"No, just look out the window," Jeremy told himself. He tried to ignore the tension. He wished he could banish the pinched feeling building between his eyes. "Just look away. Nothing matters," he thought.
The coach rumbled to a stop, and swayed as the driver jumped down. A moment later, a grisled face leaned into the window to announce a stop to, "stretch the legs." A swish of skirts and the patter of leather on wood marked the exit of their femaile passengers. The cab barely moved as they stepped down onto the dusty road. Jeremy could sense rather than see the driver move around to offer them water from his own canteen.
Ned leaned forward to catch his ward's attention. "Jeremy, is something wrong son? You've been awfully quiet since the last town. When I asked you to join me on this trip for company, I thought you'd at least talk to me." He let the corners of his lips turn up.
Jeremy didn't turn his head. He made himself enraptured with a large rock some distance from the cab. "You think I took that man's purse. You say you don't, but I can tell you do. I mean, I was a thief. I don't blame you."
Ned sighed as he threw himself back, and the coach rocked with the movement. Children weren't easy animals, and Ned wished once more that his wife were alive, so he could once again hide out in the barn-- and if anyone asked, raising half-grown bears was easier than half-grown men.
"Jeremy." He stopped and re-thought his speech. "Listen when I say..." He stopped again to just look at Jeremy. The boy sat so hard against the world. He wouldn't even look at him. Slowly, as if he approached a new farm dog, Ned reached out to Jeremy. He grasped the boy firmly by the chin, and turned him to look straight on.
"I believe in you, Jeremy," Ned whispered softly but with force. "I trust you and I believe in you." Then he let go and sat back.
For a moment, the young blonde merely gaped at him. He seemed to startled to, then turned back to the window. The door opened to admit the other passengers, and the cab rocked with new movement. The coach skidded in the loose dirt and gradually began moving again. That moment was over, gone, and they were moving away. Jeremy sighed and closed his eyes.
The pinched feeling was gone.