When I got home that day, after work with Ivy, I went into the house and dropped my book bag by the couch. Jill was coming down the stairs, carrying

an armful of quilting material.

"Look, Harlie," she said, in greeting. She set down part of the armful in the nearby chair, and held up another, smaller piece. I went closer to look at it,

and saw it was part of the quilt project, completed.

"You got that done today?" I asked, reaching out to touch the beginnings of the finished quilt. "Wow."

Jill looked all sparkly. Her eyes were bright, and her cheeks were full of color.

"Yeah. It's looking good, I think."

"It really is," I said in agreement. I meant it.

"I'd forgotten how much fun it was to do."

Hannah came bustling into the living room, wiping her hands on a towel.

"Hey, sweetie," she said to me.

"Hey."

"Adam and Brian are going to a Cattleman's Meeting tonight," Hannah said. "Adam wanted me to let you know. He said you can have your

talk with both of them when they get home."

"I didn't know they had a meeting tonight," I said. I'd had myself all psyched up to talk to them fairly soon after I got home. Now it would be after

supper, as there was usually a meal at those meetings. Maybe eight or nine o'clock even. ,.

"It was a sudden pop-up meeting," Hannah explained. "They called about ten this morning. One of the older men wanted to discuss some things before

the next meeting."

"Okay," I said.

When Hannah had gone back to the kitchen, Jill gave me a look and said, "So-going to have the talk with them about yesterday, huh?"

I nodded.

"You don't look happy about it," Jill said, a smile at the corner of her mouth.

"I'm not. But I have to."

"They're pretty-" she paused. "Stern, sometimes. Aren't they?"

"Yeah. They are that." I sat down on the couch, to pull off my school shoes.

"Are they going to come completely unglued?" she asked, then.

"They're going to be mad, for sure."

"They're not going to-hit you, are they?" Jill asked, looking grave.

I widened my eyes at her in surprise. She sounded worried.

"What? No," I said.

"Daniel told me how a couple of times when he was younger how Brian took him to the barn-" Jill said, her voice trailing off.

Jill looked so unsettled that I didn't think I should tell her that I'd been to the barn myself, at least once.

"Well, they don't not believe in spanking," I said. "But they never made a regular thing of it."

"Oh. Okay," she said. "I had a foster father once-he liked to use his fists."

I stood up, looking at her in horror. "On kids?" I asked, aghast.

"Yep. He'd just double back-" Jill raised her own fist and gave it a fast thrust. "And let go."

"Like, not a slap?" I asked, still shocked. "Like with his full fist?"

"Full on," Jill said. "In the face."

"My brothers would never, not to one of us-" I said. "Daniel didn't say that, did he-"

"No!" Jill waved her hand. "He didn't say anything like that. I just-well, I'm glad that none of y'all had to go thru anything like that."

I wanted to ask her if it had happened to her, the fist in the face. But, I didn't. At least right then.

7

Crane was out for supper with Ivy, so it was just Hannah, Jill and Daniel, me and Guthrie, and Clare at the supper table. It was fun. Guthrie

told jokes and Daniel and he were cutting up and being silly, until all us girls were in stitches laughing. I wasn't even feeling all that nervous, at least for

the moment, about telling Adam and Brian. I probably would, right before, but for the moment, I was light-hearted.

Supper was over, and Clare went to take a bath. Guthrie and Daniel disappeared, and Hannah, Jill and I were doing up the dishes. I had my hands

in the soap suds, while Jill was drying, and Hannah was wiping down the table. We heard the front door opening and then closing, and

boot steps walking.

"Home from the meeting," Hannah said, and went to greet Adam as he appeared at the doorway of the kitchen.

"Hello, cowboy," she greeted him, with a quick kiss.

Adam put his hand on her waist. "Hey."

"There's cake left over," Hannah said. "If you and Brian want some."

"I made it," Jill said, "But noone else got sick from it, so I think you're safe." She gave Adam a tentative smile.

"Not right now," Adam said. And, then, abruptly, he said, "Harlie," in a hard tone.

I looked up from my dish washing, startled.

"Come out on the porch," he said, then, and turned to walk away.

I blinked after him, still startled, and filled with a sense of foreboding. Hannah turned to look at me, and then at Adam as he walked away.

Then she walked after him, and I knew she was going to see what was up.

I dried my hands on a dish towel.

Jill was watching me, not saying anything. I laid the towel down and went thru to the living room, and then hesitated at the screen door. Brian was

half-sitting on the porch railing, his arms crossed, and Adam was leaning against one of the porch columns, while Hannah stood beside him.

I pushed the screen open with the tips of my fingers, letting it shut softly behind me, and not slam.

I stood there, feeling hesitant and nervous.

I wasn't sure what was going on...but both of them were exuding anger for sure.

"What's wrong?" I asked, warily.

"Why don't you tell us?" Brian prompted, with almost a glare at me.

"I don't know what you mean, Bri," I said, in faint protest.

"Harlie-" Hannah began, but Adam held up a hand.

"No, Hannah. Let Harlie tell it," he said, and Hannah went quiet, looking at me with silent sympathy.

I was genuinely puzzled. I would have thought it might be about yesterday, and Leo-but Jill hadn't said anything, and I hadn't had a chance to tell

them, so...

"No idea at all, huh?" Adam said.

"No," I said.

"Can't think of a thing, huh?" Brian shot off.

I forced myself to meet his eyes, and then Adam's, too. "No. I don't know what you guys are talking about. Honestly."

"Honestly, huh?" Brian countered, and I felt my face flush hot. I got his meaning, alright. Hinting that I wasn't attempting honesty at all.

"I'd tell you if I did know-" I said, feeling as though I wanted to cry.

Adam had apparently had enough of the waiting, and the whole 'letting me think on my own' way of questioning.

"Milt Johnson was at the meeting tonight," he said, abruptly.

I waited. Okay. What was that supposed to mean to me?

"He saw you in town yesterday afternoon," Adam added.

Ah. My brain kicked into gear. Mr. Johnson, aka Big Mouth, must have seen me talking to Leo.

"This is about Leo, then," I surmised, slowly.

"Yeah. This is about Leo," Adam confirmed.

"Gold star," Brian said, darkly, and my face got hot again.

I knew they already knew about Jill seeing Leo, and talking to him, so I began with that.

"I was going to the bank for Ivy, and I saw Jill talking to him," I said. "In front of the store. And I was watching, because I thought

if he did something, or got rough with her, that I'd go get Daniel and Crane."

They were both staring at me, or actually glaring, more like.

"Watching doesn't explain how you got face to face with him," Adam said. I heard the warning in his tone, and I knew I'd best be explaining

the rest.

"Milt says it looked as though he was threatenin' you," Brian said, the anger so tight in his jaw that I feared for his teeth cracking.

I paused, thinking. Leo hadn't actually threatened me, though he'd for sure frightened me...

"Damn it, Harlie," Brian swore, misunderstanding. "This is not the time for you to be sifting thru the truth, deciding what to say."

"I'm not!" I protested. "That's not what I'm doing!"

"Get on with it then," Brian said, pushing off from the railing a bit, and uncrossing his arms.

"He kicked a cat," I said, so quietly, that Adam tilted his head.

"What?" he asked.

I sighed. "He kicked a cat. There was a stray cat that came around from the back of the store, and it went by his feet-and he kicked it really hard."

"A cat," Brian said, and not as a question. More as in a 'you're kidding' sort of way. As if he couldn't believe it.

"And after he did that?" Adam prompted.

"I told him he was a jerk," I admitted. I tried not to appear to be cowed, but held my chin up, and faced them both.

"Unbelievable," Brian said, and turned to face the other way, looking out towards the pastures. I knew he was hanging onto his temper by

a thin thread.

"Oh, it's believable," Adam countered, furiously. "Unfortunately."

I hadn't known Jill was standing there, on the other side of the screen door, listening, but she must have been, because she came out, now.

"Harlie was trying to help," Jill said.

Adam turned his fury towards her. "She had no business trying to to help you in that situation, Jill."

"I agree," Jill said. "But, the fact is-she did try. And I don't think she should be getting yelled at about it."

I stared at Jill, thinking she must have a death wish of some kind. She was just making things worse. For herself, and for me.

Brian turned back, and took a few steps closer to Jill.

"You've got no say in this," he told her. "It's between Harlie, and us. You've done enough."

Ouch. I winced, feeling that for Jill.

To her credit, Jill didn't show any nerves at his tone or words.

"You can be mad at me if you want to be," she said. "But, I would never have let Leo hurt Harlie. And, I still don't think she should be called on the carpet or whatever

like this. She-"

"Oh, you're not excluded from being in our bad books," Brian said. "And, maybe if somebody had called you on the carpet a few times when you were

younger, you wouldn't be so willful and impulsive at your age."

I waited for Jill to lose her cool, and fly at Brian with words, or maybe even worse-but she didn't. She shocked me when she just looked sort of

sadly at Brian, and shrugged. "Maybe so," she said. She gave me a sympathetic look. "I tried," she said, quietly, and turned to go back into the house, letting

the screen door flap loudly behind her.

I let out a breath that I hadn't known I was holding in. And, then, I looked back at Adam and Brian. I guess Hannah thought she wasn't going

to accomplish anything, or be able to help me out, or whatever, because she also gave me a sad sort of smile, and went inside, too.

"So-he kicked the cat, and you called him a jerk," Adam said. "What happened then?"

"Jill came over to me-" I began.

"She came across the street to you?" Adam interrupted.

"No. I was already across the street."

"You'd already crossed the street to where they were?" Adam asked. "You didn't mention that. You said that were on your way to the bank, and were

watching from there."

"Oh. Well, yeah, I already went to the other side of the street," I admitted.

"Good Lord," Brian muttered.

"Alright," Adam said, sounding even more grim, as if he was forcing out the words. "You were across the street, and Jill came over to you. What then?"

"She told me to go, and that she'd be coming right along," I said.

"But, you didn't do that," Brian said, flatly.

I didn't say anything. There was no answer to that.

"Go on," Adam said, quietly.

"Leo came over to us while we were talking, and-he called me Rodeo Queen, and said I had a big mouth. That I was cute, but I had a big mouth,"

I admitted. "Jill told him to leave me alone-and then-we went back across the street."

"That's it?" he asked, sounding skeptical.

"He called Jill a bitch. And he told her to remember their plans. And she said she wished he was face down in the street or something like that," I

said. I felt wrung out.

"He threatened you," Brian said, as a statement, not a question.

"He didn't, really," I said. "He was scary. The way he looked at me-but he didn't say he was going to hurt me or anything like that. He said he'd see me later."

They both stood, looking at me, the fury still radiating off of them.

"Do you know what that felt like tonight?" Adam asked. "Going to a meeting, and being told by somebody else that you'd been in that sort of

situation? That sort of danger? Milt said he was ready to step in, and then you and Jill walked away."

I wasn't sure if that was something that required an answer or not. At this point, I had no guideline to go by.

"I'm sorry you heard it like that," I said. I don't know if I sounded flippant, or something, but Brian shook his head, and

said, "You're makin' my palm itch, Harlie."

I eyed him warily, feeling my stomach knot up.

"I mean it," I said.

"I'm not supposed to hear things from other people," Adam said, in a reminder of last summer on our camping trip. When he'd told me to

always be straight with him, and that he wanted me to tell him things, and not have him hear it from others. He didn't sound so angry now. More

like he was sad at me.

"You weren't supposed to hear it from someone else," I said. I meant because I'd planned to tell them myself-but I guess it sounded as though I

meant that they just should not have been told at all.

"Alright, that's it," Adam said, curtly. "Go to your room, Harlie. We're done talking."

I blinked, startled at his abrupt order. "I meant that I was going to tell you," I said, hastily. "Tonight. I asked you this morning if I could talk to you

both later today. Remember?"

They were watching me, again, steadily. Neither one looked relenting as yet.

"This is what I was going to talk to you about," I said, desperate to defend myself. "I was going to tell you-and explain about it."

They were both still silent. My knees felt sort of wobbly, facing them. They can be really, really intimidating.

"I know it was stupid of me to do," I said. "I didn't want to have to get Crane and Daniel, because I was worried about them getting into a

fight-but I should never have yelled at Leo that way, or put myself in that situation. I know that."

By now, I wished that one or both of them would say something. Only they still did not.

"Should I go to my room now?" I asked, meekly. I mean-since they were neither one of them saying anything at all-just fixing those

still-angry stares at me...

Then, in a move so swift that I could not have seen it coming, Brian took my chin in his hand, and not too gently, either.

"You're not some Big Bad Betty," he said, furiously. "So you stop actin' as if you are." He gave my chin another tug. "You understand me?"

I couldn't even answer with words. I was all choked up and my eyes were filled with tears. I nodded in answer, and he dropped his hand.

I stood there, trying to hold back the tears, and Adam said, "What were you doing before? The dishes?"

I bobbed my head in answer, and he said, more quietly, "Go finish them up. Unless Hannah's already done that. If she has-" he paused,

as if he was thinking. "If she has-then you do your shot, and get your snack, and go to bed."

"Okay," I managed to say. I hesitated, so darn cowed down by this point that I had to work up my nerve to say another word. "Should I do

my homework?"

I didn't know if he was so mad that he was telling me to get into bed and go to sleep, or if he meant for me to stay in my room and do

homework until bedtime.

"Yeah, Harlie," Adam said, as if he was holding onto his patience. "Do your homework."

I let my eyes sweep over both of them once more, and made my escape.

7