Caleb was awaken from a peaceful deep sleep by the feel of a small hand slapping his face gently, causing him to groan irritably. He felt like he had not long gotten to sleep and the incessant patting on his cheek was not a welcome gesture at this moment in time.

'Lazy...up!' Gail Jr exclaimed, ignoring Luke's look of warning as though she was attempting to rouse a sleeping bear and decided to shake her oldest Brother playfully.

'Get off! You don't wanna start me this mornin'' Caleb groaned through gritted teeth, closing his eyes tight and trying to block out the light.

'Actually I think she does' Lucas said amused, as he watched his Daughter throw away all caution and begin bouncing on Caleb to keep him awake.

Luke let out a relieved breath at the appearance of their Father and laughed when he picked him up, ensuring that he was well away from Caleb's potential wrath.

'Oh don't worry little one, that 'ol bear is just sour 'cause he rocked up way past curfew and can't get his beauty sleep. He wouldn't dare raise a finger against any of you' Lucas reassured Luke, sensing Caleb's rage beginning to rise at Gail Jr's total disregard of his warning.

'I don't know, I just might' Caleb responded confidently, then grabbed his unexpecting Sister in one quick swoop and buried her under his quilt, holding her securely to prevent her from moving.

Lucas let out a long sigh and shook his head at Caleb's lack of awareness, hearing Gail Jr's pleas for help. 'Wanna place a bet? How long do you think it'll take for your Momma to come to her rescue, then realise how late your Brother got in last night...You think she's gonna let him off lightly for disturbin' her routine this mornin'?' he asked Luke, knowing it would not take long for Gail to sense their Daughter's distress and she would not be impressed when her attention was finally on Caleb.

Caleb's eyes grew wide for a moment and he released his Sister, momentarily forgetting that he needed to avoid the attention of his Mother so he could keep the previous nights activities off of her radar.

'Too late' Luke said knowingly, sensing his Sisters upset a moment before she began to cry.

Caleb heard the loud curse from his Mother from her bedroom and turned towards his Father for assistance, before she made her way to his bedroom.

'Don't look at me Son, I did my part last night in coverin' for you and all that little one wanted to do was play with her big Brother' Lucas advised, deciding Caleb needed to learn to manage his own people sooner or later and chose to withdraw his influence for the moment.

'What's going on?' Gail asked agitated, as she entered the room with her hair still dripping wet after her shower and spotted her Daughter in tears tangled in Caleb's quilt. When Lucas just shrugged and held Luke close to his chest, she instinctively reached for her Daughter to free her and took her into her arms. 'Are you ok?' she asked sweetly, as she began to rock her gently to soothe her.

Gail Jr snuggled into her Mothers chest, revelling in the comfort she felt there and began sucking her thumb, then pointed at Caleb accusingly with her free hand.

Gail turned towards Caleb confused and spotted that he was still wearing his T-Shirt and Jeans from the previous night. 'What time did you get in?' she asked suspiciously, realising now that it must have been so late that he fell asleep in his clothes.

Caleb cursed his Sister from turning on him and shot her a look of disdain. Before he could think of an appropriate answer to the question, Gail's mobile telephone started ringing from her robe pocket.

Gail narrowed her eyes at Caleb for a moment, then moved over to his door to answer her phone.

'Uh-oh' Lucas said knowingly.

'Busted' Luke added, sensing his Father's thoughts and smiled when his Father looked down at him proudly.

'What? Jimmy Jenkins Grocery Store? Who'd want to do that? The old guy has been a veteran of Goat Town since I was a little girl' Gail said in disbelief of what her source had told her, then hung up her telephone and turned towards Lucas. 'Have you heard the news?' she asked confused.

'Ain't no news unless you report it Love' Lucas responded charmingly, then leaned over and placed a long kiss on her lips so her full attention switched to him, unable to withdraw his support of his eldest completely.

Caleb spotted his opening and rushed out of the room while his Mother was preoccupied, finding shelter in the bathroom where he knew she would not follow him.

Gail pulled away from Lucas when she felt Caleb rush past her and shot Lucas a suspicious glance when she heard the shower turn on quickly. 'Is there something I should know?' she asked bluntly, getting the usual feeling that her boys were keeping her out of the loop.

Luke clung to his Father and looked over his shoulder at the window, so not to show any knowledge of Caleb's transgressions.

Lucas rubbed Luke's back reassuring to show that he would not allow him to get drawn into anything that did not involve him and shot his Daughter a discreet look of warning to stay out of Caleb's business. 'Ain't nothin' you don't already know about me Love...Come on, let's get our little Cherubs ready for Merly Ann, unless you wanna spend all day here watchin' them' he suggested, placing his hand on his Wife's lower back before she could answer and gently pushing her out of Caleb's room.

Gail narrowed her eyes at Lucas suspiciously, then pushed away her unease and decided to focus on getting them all ready to enable her to get to her office to find out what was going on.


Caleb got off the bus and began walking down the long street towards the centre of Goat Town, glancing around to survey the area to ensure that he was not being followed. He had been lucky that his Father had decided to distract his Mother before she had the opportunity to interrogate him and he had rushed out of their home before she could grab him, thankful for his siblings for keeping her tangled up with them.

Before he had left, Caleb sensed his Sister reach out to him to express her regret for causing their Mothers attention to shift to him when he had not wanted it to. Although he had felt his Grandfather Malcolm trying to cease the opportunity to poison his thoughts against his Sister, he knew that Gail Jr had not intended to get him in trouble and all she wanted to do was play with him, as she had not seen him much yesterday. He could not blame her for wanting to spent time with him and it was his own fault for being too tired to change into his pyjamas the previous night, giving his Mother cause for suspicion.

'Smart man, your ability to take responsibility regardless of the toxic influences surroundin' you is impressive' Joshua advised, appearing beside Caleb and walking side by side with him casually.

Caleb did not flinch at the unexpected presence of this man and continued to stroll down the street, nodding courteously at the few people he past along the way. 'She's still not talkin' to you?' he asked, a strange feeling of ease coming over him.

'What makes you say that?' Joshua responded, smiling at how relaxed the boy felt in his presence.

'If she were I doubt you'd be here with me' Caleb shrugged, suspecting how fond Joshua was of his Mother due to the few occasions he had spotted them together previously.

Joshua let out an exasperated sigh, then forced a smile. It was true that Gail was still keeping her distance from him and that was bothering him more than he could ever have predicted. 'I like you and I wouldn't let a woman keep me from somethin' I like no matter who they are' he responded, choosing to push Gail from the forefront of his mind and focus on the boy before him.

Caleb smiled at the response, not fully believing it; however, he did not think Joshua was intentionally lying, it was more likely that he did not realise how taken he was just like his Father did not. 'What can I do for you Joshua? It seems a shame you wastin' this lovely day just trollin' around with a teenager' he said casually, respecting the man's desire to keep his Mother out of the conversation.

Joshua glanced towards the Grocery Store ahead in the distance, then turned towards Caleb. 'It's what I can do for you young Buck. I think you know you're choice last night was a little reckless and you may not have thought it through properly' Joshua advised, sensing Gail up ahead with Deputy Ben Healy and suspecting Caleb had not caught wind of her yet.

Caleb stopped and turned toward Joshua abruptly. 'I didn't do nothin'' he said defensively, refusing to drop himself into anything.

Joshua could not contain his laughter at the boys primal instinct to deny his involvement at the first sign of any adult linking him to something, unless it was his Father. The denial may have worked if Caleb's finger prints would not have been all over the Grocery Store and if Gail had not chosen to take on this story personally; however, Caleb was not that lucky. 'You made a choice, albeit not a wise one...Do you think your Daddy would hide from any of his choices?' he asked.

'He lied about me and left me with Gage' Caleb shrugged, starting to walk again in an attempt to make himself relax.

'Not when people asked outright. He isn't ashamed of bein' your Daddy and he certainly has never been ashamed of his choices...We're Bucks, we own it' Joshua responded, then closed his eyes when he realised that the boy had lulled him into a false sense of security.

'You're a Buck like me' Caleb said intrigued, realising now that this would have made sense all along with how close Joshua was able to get to his parents previously.

Joshua let out a long sigh and shook his head, knowing better than to let any information slip. 'Who a man is isn't important, but what we do is. Do you understand?' he asked, trying to change the subject from him.

Caleb thought for a moment, then felt a familiar presence in the area and realised that his Mother was close. 'I can be reckless, or I can be a Buck and own my choices...make them work for me' he contemplated out loud, thinking about how his Father never apologised for his actions and handled things accordingly.

Joshua nodded, impressed at how quickly Caleb had reached the mark. 'Confidence is key, weakness is the enemy. You got this, so go take control' he reassured him and took a discreet gulp when he caught sight of Gail with her long brown curls blowing freely in the small breeze, then let Caleb move forward on his own.

'Confidence is key, weakness is the enemy' Caleb repeated to himself, then stepped under the yellow crime scene tape and headed straight towards the group gathered by the broken window at the front of the Store.

'Come on Gail, you know better than to be here. Not only would Lucas have my hide if I let you waltz all over this crime scene, I don't appreciate you underminin' my authority' Ben advised trying to force a stern tone, unimpressed when Gail had ignored the barrier she knew full well was to keep unofficial people out of this area.

Gail could not help but smile at Ben's attempt to be dominant, she found him cute when he tried to maintain a professional stance and it was nice to see him not dropping his morals just because they were friends. 'Look, I respect your authority plenty and I would never try to undermine you. I'm just concerned about the devastated man over there and would like to offer my sincere heart felt condolences for his loss' she responded sweetly, putting on her most innocent smile.

'Condolences? It was a fish Gail' Ben said in disbelief of her statement.

'But it was his fish and he loved it dearly' Gail advised calmly, trying not to laugh at words coming out of her own mouth.

Ben rolled his eyes at her comment and shook his head in frustration. No matter what he threw at her she had an answer for it and somehow managed to be unfazed by his irritation of her.

Gail sensed that Ben's resistance to her presence was beginning to falter and took a step towards him, then spun around when she felt a small hand brush against her arm. 'Caleb?' she asked confused, shocked by his sudden appearance. She could not believe that she had been so engrossed with Ben that she had not sensed him sneak up on her.

'Oh come on, you gotta be kiddin' me with this!' Ben snapped, 'Neither of y'all can be here!'

Gail sensed Ben's resistance shoot back up and could not hide her irritation. Before she had a chance to talk him down, he began gently moving her back towards the yellow tape.

Caleb sensed his Mothers irritation and thought quickly about how he could turn the situation around. 'Mr Jenkins, are you alright?' he called to the old man sitting on a bench outside of the Store and waved at him frantically.

Mr Jenkins spotted the nice boy and signalled him over, remembering how courteous he was the previous night.

'Stop! He want's to see me' Caleb protested to Ben's pushing and grabbed hold of Gail's hand to keep her on level with him.

Gail glanced over her shoulder and smiled devilishly. 'You hear that? The shattered old man wants to be with his little friend. Are you really going to deny him that comfort at this awful time?' she asked, feigning disappointment in Ben.

Ben let out a long sigh and shook his head, it was hard enough dealing with Gail in a professional capacity when she was on her own and down right impossible when she had someone on her side. 'Alright, fine...but you two better not go wanderin' where you don't belong' he warned them both, then signalled for them to go to the Grocery Store owner.

'See, I ain't always a burden' Caleb smiled smugly, happy that he had managed to prevent his Mother from being kicked out of the area.

Gail regarded Caleb suspiciously, not used to this confidence that he was projecting. Usually he tried to avoid her in an attempt to stay under her radar and keep his activities private; however, here he was right smack in the middle of her investigation and appeared to not have a care in the world.

'Why should I? It's a lovely day' Caleb commented on her unguarded thoughts and placed his hand around her waist affectionately.

'Yes it is and I suppose I could be spending it with worse company' Gail smiled down at him and placed her arm around his shoulders, his happiness rubbing off on her.

Joshua watched from a distance and nodded appreciatively at Caleb's boldness, not understanding how Malcolm managed to fail so profoundly when the boy was following his instruction without even having to put in much effort.

'What are you up to?' Peter Emory asked bluntly, appearing behind Joshua and watching him suspiciously.

'Never you mind, you just be sure to keep out of my way' Joshua ordered sternly, then disappeared and allowed Caleb to work without an audience.

-To be continued-