The Slow Road Read Online Free Page B

Here’s the money for the materials.” Jasper took out his wallet and gave Greg the cash he’d promised for Greg’s out of pocket expenses. “Come grab a beer, Greg. I’ll get the steaks on the grill.”
    “Steaks! I was expecting brats or chicken. Not steak.”
    “Means a lot to us to get this well in,” Jasper said quietly.
    “Aw! No big deal. I punch these in all the time.”
    Millie took out a bottle of Greg’s favorite beer from the cooler, opened it, and handed it to Greg when he walked up to their small patio at the back of the trailer.
    “Thanks, Millie,” Greg said shyly.
    “That is quite a process you’ve come up with,” she said, fussing a little over the food set out on the picnic table.
    “Once I figured it out, it is pretty easy. There’re lots of guys doing it. But I think I do it better than anyone else.” There was no false modesty there. Greg had a point. He did have a good system. He’d never had a failure. At least, not when he’d been allowed to dowse.
    Jasper and Millie were surprised and pleased when Greg limited himself to four beers while he was there. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy the steaks, baked potatoes, and boiled corn, helping himself a little sheepishly to a second steak.”
    “That’s fine, Greg,” Millie assured him. “I got two for you.”
    Jasper yawned about that time and Greg finished up his meal. “Thanks for having me over, guys,” Greg said, turning to the couple. They’d carried the leftovers and the rest of the beer out to the truck. Jasper was standing with his left arm around Millie.
    “No,” Jasper said. “You’re a good friend. Thank you for helping us out.” Jasper grinned then. “We’ll save a bean or two from the garden for you.”
    Greg laughed and climbed into the truck. Jasper closed and locked the alley gate when Greg pulled out. He yawned again as he and Millie walked back to the trailer to begin that cleanup. Jasper marked off one more project on his mental list. “Getting that well was a key element to our continuing preparations.”
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWO
    -
     
    Jasper got the pump connected and running on Thursday. Alvin had called and scheduled a wood cutting run for Saturday. The barn raising was put off until the next week. Jasper smiled when a disappointed Alvin said he just couldn’t depend on his family. Jasper got a pickup and trailer load of cut and split wood for helping Alvin, whose son, who should be doing it, lazed around the house.
    Alvin met Jasper at the trailer, Jasper having stopped coming in from work just long enough to pick up the food that Millie had prepared for him for the day. Jasper took a quick nap at lunchtime and was able to work safely until they quit just prior to sunset. They had been cutting up the trees they’d downed and trimmed out early that spring. The day had been spent cutting the wood to length and splitting it with Alvin’s portable hydraulic splitter.
    When they climbed wearily into their respective trucks, both men were tired but satisfied with the day’s work. Jasper had his pickup and pickup trailer loaded to the gills. Alvin’s one-ton dump bed was loaded to overflowing, with the heavy duty tandem axle mesh sided trailer almost full to the top of the sides. There was another load for Alvin to pick up on Sunday, but he would do that alone, knowing Jasper really didn’t like to work on Sundays.
    Millie had picked up a ride to work since the truck wasn’t available, but waited and did some additional work at the Consignment shop while she waited for Jasper to pick her up. They stopped and had dinner at a café, Jasper barely able to stay awake during the meal. Millie drove the truck and trailer home when she insisted Jasper was too tired and she needed the practice with the trailer.
    Jasper unloaded and stacked the wood Monday morning before he turned in again to get his afternoon sleep for the graveyard shift. He and Millie didn’t have a wood burner