Jason was striding through the trees. It was late in the day, and the other crew was falling behind. That was never good, even though it happened as often than not. It wasn't like Josh to not keep him informed about the reasons for any delays. He needed to know what was going on.

Before he reached the base work area, he saw Jeremy, leaning against a tree, eyes closed, face lifted.

He smiled. "Aren't you supposed to be up a tree instead of trying to be IN the tree?"

Jeremy half-laughed, a bit embarrassed and a bit – ashamed? "Y-yeah."

Jason waited. He wasn't in any particular hurry, and if there was anything urgent, Jeremy's tone would have been very different.

Jeremy looked at him. "Who's asking? B-brother or b-boss?"

"How about both, since I'm both?"

"S-sounds fair," Jeremy agreed, and closed his eyes again, getting his thoughts – his words – in order. "It d-didn't feel right, Jason. When I st-tarted up the t-tree. You always s-say not t-to risk it, if it d-don't feel right."

"It wasn't the tree?" Jason asked sharply.

Jeremy shook his head. "Josh cored it to m-make sure. He's not very h-happy with me."

"That's not why you've been falling behind all day. Or is it?" Jeremy's expression had clouded over for a second.

"I b-been kinda s-slow all day," Jeremy confessed. "Not really because of anything wrong, but m-maybe just a little bit not right. This las' time, it f-felt more not right, so I told Josh. After he sounded the t-tree he sent Snowball up, and t-told me to g-go back to c-camp, since it's about time to quit for the d-day. That's where I was goin', when I heard you coming."

"I see." Well, he did see part of it, but it was out-of-character. "Busy day? You tired?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"Nothing to be ashamed of, little brother. I was fifteen once. And before you say it; yes, that was a long time ago." Jason was (usually) amused when his brothers accused him of being old, even when it exasperated him. He was oldER, not old.

"It was d-different, a d-different time."

"A different life," Jason agreed. "But restless nights and busy days at your age are pretty common. I do remember trying to sleep in and not sleeping well when I was supposed to. Listen, I'm going to check in with Josh, and I'll be back. You want to wait for me, or will I catch up with you later?"

"I'll go ahead," Jeremy decided, and grinned. "Prob'ly very, very slowly."

Jason laughed and clapped Jeremy on the shoulder. "You do that." He headed for Josh's site, looking back over his shoulder to see Jeremy meandering on his way to the camp.

As it worked out, Jason didn't catch up with Jeremy. He ended up walking back with Josh and his crew after they finished their work for the day. Neither spoke of their brother until the men were far enough ahead of them to not overhear.

"Did you see Jeremy?"

"In passing. He said something about being 'off' today. Would you agree with that assessment?"

"I would. What do you think his problem is?"

"Hard to say. Well, hard to choose. He's not been sleeping at night –"

"At least he isn't waking us up to ask his dumb questions."

"No, just other ways. He's growing again – there's quite a bit of arm coming out his sleeve, and he had to push them up when we got the new shirts."

"I hadn't noticed. Yeah, that can make you feel off balance and stuff, until you get used to it." Josh grinned. "Okay, I'll forgive him for not wanting to climb a hundred feet straight up."

Jason smiled. "I'm sure he'll be grateful."

"Yeah, right."

"A lot of the men are – restless. Probably the change of seasons; but maybe we've been working them too hard."

"They aren't working any harder than we are."

"So you wouldn't enjoy a long weekend?"

"Oh, is that what you're thinking? Heck, yeah, I could do with a long weekend. Might even go to Tacoma."

"Alone?"

"Doubt I'd get away with that. Bruno and Sam will want to go along, as usual."

"What if Jeremy wants to go along?"

"I won't like it, but I won't stop him. He's old enough."

"And that well may be another part of his problem."

"Yeah, it could be. Well, like I said, I won't stop him. But he'll be on his own."

"I certainly hope so."

That made Josh laugh.

They reached the camp, and Josh ducked into their tent to grab a couple towels, while Jason started looking for Jeremy.

"Uh –Jason." Josh had the towels.

"Yeah?"

"Jeremy's asleep."

"Good lord, what did you do to him today?"

"Guess maybe I did work him too hard. The question is, should we wake him up and hope he'll go back to sleep later, or let him sleep and hope it lasts all night?"

"What are the odds?"

"Pretty even, I'd say."

"What do you think we should do?"

"I say let him sleep and hope for the best. Maybe he'll be able to work tomorrow. We are working tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, but probably only half a day. Alright, let's get washed up and get some supper."

"I'm for that."

Jeremy awoke late in the night, warm and rested. He heard his brothers' even breathing nearby, and the crackling of a fire mid camp. Voices, too, and other quiet natural sounds. There was rain trickling through, and the wind rustling leaves. Water running nearby, a soothing sound.

Oh, it was nice. Nice to have been asleep, and to wake up somewhere so safe and comfortable. It hadn't always been like this, and he was glad, here in the dark, that Jason had been right – he'd got used to it.

He even liked it.

He sighed, pulled his cover up over his head, turned over, and went back to sleep.