The Journeyman

The Journeyman

I turned 16 in July of 1966. Kent Wellerby, Mr. Reed’s farm manager for as long as I could remember, took a string of Red Oak dogs every summer up to the prairies of North Dakota in Divide County. The August and September weather was much cooler there than in...
The Price of a Dog: Part 3 of 3

The Price of a Dog: Part 3 of 3

Part Three: The Devil’s Money Click Here to Read Part Two When I arrived home, I was excited to tell Mother about the double and, of course, the twelve-hundred dollars. I removed the rubber band and began counting the money onto the kitchen table. “…eight-hundred,...
The Price of a Dog: Part 3 of 3

The Price of a Dog: Part 2 of 3

Part Two: The Wager Click Here to Read Part One Mike did his part. I turned him out of the box, which was sitting at the rear of the wagon and facing the rear. He set out headed straight away behind us, which is what Mr. Reed wanted. He liked to show that his dogs...
The Cull

The Cull

The common link spanning the wide chasm of wealth and status were the dogs.

The Price of a Dog: Part 3 of 3

The Price of a Dog Part 1 of 3

Part One: Leaves Papa died in the spring of ’62 when I was 12 years old. Although there had been little interaction between us, he was still a needed figure in my life—a father. Mother wouldn’t, but I made allowances and excuses for his long absences. I would tell my...
Wolf Secrets

Wolf Secrets

“Incoherent,” she paused. “The sick man was incoherent.” “Incoherent.” My left arm curled around the top of the page hiding a small scrap of paper. On the paper several words were written in tiny print. She continued with “incomprehensible,” “divisible” and 17 other...
A Red Oak Thanksgiving

A Red Oak Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 1964, one I’ll never forget. I was 14 years old.  Mother was decidedly against it. “They’re different, Lane, not like us,” she said. “I don’t mean that they’re bad. They aren’t… just different. They’ll have family and friends down from Jackson and...