they first saw the prisoner come out of the stone building, Dawn gasped aloud, but maintained her silence. Then, as Jerry described the woman being thrown across the yard, Dawn started crying, a rivulet of silent tears running down her face. But still she remained quiet. When Jerry finished talking, she sat for a moment. “I guess she’s probably a prisoner working off her sentence. If it weren’t for that, we should probably get that girl out of there. But if she’s a prisoner from the jail in Big River we probably can’t do anything. In any case, it’s wrong to throw her around, or feel her up, or chase her with a whip. Is there anything we can do about it?” Jerry answered with a simple, “I don’t know.” Then, after a moment, “Let’s watch the place for a while and see if we can figure out if she is really a prisoner – I mean a jailhouse kind of prisoner. When we find out, we can talk to our parents and see what they think. But let’s not go to them too fast. I don’t want to get our folks on the wrong side of those two and none of us want to rush into a battle with two armed men, no matter how right we are.” Lost in thought, Dawn nodded her agreement.
Jerry started the car again and headed for Moore’s place. Arriving at the site, they pulled over out of the way. George Parker and Wayne Flynn were already there, along with several townspeople. George was unloading the big D-8 and Wayne was supervising the unloading of the load of lumber. From where they parked, Jerry could see that people were already working and that they had already laid out the outlines of the new house with stakes and some white powder from the baseball diamond. The town wasn’t wasting any time, he thought cheerfully. He and Ray headed over to help unload the lumber.
The townspeople soon had the lumber neatly stacked to the side of the planned home construction site. Then Wayne held a short meeting with them and they agreed to have a workforce, composed mainly of school-age boys and older, retired, men on site the next morning. Wayne said that he would be there to get them started. In the meantime, George Parker had already used the big bulldozer to dig a hole for disposal of the debris from the fire. Now he was breaking ground for the new home’s foundation.
Most of the townspeople stayed for a while, watching the big bulldozer do its work. First it carefully smoothed the ground where the home would be built. Then it started following the white lines on the dirt, digging down about three feet in the soft dirt in an outline of the home, where the foundation would be poured. Jerry watched as the big D-8 bulldozer traced the home outlines, remarking to Dawn that, “using that D-8 to dig those trenches is like driving a ten-penny nail with a sledge hammer!” She nodded, still lost in deep thought - as she had been since hearing about the prisoner out at Ike’s sheep ranch. Instead, Ray took it on himself to reply. “Yeah, but you have to admit, the price is right!”
It was Jerry’s turn to nod solemnly. He was watching Dawn, finally realizing that she was deeply upset. He put his arm over her shoulders and gave a small squeeze, intending to reassure her. But, to his amazement, her tears started again, silently running down her cheeks. Not knowing what to do, he squeezed her again, holding her as her shoulders began shaking. Quietly he turned her away from the crowd and they walked a few paces as she composed herself.
As they stood there, a truck drove into the site, loaded with a cement mixer, cement and the plank forms that would be placed in the trench so the foundation could be poured. Jerry was surprised to see Otto, with a big grin on his face, riding in the truck’s passenger seat. With his thick accent, Otto was almost unintelligible as he yelled out the window, “Hey, my Cherman friends can help also, py golly!” He was obviously proud of himself. He had called an old friend in Missoula who owned a
Jerry started the car again and headed for Moore’s place. Arriving at the site, they pulled over out of the way. George Parker and Wayne Flynn were already there, along with several townspeople. George was unloading the big D-8 and Wayne was supervising the unloading of the load of lumber. From where they parked, Jerry could see that people were already working and that they had already laid out the outlines of the new house with stakes and some white powder from the baseball diamond. The town wasn’t wasting any time, he thought cheerfully. He and Ray headed over to help unload the lumber.
The townspeople soon had the lumber neatly stacked to the side of the planned home construction site. Then Wayne held a short meeting with them and they agreed to have a workforce, composed mainly of school-age boys and older, retired, men on site the next morning. Wayne said that he would be there to get them started. In the meantime, George Parker had already used the big bulldozer to dig a hole for disposal of the debris from the fire. Now he was breaking ground for the new home’s foundation.
Most of the townspeople stayed for a while, watching the big bulldozer do its work. First it carefully smoothed the ground where the home would be built. Then it started following the white lines on the dirt, digging down about three feet in the soft dirt in an outline of the home, where the foundation would be poured. Jerry watched as the big D-8 bulldozer traced the home outlines, remarking to Dawn that, “using that D-8 to dig those trenches is like driving a ten-penny nail with a sledge hammer!” She nodded, still lost in deep thought - as she had been since hearing about the prisoner out at Ike’s sheep ranch. Instead, Ray took it on himself to reply. “Yeah, but you have to admit, the price is right!”
It was Jerry’s turn to nod solemnly. He was watching Dawn, finally realizing that she was deeply upset. He put his arm over her shoulders and gave a small squeeze, intending to reassure her. But, to his amazement, her tears started again, silently running down her cheeks. Not knowing what to do, he squeezed her again, holding her as her shoulders began shaking. Quietly he turned her away from the crowd and they walked a few paces as she composed herself.
As they stood there, a truck drove into the site, loaded with a cement mixer, cement and the plank forms that would be placed in the trench so the foundation could be poured. Jerry was surprised to see Otto, with a big grin on his face, riding in the truck’s passenger seat. With his thick accent, Otto was almost unintelligible as he yelled out the window, “Hey, my Cherman friends can help also, py golly!” He was obviously proud of himself. He had called an old friend in Missoula who owned a
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