"Adam, I've just got to get rid of this dirt," Joe implored as he peeled his sweat-drenched shirt away from his chest. "I just can't stand it, I stink!" He leaned over to his brother and sniffed. "And you don't smell like roses either, big brother," he said as one eyebrow arched toward his unruly mop of curls.

    Adam chuckled and looked down at his clothes, streaked and caked with a dried brown substance, which he hoped was mud. It had the distinct aroma however of a mixture of mud and the muck they routinely shoveled out of the outhouse. Adam looked off at the horizon, wishing their quarry would return once again to taunt them. The bull moose they had been tracking had led them on a merry chase down a mud-covered trail and both men had ended tumbling into an enormous puddle left over from recent rains in the mountains. He glanced up at Joe and noticed his brother's curly hair, usually meticulously clean was a snarled mess, the dirty tresses just reaching his shirt collar in the back. A devilish twinkle lit Adam's deep brown eyes, and he coughed into his hand, knowing what was dancing around in Little Joe's brain. "What do you want to do?" he asked innocently.

    Little Joe bit his lower lip and studied the ground. He knew the lake was cold this time of year and getting Adam to agree to swimming would probably be difficult at best. But he had to try. He looked up slowly, wondering what expression would be on his oldest brother's face. "We could take a dip in the lake, would clean us off real nice," he said with a helpful smile. "Just so Hop Sing wouldn't have such a mess on his hands when we get home--you understand." Joe often found if he could find a reason, no matter how far from the truth his real purpose was, he had a better chance of convincing the logical-thinking Adam. Little Joe had been restricted to the ranch for the past three weeks over a relatively minor offense in his book--getting into a fight in town. Was it his fault that it was as they walked down the steps after church services? His Pa's reaction had been vastly different and the thought of a nice long swim was like the light at the end of a tunnel.

    Five minutes and some enthusiastic whining later, the brothers stood on the shore of Lake Tahoe. The gently rippling water glistened like emeralds, the vibrant green color echoed in the huge feathery pine trees which grew along the rim.

    Adam leaned down and dropped his hand into the water and gritted his teeth before looking at his brother. "It's cold."

    "Yeah, and I'm hot. So I'm taking a swim whether you like it or not," Joe said as he pulled his hat off his head and dropped it to the ground. He carefully unbuckled his elaborately tooled gunbelt and carefully set it next to his hat. He sat down beside it and eased off his left boot, dumping the dirt that had accumulated there onto the mossy ground. His sock followed, then the other boot and sock.

    Adam was watching his brother, then looking at the water. Lake Tahoe was cold year round and the late September afternoon hadn't increased the temperature of the water. He looked down at his black shirt, the dried mud clinging stubbornly to the fabric. "Allright, but if I catch pneumonia from this I'm going to blame you," he said as he forced a button through the fabric of his shirt."

    "Won't be the first time or the last, big brother," Joe said as he stood. His tan shirt clung to him like a second skin and he hated the feeling. Instead of carefully unbuttoning his shirt as his brother was doing, Joe just gave a sharp yank and the buttons flew in every direction.

    Adam ducked to prevent being hit by a flying button. "Hey watch what you're doing!" he shouted, then continued meticulously undoing his buttons.

    "Yeah, yeah." Joe slid out of the shirt and dropped it to the ground, then undid his pants. "I know Hop Sing's going be pissed my buttons are gone. Don't say it!" The boy said as he held up a hand to stop the harsh words that sprang to Adam's lips. "I know, I ain't supposed to be swearing." He slipped his pants and underwear to the ground and stepped out of them, standing as naked as the day he was born. The sun glistened off his sweaty body, the dried mud somehow accentuating the well-defined muscles on his chest and the washboard ripples on his stomach. He stretched like a cat, extending his arms skyward and bending backwards slightly, the muscles in his thighs bulging at the effort. "I'm goin in."

    "Don't dive in. This ends shallower than it looks," Adam said sternly, still biting his tongue over the swearing issue. Little Joe had taken to spouting off four-letter words on a regular basis when they were out of Pa's earshot and Adam didn't like it.

    Offering his oldest brother a toothy grin, Joe took off for the water and dove in head first, a glimpse of tanned buns, muscled calves and pale soles the response to his oldest brother's unsolicited advice.

    "Dang you little brother," Adam shouted as he finished with the last button on his shirt. He pulled it open, and scratched the dried mud caked that had accumulated in his abundant chest hair.

    "C'mon Adam!" Joe called as he gracefully backstroked in the cold water, the Cartwright family jewels evident for the world to see. "The water's fine."

    "Kid always was a damned polar bear," Adam grumbled as dropped his shirt to the ground, followed by his gunbelt. He fumbled with the mud-caked button on his pants, finally succeeding in freeing the black disc from its buttonhole. He slid the black fabric down his hips, cursing when the dried mud pulled hair from his thighs on the downward journey. Adam naked form was vastly different than his younger brother. Where Joe's chest was hairless, Adam's sported luxuriant black hair starting just below his collar bone and extending down his chest, thinning near his navel, then thickening again at his groin. There was one thing all the Cartwright men shared however, which was a genetic tendency to have a larger than average spear between their thighs.

    He sat down on the ground, the grass soft on his naked backside as he stripped off his boots and socks, then followed with his pants. Once free of his clothing, he stood and hung the dirty clothes over Sport's saddle-horn and placed his hat on top, years of neatness instilled in him by his sailor father. He looked at the pile of Little Joe's dirty clothes that lay haphazardly on the ground. Unfortunately, Ben's sailor days were long past when the baby of the family was born. As he had done so often in the past, Adam picked up Little Joe's clothes and hung them over Cochise's saddle horn, reminiscing about what his fate as a boy would have been if he'd done half of the things Little Joe seemed to get away with. He pushed a mud-covered lock of dark hair out of his eyes and ran to the water, diving into the exact spot where his younger brother had been two minutes earlier.

    Ten minutes later, Little Joe clicked his tongue as he studied the nude form of his older brother who had just climbed out of the icy water. "Uh Adam?" Little Joe yelled from the relative safety of the clear bluish-green water.

    Adam shook his head to release the droplets of cold water that still clung to his raven hued locks. He shivered and wrapped his arms around his muscular torso before looking toward the lake. "Yeah, little brother?"

    Joe grinned evilly as he stopped swimming and treaded water. "It's a good thing there ain't no women hereabouts to see you now," he said slyly gesturing to Adam's private parts. "It's almost a shame that your last name is the same as mine, due to your, ah… shortcomings."

    Adam growled and looked down, his hands closing into fists when he saw where the boy was gesturing. "Dang you Joe!" he shouted as he raised a fist toward the water. "You know cold water causes shrinkage!!!"

    A cackling laugh was Little Joe's first response. "Yeah, sure that's what all guys with small dic…" he began, but stopped when the color of Adam's face resembled a ripe apple. He was certain his oldest brother's heightened color wasn't embarrassment, but rather a healthy inroad into anger. Joe knew he had been kind of troublesome today, both with the fence fixing and convincing Adam to abandon their assigned duties to track the wild moose, so in the interest of self-preservation, he quickly changed the subject. "Yeah, well here comes somebody that doesn't have to worry about shrinkage," Joe said as he pointed to a trail of dust coming up the trail.

    In the center of the cloud was Hoss, his large frame overflowing the small roan he rode. When Hoss reached the other horses, he dismounted quickly and strode quickly to the edge of the lake. "What're you two doing?" Hoss said as he looked up and down Adam's naked form and grinned. "Pa thinks you're fixing fence and he's gonna be mighty riled if he finds out you aren't."

    "Hoss, Hoss," Adam admonished as he patted the larger man on the shoulder. "I know what I'm doing. Little Joe and I just needed a swim to get rid of some mud and then we're going to go back to fence mending. It'll be done before the day is out and Pa'll be none the wiser." His eyes shifted to the left. "Um, by the way. Where is Pa?"

    Hoss looked down at his sweat-soaked shirt and hastily began unbuttoning the tan cotton fabric. "He went on home, he was tired," Hoss said, wincing when he remembered the foul mood Ben Cartwright was in today. When the buttons were undone, he slipped his shirt off his broad shoulders and threw the rancid smelling garment over Chubb's saddle.

    "What're you doing?" Adam asked as Hoss unclasped his gunbelt and let it slide to the ground.

    "I aim to take a swim just like you did. Seems if the Cartwright men are ducking responsibility for the day, I'm not going to be left out." Hoss pulled open the button on his pants and shucked them down to his calves, forgetting his boots were still on. He windmilled his arms frantically to try and regain his balance, but ended up in a heap on the ground.

    Little Joe cackled from the water. "Hoss! Pa shoulda named you grace! You've got to be the clumsiest person I ever saw."

    Hoss stood up and brushed weeds from his naked backside, trying to regain some dignity which was difficult if not impossible with his chocolate brown trousers intertwined with his black leather boots. He turned to the lake and glared at his baby brother floating effortlessly in the water. "You're just jealous, youngun. 'Coz you've got a lot of growing to do in the chest department there, boy," Hoss said as he beat on his massive chest with his meaty fists. "One of these years you may even sprout a chest hair," He winked at Adam." "or two." Hoss raked his fingers over his abundant sprinkling of coarse red chest hair. "Drives the women mad, boy. When you're a little older, you'll see." Balancing precariously on one foot, Hoss pulled off one boot then the other, finally freeing himself from his pants.

    "Ha!" Little Joe shouted derisively from the water. "I've already dated more women in my seventeen years than you'll do in a life time. And," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "None of them ever minded my bare chest. In fact, they have been most, ah… enthusiastic." Once the words were out of his mouth, he instantly regretted them. Not because they were untrue, in fact the women seemed to go wild over his bronzed and muscled naked chest. More because he didn't want the knowledge that a woman had seen his chest in the wrong hands. Joe glanced quickly in Adam's direction to see if his oldest brother was listening.

    Unfortunately, he was. At the most recent revelation of the fact that women had seen, nay been impressed by the boy's naked chest, the most obvious question to Adam was when. The respectable young daughters of the town of Virginia City would have been hard-pressed to be alone with a boy without a chaperone, and Adam couldn't think of an occasion when Little Joe could have been in a saloon alone. Ben Cartwright kept a tight rein on his youngest boy, and although Little Joe had been in the saloon several times, he was always accompanied by an older brother.

    The implications had escaped Hoss however. He was much more interested in payback for his little brother's smart mouth. With a gut-wrenching shout, Hoss ran to the water. "Cannonball!!!" erupted from his full lips shortly before he hit the cold water.

    Little Joe, whose sense of self-preservation was well developed from years of brotherly abuse had started swimming for the far shore as soon as he saw Hoss start to run for the water. He knew he didn't have to go too far to out-distance Hoss, but if Adam decided to join in, the odds worsened. And if Little Joe lost, he didn't want to contemplate how much he would suffer.

    "You're gonna pay, baby brother!" Hoss screamed as he started swimming in the cold water, giving futile chase to his much quicker sibling. He knew the chances of catching the boy were slim, but never one to give up without trying, Hoss increased his powerful strokes to try and shorten the distance.

    Adam saw the race in the water and debated over what he should do. Looking towards Sport, he knew he should get dressed and try to convince his brothers' to do the same. There was fence to be fixed yet, and Pa would be upset, if the job wasn't finished by the end of the day. Glancing at the lake, he saw Little Joe had stopped swimming and was taunting his bigger brother from a safe distance. "That little brat," Adam muttered under his breath. "He needs to be taught a lesson." Noting that both brothers' were occupied, Adam swiftly ran to the far side of the lake, his muscular thighs pumping up and down in unison as he contemplated the havoc he was going to wreak on his baby brother's slim frame. When he reached the south corner of the lake, he silently slid into the water and started swimming at an intercept angle toward an unsuspecting Little Joe.

    Little Joe's giggle turned into a strangled gasp when a strong hand grabbed him from behind. "Wha…." He managed to utter before finding himself two feet underwater and at the mercy of Adam.

    "Knew you'd help out, older brother," Hoss sighed in gratitude. He'd noticed Adam swimming toward them two minutes ago and it was all he could do not to let the relief show on his face. When his little brother came to the surface, Hoss pushed him down again until the bubbles started erupting toward the surface. "What d'you think we should do to him once we get him back to shore?"

    Adam shivered in the cold water. "I thought about this when I was swimming over here. Would be fun to make him walk back naked, don't you think?"

    Hoss chuckled at the thought of his little brother trying to cover his private parts while they taunted from horseback. "Perfect!"

    Little Joe fought his way to the surface, sputtering and swearing for all his worth. This time his captors didn't force him down again, the culprits just treaded water and laughed.

    A loud snort from the shore of the lake drew their attention, and all three men gaped at the sight, an enraged bull moose pawing the ground, standing exactly where their horses had been ten minutes prior.

    "This is all your fault, Little Joe!" Adam threatened, as he glared at the boy. He fervently hoped their mounts hadn't traveled far. It would be a long walk home to the Ponderosa if that wasn't the case, with an unfortunate tongue lashing upon their arrival if Pa was in residence.

    The three boys had been walking for over an hour and the afternoon sun that had felt so good earlier in the day, was now adding to their discomfort. Body parts unused to exposure were quickly becoming red and sun-burned. Adam and Hoss were dressed only in their boots, with their gunbelts slung as low as possible on their hips. Little Joe had retained his hat and boots, but his gunbelt was draped over his left shoulder. The boy normally had to secure the belt at the tightest notch to keep it on, and without the extra layer of trouser fabric the gunbelt just slid down his naked hips.

    "I feel like the biggest ass in the territory," Adam said as he trudged along the trail toward home. Adam tried to push his gunbelt further down on his hips, but didn't succeed. It was on the loosest notch there was, and he didn't have the tools necessary to add another one.

    "Well that ain't true," Little Joe grumbled from his place five or six yards behind his two brothers'. "Coz believe me I've got the view of the biggest ass in the territory from right here."

    Adam whirled around quickly and grabbed Little Joe by the upper arm. He shook him roughly to show his anger. "You watch your mouth, Little Joe. You know how Pa feels about swearing and I’m not going to tolerate it anymore from you."

    "You said it first!" Little Joe pulled away and pushed his hat back on his head, the hot sun making his temper flare even quicker than usual. He was also more than a little concerned over what Pa would have to say when they arrived home.

    "Yes, but I’m an adult and you're not," Adam said heatedly as he advanced on the boy again. "I’m smart enough to make my own decisions, and if I feel like swearing, I'll do so!"

    "Great decision making ability you have there, older brother," Little Joe snorted derisively as he retreated several steps. "It's your fault that I'm in this mess! If you hadn’t decided to tidy up after me, I’d still have clothes!"

    Adam lunged at Joe and grabbed him by the arm. "Why you ungrateful little wretch! You are going to learn respect if it's the last …"

    Hoss forced his way between the soon-to-be-battling brothers' and pushed them apart. "Now hold on a minute there!" he shouted. "You two are going to settle down or I'm gonna bust me some heads!" He turned to his right and looked directly into Adam's eyes. "Understand?"

    Adam waved his hand in the air to signal submission and backed away, shaking his head. He knew the whole thing was probably his fault anyway, but Little Joe had a lecture coming and he was bound and determined to give it. Adjusting his gunbelt once again around his naked hips, he rolled his eyes and tried to let the anger slip away.

    Hoss turned and looked down at Little Joe, whose temper took a while longer to cool. "Little Joe, you hear me boy?"

    "He started it Hoss!" Little Joe argued as he stared up into the pale blue eyes of his best friend. "If he hadn't grabbed me and …"

    "And if you hadn't started mouthing off and swearing he wouldn't have done it," Hoss said harshly. He narrowed his eyes when Little Joe used his most persuasive weapon. "Don't give me those puppy dog eyes either. You're just as much to blame as he is. You know how Pa feels about you swearing, you're just too young--it's a good thing he ain't here or you'd get more than just a little tongue-lashing."

    Little Joe kicked at a rock on the ground, he hated to have his youth thrown up in his face like this. It wasn't fair that Hoss and Adam could do whatever they wanted and Little Joe was still shackled by his father's orders.

    The three boys continued their walk for the better part of an hour and when they reached the crest of the hill that left the mountains behind, they saw a very welcome sight. Cochise, Sport, and Chubb, all three horses none the worse for wear and grazing by a huge boulder.

    Little Joe broke into a run and reached the animals first and immediately looked for his pants. "Adam, where's my clothes?" Little Joe asked sharply as Adam walked up to Sport. "You put the damned things over the saddle horn and now…"

    "Don't start with me, boy!" Adam shouted, ready to begin the argument again. "Mine aren't here either." The faint hope that they were going to get away with the little mishap had vanished like their clothes. The thought of Pa's angry face intruded on Adam's thoughts and he decided to take his anger out on his baby brother. "If you hadn't convinced me to…" he yelled as he advanced on the boy.

    "I'm a little sick of breaking up fights 'tween you two. So knock it off before I get riled," Hoss snarled as he started looking on the ground for his clothes. "Blamed things must have fallen off…"

    "Looking for something boys?" Ben asked as he stepped from behind the boulder.

    Silence filled the Sierras as two men tried in vain to cover their nakedness. Little Joe, who had been fortunate enough to retain his hat, slid it quickly over his privates and grinned at Adam.

    "I asked you a question and I expect an answer," Ben barked, after he saw the grin.

    One look at Ben Cartwright confirmed he was angry indeed. Veins stood out at his temples and his face was flushed a deep red. "Have the three of you lost your tongues in addition to your clothes?" he demanded as he propped his hands on his hips.

    Deciding any answer was better than none, Adam responded to the order. "No, sir." Adam took a tentative step toward his father, and then another as his nerve returned. It's not my fault-it's Little Joe's. I'm not going to jump into the frying pan and try to save him this time. On the way, he grabbed Little Joe by the upper arm and dragged him along. When they stopped about four feet in front of Ben Cartwright, Hoss decided he didn't want to stand by himself so he stood on the other side of Little Joe.

    Ben crossed his arms and tapped his fingers forcefully on his forearms. After a minute, when he decided no answer was forthcoming he decided to once more try to get an answer out of his wayward sons. Taking a deep breath, he decided to try a different method. "Would you care to explain to me why the three of you are naked in the middle of the Nevada Territory?"

    Time ticked by and the only sound echoing through the mountains was the far-off cry of a bull moose. When he realized no answer was forthcoming, Ben's anger kicked up a notch. "Any one of you boys' care to step forward?"

    Adam and Hoss' eyes met above the head of their little brother, and in silent agreement they both took a step backward, leaving Little Joe standing alone to face their furious father.

    Ben glared at the two cowards who were his older sons, then stepped forward to his youngest. "Yes, Joseph?"

    Little Joe's eyes went wide with fear and he looked wildly to his right, then his left shocked to find no comforting presence on either side. Turning around he saw his supposedly grown up older brothers standing behind him.

    "Joseph!"

    Joe swallowed deeply and turned back to face his Pa. He looked up at his father who towered over him and saw the anger in the deep brown eyes. There were few things that upset his Pa more than shirking responsibility. Gathering his thoughts as he fiddled with his black hat, he glanced at his boots to pause for the right effect.

    "Joseph!"

    Little Joe looked up and offered his Pa a dazzling smile, guaranteed to at least wipe the sternest look off the man's face. Being the youngest and looking like his mother had definite advantages at times. "You see Pa, all I did was what Adam told me to," Little Joe began, twisting the truth to his best advantage. "We were hot and muddy after we fell down a hill and I suggested we go for a swim," he said, omitting the wheedling that he had resorted to in order to convince his oldest brother.

    "And why were you falling down a hill in the first place? I don't believe there are any big hills where you were supposed to be fixing fence."

    "Well, there aren't. But you see Adam decided that a moose was wrecking the fence, so we should take care of that first," Little Joe said as he turned his hat nervously.

    "I see, continue. You were asking Adam about swimming?" Ben prodded.

    Taking a deep breath, he put his hat back on his head and turned around to glare at Adam briefly, then returned to Pa with the smile once more on his lips. "Well, old Adam said okay and we took a swim in the lake, and of course we took off all our clothes. Then a big moose scared our horses off and we had to walk, and …" He forced the smile even wider. "here we are."

    "I see," Ben said as he stroked his chin. The rider-less horses showing up at the ranch house with the boys' dirty clothes had already led him to surmise the dip in the lake, although Adam should have known better with the temperature of Lake Tahoe hovering around sixty degrees. "I understand the moose chasing off the horses, and I also see the decision to hunt the moose was your brother's. Although I don't agree with it," he looked over Little Joe's head and caught Adam's eye, then returned to Little Joe. "The blame isn't yours." Ben walked over to Buck and pulled a stack of clothes out of his saddlebag and handed a gray pair of pants and a black shirt to Little Joe, patting the boy on the shoulder when he was finished. "Get dressed and head back to the house son. I want to speak to your brothers'."

    Little Joe pulled off his boots and hurriedly slipped into his clothes, not even bothering to button his shirt. "Do I have to head back Pa? I kind of thought we'd all ride back together," he said slyly. Little Joe didn't want to miss the rare opportunity of Adam and Hoss in trouble, since they so frequently were witness to his own dressing-downs at the hands of Ben Cartwright.

    Ben wasn't fooled and raised an eyebrow in warning. "I gave you an order Joseph. I suggest you follow it before I question your story a little more thoroughly."

    Never one to miss an opportunity to escape, Little Joe made his decision. "Yes, sir," he said quickly and ran to his pony. He vaulted on her quickly and stuck his feet in the stirrups. Offering a sly smile to the two remaining prisoners, he whirled Cochise around and headed for the safety of the Ponderosa.

    Ben waited until Little Joe was almost out of sight before he walked over to his middle son. "Hoss, I believe I told you to check on the herd up on the east rim."

    "Well, you did," Hoss said as he stared down, hoping to see his boots but his belly was in the way. "And I was, put when I saw them two taking a swim…"

    "You decided to disregard my instructions and do as you wished," Ben finished for him.

    Hoss nodded. "Yes, sir."

    "I see," Ben replied coolly. After a moment of silence, he walked over to Buck and pulled a much larger set of clothes out of the horse's saddlebag. "I'll expect you to forgo your trip to town tomorrow and instead check on that herd--understood?"

    "Yes, sir," Hoss said sheepishly as he accepted the clothes. The large man knew he was getting off easily and was eager to escape before the real fireworks started. "You want me to head on home after Little Joe?"

    "Yes, please do. Make sure the two of you get started on the chores right away, Adam and I may be awhile," Ben said as he looked at his naked oldest son.

    Hoss hurriedly pulled on his clothes as he watched the battle lines being drawn. Normally, Adam would stand toe to toe with his father and argue to his hearts content. Maybe it was his nudity, but Adam seemed more like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar than the adult he was. The usually calm and collected Adam was trying to look anywhere but in the stormy eyes of Ben Cartwright. It seemed like he tried to pull his gunbelt down lower on his hips every third second and he fidgeted like a five-year old in church. Hoss snapped his fingers as he recognized the mannerisms. Little Joe--Adam was acting exactly the way the boy acted when he was in trouble. Hoss finished dressing and walked over to Chubb and mounted him quickly. "I'll see you later, then," he said and took off before he heard an answer.

    Ben watched Hoss ride away and then crossed his arms and turned to his eldest. He tapped his fingertips on his forearms, willing Adam to make the first move.

    "You see Pa, that old moose was wrecking the fence even before we got to them. Up by Crying Squaw rock there were three sections and they each tracks all around and rubbings on the fence. You know what a moose will do when it's in the rut, they go plum crazy. So, knowing that moose will create more and more broken fence, I felt the logical thing would be to prevent future damage before we tackled the bad fence."

    Ben arched an eyebrow. "The logical thing?"

    Adam nodded and rubbed his hands together vigorously. "Yes, the logical thing. After all if that moose was breaking the fence as fast as we were fixing it, there really was no point in continuing until the cause was taken care of--right?" he said, hoping to get an answering nod from his father.

    The nod didn't come.

    "But that dang moose was a wily one. Took me and Joe up and down hills, through streams and finally we had to follow him on foot. We ended up in a mud puddle at the bottom of Rocking Chair butte. Then that moose just taunted us from fifteen feet away, like he knew we'd lost our rifles on the way down." Adam smiled, hoping to see a hint of a smile. Ben's face could have been chiseled out of granite it was so hard. "So, after all that Joe suggested we go for a little swim. It was the smart thing to do, because we were so caked in mud we'd never have been able to work anyway--right?"

    Ben was unconvinced. The story did seem plausible and if he hadn't had a little chat with his housekeeper before he left the ranch, Ben might have believed it. A smug, yet disbelieving look crossed Ben's weather beaten features. "I see, and this little moose hunt had nothing to do with you asking to go hunting two weeks ago and me saying no," Ben said as he advanced on Adam. "Or the fact that Hop Sing told you he'd put a good word in with the grocery store owner's daughter for you if you got him some fresh moose."

    "Now, Pa…" Adam backpedaled. This isn't going as planned. "I'm the responsible one, you know I wouldn't…." He looked up toward the mountains hoping that something would salvage his explanation, then abruptly switched gears. "I'm telling you Pa, it was like that old Moose was out to get us," Adam explained as he desperately willed his father to believe him. "The minute I'd get a bead on him with my rifle he'd take off running. There was no way he could have seen us, but he.. he…" Adam grasped at the air as if he could pull the answer from the early evening breeze. "Knew we were there, watching him."

    Ben nodded, his anger leaving and concern etching his features. Maybe Adam's been working too hard. A nice vacation might be in order. Telepathic forest creatures indeed. "You didn't hit your head when you fell down that hill did you son?" he said as he put an arm around Adam.

    Adam shrugged away. "No, Pa I'm telling you. This moose, it knew it knew what we were thinking!" He looked at the horizon and saw a familiar shape etched against the sunset. "There he is, Pa!" he shouted wildly. "The moose, the moose, we've got to get him!!"

    Ben put his hand on his son's forehead, glad there was no fever. "Sure he is, boy. Sure he is. Let's get you home and I'll send for Doc Martin."

    Adam glared at his father. "Doc Martin? What for? I'm not sick."

    "Of course not," Ben soothed. "But we just want to make sure now, don't we? And then a nice long rest. Just until you are ready to go back to work of course."

    "But…" Adam protested. I'll make him believe m!. I swear I'll make him believe me. Wait a minute. Am I nuts??? He was steaming mad a second ago, ready to kill me . Now he's all concerned for my well-being. Four years of college didn't make for a dumb man. Adam wiped his hand across his brow and exhaled deeply. "Yeah, Pa. Maybe a few days in bed would do me good."

The End