Something woke Jason. He listened without looking, noy unused to night noises. It usually took something different to wake him up.
Someone moving around, but that shouldn't have wakened him. It wasn't unheard of for any of them to have a need to get up during the night. And that was if they went to sleep at all.
It had been hard getting to sleep for any of them, and he had read out loud for about an hour. Jeremy had asked for "star and moon" poetry.
It was Jeremy moving around. Not really a surprise. The boy'd had an exciting week these last three days, and they still had the problem of Da to solve. No doubt that was on little mister won't's mind.
Now that thought, as well as the furtive silence, was an eye-opener. Jason sat up and startled the fully dressed Jeremy. Not just dressed, but in his coat and hat and gloves. "What are you doing?"
Jeremy swallowed hard then mumbled something about going outside.
"You don't usually dress so formally to run outside in the night."
" 's cold." Jeemy was looking at his feet, not his brother.
"Why, you've even put on your boots and laced them up all nice and snug. Were you planning on being out for a while?"
Jeremy swallowed hard again, then nodded his head. "G-gonna look at the stars. M-maybe."
That wasn't impossible, Jason considered. It happened, and it was cold enough to need all the paraphernalia if he was going to be out there any length of time.
"I don't believe you," Jason said abruptly.
Jeremy met his eyes briefly, then looked away. "H-how c-come?"
"You're lying to me."'
"How d' you know?" Jeremy slapped both hands over his mouth almost before he got the words out.
Jason covered his mouth with his hand, too, because he didn't want to laugh out loud.
Josh snorted, and buried his face in his pillow.
"What are – were you up to?"
Jeremy dropped his chin and looked at Jason through his eyelashes without answering.
"Were you planning to head back into town? Before dawn?"
Jeremy still didn't speak.
Jason brought the boy closer to him and pulled him onto his lap. "Why? Didn't we agree to figure this out in the morning?"
Josh lifted his face out of the pillow to listen.
Jeremy shook his head.
"What do you mean, no? We most certainly did."
Jeremy shook his head again, and once more swallowed hard. "Y-you 'n J-josh ag-greed. D-didn't ask m-me. I d-din't agree to n-nothing."
"You didn't disagree."
"You didn't ask."
Jason busied himself unbuttoning Jeremy's coat and taking it off. "I guess we didn't." He unlaced the boots and pulled them off. "But you should have said something, if you didn't agree."
Jeremy shrugged.
"I also know you have a problem with speaking out, especially if you're – if you have a strong opinion on what we're discussing. We'll either need a signal or I'm just going to have to remember to ask you and wait for an answer. I'm not very good at waiting."
Jason pulled the boy into bed with him and pulled the cover over them both. "Now hush. If you can't sleep, rest. We'll go back to town sometime tomorrow, after we've had a go at working it out. I promise."
" 'kay."
After a brief silence, after Jeremy had snuggled in and was nearly asleep, Jason spoke again. "I thought you didn't want to be alone with Da."
"I knew you'd get me afore then," Jeremy answered.
Undeniable, Jason thought. "Sometimes you surprise me, little brother."