Instead of going out the usual way, thru the pasture past the corral, Evan drove the Jeep towards the back

of the house. We don't often go that way, because the trails going up there aren't that great, and are difficult to manage if you're

not on horseback.

We bounced along for awhile, thru the trails that were filled with ruts. I was in the back seat, while Ford was up front with Evan.

I tugged my hat down on my head to keep it from blowing off. It was so hot that it felt as though what breeze there was slapped my face. I leaned

forward in the seat.

"You're bouncing me up to the sky back here," I told Evan, giving his shoulder a shove. "With your crazy driving."

"Yeah?" Evan said, and purposely hit a rut that was so big it shook the entire jeep. And then he turned, giving me a grin.

I poked him again, but I grinned back. I felt my heart squeeze a little. Evan and I were solid again. Maybe even stronger than before. We'd

hit a rough patch, but found our way back.

"What do we have to do?" I asked them.

"Gonna cut up a couple trees that fell on the fence up here," Ford said.

"Oh," I said, realizing for the first time that there were two chainsaws underneath a tarp behind me.

After that they started talking about the annual Fourth of July celebration that was coming up the next week in Murphys. I drifted into my own

thoughts for awhile, wondering if Eddie might be at the street dance.

When we reached the spot where a tree had blown into the fence, Evan parked and we all got out, standing for a moment

to survey the damage. The tree was half-standing, half-broken, and to me it looked precarious, as if the part that was hanging

over the fence might fall completely at any time.

"It's barely hanging, isn't it?" I asked.

"It'll still take some cutting to get it down," Evan said.

And so they began, Evan cutting the bigger part of the tree, and then Ford cutting up those pieces into smaller sticks of wood.

I cleared the brush that I could while they were cutting, and then I went to stand beside Evan, waiting until he paused, and then

raising my voice over the sound of the chainsaw.

"Do you want me to stack the wood?" I said, nearly yelling.

"Yeah. Just the small stuff. Leave the bigger pieces for us," he said, just as loudly. And, as I started to turn around, he said,

"Hey!"

I turned back.

"Get some gloves on!" he hollered.

I nodded, but stopped on my way to the Jeep to pick up a couple of pieces to start my pile. After that, I decided I didn't need the gloves

so much. So I worked, lifting and tugging, and stacking the pieces that I could manage to lift.

After about an hour or so, they both shut their chainsaws down, and came over to sit on a couple of the really big pieces, turned

upwards to serve as a seat. Ford had gone to get the water thermos from the Jeep, and they called to me to come over, too.

"Just a second," I said, and finished stacking the two pieces in my arms. I walked over to join them, brushing my hands against

my jeans. I'd gotten a splinter in one of my fingers. I could feel it.

Ford pulled water into the cup of the thermos and handed it off to me. He and Evan both looked wrung out, and were covered

in sweat.

"Whoo," Ford said, letting out a big breath.

"It's a big job," Evan said, wiping an arm over his forehead, and then putting his hat back on.

"What are we going to do with all of the wood?" I asked, gesturing towards my orderly stack.

"We can use some of it for a bonfire, when we have a party some time," Ford said.

"Maybe we could sell some of it," I suggested.

"We'll figure somethin' out," Evan said. He stood up, stretching, and looking at the wood I'd piled up.

"I do believe that's the neatest stack of wood I've ever seen," he said, and then grinned at me.

"Well, of course," I said.

"Just toss it in a pile," Ford said. "You don't have to work so hard."

I wiped my hand on my jeans again.

"Back to it," Evan said, and Ford sighed, standing up.

I finished the water in my cup, and set it back beside the thermos on the ground.

"Where's your gloves?" Evan asked me.

"Over there," I said, vaguely, letting him think I meant beside where I'd been working. He would chew me out majorly if he knew

I hadn't worn gloves all this time. Once they were back at their chainsaws, roaring and cutting, I went to the Jeep, and found a pair

of work gloves under all the other stuff in the back.

I pulled them on, and went back to work. We worked another couple of hours. The pieces were bigger by now, down at the base of the

tree, and so I rolled them instead of lifting.

I heard Evan hollering at me, saying, "Leave those!"

So I left them, pulling off my gloves, and going to sit in the Jeep, and eat my apple. My hands were aching, and when I gave them

a closer look, I saw I had not one splinter, but two, and that there were blisters raised on my palms. I looked at them wryly, thinking

that I should have listened about the gloves. I'd put them on a bit too late.

My back was aching from all that lifting and toting. I knew that Evan and Ford had to be aching, too.

Still, it was good to be outdoors. I still thought about the cold of Nashville every once in awhile.

When the tree had been cut, and trimmed, until all that was left was a stump, the boys went to look at the damage

that had been done when it blew onto the fence. I walked over to stand beside them.

"Want to try to do it today?" Ford asked.

"We could fix it up, temporary," Evan said. "You okay to do it?"

"Yeah. Let's do it now. I've got work tomorrow at the print shop," Ford said.

I went to the Jeep to retrieve the fencing supplies, following Ford as he carried the roll of wire. After that I helped as much as I could,

handing out tools, and holding wire while they snipped it, and all of that.

Once we were done, we loaded everything back up, and started back towards home. As we came upon a twisting trail, I pointed up.

"Where does that go?" I asked, curiously.

"If I remember right, there's an old homestead up there," Evan said.

"With the house still there?" I asked, intrigued.

"I don't know. It's been years since I was up there."

"Can we go?" I asked.

"Aw, not today," Evan said.

"Oh," I said disappointed.

"Yeah. I'd kind of like to see it myself," Ford said.

I gave Ford a smile for his support. "That's okay, Ford," I said. "Evan's getting older. He doesn't have the energy he used to have."

"Right," Ford said.

"Besides, it looks pretty steep," I went on. "I doubt if he could drive the Jeep up there, huh, Ford?"

"Probably not," Ford said, going along with the prodding. "We'll have to come back up when I'm doin' the driving, Har."

We were both grinning at Evan, challenging him, and he said, "I can outdrive you any day, little brother, and you know it."

"Talk, talk, talk," Ford teased.

"Yeah. No nerve," I said.

"No nerve," Ford echoed.

So, then, with a look at both Ford and I, and then a swift turn that was so sudden that I slid across the back seat, we

were headed up that steep slope. I regained my balance, laughing. And steep it was. The Jeep was almost nearly vertical a couple of

times, it seemed to me. I began to wish I hadn't teased Evan.

"Damn," I heard Ford mutter at one point.

We reached a flatter point eventually, but it was rough going there too, with the ruts, and barely any trail at all. I felt, rather than heard,

one of the tires blow, and the Jeep veer sharply to one side.

Evan stopped immediately. He had no choice, really. It was such a sudden stop that Ford put out his hand to catch himself from falling forward, and

I nearly propelled onto the floor of the Jeep.

Evan got out, and began to swear. Ford climbed out, too, and the two of them crouched down beside the Jeep, looking under it.

I stepped down, getting my bearings back.

"The tire's shot," Ford said.

"If that's all, I'll be happy," Evan said, and laid on his back, scooting underneath.

"How bad?" Ford asked him, on his knees and looking under, as well.

More swearing. "I think the suspension spring broke," Evan said.

He slid out from underneath, sitting there for a moment. I felt so bad for him. I'd started all of this nonsense.

"I'm sorry, Ev," I said.

"Aw, don't be crazy," Evan said, wiping his hands on his jeans, and standing up. "It's my fault. I should have known better."

"What are we gonna do?" I asked.

"Nothin' to do, except start walking," Evan said. "We'll have to come back and tow it in. I don't want to try drivin' it that far."

"How far are we from home?" I asked.

"A good seven or eight miles," Evan said.

"Oh," I said, feeling daunted.

"It's got to be close to noon by now," Ford said.

"Yeah. At least," Evan agreed.

Since none of us was wearing a watch, it was only a guess. But my stomach was rumbling, so I knew that it

had to be close.

"You're gonna need to eat somethin' soon," Evan said, looking at me with a concerned frown.

"I did. I had an apple. I'm okay," I assured him.

"Look in the glove compartment. Maybe there's somethin' in there," Ford suggested.

I reached in and opened the compartment. Papers fell out. A wrench. A pack of Dentyne gum. A can of Skoal that felt

nearly empty. And a lone package of Oreo cookies, with about five cookies left.

"Grab the cookies," Ford said. So I did.

Other than the thermos of water, and the first aid bag, and the rifle, we left everything else, And we started back down the steep incline on foot. You'd think it

would be easy going down like that, but it wasn't really. Ford was in front, and I was in the middle, with Evan in back. A couple of times

it was so steep and rocky that we had to step carefully.

"Good place for a goat," Ford muttered.

"Why would somebody want to build a house up that far, anyway?" I asked, but neither of them answered. We were concentrating on

getting down. At one point, I slipped, and went down, rolling a ways, while Evan hurried to catch up, and Ford climbed back up to me.

"You alright?" Ford asked, leaning over me.

"Uh huh," I managed, breathlessly. The fall had made the blisters on my hands open. They were stinging, and I knew they had to have

dirt in them, but I didn't pause to examine them.

"Here," Ford said, holding out a hand to me, and bracing himself on the incline to help pull me up.

I took his hand, but sat there a moment longer, looking upwards at them both. "Someday," I said, "This is gonna be a funny story."

"Not anytime soon, it's not," Evan said, in disagreement.

Once I was standing upright again, we stood still for a moment, looking back up at the Jeep, and then downwards, at the amount of hill

left to descend.

"I ought to have my head examined," Evan muttered. "What the hell was I thinking?"

"It'll be alright," Ford said.

"Yes," I added, in support.

Evan shook his head a little. "Well, let's get goin' again," he said, with a gesture downwards. So Ford got back in front, Evan behind, and

me in the middle, and we trekked on.

By the time we made it down, we were all winded.

We rested a couple of minutes, and took a drink. I didn't want to say anything, but I was starting to get a headache, which was

generally a sign that I needed to eat something. I didn't want to say anything to make Evan feel any worse, though, so I just asked

Ford to give me a couple of cookies.

"I've got some peanut butter crackers in my pocket," Ford said. "Want a couple of them instead?"

"No, these are okay."

So, we walked on, but beside each other now. It seemed as though we'd been walking for a really long time. I slowed down a little

until I was lagging behind. But just a bit.

Enough, though, for the boys to notice. They stopped their walking, to turn to look back at me.

"Are you comin'?" Ford asked.

"Yes, I'm coming," I said.

When I reached them, they were both surveying me with concerned expressions.

"Let's sit down and rest awhile," Evan said, and motioned towards the shade of a big tree.

"Sounds good to me," Ford said, and promptly went to flop down on the grass under the tree.

When Evan and I were sitting down, Ford, who was munching on a cookie, held out the package to Evan. Evan shook his

head in refusal. "No, thanks," he said.

"There's only one left," Ford said.

"Go on and eat it," Evan told him.

We passed the water around again, and Ford took the crumpled package of peanut butter crackers from his shirt pocket.

"Here, Har," he said, holding it out to me.

I took one out and ate it. "Put the rest in your pocket for later," Ford said.

The sun passed behind a cloud, and we all looked up at the sky.

"Is it supposed to rain today?" Ford asked.

"I didn't hear any weather," Evan said, and I shrugged my shoulders in answer.

"I hope it rains," I said.

We sat in silence for a few minutes after that. I leaned back against the tree beside Ford, while Evan sat with his legs stretched out in

front. He looked as though he was thinking hard about something. I knew he was mentally kicking himself for being the cause of us being

stranded.

"Have we walked very far?" I asked.

"A mile maybe," Ford said.

"Is that all?" I asked, trying not to show my disappointment.

It felt so good to just sit there, and rest. My back ached from lifting all the wood, and now I was tired from walking, too. And my hands

were stinging.

"Let's get going," Evan said, after what seemed like just a few moments. "They're gonna be getting worried about us at home."

I got up sort of gingerly, trying not to let my hands touch the ground.

We walked on, and the sky grew gradually darker. There was more air stirring about, but it was still a hot air.

"I wouldn't mind rain, if it would cool things off a little," Ford said, swiping at sweat across his forehead.

Neither Evan or I answered him. I was trying to focus on walking, and push past the increasing throbbing in my head.

Finally, I knew I had to say something.

"Fordie," I said, pausing in my walking. "Is there Tylenol in the first aid kit?"

Ford stopped immediately, with a frown. "I think there is. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just a little bit of a headache," I said, trying to sound casual.

He dug into the bag that he had slung over one shoulder, taking out a bottle of Tylenol. He uncapped it,

and I held my hand up, letting him shake two out. I swallowed them with a drink from the thermos, as Evan came walking

back towards us.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Harlie has a headache," Ford said, quietly, sounding serious.

"Oh," Evan said, and stood there, looking at me. I could practically see the wheels of concern turning in both of their

heads at that point.

"I took some Tylenol. I'll be fine," I said, trying to sound perky.

Neither one of them looked particularly convinced, so I started walking energetically, calling back to them, "Come on!"

It wasn't long after that when I was fairly certain that I felt a raindrop hit my cheek. After that they began to fall quicker

and heavier. The clouds were rolling, and we all paused for a moment to look at them.

"Walk on?" Evan asked Ford and I.

"I say yes," Ford said. "It's just a little rain."

So we walked on, but the rain got steadily heavier, and the sky darker.

"It's really setting in," Ford said, as we paused under a tree.

"Yeah. We ought to find a place to wait it out," Evan said. "I've got an idea," he said, and we followed him as he walked on, a lot

faster than before.

Evan stopped so suddenly, and I was nearly walked into his back. I'd been concentrating on him being in front of me, so I was

surprised that he stopped like that.

"Here," he said, and I felt him take my arm and give me a pull. In the next moment, I was in near darkness, but somewhere that the

rain wasn't pelting me. I could feel Ford's shoulder beside me, and a coldness behind. I could make out their faces, but just barely.

I heard rustling and then a match flickered. "Look in that first aid bag, Ford. Is there a flashlight?" Evan asked.

He held the match over towards Ford, and it flickered as Ford felt thru the bag. "Yeah. I saw one in here earlier."

A moment later, there was the light of a flashlight shining, and Evan blew out the match.

I looked around, but all I could see was a small opening, about the size of a doorway, and then some walls. I touched to my left without

meaning to, and felt cold. Like concrete. Only slicker.

"What is this place?" I asked.

7