We hiked all the way to the ridge, and Ivy asked lots of questions. About the area, and park regulations, and wildlife, and

all of that.

When we reached the top, we sat down to rest, drinking from our canteens, and continuing to talk about things.

I broke out my arsenal of snacks, offering a granola bar to both of them. Crane said no, but Ivy took one, peeling back

the wrapper.

They got into a conversation about the way the Mustangs and burros were being handled by the Bureau of Land Management. I

listened, filing away the information to ask Crane about later.

I thought then, too, of the opportunity when school began, of working for Ivy, in the program that Cindy had told me about.

I decided there was no harm in bringing it up. I mean, we were just sitting, and waiting to see if the Mustangs made an

appearance.

Ivy listened while I explained, and then she nodded, looking enthusiastic. "I'd be thrilled to have your help, Harlie. I can't

afford to pay a lot yet, but if you're alright with that, I'd love to give it a try."

I felt a burst of excitement, and for the first time, thought it might be alright when school began back up again.

7

We waited for forty-five minutes to an hour, but it didn't seem as though the Mustangs were going to show up.

When we all got to our feet, preparing to go, Ivy said, "Well, maybe next time," sounding regretful.

"Maybe they've gone somewhere different," I suggested. "The ones that are left, I mean. They know they aren't safe

here anymore."

"That's just heartbreaking," Ivy said.

We were about halfway back down the hillside, when Ivy said, "Look, there," pointing to a band of burros

grazing, though there was hardly any grass left. What there was, was brown, and close-cropped.

"Wow," I said, stunned. It was something, seeing that many of them together like that.

I immediately focused the camera, and started snapping some pictures.

"Can we get closer?" Ivy asked.

"We can try," Crane said.

So we did try. When we were within five hundred feet or so, the majority of the burros seemed to get

nervous at our presence, and skitter about. There must have been twenty or so of them.

So we paused, staying still.

We ended up sitting down, in the grass, watching them for a long time.

"No way to tell if your burro's here, right?" Ivy asked me.

I didn't think I could identify the male burro, from this distance. I mean, he was really marked pretty much the

same as a lot of the others, it seemed.

"Not without getting a lot closer," I said.

"I think we're as close as we're going to get," Crane said.

So, when we got up, once again, to hike back towards the Jeep, we didn't know anything more than we had

at the beginning of our foray.

"What a waste of time," I muttered, as we were climbing back into the Jeep.

"It wasn't, Harlie," Ivy denied. "I know we didn't find out anything about whether the burro you've been seeing is

sick, and I am sorry about that. But, I really enjoyed seeing the herd of them. It was an experience I never thought to

have."

I nodded, feeling a little bad for 'raining on her parade'.

"It's an experience that is going to get more and more rare, isn't it?" she asked, looking to Crane.

Crane was stowing the rifle in the back of the Jeep, and said, sounding regretful, "Yeah. That's right."

"I should have the blood samples back by tomorrow on your cattle," Ivy said, and Crane nodded.

"It will be a relief to know something," he said.

Once back at the house, Adam appeared from the barn to talk with Ivy, as she was preparing to leave.

"Keep me updated on that school project, Harlie," she told me, and then, to Adam, "I told Crane I should know

something by tomorrow about the blood work."

Adam nodded. "Thank you."

As she drove away, with a wave, down our long driveway, Adam said, "No luck today, huh?"

"No," Crane said. "We did see a herd of burros."

Adam nodded, not saying anything for a long moment.

"There's hardly any grass where they're grazing at," I said.

Immediately Adam looked concerned. "No?" he asked me.

"No."

He and Crane exchanged a look between them that I didn't quite understand.

"What?" I asked.

Adam seemed to hesitate, and then he said, "They might go looking. Foraging. If they can't find enough to eat."

I still wasn't getting it. I tilted my head at his in question.

"It means they might come down closer," Adam said. "To the ranches around here."

"Oh." I was still puzzled.

"That's not going to go over well with most folks."

Finally, it dawned. "You mean, because they'll eat what the ranchers need for their cattle?"

"Right."

"Oh," I said. I looked from him to Crane, and back again. "What can we do about it?"

"There's nothing that 'we' can do about it," Adam said, emphasizing the word 'we'. "Or more, specifically, there's

nothing that you can do about it."

I didn't understand how I'd walked right into a lecture.

"I didn't mean myself, particularly," I protested.

Adam leveled a knowing look at me. "Yes, you did," he denied.

"Well, if they're starving, isn't it better to be proactive about it?" I pointed out.

Adam sighed. "Harlie."

"What?" I asked, feeling as though I was being misunderstood.

"We'll discuss it later," he said then, with finality.

I wanted to argue, but I knew better. At least, I told myself, as we parted ways, to get back to our respective

chores, I knew better to argue at that particular moment in time.

7

When lunch was over, Hannah said she was going upstairs to lay down with Isaac. I told her I would fold

the laundry, since Clare had gone upstairs to study for her class she was taking twice a week.

While I was folding the laundry, at the kitchen table, I decided to make a batch of cookies. For two certain edgy older

brothers. So molasses cookies, and peanut butter cookies it was.

7

I was sitting outside awhile later, trying to catch a breeze after being in the hot kitchen. I was sipping at a glass of

lemonade, and rubbing Clarence's ears.

I was glad when Crane came up, and I went inside to get him a glass of the lemonade. Coming back onto the front porch,

I sat down beside him on the top step, handing him the glass.

"Thank you for going this morning," I told him.

"No problem. I wish we'd been able to find your furry friend."

I knew he was joking, but I decided to speak on. "That's how I think of him, Crane. As a friend."

He gave me a sideways look then. "I know."

"Why can't they understand, Crane?" I asked him. There was no need to identify the 'they' of which I spoke.

"If the burros have caused the problems with the cattle, then you can't expect a lovefest, Harlie. You know that. You're

not a little kid."

"I know that. I mean-well, what about earlier, when we were talking about how they might be hungry? I'm just

thinking that there has to be ways to help, that will make it easier on everybody and everything. The burros and the

ranchers, too."

"And there may well be," he said, in agreement.

Before I could get too excited by his comment, and the possibilities behind it, he crushed it by saying, "You need to learn the

meaning of 'opportune time', kiddo."

"Meaning not to badger Adam, or Brian, right?" I said. "Or shoot off my mouth?"

"That would be good."

"It's hard to be patient," I said.

"Patience is difficult," he agreed. "That's why it's called a virtue, peanut."

He nudged me in the ribs with his elbow.

"Okay," I said. with a smile. He drank his lemonade, and was saying he needed to get back to work.

"When I was getting the camera out of the wardrobe thing in your room, I saw all those papers," I told him.

At his raised eyebrow, I went on, "I wasn't snooping, Crane. Honestly."

"I believe you."

When he said no more, I pressed on. "Why do you have all that stuff? It looks really in depth. Intense."

"Trying to be better informed. That's all," he told me.

Now it was me, giving him a raised eyebrow type of look.

"That's all?" I said, doubtfully.

"Opportune time, kiddo," he said.

7

By the time Hannah came downstairs later, I had started making a casserole, with hamburger and tater tots and cheese.

"Thank you, sweetie," she told me, leaning over to look into the casserole dishes. "That looks as though it will be good."

"You're welcome. Do you think I should put the vegetables in it, or have them separate?"

"Whatever you want to do," she said, smiling at me. "It's your creation."

She saw the cookies setting about, on the platters and cooling racks.

"You have been busy," she said.

I didn't tell her that I hoped the cookies would put Brian and Adam into a better mood. It sounded silly now.

"It can't hurt," she said then, and I gave her a surprised glance.

She smiled again, and I knew she was aware of exactly what I'd been attempting to do with the two of them.

"I've been baking for them for so many years," I said. "Since I was eight or nine, I would always make their favorite

cookies-"

"I think it's sweet," she said.

Isaac was propelling himself around the kitchen in his walker, occasionally running up against Hannah or I's ankles.

At one point, I crouched in front of the walker, and said to him, "Hey, buddy, where did you get your license? You're not a

very good driver, you know that?"

Isaac reached out to tug at my hair, laughing with glee.

After that, we sat at the kitchen table, in front of the fans, drinking lemonade and looking at the Sears catalog.

Hannah was back on her topic of school clothes again.

She kept pointing out outfits, asking if I liked them.

A couple of them I said that I did like, but then added, "I really just need a couple pairs of new jeans, and maybe

a few shirts."

Hannah looked vaguely disappointed, but nodded. She knows I'm not really one of those 'fashioneesta' type of girls.

It was comfortable in the kitchen, just Hannah and I. We talked about other stuff after that. The case, and the fact

of Frank being a part of it. About Kristin, and how we wished her home life was better. About whether we thought that

Guthrie would maintain his feelings for Kristin.

It was a nice time. I realized that I'd missed it. Spending time one-on-one with Hannah. I found the

nerve to ask her if she thought she would have another baby anytime soon.

Her eyes were wide. "Well, I don't know if I will."

"But, if you could, would you want to?" I amended my question.

"If I knew that it would be a healthy baby, and it happened sometime soon, then yes, I would want to. Very much."

"That would be nice," I said, really quietly.

Hannah laughed a little. "Well, I'll admit to praying for it, now and then."

"Maybe you and Clare can go thru it at the same time," I said, thinking how cool that would be.

"I can't speak for Clare," Hannah said, laughing again.

7

When the guys all came trooping into the kitchen, ready for their supper, I already had the table set, and

Hannah began setting out the big salad that we'd prepared. I opened the oven, lifting out the two casserole dishes

filled with the meat and potatoes.

"There's a bowl of corn in the microwave," Hannah said. "Can you get it out, Ford?"

Ford obligingly got a hot pad, and lifted the large bowl of heated corn.

Hannah was quick, as always, to give me the credit for the supper.

"Harlie made it all," she said.

"That's nice, sugar," Adam said, to me. He looked tired, and wrung out. Worried.

"Including the cookies here?" Brian asked, as he paused beside the counter where the cookies were stacked onto platters.

"Including the cookies," Hannah said, when I was silent.

"Nice," Brian said, taking one of the peanut butter cookies, and biting into it. "Good. Real good," he said,

looking at me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I noticed, and so did Hannah, that Adam didn't eat much. He didn't complain or anything, but he rubbed his forehead a

couple of times. I figured he had a headache.

After supper was over, the dishwashing chart was read, and then everybody began to separate a bit.

I went thru to the living room, but only Ford and Evan were there. Guthrie was on the telephone, sitting on the

bottom stair. Hannah and Crane were still in the kitchen, as was Brian, since he had dish duty. I looked outside, thinking Adam

might be sitting on the front porch. He wasn't.

I asked Evan and Ford if they knew where he'd gone, and Ford said he thought back outside.

I went to get a cup of coffee, and a couple of the molasses cookies that I'd made, and then shook two Tylenol from

the bottle in the windowsill.

"Do you have a headache?" Hannah asked, looking concerned.

"They're for Adam," I said. "He acted as though he had a headache."

In a suddenness that surprised me, Hannah gave me a tight hug, and a smile.

7

I didn't think Adam would have gone far. Somewhere quiet, more than likely. And, I found him in the barn,

dipping a cloth in saddle soap, and polishing his saddle.

"Hi," I said quietly, and he turned to look at me.

"I didn't even hear you coming up."

I held up the coffee. "I brought you some coffee."

He paused, and wiped his hands on the cloth.

"And some cookies," I added.

"Well, thank you."

"And," I said, holding out the last objects. "A couple Tylenol. I thought you might have a headache."

Adam took the two capsules from me, and downed them with a swig of the coffee. "Was I that obvious?" he asked me.

"No. Not obvious," I assured him.

"You're just observant, huh?"

I shrugged lightly. "I guess."

He took the molasses cookies from me then. "I'm gonna sit down, so I can enjoy these," he said, and went to sit at the rear of the barn,

looking out over the back pastures.

"Pull up a hay bale," he said, patting the spot beside him.

I hesitated. "Are you sure?" I asked him. "You came out here to be alone."

"Harlie Marie. Sit down," he said.

So, I sat down next to him on the bale of hay. We sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, as he ate

the cookies, and finished the coffee. When he'd done that, he set the cup down on the floor of the barn.

"Good cookies," he said. "Darn good."

"Thanks."

"Thank you for makin' them."

"I like to bake," I said. "Cooking, not so much. But, baking, yeah."

"It's a good skill to have."

After a few moments of quiet again, looking out over the grassy pastures to the back, Adam turned to

look at me. "What's this about a school project?" he asked. "Ivy mentioned it when she was here."

"Oh." I launched into an explanation of the program, and what it entailed, and offered. I realized, belatedly, that

I probably should have mentioned it to Adam before now. I wondered if this fell into the realm of the things

that he expected to hear from me, and not from other people.

"I would have talked to you about it," I said hastily. "Or I mean, Crane would have. I can't apply until after

school starts-"

"Relax," Adam told me. "If you've run it by Crane, then I'm fine with it."

"He's still thinking about it," I admitted. "He doesn't want me to take on too much."

"No. He doesn't." Adam smiled a little. "He worries."

"Yeah," I said, in agreement. "Do you think it sounds good?"

"It sounds like a good opportunity," he said.

"I wasn't sure I'd be able to work with anybody besides Doc G. But, I like Ivy. I think I'd enjoy working with her."

"I'm sure Doc G would be proud," Adam said.

I felt quick tears spring to my eyes. "Do you think so?" I asked, feeling emotional. "I'd want him to be proud of me."

Adam wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "I think that if he's wearing a vest in Heaven right now, he's popping off the

buttons with pride in you."

At that, I buried my face in Adam's chest, and cried. I'd come out to the barn, intent on offering him comfort, and

instead, he'd supplied comfort to me.

7