When Aaron and Mack walked out of the woods after all the men had left, the two youngest Bolts were sitting on the MacKenzie porch. They had blankets around their shoulders and hot drinks (they were steaming) in their hands.

In Jeremy's case, in one hand. He had his thumb in his mouth again, and Aaron realized, with surprise, that he hadn't seen the child sucking his thumb since – since when? Since his father had been gone?

That couldn't be true, but it was.

"Hold a moment," Mack, who had been going into town with Aaron for a planning session, said to him.

Aaron nodded, but Mack was already talking to the boys.

"Did your Da send you here?"

Josh answered. "Da told me I better take Jeremy for a walk. Jason said for us to come here."

"That bad, was it?" Mack knew enough to know when Jon sent two of his sons away for one-on-one time with the third, it was not usually pleasant for the one left behind..

"Yeah, I heard 'em yelling at each other afore I got home." He sighed. "When I went in, everything was messed up – they'd been shoving furniture around – and Jeremy was sitting on the bed the way he does, with his legs straight out in front of him and his hands curled up in his lap, an' he was mand and scared, and mad at being scared, but he was very quiet."

"Aye, he would be," MacKenzie murmured. "Puir bairn."

Aaron was not comfortable waiting here, but before he could excuse himself or just move away, Mack said, "another minute," to him, and he thought it better to wait. He didn't want to have to change contractors at this point in building. If Mack got too involved, he, Aaron, would just leave. They could catch up later. After all, the man did work for him, not the other way around.

"Jason sorta relaxed when I came in, an' said hello, and he hoped I had a good day," Josh continued, and paused to pull the blanket back around Jeremy's shoulders.

Jeremy was watching Josh intently, holding his cooling drink and sucking his thumb.

"Da told Jason not to talk to me, he wasn't done with him yet. An' Jason tol' Da he sure knew how to greet his sons he hadn't seen for a while, and Da slapped Jason."

Josh sighed again, and slanted an eye-smile at his brother. "Jeremy didn't like that, so –"

"I b-bited him," Jeremy spoke suddenly. "I b-b-bited D-da, an' k-k-k-kick-k-ked him, and t-tol' him don' hit J-j-j-Jason, an' I w-was g-g-gonna b-bite him ag-gain, an' he p-pickt me up!" The boy was talking so fast and so excitedly that he was unintelligible. "D-d-d-da l-look-ked s-s-s-so sc-c-cary! I w-wanted to c-c-cry, an' w-was scared. I w-want-ted m-m-my M-mama!" The thumb was plugged into the mouth again. When the child closed his eyes, there was no color to his face.

"Yeah, "Josh said. "Da picked him up by his shirt until they were face-to-face, an looked at each otherJeremy's eyes got real big and he said 'Mama' in a teensy tiny baby voice, and Da sort of shoved him away – Jason caught him – and told me he thought it would be a good idea for me to take my baby brother for a walk."

Josh sat back, as pale as his brother. "Jason said maybe we could end up here, so someone could come and get us, and we just left." Another sigh. "At least when we left they just talked instead of yelling anymore, but – Golly-Gosh!" Josh shook his head.

Jeremy, with both hands occupied, laid his head against Josh's shoulder, and Josh pulled the blanket up around him again.

Aaron had already had difficulty recognizing the casually friendly guide in the angry father this afternoon, but even that had been understandable. No man behaved to a stranger as he did to his children.

Especially when they were not exactly children anymore.

He'd been about the same age as Jason, just a couple/few years ago when they had had the same type of confrontations. It wasn't easy, and he hadn't had any brothers.

Not that he had any interest in or intention of getting involved in someone else's drama. Having survived his own was enough for a lifetime, and he still had a lifetime for more. Of his own, not anyone else's.

"Why don't you boys wait inside where it's warm?" Mack asked.

Jeremy started shaking his head vigorously, and Aaron wondered how he did that without taking his thumb out of his mouth.

"He won't go," Josh said unnecessarily. "An' Mrs. Mack said he was upset enough, so she brought us blankets and cider and put our chairs close together. She said to come in if we wanted to, or let her know when we left and went back inside."

"Alright then," Mack said. "I'll be along in a bit. We have business to go over, which is why I've kept this good man waiting. We can go now, Mr. Stempel."

They started walking off.

Before they'd got very far, they ran into Jason.

Of course, it would be Jason, Aaron thought, then wondered why it mattered to him who came after those boys. As long as someone did.

"They're waitin' for ya," Mack said, when they got close enough. "Just let the missus know you've got 'em. You don't look any worse for wear."

"No, I'm alright. Are they?"

"Not too bad. Is it over?"

"Da's at Lottie's." Jason smiled weakly at Aaron. "I apologize in advance."

To Mack, he said,"I'd better go get the boys. Thanks."

"Any time," Mack said, and looked Jason in the eyes. "You know I mean that? All three of you?"

"Yessir. We know." Jason passed them by. Within a few steps, he put his hands in his pockets and was whistling softly. His brothers would hear him coming. He kept his pace calm and steady – they didn't need any more frights tonight.

Before he reached the MacKenzie farm, he was softly singing one of Ma's lullabies, and his brothers were standing on the edge of the porch waiting for him.