The next morning, when I got up I went down to breakfast in my chore clothes. The kitchen was buzzing with noise and activity, and

Brian, who was installed at the stove, flipping pancakes, gave me a look over.

"Morning, peach," he greeted me.

"Morning."

"Nice outfit there for church services," he said, nodding at my torn jeans and t-shirt.

"I'm not going," I said. "I'm going with Kenny and his parents, remember?"

"I don't know," Brian said, looking blank. "Do I remember?"

"To Sacramento," I prompted. "To visit his grandma. I'm going to work with D.C. before I get dressed to go with them."

"Ohhh," he said, turning back to his cooking.

As I slid into my place at the table, Hannah, who was already dressed in her church clothes, asked, "What time are

they coming to pick you up?"

"Ten, or thereabouts, I think," I said.

"Are you stopping somewhere to eat?" Clare asked me, leaning forward to look past Guthrie at me.

"Yeah. For supper. We're eating lunch with his grandma at her house."

"Might be a real nice restaurant, huh?" Clare asked.

I nodded at her, pouring a glass of orange juice.

"You should wear something nice," Hannah said.

I nodded again, and glanced across the table towards Daniel and Jill. Every time I looked at Daniel, I felt sort of a pang in my

stomach. I mean, he seemed okay and all. But, he was different, too. There were times when he was like his old self, laughing and cutting

up, like he had with me and Guthrie the night before. But, other times, he was so-well so intent, and introspective. Nearly sad, I thought.

I tried to force myself to not think that way. To not think about all of Daniel's stuff.

As I was helping to clear the breakfast table to stack the dishes, I said something along those lines to Hannah, in a quietly spoken

way.

"I'm worried about Daniel," I said.

"I know," Hannah said, also quietly.

"But, then-like today-I just want to have fun, and think about myself," I confessed.

Hannah paused, holding glasses in both hands, to look at me. "There is nothing wrong in that, sweetie. Nothing at all." She set the

glasses by the sink and reached out to rub my arm. "You're entitled, you know. To have fun." She paused to let her words sink in,

giving me a serious look.

"Okay," I said, softly.

"Um, hello?" said a voice at the kitchen doorway. Hannah and I both looked that way, to see Jill standing there.

I stepped apart from Hannah a bit, hoping that Jill hadn't overheard what the two of us had been saying to each other.

"Hi, Jill," Hannah said, returning to her dish stacking, and not reacting as though Jill had interrupted anything.

Jill stepped on into the kitchen. "I wondered if you wanted me to do your hair for you," she said, to me. "For your day

out with Kenny."

"I think that would be nice, don't you?" Hannah asked me, in an encouragement.

"Yeah. Sure," I said.

"Great," Jill said, seeming to brighten somewhat. "Want to do it down here, in the living room?"

"Okay," I said.

"I'll go grab my stuff," Jill said, and turned to go.

I exchanged a look with Hannah, but neither of us said any more.

7

Jill was prepared to do my hair, using the coffee table for all her hair supplies, when Hannah came thru, encouraging

her to come along with the rest of the family to church services.

So, even though I would rather have done my hair just before I left with Kenny, I sat down right then, to let

Jill do her thing.

She asked me what I wanted, and I said that just a braid would be fine.

"I'll do a French braid, then," Jill said. "With a little twist."

When she was finished, she handed me a mirror, and I saw that the back of my head looked like something

from one of the hair salon magazines. Real elaborate, with two French braids, but then hair criss-crossed in three X's of hair,

in between the braids.

"Wow," I said.

"Do you like it?" Jill asked.

"Yes. It's great-" I said.

"Gorgeous," Clare said, coming over to stand near and take a closer look at what Jill had done.

"Thanks," Jill said, with a smile, seeming pleased.

Adam came to find me, just as most of the family was preparing to head to church services.

I was outside in the pasture, trying to lure D.C. closer.

Adam whistled, and motioned to me, and I walked back over to where he was leaning on the corral gate.

"He's bein' stubborn today, huh?" he asked me, nodding towards D.C.

"Yeah. He's in a mood, I guess," I said.

"Well, we're takin' off now," he said. "Crane's going with Ivy, but Daniel's gonna be around somewhere with

Evan."

"Okay," I said.

"Okay," Adam echoed. He eyed me, cocking his head slightly. "Your hair looks nice," he said.

I sort of twirled, giving him another glimpse of the back of my head. "Fannnnncy, huh?"

"Very fancy," he said. He reached into the pocket of his church pants, and pulled out his wallet. "Here," he said, taking out

a ten dollar bill, and handing it to me.

"What's this for?" I asked him.

"In case you need it for something."

"Kenny and his parents are paying for dinner-" I began.

"I know. It's some 'just in case' money," he said.

"Oh. Well, okay," I said, smiling at him. "Thanks. I'll give it back to you if I don't spend it."

Adam nodded, and then said, "Well, have fun today, alright?"

"I will."

He gave me a half-smile, and went to get into Hannah's small car, with Hannah and Jill, and they drove off, followed by Brian and Clare in her car,

and Guthrie in the back seat.

I went back to coaxing D.C., and managed to get him tied to the fence, saddling him. I was learning to read his moods a bit,

and I could tell he was edgy, feeling his oats. The thought ran thru my mind that maybe I should ride him in the corral arena, at least

until I got him a bit worn out, and settled down.

I dismissed that warning thought, though, and mounted him. He immediately wanted to run, and I let him. We were racing across

the pasture, at breakneck speed, when I saw Daniel and Evan on four-wheelers in the distance. I waved to them. Just as I saw

them waving back, I got unseated, and the next thing I knew, I was laying flat on my back, in the tall grass, looking up at the sky.

"Damn," I thought. I thought it, not said it, because I'd had the wind knocked out of me.

I tried to draw a breath, but it hurt. I began to flex my fingers and my arms and legs, to see if anything might be broken. I didn't think so,

but I heard the roaring of the four-wheelers, and groaned. Here they came.

Daniel got to me first, as I was struggling to sit up.

"Lay still," he ordered, kneeling beside me in the grass.

Evan appeared on the other side of me, crouching down. "What the hell was that?" he demanded.

"A trick," I managed to croak out. I was still attempting to sit up, but Daniel eased me back down.

"Where does it hurt?" he asked.

"I'm okay," I said. "Just-had the wind knocked out of me."

"Well, lay still," Daniel said, checking over my legs and arms.

"Nothing's broken," I said.

"Let me be the judge of that," Daniel said, giving me a slight smile that made me feel better.

After a couple of moments, they eased me to a sitting position.

"I think you're okay," Daniel said. "Probably gonna be bruised up."

"No biggie," I said.

"I thought you had him under control," Evan said, with a glower.

"I do."

"Doesn't look like it," Evan said, disapprovingly.

"It was a freak thing," I protested, as Daniel helped me to my feet.

"Stand up slow, now," Daniel was saying.

Once I was on my feet, I tried to appear natural. Not as though I was sore all over. Which I was.

They were walking me towards the four-wheelers, and I protested mildly, "Where's D.C.?"

"Eatin' grass," Evan said. "I'll tend to him. You get up to the house and get laid down."

"I don't need to," I protested. "I've got to get dressed before Kenny comes-"

Evan made some remark to that-I didn't really hear the exactness of his words, but he seemed irritated.

I got on behind Daniel on the ATV, feeling stiff and sore. At the house, he turned it off, and kept a hand on my elbow,

as we went up the front steps.

"Sit down," Daniel told me, and I sat down on the couch. He patted his thigh. "Put your foot up here, and I'll help ya get your

boots off," he said.

I let him do that, and I could see Evan out the open front door, walking D.C. to the corral to unsaddle him.

"Evan's gonna fuss," I said.

"He's just worried about ya."

"He's bossy," I said.

"Worried," Daniel repeated.

He sat down on the coffee table so that he was facing me, as I sat on the couch.

"Your neck feel okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm okay, Daniel. I've had worse falls."

"Alright. Well, just sit for a few minutes, and get your bearings. Want somethin' to drink?" he offered.

"Yeah," I said, and he went off toward the kitchen.

I was sitting there, stretching out my fingers and wiggling my toes, when Evan came up the front steps and inside.

"You okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah. I'm okay," I said.

"What happened for you to come off like that?" he demanded.

"It was just a freak thing," I said, again.

Evan frowned at me. "I think he's too much for ya."

"Don't say that! It's not true!"

He was still giving me the eye.

"Don't overreact, Ev," I said. "I've been tossed off lots of times-"

"We don't know this horse's history, though," Evan said, as Daniel came back, carrying two glasses in his hands.

Daniel handed me one of the glasses and I took a long drink of the lemonade. It tasted so good.

Daniel sat down next to me on the couch, as Evan continued his rant.

"From now on, I don't want you to ride him outside of the corral," he ordered.

"That's ridiculous," I protested. "I can't give him a decent workout in the corral."

"I'll give him a workout with he needs it," Evan said.

"That's just stupid-" I began, as Evan's eyebrows drew together in a furious line.

"Don't call me stupid," he said.

"I'm not. I didn't," I said. I looked to Daniel for sympathy and support.

"I don't think she meant it the way it sounded," Daniel said, speaking up for me. Good old Daniel.

Evan went off to the kitchen then, mumbling to himself.

"Whew," I said, blowing out a long breath of relief at his departure, even if only momentarily.

"Evan's pretty smart about horses," Daniel said.

I turned to look at him, as he sat, flopped against the back of the couch.

"I know," I said.

"Maybe he's right about the horse bein' a little high-strung for ya," Daniel said.

"Not you too," I said, rolling my eyes towards the ceiling.

Evan was back by now, drinking a can of Coke.

I decided to make my escape before Evan could begin in on me again. I set my glass on the coffee table, and stood up, heading

towards the stairs.

"Where you goin'?" Daniel called after me.

"I have to get dressed," I said. "Kenny's picking me up."

I went upstairs, and checked the time. It was a little after nine-I had maybe an hour before Kenny and his parents came.

I wished longingly to soak in Hannah's bathtub with some Epsom salts to soothe my aches and pains. I could, I thought, do it

if I didn't linger too long in the hot water.

So, I went to run the hot water, pouring in the Epsom salts with a liberal hand. I immersed myself and soaked for fifteen minutes,

making sure I kept track of the time from Hannah's bathroom clock.

I got dressed in a pair of corduroy pants and and my yellow blouse, and put on some makeup. I was just finishing

when Daniel called up the stairs to tell me that Kenny and his parents were driving in.

I didn't race down the stairs. I was still feeling a little sore from my toss off of D.C.'s back earlier.

But, I was careful to not seem as though I was hurting, since both Daniel and Evan were still in the living room.

Kenny was coming up the front steps and Evan went to open the door before he even knocked.

"Hey, Evan," Kenny said.

"Hey there, Kenny."

Kenny stepped on inside, and gave a wave in Daniel's direction. "Hey, Daniel."

"Hiya, Kenny," Daniel said.

"Well, I'm ready," I said, going to stand beside Kenny. "See you guys later," I told Evan and Daniel.

7