My apologies to those waiting for an update. Life got a little bit busy over here. Mostly great stuff, but still...I also know I owe thanks to all the reviews. Will reply individually, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Hope the chapter makes up for the wait.

Chapter 18

By Friday, Miss Emily Morgan still hadn't returned to school. On the upside, the school had found a substitute, on the downside, the substitute wasn't nearly as good as Miss Morgan was. The life of a substitute wasn't easy to begin with, but this poor man was ill-equipped for the job. He was nervous and 14-year-old school kids turn into sharks when they smell fear. This time was no different. They would not quiet down. The teacher leaned against his desk with his arms folded, "I'll just wait until you're all quiet."

He might as well have not spoken at all. Those words were like oil on a fire. He couldn't figure out why it didn't work. He'd been taught that yelling at them would show weakness. You could never out-yell a class full of kids. Simply remaining calm and staring them down would make them feel uneasy. You could talk, but in a normal voice. That would force them to quiet down in order to hear you. And then you had them. Your collected manner would be strong and self-assured. Now why wasn't this working?!

Suddenly the door opened with a bang and the vice-principal appeared in the doorway. It was like someone has suddenly turned off the sound of the television. The man didn't say a single word. He just stood there. The substitute watched the kids fidget under the hard look he gave each and every single one of them. He found himself swallowing hard. His first day and he had already failed miserably. He knew it. How on earth did this man do it? This was exactly what they'd taught at school, yet, he himself hadn't had that result.

Finally, when every single teenager wanted to disappear into the ground, the vice-principal spoke, "I am sure you will all agree that this was unacceptable. I could hear you all the way down the hall in my own office." He waited to let those words sink in, "So I'm sure you'll also agree that an hour detention after school is a fair consequence." A collective groan was silenced by yet another look. "I certainly think so and I'm sure mister Young will agree, don't you, Mister Young?"

The substitute nodded wordlessly, finally able to breathe again, but feeling very flustered, "Y-yes, I suppose that is fair."

"Never suppose, mister Young, never suppose." The vice-principal winked at the man, who in the older man's eyes was hardly a man at all at age 22. He knew he'd made his own share of mistakes at that age. He'd take him aside during lunch and give him some advice. The future would tell if that advice would be followed or not. Normally, he wouldn't interfere with a teacher's class like this, because it undermined the teacher's authority, but when half the school was suffering from the noise he had no choice in the matter. "I will see you all after school." And with that he left the room. Mister Young had no trouble with them after that.

"Are you gonna tell Adam?"

Daniel had to think about Evan's question. As was usual on Fridays, the two boys had just been dropped off by Mrs. Bateman's and were now walking the last mile over their property to reach the house. The last couple of weeks Evan had been helping making the set for the Christmas concert. Daniel was actually scheduled to play, as was Mrs. Bateman's daughter Grace, but because of his detention he'd had to miss rehearsal. The music teacher was not happy with him. But Evan had a good point. They were always home late on Friday and Adam wouldn't be suspicious. There was really no need to tell Adam. But then, last week's talk with Adam was still fresh on his mind. It wasn't so much the spanking he'd received, although those tended to make him behave for quite some time, it was the talk they'd had the next day. And now he didn't feel right lying to his oldest brother, not that Daniel lied easily to begin with.

"I guess," the 14-year-old said reluctantly.

"You don't have to," Evan tried, "He'll never know. Especially not since he's not seeing your teacher anymore."

"He might still find out," Daniel countered.

"Maybe, maybe not," Evan shrugged, "I think I'd take my chances. It's not like you'd really tell a lie."

"Lying by omission is lying too."

"I guess."

"No guessing about it…." Daniel was using Crane's words and he knew it. Of course, Crane was doing some truth evasion of himself right now, but Daniel didn't know that. "Besides, I don't think Adam'd be real mad. The entire class was there."

"I still don't think it's fair you all got detention. Maybe you'd been telling everyone to be quiet. He never investigated. He just punished you all."

Daniel give his brother a wry smile, "He knows us. There wasn't a single innocent person in that room."

"What if Adam….well…."

"he won't punish me, Ev," Daniel was sure of that. "he'll just yell. He always yells."

"Rather at you than me. Gee, can he yell."

They'd reached the house finding Guthrie playing on the swing. As soon as the boy saw them, he jumped down and started running inside. "Brian! They're here! Can we eat now?"

It caused the boys to laugh and they followed at a slower pace. Within 10 minutes they were sitting at the table and digging into Brian's pasta casserole.

"Are we gonna get the tree tomorrow, Adam?" Ford barely took the time to chew.

"Yeah, Adam, it's weird having all the decorations up, but no tree," Guthrie piped up as he reached for the milk.

"Yes, we'll get the tree tomorrow," Adam dug into his own casserole, not caring about table manners. He and Brian had tried to teach the boys their mom's rules, but as long as it was just them, they had long decided to pick their battles, and table manners wasn't high on the list. Besides, he was tired. One of the spring calves had gotten stuck in a ditch and although they'd gotten it out, it had taken more time than they had. There was so much to do still, in repair work, storing everything for the winter, which wasn't too bad in their area, but still. It had been a long day and a long week.

"We'll get the tree," Brian agreed, "And then next week, while you're all at school, I'll go and get the groceries."

"I can help," Daniel offered with a cheeky grin.

"I'm sure you can, but you won't." Adam pointed at him with his fork, "You'll go to school and do your best. That's your main job."

Daniel refrained from rolling his eyes, "It was just a joke, Adam."

Adam relented and took a bite before asking, "So how's the concert coming along? Set ready? Orchestra ready?"

"Set's almost done," Evan was still excited, "Me and Grace had…"

"Grace and me," Brian corrected automatically.

"Grace and me," Evan couldn't completely hide the sigh, "we got a lot done." Their high school had a bit of tradition when it came to the Christmas concerts. There was always a theme, with an actual set. "I'm glad we got the theme approved. I mean, a North pole set was a bit too predictable."

Daniel laughed, "And a Cowboy Christmas isn't?"

"No, it's different!" Evan disagreed.

"Different it is," Adam laughed, "And you? Did you practice your solo?"

Daniel swallowed and studied his plate for a second, "I…I didn't get to practice. I had detention."

"Detention?" Adam put his fork down and gave the teenager his full attention, not that the boy wanted more attention right now. "What happened?"

"We got a bit rowdy with the substitute for Miss Morgan and the vice principal gave the entire class detention."

"Must have been more than a bit if the vice principal had to step in," Brian remarked, causing Daniel to blush a little.

"Yeah, I guess it had gotten pretty bad."

"And I'm sure you were no exception," Brian kept his eyes on the teen who shook his head.

"No sir."

It wasn't often Daniel called any of them sir, but especially Brian. It gave Brian a funny feeling. Was there more to this? But Daniel seemed open and honest. "Then I guess the detention was deserved," he observed.

"Yeah, it was," Came the grudging answer. "You know how it goes with substitutes. They're always tested. And this one…well…but it doesn't make it right, I know." Daniel was a kind soul and the idea that he'd hurt someone else was hard. The teacher had looked rather upset.

"Do you mean to tell me that Emily…Miss Morgan still isn't in school?" Adam was still stuck on the first part of Daniel's confession, much to Daniel's relief. There wasn't even any yelling so far.

"Uh huh," The boy nodded, "She hasn't been back at all."

"I knew you'd mentioned she was ill Monday, but I thought she'd be back by now," Adam wasn't sure how to feel about this. He just knew that it affected him more than he expected. Across the table someone else realized the same thing.

"Maybe next week," Daniel surprised himself with the hope he felt in that statement. Apparently, your brother's sort-of ex-girlfriend was still better than a new substitute teacher.

Distractedly, Adam nodded.

In an attempt to change the subject, Brian started clearing the now empty plates while talking, "So what kind of game do you guys want to play tonight?" Adam barely noticed the change of subject, but Daniel sure did and was grateful for it.

"Go fish!" Guthrie cheered at the same time Evan yelled, "Battle ship!"

"Hmm Battle ship is for two players, so maybe that's not very practical right now," Brian gave Evan a knowing look.

"We could play monopoly," Ford suggested, "We haven't played that in ages."

"OHh I want the cannon!" If he couldn't play Battle Ship, at least Evan could have a cannon.

"I want the ship!" And within seconds tokens were claimed and the game was decided. The kitchen table was the perfect place for games and while Brian got the brownies out for dessert the boys got the game out and started setting up.

"I want to be the bank, this time!"

"Maybe we could do it together, Guth, how about that?" Adam suggested, knowing things could get tricky otherwise. "And no getting upset if you don't get all the railroads, okay?"

"Adam!" Guthrie was genuinely hurt, "I'm 8!"

"Yeah and only three months ago you threw a fit because Ford bought Pennsylvania Railraod," Evan teased.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Okay, okay…boys…Guthrie's 8 now and 8-year-olds don't throw fits over silly things like that. So no need to argue about that now, right?" Adam knew there'd be enough bickering before the night was over. For some reason family game night always involved a lot of refereeing on Brian and his part, which was one of the reasons they didn't do it every single Friday.

Soon they were buying streets, getting sent to jail, only to buy themselves out with their get out of jail cards, paying taxes and utilities, buying hotels, earning money from their houses and hotels – if he thought about it, Adam had to admit he didn't really like the game. It was too materialistic for his taste. But he tried not to think about it that way.

Each had their own strategy. Guthrie only wanted the railroads and so waited and waited until he'd land on one and then buy it. And so far only one was in his hands. One time Ford had landed on Reading Railroad, but the boy was too nice and hadn't bought it. Evan, on the other hand, bought everything he landed on, which resulted in a very empty pocket. And soon the boy was borrowing money to pay his taxes. Hmm Adam had to admit the game did teach a good lesson when it came to borrowing money.

In the midst of a laughing fit over Ford in jail (the boy really played the part of the jail bird) the phone rang.

"Crane!" Daniel cheered and before anyone could stop him he was at the phone. "Hey Crane! How're you doing?"

Adam rolled his eyes. He had a few words to say to young Mr. Crane McFadden, but it would wait until everyone else had had their turn. From the sounds of it, Daniel was telling Crane all about his week, the disastrous lunch with Emily, the concert…

"Come on, Daniel…I wanna talk to Crane too!" Guthrie pulled on Daniel's arm until the boy finally said his goodbyes and handed Guthrie the phone.

"Hey Crane! I got an A on my math test." It was the first thing Guthrie said and it made the brother on the other side laugh. Not to mention proud.

"That's great, kiddo," Crane smiled, "I knew you could do it. Told you, right? You only had to study and you'd be great."

"yeah! And you had tests too, right? Were they as hard as mine?"

"Well, don't know about that," Crane answered seriously, "That math test was pretty hard."

"Uh huh…but I bet you did just as great."

"I hope so."

"Do you hafta wait long for your grades?"

"Yes," Crane sighed, "We don't get them the next day like you. I wish we did."

"I don't like waiting."

"Neither do I."

"Come on, Guthrie…it's my turn…." Ford took over and then Evan and while Evan was talking to Crane Brian and Adam had a silent exchange to decide who got to talk to Crane next and do the yelling. Adam pulled the 'oldest card' and won. As soon as he felt Evan had had enough time to talk to his brother, Adam held out his hand to get the phone.

"Eh…Crane…" Evan interrupted his brother, "I gotta go. Adam wants you."

Although he'd expected it, Crane still felt his heart skip a beat. Part of him had hoped Adam would be out on a date or working with some animal or something in the barn. He'd thought long and hard about what time to call, but couldn't decide and so figured he'd best go with his regular Friday night time. He heard the phone change hands.

"Crane."

"Hey Adam," Crane kept his voice pleasant and casual. He should have known better.

"Don't you 'hey Adam' me, mister."

Wow, mister, that sounded ominous. The entire room at the McFadden ranch fell silent and Crane swallowed hard. "Sorry, Adam."

"I'll call you after my first exam, Adam, I'll let you know how it went…remember those words?" Adam's voice changed tone, "And don't try telling me it's still after your exam."

"I won't, Adam. And I won't say I forgot either."

"Then what the hell were you thinking?!"

"ooohhh Brian…Adam said…"

"I'll put a dollar in the jar, Guthrie," Adam didn't look at the youngest as he spoke, "I'd like an answer, Crane."

"I don't really have one, Adam."

"You were avoiding me."

"Don't you want to know how the exams went?" Crane figured it was worth a try.

"I'd like an answer to my question. Although I guess you just gave it."

"I guess I was..sort of…" the usually very articulate young man didn't know what to say. No matter how often he'd rehearsed this talk, he'd never been able to come up with an acceptable explanation that avoided the talk about what he'd been up to.

"You promised me, young man, and you broke that promise."

"I know and I'm really sorry, Adam."

"Sorry doesn't buy me anything. Sorry is empty. Especially since you did it on purpose. Was it so hard to pick up the phone and call?"

Crane nodded and then realized Adam couldn't see that on the other side of the line, "It shouldn't have been, but it kinda was. Our last call didn't go so well."

"Hmm," Adam's mind quickly put two and two together, "You didn't want to talk to me because you knew I'd bring up your whole plan about getting revenge for your teacher."

"It's not revenge, Adam, it has nothing to do with revenge. It's about justice."

"Right now, I don't care. It could be about world peace or the planet exploding. You tricked me during our last call, making me think you'd promised not to get involved. And you knew I'd realize that, so you didn't want to talk to me right away, because I'd make you promise this time."

Silence on the other side of the phone. Crane had nothing to say. What could he say? Adam hit the nail on its head.

"That's as bad as a lie, mister. Well, guess what? I'm going to take your trick promise as a promise and I'm going to make it an order on top of that. You had better not get yourself involved."

"It's the right thing, Adam. You always taught us that to do the right thing isn't always easy, that sometimes it means going against others, but if it's the right thing, you have to do it."

"This is not the right thing. You don't have all the information. You are not in that teacher's shoes. And you are not in the administration's shoes. So this is how it will be: you will not put your own future or anyone else's on the line. You will focus on your exams and then you'll come home for Christmas. Am I making myself clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

Adam didn't have to see Crane's face to see the kind, but strong and determined eyes. Crane was only 18, still very young, but there was a strength in him that was unshakable. "You already broke one promise, Crane."

"I'm really sorry about that, Adam. I don't want to be someone that breaks promises. I couldn't bring myself to call you, knowing it would be a difficult phone call. And I made it even harder."

"Apology accepted. This time."

"Thanks…."

"So the exams went well?"

"I guess so, I don't think I flunked any of them, but it's hard to tell how I did."

"You did fine, I'm sure." Brian was holding out his hand and Adam nodded, "Brian wants to talk to you too….study hard and we'll talk soon."

"Have a good weekend, enjoy the tree shopping." There was a bit of sarcasm in that, as they all knew Adam hated shopping. As Brian took the phone and sat down on the sofa to talk.

"Hey kiddo." The man waved at Adam to take the other kids back to the game and Adam did.

"Hey Brian….I'm sorry to you too."

"Well, if I'd had you here a few days ago or before Adam got a hold of you I would have given you hell….yes, Guthrie, I'll put in a dollar as well…anyway, I think Adam said it all."

Crane suddenly fought his emotions, "I'm not used getting yelled at."

It made Brian laugh, "Yeah, you seem to be making up for being far too good in your earlier teenage years. Look, kid, you know he only yells because he worries. So do I."

"I know…" Another thing Crane wasn't used to.

"And Adam won't say it, but I will: we are proud of you for standing up for what you believe in. We really are."

"You just don't want me doing that." Crane's voice was bitter and Brian sadly shook his head.

"No kiddo, it's not like that."

"It sounds like it. Adam flat out told me not to."

"Look, what did you expect him to? Kid, you pretty much lied to him."

"I didn't lie, Brian. I…"

"I know what you did. You made a half-promise, you let him to believe you'd promised something you didn't. That's very sneaky. I know you're smart, but it's your moral behavior I've always been proud of. Your ethics. This wasn't very ethical, kid. You're the last one I would have thought to be this sneaky and deceitful. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed. And then to avoid calling us after your exam, even though you'd promised. I never took you for a coward. I expected more from you, much more."

Crane could hardly speak. He didn't think his brothers realized he was standing in the public hallway of his dorm. It wasn't overly busy, but every now and then people walked by. He had his back to the hall and was facing the wall, but he still felt acutely aware of the fact that he was in public and he didn't want to break down. But he was close. Very close. "I'm sorry," the voice was strained, but Brian could hear the emotion and took pity on the boy.

"I know you are. Here I am telling you the yelling's over and I immediately start lecturing you. We love you, kid. You are growing up into a fine young man. One we can be proud of. And you're starting to make your own decisions. You just have to realize that it's still our job to make sure they're the right decisions for you too. So use your head, kiddo, and remember that we're in your corner, always, no matter what."

Crane swallowed the lump in his throat away and coughed a little, "I know. I'll use my head. That I'll willingly promise."

"That's something at least." Both realized exactly what Crane was saying. But Brian would take it. At least the boy promised to be careful. But he also knew that Crane had not given up on the idea of taking action, despite Adam's edict. He knew Adam wouldn't like it. He wondered if Crane realized just how badly his guardian was going to take being disobeyed on this. But he didn't his thoughts. Adam had already laid down the law. Brian'd done his best to lay on the guilt. They were done. Crane was hours away and they couldn't monitor him the way they would Guthrie. The boy was 18. Old enough to decide if the trouble was worth it. That didn't mean Brian didn't worry, but unlike Adam, he was relaxed enough to realize he'd simply have to wait this out.

After they had ended the phone call Crane took a moment to collect himself before going back to his room. June was waiting for him there and he didn't want her to see him upset.

As soon as he stepped into his room she looked up, "Are you okay?"

He took the coffee pot and poured himself a coffee, "Yeah, it was brutal, but it's done. Should have called on Monday."

"They didn't like that much, did they?"

Crane let out a bitter laugh, "That's an understatement!" He sipped the hot liquid in his mug. "Before our parents died I was too young for the big stuff, you know. Sure, I'd get into mischief now and then, but nothing major. And then after they died, I felt so many responsibilities that I didn't even think about getting in trouble. I didn't want to add to their burden, didn't want to be a bad example, wanted us to stay together and knew that too much trouble would attract the attention of child services, not to mention our neighbors and friends."

"Sounds like you were far too responsible for a young kid."

"Maybe, but the result was that I'm not used to being yelled at."

"So they yelled." It wasn't a question.

"Adam did…Brian…God, that was worse."

"Let me guess: guilt trip."

"The disappointed lecture."

"Ouch," she sympathized.

"Yeah…."

"So…have you changed your mind?"

"About tomorrow? Of course not!"

Her face lit up, "Good! I was afraid they'd get to you. And I wouldn't have blamed you."

"You would have," Crane winked at her, but for once she remained serious.

"No, I wouldn't have. I know you love them and don't want to disappoint them. And they're right: we are taking risks. I know my own folks won't like it, but mine are used to me being…well, me. Your…well," She'd been going to say 'folks', but although Brian and Adam were his folks in a big sense of the word, they weren't really, "your brothers aren't. And they do want what's best for you. I want what's best for you."

"Doing the right thing is what's best for me. Alex isn't talking to us, but we know that he dropped a sealed envelope into the dean's box close to midnight two days before John was fired."

"I know…Marcy confirmed having seen him and earlier today I spoke with the secretary on duty the next day and she said there was a sealed envelope with funny letters addressed to the dean. She doesn't know what it said though."

"There's only one way to find out what's in the letter. I've known from the start that that's what we'd end up having to do."

"I know. We tried slipping in when you distracted that lady at the office." She laughed at the memory of Crane flirting with that young girl. "You had her completely dazzled, but we still didn't get in. And we can't try it again."

"Maybe if there's someone else to flirt with…."

June grinned, "You just discovered flirting and now you're addicted. I've created a monster!"

"All for the good cause, of course."

"Of course," She winked, "But it's much easier to slip in after hours. They don't even lock the file cabinet, just the door. And if it's not in either Alex's or John's file, we can always check the dean's desk. We have to find the prove before we can actually DO something."

"So tomorrow it is."

"Tomorrow it is." Crane tried not to think about Adam or what he'd think of this. Or do when he found out. He'd never told June exactly what had happened at Thanksgiving. He wasn't ashamed or too embarrassed, but there were things you didn't tell others. This definitely was one of those things. Not that he thought Adam would do that again. Crane didn't even think there'd be much trouble. He'd already spent about two weeks researching the movements in and out of the office at various times of day, he knew they could do it. So they spent the rest of the evening carefully planning their mission.

"Are we going now? I'm ready!" Guthrie was practically bouncing. "We're gonna sing on the way to town, right? Right? Come on…"

Adam lifted him up in the air and swung him round, much to Guthrie's delight. "Again!" And Adam was happy to do it again. Happy to still have one who was young enough to play with like this. "Wonder what's keeping those slowpokes."

"Who are you calling slowpokes?" Behind Adam Brian appeared. "Someone had to do the dishes, since two McFadden brothers apparently thought they didn't have to…."

"Not our turn, right, Guth? We had much more important things to do."

"Yeah, Brian, me and Adam had much more important things to do," Guthrie echoed Adam's words.

"Hmm since you're so busy, maybe you shouldn't come and pick out the tree….I'm sure we can do that without you." Brian kept a straight face as he watched Guthrie's face.

"Nooooo you can't go without us. He can't do that, can he, Adam?" The young boy looked up at his oldest brother in a near-panic.

"No, he can't, buddy, don't worry."

"See, Brian, you can't!"

"Oh, well….maybe I should stay home then. Have some peace and quiet for a change." Brian didn't give up easily.

Again, Guthrie looked stricken, "You can't stay at home, Brian. We gotta do this together. We all hafta be here. Bad enough Crane's not here."

"Alright," Brian relented and picked Guthrie up, lifting his feet off the ground, "You're right. We have to do this together."

Of course, picking out a tree together wasn't an easy task. There was six McFaddens present and that meant six different opinions on what kind of tree they needed. The one thing they all agreed on was that it had to be a real tree. Adam had teasingly said they could buy one of those fake ones, because it would save on cleaning, but that had caused horrified reactions. It had to be a real tree, and Adam agreed.

But the size was a different matter. And then there were different kind of pine trees. To avoid the arguments over which tree to cut, Adam had decided to just go and buy one this year. Of course, there were still arguments. And many. Because the tree one chose, the other thought was too small, too big, too wide, not wide enough. Some were crooked, but then Ford would argue that the crooked trees deserved a nice home too. And that with decorations it would look much nicer.

Guthrie suggested putting small trees in each room, but since that meant buying at least 6 trees (and Guthrie was about to argue the attic and storage room were rooms too) the two oldest ones quickly put a stop that that.

Finally, they settled on a big tree that would reach the ceiling of their living room. With everyone happy, the tree was loaded up in the truck and back to the ranch the family went. They lost a few needles getting it into the house, but that was it. Decorating it took the other half of the day, but no one minded. They were singing carols and tossed tinsel at each other. And to top it all off, Brian baked cookies. Christmas spirit was high and they were having an amazing time. Nothing could ruin Christmas.