It was after dark before Adam, Brian and Crane returned home. Everybody was still up, waiting to hear what they had to say, except

for Ford, who had fallen asleep on the couch.

Clare went out onto the porch to greet Brian, as he came up the front steps. "Are you alright?" she asked, sounding anxious.

"I didn't go off to war, darlin'," he said, kissing her on the top of the head.

"You know what I mean," she insisted.

"I'm fine," he said.

Hannah was waiting beside the screen door, holding it open for them to pass thru. "I've got some hot coffee ready," she said

quietly.

"Thanks," Adam said, and wrapped an arm around her waist as they all filed inside. I went to help Hannah bring in a tray

with the coffee pot and cups on it.

Crane took Adam's rifle from him, and went to put them away in the gun cabinet. Brian followed, putting his away, as well.

Adam sank down onto the couch, tugging Hannah down with him, and she handed him a cup of the steaming coffee.

"Well?" Guthrie demanded, sitting down on the arm of the recliner, a glass of tea in his hand. "What happened?"

Crane went to sit down, too, stretching his long legs out in front of him, and I went to sit beside him.

"Sheriff was able to talk to one of the guys. He was still inside when we got there," he said.

"Was it Seth?" Guthrie asked.

"No. Says his name is Stewart Fletcher," Crane went on.

"Any of you know somebody by that name?" Brian asked, looking at Evan and Daniel, and even Guthrie and I.

There was a collective agreement that none of us had heard of him. Ford was sitting up now, rubbing a hand over his eyes,

his blond hair sticking up in tufts, from where he'd been laying down.

"How about you, Ford?" Brian asked. "Heard of anybody named Stewart Fletcher?"

Ford looked thoughtful, and then shook his head slowly. "Not off the top of my head," he said.

"Maybe it's a fake name," I suggested.

"Did they arrest him?" Hannah asked then.

"No. Just told him to clear out. He claims not to know that he was on private property," Brian said, with a huffing sound that stated his

opinion of that.

"He just thought there was a cabin there, for him to use, that didn't belong to anybody?" Guthrie scoffed.

"That's what he said," Adam said. "He's not saying much, as yet."

"What did he say he was doing there?" Clare asked, snuggling more into Brian's side.

"Says he came across it while he was hunting for his dog, so he decided to spend a couple of days there," Crane said.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of," Guthrie exclaimed. "He's lying."

"Hal will get it figured out, Guth," Adam said.

"Well, what about Seth?" I asked.

"Fletcher, or whatever his name is, claims not to know Seth, and denies there being anybody else there at the cabin with

him," Adam said.

"Did they tell him that Evan and I saw somebody else, though?" I asked. "Riding up on a four-wheeler?"

"They told him, sugar," Adam said. "He denied it."

"Oh," I said, a little disconcerted by this news.

"Well, are they gonna at least go talk to Seth, and ask him some questions?" Guthrie asked.

"They will," Crane said. "But they can't just accuse somebody, with no evidence."

"How about staking it out, up there?" Guthrie went on. "Then maybe they can catch him, and whoever else is involved."

Guthrie and I exchanged a glance, and I knew we were in complete agreement as to what we thought should be done next.

Adam set his coffee cup on the table in front of him, and leaned back, looking towards Brian and Crane, and then back at Guthrie.

"This is in the sheriff's hands," Adam said. "They'll handle it how they think best."

"Well, yeah," Guthrie acknowledged. "But-"

"Guthrie," Adam said, his voice strong, and Guthrie stopped talking, giving Adam his full attention.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't take on any notions of doin' something on your own. We don't know what we're up against yet here, and we don't

want any of you getting hurt," Adam told him.

"I don't have any notions," Guthrie said, in a joking manner, but Adam didn't smile at his levity.

"I'm serious, Guth," he said, sounding stern.

They held eyes for a couple of long moments, and then Guthrie nodded. "Okay," he said, though he didn't sound pleased.

Adam's serious gaze swung towards me, sitting beside Crane in the oversized chair. "That goes for you too," he told me.

"Okay," I said.

In a lighter tone, Brian addressed Daniel, Evan and Ford. "That goes for all you babies," he said.

Daniel held up a protesting hand. "I'm totally okay with that," he said, and then added with a grin, "Until you old guys need some

help, and then we'll be here, waiting."

"I'm gettin' a little tired of all this 'old guy' talk I've been getting lately," Brian said, in a warning tone, but I could tell he was just

teasing, too.

He got up and made a move towards Daniel, who bobbed to the right, and then to the left, as if to avoid an attack from Brian.

"I'm ready," Daniel teased him.

"I'd clean the floor with you," Brian told him, and then went off towards the kitchen, saying that he was going to get

a piece of pie.

Shortly after that, Daniel announced he was going into town for awhile, and Evan went with him.

Guthrie and I hung out together after that, before we went to bed. We sat on the front steps of the porch, both of us

with our legs stretched out in front of us.

"Can you believe it?" I asked him. "You're going to be a senior when school starts!"

"Yeah."

"Are you glad?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I am, in a way. I'm ready to get out of school and start workin', and earn some money."

"You work here at home," I told him.

"You know what I mean," Guthrie said. "I can make good money as a welder. I'll be able to help out a lot more around here, too."

I thought about that for a long moment. And then I brought up the subject which I'd discussed with Guthrie before, in previous

talks that we'd had, about the plans we had for starting to raise some high-quality horses to sell when we were both older.

"You're still up for the horse breeding idea, right?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I've been thinkin' about it. I've got a few ideas."

"Like what?" I asked, turning to face him, and folding my legs up underneath me.

"I think we should stick with the plan of Quarter horses," Guthrie said.

"I'd still like to do Appaloosas," I objected.

"Too showy," Guthrie said.

"Exactly why they'll be an easy sell," I told him.

We argued back and forth, in a good-natured way, for a few minutes, until Crane came outside, letting the screen door

flap shut behind him. I could smell his cologne, even though I couldn't see clearly what shirt and boots he was wearing, in the dusk, and

I knew that he was going out.

"What are you two monkeys up to?" he asked us.

"Planning out the future," I told him.

"Ah," Crane said.

"Do you have a date with Cindy?" I asked him, as he paused beside us.

"I do."

"Tell her hi from me," Guthrie said, and laughed a little. "Just tell her the greeting is from your best lookin' brother. She'll know."

Crane made a 'humph' sound of acknowledgement. "I'll do that."

He tapped the top of my head as he passed by on his way down the steps. "Don't stay up too late, monkeys," he said, and

went on his way, to start up the Jeep and drive down the driveway.

We watched the taillights of the Jeep disappear, and I said, "I hope Cindy and him end up together. Don't you?"

"She's nice," Guthrie acknowledged. "But I don't think Crane's ready to get married."

"Why do you say that?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know. Just a feeling that I have."

"What about Evan?" I asked then. "He told me that he wants to marry Nancy."

"Yeah?" Guthrie asked, sounding surprised.

"Well," I amended, "He said 'some day'. But I still think it will be soon."

"Nancy's alright," Guthrie said. "I think she's good for Evan."

"I do, too," I agreed.

After that, we were both quiet for awhile, watching as the stars began popping out in the sky.

"There's the first star," I said. "Remember how we used to wish on it?"

"Yeah. I remember."

"Let's do it again," I said. "Just for fun, okay?"

"Ah, man," Guthrie gave a groan. "You're crazy."

"Come on, Guth. Please?" I wheedled.

"Oh, alright," he agreed, and we were both silent, as we made our respective wishes. After a moment, I spoke up.

"So?" I asked him, poking him in the ribs. "What did you wish for?"

"For Pete's sake," Guthrie said, "You know the rules. I can't tell you, or it won't come true, hyena."

I laughed then, sounding like the hyena that Guthrie was always calling me.

We went inside shortly after that, where Guthrie was intent on getting some milk and cookies. I thought about the wish

that I'd made, and, even though it was childish, I hoped that it would come true.

7