Hey Everybody! I'm sorry it took so long to get another chapter of this up! I decided to adjust an entire chapter (the next one, lol) and in doing so had some things to adjust and fill out in this one. Plus, life. ;) I did recently update Band of Brothers as well, and with hope...another chapter of each of these will be up soon. No guarantees, but hopeful! Great gratitude to I'maMePanda, she's a great beta an awesome person and an amazing friend! ;)

And, Chapter 4!

JD stood near the small creek, skipping rocks. He was bored out of his mind. There wasn't a single person around to do anything with. Buck had kicked him out of the jail about a half hr ago, threatening to hang him from the rafters in the livery if he didn't stop pestering him. Ezra was out on patrol with Josiah. Vin had taken off early that morning, heading out for one of his rides where he wanted to be alone. Nathan had shooed him out of the clinic earlier in the day, where he'd been tending a man who'd been bucked off his horse. Chris...well, Chris was in the saloon and JD didn't think he was doing anything overly important, but he knew better than to pester Chris. He threw the next rock with too much force and groaned when it sank straight to the bottom. He'd even debated seeking out Billy Travis, before remembering that Billy was visiting his grandfather. Danny hadn't been back to town since they'd returned from the Wild West Show. He paused, contemplating riding out to visit Danny next, but decided against it, knowing he'd never get back in time for lessons and that would not go over well with Josiah. Plus, he and Ezra could likely do something together once lessons were done. He scoured the edge of the creek bed and with a soft sigh, picked up a few more skipping choices. He was so bored!

"Whatcha doing, JD?"

JD whirled around, dropping the rocks he held and yelping, "Casey!" at the dark haired teenage girl behind him. "Don't do that!" he added, when the girl simply grinned at him, flipping a pig tail over her shoulder in a motion that JD was sure Ezra would call "haughty". He had never bothered to find out what haughty meant, but it sure sounded right. Her brown eyes snapping in a mixture of amusement and curiosity, she walked over to where he stood, one hand holding tight to a fishing pole, as she bent down and used the other hand to scoop up the rocks he'd dropped. She examined them and shook her head.

"These the best you could find?"

He frowned at her, and snatched the rocks from her hand.

"They suit me fine...why? You think you can do better?" he asked, suspicion clear in his tone. Casey nodded, leaning her fish pole against a birch tree that grew near the water's edge. She grinned that aggravating grin again, and knelt on the muddy shore of the creek, not even bothering to roll up the pant legs of her overalls. She began pulling rocks out of the water and mud, rinsing them off and examining them, with much more intensity than JD had ever given a rock.

He watched her for another few moments before crouching down beside her, as his curiosity over exactly what she was looking for won out. Casey gave a glance over her shoulder, grinning at him. "You need smooth rocks..." before she was able to finish, JD interrupted.

"I know that!" he said, the annoyed look he gave her saying even more than his words. She returned his annoyed look with one of her own, shoving at his shoulder. "Hey!" he exclaimed, throwing a hand back to stop himself from tipping over backwards, and then glaring at her.

"Do ya want me to tell ya or not?!" she demanded fiercely. He swallowed the first reply that came to mind, knowing she'd likely shove him in the creek if he said it, and muttered, "Yeah..."

Immediately grinning again, Casey turned to show him what she held.

"The rocks gotta be smooth, but they gotta be round and flat too." She took a light brown rock from the pile in her hand and held it up for JD to see.

"This one's real good. It's gotta good weight to it too." Her grin turned almost shy as she held out the rock. "Wanna see?"

Nodding, he took the rock, surprised by the weight...or technically, lack of it. He realized immediately that was his problem. He always found smooth rocks - he wasn't dumb - but his rocks definitely weighed more than this one. He turned the rock over in his hand and then handed it back to Casey.

"Nice." He muttered grudgingly.

"Bet my rocks skip further than yours." She goaded in return, obviously annoyed by his response. She indicated the pile of rocks he'd dropped by his booted foot and smirked. Fire filled JD and he grabbed the rocks off the ground, knowing full well they wouldn't skip as far as hers. Buck told him all the time if he would think for 2 seconds before diving headlong into everything, he'd save himself a lot of frustration, but even knowing that, he did it anyway.

"Betcha 2 bits they don't!" He countered, standing up and indicating that she could go first.

~~wws~~wws~~

JD grumbled fiercely under his breath as his second to last rock sank like...well like a rock, after only skipping 4 times. He heard Casey's snort but refused to look at her, as he was fairly sure if he did and she was wearing the look he thought she was wearing, he'd likely push her in the creek and that would have disastrous results.

"Your turn." He said without looking at her. She moseyed up, just inches from him, taking aim. She paused and glanced back at him.

"This is my last rock." The taunting in her voice clear as day.

"Just throw your dang rock!" he snapped, she'd already won, he wasn't sure why she had to rub it in! She grinned again, turning back to the creek, aimed and let the rock fly. 8 skips later, JD was staring at the water in both awe and irratation.

"Ya owe me two bits!" Casey crowed, hands on hips as she turned to face him. JD opened his mouth to retort that he knewhe owed her 2 bits, he'd made the bet, when she turned back to the creek for a second. His eyes widened as he realized she had a sling shot stuck in one back pocket. He grinned devilishly to himself. He may not be any good at skipping rocks but he was sure he was at least as good as she was with a slingshot. Granted, he hadn't used a slingshot in ages...

"Double or nothing, but shooting your slingshot this time?" the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, and he heard Buck's voice in the back of his head. 'Kid, ya just don't know when to quit, do ya?'

~~wws~~wws~~

Groaning, JD watched the pinecone sail backwards off the rock and land in the stream like the 4 before it had. How had Casey gotten so good?! He was good too, he'd gotten all 5 of his, but that meant they were tied and he hadn't beaten her. Now what? He glanced at Casey to see her grinning at him, twirling the slingshot in one hand, and he could swear she was somehow taunting him without saying a word. Tipping her head towards the rock, she asked, "Wanna go again?"

He shook his head, dropping to the ground, feet stretched out in front of him.

"Naw." he answered her, staring out at the creek. Silence reigned for a few seconds before Casey's voice, quieter than it had been, came across the small space between them.

"You any good with those?"

JD looked up at the brown haired girl in surprise, unsure what she was talking about. She pointed to his gun belt and his prized dual pistols. His look turned to a glare. She wasn't seriously challenging him to a bet with his own pistols...was she? Then again, he supposed he'd done the same. Challenging her with her own slingshot.

"I'm good…. But you can't shoot!" he said, getting to his feet and dusting off his pants. Casey closed the distance between them, reaching out to shove him as she snappily retorted, "Who says I can't?!"

Frowning, JD still pulled one of the pistols from its holder and held it out to her, as she glared at him, her hand held out expectantly.

"Do you even know how to hold a pistol?" JD's voice dripped with sarcasm, despite knowing it was a fairly ridiculous question. He knew Casey was decent with a rifle, but he was beyond reason at the moment, annoyed at the slightly younger girls ability to beat him at almost anything.

"Course I do! And Vin's been helping me too! You gonna put your money where your mouth is, JD Dunne?!"

~~wws~~wws~~

Hell bent for leather, JD raced Danger back towards town. He knew better than to be racing his mount through the trees, sparse though they were, but he just didn't care at the moment. He'd left town early morning, and been gone for a couple hrs. Vin had left real early in the morning. Vin had better be back by now, he thought to himself, as something similar to a grumble escaped him. Casey almost beating him with his own pistol had sent him higher than those firecrackers in the canyon. He had a bone to pick with one long haired, rock skipping, target shooting older brother! He wasn't sure why Vin was hiding stuff from him and teaching Casey, but he was going to find out!

"JD!" He heard the yell and looked ahead of him, to the right a bit, where it had sounded like it came from. He slowed Danger a bit, with a gentle pull on the reigns accompanied by a soft whoa. When he saw who had yelled and the realization of why hit him, he swallowed the lump that had mysteriously appeared in his throat. He drew Danger to a stop, eyes widening as an immensely upset Nathan drew Brevet up close to JD and his mount.

"There better be an awfully good explanation for you racing through here like that." Nathan wasted no time snapping out his question, and his tone suggested that short of a life threatening injury, fire or the like, he'd not consider any other reason as 'good'. JD briefly contemplated how good his actual reason was, but dismissed it, just as quickly as he dismissed lying. Nathan could pick a lie out of his ramblings faster than Buck could pick up a girl on Friday night, and he didn't want to add that to his misdeed at the moment. He shook his head quickly when Nathan cleared his throat.

"I...I don't Nate. Was just in a hurry to get back to town." The reason sounded lame to his own ears, and when Chris's lecture from a few weeks back about the safety of himself and his mount began ringing in the back of his head, he cringed, wondering if he could keep Nathan from saying anything to Chris. Nathan held JD's gaze for a moment, searching JD's face so intently JD couldn't help but squirm. After another moment, Nathan's features relaxed.

"Didn't Chris just tell you to be careful when you were out riding?" Nathan's words caused JD to squirm again, that sounded like a trap if he'd ever heard one, but seeing Nathan's look darkening again, he nodded quickly.

"Yeah….but me and Danny were racing...and stuff. I was just in a hurry and wasn't thinking….not really." JD trailed off, again knowing how it sounded. Nathan blew out an annoyed breath and then sighed.

"You know we just don't want ya getting hurt, don't ya JD?"

JD nodded, letting out a relieved breath when his older brother no longer sounded upset.

"Yeah Nate. Honest I do."

Shaking his head, Nathan spoke in a voice that was quiet but hard.

"You know, I should be telling both Buck and Chris what I caught you doing out here, but...I'm not going too. This time. You do something dangerous like that again and you're going to wish for certain you hadn't. You understand me, John Daniel?"

JD bobbed his head, he'd agree to just about anything to get out of this predicament, and get back to town so he could find Vin. He still couldn't believe that Vin had been teaching Casey all sorts of stuff and hadn't offered to teach him anything. Then again, JD suddenly recalled Vin asking him if he wanted to go with him one morning, to check his traps and maybe do some target shooting. He'd said no, cuz he hadn't wanted to get up that early. He cocked his head to the side, trying to remember if there had been other times like that…. "JD!"

JD started and looked at Nathan sheepishly. "Sorry, Nate. Just thinkin'."

His older brother just looked at him for another moment and then grinned, with a shake of his head. "Get outta here. I got to get out to the Harris Farm. Go on, 'fore I change my mind!" Nathan reached out and gave Danger a semi hard pat to the rump and the horse danced to the side, obviously getting tired of standing still.

"Yessir!" JD agreed, whirling Danger's head to the right and kicking the horse just enough to cause him to jump forward, before realizing how that'd look to his brother. Danger had gone a good hundred feet by the time JD had managed to pulled back on the confused horse's reins. He looked over his shoulder at Nathan, hollering, "Sorry!" before releasing Danger into a gentle run, leaving Nathan shaking his head behind him.

~~wws~~wws~~

JD paused in front of the jailhouse. A search of every known place for Vin to be, hadn't turned up his older brother. He frowned, wondering where he could have gotten too, then looked out to the street, as he heard approaching hoof beats.

He grinned when he saw Danny and Jess riding into town. He hadn't seen his friend since they'd returned from the trick show a few days before. What an adventure that had been! He'd been so sure they were going to get caught, but they'd made it to the show, stayed overnight just outside the town, and gotten back to Four Corners the next day without any trouble. Well, if you ignored things like scaring themselves silly and Danny taking off for home before daybreak.

Part of him still felt guilty though, and it was awful hard to remember to mention Jess any time someone asked him about the show...he waved at Danny as he got closer.

"Hi JD." Danny greeted, sliding off Banjo, and throwing his mounts reins around the hitching post.

"C'mon Danny. Chris is in the saloon and I bet Inez probably has a snack we can have!" He tugged on Danny's arm a bit, and Danny looked at Jess. Jess grinned as he dismounted.

"Don't want to miss out on snacks, boy. I'll be at the mercantile." Danny smiled his thanks and let himself be tugged along.

"Jess hasn't asked you anything else 'bout the trick show, has he?" Danny frowned and clapped a hand over JD's mouth, looking back over his shoulder to where Jess was just walking away from his horse.

"JD!" He hissed, pushing JD down the boardwalk. "Don't do that, and no!" Danny whispered fiercely. Over the last 5 days, he'd been constantly plagued by feelings of guilt over what he'd done. He'd enjoyed himself just fine and they'd gotten there and back, proving his point that he didn't need permission, or a guardian...but somehow he had a feeling that if Jess or Buck found out...they wouldn't see it that way. And that made Danny four shades of nervous. JD looked over at Jess and then back to Danny.

"But if he hasn't asked you nothing, why are you so nervous?"

They stepped into the saloon and Danny glared at JD.

"Never mind JD. Just, don't talk about that anymore. Okay?" JD looked confused, but he nodded. Danny's behavior over the last little while had been beyond odd. He waved to Chris, across the room and steered Danny and himself over towards the kitchen.

"Hello Carino, Poco Rojo. You are here for nachos?" JD nodded, grinning. Inez always seemed to know just what kind of snack he'd like...then again, he was pretty sure he'd never actually turned down any of her snacks either. He dropped into a seat next to the kitchen and eagerly waited.

"You gonna be in town for awhile, Danny? I got lessons soon." JD's mouth turned down at that thought. Danny grinned.

"Naw, just for a little bit. Mrs. Edwards sent Jess to pick up something she ordered and Jess said I could come. I should be working..." Danny trailed off, another wave of guilt hitting him. He was pretty sure Jess was beginning to realize how much he disliked working out on the range. The man had begun assigning him chores that were more ranch based and had him working with the animals...and offered to take him with him almost any time he came to town. Danny dropped his head onto his crossed arms, he was a horrible horrible...

"Poco Rojo?"

Danny's head popped back up. "Yes'm?" He asked, looking at Inez nervously. She tilted her head a bit and studied him. She didn't know him as well as the others but he reminded her of the young gambler, or even the tracker right now...guilty as sin over something, but unwilling to share. She set nachos down on the table along with two glasses of milk. Danny gave her half smile, glancing at JD, who was stuffing his face, then back to Inez.

"Thank you." He said quietly.

"It is good to share." She said the words pointedly, with one eyebrow slightly raised. He gulped as he watched her walk away, what had she...how did she? He grabbed his drink and downed half of it. He shook his head. Share? He didn't think so.

~~wws~~wws~~

"You ready to head back?" Jess met Danny on the boardwalk, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Yessir."

Jess moved to untie his horse, an appaloosa named Pepper, saying, "Spoke to Mrs. Potter, and she said she'll ask around about someone who can fix your boots."

Danny, still feeling a bit mixed up from his earlier exchange with Inez, quietly said, "Thanks, Jess." as he also untied Banjo. Jess eyed the boy, and watched his jerky movements for a few moments, before asking, "Danny, you okay?"

"Yessir." Danny replied, putting one foot in the stirrup.

"Danny." Jess's voice was sterner this time.

"I'm ok!" Danny's voice was more frustrated than angry, and Jess frowned, unsure what was wrong. Danny usually enjoyed his visits to town. Jess figured he'd try another approach.

"Saw Vin and he said to tell you he, JD and Ezra may go camping in a few weeks, and that maybe you'd like to go with them, instead of going out on your own?"

A sharp gasp from the boardwalk to the side and behind them caused them both to turn and look at JD in surprise.

"Mr. Kantrell, Danny told you we went on our own?" JD looked horribly confused and within seconds, Danny looked just plain horrified. Jess frowned, unsure what the boy was referring too, and then a dark look began to settle on his face, and he slowly looked back at Danny, his face a thundercloud of emotions.

"You said Buck was going with you." Jess's tone couldn't have sounded more harsh to Danny's ears and now both horrified and slightly petrified, he could barely bob his head in the affirmative. JD looked confused.

"But if Danny told you we went alone, why aren't you...mad.…?" JD trailed off as Jess spared a glance in his direction. Oh. Jess was mad. Really mad.