Well it was over. The lovely barn that had almost been finished was in ruins; even the floor was all scratched and marked up. I watched the whole thing with tears in my eyes. The wall was still up on our side so we could only see flashes of colour, the horrible shouts and the occasional men running across the roof. I looked over at Milly, who was openly crying.

"Milly, what's wrong honey?" I said as I reached over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's just that they promised me there'd be no fighting. Just as I thought I'd gotten them all to behave they go and pull a stunt like this. And Gideon too!" Another tear went down Milly's face and I longed to pull her into a hug.

"It isn't their fault. Not really." Sarah spoke up.

"We all saw what was happening." Ruth said mournfully.

"They threw a hammer at Ben!" I said indignantly, ignoring the sly looks the girls gave me as I used his proper name.

"I know that. And I know that Gideon only went after one of them because of Adam." Milly gave a rueful smile. "Gideon worships Adam." Her smile slipped from her face. "But they promised me."

"They were trying, we could see that." Martha said.

"Well, I guess you can't make silk purses out of sow's ears." Milly sighed.

"Don't give up, Milly." I pleaded. "You've already done so much. They all love you so much."

Milly gave me an odd look. "Why do you say that, Dorcas?"

I blushed, not wanting to reveal what Ben had confided in me. "It's just a feeling that I have."

Our attention was caught by a huge crack as the barn doors came down with a crash. In the center of the square, the Pontipee brothers stood victorious. I stood up with the rest of the girls and we all flew to the men who were hurt.

I rushed over to Pa and knelt down next to him. He was groaning and a huge bruise was forming on his cheek. I hoped the bone wasn't broken. I looked up and caught Ben's eye.

He had the grace to look slightly ashamed as Milly grabbed Adam and dragged the brothers over to the wagon. She got them all in and went to apologize to Mr. Higgins.

I helped my father to stand and almost collapsed at the weight. Mother was busy getting the horses ready; I knew she'd want to get Pa home. Together we stumbled towards the wagon. I helped him get up and climbed in the back. Mother was holding the reins firmly.

"Now, Dorcas. See what trouble those Pontipee brothers are?" Mother said as she started the wagon.

"But Mother, it wasn't-" She cut me off.

"Be quiet, Dorcas. Now I saw you ignore that nice George Straither and attend to one of them. Now you know what kind of people they are. I don't want you to ever bring them up again. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mother." I said dutifully as our wagon passed the Pontipees. Ben stood in the back, at least a head taller than all of the rest. Our eyes caught as we passed by, but I quickly lowered mine to my Pa who was resting beside me. I looked up again and his eyes were still on me. They were full of sorrow and regret, but there was also a tinge of pride in them. I looked away and didn't look back.

-7-

As the months passed, I slowly forgot about the Pontipee brothers. Except for whenever I saw someone with a black eye, sore arm. Then I remembered the power that lay in his muscles.

And of course, whenever I saw that exact russet shade that matched his hair and his eyes…

And don't even speak to me about the colour orange.