I took a moment to hover at the door to my bedroom; If I went in now, my brothers might think I had been eavesdropping and even though I sort of had been, it wasn't intentional. Still, I didn't want to risk it, especially as I'd been in trouble for it before, so I headed back to the bathroom. I could change my pyjamas later.

I took my time in the shower, enjoying the hot water coursing over my body. Taking an age in the shower is usually Guthrie's department- he takes a notoriously long time, and I'm generally the quicker one. Still, the hot water soothed me and being in there alone gave me time to think. I must have been in there a while though because there was a rap at the door and then I heard Brian asking me if I was okay.

I called back that I was and quickly finished in the shower and then went through my nightly routine: teeth brushing etc. Adam was always having to check if Guthrie had brushed his teeth, and Evan as well- the two of them just couldn't be bothered I guess, but he trusted me because I always did it properly. When I was done, I headed back to my bedroom to change my pyjamas into the softer, comfier ones. Adam and Brian weren't in there anymore and Guthrie was curled up under the covers fast asleep. It looked like he had his pyjama top on, so I figured that Adam or Brian had helped him change while he was half asleep. I grabbed one of my Ramona books that I had taken out from the library earlier that day and headed down to the living room.

Daniel was strumming on his guitar and then stopping to writing down chords on a piece of music sheet and Ford was tinkering around on the piano. Evan was laying flat out on one of the couches tossing a mini softball into the air with one hand and then catching it with the other. None of them took notice of me until I asked them where Adam and Brian were.

"In the kitchen," Evan said, tossing the ball up into the air again without looking at me.

I padded into the kitchen. Crane, Adam and Brian were seated round the far end of the table, talking quietly, their heads close together. Brian and Crane each had a beer in hand. They stopped talking immediately when they saw me.

Adam smiled at me. "Hi honey, ready for bed?"

"Uh huh."

"Go on up to my room then and get comfy; I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay," I said. I held up my book. "I've got my book too."

"Good girl," Adam said. "Go on now."

"Ok. Good night guys," I said, aiming my words at Brian and Crane."

"Night, baby," Brian said and then Crane smile at me encouragingly and told me to sleep well.

When I got to Adam's room, I settled on his bed, under the covers even and started to read my book to myself. It wasn't long at all before Adam came upstairs as well. He smiled when he saw me.

"I see you've made yourself comfortable."

"You told me to!" I protested.

Adam laughed. "You're right, I did."

He slipped off his shoes and then came to sit on his bed, his back against the headboard. I shifted so I was sitting up a little, leaning against him.

Adam used his index finger to sweep my bangs away from my eyes.

"Tough day, huh?"

"Yeah," I admitted.

"I'm sorry," Adam said, looking down at me sombrely.

"Huh?" I asked, confused. "Why are you sorry? You haven't done anything wrong."

Adam smiled at me sadly.

"No. But I'm sorry that Guthrie and then you have been put into this situation. I wish I could protect you from the world forever, but I can't."

I snuggled into Adam and he put his arm around me, drawing me closer into him.

"Adam, why is Michael's dad so mean?"

"I can't answer that, Heidi. No one can say why someone acts in a particular way."

I wasn't looking at him, but I could hear the sadness in his voice.

Unexpectedly tears sprung up again, but I quickly wiped them away.

"I'm scared," I admitted.

"Adam tightened his arm around me.

"You just let me and Brian take care of things now, alright?"

I nodded and then looked up at Adam.

"Is Guthrie okay?"

"He's alright; he just needs a good night's sleep now."

"Did you spank him, Adam?" I asked, my heart in my throat. I knew that the answer was almost certainly no, since I would have heard from downstairs if he had, but I still wanted to check.

Adam's frowned.

"No."

"Are you going to?"

Adam frowned deeper and for a moment, he looked sort of stern.

"Other people's punishments aren't any of your business, Heidi."

"I know," I admitted. "But I just think it's unfair if you do because it's not really Guthrie's fault at all and he was just trying to protect Michael and really what was he do to because he was worried that Michael was-"

"Heidi."

Adam's tone was firm, and I recognised from the deep frown between his brow that he was irritated. I stopped talking abruptly.

"I'm not going to spank Guthrie and he knows that too. I understand that you want to protect your brother, but it's not your place to tell me what you think I should or shouldn't do. Alright?"

"Sorry…" I said softly. I felt so relieved at the fact that Adam had said that he wouldn't spank Guthrie that it softened the blow of his reprimand. I felt a wave of gratitude that he was my big brother and guardian and that I didn't have to live with someone awful like Michael's horrible father.

"Why don't we read now?" Adam asked, in a more normal tone. He picked up the book which was resting next to me.

"Okay, it's really funny!" I said and then proceeded to tell him about what I had read so far.

Adam read to me then- I managed to persuade him to read me two whole chapters because they weren't long. He'd never admit but I think he quite enjoyed it. When he was done, he followed me to my bedroom. Before I got into bed, I gave him an enormous hug, squeezing him hard around the middle.

"What's that for?" Adam asked, sounding surprised.

I pressed the side of my face into him.

"I'm just really glad that you're my big brother."

/

The next morning at breakfast, Daniel talked manically about his upcoming concert that evening. He issued us all with more orders, even though he had given us plenty of directives the previous evening. Evan, Ford and even Brian teased him about it.

Guthrie and I laughed along with everyone else, but Guthrie was really quiet. I knew from our chat in the morning when we had woken up that he didn't want to go to school that day. Even though Adam and Brian had said that they would handle the situation and that Guthrie didn't need to worry anymore, he was still anxious for Michael and embarrassed to see Mrs Whitby. I understood that. We both liked Mrs Whitby a lot, even though she had been the catalyst to sending me to my Saturday class. Neither of us wanted her to think badly of us.

"But she'll understand that you're not really a cheater and that you just wanted to protect Michael," I reasoned with him.

Guthrie only shrugged moodily.

Guthrie also told me that Adam had said that although he understood the difficult situation Guthrie had been placed it, there had been a better way to handle it and that cheating, or letting someone cheat from you was never the right thing to do. Guthrie was grounded for the week, a punishment that would be harder for him than it ever was for me because I was much better at entertaining myself with indoor activities that didn't include the TV.

"What about Daniel's concert tonight?" I asked him, alarmed.

"Adam says I can come to that because we're all going as a family and that Daniel wants us all there and so he doesn't want to punish Daniel too."

"Oh. Well that's nice of him, right?" I said.

"Yea."

/

I could tell that Guthrie wasn't overly keen on having to go to school that morning, but he didn't complain about it the way I did when I didn't want to go. I guess he was nervous about seeing Michael and whether he would know that Guthrie had told our brothers what had happened. Neither of us knew what they had planned.

Michael wasn't in school though, a fact which I knew was bugging Guthrie a lot. Every time I looked at him that morning, I could tell that he was nervous. He couldn't keep still, and he looked generally very miserable. Enough that Mrs Whitby asked him a couple of times if he was alright.

Michael may not have been in school, but guess who did turn up? Olivia! She arrived about 9.30am and she stayed until after morning recess when she went home. When she walked in through the door, accompanied by Mr Doolan the guidance counsellor, I exclaimed out loud in surprise and joy, "Olivia!"

That made everyone laugh and Mrs Whitby said to Olivia smiling, "It looks like someone else is as happy to see you here as I am."

Mrs Whitby then asked Chelsea Dunlap, the girl who sits next to me, to move to where Olivia usually sits and then she let Olivia and I sit together. Chelsea didn't seem to mind.

I was so happy to have my best friend back at school again, even if it was just for a little while! At recess, I had planned to catch up with Guthrie, but he ran outside to play soccer with the other kids. Olivia and I went to our special hang out spot, under one of the big trees in the schoolyard and Olivia told me that she was going to be coming in a little bit longer every day until the Winter Break.

"I didn't want to… I mean I wanted to come back and see you. But I didn't want to come back to school. But my mom and dad said that if I do this then they'll get me proper horse-riding lessons so that I can come on rides with you at the ranch."

"But we can teach you to ride!" I protested. "Or at least Evan can. Or Brian. He said he would!"

"That's what I told my mom, but she said that your brothers have enough to do on the ranch without teaching me to ride."

"Oh," I said, thinking. It was true that my oldest brothers in particular were always really busy. Still, I didn't think they'd mind. I vowed to speak to Brian about it. If Olivia had lessons over at our house, then I would get to see her way more often!

/

Surprisingly, both Adam and Brian were in the house, along with Crane when Guthrie and I got home. We were home before the others, apart from Daniel who was going to stay at school to practice with his band and get prepared for the concert.

They were all in the kitchen when we trooped in after dumping our backpacks at the foot of the stairs. Crane was sitting at the table with the ranch accounts and both Adam and Brian were making supper. It looked like they'd both recently showered too because their hair looked damp.

"What are you all doing here?" I asked, in surprise.

Crane looked up from the papers.

"Last time I checked, little one, we live here."

I gave him a comical, narrow eyed look.

"I know, silly, but Adam and Brian. They're never both in the house so early on a weekday!"

Adam smiled.

"We've got to shift everythin' to a bit earlier tonight because of Daniel's concert. We're goin' to have an early supper and get any homework done before we leave."

"Can we get ice cream on the way home?!" I asked.

It was sort of a tradition, if we had enough money at that time, to get ice cream on the way home if we'd been out as a family to one of my brother's games or concerts.

Adam looked at Crane. "I don't know. Crane, what do the accounts look like?"

Crane looked thoughtful for a couple of seconds but then he smiled.

"I think we can spring it."

"Yay!" I cheered.

"How was school, Guth?" Adam said, turning his attention to Guthrie who so far had remained silent.

Guthrie shrugged but then he said, "It was okay… but Michael wasn't there."

He looked up at Adam.

"Do you know why?"

I saw Brian, who was chopping vegetables at the counter purse his lips at Guthrie's question.

"I don't know why in particular, Guth," Adam said, "But I know that some people are going to try to help Michael and his mom."

Some people? What did that mean? I was glad when Guthrie asked, "Who? What people?"

"People who can help in situations like these."

"But who?" Guthrie asked insistently. His face was beginning to flush a little red.

Adam came and put one hand on either of Guthrie's shoulders.

"Guthrie, look at me."

When Guthrie did, he said, "I promised you that Brian and I were goin' to take care of the situation and that's what we've done. Michael and his mom are in good hands, alright?"

I didn't think that was a particularly satisfactory answer, seeing that Adam had sort of dodged the question, but Guthrie accepted it and nodded. Adam smoothed his hair back.

"Let's just focus on havin' a good time tonight at Daniel's concert. Go on up and take a shower."

"I already showered this morning, remember?" Guthrie said.

"Oh yea, that's right," Adam said. He looked at me. "Well then, Heidi go on up then. It might be late by the time we get home. Especially if we stop for ice cream."

"Okay," I said, "But I gotta talk to Brian first about something."

"Oh?" Brian said, raising his eyebrows and looking at me. "What's that then?"

I went to stand next to him at the counter and told him about what Olivia had said about horse riding."

"Olivia was at school today? That's great isn't it?" Adam interjected.

I nodded but then said to Brian, "So what do you think Bri? Do you think Olivia could have lessons here?"

"Well in theory I guess it would be okay I guess but-"

"I bet her mom would even pay you! And that would be good, right? To bring in some extra money?"

Brian frowned. "You don't need to be worryin' about money, Heidi. Let us do that."

"Okay," I said impatiently, "But would you give Olivia lessons; if she wanted you to, I mean?"

Brian crossed to the fridge and pulled out things to make a salad.

"Look, let's just see if Olivia manages her end of the deal- comin' to school every day until Winter Break and then we'll talk about it, okay?"

"She will," I said confidently. "I know she will."

/

After an early supper and then some reduced homework time, Adam told us to get ready for the concert. I had changed after my shower, but I decided I wanted to wear a different T-shirt- a blue one with little lilac flowers on it. While I was in my room, I grabbed the hair clips that Olivia's mom had bought for us the day of the shooting. I thought they would look pretty to hold back the bits of hair that were too short to be pulled back into a braid. My hair had grown some since my last hair cut- enough to pull it back into a ponytail or braid it, but it was still on the short side. I took my hairbrush downstairs into the living room in search of Brian who was the best at braiding my hair. He couldn't do anything fancy, but he was neater than Adam.

Brian was there, shining his shoes, alongside Crane, Evan and Ford who were ready and just lounging around in the living room.

"Bri, can you please braid my hair?" I asked, coming down the stairs waving the hairbrush.

"Yep; come sit down here in front of me."

"I could do it for you," Crane said then, unexpectedly. "I could even do one of those fancy ones if you wanted. What do you call it? A French braid?"

We all turned to look at Crane.

Evan burst out laughing. "How do you know how to braid hair?"

Crane shrugged. "I learned it at college."

"We're sendin' you to college to learn how to braid hair?" Brian said incredulously. But I could also tell from the look on his face that he was mightily amused.

"I've seen it done lots of times so I can do it. Or at least I think I can anyway. Heidi, come over here so I can try it," Crane said, holding out his hand for the brush.

"Learned from who?" Evan demanded.

"It's whom," Crane said.

Evan waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever. Stop trying to dodge the question. Who have you watched?"

"Yea, Crane," Brian said, a big grin on his face, "Do tell."

Ford sat up on the couch, looking on in interest.

Crane shrugged non-committedly and held his hand out to me for the hairbrush again. I gave it to him and went to sit in front of him.

"I bet it's that girl who you were talkin' to for hours over Thanksgiving break. Is she your girlfriend, Crane?"

"You got a girlfriend, little brother?" Brian said.

Crane flushed red, just a little from the neck up, but he kept his composure.

"I may have."

I hope everyone is keeping well out there. Does anyone else feel like March has been the longest month EVER?! I'm working from home now which in theory should give me more time, so I hope to be able to update more often. I'll be elaborating more on Michael and his mom in later chapters. Stay safe everyone!