We stayed up late that night, everybody hanging out together, catching Ford up on things. Guthrie

had gone to pick Kristin up, so she was a part of things. I was feeling pretty good after my day

with Crane, and I was telling everybody about the veterinary hospital.

Doc G came over to have dessert with us, and he brought the dog we'd rescued with him. Just the

short amount of time she'd been with Doc G had improved her looks considerably. She was starting to fill

out, her hair was brushed out, and the cuts on her ears were healing.

We let all the pups out in the yard and they all began jumping and playing with her.

When Doc left, he took Brutus with him, and also Bandit, who he'd found a home for.

Kristin and I whispered long into the night, and when I woke up, I was really tired, but

I drank a cup of coffee, and felt a little better.

We had a big breakfast, and then everybody scattered to do chores before Crane started

barbequing the meat for lunch. Evan warned me not to go behind the barn, where my birthday

present was hidden.

Of course, immediately my curiousity was peaked. "Is it too big to go in the house?" I asked.

"Yep."

"How big is it?" I asked.

"You'll see," Evan said, and he and Ford exchanged grins.

"Are you in on this, too?" I asked Ford, clutching at his arm.

"It's from both of us," Evan answered for him. "And from Guthrie, too."

I could hardly contain my excitement. "Give me a hint," I demanded.

"Nope. No hints," Evan said.

"I can get it out of Ford," I said with certainty.

"Hey!" Ford protested.

"If you try, you won't get it today," Evan threatened me.

"Okay, fine," I said.

Meanwhile, Ford was still insisting that he knew how to keep his mouth shut.

Even as the next thought formulated in my mind, Evan knew it.

"And don't be askin' Kristin to spy for you, either," Evan told me, including Kristin

in his look.

Kristin giggled, obviously not frightened in the least, but she held up a hand.

"I swear I won't help or assist Harlie Marie McFadden in the pursuit of knowledge

about the gift hidden behind the barn," she said.

"Very wise of you," Evan said, winking at her, and we all laughed.

When Marie pulled into the yard later, I ran to greet her with a hug.

"Thank you for coming," I said.

"I wouldn't miss my girl's big birthday," Marie told me.

The lunch was a success. Crane's hamburgers and ribs were cooked to near perfection.

Warrior sat under the picnic table, waiting for scraps. After lunch we played volleyball with

an old net that Ford found in the barn, and we were all so bad at it that we spent more time

laughing than returning the ball over the net. Everybody joined in, except of course for Hannah,

and Adam, who sat beside her, holding her hand, and yelling instructions to all of us.

Clare carried out my birthday cake to set it on the long folding table. It was a beautiful

cake, chocolate with pink frosting, and 'Happy 16th Birthday, Harlie' across the top in white

letters.

"Clare made the cake herself," Brian said, obviously proud.

"Wow, thanks, Clare," I said, and gave her a hug.

"Clare made it?" Guthrie asked, sounding hesitant, but with a teasing grin aimed toward

her.

"Yes, I did, mister, and you'd better be nice or you won't get a piece," Clare told him.

I blew out my candles and while everybody was eating their cake and ice cream, Guthrie

piped up, "Your baking skills have really come a long way, Clare. I apologize." He held out

his plate to her with a grin. "Can I have another piece, please?"

I had quite a stack of presents set before me when I started opening. Marie gave me

twenty dollars, and from Brian and Clare there was a picture frame with a spot for three

pictures. It was a beautiful frame, with flowers carved into the wood.

The pictures that were in it were ones I'd never seen before. The first one was of

my mom, taken when she was obviously a young teenager, the one in the middle was of her, hugely

pregnant, and the last one was of her holding a baby in her arms. In all of the pictures,

the thing that struck me first was that she was smiling and laughing into the camera.

In all three, the joy on her face was unmistakable. It made me glad just to look at it.

Brian was sitting beside me, and he leaned over to point to the pictures.

"This first one, I think she was about your age in it, and this is when she was pregnant

with you."

"Oh, Bri!" I said, feeling emotional. I'd never even known there were any pictures of

my mother when she was expecting me.

Brian pointed to the last picture. "This one was taken here in the yard, right after they brought you home

from the hospital."

Evan and Guthrie and Ford crowded behind me, looking over my shoulder at the pictures.

"I remember that day," Evan said. "Me and Daniel got that blanket for you to come home in."

I took a better look at the blanket in the picture and turned to look at Evan.

"You did?" I asked. I'd never heard that before.

Clare leaned across Brian to touch my hand.

"Do you like the frame?" she asked.

"I love it," I told her.

"One of the girls I go to class with, her father makes them," Clare told me.

"I never knew there were any pictures like this," I said, still surprised.

"After the other night when you found that picture of your first birthday, I got to thinking you

might like something like this. So I did some searching for more pictures," Brian said.

I turned to him, and gave him a fierce hug.

"Thank you, Bri," I whispered.

"Well, it seemed like it was important to you," Brian said.

"It was. It is. Thank you," I said, giving him another hug.

Kristin gave me a book I'd been wanting, from the bestseller list, 'Through the Glass Darkly'.

I gave her a hug, too, and thanked her.

Crane, sitting on the other side of me, pulled a small, flat package from his pocket. I unwrapped

it and found a picture postcard of Nashville. I looked at him questioningly.

"I thought on spring break you and I might take a trip on the train to see Daniel, and take in

the Nashville sights," Crane said.

I caught my breath, looking around the table at everybody smiling. They'd all obviously been

included in this surprise.

"Oh, Crane, thank you!" I said, giving him a hard hug.

"You don't mind waiting for your present, then?" he asked, with a bit of a teasing smile

at the corner of his mouth.

"No," I said, laughing, "I don't mind!"

I thought then how expensive a trip to Nashville on the train for the two of us would probably be, but

I didn't want to ruin it for Crane or anybody else. He must have it figured out, I thought.

Adam reached across the table, handing me a small square box.

"This is from Hannah and me," he said.

Hannah was smiling at me, and I unwrapped the box and opened it. There was a gold locket inside,

one of those shaped like a heart that you can open and keep a picture in.

"It's beautiful," I said, holding it up, and looking at it.

"It was mom's," Adam said quietly, and I looked at him in surprise.

"It was?"

He nodded, and Hannah said, "Open it, sweetie."

When I did, there was a picture of my parents on one side, their arms wrapped around each

other. The other side was empty.

"We thought you might want to decide what other picture you wanted in there," Hannah

said.

"I love it, thank you," I said, looking at them both.

Hannah smiled, looking happy, and Adam gave a half-way smile, looking as though he wanted

to say something else, but he didn't. I lifted my hair, and said,

"Help me put it on, Brian."

Brian tried, but complained, "I can't get my big fingers around it. The clasp is too small."

"Here, I'll do it," Clare said, getting up and coming to stand behind me, and taking over for

Brian.

When it was fastened, I touched the necklace, almost reverently.

"Okay, time for our present," Ford said, as he and Evan and Guthrie got up.

Everybody else started getting up, too. Apparently, the rest of the family was as much

in the dark about this gift as I was, because they were all asking questions, too.

"It's not another dog, is it?" Brian asked Evan.

"Nope."

"I think it's a new saddle," I guessed, as we walked as a group towards the barn.

"Wrong," Guthrie said, with a snicker.

"Though I guess you could put a saddle on it, if you wanted to," Ford said mysteriously,

digging Evan in the ribs. "Right, Ev?"

"Right."

"A camel?" Kristin guessed, teasing. "Or an elephant?"

I fell behind a few steps, and took Adam's hand. "Thank you for the necklace, Adam."

He stopped walking and so I did, too, until we were standing there alone.

"Dad gave it to mom on her 17th birthday," he told me.

"He did?" I asked, reaching up to touch it again.

"She was going to wear it the night-" Adam's voice faltered. "The night that they

were in the accident. But Guthrie had pulled on it, and it had a broken clasp. So she

wore another necklace, and left this one at home. I had the clasp repaired."

"Oh, Adam," I said. I wasn't sure what to say. I could tell it was emotional for him.

"I've thought about giving it to you before, but I wanted to make sure you were old enough

to take care of it," he said.

"I'll take good care of it, Adam. I promise," I told him.

"I know you will."

I wrapped my arms around his waist, and squeezed.

"I'll keep it, always," I said.

"She'd like you havin' it," Adam said, rubbing my back.

A volley of voices were yelling from the front of the barn, telling us to hurry.

As we walked towards the rest of the family, standing there waiting for us,

I decided it had been the best birthday I'd ever had. I had a pretty wonderful family,

I thought.

As we walked up on the group, Guthrie, Evan and Ford were practically giddy with

excitement. We walked around the corner of the barn, and Guthrie pulled me to a halt.

There was a huge object, hidden by a covering of tarps.

"What is it?" I asked, in wonderment. What in the world could the boys have gotten me that

was so large?

"Yeah, boys, what do we have goin' on here?" Adam laughed, not sounding concerned.

"You'll see," Ford said, still mysterious.

"Cover your eyes," Guthrie ordered, and I did, giggling.

Apparently not trusting me not to peek, Guthrie put his hands over the top of mine.

"Here we go," Evan said, and I could hear the rustling of the tarps as he and Ford shook

them off.

For a long moment, there was only silence, and then Brian's voice, asking,

"What in the hell is that?"

7

This concludes this segment in the McFadden family's lives. Leaving a trail open to

the next one, which might include Seth; Harlie working towards her goal of veterinary school;

the birth of the baby; and also the disclosure of what's under those tarps. Thank you to everyone

who read and reviewed. I appreciate it.