Jill was absent from the breakfast table the next morning. Clare came down a few minutes into the meal, but she did make it.

She looked sort of pale and haggard, and when Adam asked her how she was feeling, she said, "I'm fine. Just a little tired, is all."

"You ought to call in to the doctor's office," Brian told her. "Tell them you won't be in today."

"I can't do that, Brian," Clare said, sounding as if she'd already had this same argument. "They're counting on me to be there. This is

getting to be a real busy time-"

"Yeah. With all those germ-carryin' kids coming in there, with their noses running," Brian countered darkly.

"Brian, it's only today, and then the regular nurse will be back," Clare said.

"Well, this is it," Brian said, with finality. "I don't want you takin' on anything more for awhile."

Clare was in the middle of scooping some jelly onto her toast when Brian said that, and I saw her mouth tighten. She didn't say

anything in argument, though. At least not then. I wondered whether she would later. Clare was spunky, and had no problem voicing

her thoughts and wishes. Still, I was fairly sure that Brian, just as Adam was, was more or less the 'final say' in the marriage.

Hannah could 'give as good as she got', just as Clare could, but even Hannah stopped arguing when Adam got a certain look

on his face.

Evan came in, scraping his boots on the rug, and with everyone saying 'good morning'.

"Sit down and have something," Hannah told him.

"I ate already," Evan said, but he eyed the cinnamon rolls, and took his regular seat. "I guess I'll have one of these, though."

"You didn't have to twist his arm, Hannah," Adam said, with a grin.

"I've always got room for one of Hannah's cinnamon rolls," Evan said.

"How's Nancy?" Hannah asked him, now. "You're both still coming for supper tonight, aren't you?"

"Yeah. She'll be here after work," Evan said.

"Good," Hannah said, sounding satisfied. "And Ford will be getting home around four, I think."

"Everybody will be present and accounted for," Brian said, sounding pleased.

"Crane, too?" Daniel asked. "He gonna be back today?"

"I think so," Hannah said. "Isn't that what he said when you talked to him, Adam?"

"Yeah, he was thinking this afternoon sometime. Unless Ivy's dad took a turn for the worse," Adam said.

"Hannah turned to look at me. "So, no work for you today, right?"

"No. "

"You're riding with Guthrie to school?"

"I guess," I said, and then nudged Guthrie. "If it's okay."

Guthrie shrugged, and said, around his mouthful of cinnamon roll, "Don't have a choice, do I?"

"Can somebody come and pick me up?" I asked, ignoring Guthrie's attempt at humor. "At one?"

"I'll come and get you," Hannah said, just as Clare spoke up and said, "I can. I get my lunch at 12:30. I can pick Harlie

up and then we can come home together. If you don't mind hanging around the doctor's office until two-thirty when I get off. Will

that work, Harlie?"

I didn't particularly care to wait around a doctor's office for any length of time, but I knew we needed to save gasoline and all

the guys would be out working somewhere.

So I said, yes, and told Clare thanks.

"Your truck should be done," Adam said. "When you get back to Murphys, you can see if it's ready, and then you could come

on home."

Now that suited me fine. "Should I stop at the bank and draw out some more money?" I asked Adam. "To pay for the rod tire."

"Tire rod," Daniel corrected me, and I crossed my eyes at him comically.

"Tell Jake to send us a bill," Adam said. "You can go in next week sometime and pay it."

I said okay.

"How's Jill feeling?" I heard Hannah asking Daniel, as everybody was getting up, and leaving the table. "Better? Or have you

talked to her this morning?"

"Yeah. I did," Daniel said, quietly. "She's feelin' better. Thanks, Hannah."

"Does she need anything this morning? Before I start laundry?"

I was listening, without even pretending that I was not.

"No, she said she just wanted to sleep," Daniel said.

Hannah nodded, and Daniel reached out to wrap an arm around Hannah, giving her a tight hug. It seemed as though

they were saying something unspoken between them.

I was still watching them curiously when Guthrie called to me to 'shake a leg', and Daniel broke apart from his hug

to Hannah.

He passed in front of me, as I stood there. "See ya later, squirt," he told me, and followed Brian and Evan outside.

Guthrie stuck his head back into the kitchen. "Har, come on."

"I'm coming," I told him.

Adam was still standing there, too, refilling his coffee cup, as Hannah began stacking the dishes to wash.

"What's wrong with Jill?" I asked Hannah.

"She wasn't feeling well this morning," Hannah answered, without pausing to look at me.

"She seemed okay last night," I said.

"Maybe so," Hannah said. "Daniel just said she wasn't feeling all that great."

"I think she likes attention," I said.

Both Adam and Hannah gave me their full on looks at that point.

"Harlie-" Hannah said, sounding mildly scolding.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way," I said. "I'm only making an observation."

"Well-" Hannah began. Probably with the intent to tell me I needed to be kinder, or less vocal with my opinions, or such.

"Harlie," Adam said. "Guthrie's waitin'. You get on now, before you're both late for school."

I swept my eyes from Hannah's face to his. He was sipping at his coffee, and looking at me over the top of his cup.

"I'm going," I said, and started towards the living room to grab my backpack. "Bye, Hannah."

"Goodbye, sweetie."

"Have a good day," Adam said. I turned back to give him a cheeky smile.

"Bye," I said.

7

I got back a test back in trigonometry, with a B-, which I didn't consider bad at all. I tucked it into my stuff to

take home, thinking about how Crane would be pleased.

I ate lunch outside, at the regular table, sitting beside Kenny, and with Guthrie and Kristin and Lori and Trent gathered around, too.

Trent was asking Guthrie and I about Jill, saying that he had seen a girl driving Daniel's truck in Angels Camp a couple of days

before.

"During the day?" I asked him.

"Yeah. It was Tuesday-cause I was late gettin' to school, and I remember seein' Daniel's truck stopped at a stop sign."

"She probably wanted to get away from the house for awhile or somethin'," Guthrie offered.

"Away from any work," I said, and then I felt ashamed of myself. I'd already forgotten the promise I'd made to myself to

treat Jill more friendly, and give her a chance.

"What's she like?" Lori was asking.

I shrugged in answer, and Guthrie said, "She's sort of hard to get to know."

"She says she can't wait to meet you," I told Kenny.

"Yeah?" he asked, looking surprised.

"Uh huh." I squeezed Kenny's hand, where he was holding mine underneath the table.

"So-come over tomorrow?" Guthrie was asking Kristin. "I can pick you up if you want. Hannah's plannin' a big

meal with everybody."

"I'll let you know if I need a ride," Kristin said. "I might be able to get Mom to bring me out before she goes to work. It might

be early, though-"

"That's perfect," Guthrie said.

As we were getting up, to return our lunch trays, and throw away our trash, I fell behind with Kenny.

"Can you come over tomorrow?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I'll be over. Not until later in the afternoon, though. I've got to help my Pop do some stuff first."

We were heading back into school, and teachers were lined up outside their classroom doors, so Kenny just leaned

closer and said, "Maybe we can get off by ourselves for awhile tomorrow-do you think?"

I smiled at him, and nodded.

At just before one o'clock, I went to the office to wait for Clare. She came just a couple of minutes later, signing me

out, and we walked out to her car together.

We talked about what sort of a day we'd each had so far, and she commented that she would be glad to get off at two-thirty and

get home.

"I'm going to soak my feet," she said.

"Are you glad today's the last day of filling in?" I asked her.

"I am. They asked me to work at the end of next week too, though. For the flu vaccinations. They need more help."

"Are you going to?" I asked her curiously, remembering Brian's edict at breakfast.

"I'm not sure. We could use the money alright," Clare said. "But Brian won't go for it."

That's the thing I like about Clare. Well, one of the many, many things I like about her. She talks to me as though I'm

grown, or nearly, and not as if I'm not just a kid, who has no sense.

"Do you mind that he's like that?" I asked curiously.

"You mean, all 'lord of the manner', and all of that?" she asked, looking amused.

"Yeah."

"That's part of his charm," Clare said. Then, as we turned on the street to Jake's Garage, she said, "I'm actually so tired

lately that if he wants to make the decision about me not working right now, then I'm probably not going to fuss about it, to be

honest." She smiled at me. "Don't tell the advocates for women's rights. I'd be on their black list for talking like that."

Clare parked in front of the garage, and told me to go in and ask if my truck was done while she waited outside.

I went in, hoping that I wouldn't have the misfortune to run into Old Vernon. Luckily, I didn't. Jake took me up to the office,

handed me my keys, and then said he would send a bill.

So, when I came out, Clare said she would get back to work, and would see me later.

I drove on home, taking my time about it, and enjoying having my own transportation back again. When I did pull into

the driveway and up to park, I saw brothers on horseback in the far distance, past the barn. I watched for a few minutes to

see if I could tell what they were doing. Some were standing, and seemed to be in a circle.

When I went into the house, to drop my backpack, Hannah was sitting on the couch, holding a sleeping Isaac.

"Hi, sweetie," she said softly.

"Hi," I said, low. "What's everybody doing in the far pasture?"

"The bull is sick," Hannah said.

"Oh, no," I said, grasping the horribleness of that statement. The bull wasn't ours. He was on loan from a

neighbor.

"Is it bad?" I asked.

"I don't know. Adam only had a few minutes to talk when he came in earlier. He was trying to find the number for a

vet in Stockton. None of the guys have even eaten lunch yet."

"Ivy will be home soon-" I began.

"We didn't know an exact time, so Adam was hoping to get someone out here more quickly."

"Oh." I saw the laundry baskets overflowing with clean but unfolded laundry. "Do you want me to help you with the

stuff in the house?"

"I can manage," Hannah said. "I have an idea, though. You could take some sandwiches and things to the guys, so at least they'll

be able to grab a bite."

I said okay, and went upstairs to change to old jeans, and tattered t-shirt. I went back down to the kitchen, where Hannah

was now busy making roast beef sandwiches, ham sandwiches, and putting them all into a picnic basket.

"Can you manage this?" she asked me.

"Yeah. I'll take the four-wheeler," I told her. "Easier to carry than on a horse."

Hannah managed to press a bag of potato chips into the basket on top of the sandwiches.

"Now some cookies," she said, and began wrapping foil around oatmeal cookies, chocolate chips cookies, and banana bread.

"Since you're taking the four-wheeler, maybe you could manage a thermos of sweet tea," she suggested.

I said I could, and began filling a gallon thermos with sweet tea from the refrigerator.

"Tell them there's two sandwiches apiece," Hannah said, and I nodded.

"Where's Jill?" I asked, quietly, as we worked.

"She left earlier. She said she had some shopping to do," Hannah said. I realized then that I hadn't noticed if Daniel's truck

was missing.

"Wow," I muttered under my breath.

As Hannah turned to me, I saw how tired she looked, and I knew for a fact how worried all the guys would be about the bull being sick, and

the possible financial consequences of that. At that moment, I didn't care if Hannah thought I was being too vocal, or if anybody would think

I was overstepping my bounds. I was aggravated.

"That's ridiculous," I said.

"Harlie," Hannah said, again in her tired voice. I'd noticed the last few days that Hannah had seemed to be showing her tiredness

more. She is usually full of pep, but lately, not so much. Of course, Isaac had been teething and more fussy than usual.

"It is," I said, firmly.

"The house chores are not her job," Hannah said.

"Well, she could offer to help," I insisted. "She's eating, so she should help with dishes at least."

"For the amount that she eats, she doesn't need to bother," Hannah said. "She nibbles like a bird."

"Still, she's a guest, and she could offer to do something," I said.

"Harlie, you are so stubborn," Hannah told me. She smiled. "I cannot imagine where you get that trait from."

"I'll bet, if Adam was standing here, and he didn't know I was nearby, that he would tell you the exact same thing-that she

should lift a finger to offer some kind of help," I said. "He only doesn't say it when I'm around because he doesn't want me to

think he's thinking that way. But, I know."

"Here," Hannah said, handing me the basket for one hand and the thermos for the other. "Scoot. Please."

7