The rest of Sunday moved at a slow pace. Brian made hamburgers for supper, and we all gathered in the living room to eat, instead of

in the kitchen. Guthrie and I drug out the tv trays, and, when there wasn't enough of those, everyone else used the coffee table or laps for

those plates. I sat on the floor, cross-legged, holding my plate, and Daniel took the spot beside me, doing the same.

Hannah asked Daniel how long he was going to be able to stay.

"I think I'd better head out early Tuesday," Daniel said. "I'll work another day at the building tomorrow. I don't want to leave Jill

much longer alone."

Hannah nodded. "I'll pack you up some food to take with you on the drive back."

"That'd be great, sis," Daniel told her.

"Even if you're not stopping for meals, you still need to find a motel overnight Tuesday," Adam spoke up. "That drive's too

long to drive straight thru by yourself."

Adam still looked out for the others, besides just us younger kids. That, I supposed, was what being a parent was about. You

never stopped worrying over your kids. Adam had told me that enough times. I'd heard Adam tell Evan once that he might be

grown, but he was never too grown not to hear advice or get told off.

I'd found that particularly amusing, and I'd had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing, so they wouldn't know I'd overheard

their conversation. And now here he was, telling Daniel to stop and take a break from driving.

"I'll see how I do," Daniel said, in response to Adam's direction.

Adam looked up from his Sunday newspaper and lowered it to give Daniel a look.

"I mean it, Dan'l," he said.

Daniel gave Adam a half-way grin. "I hear you, big brother," he said.

When we were finished eating, and talking about getting dessert from the kitchen, I turned to look at Daniel.

I considered myself knowledgeable about that long, brutal drive from Murphys to Nashville.

"You will, won't you?" I asked him, quietly, so no one else could hear me.

"I will, what?" he asked.

"You will stop somewhere tomorrow night, and not keep driving," I said.

"I'll be alright, squirt," Daniel said. He stood up, and then held out a hand to help me up. I followed him out to the kitchen with

our plates, and took another alone chance to say to him, "Maybe I'll be like Adam and order you to."

"Oh, yeah?" Daniel asked, with a raised eyebrow, and a grin.

"Yes. Maybe I have my own handbook," I told him. When he leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms, looking amused,

I said, "You know-the younger sister's rule book."

"Aha," Daniel said.

I stepped over closer to Daniel, and leaned into him. He uncrossed his arms, and returned the hug, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"And my rule book will have so many more rules," I went on. "And be stricter than yours. That way you have to listen to me."

"I'm the one who gets to boss you, young lady. Not the other way around," Daniel said.

I looked up at him, running my eyes over his face lovingly. "I'm not joking now, Daniel. You might fall asleep while you're driving."

Just the thought of that, the horribleness of it, made me nearly tearful.

"Please do what Adam says," I said, nearly in a whisper.

"I will," he said.

"You promise?"

"I promise," Daniel said, and kissed my forehead.

"I can come after school tomorrow and help out at the building," I said. "Work off some of the money I borrowed."

"Okay. You be able to get your homework done if you do that?"

"I'll manage my time," I told him, and he nodded.

"What'd you need the money for?" he asked me, then. "I didn't ask you."

I hesitated, looking at him. "I loaned it to Kristen," I said.

"Oh. Well, you can pay me back when she gives it back to you," he suggested.

"I don't know if she will pay it back," I said, in honesty. "I mean-it may take her awhile. So-I'll just pay you back myself."

"That doesn't sound very fair to you," Daniel said, looking vaguely disapproving.

"It's no big deal," I said. "Besides, I want to be with you-before you have to leave Tuesday."

"Okay," he said. "But, you shouldn't loan her any more money until she pays you back," he said.

7

Before bed, I was brushing my teeth when Crane was coming up the stairs and past the bathroom on the way to his own

bedroom.

I spit out my toothpaste, and stepped out to catch him.

"After school tomorrow, I thought I'd stop and help out at the building for awhile," I said. "I'll still get my chores and homework

done."

Crane had paused to listen to me. "No more than an hour or so if you have a lot of homework," he said. "Alright?"

I bobbed my head in agreement. "If all my grades are up at the end of this week, can I work for Ivy Saturday?"

Crane looked as though he was considering for a couple of moments, and said, "C-plus or above in everything, then you can work Saturday," he said.

I came closer and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks!"

"Let's take it week by week for awhile," he said.

Disappointed, I said, "ivy wouldn't know then, though, if she could count on me being there on Saturdays. If it's up in the air like that."

"True," he said, and my hopes rose that he was going to agree.

"I think it's best we move slow on things, kiddo," he said.

I deflated a bit. "Okay," I said, reluctantly.

"Alright." Crane paused, instead of going on down the hallway to his bedroom.

"Kristen's not doing so well, huh?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No."

He was looking at me regretfully, and I said, "I'm still going to be her friend, Crane."

He didn't say yes or no. He just had that look on his face. A sad look.

"You think that's right, don't you?" I asked him.

"I don't know just what I think right now about it, Harlie. It sounds as though Kristen's on a fast spiral down."

"She has hardly anybody though," I pointed out. "Her family's nothing-and she doesn't have many friends, and now she doesn't

have Guthrie."

"Guthrie's not to be blamed for wanting to separate himself from Kristen and her situation, Harlie," Crane said.

"I know that!" I said, in a hurry. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just-I feel for her. I can't imagine what it's like for her, having nobody

to depend on."

"I could try talking to her," he said. "I don't know if I'd get anywhere, but I'm willing to try."

"She likes you," I said. "She's always admired you, and I'm pretty sure she cares what you think. But-she said she doesn't want to

talk to you. I already tried to get her to."

"Okay," Crane said, not looking surprised at what I said.

I brushed some toothpaste from the corner of my mouth. "Well-" I said.

"Yeah. I'm headed to bed," he said.

"Me, too, after I finish brushing my teeth."

Crane patted my cheek. "Alright. Night, kiddo."

"Night," I told him.

7

Kristen wasn't at school the next day. At least I didn't see her, and our school isn't that large, so unless we just missed seeing each

other in the halls, she wasn't there. I thought about her, and worried a bit, but I also had my mind on my classwork, and my assignments, and

then after school, I headed to Daniel's building.

I passed the park, and Kristen was sitting on a picnic table, talking with another girl, who I didn't recognize. There was a white car parked there

as well. I hesitated, but pulled in to park. My window was rolled down and I waved at her. She waved back, and motioned me over to where she sat.

I paused, considering, and then I got out, walking over to where she was.

"Hey, Harlie," Kristen said, in greeting.

"Hi."

The other girl was sitting beside Kristen on the picnic table, with her feet on the bench seat. Up closer to her, I saw that she looked a lot

older than Kristen or I.

"This is Marcie," Kristen said, waving a hand. "Marcie-Harlie."

The other girl barely glanced at me as we said hello to each other. She was smoking a cigarette, and kept tapping her feet on the

table seat the whole time.

"How come you weren't at school?" I asked Kristen.

The other girl-Marcie-sort of snorted in a laugh.

"I was too tired this morning," Kristen told me.

"Oh," I said, wanting to ask more, but hesitating.

"What are you doing?" Kristen asked me. "On the way to the ranch?" The way she said that, 'the ranch' seemed almost as though she

was making a jibe of some sort.

"Going to Daniel's building to help," I said.

"Harlie's brothers are opening a country dance bar," Kristen told the other girl.

"No kidding," Marcie said, looking at me with something resembling interest for the first time.

"Yeah," I said.

"When's it gonna be open?" she asked me.

"Not for a while yet," I told her.

"Can you give me a ride?" Kristen asked me, sort of abruptly. "Marcie has to head the other way."

I wondered what she would have done if I hadn't stopped to say hello.

"To your house?" I asked.

"No. To Dean's grandma's house. Where you took me the other day," Kristen said.

"I don't know," I hesitated.

"Come on," Kristen said. "I want to talk to you."

"Well-okay," I said. "I have to stop by and tell Daniel, or he'll be wondering where I'm at."

"Gotta check in, huh?" that Marcie girl said, looking at me like I was two years old.

"Common courtesy," I said, with an edge to my voice. I didn't like this girl.

"Yeah. Sure," she said, and dropped her cigarette to the ground. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kristen."

"Pick me up early," Kristen said.

When the other girl had gotten into her car and pulled away, Kristen and I got into my truck, and I started driving to

the outskirts of town towards the building.

"Aren't you coming to school tomorrow?" I asked Kristen.

She shrugged, rolling down the passenger window.

"I don't know. Probably not."

"You'll get a truancy charge," I told her. "You've missed a lot."

"My mom will get in trouble. Not me."

"You don't want her to get in trouble, though," I said. "Do you?"

"I don't really care. Besides, if she signs for me, I can quit school."

I pulled into the building lot, and parked, and looked at her. "Don't do that," I said.

She shrugged again. "I don't know. Maybe I won't. Hurry up, okay?" She looked around the parking lot. Only Daniel and Evan's

trucks were here.

"Crane's not here, is he?" she asked, sounding slightly anxious.

"I don't know-if he came with Daniel or Evan he might be."

"Well, don't tell him I'm out here."

"Why won't you talk to Crane?" I asked.

"I don't want to, Harlie. I swear, if he comes out here, I'll take off walking, and hitch a ride to Dean's grandma's-"

"I won't tell him," I said, and got out. "I'll be right back."

The door was propped open again, and I went inside, letting my eyes adjust from the bright sun.

I could hear a power saw running in the back of the building, and saw nobody else around. I walked back to the noise

and saw Evan holding the end of boards as Daniel ran a power saw to cut it.

I stood there for a couple of moments, waiting until he'd finished cutting it, and Evan caught it, putting it in a neatly

stacked pile of already cut pieces.

"There you are," Daniel said, wiping his forehead with his arm.

"How about going to get us some drinks?" Evan said to me.

"I'm too young to buy beer," I said, jokingly.

"Pepsi," Evan said. "With ice."

As he began to dig into his jeans pocket for money, I said, "Can I do it in a little while? Kristen's outside and she needs a ride."

"Yeah. Grab them on the way back from her trailer," Evan said.

"I'm going the other way," I said.

"Where to?" Evan asked me.

"To her boyfriend's grandma's house."

"Where's that?" Evan asked, then.

"Out of town a ways," I said. "A couple of miles."

Both of them were looking at me now, and I said, "I won't be long. Then I'll grab the money and go get your drinks."

"Where at out of town?" Evan asked.

I rolled my eyes. He was asking a lot more questions than he had the other day when I'd given her a ride.

"Out east of town-you turn at that little bridge past the O'Borny's barn-" I said.

"Way out there?"

"I'll be right back," I said, again, and started to make my exit.

"Hurry up," Evan said.

"Bossy butt," I told him, and he moved as if to corner me, but I stepped out of his reach.

"See you right back," Daniel said.

"Yeah, okay," I said, and went back out.

Good grief. The two of them-

I got in and started driving out of town the same way I'd taken Kristen before.

While we were talking, Kristen told me that she wasn't taking the pills anymore. Even I wasn't that dumb. I gave her a

doubting look.

"I'm not," she insisted. "That's why I was so tired this morning and couldn't get up. I'm used to having them to help give me

a jolt-you know."

I felt really hopeful then. "That's so great," I told her.

"Yeah. They cost a lot and I don't have much money."

"What about Dean?" I asked, figuring she was asking him for money too.

"He uses his money for weed. He's not-" she paused in her talking.

"He's not what?" I asked.

"He has his own stuff to buy, and he has to pay for his car stuff out of the money his grandma gives him," Kristen said.

I thought Dean sounded like sort of a lazy boy, taking money from his grandma instead of having a job, but if it took that for him to

deny Kristen money for her pills, then it wasn't all a bad thing.

"He's not like Guthrie, you know?" she said, then, in sort of a sad way.

I wasn't sure what she meant by that, other than Guthrie doesn't smoke weed, and he's a hard worker who doesn't mooch off of

others, but I wasn't going to ask.

I pulled into the yard of Dean's grandma, and Kristen paused, looking at me.

"I'll try to get up and get to school tomorrow," she said.

"Do, Kris," I urged her. "Things can get better."

"Yeah. Maybe." She got out and gave me a wave as she went into the house.

I started driving back towards Murphys, lost in my own thoughts. I was feeling hopeful about Kristen. And, my own situation, too,

had improved. My grades were up. I was going to be working with Ivy on Saturday. Kenny and I were solid. And-I hadn't been in trouble at

home for a while now. Things were smooth with all my brothers, and that felt really, really good.

I had gone a few miles-I was maybe about four miles from town, when my truck began to slow, though I was pressing on the gas

pedal, and then it began to jerk and chug, and, panicked, I looked at my gas tank needle. It was on E.

7