Sure enough, Teresa and Maria were both keeping a watchful eye out for Charlie when she got home. Teresa came out of the house

as Charlie was unsaddling Gurth.

"I thought it was time for you to be getting here," Teresa greeted her. "How was your day?"

"It was good."

"If you'd been any longer, I would have had to send out a search party," Teresa said.

"I'm not late," Charlie said, feeling indignant. "I came right home."

"I'm not saying that you didn't. It's just that Scott gave express orders that if you weren't here by the top of the hour, I was to

come and find him right away."

"Oh."

"Come in as soon as you're done. Maria has a special snack for you," Teresa said.

"Okay," Charlie agreed, and as she finished putting away her tack, and rubbing Gurth down after the ride from town, she thought

about what Teresa had said. Scott surely was concerned. Charlie wasn't sure just how she felt about that. It was nice, for the most part,

anyway, to know that she had folks that cared about her, and worried for her safety and all.

Still, she secretly hoped that Scott would ease up on his worry a bit. Otherwise, he would never allow her to do anything

on her own.

It was while she was finishing Gurth's rubdown, that Charlie saw the trickle of dried blood on the horse's chest.

Startled, she looked closer. It wasn't too bad, she didn't think. Just a cut, that had already stopped bleeding. But, how had it

happened?

She puzzled over that question as she cleaned the scratch gently.

Surely it hadn't happened at the stable. She'd helped to saddle Gurth there, and hadn't seen it. Surely she would have, if it had

been just freshly cut. Then, how? She heard a voice calling to her, and looked up to see Johnny coming towards her, walking in

from the pastures with some of the ranch hands. He waved, and Charlie waved back. She bit her lip, thinking, just as the possibility occurred

to her, that it might have been that red-headed menace of a boy that caused the scratch. When she'd ridden right up onto the boys, he

had waved his hands and shoved at Gurth. Maybe he'd had something in his hands at the time. Something sharp enough to make a cut.

Charlie felt her stomach knot. Should she say nothing about the cut, and try to tend to it herself? She didn't know much about such

things. Or should she tell Johnny about it, so that he could look it over, and she'd be certain that Gurth would have the best care?

Johnny would want to know what had happened, though. And, she didn't think-well, she knew for certain, that though Johnny might

understand why she'd ridden up onto those boys, he wouldn't like it much. And Scott definitely would not. He would be all serious-looking, and

he might even scold.

Johnny was nearly up onto her, and Charlie turned to face him.

"Hey, pequeno," he greeted her, with a grin.

"Hi."

"How was your first day riding in alone?" he asked.

Charlie wondered what to answer. She settled for a truth. "I liked it."

"Good. Turn your horse out, and let's head inside. I think Maria was making up somethin' special."

"Okay." And then, her love for her horse overrode her thoughts about keeping it to herself.

"Johnny?"

"What?" he asked, pausing to look at her.

"Gurth has a cut. I wanted you to look at it."

"Where?" Johnny asked, stepping back over to the horse.

"Here," Charlie said, and stood quietly as Johnny surveyed the cut. Washing it had caused it to begin to bleed again, though

only slightly. "Is it very deep?" she asked anxiously.

"No, not very." He raised his head, and ran his hand over Gurth's back soothingly. "We need to clean it, and put some salve on it. And

then keep an eye on it."

"I cleaned it," Charlie said, still feeling anxious. "I mean, well, I wiped it with some water and a cloth."

"Well, we'll do the salve then. Do you know where it is? On the shelf above the saddles? Run get it."

Charlie scurried to obey, running back with the jar of salve. She took the lid off when he instructed her to, wrinkling her nose

at the smell that assaulted her.

He took it and as he worked with gentle dedication, applying it, he said, "What happened?"

Ah, the question that she'd known was coming.

She hesitated. Long enough that Johnny looked up from his task.

"Huh?" he prompted.

"I saw it when I got home," Charlie said, leading into the story slowly.

So slowly that Johnny misunderstood.

"Did Dan say anything? About it happening at the stable today?" he asked.

"No."

"Well, it looks as though he would have noticed a cut like this," Johnny said, almost as though he was talking to himself. He ran

his hands over the cut again, smoothing the salve around.

Charlie knew that she needed to speak up. And quickly. And tell Johnny how she thought the cut had occurred.

But, by now, Johnny was frowning a bit. "I'd be disappointed in Dan if this happened today, and he didn't even take notice of

it."

And then, "I'll have a talk with him," Johnny said then. "Ask him about it."

"No, Johnny, don't do that," Charlie said swiftly.

"What?" he asked, looking down at her in confusion.

"Don't say anything to the man there. To Dan."

Johnny straightened to his full height. "What are you talkin' about?" he asked.

"I think it might have happened as I was leaving the stable. After I was already outside, and mounted, I mean."

"Is that right?" he asked.

"I think maybe so."

"How?"

Charlie hesitated, looking into those intense blue eyes. "There were these two boys, and they were throwing rocks at that old man. So,

I rode up onto them, and told them to stop. And, I think that one of them might have had something in his hand that cut Gurth."

For a long, long few moments, Johnny was silent. "What old man?" he asked, when he finally did speak.

"The man from the edge of town. The one with a glass eye."

"What did the kid have in his hand that would make a cut like that?"

"I don't know," Charlie admitted.

Johnny was silent again, studying Charlie with an intenseness that made her feel like squirming.

"What boys?" he asked, then.

Charlie hesitated. She'd rather not say. She'd rather take care of the stupid boys in her own way. If she told on them, then

it would just make life at school that much more complicated. Things were better between kids, when adults didn't mix in so much.

"Do I have to say?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't you wanna say?" Johnny demanded. "You want a kid to hurt your horse, and not get called out for it?"

"No. But, I want to take care of it myself."

She'd succeeded in surprising him with that comment. Charlie could see that, quite plainly.

"Take care of it yourself, huh?" he repeated, sounding as though he didn't quite believe her.

"Yes. I bet when you were a kid, and things happened, you didn't go tell an adult right off, did you? You took care of things on

your own."

She was correct. She saw that by his expression.

Before Charlie could congratulate herself on that correctness, however, Johnny leaned down until he was on eye level

with her.

"We're not talkin' about me, here, pequeno. If I did 'take care of things on my own', as you put it, it was because I didn't have

any other choices. There was no one to help me. Nobody to guide me, as to the right thing. It's not that way for you."

Eye to eye, there was silence for a few moments. Then, Johnny straightened back up.

"Turn your horse out for now. We'll keep a good eye on that cut this weekend, make sure it doesn't get infected. As far as

not wantin' to give names of the boys, you can take that up with Scott," he said.

Ugh.

L

Charlie thought and worried over that last bit of Johnny's comment as she turned Gurth out into the pasture with the

other horses. She went into the house, to the kitchen, where she washed her hands, and Maria greeted her with a smile, and

a plate of chocolate chip bars.

The bars were really tasty. Any other time, Charlie would have been able to finish them all off, no problem at all. Today, though,

her stomach was a little knotted at the thought of talking to Scott. She gave Maria a hug around her waist, and went upstairs to

change to her play clothes. After that, she went outside to do her chores, and then went to check on the kittens.

Charlie stayed there, beside the barn, playing with the kittens until she heard a familiar whistle. And then her name

being called.

Charlie got to her feet, and stepped around the corner of the barn, still holding her favorite kitten.

"Hey, there," Scott greeted her with a smile.

"Hi."

"How was your day?" Scott asked then, running a hand over her hair. Charlie could tell then, that Johnny either hadn't seen Scott

yet, or had seen him and chosen not to say anything yet about the boys.

"School was good," Charlie said, in honesty. "I got one hundred percent on my spelling test."

"Of course you did," Scott said, smiling again. "And how was riding to and from by yourself? Alright?"

"I liked it," Charlie said, again carefully only answering the question itself.

"Good," Scott said, sounding pleased.

As Scott seemed ready to take his leave, Charlie's thoughts moved into fast drive. If she didn't say anything now, right now, then

Johnny was sure to bring it up at the supper table, or in the library later on. And then Scott would wonder why she hadn't told him

when she had the opportunity to do so. It would look sneaky on her part.

So, she added quickly, "There was just one thing that happened, that wasn't so good."

"What was that?" Scott asked.

Charlie took a moment, to set the kitten onto the ground. "Gurth got a cut. On his chest. Johnny looked at it, though, and

he put some salve on it. He says we just need to watch it for a couple of days."

"How did that happen?" Scott asked.

"Well," Charlie said, hesitating again.

"Charlie, you didn't shortcut thru fences that you weren't supposed to, did you?" Scott asked, his forehead lined with concern.

"No!" Charlie said quickly. He was jumping to all sorts of the wrong conclusions! "I stayed right on the road, just like you told me to!"

"Alright, then, what happened?"

"There were these boys, and they were throwing rocks at that old man-the one that has the glass eye-and I rode Gurth up

to them, and told them to stop. And they were waving their hands around, and I think one of them might have cut Gurth with

something."

"Where did this happen at?" Scott asked, with a frown.

"Outside of the stable."

"Who are the boys?"

Charlie licked her lips. "Boys from school," she said vaguely.

"I assumed that. What boys?"

When Charlie hesitated yet again, Scott said, "Charlie?" in a tone that was conveyed his growing impatience.

"I'd rather not say," Charlie said, trying to sound resolute.

"I didn't ask that," Scott replied, his eyes not leaving her face. "I asked who they were."

"I don't want to say," Charlie said, feeling stubborn. "If I tell you, then you'll tell their father or whoever, and then

school will be just awful. They'll call me a tattle-tale."

"Those boys need to have consequences, Charlie, for what they did." Scott's tone was firm.

"I know. I'll get even with them."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Scott asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not sure yet," Charlie admitted. She didn't feel so very confident at the moment, with Scott looking at her

the way that he was.

Scott leaned down, similar to the way that Johnny had earlier. "That's not how it's going to go," he said, in such

a stern tone that Charlie felt her stomach wobble a bit.

"You can keep their names to yourself until supper's over, if that's what you want. But, once we've eaten, and you've

had your bath, you're going to tell me. Understood?"

Charlie wanted to protest, to say that she wouldn't do any such thing, but found she just couldn't. Not at that moment,

anyway.

She gave a brief nod of her head in answer.

L