This is a couple-chapters story, of the McFaddens, set just a month after Hannah joined the family. Harlie is 11. This just

came to me, and I hope the fans of the McFaddens enjoy it. It's just a peek into the past. Let me hear from you!

That morning THE MORNING, when IT happened, began at the breakfast table. I didn't feel much like talking.

It still felt a little strange to me to look to my left and see Hannah

sitting there. It had been nearly a month already, since she and Adam had gotten married, and she'd come to live with us.

And, I just wasn't used to it yet. There were times, many actually, that I'd found I didn't mind at all that Hannah was

around. Liked it just fine, in fact.

Still, it felt different sometimes. Hannah had pretty much integrated herself into our family unit. Evan used the words

"bull-dozed" in. I didn't really think that, exactly. She was subtle about things, mostly, and she didn't change anything in

a glaringly huge way.

The changes were quieter, and some of them were very welcomed. By me, and by my brothers. The laundry didn't pile

up so much. It was done every day, instead of once or twice a week. And, the meals were different, too.

We'd always eaten just fine. Brian, in particular, was a good cook, as well as Crane. Now, though, with Hannah there to

cook at least a portion of the meals, our menus were more varied. And she baked as well, so there was nearly always

some sort of home-baked goods in the house. Cookies. Cake. Or even pies. A fact which thrilled all the boys.

And, me. I liked finding a plate of oatmeal-raisin, or chocolate chip cookies on the table when Guthrie and Ford and Evan and I

got home from school. I liked having my clothes washed and dried, and folded in neat piles on my bed.

And, though I'd seen Hannah's display of temper a time or two, mostly at Adam, or at Brian, she was nearly always

in a good mood. She was outgoing, funny, warm. She was all of those things. She'd told me that if I ever wanted to talk to

her about anything, that it would be alright.

And, I had talked to her. About an upcoming test at school, and that I was worried a bit about it. About a new girl

that had joined our classroom. Things like that. Nothing too personal.

A week or so before, Guthrie and I had gone down to the creek to fish and play around in the water.

We'd been there only a little while when Adam came, walking thru the tall grass.

By this time, Guthrie and I had abandoned our fishing poles, and were standing, knee deep in the water, splashing each

other.

"Hi, Adam!" Guthrie called out, as Adam approached.

"Hey, kids," Adam said, and came over to sit down on the creek bank just a few feet from us.

"You comin' in?" Guthrie asked him, with a grin.

"No, I don't think so," Adam said, smiling back. "I was wanting to talk to both of you for a little while."

Guthrie and I exchanged a quick glance. Adam was smiling, so it didn't seem as if he was planning to scold

for anything.

We waded over closer, and sat down on the grass beside Adam. I tucked my legs up, criss-cross.

"What's up?" Guthrie asked him.

"I wanted to talk to both of you, about Hannah," Adam said.

Guthrie and I exchanged another quick look. I began to get a funny feeling in my stomach, like I always do when

I get nervous about something.

"Somethin' wrong?" Guthrie asked now, and I noticed that he was popping his knuckles. The sure-fire sign that he

was having some nerves, as well.

"No. Not at all." Adam looked as though he was thinking for a moment or so, and then he said, "I just wondered how

you two were feelin' now, about havin' Hannah around. It's been a couple of weeks now, and I just thought we should

touch base on everything."

"Do you mean, do we like her?" I asked.

"Well, yeah. That's part of it," Adam said.

"I like her," Guthrie said. "She's a good cook."

"She is," Adam agreed. "But, that's not exactly what I meant. How does it feel, havin' her here?"

"I like havin' her around," Guthrie said. "She's not real bossy, or anything."

"How about you, sugar plum?" Adam asked, turning to me. "How do you feel?"

"She's nice," I said. I had the feeling that Adam was waiting for me to say something else. Something more.

"Well, she thinks a whole lot of you kids. All of you," Adam said.

"That's good," I said. And then we waited, for him to say something else.

"I should have talked to all of you, before Hannah and I got married," Adam said. "It happened sort of quick, though, and-" His voice

sort of halted then. He smiled at Guthrie and I again.

"I wanted to make sure that you were both feelin' alright about things," he said. "See if there was anything you were

worried about, or anything that you wanted to talk about."

"You mean anything about Hannah?" Guthrie asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't have anything," Guthrie said, shrugging his shoulders. I wished I was more like Guthrie. He was so-well, so uncomplicated. He'd

taken to Hannah right off.

"Harlie?" Adam asked, looking at me.

I thought maybe I should take the opportunity, while I had the chance.

"Well, is she in charge?" I asked, and at Adam's quizzical look, I went on. "I mean, of Guthrie and me?"

"Well, yeah, she is. What are you talkin' about, specifically?" he asked.

"What if you or Brian or Crane aren't around, and Guthrie or I want to do something? Do we ask Hannah, or do we

wait for one of you guys?" I asked.

I could see Guthrie nod a bit, and pay attention. He must have thought my question a good one.

"I guess that would depend on what it is that you want to do," Adam said.

"What if it's something that you let us do, but she says we can't do it?" I asked.

"I think, again, that would depend on what it is," Adam said. "Obviously, though, I want you both to listen to

Hannah. If she tells you no about something, then I want you to mind her."

"What if we've done it lots of times before, though?" I persisted.

Adam rubbed his forehead for a couple of moments, and I had the feeling that he was sorry he'd begun this

whole conversation.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like ride the four-wheeler," I said, plucking the first thing that came to my mind.

Adam raised his eyebrows a little. "Is that something you're allowed to do alone, Harlie?"

"No," I admitted.

"Well, then, what sort of an example is that?" he asked.

"What about riding it with Daniel or Ford?" I pressed on. "You let us do that. What if Hannah was to say she didn't want

us to?"

"I don't think she'd do that," he said. "Hannah's not goin' to start trying to overthrow things. The things that have been

common to do. If she has a problem with somethin' that's happening, then she and I will talk about it to Brian and Crane, and

we'll let you know if anything needs to change."

"Why would it, though?" I asked. "Need to change, I mean? Why would we change things just because she wanted us to?"

I felt Guthrie give me a poke in the middle of my back. To shut me up, I knew.

I realized that I'd sounded sort of contrary a moment before.

"I'm just asking," I defended, before Adam had a chance to get onto me.

"It's a fair question," he said, and I felt relieved. "The reason is, this is Hannah's home now. It's just as much her home as it

is any of the rest of us. She's tryin' to fit in, to find her way without steppin' all over everybody's toes. She has a lot to offer

this family. Our lives are gonna be better with her here. Everybody's. Not just mine." He paused, as though thinking again.

"We want to make her feel welcomed. Accepted. Like I said before, she's not wanting to change anything in a major way

around here. But, if it's something that she feels strongly about, then we need to consider her feelings."

He regarded both Guthrie and I seriously for a couple of moments, and then said, "Think of some examples of stuff that

might come up, that you two might want to do, and the three of us will sit down with Hannah and talk it over with her.

So there wouldn't be any misunderstandings come up, about what you're allowed to do or not do. Fair enough?"

"Yeah," Guthrie said, and I nodded in agreement.

"Great," Adam said. He smiled at us again, and I thought he looked relieved to have the conversation over.

He stood up, then, and said, "Don't be too much longer. Supper will be ready soon."

We said okay, and then Adam left. I sat where I was, though, leaning back and watching him as he got smaller

and smaller in the distance.

7

Anyway, back to this particular morning. It had been a couple of weeks since Adam had had that talk with Guthrie and I

on the creek bank. And, he'd kept his promise, too, about the four of us having a talk. We went over things that we'd always

been allowed to do, or things that we'd never been allowed to do at all. Hannah didn't say a whole lot. She just mostly listened,

and then said that since she hadn't grown up on a ranch, it was going to take some time to get used to things. She was

nice, though, and told Guthrie and I that she would try to not overreact about things. Then she smiled and asked us to

be patient with her if she did sometimes overreact. And that's another time that she said we could come to her and talk to her

about anything at all. Anytime we wanted to.

So, on this particular morning, it was pretty much like any other day. Breakfast was loud and rowdy. Evan was in his senior year

at school now, and Ford was a freshman. Guthrie was in sixth grade, and I was in fifth. Guthrie and I usually crowded into Evan's truck

and he would drop us off at our school, before driving himself and Ford on to the high school. Unless one of us took too long, or something,

in which case he would threaten to leave us, and we'd have to ride the bus. He'd actually do it, too.

So, breakfast was being eaten, and conversations were going on all around the table. I didn't feel any different than I usually did.

Hannah asked me if I was ready for my spelling test that day and I said I was. I'd told her I didn't want school lunch that

day, so she'd packed me a lunch.

Squeezed in Evan's truck, riding to school, I felt squashed as always, between Evan and Guthrie, and then Ford by the other door.

Sometimes, if Evan was in a good mood, he would tell me when to shift the gear. I'd gotten pretty good at it.

Today, though, I couldn't get it to third when he told me to. The gears made a grinding noise, and he pushed my hand

off the knob.

"I'll do it," he said. "You're gonna strip out my gears."

And, just like that, I felt like crying. Which wasn't like me at all. It wasn't as though he'd even said it in a mean way

or anything.

"I don't wanna do it, anyway," I said, and tried to scoot over closer to Guthrie in order to get away from Evan, and crossing my arms.

A move which Guthrie immediately objected to. He was still eating the biscuits he'd brought along from the breakfast table,

and he protested, "Har, stop shovin'. I don't have enough room now."

"I want to switch places with you," I said.

"Nobody's going to switch places while we're driving," Ford said, overruling my plan.

I kept my arms crossed and felt sullen the rest of the drive, and when Ford got out to let me and Guthrie clamber out of

the truck, I still felt grouchy.

Ford told me goodbye, and I just made a noise at him, trekking into the school building, in search of my best friend, Lori.

7

It was mid-morning, just before the spelling test, when Mrs. Schasteen, my teacher, dismissed the girls to go

for the rest room break.

I wasn't prepared for what I discovered, once in the bathroom stall. Well, I mean, I wasn't shocked or anything like that.

But, it was a surprise. I'd started my period. As in, my very first period ever! It wasn't much. Just a little blood stain on

my underwear. But, it was definitely my period.

I sat there for a few minutes, thinking. Wondering what I should do.

Lori spoke thru the stall door to me. "Harlie, come on," she said.

"You go. I'll be there in a minute," I said.

"Are you okay?" Lori whispered.

I thought about telling Lori, but I didn't know who else was in the bathroom that might overhear.

"I'm okay. You go on back to class," I told her.

I folded bathroom tissue, and lined my underwear with that. I didn't know what else to do right then. When I came out

of the bathroom stall, it seemed that all of the other girls in my class had gone. There were two sixth grade girls there,

applying makeup in front of the mirror.

I knew the girls, but never really talked to them too much. One was named Karen. Karen something. And then there was

Lou Ann Driskell. She was really pretty, and popular, too.

"Hi, Harlie," she greeted me, as I went over to wash my hands at the sink.

"Hi."

"I'll see you later," the other girl said to Lou Ann.

"Bye, Karen."

When the other girl had gone, Lou Ann kept putting on her lip gloss, and then began on her eye makeup.

I was drying my hands with a paper towel when she said, "You okay?" to me.

It surprised me. "Um, yeah," I said.

"Are you sure? Your friend seemed worried about you. Lori's her name, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. Lori."

She smiled at me, and went on putting on her eyeshadow. I cast a glance over at the Kotex dispenser on the opposite wall.

I decided to take a chance.

"Do you have a quarter with you?" I asked her.

"I think so. Sure," she said. She saw where I was looking, and said, "Oh. You need something?"

"Um, yeah," I said. I had no intention to tell her it was my first time needing something from the Kotex dispenser. "I don't have a

quarter with me-" I said.

"No problem." She rooted thru her purse, and brought out a quarter, handing it to me. "Here you go."

"Thanks a lot," I said. "I'll give it back to you after school-"

"No worries." She gave herself a last look in the mirror and then picked up her purse. "See you around."

"Bye," I said.

Left alone, finally, in the bathroom, I went over and deposited the quarter, and when the square package

slid out, I took care of business, and then went back to class.

Mrs. Schasteen gave me a questioning look, but asked nothing about what had taken me so long.

7

After school, Guthrie and I were waiting, and had been waiting for over fifteen minutes before Evan and Ford

finally arrived, driving up, tires squealing.

"Where have you been?" Guthrie complained. "I'm starving. I want to get home and see what Hannah baked today."

"Just get in, and stop complainin'," Evan told him.

I took my customary place, squeezed yet again between Evan and Guthrie. I was quiet all the way home. So quiet that

even Evan noticed. "What's the matter with you?" he demanded.

"Nothing's wrong with me," I said, stoutly. "What's wrong with you?"

"I've never heard you go this long without talkin'," Evan went on, laughing as though he was really humorous.

I would have fired back a snappy comeback, but I couldn't think of anything at that particular moment. I always like

to save my really good zingers for Evan.

After that, he left me alone, and I spent the rest of the drive home thinking. I didn't have anything at home. Supplies for

my period, I meant. Hannah might have something. I didn't know. I didn't feel like telling anybody, though. I knew all the common

sense stuff, about how this was a perfectly normal thing to happen, and all of that. But, that didn't mean I wanted the

whole house of male McFaddens, or even Hannah, knowing that I'd started my period.

Once we arrived home, I'd decided what I was going to do. And, also, just which member of the family I was going to

talk to about this recent development.

7