a hand over his mouth. Hoss blinked at the harness with blank eyes. "Reckon I'll need ta be fixin' that."

Joe cleared his throat. "Hoss – " he coughed and cleared it again. "You're really scarin' me."

Hoss dropped the harness, kneading his meaty hands together. "Sorry, Joe," he said quietly at last. "I – I guess it's all jest been…a little too much."

Joe nodded. "Hoss, I know how you feel about Amelia Fairchild, but…"

Hoss's eyes blazed again. "You weren't there, Joe – when we used to be out ta the saloon tagether – you didn't see her – so don't try an' tell me how ta feel about that!"

Joe shook himself, flabbergasted by his usually generous brother's sudden vehemence. "Okay, okay – " he lifted his hands. "I know that. I'm only sayin', well, things can change. I mean, if Adam felt that way he wouldn't have been up in her room the night he died, would he? I think Amelia was at the funeral because she was about the last person to see Adam alive."

"WHAT?"

The roar made Joe jump, and for a terrible second he thought Hoss was going to grab him by the collar and shake him. He took an involuntary step backward. "Hoss, I TOLD you – Sam said – "

"Then Sam's a flannel mouthed liar! And you didn't tell me nothin' of the kind or I'da called you one, too, Joe!"

"It's the truth!" Joe raised his voice to be heard over Hoss's roar. "That's where I got his watch, Hoss - Amelia left her purse behind in the saloon and Sam found Adam's watch in it! Said Adam had a drink with her then went up to her room! It's the truth, Hoss - Sam ain't got no cause to lie!"

Hoss's face worked strangely and Joe steeled himself for the next explosion. It never came. The anger rushed out of Hoss like air out of a punctured balloon. He looked around the carriage house as though trying to remember where he was, unconsciously patting Brownie's neck, then strolled over to the harness rack and stared at it, unseeing. Joe held his breath. Hoss turned around as if he wanted to say something, then sat down on a bench instead. Joe peered at him. He looked tired and pale, but more like the brother he recognized.

"You okay, Hoss?"

Hoss scrunched up his face. "You say Adam went to 'Melia Fairchild's room that last night?"

Joe kept the team cautiously between them. "That's what Sam said. Ain't got no reason to lie."

Hoss shook his head.

Joe shrugged. "Things change sometimes, Hoss. Maybe things changed between Adam and Amelia."

Hoss shook his head again, more firmly this time. "No. No, Joe - that ain't changed. That ain't it. If Adam went to Amelia's room willing-like then there's somethin'…if she was the last one…" he shook his head again, as if trying to shake water out of his ears. "Joe, I got the funniest feelin'. There's somethin' - somethin' peculiar - somethin' more goin' on here."