After Ivy had shared a cup of coffee, and then left, and the house began to settle down, at least somewhat, I was

told by Hannah in no uncertain terms to go and get cleaned up.

"You're covered with blood," she told me.

I gave a downward look at my pajamas, and noticed, for the first time, how blood-stained they really were. My arms and

hands had stains on them as well.

Once I was upstairs, I looked in the full-length mirror in her and Adam's bedroom, and saw how I really looked. There were

burrs sticking to my clothes, too, and my hair was nearly escaped from my braid. I sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling

my boots off, and then my socks. And then I just sat there, the full realization of what had happened that evening hitting me.

There was a light tap at the door, and Clare opened it, peeking inside.

"You alright?" she asked me.

"Uh huh. Just sitting a minute," I told her.

"I'll start your bath for you," she said, and went into the adjoining bathroom. I heard the faucet running, and after a couple

of minutes she stepped back out.

"The hot water's on, and I put out a washcloth and towel for you," she said. "Do you want some bubble bath put in?"

"No, thanks. I'm not going to be in that long. I want to sit with Warrior."

"He's sleeping. You soak for a bit," she insisted.

"Nurses' orders?" I asked her.

"Big sister orders," she said, and gave me a smile.

"Brian was so great tonight," I said, feeling emotional.

Clare came over and smoothed my unraveling braid away from my face. "I'm glad," she said.

"If he hadn't listened to me, and gone hunting for Warrior, he might have died out there before we found him," I said.

"He's a special guy," Clare said, still working my hair between her fingers.

"Is he getting cleaned up?" I asked. "He was pretty bloody, too."

"He wasn't, but I'll make sure that he does."

"Okay," I said, with a tired sigh.

"Go on. Into the bathtub," she said.

7

When I was out of the tub, scrubbed and in clean pajamas, I went back downstairs, leaving my hair down. In

the kitchen, I checked on Warrior again, and found that Crane had made a bed for him, against one of the kitchen walls,

with several blankets. There was a bowl of water sitting near his head.

The table he'd been examined on was cleared off now of the bloody sheets, and folded back into the corner.

I leaned down to look closer at Warrior, and he was sleeping. Crane was just finishing tucking another old blanket under

his hindquarters, which didn't even appear to faze Warrior.

"Thanks, Crane," I said. "For making his bed."

"You're welcome," he said, smiling at me.

"Did he drink any water?" I asked.

"Just a little."

"Okay." I sighed. "Where is everybody?"

"Stirring around, trying to figure out what's happening."

I nodded and sat down, cross-legged beside Warrior.

I sat there like that, with only one light on, the one over the kitchen sink. That made the kitchen seem

safe, though, and cozy. I knitted my fingers thru his fur gently, so as not to wake him.

After some time, the back door opened, and Adam and Brian and Ford came inside. They were talking, but quietly,

and when they saw me sitting there, Adam said, "How's he doing?"

"He's asleep," I said.

"Sleep's the best thing for him right now," Adam agreed.

"Want me to make some more coffee?" Ford asked.

"No. Not for me," Adam said. "I'm heading to bed." He paused beside me, and tapped the top of my head gently.

"You need to get up to bed, too, sugar."

"I want to sit with him for awhile," I said, looking up at Adam.

"Awhile," he said. "Not all night. Hear me?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Goodnight everybody," he said in a general way.

Brian and Ford both said goodnight, and after Adam had gone, Ford said, "What about you, Brian? Want some

more coffee?"

"No thanks, Beans," Brian said.

I turned to look at Brian in the half-darkness of the kitchen, pulling my knees up to my chin. He was still wearing

the same clothes, bloody and rumpled.

"Want me to sit with him for awhile?" Ford offered, crouching down beside me.

"No, it's alright."

"I'll come down and check on him later. I usually wake up at least a couple of times in the night," Ford said.

"Okay. Thanks, Fordie."

"Night," Ford said, then, and together, Brian and I both said, "Goodnight."

Left alone in the kitchen with Brian, I watched as he went to take a glass from the cabinet, and get a glass of water,

and then take two Tylenol from the bottle in the kitchen window.

"Do you have a headache?" I asked him, softly, so as not to wake Warrior up.

"Naw. My knee's acting up," he said, just as softly.

"Oh. Probably from carrying him all that way," I said.

"It's alright. It'll ease up after a bit."

"You should get cleaned up," I said then. "Get the blood washed off."

"I will."

I rested my chin on my knees. "Bri?"

"What?" he asked, setting the glass in the sink.

"If you hadn't listened to me, and gone hunting for him, he probably would have died."

"Well, he's a tough dog. He'll be back to causing trouble soon enough," Brian said.

The emotions of the entire evening were suddenly overwhelming. The worry of Warrior being missing, then the fear

of hearing those men, the panic at the gunshot, feeling helpless as they kicked my dog, all of that.

"Some brothers, or even fathers, wouldn't have cared," I said quietly. "They'd say that a dog could take care of their self. But you

didn't say that."

My voice cracked a little. I was trying not to cry.

Behind me, Brian pulled a chair out from the table and sat down, near enough that he could reach out and touch me.

"It's gonna be alright, peach," he said.

I twisted in the dim light to look up at him. "You're sort of like my hero," I said, really softly.

"Well, thank you," he said. "It's nice to be somebody's hero, once in awhile."

I leaned just enough to rest my cheek against his leg. After a few moments of quiet, he said,

"I'd better get cleaned up." He ran a hand over my back, and then stood up, scooting the chair back under

the table.

"Don't stay down here too long," he said.

"I won't."

I stood up, and gave him a tight hug. Neither one of us said anything. He kissed the top of my head, and went up the

back stairs.

I sat back down, and heard the click-click of dog toenails on the floor. Fat Clarence came from the living room, and

plopped his ample self down beside Warrior and I.

7

I did go to bed shortly after that, I just couldn't stay awake any longer. I left the one light on, the one over the sink, so

that Warrior wouldn't be in total darkness.

As for Clarence, I hefted him up and carried him up the stairs, and then set him down. He followed me to

my room, where I put him on my bed, and covered him with part of my quilt, the way that he liked.

I didn't wake up at all the rest of the night, not even once. The next morning, it was all the noise in the hallway

that woke me up. I put Clarence onto the floor, and went to the bathroom.

When I got downstairs, breakfast preparation was ongoing, under the supervision of Ford and Evan. Which I knew, without

looking or smelling, meant pancakes. That's all that Evan ever makes.

Warrior was still lying on his blanket bed, but had his head up, lapping at the water bowl.

I knelt beside him, telling him good morning and petting him.

"I checked on him in the night," Ford said, as he began setting the table. "He was still asleep."

"He was awake when I came down this morning," Evan added. "Just layin' there, looking around."

"He looks good," Crane commented.

Warrior gave a one-time thump of his tail in appreciation of Crane's compliment.

"Look at him, soaking up all the attention," Clare said.

"He's gonna get spoiled, and think he's meant to live the rest of his life here in the kitchen, being treated like

a dog of royalty," Daniel said.

There was a rapping on the front door, and Adam put his coffee cup down to go answer it.

At the sound of voices from the other room, Brian said, "Sounds like Hal," and he left the room, too.

"We should have a room here for Hal and his deputy," Evan said, flipping a pancake. "He's here often enough."

Brian and Adam reappeared, accompanied by the now-familiar sight of the sheriff, Hal Rhoades, and another deputy, one

that I hadn't seen before.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Hannah asked the men.

"No, ma'm, thank you," the deputy answered.

"I'll take some coffee though, if you have some," Hal spoke up.

I went to the cabinet, pulling down two extra cups, and poured coffee for both of the men, setting it in front of them.

Extra chairs were squeezed up to the table, and they sat down.

I took two pancakes, and poured some of the sugar-free syrup over the top, listening as the conversation turned

to the evening before.

"We've got a situation on our hands," Hal said, and I thought, 'what an understatement'!

"I didn't want to do more last night," Brian was saying. "Not with no cover, and Harlie with me, and all."

"You did right," Hal told him.

"About how many did you see, do you think?" the deputy asked, pulling out a small notebook from his uniform pocket.

Brian leaned forward and looked across Clare and Guthrie to me. "What do you think, peach? About three ATV's, weren't there?"

"Yes, three. But it seemed like more voices than three. They were yelling, and it just seemed as though there were more," I said.

"And the dog bit one of them, is that right?" Hal asked.

"Yes," I said. "He screamed. He said it was on his arm."

Hal cast a glance at Warrior over in the corner of the room. "The dog likely heard the commotion, and decided to check it out."

As everybody's attention was turned for the moment onto Warrior, he thumped his tail.

After a few more minutes of conversation, Hal said, "Well, let's go take a look," and he and the deputy, and Brian, Crane and

Evan got to their feet.

From listening to the rest of the conversation, I got the impression that they were actually going to 'track' where the ATV's had come and

gone from. This whole investigation thing was becoming intriguing. I followed the group to the living room, listening, as my brothers

gathered their rifles from the gun cabinet.

Encouraged by the fact that Brian hadn't put me off the night before, and the fact that he'd brought me into the

conversation with the sheriff at breakfast, asking my opinion, I went up beside him and said, "Can I come, Bri?"

Without missing a beat, Brian said, "No. You stay around here."

I thought that was unfair. It wasn't as though there would be any danger. Those guys were gone, and besides, there would

be at least five men there, with rifles.

But, stay home I did. Adam and Hannah left to go to town, to get groceries, since Adam didn't want her going alone, and Guthrie

rode along, to help tote all the groceries. Daniel switched places with Evan at the last minute, with Evan staying home and Daniel

going along with the group doing the investigating.

Which, in the end, left Clare and I, Evan and Ford at home. Clare went inside to take care of Isaac, and I stood there,

still disgruntled at being shafted from going with the group.

"I wanted to go," I said in complaint, and both Evan and Ford looked at me.

"You don't have to be involved in everything that goes on around here," Evan said.

"I didn't say that I did," I told him, insulted.

"Sometimes you act as though you do," Evan said, with the candor of an older brother setting a younger sibling straight.

"I do not," I protested.

Evan shook his head at me a little, and then walked off, toward the barn.

"Oooo!" I growled to his retreating back.

"What's your problem?" Ford asked.

"It's just so frustrating! We're like prisoners, almost, and it doesn't seem as though Hal and his deputies are doing

anything about it!"

"It takes time, Har," Ford said.

"Time, time, time," I mocked.

After that I went in and with resignation decided I'd better do the dishes. While I did them, and wiped the table and counters,

I talked to Warrior the whole time.

Clare came down at one point, looking for the baby Tylenol. "Isaac's fussy," she said. "I think it's his teeth."

"There's a new bottle in Hannah's bathroom, I think," I told her.

"Alright." She looked around at the nearly clean kitchen. "Are you alright down here? I thought I'd take the baby up

to Brian and I's room and put him down for a nap."

I told her it was alright, and after she was gone, I hand-fed Warrior a piece of bread dipped in milk.

As I was doing that, the phone began to ring, and I walked thru to the living room to answer.

At first there was no response, and I thought it must be another one of those phone calls we'd been getting lately, where

nobody answered.

Then, to my surprise, I heard, "Harlie?"

I knew that voice.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"To talk to you."

I was silent, and he said, "You didn't come."

"Come where?"

"To meet me Saturday, at the lumberyard," he said.

"I knew it was you," I said, really low.

"Yeah. Well, why didn't you come?" he asked then.

"Why would I?"

"Maybe because I have some information," he said.

For a moment, I was silent, not sure what to say.

"Are you afraid of me, Harlie?" he asked then.

"No," I said, too quickly.

"I think you are, a little bit," he said, and it sounded as though he was smiling.

I ignored that, feeling braver since I was on the phone and not physically near him.

"What do you have to tell me?" I demanded. "What is it that you know?"

"Aw, no," he said. "Not on the phone, Harlie."

I felt my temper rising up. "You're an ass," I told him.

"I never said that I wasn't."

Silence again.

"So, are you gonna meet me?" he asked.

"I know that was you that I saw at our cabin," I told him, ignoring his question.

There was a tension-filled silence, and then he said, "Aw, Harlie, was that you that told the sheriff that?"

I felt a chill go down my back. I should learn when to keep my mouth shut.

So I was silent.

"I wish you hadn't done that," he said.

"I'm hanging up now," I said.

"I'll be at the end of your driveway tonight. At ten-thirty. All those brothers of yours be in bed by then?"

"Don't come near here," I told him. "I mean it."

Behind me, I heard something. Somebody. I whirled around, face to face with both Ford and Evan, standing a few feet away. How I

didn't hear them coming, I didn't know.

I slammed the phone down, which later, looking back on it, I realized made them even more suspicious. I should

have faked a calm 'goodbye' and hung up the regular way.

"Who's that?" Evan demanded.

I felt flushed and nervous. I didn't answer at first, and he said again, "Harlie, who was it?"

I was still thinking, considering whether to tell it all or not, when Evan took hold of my arm.

"Answer me," he said, raising his voice.

"It was Seth," I admitted.

"What did he want?" Evan asked then, his hand tightening.

"Nothing-he wanted to talk to me-" I began.

And then Evan took hold of my shoulders, and shook me. Not hard enough to rattle my teeth or anything, but

still enough to unsettle me.

"Tell me what he said!"

"He wanted to know why I didn't meet him on Saturday. Ow, Ev, you're hurting me!"

Evan turned me loose, but stood there, his eyes flashing.

"That's not all. What else?"

"He says he's coming over here tonight."

"What for?" Ford asked, and he looked nearly as agitated as Evan.

"To talk!" I said, close to yelling. "Stop picking on me!"

"He's got the guts to come over here to see you?" Evan said, looking disbelieving. "He's just goin' to walk up to the

front door, and ask to see you, nice as you please?"

"No! He says he's coming to the end of the driveway!" I said.

Both of them stood there, staring, shocked, I guessed, speechless.

"I swear, Har, you're walkin' a thin line," Evan threatened.

"I didn't do anything!" I yelled. "He did all the talking, not me!"

We were so involved in our argument, if that's what it was, that Adam and Hannah were upon us before

we even heard.

"What the hell's going on?" Adam demanded, coming thru from the kitchen, Hannah behind him, looking worried.

"Ford and I are tryin' to find out what the hell's goin' on," Evan restated, still glaring at me.

"Evan's being ridiculous!" I said, and to my frustration and embarrassment, my eyes filled with tears.

"Harlie," Evan said, his tone another warning.

"Let's just cool down a minute here," Adam said. "What is it exactly that's going on that's got you both

so stirred up?"

I was silent, fuming, breathing hard.

"That kid-Seth, he called and talked to Harlie," Ford volunteered, standing with his hands in his pockets.

"Don't say it like that, Ford!" I said in irritation. "You're making it sound like I wanted to talk to him!"

"Well, how did it happen, sweetie?" Hannah asked calmly.

I shot her a grateful glance. "I answered and it was him, and he asked why I didn't meet him Saturday at the

lumberyard. I told him that I knew it was him that sent that letter. And then he said he had information for us.

I asked him what it was and he said he wouldn't tell me on the phone. He said he would be here tonight at the

end of the driveway. At ten-thirty."

Hannah and Adam exchanged a worried look, and then Adam looked at Evan and Ford.

"And if you heard the last part of the conversation, Evan Wayne, you know I told him that he'd best not

come near here!" I finished, raising my voice even higher.

"Alright," Evan said, in a regular tone of voice, "I overreacted. It just got me scared for you, that's all. I'm sorry."

I swallowed past the lump in my throat, and swiped at my eyes. I looked at Evan and he did really look

sorry.

"Okay," I said, a little grudgingly.

"Alright, I'm glad that's all settled," Adam said, with a note of humor in his voice.

"What are we gonna do about dumbass, if he does have the nerve to show up over here tonight?" Ford asked.

"I'm sure we can arrange a little 'welcoming' party for him," Evan said. "It may not be the kind he wants, but

I bet we could give him one."

"Yeah," Ford said. "Maybe one with a little bang to it?"

I wasn't quite sure just what they were getting at, but Adam seemed to get it, because he half-smiled and said,

in a joking sort of way, "Now, fellas, that wouldn't be very nice at all, now would it?"

And then he winked at them and said, "Don't you boys get your fingers burned, you hear?"

7