Jared's mother and father were both waiting at Jared's house when the three cowboys arrived. They hugged and kissed Jared, then thanked John and Tom for finding him and bringing him safely home.
They sat down in the living room together and discussed the situation. To Jared's immense relief, nothing came up in the conversation which required him to even so much as mention the buckle and its role in recent events.
The police had also been very understanding. The local police chief himself had spoken with Jared's parents just before Jared's return home, and suggested that something be done to lighten Jared's workload somewhat. Again, Jared sighed with relief.
John then suggested that perhaps he and Jared could do some of the work that Jared was doing together. That way, Jared wouldn't be alone as much, which by itself would make his workload easier to handle. Jared enthusiastically went along with John's proposal, as did Tom. Tom also assured Jared's parents that he could work things out with John's folks to allow this by taking up some of the slack himself. "I was planning on going to college here anyhow," Tom explained, "and staying here and working with John and his folks would have a lot of advantages. It would save me the cost of a dorm room on campus, enable me to put some of what I'll be studying into actual practice--AND give me the chance to help these two dudes when they need it!" The two teens grinned appreciatively at Tom's last statement, knowing well what he had meant.
"Well, now that you mention it," Jared's father put in, "Mr. Killingsworth and I have been talking about doing some sort of joint venture for some time now--not a merger of our operations as such, but still working together and splitting the profits on a 50-50 basis. I think John and Jared would be in a perfect position to co-ordinate such an operation. How about it, boys--would you both be interested in doing something like that?" "YES, SIR!!" the two youths swiftly responded emphatically. "OK, then," said Jared's father, "I'll start working out the details with Mr. Killingsworth first thing in the morning." "COOL!" John and Jared enthused, grinning at each other in delight.
"One thing about this idea still concerns me," said Jared's mother. "Even though John and Jared will be working together, they will still wind up being away from the house for long periods of time. Suppose a really bad storm came up, or even a blizzard. I'm afraid they might not be able to make it back to either of our two houses in time to avoid getting caught unprotected. Isn't there something we can do to at least reduce that risk to some degree?"
With a thoughtful look on their faces, John and Jared got up and walked over to a large-scale map of the area which the two ranches occupied. The two properties together comprised over a thousand acres of woods, creeks, and prime pasture land. No doubt about it, the two youths realized--Jared's mother's concern was well justified.
Just then, Jared spotted a building symbol on the far edge of his family's property, just a few hundred yards from the property line between his family's ranch and the Killingsworths'. "Hey, Dad, what's this symbol mean?" he asked. "I don't recall ever seeing it before." Jared's father got up from his chair and looked at the part of the big map his son was tapping with his forefinger. "Oh, yeah, son," his father explained, "that's an old prospector's cabin we had remodeled years ago--before you were born, in fact. After you were born, your mother and I never really had occasion to use it for anything. It's still in good condition, though--it even has a storm cellar."
Jared and John looked at each other significantly. This, they realized, might be the solution to the problem Jared's mother had just brought up. "Does it have indoor plumbing and everything, Dad?" Jared inquired. "Yes, son, it even has phone connections, although I'm sure they'd need to be updated--especially if you wanted to go online from there like I know you like to do so much!"
The two teens grinned at each other, realizing that Jared's father was already thinking along the same lines that they were. "Would it take very much work to make it usable again, Dad? If not, this cabin could solve our problem very nicely." "No, son," his father replied, "I'm sure we could make that cabin into an ideal apartment for you two very easily--especially if John's parents join in!" "Oh, I'm sure they'll be only too happy to do that, sir!" Tom commented, throwing his support behind the idea. "Well, then," Jared's mother put in with a smile, "why don't we talk to them about that tomorrow? I'm sure we can turn that little cabin into a perfect hideaway for you two in no time at all!" "Yeah," John put in, "kind of a cowboy's treehouse!" Tom and Jared's parents chuckled as the two teens joyfully exchanged high-fives. With that, Tom and John prepared to head home for the night. As he walked his best friend out to the truck, Jared whispered, "Boy, am I looking forward to this!" "Yeah, cowboy," John whispered back, "we are gonna have some MAJOR good times!" Jared and John hugged and kissed again, then John and Tom headed for home. Jared couldn't stop grinning as he rejoined his parents. His wishes were coming true in ways he hadn't even dreamed of--and it looked like the best was yet to come!