We were nearly finished with lunch, when Crane came in the back door, dripping wet, and we all sprung into

action. Scooting around the table to make his space larger, and Hannah got up to go help him pull off his rain slicker, shaking it out

and hanging it.

"I'll get your plate," Clare said, getting to her feet, and going over to the stove, as Crane scraped his boots on the rug by the back door.

"We were beginning to wonder about you," Adam said, standing up, as well, and coming over to greet Crane.

Crane ran a hand over his hair, and down the side of his cheek to catch some drips.

"It's not fit for man nor beast out there," he said.

"You're probably all going to catch a cold after this," Hannah fussed, coming back over to her chair.

Crane washed up at the sink, turning to say, "Fit out there or not, we need to go back out after lunch. There's five heifers unaccounted

for."

"From the west pasture?" Adam asked, looking concerned.

Crane nodded, as he dried his hands on the dishtowel.

They started talking about the heifers, which had been moved the weekend before, to a separate pasture, fifteen of them altogether.

Clare set a steaming plate of food in front of Crane as he sat down, he thanked her, and Adam brought the coffee pot to the table, filling a cup

for Crane and refilling others.

They began to talk again, about where the heifers might have gotten to, and how they got out. Crane said he'd ridden the fence

but hadn't seen any openings, though with the heavy rain, he thought he could very well have missed something.

"I'm gonna run into town and get Nancy," Evan said, getting to his feet. "And then I'll be back to ride out with you all."

Daniel said he wouldn't go with Evan to town, after all. He'd stay and be ready to go out when Crane and the rest of them left.

As everybody was finishing, and getting up from the table, I heard Jill fussing at Daniel that he would get his

cast wet, out in the downpour of rain.

"I'm gettin' real good at coverin' it with a bag," he told her, with a smile. "Don't worry."

Jill still fussed, following Daniel as he went to put on his rain slicker along with the rest of the guys.

I went out onto the back room, crowded with brothers. The rain was pelting the windows.

I was reaching for my own slicker, a hand-me-down of one of the boys, when Adam said, "You better stay here, sugar."

I paused, and looked at him, surprised. "You're gonna need everybody you can get, aren't you?"

"I think the six of us can manage it," Adam said. He gave me a smile. "Stay here and stay dry."

"Okay," I said, with a sigh. It was Adam being protective again, likely due to my diabetes. Since getting a cold can lead to other things,

that then lead to other things, I knew he was thinking of that.

It wouldn't do any good to argue with him about it. And it was really nasty outside. Staying in didn't sound so bad.

So they all set out, in their rain gear. Clare and I did the dishes by lantern light, and the light that came in thru the window.

Hannah went to start a fire in the fireplace, and when Clare and I were finished, and went to the living room, it was to see

Hannah on her knees, stirring the wood with a poker, with Jill kneeling beside her.

Clare and I sat down, and, as the fire began to take off, we all sat watching it.

"This will be nice for when they get back in," Clare was saying. "They can get warmed up by the fire, with something hot

to drink."

"I hope Daniel's alright out there," Jill was saying, looking at the flames as if in thought.

I rolled my eyes, but kept my mouth shut from any catty remarks.

Clare suggested a game of Scrabble with the four of us, and seconded by Hannah. So I went to retrieve the Scrabble game box,

and as Clare was setting it up on the coffee table, I went to try calling Kristen again.

I held the receiver in one hand, and listened to the static on the other end.

"No phone-" I said, and hung up.

"It's out?" Hannah asked, glancing up from where she was looking over her Scrabble letters.

"Yeah. All static," I told her.

"Oh, gosh," she said.

"Does that happen alot?" Jill asked, sounding anxious.

"All the time, when it's raining," I said.

"Oh," she said, subdued.

I sank down on the couch beside Clare, and Hannah asked, "Were you calling Kristin?"

"Yeah. I was going to. Guthrie tried before, and she didn't answer." I went on to tell Hannah about how Daniel and Evan and I had

come across Kristin and her mother beside the road, and how the boys had gotten the car going.

"I'm glad they got the car going," Hannah said.

"Yeah," I said, and added how I thought that Kristin had been acting strangely.

"Upset?" Hannah asked.

"Well, yeah, sort of," I said. "She acted wierd-like she couldn't say where they were going."

"Maybe she'd had an upsetting morning," Hannah suggested. "I'm sure she'll call you tonight, or tomorrow."

"Probably stupid-ass Frank has done something again," I muttered, as we began setting up the Scrabble board.

"Harlie," Hannah said, in mid reproof.

"Who's Frank?" Jill inquired.

"Kristin's stepfather," I said.

"Oh," she said. "Yeah, stepfathers are never a good thing."

I regarded her curiously, the lantern light bouncing off of her hair. She was sitting on the floor on one side of the coffee table, with

Hannah next to her on the floor, and Clare and I on the couch. I wondered what she meant by that remark. About stepfathers

never being a good thing.

I saw Hannah's glance flicker over Jill as well, and I could tell she was considering saying something to Jill. And, she did.

"I think there are many men who are fine stepfathers," Hannah said. "Some not, obviously. But, it's an individual situation."

"Some men take to it like a duck to water," Clare added. "I always hoped that my mom would meet some decent man who'd

be like a father to my sister and I."

"You shouldn't have wished for that," Jill answered.

Clare reacted with surprise. "Why not? I missed having a dad, like the other kids in my town."

"Because he would have pretended to be decent, like you said, until he got into the house, and then he would have shown his

true colors," Jill said, sounding matter-of-fact, and setting up her letters for the game.

Clare and Hannah and I all exchanged a look over Jill's head, without her observing. Hannah's eyebrows were slightly raised, and I

gave a shrug.

"There are good men, Jill," Clare said, softly.

Jill looked up so swiftly that her hair fell over her eyes. She brushed it aside, and said, "Oh, I know that! Like Daniel."

"Yes. Like Daniel," Hannah said, quietly.

"It's just-if your friend-" she looked at me. "Kristen? Her stepfather isn't one of those good guys. Is he?"

"No," I said. "He's not."

"I know what's she's going thru," Jill said, going back to arranging her letter tiles. "It's tough."

I felt so curious, I wanted to ask her questions. She'd said that she'd grown up in foster care, mostly-at least I didn't think she'd

ever mentioned a stepfather. But, I wasn't sure, either. I could tend to tune Jill out at times. Maybe those had been one of those times.

"Are we ready to play?" Hannah asked, and I knew it was her attempt to change the conversation.

"Yes, let's play," Clare agreed.

We began our Scrabble game, interrupted only by Nancy's arrival, coming in the front door, wet and cold, having been dropped off

by Evan.

"Is Evan coming in?" Hannah asked, coming over to greet Nancy, and close the door behind her.

"No, he's going on to meet the others," Nancy said, and turned her head to sneeze.

"You got soaked, alright," Hannah said. "Was it bad driving?"

"Oh, yeah, we could hardly see in front of us at all," Nancy said.

Nancy had pulled off her shoes at the door. "Can I borrow something of yours?" she asked me, heading for the stairs.

"Sure," I said, and we kept playing our Scrabble game as Nancy headed up the stairs with a flashlight.

Nancy came back down, wearing a pair of jeans that were too short for her, and an old t-shirt of mine. She was barefoot, carrying

a pair of dry socks.

"I hung my stuff in the bathroom to drip dry," she said.

"Go and find something to eat," Hannah told her.

I was finishing my best word, 'escape' on the board, when Nancy came back from the kitchen. She sat down to watch us

play the game, and when we finished, with Hannah being the winner, we all sat, watching the fire, and talking.

A loud clap of thunder, and a startling flash of thunder outside the window, and Jill was visibly startled.

"It's getting worse-" she worried.

"It's alright," Hannah said, in her comforting way.

"We need Brian to make some of his cocoa," I offered, leaning against Clare and hooking my arm thru hers.

I wasn't sure how much time passed, exactly, maybe another hour or so, and the rain began to taper down, slack off, and it

grew lighter outside. The electricity flickered, and then flickered again, and then came back on.

"Yay!" Clare said.

"Yeah, finally," I said.

Hannah went to stir up the fire, and put another piece of wood on it, and the rest of us began picking up the

pieces of the finished game of Scrabble.

"Want me to do your hair?" Jill offered to me.

I shrugged. "Sure. I guess."

"Okay, I'll go up and grab all my stuff," she said, and turned back to say, "Nancy, I can do yours, too, if you want."

Nancy said okay, and I thought that Jill was really trying to be nice.

Jill went upstairs, and the rest of us were all talking and laughing, and so we were all surprised by the sound of a hard knock on the door.

"Who's out in all this wet?" Hannah asked, in an off-hand way, as she started to the door. She opened it, and thru the screen she

said hello to someone, and a deep male voice asked 'how are you doin' in a friendly manner.

Hannah said fine, and asked how she could help them. Nancy and I went over to stand behind Hannah to look out over her shoulder.

There were two of the largest guys I've ever seen standing there on our porch. They were wearing jeans and jackets, but it was their boots and

hands that caught my attention. Their boots weren't cowboy boots, but some type of military looking lace up boots, and both of them

had tattooed hands. I'd never seen anybody with tattoos on their hands like that.

"I think we're lost," the biggest guy said. "Is this Waterbury Road?"

"No," Hannah said, and explained that Waterbury Road was back down to the four corners just a couple of miles.

"Is that so? How about that?" he said, to the other guy. "We've been drivin' around for the last hour tryin' to find that damn road, and

here it is, this close." He laughed as though he'd said something remarkably hilarious.

"It's easy to get turned around on these roads sometimes," Hannah said.

"Would you mind if we used your telephone?" he asked. "We've got folks that are gonna be gettin' worried when we don't show

up soon."

I saw Nancy press her fingers into Hannah's lower back. I wasn't sure what she was thinking. Hannah showed no reaction to

the pressure, but smoothly said, "Well, my brother-in-law has the phone tied up right now, talking long distance, and I think he's going to

be awhile yet-I hate to interrupt him."

"Oh, that's a shame," the guy said, and I saw Nancy take a step back and disappear. I knew Hannah had said that about the phone because

she was frightened. Or wary of these two. And didn't want them in the house.

"Like I said, the road you're looking for is just down that way," Hannah said, dismissively, and moved to close the door.

"Oh, ma'm," the guy said, holding up a halting hand. "I wonder if we could trouble you for a bit of gas then." He gestured to the beat-up

old pickup truck they'd pulled up in. "Truck's near about on empty-" he reached into his pockets and pulled out a five dollar bill.

"I'll be glad to pay you for it-"

"I don't think we have any extra gas around," Hannah said.

And then, suddenly, Jill was there, peering over Hannah's shoulder, and then saying, "What do you want, Chess?"

"Well, there you are," the big guy said. "Look here, John," he said to the other guy. "Here's our Jillie-we've been lookin' all

over for you, gal."

"Is that so?" Jill asked, sounding spunky, and with attitude. She moved to push her way past Hannah to go out onto the

porch, and Hannah caught at her wrist.

"Jill-" Hannah said, in a low tone. I could tell she didn't want Jill to go out.

"It's alright, Hannah," Jill said, just as low.

And, with that, Jill stepped out onto the porch, and then closed the screen firmly again, turning to face those

two big goons, her hands on her hips.

7

To all my wonderful, loyal, patient readers of this story, I am sorry it has been so long since an update, the world has gone

totally crazy, I think. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter of the McFadden family-I promise it will be an update very soon,

Long live the McFaddens!