The brothers were up and out the next morning, but not before leaving their cabin in spick-and-span condition, and having everything ready for their return. They left and were walking away, when Jeremy suddenly stopped and ran back.

Jason and Josh waited and watched him.

Jeremy opened the door, and looked at everything in the comfortable room.

He shut the door and ran back to his brothers, and past them, so that they resumed their walk.

"And it's all ours and just ours." Jeremy sounded pleased when they caught up with him

"What are you talking about?" Josh demanded.

"The cabin."

"Whose else would it be?"

"Nobody but us ever lived there."

"What does that have to do with anything?"
Jeremy shrugged. "I just thought it." He ran ahead again.

"He gets stranger every day."

"I wonder," Jason said, in his usual unhelpful way when Jeremy was the topic. He looked thoughtful.

"So do you."

Jason laughed.

LATER

When they got into town, Jeremy saw the boys he had fought with, and ran to catch up with them. As Jason and Joshua watched, the three boys talked – Jeremy (surprisingly) started the conversation. After a few minutes, the boys slapped, punched, and wrestled one another into neck holds, as boys do and have always done, and then the three of them ran off, racing one another to whatever secret boy destination they were heading to.

"Well, would you look at that!"

"I was looking at that," Jason replied. "Do you suppose Jeremy's finally had enough of adult only company and wants to be a boy for a while?"

"Maybe?" Josh stepped up on the porch and opened the door, but Jason put out his hand and stopped him from entering.

Jason opened the door as wide as it would go, and stood in the doorway looking in, much as Jeremy had done before leaving the mountain.

"What are you doing?" Josh demanded, pushing his way past his brother. "I want to clean up a bit, change my shirt, and go –"

"See your girl? I was just looking. Place does look rather lived in, doesn't it?"

"Maybe because we've lived in it the last few years? What about it?" Josh pulled out a washcloth, towel, and a bar of soap.

"Looks a lot different from the cabin, doesn't it? When's the last time we scrubbed the walls down?"

"We washed the walls in the spring before we went back. But I don't think they've ever been scrubbed. Why?" He poured out water into a basin and started washing.

"Just thinking. I wonder if two or three of the women might like the job."

"You wonder? When they've been offering to do just that since almost before Da passed?"

"That's what I was thinking."

Josh shook his head. Maybe HE should have both his brothers examined for crazy. He grinned at the thought of trying to force Jason into an asylum. He'd have to be more subtle than that!

"You don't need to start any coffee."

"Good. I wasn't going to." Josh buttoned his shirt and started brushing his hair.

Jason laughed. "Enjoy yourself. Just not too much."

"I'm not stupid." Josh tied his shoes and left.

Jason shook his head and hoped Josh was right about his intelligence.

Jason was sitting on Ms. Amelia's porch when Jeremy came marching up the street from the shoreline. He was, predictably, mud-spattered and wet, and Jason shook his head.

"Such a beautiful boy," the old woman said. "He's finally holding some weight. Your mother didn't make a mistake trusting him to you. She'd be pleased."

"I like to think so," Jason replied, watching the boy. He saw Jeremy see him, and gestured for him to join them. "Hope you haven't quarreled with your friends again. Say 'hello' to Ms. Amelia."

"H-hello, m-ma'am. N-no, J-jason. Josh." Jeremy looked at his feet.

"What did he do or say?"

"C-called m-me a m-mudhen."

"I see. And what did you call him?" Jason slid a smiling look at the old woman beside him.

"N-nothin'. I kicked him." Jeremy looked into Jason's face and grinned. "M-mr. St-tempel was w-walking by, and he laughed like a – like a – like a – a - seal. Then he tole J-josh he b-better watch out, it looked like the k-kitten was g-growing up. An' he said, 'They have claws, you know,' and laughed again."

"I hope you didn't kick him again for calling you a kitten." Jason wiped Jeremy's cheeks with a handkerchief.

"No, and I d-didn't b-bite him either." Jeremy's eyes sparkled and his face was shining. He laughed. "How c-come you're here, Jason?"

"I don't suppose you'd believe visiting an old friend."

"I can s-see that. But why?"

"Well, you gave me an idea this morning. Ms. Amelia is going to organize the ladies to scrub down the place here. Put new hangings on the window, polish the table and chairs and floors and walls. Shine all the glass."

"Polish the w-walls?"

"They are rather dark and sooty. I think it might be about time we cleaned up after the grim months of waiting with Da."

"Oh." He looked at Jason, and at the woman, and back to Jason.

Jason rose to his feet, putting his hand on Jeremy's shoulder as he turned to the woman. "I hope you'll excuse us, ma'am. I'll leave this all in your capable hands, and thank you for listening to me."

"It's about time you let us help you. It may be our last chance, and I'd rather not face your mother with her having reason to think we neglected her babe."

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. I hope not. If she's upset with you because that means she'd be a whole lot moreso with me. Come on, Jeremy, let's go. Good evening Ms. Amelia."

"Good evening, boys." The small woman stood and watched until Joshua joined them as they turned the corner.

They were the future, and the future was in good hands.