Brian got the gist of my comment, because he gave me a long look, and then cautioned, "Now, peach, you can't be dreaming things up that

way."

"I'm not dreaming it up," I protested. "His arm really is hurt. He says from wire, but who's to say that's really the truth?"

Brian was silent while he concentrated on backing the truck up in front of the barn, in preparation for unloading the feed.

As he parked, and turned off the engine, he said, "Don't be running off. I want to talk to you."

I got out and after he'd lowered the tailgate, I scrambled up into the bed of the truck, and as he lifted the sacks of feed near the end,

I began pushing the second stack of feed off the top so it was easier for him to reach.

We were nearly finished when Guthrie and Ford came from the direction of the back of the house, both of them munching on a pear.

"Need some help?" Ford asked.

"We're practically done now," Brian said, sounding gruff. "Trust you two to show up at the finish."

Both the boys gave Brian easy grins, not concerned in the least with his show of irritation.

"Here, I'll finish," Guthrie told me, hopping up into the back with one easy motion, and hefting the sacks with ease.

"Lots of people in town?" Ford asked, in conversation.

I didn't answer right away, and Brian said, "Quite a few."

I thought about offering up the fact that I'd seen Kenny, but I didn't want to talk to Guthrie about it until I'd talked more

with Brian. I was hoping that Brian wouldn't say anything about it yet, and he didn't.

After the feed was unloaded, and stacked, I waited for Guthrie and Ford to go, so I could keep talking to Brian. It seemed that they

were in no hurry, however, and between them and various other things, I didn't have any opportunity to talk to Brian the rest of the

afternoon.

At supper, which consisted of spicy tacos, Hannah said that the following evening several of the neighboring families were

coming over to discuss the dislodged fences, and the other things that had been happening around our area.

"Don't be overdoing," Adam told her. "A cake or somethin' is fine."

"I won't overdo," she said, but we all knew that she would.

Later that evening Nancy came over, with news of what she'd heard at work that day.

"The Stevens had some things stolen from their barns," she said. "While they were out of town visiting Mrs. Steven's mother."

"What things were taken?" Crane asked.

"Some tools. Shovels. Things like that," Nancy said.

"Nothing really expensive?" Hannah asked.

"Depends on what tools were taken," Adam told her. "Those can run into quite a bit of money."

"They said it looked as though some other things were moved around, to different spots," Nancy went on.

"What's the point of that?" Clare asked, looking confused.

"Playin' mind games, more than likely," Brian said.

"Well, at least we know that Warrior got some revenge on one of them," Guthrie said, with satisfaction.

At Guthrie's comment, I instinctively let my eyes drift towards Brian. He met my gaze with a serious one of his own, and I knew he

was thinking about what I'd said to him earlier in the day, about Kenny's arm.

Daniel and Ford started playing around on the piano, and before very long everybody was laughing, and some of the tension

of the last few days seemed to dissipate a bit.

"Come on and play a duet with me, Har," Ford called to me, from the piano bench, as Daniel got up to grab his guitar.

I might have done it, gone to sit beside Ford, and played along on some silly duet. But before I could decide whether to or not, Brian

said, "Not right now. We're gonna take a walk. Come on, peach."

I scrambled to my feet from where I'd been sitting on the floor beside Nancy.

At the door, Brian held the screen door open so that I could pass in front of him, and we went out onto the front porch. I followed his lead

as he went on down the steps, and across the yard.

I came up to walk beside him as he started down our long driveway.

I thought maybe Brian was thinking to discuss the whole Kenny thing with me, try to reason it out, and all of that. He surprised me

by beginning the conversation with a tone that was more in line with a lecture.

"There's no clear reason for you to suspect Kenny of anything," he said. "Is there?"

"Well, no," I admitted. "But I've never seen him act that way before. He's nothing like that ordinarily. You know that, Bri. He's full

of confidence, and he's always the one making everybody laugh-"

"I know," Brian interrupted. "How many years has Kenny been runnin' in and out of this house? Since he was eight? Or younger?"

"Yeah," I said.

"So because he acts a little squirrely one day, you're ready to brand him as a part of whatever's goin' on around here?" he asked.

"It was more than him acting squirrely," I protested.

"Alright. His arm, then. He's got a bandage on it. That's not proof of anything, either."

I subsided, feeling misunderstood. I was sorry now that I'd brought it up to Brian at all.

"So besides that, what else makes you think it?" Brian asked me.

I couldn't say that it was more of a feeling that I'd had, than anything else. Brian would dismiss that as nonsense, for sure.

"Never mind," I said.

"Now, don't go gettin' your feathers all ruffled, just because I'm trying to point some things out to you," he said.

"My feathers aren't ruffled," I said, with dignity. "Just forget I said anything."

Brian stopped walking, and turned to look at me, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. I stopped, too, reluctantly, and

we looked at one another.

"This whole thing has everybody on edge," he said. "Maybe got us guessing at things. It's frustrating to not know what's goin'

on."

He was giving me an out. I could stop the conversation right now, and behave as though he'd gotten thru to me. So, that's what I did.

I was tired, and I didn't want to get into a fuss with Brian. And, besides, I wanted to puzzle about what had happened with Kenny some more

when I was by myself.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay, what?" he prompted.

"Okay. You have a point," I conceded.

Brian regarded me a moment or so longer, as if studying me. "I'm just sayin', don't let your mind run to things," he said.

"Okay," I said, again.

Still he kept his eyes on me, looking contemplative. "I'm not trying to just brush you off, peach. But ideas like this, they have a way of

taking hold, and then they get way bigger than they should."

Meaning, in Brian language, that he thought I was full of it, and needed to get my overactive imagination under control.

"Uh huh," I said.

"Why do I have the feeling that you're tuning me out right about now?" he asked.

"I heard what you said. You have a point," I told him.

Brian started walking again, and so I did, too. We were nearly back to the house when he spoke up again.

"I'd hate to think somethin' like that of Kenny," he said, sounding somber.

At that, I felt a twinge inside, myself. I didn't want to think it of Kenny, either. But, the fact remained that there had been something

'up' with Kenny that afternoon. Something bothering him, making him act totally unlike himself. I felt a prickle of guilt, then.

Brian did, indeed, have a point in this.

Maybe whatever had caused Kenny to act as he had was something totally unrelated to the weirdness and woes that were

happening.

I put myself to thinking then. Kenny had been interested in dating me, not all that long ago. Maybe I could get him to

ask me out again. Then I could ask him some questions, satisfy my own curiousity, and dismiss the feeling of unease I had.

I was so busy planning my next step that I didn't hear Brian until he'd said my name two times.

"Earth to Harlie," he prompted.

"What?" I asked, startled, looking up at him.

"I said, are we good here? You understand what I'm getting at?"

"Yes. We're good," I said.

Brian, the human lie detector, detected at that point. "Are you sure?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

I felt my face turn warm, and wondered how in the world he could do that. So I added truthfully, without giving away

my plan, "Well, I still think there's something going on with Kenny, so I don't agree with you about that. But I do understand

what you're getting at."

"Fair enough," he said, and went inside.

Later, after I'd had a shower and was brushing my teeth, I heard Guthrie coming up the stairs, horsing around with Ford, both of

them laughing.

I stepped out of the bathroom, still brushing my teeth.

"Wait, Guth," I said. "I want to talk to you a minute."

So Guthrie paused, and Ford went on toward his bedroom, telling both of us goodnight.

"Night," Guthrie said.

"Goodnight, Ford," I said.

When Ford had gone, Guthrie said, "What's up?"

"I saw Kenny today," I said, casually. "When I was in town with Brian."

"You did?" Guthrie asked, sounding glad. "What was he doin'?"

"He said he was doing errands for his father. He said to tell you hi."

"Oh."

"I told him you'd tried to call him a couple times. He said he's been busy," I went on.

When Guthrie just nodded, and acted as if he was going to head on to his own room, I said,

"Let's see if we could have a party. Down at the creek. Invite a bunch of the kids."

Guthrie looked thoughtful. "A party, huh?"

"Yeah. It's been boring lately. At least it's something fun to do, right?"

"Yeah. I don't think there's a lot of extra money for snacks and soda and all that, though. I wouldn't wanna ask for all that," he said.

"You have some money, don't you?" I asked, knowing very well that he did. Guthrie is what is known as 'frugal'. He's not given to

spending money willy-nilly, so he usually has some tucked away.

"Yeah. I've got some."

"I've got a little, too," I said. "Actually, very little. But I could buy some Coke and stuff."

"It's okay with me," Guthrie said, in an off-hand way.

"Let's go ask right now," I said.

"What's the big rush?" he demanded. "We can ask tomorrow or whatever."

"No, now," I insisted.

"Well, go on," he said then. "I wanna take a shower."

"You come down and ask with me," I insisted, pulling on his arm.

"What do'ya need me for?" he protested, but he let me pull him along.

Downstairs, we found everybody, well, not everybody, but Brian and Clare and Adam and Hannah, in the kitchen, sitting around

the table, drinking coffee and talking.

"What's up?" Adam asked us, in a break in their conversation.

Guthrie had gone to the refrigerator, and begun sifting thru the shelves, so I was the one to speak up first.

"We were wondering, Guthrie and I, if we could have a party. Invite some of the kids over," I said.

"When were you thinking?" Hannah asked.

"Maybe this coming weekend?" I suggested.

They exchanged looks, well, not Clare really, but the other three.

"How many kids are we talkin' about?" Adam asked then.

I did a quick think in my head, looking at Guthrie. "Maybe fifteen or so? Right, Guth?"

Guthrie, his mouth full of a piece of pie that he held in his hand, nodded.

"Guthrie, get a plate," Hannah told him.

"This is okay," Guthrie told her, and took another bite of the piece of apple pie.

Adam looked at Brian and then Hannah. "Alright with you all?"

"I think it's fine," Hannah said. "It would be nice for the kids. They haven't gotten to do a lot lately."

"No alcohol," Brian said. Unnecessarily, I thought.

"No, Bri. No alcohol," I promised.

"You two'll have to help get the house cleaned up," Adam said. "Don't expect Hannah and Clare to do it all."

"We were thinking of down at the creek," I said.

The three of them exchanged another look between them.

I hastened to add on, "That way we're not messing up the house. And spilling stuff everywhere. And we could swim. Maybe

have a cookout."

"You could roast hot dogs, and marshmallows," Hannah suggested.

That's one of the nice things about Hannah. She's always, or nearly always, happy about Guthrie and I doing things with friends. Well, at least she

was, before she got worried about us because of all the trouble in town.

"Yeah," I agreed. "That would be good. So it's alright then? Saturday?"

"It's alright," Adam said.

The next day, I got some of the promised money from Guthrie, and planned to go to town and pick up food for the party.

When I was jingling my keys in my hand, waiting for Adam to give me permission to go alone, I was impatient.

"Wait for one of the boys," Adam told me.

"It's just to the grocery store," I complained.

"It was just to the store and all when those guys were all over Ford's truck, too," he reminded me.

"Well, I know, but-" I began.

"Harlie."

I stopped talking and looked at him. '

"That's the deal. Take it or leave it," he said.

"Alright," I said with a sigh.

"I think Ford's going into the print shop after awhile. You can ride along with him."

I ended up riding to town with Daniel and Evan instead of Ford. Ford had left already, and Daniel and Evan decided to go to

town, too, to stock up on beer and other things for the neighborhood get together that night. When Hannah had found out that

we were all heading to the grocery store, she handed me a last minute list of things for the evening.

The boys dropped me off in front of the grocery store, and went to buy the beer.

"We'll be right back," Daniel told me. "Don't wander off."

"Sure," I said. "There's so many places in Murphys to wander off to."

"Funny," Daniel told me, as Evan got out so I could slide out of the middle.

I went up and down the aisles at the store, picking up things for the party that Guthrie and I had planned, and then beginning on the

list that Hannah had given me.

I was trying to decide between two different brands of cooking spray when I felt a light touch on my elbow.

I turned to look up at Seth.

Startled, and admittedly, a little afraid, I just stared at him for a long moment.

"It's alright, Harlie," he said. "You don't have to look so scared."

To deny it would be stupid, I thought. I was, and he knew it. And even if he didn't really know it for sure, I wasn't going to

give him the satisfaction.

"Hey," he said, looking around. "Come outside and talk. Just for a minute." He gestured to the back doors of the grocery store, which stood

open, a cement block holding them to let the breeze in. "We can go out there."

"No."

Seth got pretty close to me, and said, his voice quiet, "The door's open. You can yell if you want. Come on."

I gave a look around, and Seth said, "I know you're with your brothers. I saw you all drive into town. I also know they're down at the

bar, buying beer. They'll be a few minutes. They don't have to know that you talked to me."

For the first time, I looked at him. I mean, really looked at him. He didn't look menacing. Not at all.

"Talk to me right here," I told him.

And then, before he could object, I said, "Why were you up at our cabin?"

"I needed a place to stay. My uncle kicked me out."

I gave him a disbelieving look. "There's lots of other places you could have stayed," I told him. "You're lying."

"It's the truth, Harlie. It's not as easy as you think to find someplace to crash at. Not with a reputation for bein' a

troublemaker. Nobody wants to have you in their house."

"If people think of you that way, it's because of your own actions," I told him.

"Preach, Harlie, preach," he told me, in a tone that suggested I was being pious.

I glared at him, and after a moment he smiled. "That wasn't nice what your brothers did the other night. With the firecrackers and

all."

"I told you not to come," I reminded him.

"You didn't have to tell them." And then he leaned in close to my ear and said, almost in a whisper, "Why did you tell 'em, pretty girl?"

I took a step back so he wouldn't be so close. I could feel his breath on my face.

"Huh?" he asked, still softly. "Why did you?"

"You tell me why you were really up at our cabin, and maybe I'll tell you why I told my brothers," I challenged him.

Seth seemed to turn serious. "The other guy up there, and me, we were supposed to be scouting out some stuff."

"Scouting out what stuff?" I asked.

He regarded me, looking troubled. "How do I know you're not gonna just run off and tell your family, or the sheriff?"

I stared at him, in horror. "You're part of what's happening? Was it you that shot my dog?"

I could feel myself getting really upset.

"I don't know anything about your dog," he said, looking puzzled. A couple of women pushed their carts past us, and we were both

quiet. When they'd gone to the next aisle, and couldn't overhear our conversation, Seth said again, "What's with your dog? Somebody shot

it?"

For a moment I was torn. He looked and sounded so believeable, as if he really was puzzled about Warrior. I found myself wanting to

believe him.

I clamped my lips tight, and refused to answer.

"Let's go outside," he said quietly. "I don't want anybody to overhear us."

He turned to walk out the open back door, as if there was no question that I would follow him.

I gave a look towards the front of the store. No sign of Evan or Daniel coming in yet. I hesitated, and then took the few steps

over to the open door. But I stood in the doorway stubbornly.

Seth made no attempt to coax me out any further. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"I don't know anything about your dog," he said again. "I haven't been near your place since the sheriff ran Tom off from the cabin."

"He said he didn't know you," I said.

Seth shrugged. "Well, he's my friend. He wasn't gonna sell me out."

"What were you doing up there?" I asked.

"Somebody wanted me and Tom to look at some fences. Things like that. And your cabin was the most secluded place."

"Who wanted you to look at fences?" I demanded. "And why?"

Seth went to sit on the bench beside the door, where the checkers sit when they take their smoke breaks.

"I don't know their names," he said. "They just wanted to know where some fences were, up by the state park."

"How can you not know their names?" I asked. "That's stupid."

"I didn't ask any questions. I never even saw them. We rode ATVs up and looked around. Tom told them where the fences were at.

They paid him in cash. He gave me my share. End of story."

"Well, why would they want to know about fences?" I asked.

"I told you, I don't know any of that," Seth said, snapping a little.

I blinked at him, considering going back inside the store.

"I'm sorry, Harlie," he said, quiet again, and I was so surprised that I let myself look at him. He looked sad. And sort of-beat down,

I guess was the word.

If he'd stopped talking then, I might have gone back inside. But he didn't. He stood up, and came over to stand in front of me. I was

still standing on a step, so with him being taller, we were nearly eye to eye now.

He reached down and took one of my hands in his. "I've made a lot of mistakes. Before I met you, and after, too. Even when I

was going out with Kristin, I was a real bastard. But now, I'm working at the lumberyard, and I'm back staying at my uncle's house

again. I'm trying to get my life right." He held my hand up a little, as if he was just looking at it.

"But I've always liked you," he went on. "Even when I was a royal screw-up, I always thought you were a nice girl."

I felt my breath catch a little.

"The sort of girl that a fellow like me needs," he added, and met my eyes.

I bit my lip, really nervous all of a sudden.

"I'm not even mad at your brothers for what they did. I mean, not really. I won't bother you, Harlie. I-" he hesitated, sounding

unsure. "Can I kiss you? Please?"

The fact that he would think I'd be willing was one thing! But on the other hand, he was asking, and in such a nice way, too.

"Sort of a goodbye?" he said. "When I see you around town, I won't try to talk to you or anything."

I didn't say anything. I didn't say that I was willing. But I didn't shriek or jerk away, either. I suddenly felt sorry for Seth. Very sorry.

I nodded. Just the merest nod, and then he was kissing me.

I hadn't been kissed in a really long time. Thinking back later, I thought it was Kenny that I had kissed last.

Anyway, Seth had improved his technique since he manhandled me in the downstairs school hallway last year. He wasn't rough, he

was gentle. And, if I had to admit it, bamboo shoots under my fingernails and all for torture, I'd have to admit that it was really enjoyable.

He pulled his head back and then said softly, "Thank you for that." He squeezed my hand and said, "I see Evan coming in the front

up there. I'll head out so he doesn't see me. Bye, Harlie."

And he was gone, ducking around the side of the building. I turned around and went back to my half-full grocery cart, pushing it

quickly up the next aisle.'

"Aren't you done?" Evan demanded, coming up behind me.

"Almost."

"What were you doin' outside?" he asked.

"I wasn't," I said, and then his forehead wrinkled.

"I was just at the door," I said, which was, after all, the truth.

We got up nearly to the checkout. "Where's Daniel?" I asked.

"Outside waitin'."

"You check out, okay?" I asked, and reached into my pocket, pulling out Guthrie's money, and the money that Hannah had given

me. "I need to get a drink."

7