I was thrilled by the fact that the two burros traveled a few feet, as we began to ride away, almost as though they were going
to follow us. I whistled what I hoped was a soothing tune, trying to lure them into continuing.
"They're following us, Ford," I whispered joyfully.
Ford gave a look back. But, of course, they didn't continue to follow. They stopped, returning to grazing on the grass.
"Aww," I said, in disappointment.
"It's better that they don't follow us, anyway," Ford pointed out.
"Why?" I asked.
"You don't want them comin' down so close to houses or anything like that. Somebody might try to catch them."
I hadn't thought about that. "It sure was cool, though, to see them, wasn't it? All of them."
"Yeah, it was amazing," Ford said, repeating his words from earlier, when we'd first seen the Mustangs.
We kept checking the fences, as we rode, and I asked Ford what he thought about the Mustangs being
hunted down.
"Well, I think it's wrong, of course," he said.
"I know that. I meant, do you think it's alright to catch them, not to sell them for dog food, but to keep them for
personal use?"
Ford looked thoughtful. "I don't think so. They're born free. They should stay that way."
"That's what I think, too."
"Unless they're bothering the ranchers," Ford went on. "Then they need to be moved to a different location."
"There's plenty of grass. Why do they have to pose a problem to the ranchers?"
"There's not always plenty of grass."
"Oh," I said, remembering reading that in the article that Crane had gotten at the library. Sometimes the ranchers didn't like the Mustangs
because they trampled fences, as well.
After a few more minutes, we heard the sound of the Jeep coming along. After we'd covered the rest of the area, checking
on the fences, and were back at the house again, I went with Ford to put up the horses.
Evan came into the tack shed, as I was hanging up Petra's bridle. "Hey, Har. I wanted to ask you somethin'."
"Is it about a mouse?" I asked, with a roll of my eyes.
"No, it's not about a mouse."
"What, then?"
"Nancy has this cousin of hers visiting this week. Her parents have to go to a meeting or somethin' tonight, and I was gonna take
her out, to that new Mexican restaurant."
"Uh huh," I said, pausing to look at him.
"They don't want to leave him sitting home alone," Evan went on.
"Oh, it's a 'he'," I said. I knew exactly where this conversation was going, and I was enjoying yanking Evan's chain a little bit.
"Come on, Har," he said.
"Let me guess. You want me to go out with him, right?"
"Right."
"Alone? Or with you and Nancy?" I asked.
"With us."
"Hmm," I said, dusting my hands on my jeans. "And how old is this 'visiting' cousin? Twelve?"
"He's fifteen. Nancy says he's a real nice kid."
"Not a serial killer, or a bank robber, huh?" I asked smartly.
"Not that I know of," Evan said, with a totally straight face.
"What if I don't like him?" I asked then.
"Just go out tonight, be civil to him, don't tell him you think he's a dumbass. That's all you've gotta do. It's a one-night
thing."
"I don't have a lot of money," I said.
"I'm paying, goofy," he said, sounding impatient.
"Okay," I agreed, and Evan grinned.
"Great. Thanks, Har. We leave at six."
As he started off towards the direction of the barn, I called after him. "You can't tease me about that stupid mouse now!"
Evan waved a hand at me, without even turning around. "Yeah, yeah," he said.
7
I went in to grab a shower around four, and changed to a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt. When I went back downstairs,
I went to help Clare and Hannah get supper ready.
I told them about going out with Nancy's cousin, and Clare said I could borrow one of her blouses.
"The yellow one?" I asked hopefully.
"Sure," she said, laughing. "If you want. Go up and help yourself."
So I went upstairs, to their attic apartment, and found the particular yellow blouse. I love it, because it's sleeveless and lacy.
I switched out my t-shirt, for it, and then went back downstairs. When they all started coming inside for supper, I told Adam about the plans for the evening.
He nodded in response, and all he said was, "Okay."
Brian, however, added to the conversation. "We don't know this kid," he protested.
"It's Nancy's cousin," Clare reminded him.
"That don't automatically make him a good kid," Brian insisted.
"Nancy says he's alright," Evan spoke up, from beside the sink, where he was pouring a glass of milk.
"You don't go off alone with him, alright?" Brian told me.
I nodded, but before I could answer, Evan said, "I'll take care of her, Bri. Stop worryin'."
Honestly. It was all I could do not to stamp my foot, or screech out and say something along the lines of how I
wasn't a baby, and how I wished they would all just relax a bit.
"So you're not going to eat now?" Hannah asked me and Evan, looking at us both. "You're going to wait to eat-where? The new Mexican
place?"
"Yeah. I'm gonna wait," Evan said, sitting down in his spot at the table, with his glass of milk.
"How about you, sweetie?" Hannah asked me.
"I'll wait, too."
I was sort of relieved actually, when Clare brought up what Ford and I had gotten to see earlier.
"Ford says you got to see part of the Mustang herd," Clare said, leaning over to look across Guthrie and Kristin at me.
"Yeah, we did," I said, feeling the excitement all over again. "And we saw two burros, too!"
"There were burros with them?" Crane asked.
"They weren't really with the rest of the herd," I said. "We saw them after that."
Evan finished his milk and went upstairs to change his clothes.
I had a good time that night. We did try out the new Mexican restaurant in Angels Camp. Usually Mexican isn't my favorite type
of food. I'd much rather have Chinese if I were to choose. But, I did enjoy it at the new place. It was really crowded so we had to
wait a few minutes to get a table.
Nancy's cousin was named Brock. He was about my height, and had a really thick head of hair. He seemed to spend a good part of his
time combing that hair, which I found sort of weird for a guy. I'd never seen any of my brothers comb their hair when they were out in
public like that.
He was friendly enough, though. There were some pinball games and other stuff in the arcade attached to the Mexican place. Brock asked
me if I wanted to go and play some of the games while we were waiting for our food to be cooked. I played a couple of games, and then stopped,
mostly because I'd only brought a couple of dollars with me, and it didn't take long to go thru that much.
Brock kept on playing, and then glanced over at me, as I stood, watching him as he played a game of Pac-man.
"How come you stopped playing?" he asked me.
"Two games is enough for me," I said.
"I play this all the time at home," he said. "My friends and I hang out at the arcade all day during the summer."
"Really?" I asked, while thinking to myself that I would find that incredibly boring.
I asked him then if he was enjoying his visit with Nancy's family.
"Sure. It's okay. Not much to do around here, though," he pointed out.
"Do you ride?" I asked him, thinking that maybe he could come over and go riding with Guthrie and Kristin and I.
"Ride what?"
"Horseback riding," I said.
"Naw. I've never done that," he said. "I skateboard, though." And at that point, he launched into an enthusiastic speech about
the advantages of being an avid skateboarder.
I decided that Brock, though nice enough, was pretty immature. All he wanted to talk about was playing the arcade games,
and the high scores of that, and skateboarding.
We had our meal, and then Nancy suggested going to the Dari Kurl when we got back to Murphys. So, parked there, squeezed four
in the seat of Evan's truck, we waited for our shakes.
Evan and Nancy got out at one point to walk over and talk to some friends of Nancy's. Brock and I stayed in the truck, but once there
was more space, I moved away from him. Just a bit, but still away.
"So," Brock said slowly, "Nancy and Evan are getting married, huh? What do you think about that?"
"I'm really happy about it," I said. "Our whole family is. We think Nancy's great."
"Yeah? Well, Evan seems like an alright guy," Brock said.
"He is," I agreed.
Brock sort of leaned around me, looking across the parking lot of the Dari Kurl. It was pretty dark by now, but there were lots of
lights from the building and the street lights.
He slid over closer, and laid an arm around the back of the seat, nearly touching my shoulders.
"Want to hang out again while I'm here?" he asked me.
"I don't know, Brock," I said, in honesty.
"You're probably used to older guys, huh? That can drive you around and stuff?" he asked, sounding a bit dejected.
"It's not that," I said, wondering what to say. I didn't want to hurt his feelings.
"That's okay," he said. "I had fun with you tonight."
"I had fun, too," I said, glad that he was going to let it go.
"Can I kiss you?" he asked me then. Just like that. Blunt and forward.
I hesitated, caught by surprise.
I took a couple of seconds to 'search my inner feelings'. Which is what Clare has said to do whenever you're not sure
how you really feel about kissing a guy.
My inner voice wasn't screeching in horror, so I said, "I guess."
Brock leaned over and kissed me, then. Real quickly, and then, just like that, it was done. Not horrible, but not anything special, either.
Evan drove us back to Nancy's house, and Brock got out with a casual, "See you around, Harlie." He bounded up the front steps
and into the house.
Nancy turned to me and gave me a nudge. "Thanks for hanging out with Brock tonight."
"It's okay," I told her.
Nancy and I said our goodbyes, and then Evan walked her up the steps and to the front door. He was only gone for a few
minutes and then, once back in the cab, he pulled out into the street, and headed out of Murphys.
We'd only driven a couple of miles when Evan reached over to turn the radio down.
"Thanks for goin' tonight," he said. "It meant a lot to Nancy."
"It's okay."
"She thinks you're really terrific, you know?" Evan said.
"I think she's terrific, too," I said.
"Yeah."
There was quiet for a few minutes, and then Evan said, "So what did you think of Brock?"
"He was alright," I said. "Nice enough."
"Not a jerk?" he asked.
"No. Just-sort of immature," I said.
"Yeah?"
"Sort of. He's only interested in arcade games and skateboarding."
"Not what you're used to," Evan commented.
"Not really."
"He didn't get handsy or anything, did he?" Evan asked.
"Handsy?" I said. "I don't think that's a real word, Ev."
"It is a real word. And you know what I mean."
"Yes. I know what you mean. No, he didn't."
"Okay. Good," Evan said, sounding relieved.
"He asked if he could kiss me," I said.
"No way," Evan said, sounding a little mad. "He shouldn't have. First date like that-"
"Ev, it's fine," I said. "He wasn't rude, or pushy or anything."
"Good thing for him that he wasn't," Evan said. "So, what did you say?"
"I said okay."
"You didn't have to, you know. You shouldn't feel as though you had to, just because he's Nancy's cousin."
"I know I didn't have to. And that's not why I did it." I looked his direction in the darkish truck cab. "I wouldn't have, if my 'inner' had
said not to."
"Your what?" he asked.
"My 'inner'. Never mind, it's a girl thing," I told him.
"Okay," he said, sounding a little amused.
7
Once at home, we were greeted by all three of the bigger dogs running up to the truck. Clarence, predictably, was no where in sight.
Probably sleeping on the porch. Or inside, if he'd managed to make Hannah feel sorry enough for him.
There was whinnying from the fence. "Sounds like Charlie," I said. "I'm going to get an apple and say goodnight to him."
Evan said alright, and went on towards the house. I went to the barn, switching on the light so I could see to find one of the apples
in the tub. We keep apples there all thru the summer, to feed to the pigs, or to the horses for treats, since we can't eat all that we have.
Even when we make jelly, there's always a surplus.
I got a couple of apples, figuring that Petra would be hanging out at the fence, as well.
I turned off the barn light and went over to the fence, where Charlie was hanging his head across. I knew it was him, both by his whinny, and
by the feel of his face.
"Hello, boy," I told him. "Since Petra's not here, you get two apples. How about that, huh?" I rubbed his nose affectionately. Warrior, who had
tagged along with me, gave a low growl, and then a bark, looking off into the darkness. I could see shadows of the shapes of some of the other
horses, and a few cattle.
"What is it, huh, boy?" I asked Warrior. There was no way I could tell anything in the darkness that way. I decided to go in the house, and get a
flashlight.
I went in the back door, and the kitchen was quiet. All cleaned up, and with only the light over the sink on. There was a cinnamon candle
burning, that made the whole room smell good.
I rooted thru the drawer where the flashlights are kept, but couldn't find one. So I looked above the refrigerator, standing on a chair to see, and
found one there. I took it and went back outside, heading across the yard. In the shadows, a figure came out from behind a tree, and I
nearly jumped out of my skin. I gasped, yelling, "Arghhh!"
"What are you doin', Har?" Ford asked.
"What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?" I accused him. "Good grief, Ford!"
Ford's response was to start laughing.
"It's not funny!" I told him, pressing a hand to my chest. "What are you doing, skulking around out here in the dark?"
"I could ask you the same," he reminded me. "I was just taking a walk."
"I just want to see what Warrior's barking at," I said.
"Where?"
"In the pasture, where the horses are," I told him.
"And you think you're checking it out, all by yourself?" Ford scoffed, reaching over to take the flashlight from me. "What's wrong with you?"
"Don't you start acting like that," I said.
"Acting like what?" he asked, as he gave the old flashlight a shake to help it come on.
"Like I'm a delicate flower that can't do anything on her own."
"I don't think that, and you know it," he said, sounding impatient. He turned and started walking towards the pasture, saying, "Are you
coming or not?" to me.
I followed him until I caught up, and then walked side by side to the fence, where we both crawled thru between the panels.
Warrior was still with us, and so was Jethro Bodine. The horses were milling around. It was sort of surreal out there in the dark
that way, with cattle and horses quietly grazing around us.
"What'd you hear?" Ford asked me.
"I didn't hear anything. It was Warrior. He was looking out and barking."
Ford shone the flashlight out over the pasture. The only things we saw were cattle. And horses. We walked on, a bit further.
Still nothing out of the ordinary.
Warrior hadn't barked any more. He stayed next to me, and just kept looking out into the darkness.
"I don't see anything," Ford said.
"Look at him, though," I said, speaking about Warrior. "He sees something out there."
Ford turned the flashlight onto Warrior. "He's not barking. He doesn't seem upset."
"He senses something, though," I insisted.
"Aw, I think he's alright," Ford told me. "Let's head back to the house."
He turned and began walking back towards the house. I stood where I was, my eyes looking out into the darkness. Jethro had gone off
somewhere, but Warrior stayed beside me.
"Come on, Har," Ford spoke, from the spot where he'd stopped walking.
"Let's stay out here awhile longer," I said.
"No. I'm tired. I want to take my butt to bed. Come on."
I sighed, in defeat, and turned to follow him, as he put the light where I could see to walk.
7