Hey Everyone! Sorry for such a long wait! It's been pretty busy for my kids and I, and as much as I love to write, there are times when having littles does not leave time to sit in front of a computer, no matter what I'd like. ;)

But, here is Chapter 3 and I do hope you all enjoy it! HUGE thanks to ImaMePanda as always! She is constantly peppered with emails from me, questions and proofreading and she's just awesome sauce!

Also! I have never written scary stories - I don't even "like" scary stories, so please keep that in mind when the boys are telling theirs, combined with the fact that this is Old West M7 and this JD is fairly innocent in all senses of the word and that Danny has a bit of a still unknown past. ;)

Kneeling at the small creek, Danny filled his canteen, then JD's. He sighed, shifting a bit, attempting to relieve the weight on his left knee. He'd jumped off Banjo when they stopped here, landing on a rock and twisting his knee. The last thing he wanted was to be injured and have to see Mr. Jackson so quickly upon coming back in to town. He'd probably spill his misdeeds if the man looked at him wrong. They weren't even all that far from Four Corners now, could likely get home before it was too late, but he had no desire to return yet. Neither did JD. He glanced over his shoulder and saw his friend collecting sticks and dry leaves to start their fire and he grinned. He may get killed once they got back, but until then, he was going to enjoy himself. Standing up slowly, his knee twinged a bit and he grimaced.

"Gee Danny, it's still hurting ya?" JD asked, dropping the handful of sticks he held onto the pile on the ground. Danny nodded.

"Yeah, but I'll be ok." He moved slowly back to the horses and returned the canteens to their saddlebags. After a momentary pause, he turned and limped back to where JD had dropped the sticks, sinking to the ground next to it.

Crouching next to Danny, JD tipped his head, thinking. When the younger boy started bouncing on his toes, Danny looked at him warily.

"Nate made Vin keep ice on his knee...I bet I can help...where's your bandanna!?" JD asked as he inched even closer to Danny and held out his hand. Danny retrieved it from his back pocket and handed it over. JD flashed a big grin at his friend as he jumped to his feet.

"Stay there, Danny! I'll get the fire going! Remember...I'm helping, so don't move!" JD's tone almost held an order in it, despite being backed by the dark haired boys regular energy. Danny bit back a retort. Since when did JD tell him what to do? But as his knee throbbed again, Danny decided that sitting wouldn't be a bad thing, and he shifted to relieve the pressure on his knee again.

JD dropped to his knees beside Danny moments later, and handed him the now soaking wet bandanna.

"It goes on your knee! Keep it there, while I get some rocks for the fire! Danny, you listening? You'll feel better, honest!" JD said as he stood up, but remained hovering over Danny for a few more seconds when Danny didn't move to comply. "C'mon Danny! Please?" Frowning, Danny began to roll up his pant leg, muttering to himself about JD not needing to be so bossy as JD bounced away in his search for rocks.

Without looking at his knee, Danny slapped the cold cloth on it, and immediately let out a pained yelp. Whipping the bandanna off, he stared at his knee in surprise. It was a tiny bit swollen and a little red, and how could that have happened in less than an hour?

-WWS-WWS-

"You better have Nate look-it that when we get back. It still don't look too good, huh, Danny?" JD's voice came from across the fire and Danny shook his head sadly as he carefully replaced the bandanna, only wincing a bit when the cold cloth hit his knee this time.

"Naw, but I'll be ok. Don't want no one to know I'm hurt." Danny quietly answered JD's question, but his tone had taken on the edge that JD recognized from before they'd even left to come on this trip.

"But, Danny….Nate can.." JD pleaded, shifting a bit to toss a stick in the fire, small sparks kicking up a bit as it landed.

"No JD!" Danny's snapped response confirmed JD's thought and shaking his head, he grabbed the gunny sack from beside him, pulling out apples, bread, cheese, and, his personal favorite, cookies from Mrs. Potter, and silently offered Danny some. Danny shook his head, leaning back on his hands as he peered up at the darkening sky.

"Want to hear my story, JD?" Danny asked quietly after a few moments. JD grinned, nodding eagerly, seeing Danny's unspoken apology for what it was.

"Yes!" JD tossed the food back in the gunny sack, with the exception of the cookie he held in his teeth and scooted closer to Danny, dropping the sack between his feet and Danny's. He chewed noisily on his cookie for only a few seconds, before erupting with words again. "What's it going to be about, Danny, huh? A ghost? A vampire? I bet I don't get scared, betcha anything at'll!"

Danny grinned at his friend and shook his head. "Not betting you anything. Didn't Buck tell you to quit throwing out 'bets' like you were Ezra?" Danny teased, reaching into the gunny sack and retrieving an apple. JD bounced a little, from where he knelt and made a face as Danny polished his apple on his shirt.

"No, he told me to think before I do...not that I shouldn't. You gonna tell your story or not?" JD answered a bit grudgingly, and Danny held back another tease, knowing as well as JD did what Buck really meant.

"Yeah, I'm gonna. Ya scared of monsters, JD?" Danny watched his friend, a smile gracing his face for a split second when JD's snort didn't quite hide the look that crossed his face first.

"Naw. What kind of monsters? Ya know, there ain't no such thing as monsters, right Danny?" Danny nodded.

"Course there isn't, JD. Don't be silly. Just a story." Danny replied, then took a bite of his apple, watching JD as his friends energy seemed to build like the pressure that made a gun go off, and right before the dark haired boy shot to his feet, Danny swallowed, and continued, "It was a night, kinda like this one….just about dark, when two brothers went out to go night fishing...you ever done that JD? Night fishing?" Danny paused, as he sat a bit straighter, adjusting his leg and rearranging the bandanna a smidge.

"Yessssssssssss!" JD about exploded, jumping to his feet, "Course I have, who hasn't? Gimme the bandanna!" The boy didn't wait for Danny to hand it over, simply grabbed it, raced to the creek and was back in record time, handing it to Danny as he said, "Now, keep going, huh? And, don't ask me no more silly questions."

"Ok, JD," Danny chuckled out, "they were headed to the creek and when they got there, one of 'em saw a big old footprint in the mud."

"Probably a wolf or a cougar..." JD muttered.

"Now who's stalling the story, huh?" Danny snapped back with a laugh.

"Ain't stalling nothing! If it's near a creek, that's what it probably was, that's all...maybe a bear..." JD glared at Danny, but when his friend shook his head sagely JD's glare softened. "It wasn't?" he asked, his tone laced with curiosity and skepticism. Danny reached out to cuff JD's shoulder.

"What kind of scary story would it be if it was something that was supposed to be there?" A sheepish grin crossed JD's face and he shrugged. Chuckling, Danny shifted so he faced JD a bit better.

"The print was easily this big!" Danny made an O shape with his hands in indication of something twice as big as any print JD had ever seen. "And the boys knew they should tell their folks, but they decided to see what they could find." Danny grinned when JD nodded, like he approved of the boys' decision, and Danny went on, "They went across the creek and then into a swamp…" Danny paused, in a bit of suspense, the look on JD's face telling him it was working and then continued again, "There was another huge print, and this time…"

-WWS-WWS-

When Danny finished his tale, JD looked at him in disbelief. "A two headed monster that lives in the river and only eats crawfish? Is that the best you can come up with?" JD looked like he really thought Danny was crazy, but Danny could tell his younger friend was a teeny bit concerned as he cautiously looked over his shoulder at the creek behind them.

"You got a better one? Not like your monster story was much better. A monster who scares people with his red eyes?" Danny gave a little snort. Frowning, JD reached out to grab a pine cone and toss it in Danny's general direction, Danny simply batting it away.

"Fine. No more monsters stories. How 'bout...how 'bout..."JD paused, thinking. Suddenly, he grinned devilishly. "You ever hear about The Widow?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "I've heard about lots of widows, JD." JD made a noise that sounded a bit like Mr. Larabee did when he was annoyed and Danny couldn't help but chuckle. "C'mon Larabee, tell me all about The Widow." JD tried to keep up his frown, couldn't and started laughing.

"Betcha you wouldn't joke like that in town!"

Danny blanched and glanced around the campsite in the fading evening light, as if expecting Chris to jump out and lecture him. JD threw another pine cone in Danny's direction. "Quit it." Danny said, when the pine cone glanced off his upper arm and he made a face at JD. "Just tell your story."

JD looked at his friend for another moment, before nodding slowly.

"Sure, Danny. There was this lady whose husband was a boat captain. And whenever the captain was gonna come home from his travels, she would go up on their roof...you ever heard of these big houses with places to walk on top?"

Danny shook his head. "Naw. Ain't never really seen much big houses."

"Well, they look like a porch, but on top of a big house. So you can watch the ocean...you ever seen the ocean, Danny?"

Danny shook his head again. "Naw, JD, just tell the story. Ask me questions later."

"K, Danny. But, the ocean's neat...and they have a lot of 'em back East. Houses with the walks on top, I mean. And the lady would go up there every time, she did it for years. She'd walk around waiting until she could see the Captain's ship coming in. Well, one time, there was this really bad storm and it was dark when they were supposed to come in. But that lady was up there anyway, watching and watching. Pacing in the rain and the wind and just awful stuff. And she waited all night, watching those waves crashing into rocks on the shore and staring out into the water, and she just stayed there until the morning. And she didn't even go down then, just staying up there until the word came that the Captain's boat had crashed and broke to pieces. They couldn't find anyone, Danny. They searched and searched for days...and the whole time, that lady went up to the roof every night, watching for the boat. But the boat was gone and so were the people on it. But she kept going up there for weeks and weeks and not coming down til the morning. People got used to seeing her there. Then, one night there was another storm and she went up, and kept pacing and pacing. But sometime in the night….something happened...and when morning came, she was gone! They searched for her, but she just disappeared! All they found on the porch up there was a white shawl. The lady was never seen again….but guess what?"

Danny was listening intently, wide eyes looking even wider against the orange of the campfire. When he shrugged, JD grinned, the devilish look creeping back as he watched his friend. Waiting only another second, he continued, dropping his voice a notch and working hard at talking slower.

"The next storm, there were people out looking for their ships...and they looked over near the lady's house and there it was." JD paused again, watching Danny shift a bit, a look he couldn't quite read on the older boy's face.

"The shawl...the one they'd taken off the roof...was blowing in the wind...but on the shoulders of a lady dressed all in white...and she was just pacing and pacing...and someone ran over to the house to check on the lady. But when they got up there..." JD paused again and Danny swallowed hard, "There. Was. No. One. There." JD finished his sentence in a hushed voice, and watched his friend, who was obviously growing nervous.

"No one?" Danny asked. JD was barely able to make out the words that the red headed teen had spoken, they were said so quietly.

JD nodded, leaned forward and began again,

"No one. The shawl was there though. So the person took it...and they searched for the lady again….but still didn't find her. The next storm, it happened again. A lady in white, wearing the shawl was seen, but this time instead of pacing, it kind of looked like she was floating, and when people went to check it out, there was only a shawl again….it happened a bunch of times, and every time, they'd find a shawl and no lady. You know what it was? It. Was. Her. Ghost. The white widow's ghost! She was still looking for her Captain, and he weren't never coming in….but her ghost needed him….and she left the shawl like a reminder...and you know what they call them porches now? Widow's walks, Danny. They call them widow walks and they say you can see her and other widows walking them porches all through out the night, anywhere the ocean is. Ghost widows looking for their husbands who ain't never coming back cuz the sea took 'em."

Danny shivered and sat quietly, trying to digest what he'd just heard. He had to admit, to himself at least, that that was definitely scarier than either of the monster stories, and he had to resist the urge to scout the area around their campsite for floating white apparitions.

The two sat in silence for another few minutes, before JD jumped to his feet again, unable to sit still. He snagged the drying bandanna from Danny's knee and moved cautiously, looking around himself much more than he had the last time, to the creek. The evening light was almost gone into complete darkness and he shuddered a little with the way the remaining light shimmered off the water. He returned with the wet cloth, setting it carefully on Danny's knee, and moved back to his spot near the fire. He grabbed his canteen and took a drink, then passed it to Danny.

"Thanks, JD," Danny whispered as he took the canteen and looked at his knee, moving the bandanna to fully cover the sore spot. JD nodded back and returned the canteen to the ground beside him when Danny gave it back.

"You got a story you wanna tell?" JD asked when he turned back from where he set the canteen down. Danny gave a slow grin and with a nod, he began,

"It was the middle of the war….on a dark night...a dark and stormy night….there was gunfire and cannon booms. People yelling and the sounds of bodies thudding against the ground…." Danny stifled a grin at the almost instant wide eyed look that crossed his friend's face. He grabbed a few sticks from the pile next to him and threw them on the fire, the orange glow momentarily getting brighter as the flames turned the sticks black within seconds.

"There was this one man...a Major. A big strong man who everyone listened to. He gave orders and people rushed to do them." Danny paused again, watching emotions flicker over JD's face, by the light of the fire, "And he was standing on the hill, barking out his orders, people rushing back 'n forth, more gunfire...more canon booms." Again Danny paused. JD was vibrating in his obvious fight to stay quiet and Danny quickly resumed the story before his hazel eyed friend burst like a bubble over Mrs. Edwards' sink.

"The Major heard a hail of gunfire and dropped to his knees, moving his gun to sit atop a rock. He began to take out the enemy from his spot on the ground, even as he heard his men dropping like flies around him..."

"Danny! This is a war story, not a scary story!" JD broke into Danny's story, unable to hold back any longer. He moved to his knees and rocked forward on them, to get a better look at Danny's face. Danny grinned back at him, his smile looking more evil than nice as the flames flickered a bit with the light rustle of a breeze.

"Patience, JD," Danny said softly. "The Major stood up a few minutes later as the gunfire died down, he looked about at the activity around him and then suddenly," Danny paused for just a second, then clapped his hands together loudly as he shouted, "BOOM!" startling JD so much, that the boy fell back. He landed on his rear, and rolled to the side before he managed to get control of his body.

"DANNY!" he yelled, jumping to his feet and slamming his fists against his hips with a glare that had Danny not been giggling like a school child, probably would've made him a tad nervous. Peering up as innocently as he could, green eyes wide, but filled with mirth, he put his hands in front of him as he tried to stem the giggles.

"It was just the cannon, JDm" he said, placating him the best he could around what was turning into chuckles as the image of JD falling over hit him again.

Still glaring, JD took a tentative step forward. "The cannon?" he asked, glare softening. Nodding, Danny grabbed the food sack from between them and dug around for a snack, triumphantly pulling out a cookie, which he offered to JD. JD hit his knees and accepted the cookie, giving a light grin. "Thanks." Danny nodded, as he withdrew another cookie from the bag, dropping cloth bag on the ground when he was done. He took a bite of the cookie and savored it a moment, before continuing with his story.

"The cannon was much closer than it should have been, the enemy was closing in! The Major's men were waiting for his orders, waiting for the next plan or attack...but there was none. Cuz, the Major's body lay on the ground…..headless."

JD's mouth dropped open in obvious shock, but he said nothing...just gaped at Danny in disbelief.

"The men rushed forward and grabbed their Major's body. You know, no matter what JD, they don't leave a man behind. But...they couldn't grab his head...there was no head! The men retreated that night, with no leader and no plan to win the battle….in the morning, they buried the Major.,,,without his head…." Danny trailed off again, enjoying the look on JD's face, though as he glanced around, he had to admit it was awfully dark out. What was that!? He swallowed hard and listened another moment, sighing in relief when the noise he'd heard, came again. Bullfrogs. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts so he could finish the story, as JD was watched him expectantly.

"The Army sent in a new band of soldiers in the following few days. And the war continued on, leaving the Major buried where he was. But….a year or so later, on Halloween night, folks were getting ready to celebrate. There were houses where there hadn't been any the year before. People were setting up big campfires, getting ready for a fun and scary night….and just when the night got dark enough...like it is now, the folks heard a loud noise." Danny paused, but only long enough to catch his breath, "And everyone stopped. Listening. Trying to figure out what such a loud noise was...foot steps. Or, rather horse steps. Loud, echoing over and over. A horse running. The people looked over at the field where the noise seemed to be coming from….and there, racing through the trees was a man, on horseback..." Danny paused again...JD listening with eyes wide.

"Danny?" He whispered a second later...Danny nodded in response to JD's unspoken question.

"Not just any horse and rider. A headless horseman." If Danny hadn't been watching JD so closely, he probably wouldn't have seen the shudder that ran across his friend's body, and he quite purposefully ignored the one that ran across his own, telling himself it was just the wind.

"Every year, JD. The headless horseman rides every year on Halloween night, searching, looking for his head. Always across the same field, the same path. They say if you get in his way...you'll die." Danny finished his tale in a voice just above a whisper and watched in satisfaction as another shiver ran across JD. The fire was getting low again, and it was more than dark out now. Danny began to bank the fire, and looked across it at JD a moment later. "Ready to hit the sack?" he asked, nodding towards their gear.

JD shook his head, eyes wide and he scooted across the ground to get closer to Danny, pushing the gunny sack of food out of his way as he did so.

"I ain't, Danny. Not yet...I don't…." JD trailed off and Danny heaved a big sigh. Truthfully, he wasn't exactly interested in going to sleep out in the middle of the pitch black either, but he wasn't about to say it. He was older than JD. And they were supposed to be able to handle this like men.

Except they weren't.

-WWS-WWS-WWS-

Danny looked over at JD, slumped forward a bit in the saddle, but looking around warily every few moments. It wasn't as dark as it could be, but the moon was covered by clouds with only slices of moonlight filtering down through the sparse trees. An owl hooted, his call echoing eerily over the night sky. JD jolted upright in the saddle, Danger lurching forward, and JD dropped the horse's reins, looking around wildly for a moment, before looking back at Danny.

"An owl?" he asked shakily, grabbing Danger's reins and speaking quietly to the startled equine. Danny moved Banjo closer to JD so he could look his friend over.

"Yup. You ok?"

"Will be once I'm in my own bed. C'mon Danny." Danny nodded and followed JD's lead in moving the horses into a slow trot. The buildings were coming into view now, looming like the monsters from the boy's stories and Danny blinked quickly, telling himself they were just buildings. A moment later, he almost yanked Banjo to a terrified halt at the dark blob that appeared to his right, before realizing it was just a shed that stood behind the livery. He brought Banjo to a halt near the side of the building, as JD had just done with Danger.

Danny wanted to be happy they reached town, but it meant they were closer to the peacekeepers, making him more nervous. He didn't want to run into any of them, and he certainly didn't want them, or Jess, to know they had traveled back to Four Corners in the dead of night. Or that the reason they were doing such was because they'd scared themselves so badly with their own stories. He winced slightly, recalling the day Mr. Larabee told him he expected him to use wisdom when it came to his safety. He was certain this would fall under the don't category of that talk. Danny swallowed hard, trying to rid his throat of a lump that wasn't there moments before.

"Danny, you better sleep in my room. You ride onto the ranch this early and Jess'll know something's wrong." JD's voice came out a tired mumble from across the shadowy space between them. Danny shook his head, not that JD could see him, and didn't answer. He heard JD moving around as his friend slid off his horse, before, "Danny, you fall asleep before you get to the ranch and….." Recognizing the truth in JD's words, Danny had to agree and he slid off Banjo, immediately favoring his not-quite-as-sore knee and watching cautiously as they walked their horses towards the back door of the livery.

-WWS-WWS-

Danny had done nothing but toss and turn for the last three hours. He was laying on JD's floor, with a blanket the other boy had dug out of the closet, and one of JD's balled up nightshirts for a pillow. He'd slept with way worse...he'd slept with nothing, and he knew his lack of sleep had nothing to do with the current arrangement, or even his knee. He sat up, noting he could just see the faint reddish hue of very early morning through the window. Running a hand across his eyes and then over his hair, he peered up at JD, and grinned. His friend lay in a tangle of blankets and limbs and he was fairly certain he was snoring softly. Coming to a decision, Danny stood up carefully, putting his weight on his good knee as he folded the blanket and laid it over the end of JD's bed, then crossed the room to hang up the nightshirt on a peg near the dresser. He took another look at JD, whispering a thank you, before exiting the room with a stealth born from past necessities.

Minutes later, he snuck back into the livery, having moved through town quietly, thankfully to have not run into any other early morning risers. Continuing his secret journey, he slipped into Banjo's stall, murmuring an apology to the large horse as he slid the bridle up and over the horse's head. Retrieving Banjo's saddle, he slung it over his shoulder, dust and bits of straw flying up in his face and tickling his nose. Leading his oldest friend down the aisle and out the back door, he finally let loose the sneeze he hadn't thought he'd be able to keep in, then froze, listening for any movement. He sighed when after a moment he heard nothing, moving Banjo out to the edge of town before fully saddling him and carefully climbing atop the patient horse.

"Let's go home, Banjo." Danny leaned forward to whisper in the dapples' ear, and with a tiny nudge of his knees, the horse moved out.

-WWS-WWS-

Danny kept Banjo at a slow steady walk until he was nearly halfway up the long drive that led to the Edward's ranch house. Steering Banjo to the right as he got nearer, he moved out behind the rambling off white farmhouse, hoping it was just dark enough still for no one to notice his arrival. He dismounted when he was nearly to the barn, only wincing a tiny bit as he limped the first few steps, knowing the ride home had caused the lingering ache. He headed for the barn, ready to give the big gray a quick rubdown and some oats, when a soft voice called from somewhere ahead of him.

"Daniel?"

Freezing at the quiet question, he ducked under Banjo's head to look over towards the small chicken coop that sat closer to the house, but to the left of the barn. When he saw Mrs. Edwards heading for him, he had a hard time not fidgeting. The woman had never been anything but kind to him, but how could he possibly have forgotten she was always up really early taking care of those dang birds…? She loved those silly clucking feathered beasts. She'd even told Danny one day when he was helping her fix a piece of their fencing, how she talked to them, and had given them names. He had barely kept himself from chuckling at the info when she had continued by telling him they laid more eggs the gentler she was with them and since she needed the eggs, it was worth it to her. He shrugged like he had that day weeks ago, and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Daniel? What happened?" The short gray haired woman got closer, clear blue eyes studying Danny in a mixture of curiosity and worry.

He shrugged and whispered, "I'm ok, Ma'am." Shaking her head, she stepped closer to him and patted his cheek.

"Not really what I asked you, Daniel." Her tone was gentle, but Danny could tell he wasn't fooling her at all, and when she smiled at him, he tried to answer,

"I...I'm...all right. Honest, Ma'am. Just...I..yestr...I don't want Je...I'm ok." He finished lamely, unable to meet her eyes, even though he knew she was till looking at him.

"Daniel, if you're injured and need to see a Doctor, we need to know. I don't want you making an injury worse. Ok?" Danny nodded his head, still studying his boots, trying desperately to keep the hand not holding Banjo's reins from rubbing his pants leg in his nervousness. Mrs. Edwards was quiet for the span of a few seconds and Danny wasn't sure if she was waiting for him to say something, but he just couldn't think of a thing.

"Did you have a good time?" Mrs. Edwards' soft question brought Danny's head up and he nodded, words still stuck in his throat. Giving Danny another small smile, she continued, "I'm glad. Why don't you go rest for a bit. I'll tell Jess to let you alone, and get you in a few hours." Danny began rubbing his pants leg, even though he had tried not too.

"Yes'm. Y-you can do that?" He finally was able to get out, blushing when the words registered in his brain as ridiculous ones. Mrs. Edwards laughed though, a jolly sound that Danny would never admit he loved to hear, and she reached out to ruffle his hair.

"I'm the boss, I can tell him whatever I want. Besides, you're exhausted." she winked at him, still chuckling softly, despite his eyes widening in surprise.

"Yes'm...ok." He agreed, stilling his hand, as he started leading Banjo away, still a bit wide eyed.

"Daniel?" Danny paused a second time and looked back over his shoulder.

"If you aren't better by tomorrow, I want you to tell me. You hear?" Swallowing hard, he nodded. He wasn't about to tell her no, but he had no intentions of telling anyone if he was still hurting. He'd do whatever it took to stay here on the ranch, even if it meant working through pain. He'd dealt with pain before. He could handle it.