Josh and Jeremy walked part of the way with Jason, when he headed into town. Once they walked out of mist and through a drizzle that was turning into a full-fledged shower, Jason told them to head back.

"Right, right," Josh agreed, turning Jeremy around on the path. "And don't expect you for supper?"

Jason laughed his big booming laugh. (Jeremy felt Josh's hand on his shoulder twitch.) "No, don't expect me until you see me again. But I'll not be long; I want to start getting this worked out."

"Have fun." Josh started Jeremy walking away.

"At least I don't have to worry about what you two will get into. You two really impressed me." Jason strode off.

"Ouch," Jeremy said, removing Josh's hand from his shoulder. "Quit squeezing me."

"Oh, just shut up."

Jeremy slanted a look at Josh, but said nothing. He'd kind of flinched, himself, when Jason said that about being impressed.

A little while later, the brothers were on the porch still in their jackets, but with tin coffee cups in their hands, and the coffeepot on the porch between them.

"We need to talk.' Josh said.

"Uh-huh."

"Do you want to say anything first?"

"Uh-huh. " Jeremy immediately fell silent.

Josh tweaked Jeremy's nose.

"I w-want to s-say lots of th-things. I gotta figure what f-first."

"Sorry." Josh could understand that. He wasn't sure where or how to start either.

"I almost told," Jeremy said slowly. "I'm s-sorry."

"But you didn't, and managed to confuse Jason, too. That was pretty good. Don't worry about it."

Josh paused, getting his thoughts in order. "I'm more worried I'm going to tell. This is – well, it's not lying, but it sure feels like it. I thought it'd be fun, just me and you having a secret behind Jason's back. It didn't hurt us, and wouldn't hurt him."

"Th-that's still t-true."

"Yeah, but it's not feeling like fun."

Jeremy nodded agreement. How could it be fun if they had to be so careful of everything they said?

The two fell silent again.

"Josh?"

"Hm?"

"How – why – you b-brought in the hairy ointment p-plants when you came in. Th-that was smart, but –" Jeremy faltered with his question.

Josh laughed. "I knew Jason was on that boat, and it passed me on the river. I knew there was a good chance he'd get here before me, but not by much. So I was trying to figure out a reason why I'd have been out, and I saw them. I figured if we didn't need them I could throw them on the fire or out the door, but if I did need an excuse, that would work. I didn't expect you to look like a – like you were sick or upset."

"What if I h-hadn't?"

"I trusted you to be smart enough to make up a bellyache or something. That was why I came in talking about them. Shoot, those hairy weeds are good for just about anything. Why did you look more dead than alive?"

Jeremy shook his head."What I said. N-not s-sleepoing. I c-could go to sleep, but couldn't stay asleep."

"Why not? There weren't any bears or wolves prowling around the cabin, were there?" That would be a major reason he shouldn't be trusted, if there had been. That was one of the reasons to not leave someone alone in the woods. Anyone. Ever. Oh dear.

"Of c-course not," Jeremy scoffed. "I g-guess I was j-just lonesome." he shrugged. "An' I was g-getting w-worried if you were g-going to g-get back. K-kind of d-did scare me if Jason c-came and I c-couldn't tell where was you."

"That just shows your good sense. I would have been terrified."

Jeremy looked at him.

Josh nodded. "I had a few thoughts about you not being here, too. Even if you'd gone into town."

"Y-you t-told me to g-go in t-town if I got sc-cared or w-worried being alone."

"I know but I didn't really think about it until I knew how close it was going to be to Jason getting home. Lemme talk ya, little brother, You can travel overland by train and stage as you can by boat. Almost. If you never completely stop, like the boats don't stop."

"Did you sleep?"

"Yeah, that's when I took the stage."

Jeremy nodded.

They fell silent again, and emptied the coffeepot.

After a while, Josh sighed. "What are we going to do, Jeremy?" He grinned and added, "- and live to tell about it?"

Jeremy shrugged before answering thoughtfully. "It's Jason, Josh. He's not gonna kill us. Prob'ly just scare us." Jeremy considered, before making his additional comment. "M-maybe m-make us deaf, yelling at us."

"Well, getting yelled out can be painful in itself. And he has been known to smack us a bit when we deserve it."

"It's funny how you don't m-mind it so much then," Jeremy mused. "Or when we're jus' p-playin' around. It hurts the same – on the outside."

"I wonder if bank robbers and horse thieves feel that way while they're waiting for the noose."

"Maybe they just wish they hadn't b-been so stupid. D'you suppose they th-thought stealing would b-be fun, until they g-got caught at it?"

"I suppose it might even be fun. Planning it, and then seeing the plan work."

"Uh-huh."

The two brothers looked into their empty cups at the same time and stood up.

They looked at one another, laughed, and Josh picked up the pot and threw his other arm across Jeremy's shoulders. "I guess we'd better find something to do, hadn't we?" he asked as they entered the house.