DEAD MEN PAY THEIR DEBTS.

DREAMER'S SIN.

When they reach the house, it's Casey who goes up first and knocks at the door. Even from his spot out on the porch, Jesse hears the wailing of a baby and the whistling of a kettle on the inside. The noise continues on and on and on, as the two of them stand and wait. 

He's just started to wonder when the door is flung open. A frazzled-looking woman stands in the doorway, a wailing baby on her hip. In her other hand, she clutches a piece of paper so tightly that Jesse worries that she might rip it. Her lips are pursed together so tightly that he's certain she's going to cry.

"Yes?" she asks, her voice brusque but trembling at the same time. She has to raise her voice to be heard over the child. "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

Jesse and Casey exchange a glance. "Do you need a hand with him, Courtney?" Casey asks gently. "He seems a little...upset, I reckon."

"Oh, he's always like that, Mr. Hawkes," she sighs, using the back of her wrist to brush her long, curly brown hair out of her face, identical to Barnaby's. "Always screaming, always crying. He's always sick." Something that looks suspiciously like soup stains her dress.

"We came to see Barns," Jesse says, and Courtney nods wearily.

"He's out back, chopping some firewood," she answers, pushing the door open for them to come in. "I'll take y'all to him."

Casey closes the door behind him as they step in. Something acrid assaults Jesse's nose, and he coughs - and instantly feels bad about it afterwards; Courtney looks stricken as she hurries down the hallway to the living room.

"I'm so sorry about the mess," she says quickly. "I've barely had any time to clean up at all, I've been so busy lookin' after Adam and mending clothes so we have some money to ourselves..." Her voice trails off, and she sighs.

Jesse doesn't think he's ever seen such a mess. It looks like a tornado ravaged the house - just the inside. Clothes are strewn everywhere, and there are many plates with half-eaten food sitting on the table. A trail of ants crawls up the leg of the table.

She plops the wailing baby on the floor and walks to the other side of the room. Jesse and Casey follow, trying not to trip on anything. Courtney raps her knuckles against the door.

"He's out there with the firewood. Mind your feet, there are snakes in the grass." She pushes the door open. "If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my sewin'." Her smile is more of a grimace, and sadness twists Jesse's stomach as she hurries off.

He tips his hat, slowly, at her retreating back as Casey goes through the door, down the two steps that lead to the back of the house. The grass there is tall; it reaches to Jesse's waist. As they scan the top of the grass, Jesse sees nothing but the waving green and ominous clouds in the distance.

For a moment, he's worried that Barnaby isn't here, but then he spots a curly dark head of hair at the far end.

"Barns!" he calls out, and the head snaps up. It stays up, watching them as Jesse and Casey wade across the thick grass to him. They stop a couple of feet away from him. The grass around him is cut short, it's only ankle-length.

"What are y'all doing here?" he asks, shifting his axe from his right hand to his left hand. Chopped wood is beside him, unchopped wood on his other side. His chest is bare, wiry muscles moving under his skin as he runs a hand through his dark hair. "I heard you talking to my mother."

"We just wanted to ask you a few questions," Casey says carefully, and Barnaby frowns silently. "About the night Elisha had his accident. And the things you say you saw in the woods."

Barnaby chews on the inside of his cheek and leans on his axe, his expression troubled. He says nothing.

"Elisha claims that someone pushed him into the machinery," Jesse says after a moment of tense silence, watching Barnaby's face closely. "Do you believe him? What happened there?"