An expanse of soft new grass, close to a stream, was the chosen spot for the picnic. The children unloaded the carriage and spread out the blankets, anchoring the corners with rocks. Food was unpacked and placed in the middle of the blankets. Even Julia helped.

Heath and Sarah walked to the edge of the stream, talking, while Nick, Will, and Daniel unloaded the fishing gear and walked a short distance upstream to find a good spot. Then they immediately returned to the blankets for food, leaving the gear to mark the spot for their afternoon activity.

It was a warm sunny day and the weather, combined with the informality of a picnic, had everybody relaxed and enjoying themselves. Jarrod caught up with the party not long after and sat with Jane to eat lunch. Julia was especially glad that the normal rules of sitting in one place did not apply and she kept getting up and walking around the outside of the circle of family, food in hand, and stopping to visit with various people. Without James at his side, Daniel was made a little more vulnerable to his little sister's attentions and the two engaged in some minor squabbles; one or both their parents intervening to prevent any all-out battles.

Wet manure is heavy and James worked every muscle of his 10-year-old body to lift each shovelful into the wheelbarrow. Pushing the wheelbarrow, however, was almost too much for him. He managed to get one load out to the compost heap but Tom could see the effort would also wear the boy out in no time at all. As it was, he figured the boy wasn't making good enough time to finish scraping the barn and clear the field of rocks.

"Tell you what, Kid," Tom said, "I'll take the wheelbarrow out to the heap and we'll save the field for another day."

"I have to do this all by myself," James said, almost frantic, "or I'll get whipped!"

Tom stood and considered, then said, "I'll talk to my father. He'll understand." Watching his young cousin, Tom thought scraping the barn was a big enough job to get the point across to the child. With the job ahead looking a little more manageable now, James set to scraping the barn with renewed energy and intention.

Jarrod, Nick, and Nick's two sons, Will and Daniel, sat lined up along the river, having some success at hooking fish. "What about you, Daniel?" Jarrod asked, "What do you want to do when you grow up?"

Daniel had never really given it much thought. He guessed he would work on the ranch.

"You know," Will said to his brother, choosing his words carefully, "going off to college doesn't mean you have to be gone for good. You could study engineering and bring that learning back to help the business."

Nick knew the comment was more his benefit than for Daniel's and stopped to think about what the future might hold for his sons and for the ranch. He considered that perhaps it wasn't all up to him how things turned out.

Grace gave lessons in tossing a lasso to Audra, Jane, Vicky, and Ellie. This involved a lot of laughing. Julia had also played with a rope with great enthusiasm but was soon asleep with her head on her mother's lap.

Leah and Carrie already knew how to throw a lasso and weren't much interested anyway. They had been away from school and friends for several days now since their grandmother died and they found themselves talking about mutual friends and upcoming social events. Neither girl ever felt they had much in common with the other before this. All the same, they did know each other very well.

"Leah?" Sarah said. Leah turned her attention from Carrie to her mother. "Have you ever thought about going to college?" In fact, Leah had, but she wasn't sure she wanted to and she wasn't sure how her parents would respond if she talked to them about it. And, at fourteen, there was plenty of time to decide.

Heath sat close to Sarah, on the edge of the blanket and smiled at his daughter, "Your mother and I think it might be a good thing for you to think about."

"Leah!" Carrie said, "I think it's a great idea for you! You're always reading about something. You could become a teacher or even a doctor. You could write a book about plants."

"Your Aunt Jane has offered to have you come to San Francisco and look into it," Sarah said.

Carrie was crushed. She wanted to go to San Francisco, too. Why didn't Aunt Jane invite her? Her mother didn't seem very warm to the idea when she mentioned it the night before, however. Maybe, she thought, Aunt Jane had talked to her about it and she said no, her daughter couldn't possibly go to San Francisco. Her mother just didn't understand that there was more to the world that this silly old ranch. Maybe her mother and Aunt Jane didn't think she was good enough for San Francisco. Well, they were just old ladies who were stuck in their ways. She then stood up and joined the lasso lesson, making sure to stand close to her Aunt Audra.

As the afternoon wore on, the ranch hands not out with the herd started drifting back from town. Several stopped to watch James, who had the majority of the barn scraped. His body was more exhausted than he'd ever known it could be, and his determination was starting to flag when one of the hands called out to him, asking him what he'd done to "piss off the bosses."

"He didn't follow orders and went did as he liked," Tom explained, "and got himself and Daniel lost and in danger."

Another hand, a muscular, suntanned cowboy, an actual, honest-to-goodness cowboy, looked at James and said, "Oh, no, Boy! If Nick Barkley or Heath Barkley tell you to do somethin', you do it and if'n they tell you not to do something, then, for Christ's sake, don't do it!" At that, James set out anew to finish his task and make sure that barn was scraped clean.

By the time the family made it back from the picnic, the sun was laying low in the sky, and James had scraped the entire barn, pig sty included, down to its dirt floor. The hands were hauling hay down from the loft and the cows, pregnant, nursing, and cows for milking were coming in from their pasture.

The day's catch was left outside the kitchen door and all Barkley men, Will and Daniel included, headed out to the barn while Sarah and Audra cleaned the fish. Tom explained to his father that there wasn't time to clear the field of rocks but said nothing about himself hauling the wheelbarrow out to the heap. He didn't think it would matter to his father but it mattered to James: He was very grateful.

"Ya did good son," Nick told James, and patted him on the shoulder. It was all he said though he was impressed by the job the child had done. Daniel stood on a fence rail, leaning over, and exclaimed, "Wow!" at the site of the barn.

"Uncle Nick, Uncle Heath," James said, "I will never, ever, go against your orders again." He meant it. He was also covered in manure and sweat and Jarrod told him to go get cleaned up for dinner.

Daniel was glad to have James back at his side at the table, even if he wasn't too happy about eating fried fish – or any kind of fish – for dinner. Julia, on the other hand, loved fish and this was a lucky thing for Daniel as he sat next to her and kept scooping his fish over onto her plate. He and James were highly amused as she continued to eat, unaware that her helpings never seemed to diminish. The two boys poked each other's ribs and laughed together the rest of the evening.