Adam was waiting up for Guthrie and I when we got home, and he asked us if we'd had a good time.

We both said yes. I thought he looked tired. I knew that he'd been up since nearly dawn that morning, and going at

it full speed all day. Combine that with worry about the missing cattle, and I know that I didn't imagine the lines of

fatigue and stress on his face.

Guthrie bounded up the steps ahead of us, and Adam and I walked beside each other.

At my bedroom door, we all three paused, and Guthrie nodded at me. An indication, I knew, to tell him what we'd talked

about.

"We think we saw the guy that was up at the cabin," I said.

"That Seth kid?" Adam asked, misunderstanding.

"No. Not Seth. The guy that was inside the cabin," I explained. "The one that the sheriff talked to."

Immediately there were even more furrows lining Adam's forehead. "You didn't see him that day, did you? You or Evan?"

"No, but he had that dog with him," I said. "And I'm sure it was the same dog."

"Harlie," Adam began, with a sigh, and I knew he was getting ready to tell me there were any number of dogs

that looked similar in appearance.

And, sure enough. "How would you know that it was the same dog?" he pointed out.

"I just think it was," I said.

"Well, alright," he said. "So where did you see this fella at?"

"He was at the bar," Guthrie said.

Adam raised an eyebrow. "And you two happened to see him at the bar, how exactly?"

I explained how we were going to the café to eat pie, but were walking around, hoping to find Crane and Daniel.

"And then we saw him bring his dog out," I finished.

Guthrie went on to tell Adam what Steven had told us about someone or something knocking down our neighbor's

fence.

"Hmm," Adam said, looking thoughtful, and still worried. "Well, you kids better get to bed."

He laid a hand on my shoulder for a moment, and then did patted Guthrie on the back as he made his way down the

hallway to his and Hannah's bedroom.

"He looks really tired," I said quietly.

"Yeah," Guthrie agreed.

We both watched Adam as he walked away, until he got to their bedroom, and went in, closing the door.

We said goodnight to each other, and went to bed.

During breakfast the next morning, the phone rang, and I was the first one up to run and answer it.

After my 'Hello?' a man's voice asked to speak to Adam, or to Brian. I went back to the kitchen and gave them the

message. They looked at each other in question over who was going to go, and Brian scooted his chair away from the

table, and said, "I've got it."

Breakfast went on, the kitchen loud with all the conversations going on at the same time, and food and juice being

passed back and forth.

When Brian came back, he told Adam that it had been the sheriff on the telephone, calling with the results of

the testing that they'd done on the blood we'd seen.

Everybody sort of quieted down to hear that.

"Not human," Brian said, sitting back down in his spot at the table, and reaching for the plate of bacon. "It's animal blood."

For a moment there was silence as everybody took that in.

"Hmm," Adam said.

"What sort of animal blood?" I asked.

"They don't know that," Brian told me.

They all went all talking then, contemplating if the animal whose blood it was, had been killed on the spot by another

animal, or by a human.

Evan pointed out that since there had been all the tire tracks right at the spot, it would most likely have been a person

doing the killing.

"Hunters," Daniel surmised.

"Maybe so," Adam said. "Too close to the state park, though."

"And too close to us," Crane added.

"True," Daniel agreed.

Adam went on to tell everybody what Guthrie and I had told him that night before, about our neighbors fence being knocked

flat.

"Any of their cattle missing?" Brian asked.

"I don't know if Steven knew that or not," I said. "But he said that his father doesn't have any missing cattle."

After that they all started talking about how it might be beneficial to get the neighbors together. Valerie's father, and

Steven's, and the neighbors whose fence had been demolished.

"I can make some calls," Hannah offered.

"Yeah," Adam said. "See if they can all agree on a night to come over this week."

Hannah nodded, and everybody finished their meal. As she and I were doing the dishes, and Clare was helping

to clear up, they both asked me about Steven.

"Did you have a nice time with him?" Clare asked.

"Steven's nice," I said, non-committal. "He's fun."

"I'm glad you've found someone you want to go out with," Hannah said.

"It's not really like that," I told her. "I think of him as more of a friend."

They were both quiet, looking at me. Then Clare said, "Well, there's nothing wrong with that."

"No," Hannah agreed. "There's not."

"To be honest," I said, "I'm still hoping to date Eddie at some point."

"He's cute," Clare said, and gave me a nudge.

"I'm hoping that he'll ask me out again," I said. "Maybe after I turn 17. Maybe then he'll think I'm old

enough."

"He's your crush, huh?" Clare asked.

"I don't know if it's a crush," I said, because personally, I felt that it was more than a crush. "But he's the

one I really want to go out with."

When Brian came down the back stairs at that point, I clammed up, and the kitchen was quiet.

"What's goin' on?" Brian asked. "It got awfully quiet in here all of a sudden."

"Just girl talk," Clare told him, with a smile.

"This about that Steven kid?" Brian asked, and I had to wonder if he'd overheard our entire conversation.

When I didn't answer immediately, he prompted, "Huh, peach?"

"What about Steven?" I asked, taking another plate out of the dish drainer to dry.

"If he's gonna be takin' you out on dates, he needs to come around here to pick you up, and not be just

meeting up with you in town," Brian said, pouring a cup of coffee.

"It wasn't like that," I protested. "It was just sort of a last minute thing. You know what I mean."

Brian made a 'hmm' sort of response. "It was a date though, wasn't it?"

"Sort of," I said. "But not really."

Brian gave me a studying glance, drinking his coffee.

"Leave her alone, Brian," Clare said, mildly.

"I'm just tryin' to figure out what's going on," Brian said.

"Nothing is going on," I said. "Not with Steven, anyway."

Brian and I stood there, just sort of looking at one another. "All I'm saying is, if you're gonna go out with

a boy, he needs to go about it the right way," he said.

"Okay," I said, mostly to get him off the subject.

"Okay," he echoed me, and took a last drink of the coffee, before setting the cup on the cabinet beside the sink, and

gave Clare a quick kiss before he headed out the back door.

"Whew," I breathed, when he'd gone.

7

Later that morning, I offered to go to the grocery store to get a few things for Hannah. She handed me some money,

and a short list.

"The most important things on there are the milk and the laundry detergent," she told me.

"Okay," I said, reading over the list quickly to see if I had any questions about it.

"Would it be okay if I went to Lori's house for awhile?" I asked her.

"I think that'd be okay," she said.

"You'll tell Adam, right?" I asked. I didn't want Adam thinking I was late getting home, or that I hadn't asked

permission.

"I will. But you'll be home for lunch, won't you?"

"Yeah. I will be," I told her.

And so, I set out for Murphys in my truck. I could still smell the faintness of the peppermints that Doc G had

always carried around in the truck cab. I saw no sign of any brothers around the house or barn as I was leaving. As

I reached the end of the driveway, though, Daniel was just driving in, and parked there, waiting for me.

I leaned out my open window and he leaned out of his.

"Where are you off to?" he asked me.

"Town," I said.

"To do what?" he asked, and I wrinkled my nose at him.

"Nosy," I accused him, with a teasing smile.

"To do what, squirt?" he asked again, and I lost my smile. He was entirely serious.

"Go to the store for Hannah. And go to Lori's for awhile," I said. "Why? What's the matter?"

"I just wanna know where you're gonna be at, that's all," Daniel said.

I wrinkled my forehead, puzzled by his demeanor. "I have permission to go to Lori's," I said, thinking that

he might assume I was up to something that I shouldn't be.

"I figured that you did," he said.

And so I gave him another studying glance. "What's wrong?" I asked. "You're acting weird."

"So now it's weird for me to be concerned about you?" he countered, with a slight smile.

"No. But you seem a little extra-extra concerned," I said.

"Yeah, yeah," Daniel said. "You gonna be home by lunch?"

"Uh huh," I said, still studying him.

"Okay. Well, be careful," he said.

"Okay. I'll try not to drop any heavy cans on my toes at the grocery store," I said playfully.

"I'm serious, squirt. Go where you're goin', and then come home."

"Okay," I agreed, as I felt a prickle of unease. There was something going on with Daniel. Protective he may be, but

good grief! All I was doing was going to Murphys to the grocery store, and to a friend's house. He acted as though I

was setting sail on the Titanic, or something.

"Alright," he said. "See ya later."

"See you," I said, and we both drove on.

I puzzled over it as I drove along. But when I got to Murphys, I was still no closer to figuring out what had been

bugging Daniel. Something had been, though. I was sure of that.

7

Since I didn't want to leave the milk in a hot truck, I went to Lori's house first. We got to talk for just a little while, though,

because she had a dentist appointment, and her mother came to her bedroom door to remind her.

"Sorry that we didn't have more time to talk," Lori said.

"It's okay," I said.

"Maybe you can spend the night," she suggested. "Do you think you can? How about Friday night?"

"I should be able to," I said.

"Okay. We'll get a pizza from Butch's," she said.

"That sounds good," I said.

So I left Lori's, and headed to the grocery store. I was going up and down the aisles, pushing the cart, and

glancing down at the list every few moments.

I got in line to check out. The store was busy at this time of day, and I wasn't really paying attention to

what was going on around me. I was studying the fingernails on one hand, thinking that they were really a mess. All

chipped, and ragged looking.

A quiet voice beside me said, "Hello, pretty girl."

I jolted back to reality. And looked up into Seth's face.

7