Chapter 2: No, this is not a farce

"Hey! Crane!"

No one could mistake that cheer for anyone else but Guthrie. As Crane got off the bus he immediately had to drop his bag to the ground to catch the young boy running for him. "Hey buddy, don't tell me you missed me!"

"Course I did, silly," the 9-year-old wrapped his arms around his brother's neck. "You've been gone for ages and ages."

"Bit of a stretch, you know. It hasn't been that long since I was last home."

"Well, Crane, it sure felt like years!" Suddenly Crane was nearly lifted off the ground.

"Hey, careful, big brother, you're kinda wrinkling the only good clean shirt I've brought."

"Oh so this," And with that Brian let go of his brother and picked up the dropped bag instead, "is filled with dirty laundry for me to wash."

"You've got it."

"Can I carry Crane's bag, Brian? I can handle it. I know I can."

"If that's what you want, kid, I'm not arguing." Brian handed Guthrie the bag and the two older brothers watched the young boy carry the bag to the jeep, with two hands, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. They couldn't help chuckling softly.

"So how was the bus?"

"Big. With wheels. And windows. A bus driver. And rows and rows of passengers."

"Smart ass," Brian wrapped his arm around Crane's neck. "Looking for a good beat down? Or can we be civil?"

"Hey, I only just got home. No need for violence, big brother. Don't you know it's all about peace and love nowadays?"

Brian laughed, and instead of a headlock, he ruffled Crane's hair with his free hand before letting him go. "Oh I know all about that. Make love, not war. Sounds good to me."

"But you're the love 'm and leave 'm kind. Don't think that's what people mean, Bri."

"Works for me." Brian helped Guthrie lift the bag in the bag of the jeep. "Oh and you'd better prepare yourself to be bombarded as soon as you step through the door. Guthrie's not the only one who thinks you've been gone too long. Everyone's been saving up questions about college and girls and wanting help with homework, and telling you stories about just about everything. And of course Adam will want an update on your grades."

"Oh so you don't?" Crane got in the jeep.

"There's no bad grades, are there?" Brian looked suddenly worried.

"Of course not, Bri, Crane's the genius of the family!"

"Thanks Guth, but I'm not that smart. There are, however, no bad grades so far. I'm doing my best to keep on top of my studies."

"Good. Then you're fine."

Crane wished he shared Brian's confidence. But then, he had more detailed information than his older brother had.

The short drive to the ranch wasn't enough to shut Guthrie up about everything that had happened while Crane had been away. Not that Crane hadn't heard all the important things already, from that same brother, every time they spoke on the phone. He just smiled and listened, though, as if it was the first time he heard it. He could tell Brian was holding back his amusement over Guthrie's enthusiasm.

By the time they arrived at the ranch, Crane's ears were ringing and he knew it was only the start of chatter from younger brothers. He was right. As soon as they neared the house all McFaddens came pouring out, to welcome him home like he'd been away for years.

"Crane! You gotta see my math test! I got an A!"

"Crane! You gotta come see the colt. It's doing great!"

"Crane!. You gotta…."

"Hold on, hold on, squirts, I'll get to it all, I promise," Crane wasn't even trying to get inside and hugged all his brothers. He, too, had missed them. More than they would ever know.

"Alright, alright, give the guy some breathing room, boys," Adam ushered the protesting crowd inside and wrapped his arm around Crane's shoulder. "Welcome home, little brother. Hope you did well on your midterms."

Crane laughed, although to anyone who was paying attention, and Daniel was, it was a bit of a strained laugh, "Knew that would be the first thing you'd bring up. Of course I did well. What did you think? I've got the family honor AND my scholarship to think about."

"See?" Adam called over his shoulder to Brian, "Told you not to worry about his grades."

"Very funny, Adam, very funny," Brian followed the group inside, carrying Crane's bag straight into the laundry room. "I'm sure you'll want to freshen up after that long bus ride. I'll put these in the washer in the meantime. I mean, honestly, Adam, he's wearing his last clean clothes."

"Too busy to do laundry," Crane explained. "I'm sure I've got a clean shirt somewhere upstairs. I can do laundry later."

"Won't take more than a minute, don't worry, buddy," Brian reassured. "I'm quite adept at it nowadays."

Adam laughed out loud at that. In the first few months after their parents deaths there had been a certain incident where a red shirt found its way into a load of whites turning every piece of underwear pink, but those days were long passed now. Still, they liked to tease Brian with it.

"Okay, Crane, take a shower. Daniel? Check if there's a clean shirt he can use. Everyone else, clean up for supper. And yes, that means washing those hands. I don't want to see any dirty nails or there'll be no supper." Of course, Adam's threat was a more or less empty one, no McFadden had ever gone to bed hungry and no McFadden ever would. Still, it got them all scurrying off to do as they were bid while Adam finished setting the table.

Having learned the hard way the risks of not checking pockets - young boys tend to put all sorts of things in their pockets and not all of those things do well in a washing machine – Brian routinely went through all the pockets before putting each item in the machine. Suddenly his expression changed as he found something semi-familiar.

"Oh you bad boy…so there's life in you after all." With a grin the older McFadden made a quick decision not to involve Adam. Adam had a tendency to overreact to things. A strong reaction at that. Adam didn't ask questions. He'd go straight for the kill. And kill he would. No, Brian felt it would be much better if he, himself, had a private word with Crane, allowing the boy to explain himself before he'd give him a repeat of the lecture on the dangers of drugs. There wasn't any need for a stronger action. This was Crane, after all. So, he quickly slipped the joint in the front pocket of his shirt and went on with the laundry.

"You really don't have to tell him, Crane, really."

"Daniel, will you just cut it out, please. I don't want anyone overhearing and this all coming out before I want it to, okay? I'm telling Adam Friday morning and that is it." Crane had taken a quick shower and had found Daniel in their room. The boy had found him one of Brian's shirts. A little big, but not too much. "Thanks…now go and wash up, help set the table…I'll be down in a sec okay?"

"Okay…" Daniel reluctantly left the room leaving his big brother to change in private before going back downstairs.

The noise of the McFadden suppers was something one never quite got used to. And once you'd been away from it for a while, it was overwhelming. Still, Crane had missed it. He put all thoughts of the upcoming talk with Adam to the back of his mind and just enjoyed being home. It was remarkably easy to join right in the mayhem the McFaddens called dinner. Rolls were flying across the table, bowls were passed along quickly, and all seven of them seemed to be talking at the same time. It was normal to them.

"Crane, I know you're only here for a few days and it's kind of a vacation for you, but you know this is a ranch and there's no such thing…"

"As a vacation when you're on a ranch," Adam's six brothers ended the mantra they had heard their entire lives.

"Just say what needs to be done, Adam, and I'll do it," Crane had just taken a bite and so the words didn't quite sound the way they should, but no one seemed to mind.

"I'll show you tomorrow morning," Adam replied while slapping Evan next to him on the back of the head.

"Hey, what'd I do?" The 13-year-old complained, rubbing his head.

"Don't think I missed that you kicked Ford. Nor that you took the last of the rolls when you've already had three. Now give it to Guthrie. He hasn't even had one yet."

"So? It's for all of us isn't it? And I've got it now."

"You really want to start this discussion now, Ev? Really? Because I know a boy who could be cleaning all the bathrooms instead of going riding anywhere this weekend." Uncharacteristically, Adam remained calm, but there was steel in his voice and Evan backed down.

"Geesh, I was gonna do it already." It was about the only threat that worked on him. Unfortunately, it didn't work well enough and instead of giving the roll, he threw it at Guthrie. In his temper he didn't aim very well though and it ended up on the floor between Guthrie and Brian.

"Evan McFadden!" Adam got to his feet.

"It was an accident, geesh, Adam."

Adam said a silent prayer for wisdom to get him through these teenage years. Crane had been so easy. Why couldn't they all be like that? Daniel and he fought all the time and Evan…he was ready to throttle the boy. It wasn't about a roll, or kicking his brother, it was the constant attitude and back talk.

"I'll get it," Crane started to get up, but Brian was closer and he picked the roll up off the floor, brushed it off and placed it on Guthrie's plate. He hadn't realized that the half-smoked joint had fallen out of his pocket onto the floor under the table. He simply took his seat again and resumed his conversation with Adam about the new generator they needed, but couldn't afford. And Guthrie had no qualms eating a bun that had been on the floor. Crane shook his head, laughing. It was good to be home!

"Ya wanna play checkers, Crane?" Ford put his plate in the sink and looked expectantly at his older brother.

Brian cleared his throat, "Wasn't it your turn to do dishes?"

"Ahh do I hafta?"

"Come on," Evan got to his feet, "Daniel and Guthrie did them yesterday. We might as well do them right away." Adam's threat had worked. For now, anyway.

"We'll play checkers or some other game after chores, okay?" Crane, always looking for a compromise, suggested.

"Oh so you're not quite above doing chores now that you're a college man," Brian laughed. "Good to know. I've got some pretty disgusting jobs that need to be done."

"Ohh very funny, big brother," Crane laughed, "You actually have a sense of humor. Who would have thought?"

"Come on, you two…I'll come help you, Crane," Adam got up and put on his coat after throwing Crane his. "Gives me the chance to grill you about those top grades you say you got."

"Go on, Guthrie," Brian got the last McFadden going, "You go and get ready for bed."

"It's not bedtime yet, Brian!" Guthrie protested.

"I know. Did you hear me tell you to go to bed?"

"No…"

"No. I meant to get ready for bed. So that you get to spend some time with your brothers before you actually do have to go to bed."

"ooohhh…" Easily placated Guthrie quickly ran to go brush his teeth and find his pajama's.

"I'll dry," Ford quickly called even before Evan and he had left the table and Evan groaned.

"You always dry."

"That's because you're soooo good at washing," Ford countered. "And because you always complain about how I wash."

"That's because you don't do it right."

Ford shrugged and got the dish towel while Evan started rinsing the plates. He squirted some dish soap in the water and watched it grow as the water from the faucet mixed with it.

"Come on, you're soooo slow," Ford snapped the towel against Evan's leg and quickly jumped back as Evan retaliated by flicking some soap his way. Soon the soap suds were flying through the air while Ford kept trying to get his brother with the towel. Unfortunately, more soap landed on the floor than on Ford and suddenly Ford slipped on them and ended on his butt on the floor, giggling uncontrollably.

"What on earth is going on in here?"

"Hi..hehehehe…Brian…..I'm on the floor…"

"I can see that, Ford. That is the one thing that is clear."

"I'd say the rest was just as clear, Bri," Evan giggled. "Two boys, dishes, soap, towels…you can fill in the rest."

"Hmm…let me try an equation of my own: kitchen, mess, dishes not done, Adam…you can fill in the rest."

Evan rolled his eyes, "You really are not funny!"

"And here I was thinking of a career as a comedian."

"Well, don't give up your day job yet."

"Which brings me back to the dishes and making sure you do them." Brian pointed to the floor, "And now you'll have to clean the floor as well. If I were you, I'd get it done before Adam and Crane get back inside."

"We will," Ford promised, although he was still giggling.

"Yeah, we will," Evan agreed, although not very enthusiastically.

After Brian left the kitchen again the two quickly got the dishes done and while Ford dried the last of the plates, Evan got the old rag they used for chores like this, got on his knees and started drying the floor. If it had been the entire floor he'd gotten out the mop, but since it was only a small part of the floor he figured this would be quicker. He was almost done when he turned toward the table and stopped dead in his tracks. He pushed a chair aside and picked up the small white object on the floor.

"What the hell…"

"You're not supposed to say that, Evan," Ford admonished.

"Yeah well, in this case…"

Ford looked at it, "Looks like a cigarette."

"Eh…" Evan brought it to his nose and got a whiff of the sweet smell of pot. Even though there weren't too many people around there who smoked pot, he remembered being at a rodeo once with his big brothers and had smelled this same sweet smell. When he'd asked them what it was Brian had said to stay away from it and Adam, well, Adam had given him a long speech on saying no to drugs, or else. "I think this is…" He glanced at Ford. "Did Adam give you the drugs-lecture yet?"

"Day I turned 12. Don't know why. It's not like I know where to get it even if I wanted to. Which I don't. Why would I want to?"

"Yeah, well, that's what you say now, but you never know. Just remember Adam's words okay?"

"Okay, Evan…" Ford looked at the joint, "Is that drugs?"

"I think that's pot yeah."

"And it was under Brian's chair." Ford's eyes grew wide, "Brian does drugs?"

"We don't know that exactly, but…"

"It looks like it's smoked, you know…like you see with a cigarette."

"Well, it is a cigarette. Just with marijuana in it."

"Oh."

"It might be someone else's."

"Who was there after Brian mopped the floor this morning…." Ford's mind was in detective mode now. "And before we all left the table. Who cooked?"

"Brian."

"Guthrie sat next to Brian, but it can't be Guthrie."

"NO!" Evan looked shocked at the thought. "And it's not me. From your reaction I know it's not you. Daniel doesn't like smoking because of his voice. Crane is…well, he's Crane, you know. I don't think he even ever was late for school or had detention. And it's definitely not Adam."

"So it hasta be Brian."

"We can't tell Adam."

"Why not? It's not like Adam could give him a whipping. Brian's 22."

"Don't be silly. But still. Adam's gonna be really mad and I don't want them fighting." To all intents and purposes Adam and Brian were their parents and no kid likes to see a fight between their parents. "I need to think about what to do first. You don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Okay," Ford easily promised. But he hoped his brother wasn't doing drugs. That thought scared him.