When Nancy got there, in her little blue car, she came straight from her job at the Family Center. She was still wearing her work

shirt with her name tag on.

I had gone inside by that time, and Evan was finishing things up for the evening outside.

Clare had made the hamburgers, and was taking them off the griddle with a spatula when Nancy came in. I thought how

much like a family member that she was, because she only opened the front screen door, and called inside, "Hi!" before just

coming on in.

I took my glass of Koolaid, and went to meet her mid-way in the living room.

"Hey, wild child," she greeted me, in her usual cheerful fashion.

"Hi, Nanc," I responded.

We went on into the kitchen, and Nancy washed her hands at the sink, and we both began to set the table, while Clare reached

down to take the French fries from the oven.

"The oven sure heated up the kitchen," Clare said, fanning herself.

Evan came in the back door, and Nancy stopped setting the plates down, and went to greet him.

They hugged briefly, and kissed each other.

After Evan went to wash his hands, and I finished setting the table, Nancy got out the ketchup and BBQ sauce.

"There's iced tea in there, too," Clare said.

The five of us, including Isaac in his high chair, sat down at the table, all together at one end. We ate our simple supper of hamburgers and fries, and

then Clare got out the ice cream, and everybody made their own homemade sundae. I had one, too, though I only put on a little

bit of the chocolate syrup and a few cherries.

Evan went upstairs to take a shower after supper, and the three of us did up the dishes and cleaned the counters and table. After that,

it was my turn for the shower, and then, when I came back downstairs dressed in a pair of sweat pants and Willie Nelson t shirt, the four

of us played a game of cards.

I was yawning by the end of the game, and decided to head up to bed. I brought Clarence inside, and helped him up the stairs.

I was brushing my teeth when Nancy came to stand in the open doorway of the bathroom, leaning against the door frame.

"Hey," she said, looking serious.

"Hi," I said, around the toothpaste in my mouth.

"Evan says you had some trouble yesterday," she said, looking sympathetic.

I spit out the toothpaste into the sink. "Yeah."

"Don't be upset because he told me," she said then.

"I'm not," I said, and I wasn't, really. I knew it wasn't as though Evan would tell anybody and everybody about what

had happened. It was only natural that he would tell Nancy.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked me.

I looked at her, considering. I switched off the bathroom light, and stepped out into the hallway.

"Maybe," I said, slowly.

"Want to go into your room?" she asked then, and I said okay.

Once in my bedroom, I lifted Fat Clarence up onto the bed, where he burrowed under my quilt.

I curled up on my bed, crossing my legs, Indian-style. Nancy sat down opposite me, and sat the same way.

Then she was quiet, waiting for me to say something.

"I guess I'm wondering-" I began, slowly, "Why he changed so fast like he did?"

Nancy looked serious, contemplative.

"I mean," I went on, "He was nice for so long, and then-" I snapped my fingers, "Just like that, he got angry, and

all pissed off. I guess what I'm wondering is, why did me dancing one time with Eddie make Steven go so completely

nuts?"

"I think maybe, Steven has had feelings for a long time about you," Nancy said. "And he was handling it fairly alright, you know, keeping

it contained, because he was still hopeful. Hopeful that eventually you might start to think of him as a boyfriend.

And then, when he saw you with Eddie, well, that was just the snapping point for him."

She paused, looking at me, in a kind way. "At least, that's what I think."

"It was just a dance, though," I protested mildly. "It seems stupid that seeing me dance with Eddie would send him over the

edge like that."

"He knows you like Eddie, doesn't he?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah. I told him. But it was just a dance," I objected.

"He saw something between you and Eddie while you were dancing, maybe," Nancy suggested.

I looked at her in interest. "Like what?"

"Come on, Harlie. You know what I mean," Nancy said.

"I hope I wasn't that obvious, about how I feel about Eddie, in front of all those people that way," I said, feeling embarrassed.

"I didn't mean it like that," Nancy said. "I think Steven saw it in the way Eddie looked at you, too."

"You think he was looking at me a certain way?" I asked, pulling my knees up to my chest, and feeling all warm

and jumpy inside all of a sudden.

"Well, yeah," she said. "The same way that he looked at you at the Pizza Place that night you were out with Evan and I and Ford and

Valerie."

"Did he look at me a certain way that night?" I asked.

"Yes, Harlie," she said, with an eye roll. "He did."

I hugged that thought to myself. "Wow," I said.

"Yeah. Wow," Nancy said, with a smile.

Then she said, "I don't want to put a damper on your mood, but after going thru something like what happened with Steven, it's

normal to feel weird and a little nervous for awhile. Especially around a guy you don't know very well. You worry it might happen again."

I looked at her, and felt the truth of what she was saying.

"I guess I feel a little-" I hesitated, "betrayed. By what he did."

"Yeah," Nancy said. "That's understandable. For sure."

Clare paused, and knocked on my half-open door. "Hey, you two," she said, peeking in, Isaac in her arms. "I'm going on up to

bed. I wanted to say goodnight."

"Night, Clare," I said.

"Goodnight. Thanks for supper," Nancy told her.

I got up to go and give Isaac a kiss on the top of his downy head. He retaliated by grabbing at my hair. Then I gave Clare

a hug.

"Your hard-working guy is asleep on the couch downstairs," Clare told Nancy.

Nancy grinned and got up. "I bet he looks adorable," she said.

"Oh yes," Clare said, with a grin in return. "Snoring and adorable."

7

It wasn't long after breakfast, and after Evan and I were doing the morning chores, that we heard the pounding of cattle hooves

and then the hooting and hollering of cowboys driving those cattle.

I yelled for Evan.

"Run open the gate!" he yelled back, pointing to the back pasture, where he'd been doing all the work the last few days.

I ran to do that, opening the gate that I'd helped him put up the afternoon before. Swinging it open and wide.

I saw Evan putting a bridle on his horse, and climbing up on him, bareback. I ran over to the corral fence, climbing up.

"I'll get Charlie," I said.

"Just stay here and open the gate when we get close, so we can go thru to the back pasture," he said, and put Diablo into

motion.

Clare came out to stand on the porch to watch, and I waited beside the gate, ready to swing it open.

And then they were coming, so loud that the thundering was nearly earth shaking, or seemed to be.

I waited until I saw whoever the first rider was, it was hard to tell at that point, raised his arm in a signal to me to

open the gate. I fumbled with the chain, trying to hurry. When I had it undone, I opened it to its full width, swung back against

the corral fence. And then, in order to hold it into place, and to stay out of harm's way myself, I climbed up onto the fence to lean.

The herd, flanked on all sides, and from behind, by riders, came running thru, across the barnyard, and across the yard, into

the back pasture. It seemed like a stream of cattle, never-ending legs and heads and the sounds of all that mooing.

Crane was at the end, along with Guthrie, and by then the rest of my brothers had put the herd successfully into the back

pasture. Crane called to me to close the gate. So I hopped down, and refastened the chain.

I ran over to say hello to Crane as he dismounted.

"Hey, peanut," he greeted me.

"Hi."

"How are things here?" he asked then.

"Fine," I said.

"That's good," he said, taking off his gloves and sticking them into the back pocket of his jeans.

Guthrie was there beside us then, too.

"Hey, Har," he greeted me.

"Hi."

"I hope there's plenty to eat," he said. "I'm starving."

"There's some hamburgers left over from last night's supper," I told him.

"Alright!" Guthrie said happily.

"Tend to your horse before you go in and start eating," Crane told him.

"I'm gonna," Guthrie said, and led his horse off towards the corral to unsaddle him.

"Want me to take your horse for you?" I offered to Crane.

"I got it," Crane said. "You might want to see if they need any help. Adam got his hand cut up last night pretty badly."

"Okay," I said, and ran to join the rest of the family, who were gathered at the gate that Evan and I had put up, looking at

the herd of cattle milling around.

"We made it," Brian said, and there was satisfaction in his voice. And relief, too.

"Praise the Lord," Hannah said, and reached out to take Isaac from Clare, kissing him all over his little face.

Adam, too, paused and put a kiss on the top of the baby's head. "Hey there, little buddy," he said. I could see that one of his hands was

completely wrapped in tan bandages, the sort that come on the roll.

Hannah was telling Clare that she wanted her to have a look at Adam's hand. "I did what I could," Hannah was saying. "But

I think he needs stitches."

"You already sewed me up," Adam said, still muzzling the baby.

"That's not real stitches, Adam McFadden," Hannah told him. "Let Clare look at it."

"I will. I will," Adam said.

"What about the bull?" Evan was asking. "Want to leave him where he's at for the time being?"

"Yeah. Let's just leave him with those heifers for a bit," Brian said.

They all stood there, looking at the herd of cattle that had been driven into the back pasture.

"It looks good, Evan," Adam said, in praise. "I didn't think you'd have it done."

"Yeah, Ev," Brian added. "You must have worked your ass off."

"He nearly did," Clare said.

"Harlie helped me out a lot," Evan said, and I looked at him to thank him, but he wasn't looking at me. He was helping coil up

a rope that Adam had been carrying in his injured hand.

"That's great. Good job, peach," Brian said.

As everybody started towards the corral to unsaddle their horses, Daniel reached out to take the reins of Dandy from

Adam. "I'll do it," he said.

"Thanks, Dan'l," Adam said.

"I'll find some stuff for lunch," Clare was saying, and she and Hannah went up the front steps, talking, and with Hannah

carrying Isaac.

So I found myself walking along beside Adam, as Guthrie ran past us, obviously intent on getting something to eat.

"I appreciate you bein' so much help around here," Adam said to me.

"It's alright," I said, looking up at him. "What did you do to your hand?"

"Just a little disagreement with a cow," Adam said lightly, and I thought how typical of him that was, to make light of an injury

of his own. If that had been any of us, he would have been entirely different about it.

"Want me to make some coffee?" I asked him.

"I'd be so grateful for that, I might be convinced to raise your allowance," he said jokingly.

Guthrie and I don't get an allowance, in truth. Not a set amount of money each week, or anything like that. We get paid

a certain amount when cows are sold, just like everybody else. Though for sure we don't get as much, since we don't pay

any of the bills in the house. We're expected to save some of the money for things we might need, and the rest is like our spending

money. If Guthrie or I need something and don't have any money of our own, then we can usually go to one of our

brothers, and borrow some. Adam was joking, like I said, knowing full well that we didn't get handed an allowance on a schedule.

"We'll settle up with you," he said then, serious now.

"Okay," I said.

I went in to get the coffee pot going, while Clare began looking thru the refrigerator for lunch items. I mixed up another pitcher of

iced sweet tea. Hannah went upstairs to take a bath, saying that she had two days of trail dust on her. Adam sat down at the

kitchen table, holding Isaac, and talking to him.

Guthrie was already pulling out the bread, and making himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Then he began to open cabinets. "We have any potato chips?" he asked, in a general way. To either Clare or I, I guessed.

I went over and opened a cabinet at the other end, pulling out three bags of chips. "They've only been kept in this

same cabinet for like a hundred years or so," I told Guthrie dryly.

"Just bring 'em over here," Guthrie said, unperturbed, as he sat down in his own chair at the table, and bit into his sandwich.

I put the potato chips in front of him, and he opened the Cheetos first, pulling out a handful.

By now, brothers were beginning to filter thru the back door into the kitchen. Washing their hands at the sink, talking over

one another. The kitchen was a sudden burst of energy and noise.

Crane passed on thru, going towards the living room. Probably, I thought, to check the bills that had come in the mail

the last couple of days.

Clare had pulled out the hamburgers, and a big salad, cottage cheese and a plate of fruit, and was setting it all onto the table.

I wasn't all that hungry for lunch yet, but I sat and listened to them all talk about the roundup, and then I got up to get the coffee

when it was done, and brought cups over to the table. I poured for Adam and Brian, since I knew they were a definite yes, but

I asked Crane and Daniel, since they're only occasional coffee drinkers. Guthrie, meanwhile, was drinking milk, and Ford and Evan

iced tea.

"Thanks, sugar," Adam said, smiling at me as I filled his cup. "Did you make it strong?"

"Strong enough to walk on its own," I told him, saying the joke that we sometimes exchanged.

"So," Brian said then, from his seat beside Clare, "How was everything around here? Any problems?"

I paused, coffee pot in my hand. I cast a glance at Evan and at Clare, without even intending to.

I knew very well, as Evan did, that Brian meant problems with the stock, or the bull, or any trespassers cutting fence or anything

like that.

I also knew that it was only a matter of time before the altercation with Steven came up as the topic of conversation.

"No problems with the stock," Evan said, in truth.

"Any news from the sheriff about anything?" Adam asked then.

"Nope. Nothin' like that," Evan said.

Evan met my eyes, and I could tell he was getting ready to let forth with the Steven story.

I shook my head at him, and mouthed the words, 'not now'."

"We did have a problem, though," Evan went on.

I shook my head at him again, more insistently. "Ev-" I said in protest.

I saw that my head shaking had not gone unnoticed, by anyone at the table, except for Guthrie, who was busy, finishing

off the bag of Cheetos.

"Stop shakin' your head no at me," Evan told me, though he said it quietly.

"What's peach done now?" Brian asked, and I could see that he was half-serious, half-joking.

"She didn't do anything," Evan said, in my defense. All eyes were on me at that point, and I turned away, going to put

the coffee pot back where it belonged.

I stood where I was, leaning against the counter. "I don't see why we have to talk about it now like this," I protested, though

I knew I had no chance of prolonging it. "Everybody just got back, and they're all tired."

Adam gave me a knowing look, half-turned in his chair. "Come back over here," he told me, and I came reluctantly, to

stand beside his chair.

"So," he said. "What's up?"

I looked at Evan, and then at Clare, who was looking full of sympathy for me.

"Steven and I had a-" I hesitated over the words. "A problem."

"What sort of problem?" Crane asked. They had all pretty much stopped eating at that point, and were looking at me.

I was suddenly, inexplicably, embarrassed. I knew it was the family, and that they all loved me, and all of that. But it was

just so many faces to talk to, all at once that way.

I looked at Clare for help.

"Steven came over to see Harlie the other night," Clare began. "He wanted to do things that she didn't want to do. There was

an altercation."

I could tell that Clare had chosen her words with care, trying not to say more than was necessary.

At first there was silence at the table. It seemed a long while of silence, though in truth it couldn't have been more than a couple

of seconds.

"What sort of things?" Brian asked then, in a deadly quiet tone. I knew he wasn't stupid, and figured he wasn't asking so much

as he was affirming.

"He wanted to kiss on you?" Adam asked then, his jaw set.

"Sort of," I said, quietly.

"What do you mean, sort of?" Brian said, raising his voice a little. "What did he do?"

"He got real rough with her," Evan said, speaking up. I figured he was tired of dancing around the situation.

Brian stood up so quickly that his chair nearly fell over backward. "I'm gonna call his father. We'll see what he has to

say about it!"

"Brian, sit down," Clare said, pulling at Brian's shirt sleeve. "Evan already did that."

Brian looked across the table at Evan, and then, after a long moment, he sat back down again.

Everybody looked so tense after that, with varying degrees of anger in their faces and mannerisms.

I suddenly felt like I was going to burst if I didn't get some air.

"Excuse me," I said, and brushed past them all, though I was aware of Daniel reaching out to try to catch my hand.

"Hey," he said, but I walked past.

I went out to the front porch, where I lifted Clarence from his sunning spot, into the porch swing, and then I sat down beside him.

At least, I thought, they could all discuss it now, and I didn't have to hear it. Maybe they would get it all talked about and it would be

done.

I don't know how long that I sat there, it couldn't have been that long. And I heard the screen door squeak as it was pushed

open, and then flap shut.

In my head, I was making bets on who was coming to talk to me. I wasn't surprised that it was Daniel. He lifted Clarence from the

swing back to the porch floor. Clarence gave him an accusing look, and went back to lay on the top step in the sunshine.

Daniel sat down in the Clarence-vacated spot. And then he started the swing to moving with the toe of his boot, really gently.

He laid his arm across the back of the swing, not really touching my shoulders, just lifting my hair a little, and working it between his

fingers gently.

"Rough stuff, huh?" he said.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," he said then, and I turned to look at him.

I guess he could read the question on my face before I spoke it.

"If something happens to you, and it hurts you, then I'm sorry for it," he said. "That's just the way it is."

"It's not your fault, though," I said quietly.

"Nor was it yours," Daniel said, sounding firm. I met his eyes. There was a covering of dust on his hair, and smudges of dirt

on his cheek.

"You need a shower," I told him.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm okay."

"There's never any reason or excuse for a male not to listen to a female when she says no," Daniel said then, quietly. "Never."

I looked at him, and nodded in understanding of what he was saying.

"So, did Evan go a little bat shit crazy on the kid?" Daniel asked, and I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood.

I thought of the way that Evan had pushed Steven up against the wall of the living room, and jerked him around.

"Yeah," I said. "A little bit."

7