Love's Story by Kristin; Dianne; Billerbeck Christner Read Free Book Online

come and look at an article he wrote about the schooners lost in the harbor.”
    â€œHe mentioned it. Let’s see what we can find.”
    Frederick Ralston’s resentful eyes followed her. She flitted about the room to examine the presses until Charlie Dutton returned with the discussed issue.
    â€œHere we are, Miss Mears. You can sit at that table if you like. Take your time.”
    â€œThank you.” Meredith took the paper and went to the designated table. The article detailing the helpless sailors’ plight against the forces of nature moved and saddened her. The coast had abundant resources, which, when harvested, would pile money in some men’s pockets. Her fingers traced the printed lines, marking her spot. But how many men would die taming the wild land? The ocean’s treacherous rocks, sandbars, and storms could easily splinter the latest design of shipping vessel. They snuffed out men’s lives in their prime and left families bereft. Her finger tapped her cheek. Dead men didn’t make fortunes. Their risks were another man’s gain.
    Was it the same in the woods? Instinctively, she knew it was. Asa had said a logger’s life span was only seven years. The bull warned about accidents. All of a sudden, it seemed important to ride to Bucker’s Stand again. She knew the topic of her first story.
    â€œI’m done here. Thank you for letting me read this.”
    â€œYou’re welcome,” Charlie Dutton said.
    â€œAre you hiring?” she asked.
    â€œSorry. It’s a small paper, and I have to keep our staff small as well.”
    She glanced at the younger, brooding man across the room. “I understand. Thank you again, and good day.”
    â€œGood day, Miss Mears.”
    To finish out the day, Meredith compiled her completed articles and sent them off to Asa. Once this was done, she returned to her room and typed far into the night.

    The next day she rode out to Bucker’s Stand. Jonah had gone a day earlier to set up his equipment at the logging camp. Once she arrived, she stabled her horse. A mass exodus of brawn and boot erupted from the mess hall. Meredith slunk behind a tree to observe. Two men passed nearby, engaged in a shoving contest and shouting loud oaths at one another. Meredith shrank further around the tree.
    A moment later she saw Jonah, walking with Silas Cooke.
    â€œJonah!” Meredith stepped out with her portfolio in hand. “Wait!”
    The two men turned back. “I didn’t know you were here,” Jonah said.
    â€œI just got here. Hello, Mr. Cooke. On your way to the field?”
    â€œSure enough,” Silas said.
    â€œI’ll just tag along then.”
    She chatted with the men until they reached Jonah’s equipment. Meredith’s eyes widened. Before them spread what looked like a giant spider web, the loggers being the spiders. Her journalistic mind allegorized even as she tried to grasp the operation.
    Huge cables strung through pulleys and fastened to the tops of trees sloped downward to the earth. Several loggers worked to fasten these cables to logs. Before Meredith had it all figured out, there was, all of a sudden, a great creaking, then a terrible crashing noise, and one of the huge logs in the midst of them jerked violently and lurched straight up into the sky. Meredith scrambled backwards in terror, letting out a shriek.
    Jonah shouted, “Shocked me, too, the first time I saw it.”
    Meredith’s hands flew to her heaving bosom. Once Jonah’s comment sank in, her pulse calmed. She scrambled for a safe spot, somewhere she could observe and stay out from underfoot. A rotting stump looked inviting and removed from the action, and she backed onto it. Her gaze returned to the steam engine yanking giant logs and hurling them up into the air, crashing through any obstacle.
    There was a system to the madness. Logs were yanked toward the river, where they would be floated to the mill.