Huh. Jason trusted him, even when he was being – what? Childish, like Josh said? Not really bad, but at least a little bit bad – naughty! That was the word, maybe. Sounded kind of babyish, which brought him back to childish. Like when he'd sucked his thumb so Da wouldn't try to make him talk to people. Stubborn maybe? He wanted to do what he wanted to do, didn't he?

Except not if it would make people talk about him and Jason.

Jason was safe in trusting him, and he thought over the way Jason had used his words, and he smiled. Jason had known the thing to say to make him NOT.

He wondered about that for a minute.

Jason was good with his words. On purpose, maybe?

There were so many questions!

He wondered why he was upset about Jason wishing he could cure him of stuttering. Why? He'd be happy to be cured, so what was wrong with Jason wishing it was possible?

Shouldn't Jason wish it was possible?

Shouldn't he be happy that Jason was sad he hadn't been cured of it?

Yes.

Yes, he decided firmly. He should be, and he was. He was glad that Jason cared about that.

He nodded his head decisively.

Last night, he had looked through the box they kept of stuff from old papers. Mostly, Josh was the only one who went back and looked for 'something he'd read somewhere' but he and Jason had done so as well.

They were all messed up, just crammed in there any-old-how, and he had spent the biggest part of his time sorting them into categories. Business and machinery, establishing a settlement – territory, town, state –, medicines, and other stuff.

The other stuff was an interesting mix of things. There were some old ads from customers and people who hadn't become customers, or bids lost. Advertisements for jobs, too. Those were old, probably from when Da was finding and sending Jason for jobs. Most of 'em didn't have dates, but he could tell the paper was old. Jason had taught him that.

There were recipes, and some pictures of some places he didn't know, and a handful of articles about twins, and photography, and making a newspaper. There were some music articles, from both him and Josh.

There were articles, on a different kind of paper, like from a fancy magazine, about behaviors and growth and patterns.

And speech.

Not speeches.

Speech. As in speaking.

Huh.

He'd read through some of those, and some of them said the same kinds of things that Jason had said to him. That the more he fretted about it, the worser it would get, and the tactic of taking a deep breath.

Seemed like somebody somewhere sometime thought every single problem in the whole world could be solved by taking a deep breath.

That thought had evoked two reactions in Jeremy. One was that maybe the whole world should all take that deep breath at the same time, and the other was how would they take a deep breath if their problem was they couldn't breathe.

That was when he'd decided to go to bed. He could look at more of them tomorrow.

It hadn't done a lot of good, he'd kept thinking about the words he'd read, and hearing the ones Jason had said.

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It did turn out to be a day of fun, though. After church and lunch.

Jeremy had been waiting on their porch when his brothers came out of church. He was dressed in everyday clothes, but he and they were both clean and neat. Either he had been disobedient and was trying to hide it, or he'd done nothing.

The first was possible, Jason thought, but it was unlikely. Jeremy could have both got dirty and that clean in the amount of time he'd had. He'd even combed his hair very precisely!

Jeremy stood when he saw them.

"Just what are you guilty of?" Jason asked teasingly, when they were close enough.

Jeremy smiled. "Growing up?"

Jason laughed, and resisted the urge to mess up the 'pretty' hair.

Josh said, "It's about time. Come on. Let's go eat."

After lunch, they'd gone down to the dock to start flying their had been so much fun, starting on the dock and running up the street into the wind.

Jeremy got ahead when Jason slowed down to avoid as much mud as he could. (Josh would have rolled on the ground laughing, if it hadn't been muddy.)

Then the children got involved. Jeremy ran through and with them (or they him) while Jason had to zig and zag to avoid stepping on or tripping over them.

Jason caught up with his brother by the time they reached the hilltop.

Once there, Jason's kite flew higher. Jeremy said Jason should get down on his knees if height was that important. Never mind the lower current was more manageable.

They both started doing tricks, which was pretty even, since Jason had taught his brothers all the tricks he knew.

When Josh stalled on making a decision, saying they were pretty even on points, Jeremy and Jason danced around and maneuvered him until they had him well wrapped in kite strings, which the children then pulled tight and knocked him off his feet.

When the rain poured down, everyone was laughing, and no one, participant or bystander, completely escaped the mud.

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The Bolt brothers were warmed, washed and dried, and gathered at the table with fresh coffee and a few (old) pastries.

"I hope some of the men we hire bring their wives if they have 'em," Jason said, crumbling his pastry. "All the good ones are dying."

"The turnovers?" Josh asked. "I don't think they're dead, exactly. They're better than nothing."

"We should eat them all when they're fresh instead of saving them for later so much. No, the wives. Women."

"I t-tried. You wouldn't let me."

"If I'd let you, you wouldn't have it now."

It's n-not too bad with a little j-jam."

"Good to know. Pass the jam."

They settled into silence as they enjoyed their informal teatime.

Rain beat on the roof, and the fire spit and sputtered momentarily.

"D'you know what?"

"Never met him."

Jeremy narrowed his eyes at Josh, who was scraping the jam off his plate with a spoon.

Josh winked at Jason, who covered his mouth to hide his smile.

"I was th-thinking."

"You know how to do that?"

Jeremy scowled.

"What were you thinking?" Jason asked, before Josh could speak.

"W-well, it wasn't 'zactly thinking –"

"I knew it!"

Jeremy ignored him this time. "When I was looking at the papers. It rem-minded me of when we first m-moved to town."

"Makes sense," Jason agreed. "That was when we started that collection. We left the other ones when we left the mountain. Mom's scrapbooks, too. Wish we had those."

"That'd be really old n-news."

"So what were you sort of thinking about when you were reminiscing?"

"After we been a while, and Da was lettin' you go work, he'd al'ays go to meet the stage. Josh was at school. S-sometimes, he'd b-bring someone b-back here. M-most of the time it was d-doctors, and he w-wanted me to – to l-let them l-look at m-me."

"I see." Jason hadn't known that, but it wasn't surprising. "And did you?"

Jeremy looked troubled. "If I d-didn't, he h-held me and l-let them. I b-bit one." He paused. "Once."

"I see." Jason set down his cup.

Jeremy darted a glance at his oldest brother. He thought maybe Jason did see. "Th-they was alw-ways p-putting their hands and th-things in my m-mouth. On ac-count of m-my – of the w-way I c-couldn't c-can't t-talk right."

"I didn't know, but it's a reasonable thing for him to have done."

Jeremy looked doubtful. "Maybe."

Josh refilled the cups.

Jeremy glanced at Josh, then into his coffee. "Da used to hit Josh l-like that a lot."

"Did he?" Like that? Like what? Did he even want to know?

As if he hadn't always known.

"It wasn't a lot," Josh objected.

Jeremy shook his head. "It'd h-happen after you b-b-been gone some d-days. 'Cause we askeded – asked when w-was you c-coming home .I d-didn't understand about days very-good. I didn't understand most of everything."

"It was a lot of changes in a short time."

Jeremy nodded, and took a long slow drink of his coffee. "Then, one time, he had to g-go outside while the d-doctor was there, and he c-came back and the d-doctor was p-putting long scissors in my m-mouth. He was gonna cut my t-tongue. Da punched him in the face!"

"Really?" Josh leonard forward. "When was this?"

Jeremy shrugged. "Da asked him who he thought he was, waiting for a man to turn his back b'fore doing a pro-ce-dure on a s-small d-defenceless ch-child."

"Wish I'd seen that!"

"No - n- no you d-don't."

"But why was he going to cut your tongue? You wouldn't be able to talk hardly at all with a cut up tongue. That's just sense."

"I g-gues that's what D-da thought. I th-think he said something l-like that. The d-doctor t-tried to explain, but Da yelled something ab-bout if he thought b-blood-letting was imp-portant, he'd do it himself. An' th-then he punched the g-guy again, and made his n-nose and his mouth bleed. Th-then he kicked him right out the door and m-made his b-bloody face go in the m-mud."

"Wish I'd seen that, too. You have all the luck!"

Jason wished he'd seen that, too. But if he'd been around it wouldn't have come to that. He wouldn't exactly have called it luck, either, but Josh had been younger then than Jeremy was now, and at that age, he probably would have thought that way.

Also, at the time, both could have used the assurance that their Da cared enough about them to not let a stranger hurt them.

Josh and Jeremy were exchanging satisfied looks that as much as said so.

Jason let them enjoy their moment, before asking, gently, "What made you think of that, Jeremy?"

"It was in one of them p-papers I was r-reading. Ab-bout cures for lisping, stammering and st-tuttering. There was some ab-bout taking t-teeth out, and something ab-bout cutting something in the th-throat. And one about w-wearing a g-gag to go to sleep."

"We should try that," Josh said. "We might get some sleep that way."

"Yes, there are some doctors who think they can do surgery for everything. And maybe, in some cases, they're right. Certainly the teeth thing might have worked for lisping and that thing where other letters can't be pronounced, but I don't see how it would help stuttering."

Jeremy thought about that, working his mouth as if to speak. After a few moments of that, he shrugged. "M-maybe if your teeth bumped into your tongue. B-but mine don't."

"Possibly. Anything else on your mind?"

Jeremy sighed. "Jason, I w-wish there was a c-cure for m-me, too. I w-wondered why you would s-say that, like you thought there was s-something wrong ab-bout me that m-made it happen. And then I thought that was s-silly, because I sure would like it, too, if you f-found one!"

Jason laughed. "I'm glad you figured that out."

"You dumb kid," Josh said affectionately. "Let's get these dishes washed while the water is still warm from earlier."

"Kay." Jeremy jumped up from the table and carried the dishes to the dishpan.

Jeremy washed and dried dishes, Josh did the wiping up, and Jason swept and built the fire for the night. They had work in the morning.

Finally.

Just as they were going to sleep, Jeremy turned over in his bed and said, quietly, "I really like you guys."

Josh groaned and Jason laughed.

"Well, I do!"

"We really like you, too," Jason said.

"Except when we're trying to sleep."

The night ended with warmth and laughter.