"Scott!"

            His father's voice pulled Scott from a run into a skid.  He regained his balance and turned to balance on the threshold of his father's study.  None of them were allowed inside. 

            "Yes, Father?"

            His father looked up from the papers on his desk.  "I have a visitor coming today."

            Scott nodded.  "All right."

            "He and I have some very important matters to discuss.  He'll be here at eleven hundred hours.  You are in charge of getting your brothers down here at that time to meet him.  You are also in charge of making sure that nothing happens to distract me from my meeting with him.  If I have to come out there to settle any arguments, break up any fights, or get Gordon down from the tree house, I will hold you responsible.  Is that understood, Scott?"

            "Yes, Father," Scott said.

            "Good boy."  His father returned to his papers.  Scott stared at him for a minute, then continued on his way.

            He found his fourteen year-old brother in the kitchen, rummaging into a box of crackers.

            "Dad's got someone coming here."

            Virgil shoved a cracker into his mouth.  "So?"

            "So we have to do the line when he shows up."  Scott grabbed  a cracker from the box. 

            "What time?" John asked, wandering in.  Scott turned around.

            "I was looking for you," he said.  "I thought you wanted to go up to Kelsey Point."

            "I do," John said.  "What's this about the line?"

            "Some person of Dad's," Virgil said indistinctly, through more crackers.

            "Eleven hundred hours," Scott said.

            "I don't understand why Dad can't just use normal time like a normal person," John muttered, drifting out of the kitchen again.  Scott heard the backdoor slam. 

            "You and John are going to Kelsey Point?" Virgil asked.

            "Yes, and you can't come." Scott said automatically.  He glanced at Virgil out of the corner of his eye to see what reaction this would get, but Virgil only shrugged.  "There's nothing at Kelsey Point anyway except about eight million chipmunks."

            Scott smiled broadly at Virgil, raised his eyebrows, and headed outside.

            "What?" Virgil asked.  "Scott! What's at Kelsey Point!"  He burst through the screen door into the hot July morning.   Scott was standing on the old tire swing that hung off the limb of a large tree that shaded the back of the house. 

            "Nothing's at Kelsey Point, Virg." Scott laughed at him.  "You said yourself."

            "Just eight million chipmunks."  John's voice came floating down from above them.  Virgil turned around and could just see the tip of his older brother's sneaker poking out from the edge of the roof.

            "Dad's gonna kill you if he sees you up there," Virgil told him.

            "He's not going to see me," John said confidently.

            Scott watched John unfold and lie down on his stomach,  hanging his head over the edge of the roof so he could make faces at Virgil.  None of them had ever been able to figure out how John got himself up there.  Scott assumed it had something to do with the scrubby looking pine tree that lurked next to the house – he had tried to climb once, but the branches looked too thin to support his weight and he was forced to climb back down.   No amount of bribery or threats could get John to say how.

            "He will if I tell him," Virgil told John.

            "Don't be such a baby, Virgil," John said.  He glanced at Scott, who was now standing on the top of the tire, holding onto the rope.

            "So let me come with you," Virgil said.

            "We don't want you to," John said. 

 Virgil watched his brother's blond head disappear from above the gutter.   He turned around to face Scott, who shrugged.   

            "Next time, Virg."

            Anger flashed across Virgil's face.  He backed up across the yard, a mixture of burnt grass and dust, picked a rock off the ground and winged it at his brother on the roof. 

            The minute it left his hand he knew he had made a mistake.  The rock sailed confidently through the air, the sun glinting off it in tiny bursts.  John had his back to his brothers, facing out across the wheat field that stretched endlessly behind the old farmhouse.  Virgil called for John to look out, but John simply turned around, and the rock smacked him full in the face, knocking him down on one knee.  Both Virgil and Scott gasped, and Scott felt his stomach drop. 

            "John!  I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to!" Virgil said.  He didn't really think he could hit him.  John had his hand over his mouth.  He pulled it away.  Blood was running down his chin.  Virgil's eyes widened.

            "Scott!"  Scott looked to see his father standing behind the screen door.  "Get Alan and Gordon and…" he stopped to see his son John come sailing down from above his head, hit the ground rolling, and get up to tackle his younger brother.  Jeff Tracy stood there, frozen for a moment, before slamming the screen door open and charging into the yard.

            "John!"

            It was the sound of a rifle being fired.  John froze, pinning Virgil on his belly in the dust.  He let go and sprang to his feet.  Virgil got up more slowly.  He dropped his eyes to study his sneakers.  As he watched, a drop of blood fell onto the tip of John's sneaker.  He looked up to see his father take John's face in his hand and pull it gently up to face his.

            "Dad," John mumbled in protest.  "It's noth…ow!" His father had taken a handkerchief out of his pocket and was wiping John's face.  Scott trotted over to take a look.

            "Whoa.  I think that's gonna have to be sealed, Johnny."  There was a jagged flap of skin over his lip.  It was really bleeding.  His father reached down absently and pushed Scott behind him, out of his way.  Scott glanced down at Virgil, who was staring at John, looking a little green.

"Scott might be right," their father said.  "Come on inside and let's have Grandma take a look."

John trailed after his father, holding the rapidly reddening handkerchief to his mouth.  He turned around to catch Scott's eye.  He pointed at the roof and raised his eyebrows.  Scott grinned back at him.  That had been pretty intense.

He looked down at Virgil, who looked like he was about to vomit.  He slid his arm around his brother.

"Come on, Virg.  You don't want to be around if Father has to seal John.  You know how much he yells."  He was trying to say it lightly, leading him away, but Virgil kept turning back to look his father.  The two boys walked out to the rail fence that marked the edge of the backyard, and hopped up.  Virgil planted his chin on his fists and stared out across the fields grimly, eyebrows drawn together.  Scott watched him.

            "He's going to be okay." Scott told him.

            Virgil just shrugged.

            "Did you see him come down from the roof?" Scott asked.  That had been worth it, in his opinion, seeing his brother fly.

            "Yeah," Virgil mumbled.

            "Come on.  That was pretty cool."

            Virgil was still for a moment, and then nodded.  "Yeah.  He looked like a praying mantis."  He made a swooping gesture with his hand, all splayed fingers.

            Scott laughed.  "Don't tell him that."

 "Maybe if I tell him how cool that was he won't kill me."

            Scott shook his head.  "He won't.  He got his.  He's done.  You know John.  He's mad for fifteen minutes and then it's forgotten."

            "Scott…I hit him in the face with a rock.  I don't think he's gonna let it slide."

            "Scott!  Virgil!"  Scott looked behind him to see his ten-year old brother running full tilt towards him.  Scott tapped Virgil on the leg and jerked his head behind him.  Virgil turned around also.  Alan came to a halt and bent over in exaggerated exhaustion.

            "What's up, Al," Scott said, smiling a little.

            "John's bleeding all over the kitchen." Alan said excitedly.

            "Yeah, we know."

            Alan looked a little disappointed.  "Dad says to come inside and get cleaned up." 

            Scott jumped off the fence.  "Where's Gordon?"

            "Upstairs.  He says he still has a headache."  Alan climbed up on the fence.  "Will you walk me?"

            "You can do it by yourself," Scott told him.  "I'll spot you."

            Alan climbed up to the top rail of the fence and tried to stand up.  Scott stood next to him and Alan got a grip on his hair.

            "Easy, iron man," Scott said.  "Stand up slowly."

            Alan stood, and balanced on the top rung.  He began to walk, letting go of Scott's hair.  Virgil watched them.

            "Do you want me to go get Gordon?" Virgil asked.

            "No, I'll do it," Scott said as Alan wobbled violently and Scott grabbed his arm to steady him.  "We've got to do the line in…ow, Alan…" he checked his watch.  "Half an hour."

            "Oh," Alan said..  "I thought it was something good."  He had regained his balance and was walking slowly but surely to the fence post.

            "Nope." Scott said.  They reached the end of the fence.  "Get down."

            Alan jumped down.  "Is John in trouble?" he asked.

            "Yeah," Scott said. 

            "Why?"

            When Scott didn't say anything, Virgil said, "Because John jumped off…"

            Scott cut him off.  "The rope swing and tackled Virgil."  You had to be careful what you said around the two younger boys.  Alan was perfectly capable of jumping off the roof if he knew that John had.

            "Oh," Alan said, losing interest.  John and Virgil fought all the time.