Daniel and I didn't talk the rest of the way back up to the house. About halfway back, I stepped on a burr in the grass, and I halted,

lifting my foot and brushing at the bottom of it. I could still feel the pain of the prickles, so I dropped my shoes to the ground, and rubbed

at my foot some more.

Daniel paused, and turned back, waiting on me. He didn't say anything, though. I finally stuffed my feet back into my shoes,

not even putting them on correctly, but just walking so that my heels were hanging over the back of them. And then we walked on.

Back at the house, it was nearly suppertime. We were having tacos and cottage cheese, and stuff from the garden. Tomatoes,

and radishes, and all of that.

Guthrie was talking about going bowling, and Brian and Clare decided to go, too. So it became sort of a family event at

that point. Evan said he and Nancy had other plans, but everybody else said they were going except for Daniel, and Crane, and Adam and

Hannah. I'd thought that Hannah had looked as though she'd like to go, too, and I said, "You should go, Hannah. I'll

watch the baby."

"Oh, sweetie, that's so nice of you-" she began.

"There you go," Adam said, from his end of the table. "An offer of a great babysitter."

Hannah flicked him a glance, and then said, "Well, but don't you want to go, too, Harlie?"

I shook my head. "No, it's alright. I don't mind watching Isaac."

"We could take him along," she said, looking at me, and then at Adam again. "That way Harlie could go, too."

"It's too full of smoke there for him, with everybody smoking," Adam reminded her.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot." She looked thoughtful. "I don't think you should stay home by yourself, though. Not with

everything that's happened lately. Those guys that were here could come back-"

"I'll be around," Crane spoke up, from where he was rinsing off his plate at the sink.

"No more excuses," Adam said, with a grin for her.

"Okay," Hannah agreed, and gave me a grateful smile. "Thanks, sweetie."

"No problem," I said, getting up to take my own plate to the sink.

After that, when everybody was getting up, and pushing their chairs up to the table, and Ford began running hot

water in the sink to wash the dishes, Adam spoke up.

Adam had kept his seat, and motioned with his hand. "Come sit down here beside me for a minute, Kristin."

Kristin gave me a quick glance, and wiped her hands on her jeans nervously. She went to sit down in the seat that

Brian had just vacated.

Guthrie immediately went to stand near to the back of her chair, and Adam gave him a look somewhere between

irritation and resignation, as if he knew that Guthrie would be right in the middle of the conversation.

"Sit down, Guthrie," he said, and then looked down the table to me, where I was standing, a stack of plates

in my hand.

"You too, sugar. Sit down."

I went to sit next to Adam, opposite of Kristin and Guthrie.

The kitchen quieted down a bit. Daniel and Evan left the room, and Ford and Clare began washing and drying the dishes.

Hannah stayed in her chair, and Brian leaned against the refrigerator, listening. Crane was still sitting in his spot at the table

as well.

"I hear you want to stay around here for a bit," Adam said to Kristin.

Kristin nodded, still looking a little scared. "Yes."

"How come?" Adam asked then, sort of quietly.

Guthrie broke in. "Crane told you why, didn't you, Crane?" he asked, looking over at Crane.

"Yeah, Crane told me," Adam said, and gave Guthrie another of those looks. This one more pointed. "I want

Kristin to tell me." He turned back to Kristin. "Kristin?"

"It's because of Frank. My mom took him back," Kristin said. "I just-hate being around him."

"Does your mom know you've been staying here?" Adam asked.

"I told her I was spending the night here," Kristin said, looking uncomfortable.

"Tonight?" Adam asked, looking confused.

"No. Last week," Kristin said. "When I first came over here."

"What about all the nights since then?" Adam asked.

"I haven't talked to her," Kristin admitted.

Adam's expression got all stern then.

Crane spoke up from across the table. "I didn't know that, Kris. You didn't tell me that when we talked earlier."

Kristin's face reddened. "I guess I thought it didn't matter-" she began, looking at Crane. I could tell she was pretty

shook by Crane's disappointed demeanor. She likes Crane a lot.

"Of course it matters," Adam said.

"It's not as though her mom doesn't know where she is," Guthrie protested, in Kristin's defense. "It's not like she's

a runaway, or somethin'."

"And it's not like her mom has tried to call Kristin, either," I added in.

"If you two are gonna sit into this conversation, then those sort of comments aren't helpful," Adam said.

I immediately subsided, determining to keep my mouth shut. I wasn't so certain about Guthrie, though.

"I wasn't trying to be deceptive, or anything like that," Kristin said, looking at Adam, and then Crane, and

then even behind her, to Brian.

"Well, you need to give your mom a call. Make sure she's alright with you spending a few more nights here," Adam

told her.

A few more nights? That wasn't exactly what Guthrie, and Kristin and I had wanted. We were thinking more along the

lines of weeks, or so.

"She's probably at work," Kristin said, in a weak protest. She sounded dejected, and I knew that she was

wondering about Adam's 'few more nights' comment, as well.

"She still working at the same place?" Adam asked. "The clothing store?"

At Kristin's nod, he said, "Well, call there then. Or call her when we get home from bowling tonight. But, whenever you do

get her on the phone, I want to talk to her once you're done. Alright?"

"Yes," Kristin answered.

"If she doesn't mind you being here all this time, and she tells me that when I talk to her, then you can stay."

Immediately, Kristin brightened. "Thank you!"

"I don't think it has to be a big, formal thing about it, though. Right now, let's just leave it at this, you spendin' some time

here. It doesn't have to be set in stone that it's permanent, or anything like that. Just more that you're stayin' with us, like you have

lots of times. Okay?"

"Yes, Adam," Kristin said, really quietly.

"Okay." He looked from Kristin, to Crane and Brian. "You guys got anything to add to this?"

Brian shook his head. "Nope."

Crane looked pensive, thoughtful. I thought he was going to say something to Kristin then, but he only

shook his head. "No."

After that, Adam said, "Well," in a dismissal sort of way, and stood up. Hannah followed him, and Brian went over

to help Clare dry the dishes as Ford washed.

Crane got up, too, going to refill his cup of coffee.

"Come on," Guthrie said, to both Kristin and I. We all stood up, but Kristin hesitated. "Should I talk to Crane?" she

asked, sounding unsure.

Crane had gone outside with his cup of coffee, and was leaning against the door.

"He's not mad," Guthrie said.

"I think I should talk to him," Kristin persisted. "Do you think so, Harlie?"

"Probably," I agreed.

Kristin took a deep breath, and headed towards the door going outside.

When Guthrie moved, as if to follow her, I tugged on his arm.

"You should let her talk to him by herself," I said. "It's between her and Crane. And besides, if she's gonna

stay around, and be like one of us, then she needs to do her own talking sometimes."

Guthrie gave a sigh. "Yeah," he said. "That's probably right."

7

As they all got changed and ready to go bowling, I brought some of Isaac's baby toys downstairs, and spread

a big blanket on the floor, getting ready for the evening ahead.

At one point, Adam caught me, and asked, "Sure you don't mind stayin' home tonight with Scooter?"

"I'm sure," I assured him.

"Well, I appreciate it," he said. "It'll do Hannah good to get out."

I nodded in agreement, and he reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet. He took out

a five dollar bill, and held it out to me.

"Not much for a whole night of babysitting," he said.

"It's okay," I said, not reaching for the money. "You don't have to pay me."

"I say I do," he said, in a mock gruff tone. "Now take it."

I took the five from him. "Thanks, Adam."

"The cattle will be going to market in a couple of days," he went on. "After they're sold, you'll have some

money from that."

I nodded. "I'll use some of it for my school clothes," I told him.

"Well, we'll see," he said. "It might be that we can manage those for you."

I thought back to earlier, when Daniel had pressed Adam to take some cash. I still thought, though Daniel hadn't

seen fit to enlighten me, that there might be money troubles brewing.

"I'm nearly grown," I told him. "You shouldn't have to be paying for everything I need."

For a moment, Adam looked somewhat amused. "Nearly grown, huh?" he asked me, his eyes twinkling a little.

"Uh huh," I said.

"Well, we'll see," he said again. He kissed the top of my head, and went off upstairs, no doubt to change his shirt.

7

When they'd all gone, piled into several vehicles, headed for Angels Camp, Crane sort of took a deep breath, and

let it out. "Wow. Some peace and quiet," he said.

I snuggled Isaac closer. "Unless Isaac decides to get rowdy," I said jokingly.

Crane leaned in close and tickled Isaac. "You're not going to do that, are you, Scooter?"

The baby chortled in glee at Crane's attention, and grabbed at Crane's finger.

Daniel, who was sitting on the end of one of the couches, said, "How come no date with the beautiful teacher tonight?"

"She's out of town," Crane said, in reply.

The three of us played a game of Uno, while Isaac grabbed for the cards.

"Draw four," Daniel said, with a triumphant grin at Crane, as he laid down the card.

"Hmm," Crane said, and began to draw four cards from the pile.

It was while he was doing that, that we could hear a vehicle engine from outside, and the sound of

a door slamming.

"Somebody's home," Daniel said.

"Surely not yet," Crane said.

There was a knock at the front door then. "I'll get it," Daniel said, and got up, going towards the door and

opening it.

I had shifted Isaac, who was getting heavy, to my other shoulder.

"Hey, Daniel," I heard someone say.

"Hey, Kenny," Daniel responded.

Kenny. I was surprised. We hadn't seen hide nor hair of Kenny for weeks, ever since he and Guthrie had had the

argument because Kenny wouldn't stay around to face Adam and Brian.

"Guthrie 'round?" I heard Kenny ask.

"Naw. He's in town. Bowling," Daniel said.

"Oh."

"Come on in," Daniel said, stepping aside and opening the door wider.

"Aw, that's okay. I oughta be goin'," Kenny was saying.

Crane had gotten up, and gone over to the doorway as well.

"Hey, Crane."

"Kenny," Crane greeted him.

"I was just gonna talk to Guthrie," Kenny went on, talking fast. "But Daniel says he's not home."

"No," Crane said. "Come on in, though."

"I can't really stay long," Kenny was protesting, though he came into the house, and Daniel let the screen door

shut behind him. He stood there, shifting from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable.

I sat where I was, still at the card table where we'd been playing cards.

"Hi, Harlie," Kenny said.

"Hullo, Kenny," I responded. It was awkward, I'll say that. My opinion of Kenny was pretty darn low. I was still sure

that he'd been up to things. And that there was a reason why Warrior had nearly bitten him. Still, a part of me, a small

part, felt sorry for Kenny. He just looked so darn uncomfortable, and almost sort of lost, standing there.

"How's your dad?" Crane was asking him.

"He's doin' some better. He's been goin' to his treatments and all. He gets pretty sick after he has one of those."

"Mmm," Crane said, with a nod.

"He sure appreciated the help you and Ford gave him the other day," Kenny was saying.

"That's alright," Crane said.

I wondered about that. I hadn't known that Crane and Ford had gone over to Kenny's house to help out.

There was a moment or so of silence, and then Crane put a hand on Kenny's shoulder. "How about a piece of pie?"

he offered, turning to walk back into the living room.

"No, thanks," Kenny refused. "I better be goin'."

"Guthrie ought to be around tomorrow, if you wanna talk to him then," Daniel was saying.

"Sure. Alright, thanks," Kenny said. He paused at the door to look back, towards Daniel and Crane. "Can I talk to Harlie for a minute?" he asked.

To say I was shocked would be correct. I couldn't imagine what Kenny would want to talk to me about. It wasn't as though

we were on good terms. But I knew that he wouldn't be trying to start an argument or fuss with me. Not with Daniel and Crane

right nearby. And besides, Kenny looked, well, he looked beat-down. I didn't think he was really up to fussing with

anyone at that moment.

Crane looked towards me. "I guess that's up to Harlie," he said. "It's alright with me."

I hesitated. I had to admit, I was a little curious. I stood up, and Crane reached out to take the baby from me.

As I passed by Daniel, and went out onto the front porch, and Kenny followed, reaching to pull the door closed, Daniel said, "We'll leave the door open."

He said it casually, but he said it. I knew what he meant, and I knew that Kenny knew, too.

I paused, gesturing to the porch swing. "Want to sit down?" I offered.

"Can we walk?" he asked.

"I guess," I said.

"Just a little ways," Kenny said, as if to reassure me.

"Okay," I said, thinking that he was acting more like the 'old' Kenny.

So we went down the steps, and began walking towards the corral. I leaned against the rails, and turned to

look at him. The light of the yard pole light shone pretty brightly, plus the lights on the front porch that Daniel had left on.

I waited. Kenny sat down on the bale of hay near the gate, a few feet from where I stood.

He sighed, and just sat there, looking out into the dark of the pasture. Jethro Bodine came up, sniffing at Kenny, who

reached out to rub the dog's ears.

"Where's your dog?" he asked then, referring, I knew, to Warrior.

I wondered if he was trying to start an argument then. "He's around," I said shortly.

"I'm surprised he's not over here, tryin' to take a chunk out of me again," Kenny said. But his tone wasn't

combative. He just sounded tired.

I thought about saying something smart-aleky, like did Warrior have a good reason for doing that before? But I didn't. I

kept still. Watching Kenny and waiting.

When the silence finally became too long for my patience, I said, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I dunno really," Kenny said, with a shrug. "There's a lot to say, but I don't know if I'm up to it."

Now, I really was mystified. What was he talking about?

"You been doin' a lot this summer?" he asked then. "Goin' out?"

"Not really."

"Yeah. Me, neither," he said.

There was silence again.

"You think Guthrie will talk to me?" he finally spoke.

"I don't know," I said, in honesty. "He was really angry."

"Yeah," Kenny said, with a sigh.

"All you can do is try," I said.

I don't know why, exactly, but Kenny looked so down, so worked over, that I offered up some hope.

"Guthrie cares about you. You guys have been friends for a long time," I said.

"Since we were five," Kenny said, looking up at me.

"Yeah."

"I've been a jerk to you, Harlie," he said, unexpectedly. "I'm sorry about it."

I hesitated. Kenny had been a jerk so many times this summer. Which 'it' was he talking about?

"Yeah," I said, quietly, in agreement. I didn't know what to say exactly. It wasn't just the verbal fighting that Kenny and I

had done. It wasn't the making out he'd attempted in the basement with me. I still thought there was something about he and

Warrior that didn't add up. That was the major issue, as far as I was concerned.

And then, with a such a suddenness that I didn't see it coming, Kenny covered his face with his hands, and sort of bent over, and

began to cry. Not cry. Sobbing. He was sobbing.

I didn't have a clue what to do. Yet I could not just stand there.

I went over and sat down on the bale of hay beside Kenny. I patted his back.

"What is it?" I tried asking.

There was no response. Only sobbing.

I'd never seen a boy cry that way before. It was a little disconcerting, to be honest. And Kenny, of all people? Kenny was

happy go lucky, cocky, confident, smart-alecky.

"Kenny," I said softly, trying to reach him. "What is it?"

Kenny mumbled some things, but I couldn't make head nor tails of it.

"I'll be right back," I said, and stood up.

Kenny made an attempt to curtail his sobs. "Stay," I heard him say.

"I'll be back. You stay right here," I ordered, trying to sound authoritative.

And then, I ran back across the yard to the house, and up the front steps. I was running so quickly that I nearly stumbled

over a step. I went inside. Isaac was sleeping in his bassinet beside the couch, and I could hear voices coming from the kitchen.

I burst thru the doors to the kitchen, breathless. Daniel and Crane were dishing up heaping bowls of ice cream, and Daniel was

swirling chocolate syrup over the top of his.

"Hey, squirt," Daniel said. "Grab some before it's gone."

I stopped, and they both looked at me in startled curiousity.

"Crane," I managed, before I had to stop to talk another breath.

"What's wrong?" Crane asked, looking immediately concerned.

"It's Kenny," I said.

Crane came over closer to where I stood. "What about Kenny?"

Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with the oddity and emotion of the whole thing, seeing Kenny like that.

"Oh, Crane, it's awful!" I burst out. "He's crying! And he won't stop!"

"Crying? Why?" Crane asked, as Daniel came over to stand beside us, still holding his bowl of ice cream.

"I don't know, he can't even talk without crying! Will you come?"

"Yeah," Crane said, and as he walked quickly thru the living room, and outside, I followed, and Daniel came along,

though he paused at the front door.

I saw that Kenny had moved from his spot on the bale of hay to get into the cab of his truck. He hadn't started the motor. He was

just sitting there.

I hung back, watching as Crane went over to the truck, and put his hands on the rolled-down window frame.

It seemed that Kenny wasn't crying so hard right now. I could hear Crane saying something, really low, and Kenny's

quiet reply. And then Crane opened the door to the truck.

"Let's go inside," he said.

Kenny mumbled something I couldn't hear. It must have been a protest, because Crane said, "It's alright. We can talk. Come on, Kenny."

I hadn't realized that I was holding my breath, until I saw Kenny step out of the truck.

7