Jeremy reluctantly went to bed to be doctored and blindfolded. Joshua didn't really put any medicine in his eyes, although he'd rubbed some of it onto the outside of the bandage, and whispered (Jason had gone out on the porch) if it bothered him to 'accidentally' lose it in his sleep.

"Ya don't have to whisper, he's outside."

"Goes to show what you know," Josh said, quietly but not whispering. "He's got his feet up on the rail and his chair tipped back and his head against the wall right beside the window."

"Oh. J-josh –,"

"Hush. Don't worry about it."

"B-but, "

"I said hush." Josh used his natural voice.

"B-but –"

"Jeremy, just be quiet for now."

Jason knocked on the wall and asked if Josh needed help.

"Nope, Just giving fussbudget his sleeping orders."

Jason chuckled at that and the front legs of his chair thumped against the porch. Jeremy could be a fractious patient, as he knew too well. It was a relief to leave doctoring him in Josh's hands, as odd as that seemed.

They certainly seemed to have grown up quite a bit as far as getting along. Jason hoped it was a – well, not a permanent change, that would be too much to expect from brothers,- but something close to it.

Joshua came outside and took the other chair. "Whew."

"Have you had any problems getting along?" Jason asked mildly.

"Huh? Oh, no, not really. We mostly understood one another well enough." Truth.

"How long do you think that'll last?"

Josh snorted. "With you back? Maybe until lunchtime tomorrow."

"That's what I was thinking," Jason agreed. "That gloop you made for his eyes? Are you sure that's safe?"

"Hmm." Josh thought about it a moment. "Of course not. I'm hoping to blind him so he has to sit around and wait for me to lead him around everywhere. What kind of a question is that? I want a blind helpless little brother clinging to me for the rest of my life."

"Sorry." Jason leaned back again. "You don't know how good it feels to be home again."

"If you have your way, I never will."

The two older brothers fell silent.

"Josh, I'm sorry. I should have handled that differently."

"Yeah."

"I could have at least had you come along."

"Yeah. What would you – we – have done with Jeremy?"

"I don't know. I hated thinking about it. I wasn't going to think about it. Easier to leave him with you."

"Don't say that!"

"Would you like it better if I said it was easier to leave you with him?" Jason teased.

"Not really." At least that was the truth, Josh thought uneasily. All of a sudden, the mutually planned rebellion looked and felt like an enormous (and shameful) breach of trust. He swallowed hard.

"Alright, we needn't talk about it if you don't want to."

"Thanks. I'm sorry I got so mad at you about it."

"Apology really don't know what's wrong with his eyes?"

"I really don't."

"Then how do you know that stuff will help?"

"It's a numbing eyewash, basically. A little thicker so it won't get blinked out as fast. Maybe it will glue his eyes shut so they don't stare into nothing all night."

"Maybe he'll sleep better –"

"-because you're home? Probably." Josh grinned. "Glad I don't have to figure that out."

Jason laughed comfortably.

/

Jeremy jumped out of bed in the morning when he smelled the coffee and heard his brothers. "Hey! I w-went to sleep! I feel GOOD!"

"You sound loud, too," Josh teased. "Pull up a chair, little brother, breakfast's about ready."

"Let me look at you," Jason said, turning Jeremy to face him. "Your eyes are still a little swollen but aren't red. You're looking a little rosier, too. You can't beat a good night's sleep for some things. Maybe you should have a nap this afternoon."

Jeremy scooted his chair in closer to the table, and grinned. "M-maybe i w-will."

"That'll be the day!" Jason laughed, as Josh put plates on the table and seated himself.

After they finished eating, and Jason refilled their coffees, he started talking. "Josh, how many men would you say we have available here in town?"

"We could scramble together a half dozen, maybe."Josh started clearing the table and warming water for dishes.

"Is that counting us?"

"Maybe. I don't really know. We left town after you did and haven't been back."

"I heard about that."

"No doubt. Were they lying in wait to tell you?"

"No. No one appeared to be waiting for me. I was surprised; I knew you'd received my wire."

Jeremy looked up, curious, and Josh shook his head."Couldn't wait to tell on us, could they?"

"Did you think you had something to prove? And did you prove it?"

"I did." Jeremy said firmly. "I knew I c-could –"

Josh rapped him on the head with a wooden spoon.

Jeremy slanted him an almost-guilty look, grinned, and concluded, "And I did!."

"Did what?" Jason asked, amused at the interaction.

"P-prove it. Ain't that what you asked?" Jeremy went to shake out the bedclothes and make up the beds.

Jason noted how well they were working together without hesitation or discussion.

"Why, Jason?" Josh interrupted. "Why are you asking about the men? Did you get some orders? For now or for spring?"

"Both. Are the inventories here, at the campsite, or in town?"

"As if I'd leave them in an empty camp. They're in town. What do you need to know about?"

"Hardwoods. Oak, specifically, but a mix will work as well. How much is ready to be shipped? Your best estimate."

"Railroads?" Jeremy guessed.

Jason smiled. "Well, I guess one of you was paying attention."

"Hey, I was busy counting. Railroads? Really? For here?"

"Unfortunately, no. Our contribution to the War back east. I told you we'd be more useful here."

"Well surprise, surprise, you were right. When aren't you?"

"Not often when it comes to business. You know that, Josh."

Josh moved his lips, mumbling, and his brothers laughed at him.

He laughed, too, and then he and Jason started talking numbers, and Jeremy listened. He couldn't keep up with the numbers, they were saying them so fast, but aside from specific numbers he followed the conversation. Big, big numbers were good when people wanted timber from them and they paid them for it, which was more numbers, but of a different kind. When they had to pay for stuff, smaller numbers were better.

Jason was following Josh all around the place, with his big voice and his big steps and big gestures. Jason must not have liked being in the city where he couldn't be big like that. He should have let Josh go.

"We need those lists," Jason said abruptly. "Let's go into town and get them."

Josh and Jeremy looked at one another.

"You go," Josh suggested. "Me'n'Jeremy are fine here and we don't really want to go into town."

"How can we go over these figures if you're here and I'm there? Best to just get it done. We can get better food in town, too." What in the world was wrong with his brothers? Had they lost their minds?

"Jeremy, I think Jason doesn't like our cooking. What do you think?"

Jeremy grinned, and shook his head, before speaking directly to Jason. "Y-you won't g-get anyth-thing done f-fast if you go in town. Everybody will t-talk to you. Even if we stay in, they'll c-come to say hey and they'll stay and even if it don't turn into playing cards or anything, you'll talk to all of them."

"Hear, hear," Josh murmured, and smirked when Jason glared at him. "Hey, he's telling the truth, and you know it."

"Some truth," Jason agreed, before turning his attention back to Jeremy. "So what do you suggest, sir?"

Jeremy grinned at Jason calling him sir. "I th-think just you should g-go. You can g-get the p-papers you w-want. You can s-say hello to ev'ryone, and eat and p-play cards, and have arg-guments, and wh-when y-you're d-done you can c-come back here. Th-then y-you, I m-mean w-we–" (Jason smiled at the boy's self-correction.) "c-can t-talk b-business."

"And why can't we do that in town, all three of us?"

"B-because we c-can't."

"That's not an answer, young man."

Jeremy shrugged. He didn't have the words to explain. "We just c-can't."

"He's right, Jason, and you know it. If we were in town with you, you'd say we could get it in the morning, and then they'd be coming in the door before we finish breakfast. That's why we usually do business at the camp."

"Mm."Jason rubbed his face. "You may be right. I'd forgotten about that. You two aren't up to something, are you?"

"Kind of late for that, isn't it? You're already back."

Jason had to laugh at Josh's quick comeback, especially because he was right. The time for mischief would have been before he returned. He really had no reason to be so suspicious.

Did he?