Wendy watched as Johnny cautiously took a bite of the cornbread muffin. He looked hesitant to eat in front of her, but he also looked like he was pretty hungry.

Keeping her distance, she tried to interact with him again. "Matthew is sleeping in the room right across the hall if you need anything. Tom and I are in the room right next to him, and Grandma is in the guest room at the end of the hall."

Johnny remained silent.

"You can meet Grandma and your Uncle Will tomorrow..." She noticed the picture on the table. "May I see this?" she asked pointing at it.

Johnny looked somewhat embarrassed and nodded.

Wendy picked it up and studied it. "Ah... these are your friends, the ones from Tulsa!"

Johnny looked up.

A little connection... there's a start. Wendy looked hard at the picture. She wrinkled her brow. "Hmm... well, there's you! That one I know!" she laughed a little and glanced at Johnny. She had his attention.

"And... hmm... this one," she pointed to the smallest boy in the picture. "This one had a very unusual name...."

Johnny nodded and smiled just a little.

Wendy's heart soared. She hoped she could remember the boy's name. "Something to do with horses...Ponyboy! That's it, isn't it?"

"Yep, that's Ponyboy!" Johnny brightened just a little.

Wendy's smile broadened. " He's your closest friend... I remember him the most. Now... his brother had an interesting name too... Cola? Pepsi?"

Johnny actually laughed, just a little. "Sodapop," Johnny corrected. Wendy felt she was making real progress with him.

"How could I have forgotten that? And this one... he's the oldest brother, right?"

"Uh huh. That's Darry."

"Darry. That's right. They have wonderful parents. How are they doing?"

Johnny went white. Wendy's heart sank as she realized that she'd somehow said something wrong.

"They... They're dead."

Wendy drew in a sharp breath.

"They were killed in a car wreck a while ago."

"Oh, Johnny...I'm so sorry. I... I had no idea." Wendy's mind raced with tragic thoughts. How had the Curtis brothers survived such a tragedy? What did Johnny do after they were gone? "The brothers... are they..."

Johnny shrugged. "They're still together. Darry got left in charge and as long as they stay out of trouble, they get to stay together."

Wendy nodded. Johnny seemed sad, but not upset with her for bringing it up. He also seemed like he would rather not talk about it. She thought for a minute. "We'll have to put those boys on a train sometime and bring them up here for a visit. They could probably use a vacation. Would you like that?"

Johnny looked at her in surprise, his eyes widening. "Really?"

"Of course! Your friends are welcome here anytime." Wendy said. She decided to try to talk with him a little more about the picture. "Now this one- this one I do remember. Two-Bit. Oh, he was a character. He made me laugh!"

Johnny grinned a little.

"But these two I don't remember," she said.

"Well, that's Steve," Johnny said pointing him out in the photo. "He's Soda's best friend. And that's Dally-uh, Dallas. He's..." Johnny hesitated a bit. "He can be tough, but he's cool once you get to know him. He gave me this picture."

"Oh! That was sweet of him!" Wendy said, smiling.

Johnny looked at her a little funny.

Wendy figured no one had ever referred to Dallas as "sweet" before. He was the boy she'd seen standing over Johnny the day that Robert had beaten him. Wendy studied the photo. Dally looked like the most dangerous of all. But when she looked hard enough, she could see through him too, just like she could see past Johnny's cool facade. Wendy was perceptive that way. Although, Johnny was much easier to read than Dallas.

"Well, Johnny, you're probably very hungry and..." she softened her voice, "you probably miss your friends very much."

Johnny just looked down at the bed he was sitting on.

"Would you like to talk to them?"

Johnny's head shot up. "Wha- you mean... right now?"

"Well of course!" She gave him a playful scolding look and added, "Just because we live out in the country doesn't mean we don't have a phone!"

"But.. it's long distance..."

Wendy just shook her head and smiled at him. "C'mon sweetie. Let's go get you something to eat and show you were the phone is."

Johnny followed her out of the room in awe. She was so kind to him, so motherly. He had never been treated this way before. Except by Ponyboy's mom. Wendy reminded him an awful lot of Ponyboy's mom... His heart ached when he remembered the Curtis' parents.

He followed Wendy out of the room and down the stairs.

Wendy pulled a plate of food out of the refridgerator and set it on the table. "Help yourself to anything you'd like. There's the phone, right over there. Everyone's gone off to bed, so no one will bother you."

She untied her apron and hung it over a chair. "I'll see you in the morning. " She stepped towards Johnny out of reflex. She always gave Matthew a good night kiss on the forhead or cheek, but she caught herself. "Good night," she smiled and headed off towards the stairs.

But then she stopped, remembering something. "Oh, Johnny? You should call your parents, too. Just to let them know you made it here."

Johnny froze. He had to physically remind himself to breathe. "Uh...ok. No one called them yet?"

"No," Wendy smiled and gave a weak laugh. No one dared, she thought. She wasn't sure how much Johnny knew about the animosity between the families, so she just replied, "too much excitement!" and went off to bed.

Johnny watched her go and he sat down slowly and waited for his heart to stop pounding. How long would he be able to keep this up? And what did it matter anyway? They would probably let him stay even if he told them he had run away from home. Wouldn't they?