Saturday Night, Sunday

The sun was going down when Jason stopped the wagon in front of the town cabin. He let the family out and headed to the livery.

"We'll not see him inside of two hours," Da said to the boys, who looked at one another and shrugged before going inside.

When Jason returned, two and a half hours later, Joshua and Jeremy were playing checkers, and Da was sitting in his chair, newspaper in his lap, watching them, smiling faintly.

"Da, what on earth did you say to Aaron Stempel? Boys, guess what. Our setting chairs will be here Monday. Guess we'll have an extra day off, getting them home."

"And our order?" Josh asked, studying the checkerboard, "you got it in? It'll be ready Monday, too?"

"Yep. Well, Da, are you going to answer me?"

"I might try, once you stop talking. Why are you asking me that?"

"He talked to me like I was a fellow human being, for one thing. He wanted to talk business. Said you told him he'd have to talk to me." Jason poured himself a cup of coffee and pulled up a chair at the end of the table closest to his father.

"That is true. It was satisfactory, too. I've had enough of trying to stay ahead of that man's connivenances. That problem is all yours, since you've decided to go into business with him."

"Or not. I can sell the raw timber for more than he wants to pay. But there'd be shipping costs for us. I'll have to figure that out; what will be best."

"So you will. How do you think that will work out?"

"I think Mr. Stempel will raise his offer a couple of times."

"And?"

"I will refuse a couple of times. Until he meets my price, or something close to it."

"And you have decided on your price? How?"

"Josh spent two days helping me figure out how to figure it out. Of course, I already had some idea – when I went to work for Stempel, it wasn't just because I was a poor mistreated son with a father who wouldn't let me grow up. I wanted to learn how to start and run a business, and he was more than happy to – er– show off for me. Being so much smarter and experienced than naive little me." Jason wasn't averse to using his mother's tricks, opening his eyes wide and trying to look innocent.

Josh snorted and Jeremy giggled.

Jason looked at them and laughed, then walked over and watched as Josh cleared the board of Jeremy's few checkers.

"Phooey," Jeremy said, and started setting up the next game. He looked up at Jason. "You was fooling Him?"

"I don't know that I'd say I was fooling him. I just let him think he was smarter than me."

"I was mad at you."

"I know." Jason watched as Jeremy moved a checker.

"Why din't you tell?"

"Didn't want to jinx it. Besides, if anyone heard so much as a whisper, it would've been all over town. You know how this place is."

Jeremy thought that over while Joshua made his move. "I s'pose."

"Slick," Josh commented. "Your turn, Jeremy."

"I'm thinking. Like you keep telling me to."

Jason laughed, rubbed both boys' heads and went back to their father for more conversation.

The boys finished their game, and while Josh was putting the game away, Jeremy came to stand by Jason.

Jason put his arm around the boy. "How's it feel, being back inside a furnished home again?"

Jeremy hesitated. He wanted to answer but wasn't sure he could find the right words. "There's not enough outside in here," was the best he could come up with.

"That," Josh said, coming up behind him, "is because it's inside," with a false and exaggerated patience he continued. "We have inside places to keep the outside out there. Inside has no outside, and outside has no inside. That's what the walls are for. Understand?"

Jeremy whirled around, put his hands up, and shoved Josh as hard as he could.

Josh wasn't going to let that go, and it didn't take long for the shoving to turn into brawling.

It took a minute for the men to react, and the boys were elusive when they did, but they were finally separated.

"Bed," Da said to Jeremy.

"Clean this mess up," Jason ordered Josh.

"NO! HE started it!" from both boys.

"Well, Josh, you can go to bed, and Jeremy can do the housekeeping. I don't care," Jason told them. "Decide between yourselves."

They looked at one another, wordlessly, then Jeremy went to his bed and Joshua started putting chairs back into place.

"Well done, Jason. You manage them well."

"I'm learning. But that's supposed to be your job when you're here."

"I'd rather be enjoying them these days."

"You were gone a long time."

"I had a lot to see to. And it took longer than I had thought it would." The man paused, and added, "I'm enjoying the man you've become, too, my son. I think your mother would, as well."

"You're tired. I should have let you come home earlier."

"No. This day was perfect."

Jason smiled. "Well, I thought so, and so did the boys. The ending's left a lot to be desired."

"Life with boys."

"You would know."

When Jason was ready for bed, he found that Joshua and Jeremy were curled up together like kittens in a basket. He shook his head and got into the empty bed. Like Da had said, may as well enjoy it.

Jeremy looked around the church with interest. It was kind of fun, seeing all these people again after not seeing them for weeks. They did look different. They didn't sing different, though. They were awful, and most of them mumbled.

"Be still," Da said, and Jeremy quit looking around. He wished he was as big as Josh, so he could go sit with his friends, but maybe that was more from not really having any real friends, instead of just his age.

He should probably work on that, when he'd have to live in town again. That wasn't a nice thought.

"Jeremy," Da warned.

"What is wrong with you?" Jason whispered. "You don't act like this."

"My clothes hurt. My pants are biting me."

Jason started to ask what that meant, but remembered where he was and didn't. He did, however, trade seats with the boy so Da would be less disturbed by him. Da took his church seriously, as his sons well knew.

Especially his oldest son.

It wasn't very long before Jeremy started pulling at his pants legs and making whimpering noises.

Jason put his hand over the boy's, and he stilled for the moment, but was still fretful. It wasn't hard to figure out why; it felt as if the boy's pants were tighter than his skin.

Of course they were. Jason couldn't remember when the boy had last got Sunday clothes. He'd got everyday clothes about eight months ago, and was already outgrowing them. Being back on the mountain and living and working healthy had been good for him, as far as growing went.

"How did you even get into those?" Jason asked, once they were outside of the church.

Jeremy looked away without answering, then shrugged.

"Never mind, let's get home and get you out of them before Da gets done socializing. Are you going to be able to walk?"

"Uh-huh. Just slow." Jeremy started trudging his way to the house.

"You look stupid." Josh joined them. "Whyn't you let Jason carry you?"

Jeremy plodded on. "Not a baby. I c'n walk."

"If you took big steps, mebbe they'd rip open and then we could throw 'em away."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Hurts."

"It won't hurt after they rip. Want me to knock you down and help you up?"

"No."

"Well, don't say I didn't try to help."

Jeremy slid him a look and a small smile, before stepping up on the porch and going inside.

"Josh, look in the chest for ones you've outgrown, preferably dress pants. Should be able to find something not too big from when we first moved here. Jeremy, you get out of those. If you can. Looks like they may need to be cut off you."

"Should've let me knock you over," Josh said.

"Can't," Jeremy said. "Help." He glanced at the door.

"We've got time," Jason assured him. "Da will get our meal before he comes in. Thread a couple needles, Josh. We'll need to fix the length." Jason took his knife out and started cutting Jeremy out of his clothes.

Jeremy stood very still.

"I don't see how you even got these on. Oh. Never mind." Jason had his answer. There was nothing between the boy and his too-small pants. "Josh, we're gonna need the green salve, he's rubbed raw. Then go out and warn us when Da gets close."

"You ain't gonna hem two legs in the time it takes Da to walk across the way."

"I'll fake it if I have to. Jeremy, you. How did you get away with that?"

"Da was just fussin' 'bout me taking too long ta get dressed. I tried to tell him, Jason. I said I needed help and he said – he said –"

"He said you should be ashamed at your age to not be able to dress yourself. I remember now. I'm sorry, I should have asked you why you needed help."

"Da shoulda asked," Josh said from the doorway. "He's got the basket and he's headed this way, but he keeps stopping to talk to people. He's worse than you."

"Thank you very much."

"He'll prob'ly just go to sleep an' not eat nothing." Jeremy watched Jason awkwardly using the needle and tried to convince himself the needle wouldn't hurt as bad as the knife. He didn't think he believed himself. He didn't want anything to be stabbing him. Besides, Jason knew how to use a knife.

"Probably," Josh agreed.

"That should do," Jason decided. "My hands are not made for this kind of work. Get your belt on and you'll do."

"Da'd probably be upset if you tried any big sewing on Sunday anyway." Josh came back inside.

"Exactly."

Da came in and put the basket on the table. "This town is something else for talking. I never heard the like."

"What are they talking about?" Jason asked. He started serving their brought-in meal.

"I am not sure. Me, I think, or mayhap us. Miss Lottie said I should be ashamed, The storekeeper said to tell you he doesn't have any that small on hand and they'll need to be ordered. If he doesn't hear from you, he'll go ahead with that unless I object. And your antagonistic contemporary said he'd never heard of hobbling a tiger, even a young one, and found it to be an intriguing idea." Josh poked Jeremy in the ribs, and Jeremy scowled.

"My who/what? Oh. Aaron Stempel, no doubt. I sometimes think he's got tigers on the brain – he's always talking about them in that smarmy way he has, sometimes. Caging them, or taming them, or leashing them. I don't understand it. It's not like he's been to India or wherever tigers come from."

Josh laughed.

Da laughed.

"He's talkin' about Jeremy," Josh explained. "He called him a kitten. A fee-rocious, fighting, spitting, biting, and very small kitten to be such a tiger."

"Where was I when that happened?"

Da answered. "You were gone to Olympia to pick up the rest of the clothes I had ordered from that woman on the Toll Road. About two weeks after we had first moved here. Long enough for the two of you to have butted heads a few times. I thought you knew."

"Nope, first I'm hearing of it. Well, that explains Jeremy's animosity. I've always wondered about that." Jason picked Jeremy up, put him in a chair at the table, and set a plate in front of him.

"He said bad things 'bout you," Jeremy said. "An' you din't like it. I heard you tellin' Da, and tryin' to figger out what to do. An' He k-kep' on sayin' things 'bout you."

Jason shrugged. "Yes, I was upset. Hadn't encountered that before. I got over it. Somewhat."

"That was why you went to get the clothes," Josh said. "Da wanted to give you breathing room. That's what he said."

"And here I thought he was afraid that if he'd gone, I'd have hauled us all back home to the mountain." Jason set a plate in front of Josh

"That was a consideration," Da admitted. "None for me, Jason. I'll eat later."

"I'll hold you to that." Jason fixed himself a plate, and covered the food. "But how does that lead to veiled remarks about tiger kittens, ferocious, caged, or otherwise?"

"How can words have a veil?"

"That means words that have a secret, different meaning."

"Like a code," Josh added.

"Oh."

"Go on, Da."

"Well, I thought I'd see if I could help with the situation while you were gone–"

"And you telling me all the time that I'd have to figure it out?!"

"Yes, I shamefully acted as a father with a distressed son, not quite a man yet. I meddled."

"Do tell."

"Jeremy and I were taking a walk, and there were not many people around, being it had started raining hard and I saw the man, and thought 'twould be a good time to speak with him, even though I wanted to get the wee one out of the weather; still a bit of rain wouldna hurt him. He was already soaked. So I stopped, and headed in his direction. Jeremy ran ahead of me, which was a surprise as he was still mostly hiding behind me when we were out." Da stopped talking for a moment, his eyes looking a laugh at his youngest.

Jeremy reddened a little bit, but he didn't say anything. He wanted to hear how Da would tell the story.

"The boy walked up to the man and stomped on his foot. Hard. He yelled at him, I'm not sure what he said exactly. A few words a boy should never have heard, let alone said, and your name several times. He was verra fierce, he was, and he grabbed the man's leg and held on tight, and I barely managed to reach him in time to snatch him away before he could bite. If you remember, he was doing a lot of that then."

"I remember."

"Anyway, your detractor laughed and said to me, "That's some tiger you have there. You'd better teach him he's just a kitten before someone else does."

"An' I kicked him on his arm, an' Da held my legs in one hand and my mouth with the other. I really did want to bite him, an' make him bleed. Lots and lots of times." Jeremy thought for a moment before adding, "an' I still do."

"Yes, he kicked his arm, and hard. The man had a bruise, still purple, a week later. I tried to apologize, for civility's sake, and he just laughed, your Mr. Stempel. Told me to take my itty bitty kitty home before he bit off more than he could chew."

" 'Itty bitty kitty?' I'd want to kick him, too."

"And bite him?" Jeremy asked.

"I don't think he'd taste very good."

"They say rattlesnakes taste like chicken," Josh contributed, having been left out of the conversation for long enough. "And chicken usually tastes good."

"Maybe He t-tastes like l-licorice. I like peppermint."

"Licorice is medicine, for colds, and sore throats, and tummy aches," Josh said. "Mom made syrups with it. Or tea. Bleah."

"Probly why I don' like it."

"Me too."

The brothers were sitting on the porch, each with a book in hand. They were allowed to read anything they wanted on Sundays, but not to have any other fun. Jason had suggested the porch when Da, as predicted, decided to take a nap.

He had some things to discuss with the boys, after talking with Da half the night. Some of it he didn't want to think about, but he needed to know what the boys may have – and probably had – already guessed.

"Out with it," Josh ordered.

"With what?"

"Whatever you're thinking about while you're not reading."

"What? I can't be just enjoying doing nothing?"

Both boys just looked at him.

He laughed. "Okay, okay. I was talking with Da last night, and he made a suggestion I want to ask you about."

"So? Ask already."

"Da suggested Jeremy stay here with him while we go back to work in the morning. We–" he stopped talking, stunned by the panic and fear in Jeremy's expression as he clutched at Joshua's sleeve.

Josh put his hand over Jeremy's, and murmured something that Jason couldn't hear.

Jeremy leaned his head against Josh's shoulder, his face turned away so Jason couldn't read his expression.

"That's a bad idea," Josh said. "Why didn't you just say 'No'?"

"I learned a long time ago that telling our father 'No' is a very bad idea. He doesn't like it."
"Oh. So are we – you – gonna do it?"

"I wanted to see what you two thought of the idea. For all I know, after sitting in the tents for a week, Jeremy might be ready for a change. Jeremy?"

Jeremy straightened himself up and faced his oldest brother. "No."

"Can you explain why not? Are you afraid of Da? He was pretty temper-y before he left, and again this morning."

"Not 'fraid of Da. He's Da. Just – don' wanna."

"We could probably get more work done if you were here, safely out of the way." Jason pressed gently. He agreed that it wasn't the right thing, but that fleeting panic before Jeremy had turned away–

Josh started to say something, but Jeremy spoke over him.

"No. You said– you said – said – when we went to the m-m-mountain, that it was us th-three together. An' it ain't us together if I ain't there."

"I agree," Jason assured him. "And we've already heard Josh's opinion. Any idea of how I'm to explain this to Da? He's pretty convinced that you'd be better off out of the danger area."

"You'd worry about him too much?" Josh suggested. "And that might make you not be so careful as you should be?"

"He might think maybe we should be more worried about him staying here by himself."

The panic made an even briefer appearance, but was shaken off, although Jeremy's hands curled into fists – or was it a tighter grip?

Jason continued, "Me and Josh there, Jersey and Da here, and we'd come in every weekend. Nobody alone. Seems fair."

It's not!" Josh wasn't buying that.

"Da just goes to sleep alla the time," Jeremy said slowly. "It would be just the same as me bein' alone."

"That could be a useful argument," Jason said thoughtfully. "So far we have safety and unity on our side. And if Da's worried about being alone, he could come with us, and stay at our cabin. Yes, I should be able to work with that."

"Is that all?" Josh demanded.

"That's all. For now." Jason looked hard at Josh, hoping he wouldn't push. He then looked at Jeremy.

Josh nodded. "Well, if it don't work, maybe I could stay, too. At least sometimes."

"Maybe," Jason agreed, while thinking not if I have anything to say about it. And he, Jason, was becoming known for having his say and getting his way to most of the town. Both boys were well and happy being on the mountain, and Jeremy especially ws finally eating well and interested in what was happening around him.

"B'sides," Jeremy said, " how can I show you I can pay 'tention and be good if I ain't there to do it?"

Jason laughed, and picked up his book. "A very good point," he agreed.

And that was the point that carried the argument into the brothers' favor.