Friday came and went quickly and the two brothers waited by the gate for Hannah. Angus ran out quicker than she did and didn't bother waiting for her. He wanted to get out of that building as soon as he could. Hannah stayed behind to finish up her theme.

Kids poured out of the school but not one of them was that little girl. Malcolm and Angus gripped the chain links and looked through them, but didn't see her. "Where is she, Angus?" Malcolm inquired. "Didn't she come out of class with you?" Angus shrugged.

Malcolm sighed and began climbing the gate. He peered over the top and still didn't see her. Having no success, he jumped down. "Maybe she forgot."

Angus then remembered their walk to the office the day before. How she said she wouldn't show up, and how he was okay with it. He felt guilty. Malcolm would get mad at him and Angus would be back to square one-no friends. Nervous, he pulled his brother's sleeve.

"Uh, Mal?"

"What?"

"I think I know why Hannah isn't coming."

"Why?" So Angus told him everything. His story landed him a smack on his shoulder. "Nice job, Angus! You get a chance to make a friend and look what you did!"

"I didn't know she meant it!" Another smack. "Stop that!"

"Why'd you have to go say that, Ang? You know better!" The two boys started arguing again as Hannah finally emerged from the school. Her theme was done and as a result she had no weekend homework. Neither one noticed her approach.

"Hey! I'm here," she called. They stopped arguing. Malcolm smiled. Angus smiled too, relieved he hadn't sent her away. Then he remembered they weren't supposed to be pals. He wiped his smile away.

"Come on, Angus." Malcolm gave his brother one last smack before they walked with Hannah down the street. "So where are you from, Hannah? You don't sound Australian."

"My mom and I are from America. We've lived here a year, and I was homeschooled."

"Lucky," Angus interrupted. Malcolm shushed him.

"Then my mom found a good job and I was sent to 'real' school."

"We just moved here a few months ago after our father found work. We're from Scotland," Malcolm explained.

"You have any siblings?" Angus asked suddenly.

"No, just me and my mom."

"We have six," Malcolm said.

"Moms?"

"No, siblings. One sister, five brothers." Malcolm pointed at Angus with a grin. "He's the baby."

"I'm not a baby, you are!"

"That's a big family," Hannah marveled ignoring the incoming fight.

"Yep. Our older brother George is in a band, and he's gonna teach us," Malcolm said to impress her.

"Teach you what?" Angus rolled his eyes. Malcolm ignored him.

"Guitar of course. Soon Angus and I will have our own bands, won't we Ang?"

"Sure will. Mine's gonna be better."

"Buzz off, Ang, mine's better!"

"Nuh-uh, Mal, I think George's is the best. Look at our house!" Angus pointed to the crowd of people surrounding the tiny home.

"Holy cow!" Malcolm shouted.

"Who are they?" Hannah asked.

"They must be here to find George." Malcolm led them to the front door. "Come on." Two big men stood in their way.

"Hey hey, kid, where do you think you're going?"

"Inside our house," Malcolm answered as if it were obvious.

"No one's gettin' inside there, move along." The three children were brushed aside like cookie crumbs.

"But that's our house!" Angus shouted.

"Nice try, kid." The children begrudgingly turned from the house and walked a ways off.

"Now what, Mal?" Angus asked. His brother had his arms crossed in thought.

"I don't know. Why won't he just let us in?" Angus looked around their house crowded by the desperate throng. It was as if a lightbulb had sprung up above him.

"I have an idea." He led Malcolm and Hannah to their neighbor's fence. "Come on, we'll climb it."

"What if we get caught?" Hannah asked, back at it again with her goody two shoes morals.

"We won't if we hurry."

"Let Hannah go first then." Angus and Malcolm lifted Hannah over the fence and she hoisted herself to the other side. Boys have a way of climbing over things and soon enough all three were in the neighbor's backyard.

"This way." Angus led them to the fence next to their own house. Hannah was lifted up but her foot caught on the wood, and she fell to the ground. The boys scrambled over the other side as quick as they could muster. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." Angus helped her up then stepped away. She's a girl remember?

No cuts or bruises, only some dirt got smudged on her uniform. "Well come on then, let's go in." Inside two older boys were peering through a window with the curtain pulled shut.

"Damn crazy out there."

"It's been six hours!"

"What's goin' on out there?" Malcolm asked.

"George is famous," one of them replied. "They're all Easybeats fans."

"Had to call some people so they wouldn't break in," the one called George explained. "You come in through the back?"

"Meanie one and two wouldn't let us in," Angus complained thumbing behind him.

"Whoops, should have let them know."

"You go over the fence?" the other boy asked.

"Yeah, we brought Hannah here with us from school," Malcolm answered.

"Oh nice to meet you. I'm George, this here's Alex." Hannah smiled in return.

"Hey George, you gonna teach us guitar?" Angus asked. The older boys went back to watching the window. George barely heard him.

"Uh, sure. But we'll start when there's not such a nutty crowd outside, yeah?"

"Okay. Come on, let's go to the basement," suggested Malcolm. He grabbed Hannah's hand and the three ran to the basement, which was filled with old furniture and boxes. Malcolm jumped up on the bed with the broken springs. Angus climbed on with him, and after serious evaluation, Hannah eventually joined.

After jumping became tedious, they tried thinking of another game. One that two boys and a girl would all find enjoyable. But Malcolm decided he had something to work on and left the younger kids alone.

Now Angus wasn't too thrilled at the idea of a girl in his house, his mother and sister were bad enough. What kind of games did girls play? House? Dolls? He sure as heck didn't have any dolls. And Margaret... "My sister is big now, and doesn't play with dolls," Angus informed the tiny girl.

"I don't like dolls. Do you have any cars?" His eyes widened.

"Y-yeah. Up in Malcolm's room. But he gets mad if I touch his stuff. Not that that's ever stopped me before," he said with a slight grin. He thought for a moment. "But if you really want, I can go check for some. He doesn't really play with them anyway."

"I'll go with you!"

"I can do it myself! And no girls allowed!"

"But I want to help!" Angus frowned. This girl was not getting it.

"I said no girls allowed!"

"And I said I wanted to help!"

"I said no." It was Hannah's turn to frown. This boy was not getting it.

"I say yes." And with that, she ran up to the house and up the stairs to the bedrooms. Angus followed her, hands out to grab her.

"You can't go up there! Malcolm will be-" Angus gasped. Malcolm stood in front of him, hands on his hips. Hannah watched the scene behind the older boy nervously.

"Malcolm will be-what, Angus?"

"Uh...what I was gonna say was..."

"Were you going to my room?" Angus was shocked.

"Hannah was gonna go in your room! She was gonna take your toy cars, and I tried to stop her! Face it, Mal, she'll never listen. You believe your own brother more than some icky girl, right Mally?" Malcolm turned around to see Hannah, head down, arms behind her back.

"I don't doubt she tried to come in my room." He turned back to Angus who grinned at him. "But I find it hard to believe you had nothing to do with it. From now on, you're both to stay out of my room." Angus and Hannah nodded, then glared at each other. "But I'm glad I caught you guys. I want to show you somethin'. Close your eyes." The kids did as they were told.

Malcolm went to his room and came back with a card. "Open!"

"What is it?" Hannah asked.

"It's a card for you! It was Angus' idea."

"It was?" Malcolm elbowed him. "Oh sure, yeah." Hannah opened it to see a drawing of three stick figures, one with stick hair. Two names were scribbled on the bottom in crayon. "Hey Mal, I didn't write th-mmm!" Malcolm put his hand over Angus' mouth.

"So what do you think?"

"I love it! Thank you!"

"Thank Angus, it was all from him to make you feel welcome." He removed his hand and Angus wiped his mouth. Hannah's arms wrapped around his waist and her lips kissed his cheek.

"Gross, I've got cooties! Malcolm, help!" Malcolm just laughed. That's more like it.