"JD! Chris told us No."

"But, Vin, it's fun to 'splore cabins."

"Not fun if Chris tans yer hide fer disobeyin' him."

"You 'fraid?" JD taunted.

"No. But I promised Chris and I ain't goin' back on my promise."

"I didn't promise." JD entered the small cabin. He saw a small fireplace on the far wall and an old dusty chair with only three legs. Everything was covered in a layer of dust and cobwebs. JD wouldn't admit it, but it was a scary place. He was thinking of turning around when something touched his shoulder. "AHHHHHH!"

"It's just me JD."

"VIN! You scart me."

"Good. Now let's get out of here 'fore somethin' bad happens."

"What do ya think pa did when he came out here?" JD asked as they headed for the door.

"Chris said it was pa's huntin' shack. I 'spect he hunted."

"I don't see no blood."

"Probably won't either." As Vin reached the door he heard a cracking noise followed by a crash and a scream. He turned around and saw a hole in the floor where JD was only minutes ago.

"JD!" Vin ran to the edge of the hole and looked down. In what looked like a cellar, JD was brushing the dirt off of his pants and crying. "JD? Are you alright?"

"Vin? I hurted my arm." JD cried.

"JD. I want you to stay put. I'm gonna go get Chris and Buck."

"Chris will be mad."

"I reckon he might be, but he did warn ya. It'll be okay JD. I'll be back in a minute."

"'Kay." JD sat down and held his sore arm as he cried. Vin turned and ran as fast as he could for the camp.

When he entered the camp, he saw Josiah setting up for supper. Josiah turned to see Vin running toward him and immediately knew something was wrong.

"JOSIAH!" Vin yelled.

"Whoa boy. Slow down and tell me what's wrong."

"JD...(gasp) he fell...(gasp) trapped."

"Where did JD fall and became trapped?"

"Pa's cabin." Vin was calming his breathing so he could talk without stuttering.

"The cabin? Chris told you boys to stay away from the cabin." Josiah stood and gathered some rope. He headed straight for the cabin with Vin behind him.

"I told JD that but he wanted to explore. I only went in to bring him out and 'cause Chris told us to stay together."

"Okay Vin. We will work out all of the details after I get JD out. Show me where he is."

Vin slowly entered the cabin and Josiah followed. As he walked into the cabin, Josiah could hear JD crying.

"JD?"

"'Siah?"

"Yeah Pup, it's Josiah. Are you hurt?" Josiah looked over the edge of the hole and noticed that JD wasn't too far from the top of the hole. He shouldn't need the rope.

"I hurted my arm 'Siah." JD whined.

"Okay. Let's get you out of that hole. Can you stand?"

"Yeah." JD stood up and looked at Josiah.

"Reach up and take my hand Pup." JD did as he was asked and Josiah easily pulled JD up out of the hole. He gathered JD into his arms and immediately exited the cabin to check JD for injuries. He set JD down on his feet and looked him over.

Josiah would have laughed at JD if the situation hadn't been so serious. JD had dirty tear tracks down his face, scrapes on his arms, and was holding his left arm close to his chest.

"Let me see that arm JD." Josiah checked and was satisfied that it wasn't broken, just bruised. "It'll hurt for a while but it's not broken. JD what were you doing in that cabin? Chris told everyone it was off limits because it was dangerous."

"I just wanted to 'splore." JD cried.

"Let's get you cleaned up and then we can discuss it."

"I's sorry 'Siah. You gonna spank me?"

"We'll see what Chris wants to do." JD cried harder and Josiah picked him up and headed for the camp.

When Josiah entered the camp with JD, he set JD down and started to clean the dirt off his face and arms. He cleaned the scrapes and bandaged his arm. As he was settling a sleepy JD into his bedroll, Chris and Buck returned to camp with more rabbits for dinner. Buck immediately noticed Josiah coming out of his and JD's tent and Chris noticed the tear tracks on Vin's face.

Chris and Buck dismounted and went over to Josiah. "What happened?" Chris asked.

"JD went into pa's cabin and fell through the floor."

"Is he okay?" Buck asked.

"He banged up his arm and got some scrapes, but he'll be okay. I just put him in his bedroll to take a nap."

"But he's okay?" Buck asked.

"Yes. Vin came and got me and then I cleaned him up."

Buck went into the tent to check on JD. Chris turned to Vin. "I thought I told everyone that NO ONE was to go into that cabin." Vin looked up at Chris' angry face and started to cry.

"I... didn't. JD wouldn't listen. He went in anyway. I only followed to make him come out." Vin wiped his eyes.

Chris realized that Vin was frightened. Afraid for JD and probably afraid Chris would think he didn't keep his promises. Chris gathered Vin into his arms and hugged him close. "Shh. I know you wouldn't break yer promise to me cowboy. I'm proud of you. You didn't leave JD alone and when you needed, you ran and got help. I would trust you to watch my back any day."

Vin hugged Chris hard. //Chris was proud?// "Yer not mad?"

"I'm upset with JD, but you did good. I'm not mad at you."

When Ezra and Nathan returned to the camp from the lake, they found Vin asleep in Chris' lap and Buck and Josiah working on supper.

"What's going on?" Nathan asked.

"JD and Vin had a small adventure in pa's hunting shack." Buck answered.

"Are they okay?" Ezra asked.

Chris smiled at Ezra. Ezra didn't like to admit he cared so deeply, but they all knew he was very protective of his younger brothers. "Yeah. JD hurt his arm when he fell through the floor and Vin's just exhausted emotionally. He ran for help when JD fell."

"So they're both okay?" Nathan asked.

"Yes." Chris looked at Vin asleep in his arms. "Why don't you boys gather some more wood and then get washed up for supper."

"Okay." Nathan and Ezra gathered wood and water and then washed up. Chris woke Vin and then checked on JD. When he pushed a stray lock of hair off of JD's forehead, JD stirred. His eyes fluttered a moment and then opened. When JD saw Chris, he started to cry.

"Are you in pain JD?" Chris asked with concern.

JD just shook his head and whispered, "I's sorry."

"JD? Why did you go into the cabin after I told you not too?"

"I's jest wanted to 'splore. I's sorry."

"I told you the cabin was dangerous JD."

"Are ya gonna spank me?"

"I should. You did disobey me." Chris gathered JD into his arms when JD started to cry harder. "JD. I make rules to protect you, not keep you from having fun. I want you to promise me that you will stay away from the cabin. If you make that promise, and you keep that promise, I will not spank you. Deal?"

"I promise. I's sorry."

"I know JD. I want you to remember that if you had obeyed me, you would not have been hurt. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"I love you Sprout and it would make us all sad if we lost you."

"I love you too."

"Let's go have some supper."

"'Kay." Chris helped JD outside and JD apologized to Vin for scaring him. They all had a quiet supper and settled to talk around the campfire after clean up was finished. JD was quick to fall asleep in Buck's arms and Vin was snuggled close with Chris.

"Buck?" Vin whispered.

"Yeah Vin?"

"What about Mike?" Vin wanted to hear some more of the story.

"Mike? Oh Mike. Well, Tom and Roy headed up to the cabin the next morning and when they got to the cabin, they couldn't believe their eyes! Mike was dead. And worse, the cabin door was open and he lay half out of the door with a look of terror frozen on his face. A fear that struck the others right to the heart"

"Buck? Maybe tonight isn't a good night." Chris could feel Vin shaking.

"Aw Chris. I's just cold."

"Then go get a blanket and then Buck can continue." Josiah added. He suspected that Vin was still shaken from the adventure with JD but he really wanted to hear the story too.

"Okay." Vin scrambled to the tent and got a blanket. He wrapped it around him and snuggled back into Chris' lap. "Okay Buck. I'm ready now."

Buck looked to Chris for guidance and Chris just shrugged his shoulders. He would be there if Vin had a nightmare.

"Go ahead Buck. He's handled it so far." Chris said as he held Vin tighter.

"Okay." Buck continued. "The old men said that they had enough, they were leaving this valley for help. It wasn't safe any longer, no matter how much gold was there.

"Roy and Tom were stunned! And sick at their loss. And mad that they had not helped their friend as they had promised when they set out from home together.

"In a daze they returned to the now abandoned tent camp after burying their friend near the cabin. They had to decide what to do. Should they return home to tell Mike's parents? They had enough money to return home, but not enough to buy a farm or to start a business if they returned now to the East. But more than that, they mourned their friend. This mourning turned to anger and frustration. Tom finally told Roy that they could not leave until they had done something to solve the mystery of their friend's death. They could not go home without being able to tell Mike's parents what had actually happened. Some beast or some person must be responsible for this, and whoever or whatever, must be punished." Buck stopped when he saw Vin's eyes slide shut and not reopen. "I'll stop there. These boys need to go to bed."

"I agree. It has been a long day." Chris lifted Vin and headed for bed. Josiah banked the fire and everyone retired.

Everyone woke the next day to an overcast sky. Chris knew that it would probably rain some time this evening or overnight. With Josiah and Buck's help, they set up the extra tent as a covering of the campsite. If it rained, they could at least cook without getting wet. It would also keep the younger boys from being forced to stay cooped up in the tents, which would be a recipe for disaster.

Ezra knew if it rained, he would be allowed to snooze all he wanted, so he decide to do some actual fishing. His mother would be horrified if she found out he really did enjoy fishing. Vin had told Ezra that he would teach him how some of the Indian tribes fished. He was warned that it involved getting dirty though. Ezra didn't care, so by mid afternoon, Vin was observing as Ezra stood in the middle of a stream waiting to catch a fish with his hands. He realized that he was actually pretty good at it and had already caught two nice size trout for supper. His concentration was broken when Nathan joined them.

"Ezra? What are you doing?"

"He's fishin' Nate."

"Fishing? Where's his pole?"

"He don't need one." Vin noticed how Ezra shook a little with Nathan's tone of voice.

"Hurumph. He's just wasting time as usual."

"THAT'S IT!" Ezra stormed out of the stream and stalked up to Nathan. "I haven't figured out why you hate me so much Nathan, but it isn't your job to run my life. I am tired of the comments. 'He doesn't think about anything but money'," he mocked. "'Does nothing but laze around'. Well Nathan, I am who I am and if you don't like that, fine, but I want you to get off my back." Ezra started to gather his boots and socks and headed into the wooded area near the camp.

"What was that all about?" Nathan asked.

"You really have to ask?"

"Yes. I'm only trying to help him..."

"See the errors of his ways?" Vin completed.

"No." Then he paused. "Well, maybe. He doesn't contribute much. He's always laying around, sleeping in late, getting out of 'menial labor'."

"You don't see the real Ezra Standish, Nathan. You still see a southern boy next to your slave boy. Try looking for the real Ezra instead of what you want to see."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Just what I said. You see Ezra one way because of the way ya were raised. But that ain't the real Ezra."

"Who's the real Ezra then Vin? Some one who can catch fish with his hands? Huh. It'll never happen."

"Yer wrong. Those fish? Ezra caught them. But fishin' is just one thing. Ezra does a lot of things that would shock you, but not the rest of us. We see the real Ezra. The sad little boy who just wants to belong and wonders why his older brother hates him so." With that said, Vin gathered up the fish and headed back to the camp.

Nathan couldn't believe what Vin was saying. He didn't want to believe it. Was he wrong about Ezra?

Vin entered the camp expecting to see Ezra, but he wasn't there. He saw Josiah and brought the fish over to him. "Here Josiah. Ezra caught some fish fer supper."

"Great. Is he still catching fish?"

"No. He's not here?"

"No." When Josiah saw Vin's face he knew something was up. "What happened Vin?"

"Well, we was fishin' and Ezra caught these with his hands Josiah." Smiling at Josiah, Josiah smiled back.

"That's great."

"Then Nathan showed up and started telling Ezra to stop fooling around and pretendin' to fish and Ezra got mad. I never seen him so sad."

"Sad? I thought you said he was mad?"

"He was, but in a sad sort of way. He asked Nate why he hated him. Then he stormed off. I thought he headed back here."

"I'll go look for him. He's not far I'm sure. Where's Nate now?"

"I don't know. I told him he didn't know Ezra and was always being mean."

"You did huh?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry but he makes me so mad when he judges Ez fer no reason."

"Why don't you clean these fish and I will find Ezra."

"Okay." Vin settled down to clean the fish and Josiah went in search of his lost little brother.

It didn't take long to find Ezra. He approached the old abandoned cabin and saw Ezra sitting on the ground leaning against a rock in the small clearing. As he got closer, he could hear Ezra's breath hitching. //He's crying// Josiah approached quietly.

"Ezra?" He asked softly.

Ezra turned to the voice and wiped at his eyes quickly.

"What's wrong little brother?" Ezra responded to the soft voice and let Josiah gather him into a hug as Ezra cried. "Shh. It's okay." Josiah let him cry and when he calmed down, Josiah handed a clean hanky to Ezra for his eyes.

"Sorry Josiah." Ezra said quietly.

"What are you sorry about?"

"Coming here." Ezra motioned toward the cabin.

"If I remember Chris right, he said not to go inside the cabin. You're not inside. You want to talk about what's got you so upset?"

"Not really."

Josiah smiled. "What if I tell you that Vin is worried about you and told me about what happened at the stream?"

Ezra just looked at Josiah. The tears flowed anew and Josiah heard the soft, "Why does Nathan hate me so much?" as Ezra clung to Josiah.

"Shh Ezra. Nathan doesn't hate you."

"Yes he does. He's always judging my actions expecting me to have some kind of ulterior motive." Ezra wiped his eyes.

"Nathan has a lot of his own demons Ez. Maybe he doesn't know how to see you for who you are."

"I just wish he would love me for who I am, not for who he thinks I am."

"I know. Do you want me to talk to him?"

"What good is that going to do? He didn't listen to Chris tell him to stop bossing me around."

"Why don't you come on back to camp and help me get supper ready?"

"I'll be there in a minute, okay?"

"Sure. Come when you're ready." Josiah stood to leave.

"Thanks Josiah."

"No problem Ezra. That's what big brother's are for."

"Tell Nathan that."

"Maybe I will." Josiah headed back to the camp. When he entered the small clearing he noticed Chris and Buck had returned with JD. JD was running around, even with his arm wrapped up. //Boy must be feeling better// Josiah noticed Nathan enter camp from the other direction. Josiah approached Chris and asked him to watch the boys while he talked with Nathan. He walked up to Nate and simply took his arm and said, "We need to talk, NOW!" Josiah dragged Nathan off toward the stream.

"What was that all about?" Chris asked Vin.

"Nathan was being mean to Ezra again."

"Where is Ezra?" Buck asked.

"Near the cabin cryin'."

"Not in the cabin I hope." Chris said.

"No sir. Josiah was just there calmin' him down."

"And how do you know all this?" Chris asked suspiciously.

"I sort of followed Josiah." With Chris' stern look, Vin added. "I was worried."

"No more eavesdropping, Kevin, understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good." Chris smiled at Vin as they all worked on supper.

Ezra didn't know what Josiah said to Nathan, but when he returned to camp, Nathan apologized for misjudging him. He also told Ezra that he did love him, he just had trouble seeing his brother and not a southern slave owner. Both boys talked and worked out a few of their differences. Ezra knew it was a start and he would take any kind of progress at this stage of the game.

Dishes cleaned and put away, the boys waited for JD to fall asleep as they talked around the campfire.

"Okay Buck," Vin whispered, "JD's asleep."

"I don't know boys. Maybe we should skip tonight's part." Buck teased.

"Buck. You promised." Vin said.

"Vin. He's teasing us." Ezra said in a whisper to Vin.

Vin smiled. "Okay. I'm kind of tired anyway." Vin stood and stretched. Chris found it hard to not laugh at the expression on Buck's face.

"Well I did promise." Buck started.

"That's okay Bucklin. We can wait." Vin smiled innocently.

Buck realized he was being toyed with when he saw the mischief in Vin's eyes and the fact that Chris and Josiah were ready to bust a gut trying not to laugh. "Sit down boy."

Vin giggled. "Okay, if you insist." Vin snuggled with Chris who gently tickled him for a minute. "Stop Chris."

"Okay boys quiet down and let me tell you what Tom did." Buck waited until everyone was listening.

"Tom wanted Mike's killer punished and he could only think of one way to do this. They would return to the cabin, armed, and spend the night. That way they could solve the mystery of the Valley of the Blue Mist!

"Roy was horrified! No way was he going to spend the night in that cabin. He thought the idea was crazy and he told Tom so in no uncertain terms. Tom was stubborn in his plan. He felt that it was their duty as they had abandoned their friend. They owed this to him.

"Roy could not talk him out of it. But there was no way that HE would go up that valley and spend the night in the blue mist. As evening approached, the boys each had their mind made up. Tom packed his gear, including their only rifle, and headed up the valley to the cabin. It was already late when he left, and he had to hurry to beat the blue mist.

"When he got there he made sure that the door was latched and windows shut. He moved the heavy chest of drawers against it.

"Down in the valley Roy was alone in the tent camp. The old timers had left in a hurry, not even taking their equipment. An old clock ticked on as night fell. Roy realized what a terrible error he had made. His friend was trapped at the cabin; he was alone in this dreadful valley. Just two nights ago he had been with the two best friends he ever had without a care in the world. Now he was exhausted, alone without a rifle, and his remaining friend was at the head of a valley that was full of death and mystery.

"The minutes on the old wind up clock ticked by. A proud possession of one of the miners, it had been left behind in the hasty abandonment of the camp. Soon it was 10PM, the fingers of mist again curled through the silent tent camp. Terror struck, he waited and listened." Buck paused and a bright flash of lightening made everyone jump.

"Looks like we're in for that storm after all." Josiah said.

"Maybe we should stop and head for the tents before it begins to rain." Chris suggested.

"Please Chris. We're covered from the rain." Vin's eyes pleaded with his brother.

"Okay, but maybe we should put JD in his bedroll first. That way Buck won't have such a hard time if it rains."

"Sounds good to me." Buck said as he stood. "This Little Bit weights more than he looks." Buck tucked JD in tight and returned to the campfire.

"What happened next Buck?" Ezra asked.

"Well, Roy couldn't hear anything from the cabin and the swirling mist climbed higher and soon blacked out his view of the stars and the other tents. He was completely alone. He wished he had stuck with Tom in the cabin. After all, Tom was his best friend and might even now need his help. And how about him? Alone and without a gun in abandoned tents, alone in a thick, swirling mist.

"The night lasted and lasted, as nights full of terror always do. Soon the glow of the sun cut through the thick fog and the mist started to lift from the valley. Roy scrambled up the valley to the cabin. From the river's edge he shouted for Tom, but there was no answer from the cabin." Buck stopped as the first of the rain started to hit the tarp. "Here comes the rain boys, and I think we should hit the sack."

"Yep. Tomorrow is another day." Josiah said.

"And another night." Vin said as he scrambled off Chris' lap and headed for their tent.

Chris smiled. "Well at least he didn't whine for you to finish."

"Nope. He didn't." Buck headed to his tent and everyone was soon asleep.