During lunch, the conversation was on several topics, but none of them were about the Mustangs, or the case going on around

it. The whole family, I knew, made a concentrated effort to avoid that subject, so as to protect Kristin from any more feelings of unease.

Hannah was talking about Daniel, and how he was supposed to call when he got the chance, to let everybody know he was alright.

"It's a terrible drive," I said, without thinking, and instantly felt like kicking myself. Hannah looked even more

worried.

"Well, but he'll stop for the night," I reassured her.

"He'd better," Hannah said.

"I'll be kickin' his butt if he doesn't," Brian said, reaching for the bbq sauce.

As we were helping to clear the table, Hannah asked Kristin and I what we were going to do that night. As an afterthought,

she asked, "You're staying the night, aren't you?" to Kristin.

Kristin hesitated, and then said, "Well, I'd like to, if it's alright."

"Of course it is," Hannah told her, with a smile.

After that, everybody was talking and tossing ideas around. When Evan said that he had plans with Nancy for later, when

she got off of work, I popped up and suggested a night picnic, by the creek.

"You and Nancy can come," I told Evan. "And Ford, and maybe we could invite Trent and Lori over, too." I flicked my gaze to

Hannah for permission. "Is that okay?" I asked.

"It's fine," Hannah said.

"I don't know what Nancy had planned," Evan said.

I waved a hand at him. "She'll want to hang out here and go to the creek," I said, with confidence.

Guthrie went off to call Trent, and Kristin and I helped clean up the kitchen, and talked to Hannah about food for the picnic.

Kristin and I got to talking about how good smores would be, and I started rooting around in the cabinets for the supplies to

make them.

When I only found graham crackers and marshmallows, and not any Hershey candy bars, I turned, from where I was standing on

a step stool, so as to reach the taller cabinets, and looked at Hannah.

"No candy bars," I told her.

"Oh, well," she said.

Kristin and I exchanged looks.

"Can we go to town and get some?" I asked.

Hannah paused in her chore of putting the dried glasses away.

"You could have other snacks," she pointed out. "Right?"

"Right," I admitted. "But, gosh, Hannah, when you have a bonfire, you just about have to have smores."

Hannah looked from me to Kristin, and then back to me again. She shook her head, smiling.

"I don't mind," she said. "It hasn't been that long since there were all those guys in town, that were causing trouble, though.

Better check with Adam or Brian first about going."

I started to complain about that. It was sort of ridiculous, I thought, that she couldn't just say yes, and tell me it was

alright to go. But, I controlled myself, and got down from the step stool, and motioned for Kristin to follow me.

We were walking across the yard, and I muttered a complaint to Kristin.

"I don't see why I have to ask anybody else," I said.

"It's not a big deal," Kristin said.

I knew she was right, but it still niggled at me.

The trouble ensued when we couldn't find anybody. I mean, the entire crew of male McFaddens seemed to have

disappeared.

"Gosh darn it," I said, as we stood beside the barn, just looking in all directions.

"We can bake some cookies, instead," Kristin suggested.

"We'll just go on to town," I said. "Let me run up and grab some money."

"Hannah said to ask-" Kristin reminded me, looking slightly nervous.

"It's fine," I said, waving a hand. "I'll tell her."

Hannah, however, was on the telephone when I came back down from collecting money from my bedroom, and I just

waved, and mouthed the words, "Going to town," at her.

She waved in return, and I went on out, and down the front porch steps, walking over to where Kristin was waiting.

We were in my truck, and I had actually started the engine, ready to put it into reverse, when I paused, and just

sat there.

"What's wrong?" Kristin asked me.

I sat, my hands on the steering wheel, thinking. And, I found I just couldn't do it. To take off, even if it was just to

town to buy candy bars, after Hannah had told me to check with my brothers first, well, I just couldn't do it.

It reeked too much of my foray to Daniel's in the spring. I knew that the two things weren't even remotely

close to being the same thing. But, still. Although I could probably go to town, buy the chocolate bars, and we would be back,

and Hannah would never think to mention to Adam or anybody that she'd told me to ask them about going.

But, again, still.

It just wasn't worth it. I'd worked hard to rebuilt trust, and even though I'd occasionally 'fallen off the trust wagon',

such as the night Adam discovered me out in the dark, searching for the burro, this still felt different.

I reached down and turned off the key in the ignition, and sat back, looking at Kristin's face.

"I don't think I'd better," I told her. "Not without telling Adam, or somebody else. They'd think I was being

sneaky, and it's not worth it, just to get candy bars."

Kristin nodded in understanding, and I thought, a little bit of relief.

So we trekked back into the house, and I went to put my money away again. When I came back down the stairs, Hannah

was just hanging up the telephone.

"Adele sure can talk," Hannah said, lightly, speaking of a woman from church, who'd apparently been on the telephone. Then she

looked at me in question. "I thought you were going to town."

I could have told Hannah. She wouldn't have been mad at me or anything. She would have likely told me that

she was glad I'd made the right decision.

But, I didn't go into detail. I settled for saying, "I changed my mind. Maybe Lori or Nancy can bring some candy bars, if I ask."

Hannah nodded in approval. "Good idea," she said, with a smile.

I made a mental note to myself to give Hannah a big hug later.

7

Our evening at the creek was fun. The whole bunch of us, which included Ford, Evan and Nancy, Guthrie and Kristin,

Trent and Lori, and me, made a big bonfire on the creek bank, and roasted hot dogs and smores. We did some swimming, too, and floated

around on the old rafts we had.

There were brief moments throughout the evening, mixed here and there, that I thought of Daniel, and wished he were

here, hanging out. Swimming, and splashing around. And getting his fingers all messy with the melted marshmallows.

I felt Ford at my elbow, as he reached for another piece of chocolate.

"I miss him, too," he said, really softly, close to my ear. I turned to look at him, and nodded. He gave me a half-smile.

"Not much longer and you'll be gone, too," I said, feeling emotional. "Back to college."

"Time marches on, Har," he said.

"I don't like it," I complained.

"No way to stop it. You just have to roll with it."

"I know all that. I still don't like it."

"Daniel won't stay gone so long this time. He'll come back more often than he did before," Ford said.

"Did he say that to you?" I asked hopefully.

"Not exactly. But, I know he will."

"I hope so," I said, fervently.

7

The next morning, I got up early, stepping around Kristin, installed on her bedside cot, and took my clothes to the

bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub to pull on my jeans.

I went back into my bedroom, just long enough to grab my brush from the top of the dresser.

"Where are you going?" Kristin asked, sounding as though she was barely awake.

"Going out to ride," I told her. "Want to come?"

"Will you be mad if I say no?"

"No, silly," I said. "It's early."

"How early?"

"Five-thirty."

Kristin groaned. "Ugggh," she said.

I went out, closing the door, and down the stairs, carrying my boots in my right hand.

The living room, not surprisingly, was empty. I went on toward the kitchen, where Adam was sitting at the

kitchen table, the every-present cup of coffee in front of him. He had a newspaper spread open in front of him. Only the light over the sink was on.

"Morning," I said, quietly.

"Morning," he said, turning to look at me. "You're up early for not having gotten to bed until late."

I went to get down my favorite coffee cup, and poured coffee into it.

"I woke up, and decided to just get started on my day," I told him, sitting down in the chair just next to him.

"What time did you all wrap it up last night?" he asked.

"It was almost midnight. Lori and Trent left before that, because she always has to be in early if her dad's at

home."

"Have fun?" he asked then.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun."

"That's good," he said. "There's eggs, there on the stove."

I thought for a moment, and then got up, going to get a bowl and spoon, and the box of cereal on top of the

refrigerator. "I think I'll just have cereal," I said, going to sit back down again.

"What about your protein?" he asked.

I reached out to take a piece of toast from the plate, and spread peanut butter over it. I held it up, "Wal-la," I told him.

"Good girl," he said, taking another drink of coffee, and beginning to read the newspaper again.

I ate my toast, and then poured cereal into my bowl.

"Did Daniel call last night?" I asked.

"Yeah. He did. It was after nine."

"And he was stopping at a motel for the night?" I went on, pouring milk over my cereal.

"Yeah."

"Okay," I said, feeling relieved. "That's good, then."

Adam gave me a half-smile, and I went on. "It's exciting, isn't it? About Daniel getting to open for Eddie Rabbitt?"

"It's a good opportunity, alright," he agreed.

I was quiet for a few minutes then, eating, and half-watching Adam, as he continued reading.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked him.

"Shoot," he said, not looking up.

"Do you wish that Daniel was able to be happy here? And not leave?" I realized how that sounded and I added, "I mean, I

know he's happy when he's here, and all, but I mean, do you wish that this was enough to satisfy him?"

Adam pushed the newspaper away a bit, and sat back in his chair. He looked serious, and contemplative.

"That's a loaded question, there," he told me.

I waited, and he went on, "Part of me wishes that," he said in honesty. "I'd be content if every one of you babies stayed

right here. But, this isn't what makes Daniel who he is. It's not what completes him. So, I have to support him, and try to

smile while I'm doing it."

I was still for a moment. He'd answered me directly. Honestly. No punches pulled. And I saw the bit of sadness in his

face, though there was pride there, as well.

For a moment, I felt sort of emotional. I studied Adam, thinking how it must be for him. He, well, and Brian, too, had

been thrust into a very unusual situation, at extremely young ages.

And now, he watched us all grow up, and want to begin doing our own things, and make mistakes, and take chances. It

was just like a dad. Only he was a lot younger than a dad would be, to all of our ages.

I got up suddenly, scooting my chair away from the table, and took the couple steps to him, leaning down to

wrap my arms around his neck.

7

I went out after I ate, saddling Petra, and then I went to run the barrels. It was while I was taking a break, after making

three turns around, when I saw the male burro. He was standing to the edge of our field, his head down eating grass.

I gave a shrill whistle, and he perked his ears up, looking at me.

I rode Petra over closer, but when I got within 100 feet or so from him, he turned and scuttled away into the

grass behind him. I pulled Petra to a halt, pondering. I wondered why he'd done that. He'd been seeming to be tame,

lately, and hadn't seemed to mind at all when we were all around, helping the Jenny during her birth.

I whistled again, but all I could catch a glimpse of was his little brown behind. I wondered how he kept getting in and out of

our pastures. We'd ridden over them, checking, and hadn't found any holes.

"Dang it," I muttered. I was curious, and concerned, about the Jenny, and seeing if she had recovered from the birth.

I turned Petra back towards the house, wishing I could follow the Jack, but thinking better of it.

Back at the corral, there was commotion. Adam was holding onto a half-grown steer, while Evan tried to doctor one of its eyes.

Adam was obviously having to use all his muscles to hang on.

Brian came up from behind, and stepped in, to help control the steer, who was thrashing around.

"Hurry up, will you?" Brian told Evan, sounding irritated.

"I'm tryin' to," Evan said, sounding irritated in return.

I sat there on Petra, watching over the corral fence. When they released the steer, he ran back around the corral, flopping like

he was at a rodeo and trying to scrape a cowboy off his back.

"What's the matter with his eye?" I asked, from where I sat. "Pinkeye?"

"We can hope so," Brian said, sounding grim.

Since no rancher wants an outbreak of pink eye amongst their cattle, I found that a really strange thing for Brian to say.

"Why?" I asked.

Adam pulled off his leather gloves, shoving them into his back pocket. "Pinkeye's better than Rhino," he said.

Rhino. The very word is enough to strike anxiety into every rancher. It's an infectious respiratory disease in cattle.

"You don't really think it's that, do you?" I asked.

My answer was a big sigh from Adam, and a curt, "We'd best be finding out," from Brian.

They began talking, the three of them, and I listened to the conversation, discerning that Evan had herded the steer into the

corral early, when he noticed the eye.

They were talking, preparing to set out amongst the herd in the pasture, seeing if there were any other cattle that

were appearing to be sick, or have eye problems.

Brian gave a shrill whistle, when he saw Guthrie coming down the porch steps at the house. He motioned for Guthrie to

come over to where they stood.

"We need to mow those weeds down," Adam was saying. "Could be something as simple as weed seeds in his eye."

"His breathing, though," Evan pointed out. "There's somethin' off."

"Yeah," Adam agreed, looking discouraged.

As Guthrie loped up to join the group, he said, "What's up?"

"Get ready to ride out with Evan," Brian told him, explaining briefly about the steer, and what problems to look for in the herd.

Guthrie nodded, and went off to saddle his horse.

I was still sitting there, atop Petra, and I said, "What do you want me to do?"

They looked at me, as if they'd forgotten I was still there. Distracted. Tense.

"Ride out with everybody," Adam told me. "Take notes on the ear tags if you see anything, and jot it down. We'll have to

separate them."

I said okay, and he looked to Brian. "I'll go call the vet."

For a moment I felt a tug at my heart. It was so different to hear him say that, and to know that it wasn't Doc G that he was

talking about.

"What about the bull?" Evan asked. "Want him in the other pasture, by himself?"

"Probably better," Brian said, and Adam nodded in agreement.

"Want me to help you?" I asked Evan.

"No," Brian said, at the exact same moment that Evan replied, "I'll take care of the bull, Harlie."

"Go on into the house and get the notebook," Adam told me.

"Okay," I said, and just as I was nudging Petra into motion with my heels, I heard Brian say something about

the cause of Rhino virus, if it was that.

I pulled Petra to a stop again, turning in the saddle to listen.

He was asking Evan if the Jenny had seemed ill, besides the obvious effects of a difficult birth.

I felt suddenly so frustrated. Why automatically blame the burros?

Evan was answering, something about her breathing and all of that.

"That hard breathing was because she was in labor," I protested.

The three of them stopped talking to look at me, with varying degrees of emotion. Adam looked irritated, Evan, resigned to my

protests, and Brian, well, Brian raised an eyebrow at me and said, "Get goin'."

I bit back my next comment, and rode over to the hitching post, sliding down off Petra's back, and jogging to the

house to root thru the stuff on Crane's desk, looking for the notebook. The one that has the information in it about

the numbers of the ear tags, and what vaccinations were given on what dates.

Hannah came from the kitchen, a dishtowel in her hand, and Isaac on her hip.

"What are you looking for?" she asked me.

I told her, and explained what was going on. She immediately looked pensive. Concerned.

"Uh oh," she said.

She set Isaac on the floor, handed him a toy, and began helping me look for the notebook.

We found it under a stack of other papers, and I grabbed it, and a pen, preparing to head back outside.

"Did you eat breakfast?" Hannah asked me.

"I ate early, with Adam."

"Okay."

I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen Crane or Ford. I asked Hannah, and she said that they'd gone over to Kenny's parents,

to help his father with the chores.

I ran back outside, and mounted Petra again. Guthrie and Evan were already out in the pasture, I could see, and Adam was walking

towards the house. Going inside, I figured, to call the vet.

Brian was saddling his own horse, by the corral, keeping a covert eye on the steer, who was now just standing, not moving around much.

"I found the notebook," I told him, pulling Petra up beside him.

"Alright. Head on out."

I paused, studying him. "The Jack isn't sick, Brian. And the Jenny, she was just having a hard time, delivering the baby."

I shouldn't have used that moment to try to make a point. They were all on edge, worried about the cattle.

Brian stopped tightening the cinch on his saddle, and looked at me. "Harlie, this is not the time to promote your

crusade for those burros. The cattle are what's important. Without them, there is no us. And no ranch. Got it?"

His voice had been terse, curt, very stern. His eyes were sparkling with temper.

Before I could formulate a response, he snapped, "Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Bri. I hear you," I said.

"Then get to the job you were given. And, I don't want to hear any more about the burros."

I knew I shouldn't have used that time to defend the Jack and the Jenny, but, geez. I didn't see why he had to

be so-well, so darn prickly about it.

"Okay," I said, and then added, low, "I was just pointing something out."

If Brian had been vastly irritated a moment earlier, he was now long past that. He got calmer, though, which is

a sign of greater temper in him.

He stopped what he was doing, and stepped over to Petra, taking the side of her bridle in his hand, and looking

up at me.

"Alright," he said. "You pointed it out. I heard you. And I told you to knock it off. Can you do that now, or do I need to

pull you down from there, and explain it in a different way?"

Now, I'd done it. I had a little trouble swallowing there, for a moment or so.

"You don't need to do that," I managed.

"Alright," he said, and gave my lower leg a light pat. "Get in there and help the boys."

7