As Bo felt around inside the coffin, he was horrified to feel the ground beneath it give way.

He fell fell fell, landing in a hay bale.

A hay bale?

It sure seemed real when he opened his eyes. As least it felt real with the jagged bits of dried grass poking him here and there, very evident even through his clothing.

It didn't take long for Bo to realize where he was or how he got there, and when he did, he whispered a prayer of thanks. For it just so happened that Jesse had wanted his feed stored up against the wall of the barn, the wall where the hay had been stored all winter. In order to satisfy their uncle, they had moved the hay to the middle of the floor, intent on storing it in the loft later. Had it not been where it was, stacked eight bales high and slightly more wide, Bo would have been, at the very least, seriously injured.

As he sat on top of the bales, a grin of relief appearing on his face, he suddenly felt his body give way again as the bales decided to shift, swallowing him up in the middle as the ones on the ends fell away in all directions. As they took a tumble, some rolled out toward Maudine, startling the old mule which set her off to braying again.

Inside the house, Luke sat up in bed as Maudine began to bray. "Dang that dog!" He muttered, reaching out of habit to turn on the lamp that was no longer there. Heaving a sigh, he tore his sheet off and hit the floor running, hoping to quiet the ruckus before it woke the rest of the family, especially Bo, who was lucky to get any comforting rest these days.

"Buster!" Luke yelled toward the barn as he ran, his mood not quiet as lighthearted as the night before considering the amount of sleep he had lost.

Reaching up for the string that dangled from the bulb once again, Luke was surprised when, instead of getting light in the room, he got the string in the palm of his hand. What a time for that to break.

Despite the fact that he could not see, it took Luke only a moment to realize that the dog was not in the barn but that someone definitely was, and that someone was kicking around in the hay.

'The prowler!' Luke thought, seeing a human form emerging from the hay. In one swift movement, Luke ran and knocked the person down, delivering him a couple of well placed punches despite the darkened conditions.

"Luke!" Daisy exclaimed, standing in the doorway of the barn holding a flashlight while Jesse ran past Maudine to the rear door where a switch was located. Flicking on the light, he turned to observe his nephew, rifle ready.

"Bo." Luke said barely above a whisper, quickly climbing off of his cousin, who released his fists and laid there, touching a finger to the blood that was trickling from his lip.

Luke reached down and put a hand under Bo's elbow, assisting him to his feet. "Gosh Bo, I'm…..I'm sorry. I thought it was thief that's been hittin' our neighbors. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Bo replied in a rather short tone of voice brought on by exhaustion and frustration over not being able to sleep decently.

Daisy opened her mouth to ask why he had been out there, but Jesse put his hand on her arm to stop her, noticing the blanket that draped over the edge of the hayloft.

"Well now." Uncle Jesse began, clearing his throat. "Since everything seems ta be alright, let's go back in the house and get some sleep." With that, he put an arm around Bo's shoulders and steered him toward the house while Luke and Daisy followed.

Once inside, he led Bo to the bathroom where he wet a washcloth for his lip. "Uh, here Bo. This oughta fix ya up." He announced as Bo took the cloth. Jesse then turned to the top drawer that was slightly opened and slipped his hand inside and out before closing it. "You stay in here and hold that on your cut a few minutes. I'll be right back."

After Bo had cleaned the wound as best he could, he threw the cloth into the hamper and went to his bed. Luke and Daisy were both in there, Luke simply looking at him with a pitiful expression from his bed while Daisy commenced to rubbing the side of Bo's head after he sat on his own bed.

"Here's a little something to help lull us all back to sleep." Jesse announced, entering the room a few moments later with a tray of four glasses, each containing enough shine for about two swallows each.

He set the tray on the table where the lamp used to be and grabbed a glass, handing it to Bo. "There ya are, Bo. You kids help yourselves." He said to Luke and Daisy, who each picked up a glass while Jesse helped himself to the fourth.

Bo knew that this was all for him, but he didn't say anything. He simple took the glass that Jesse had given him and downed the drink in one shot. "Uh!" Bo groaned, making a terrible face. "I hate to say it Jesse, but I think it's goin' bad."

"Hmmm, wasn't anything the matter with….."

"Yer right, Bo. Terrible. Just terrible." Jesse replied, interrupting Luke. He then took the glasses and set them on the tray again as he prepared to take them back to the kitchen. "But, maybe they'll still do the trick." He added on his way out the door.

"You need anything else, honey?" Daisy asked Bo as she continued to rub the side of his head.

"The best thing you could do for me is go back to bed, see if you can salvage what's left of the night." Bo replied, yawning. "I'm gonna see if I can do the same." He added, snuggling under his sheet.

To their amazement, Bo was asleep in moments. Daisy tiptoed back to her room, and Luke took the time to throw and extra blanket over his cousin before climbing back in bed himself. Pausing at their room on his way back to bed, Jesse noted the peaceful look on Bo's face, and finally felt comfortable enough to deposit a small, empty envelope in the trash. An envelope marked with the words 'Sleeping Powders'.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bo woke the next morning to sunlight streaming through his bedroom window. He looked over at Luke's bed and noticed that not only was his cousin missing, but that the bed was already made. Considering that was a chore usually left until after breakfast, Bo glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that it was nearly noon.

He got up and quickly dressed, taking the time to make the bed before he exited the room. He was sure Jesse and Luke were out in the field, Luke complaining that he was not there to help them. But for the first time in days, Bo felt completely rested and full of the energy that would be needed for him to do twice the work in half the time.

With everything done, he went to open the door. As soon as it was cracked, he heard voices. Surprised that anyone was still home at this time during the week, he listened.

"……….just don't know how to help him. I hate to see him that way. Gits me right here."

"Uncle Jesse, it hurts me too. But this is gonna let up in time. Today's a good example. Here it is noon and he's still snoozin' away without a problem. That'll put him at 9 hours of sleep, more than he's had ever since we got him back home."

"Well, that's only 'cause I slipped some of them sleepin' powders in his shine last night that I got from the hospital when I's there with appendicitis."

"Ah." Luke replied. "Well that explains why he's complainin' about it."

Bo opened his mouth in shock as Jesse continued. "But I don't like to be sneaky like that. I think Bo'd be a lot better off if he would just talk to somebody about the whole thing, I mean really talk to someone, not just offer those little abbreviated details. Somebody who could understand what he went through."

"Now who could he talk to that would understand that, Jesse?"

"I don't know. Can't think of anybody around here, not even the preacher. Bad as I hate to think of it….." Jesse paused.

"Think of what?"

"Well, I thought it might help him if we sent him off somewhere."

"You mean like a hospital?" Luke asked flabbergasted.

"I don't know, maybe…." Jesse trailed off. "Now yer lookin' at me like I've lost my mind."

"No Jesse. I'm lookin' at you 'cause you've just said something I've been thinking on the last few days, only I didn't imagine you'd ever go for it."

Jesse sighed. "I'm not much for them places, but if they can be successful in helpin' the boy git his head set straight, then I'll give up the farm to make that happen." He paused for a moment. "We'll give Bo two more nights. If he don't improve none, then we'll start makin' some phone calls."

"Agreed." Luke replied.

I reckon it don't take no genius to figure Doc Dewberry's gonna have himself a visitor this afternoon.