The greased log shot downhill and over the river bank into the splash dam, where it came to rest among hundreds of others. Jeremy Bolt came half-running, half-sliding after it and joined his brother Jason on the bank. "That's the last of 'em," he said. The other men followed. Jason sent most of them ahead to clear the banks of brush and deadwood, and led the others in shifting those logs that lay partly ashore. The morning was cool. The sun was still hidden behind the hill.

   Jeremy asked why they were cutting someone else's timber when it was almost summer and their season was over. "...and you'd sooner be at home indulging the natural idleness of youth," said Jason with a smile.

   "No matter to me," Jeremy said. "With Candy away..." Jason remembered Lottie's yearly shopping excursion. He explained again why they were there. After the Green River mill had closed, Cy Dudley's camp had gone bust. No one was left to harvest the logs or take them to market, so he'd hired the Bolts and they'd split the proceeds. They wouldn't come to much so late in the year. "But you'll profit anyhow," he told Jeremy, "by gettin' a taste of a genuine river drive. No call for it on the mountain. Or river drivers neither. But Dudley said he knew where..."

   A sound woke the morning air. It was like the howl of a wolf pack but wilder, and ranging across the scale. It bounced from hill to hill. And it was coming closer. "Can't be," said Jason. Jeremy asked what it was. Jason's suspicion hardened into a grim certainty. "Our partners."

   A shanty raft came around the bend carrying a small army. Other men were wading beside it or tramping along the bank. Most were wearing overalls cut off above spiked cork boots. The clothes were wet already. "Jason Bolt!" came a cry. "You spindle-shanked, tree-crawlin' dandy!" The man waved a red cap. He wasn't above medium height, but his chest and arms were thickly muscled.

   "Timothy Sligo, you moonstruck son of a mudhen! How the blazes are you?"

   "Old friend of yours?" Jeremy asked.

   "Brother," said Jason, waving back, "I wouldn't trust him as far as that stump."

   As soon as they'd boarded the wanigan and completed the introductions, Sligo made a demand for seventy percent of the take, not counting Dudley's share. "Considerin' we're doin' the lion's share of the labor..."

   "Equal shares for all, was the arrangement," Jason said.

   "Dudley's arrangement."

   "No deal."

   Sligo folded his arms. "Then the logs stay where they are...'less you care to drive 'em." After some haggling, he agreed to sixty percent. "And let's get one thing clear," he said. "You may be bull of the woods, but out here I'm head push. You take orders from me."

   "And if we don't?" Jeremy asked.

   Sligo shrugged. "You get yourselves kilt." He turned to the men nearest him. "Boys! Let's baptize 'em!" The men rushed the Bolts, dragged them to the edge of the raft, and threw them in. The Bolts pulled two or three in along with them. Jason made a grab for Sligo, but he jumped back too fast and stood laughing, hands on hips. Those in the water splashed around to warm up. The others helped them pull themselves out. Sligo tossed the Bolts two pairs of cork boots.

    "Crawdad!" he bellowed. A brown man with lank black hair climbed onto the spill gate. The others moved away. "Set 'em free!" said Sligo. Crawdad Pete gave one of the stays a mighty kick, then dived for the bank. The gate collapsed, and the water poured out, carrying the logs with it. They crashed down into the river and spread out across it as they caught the current northward. The drive was on.

   Each man jumped onto a log, and then from log to log as they saw need, armed with pikes and peaveys. The pikes were staffs with steel points. The peaveys were shorter, with points and hooks. Every time a log drifted toward the bank, one of the men would hook it with his peavey and give it a spin to set it back on course. Then, spotting another derelict, he'd skip across as many logs as lay between and give a spin there. He had to watch constantly for veering and jam-ups.

   Sligo let out a howl. His men took it up. Jeremy covered his ears. "Now I wish I was home!" he shouted.

   "Scared of catchin' cold?" Jason teased.

   "No...going deaf!"

   The howling was too much for the valley to hold.

   The screaming was too much for the bedroom to hold. The brides, still in their nightgowns, and barefoot, huddled away from the daggers of glass on the floor under what was left of the window. "You women in there!" came the man's voice from below. "This is my last warning!" Biddie Cloom called for quiet. As the women were calming down, a second gunshot shattered the next window in line. The screaming started again, Biddie's the loudest.

   "Candy would be gone," said a girl with a kitten face.

   "No fear, Georgie," said Biddie. "She left me in charge." The others moaned. Biddie cautiously stuck her head out. The man stared up at her. He was rock-jawed and greying over the ears. His suit would have been in fashion twenty years before. Biddie had never seen a gun like the one he was holding, an Allen and Thurber dragoon pepperpot from the 1840's with a muzzle six times the normal size. "Sir," she said, in a voice thinner than she'd intended, "what is the nature of your business?"

   "Not likely I'd confide it to you, you hussy." Biddie had never been called that before. She took it as a compliment. "You send down Leonora Cady," the man said, "if that's still her name, or I'll take out every window in the place." He lifted the gun. It was so heavy it wobbled in his hand. Biddie quickly withdrew.

   "Let him have her!" said Georgie. The brides looked down the room to the woman on the corner bed. She had a strong chin and square shoulders, and today she looked even more solemn than usual.

   Biddie was trying to think. "Find Jason," she said to herself.

   Georgie exploded. "He's gone too, you fleawit!"

   Leonora put on her slippers and a shawl over her nightgown. She stood up and started down the aisle toward the stairs. "You don't have to..." Biddie began.

   "But I do," she said.

   When she came out, the man stopped and looked at her. "Barely decent," he grunted.

   Leonora stopped halfway to the gate. She looked close to fainting. "I'll change," she murmured, and she started back.

   The man came in and grabbed her hand. "No, you don't. I'm taking you out of this now!" He dragged her to the gate, where they ran into a tall, loping lumberjack. Leonora looked past him.

   "Nory, what ails you?" he said. "I come on time like you asked."

   The rock-jawed man then heard him say she sure hated waiting for her six bits. Roaring, he poked him in the chest with the gun. "I'll l'arn you!" he said.

   The gun was turned aside, then wrested from his hand. Aaron Stempel had just run up with other men who'd heard the shots. Aaron fumbled with the monstrosity for a moment, then passed it to one of the others, ordering, "Empty this thing." He turned back to Six Bits. "You know this lunatic?"

   "His name is Harker Cady," said Leonora, looking at the ground. "He's my father."

   The river was so full of logs it looked like a crocodile nest. The driving crew continued its games of leapfrog and spear hockey to keep the logs heading straight. The Bolts had been assigned to the jam crew at the front, whose job was to keep the lead logs out of the shoals. Jeremy, a quick study, had caught on to the trick right away but found, the first time he gave it a try, that it took three times as much muscle as he'd expected.

   Jason hadn't handled a peavey for years and was slow in getting the hang of it again. When the log he was riding veered toward the bank, he was unable to stop it. Sligo jumped onto the next one over and gave it a quick hard yank to bring it back into line. It spun under Jason's feet. He jumped off to keep from going in.

   "Been off the river a season, ain'tcha?" Sligo said. Then he lifted his head and let out a mighty howl. His men answered him until the howls and their echoes couldn't be told apart. After hesitating, Jeremy gave a howl of his own. Sligo looked at him in surprise, then laughed. Jason didn't. He asked Sligo about his last job, on the Columbia River. Sligo scratched his ear. "Bit of a misunderstandin' there. Lucky Dudley found us. Used to work for him, you know."

   "Another misunderstanding?" Jason asked. "By the by...what ever became of that seventy dollars I loaned you?"

   Sligo had no chance to answer. Crawdad had pulled a flask out of the feedbag on his back. As he was taking a draw from it, one of the lead logs listed to the right and bumped another one, pushing it toward shore. "Mind the strays!" Sligo shouted. He jumped onto Crawdad's log, grabbed the flask, and tossed it overboard. "Eyes on the job, not the jug!"

   Jeremy broad-jumped across to the end log. "I can get it!" he said. Ignoring Jason's warnings, he dug his peavey in and set the log straight...straight enough so that the current took it back into the mainstream...but the force of his effort unbalanced him and sent him into the water. He grabbed onto the log. Another one was drifting close, threatening to pin him between. Before that could happen, Crawdad hooked his peavey onto Jeremy's collar and lifted him out. He dropped him astraddle the log. Jason made his way to him and found him shaken but unhurt.

   "Best go easy till you learn the ropes," said Sligo. "These logs'll crush you or drown you, they don't give a fig which." Jeremy nodded thanks to Crawdad, who produced a second flask from his feedbag and held it out to him. Jeremy was reaching for it when a scowl from Jason stopped him.

   "He saved my life," he said.

   "Tomorrow you'll save his," said Sligo. "That's the way of it."

   "That too," Jason said soberly.

   He nodded toward a pair of shoes hanging from an oak branch on the riverside. The men with caps removed them and stood silent as they floated past. The ceremony made Jeremy shiver a little. "Whose are they?" he asked.

   "Belonged to Jimmy the Gaff," said Sligo. "That's where we buried him. He was standin' about where you are when a log reared up and hit him crosswise. 'tweren't none of us could..."

   "...save me?" Leonora repeated. "From what?" The pistol having been unloaded after much conferring and head scratching, Aaron gave it back to Cady, but kept the cartridges.

   "I know, I do," said Cady. "Knew straight along, but you and your ma wouldn't hear me. Now my chickens have come home to roost, haven't they? Eh?"

   "Blame your chickens!"

   "Not a word in your letters. But I don't fault you for that." He nodded at Aaron. "I calculate he reads every word you send out."

   "What was that?" Aaron asked. Leonora had been only half-listening. She shook her head.

   "Thank heaven your ma an't here to see. The shame of it...our only child, comporting in a backwoods parlor house."

   She heard that. Her face turned red and white both at once. She started to shake. "How...how could you..."

   "Now see here..." Aaron began.

   "You're the fancy man here, eh?" Cady looked him up and down. "A-yeah, I can tell by the cut of your vest...Mr. Jason Bolt."

   "I take exception to that remark!"

   Leonora made an effort to calm down everyone, including herself. "Papa," she said slowly, "this is the dormitory. It's where we live."

   "Daresay he lives here too, eh?" he said, nodding at the tall lumberjack. Leonora introduced him as her fiance. "A-yeah," said Cady, "bringing you his six bits."

   The tall man chortled. "You got it wrong, mister. Six Bits, that's my name." He explained that his given name was Monroe Pedersen but the boys had re-christened him Six Bits because he was always broke. "This way I'll always have six bits I can call my own."

   Aaron felt his sanity leaking away. "Look, Mr...." He saw Joshua Bolt hurrying toward them. "Ah, here's a Bolt for you."

   Joshua had come to see what the fracas was about. "Biddie burn the hotcakes again?"

    "This is my fault," Six Bits said to Leonora. "If we'da got hitched when you wanted..."

   Aaron introduced Joshua to Cady. "He's under the impression you brought the brides here for...business purposes."

   Joshua passed through several stages before reaching enlightenment, and even then he couldn't believe he had it right. "What have you to say for yourself?" Cady demanded. Joshua could think of nothing that was close to being sufficient. "Guessed as much," said Cady. "Can't fiddle your way around the truth, can you?"

   Reverend Adams trotted up. "Having a celebration?" he asked. "I heard shots." Cady asked his denomination. Adams said he was Methodist Episcopal. Cady made a "hmp" sound.

   "Please, Reverend," said Joshua, "tell him the brides aren't scarlet women."

   Adams blushed. "I...I'm sure they're trying to be respectable." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "But only yesterday I caught another one with her man friend canoodling behind the church."

   "Canoodling," Cady repeated, in a tone of the utmost disgust.

   "Thanks, Reverend," said Joshua.

   "Haven't seen you filling a pew lately," Adams went on.

   "Thanks, Reverend," said Joshua, "that's fine." Aaron was watching with evident amusement. Joshua shot him a dirty look. The Reverend said he was always glad to be of service and he bade them good day.

   Cady saw the steamer that brought him heading out. "Come the next one," he said to Leonora, "you and I'll leave."

   Leonora took a deep breath. "Papa," she said, "I'm pleased you've come to visit. And while you're here I shall try to make your stay pleasant. But there'll be no more talk of saving me. This is my home...and a perfectly decent one, whatever you may believe. Come in, I'll show you."

   "Never! I made a vow in my youth..."

   "It's your decision." She started through the gate and called to Monroe to follow her.

   Cady blocked the way. "I forbid it! I won't have you openly consorting with your guests' under my nose." Reaching around him, Joshua opened the gate. He told the two to go ahead. The others started to leave. "Mark me, the lot of you!" Cady shouted. "You'll rue the day you set yourselves against me! When I get back to Olympia I'll report this establishment to the marshal."

   "He'll laugh you out of his office," said Joshua. He saw that the others had stopped and were looking at one another. "What is it?"

   Aaron came up to him and spoke in a low voice. "Let's think about this," he said. "If the story gets around..."

   "It's a pile of..."

   "...that'll make a big stink. And there are the brides to consider. If men start coming here looking for...entertainment..." He left the rest to Joshua's imagination.

   Joshua wasn't one to take orders from Aaron, but he knew that Aaron understood these things better than he did. "Then we go along with him?"

   "Till you can talk him out of this. But it'll take some swift talking." Aaron hesitated. "No offense, but..."

   "...you wish Jason was here."

   Aaron grimaced at hearing it said aloud. "Don't tell him I said so."

   Joshua apologized to Leonora. "No visiting for now," he said. "You can keep company at Lottie's."

   "That barroom?" said Cady. "No, sir, all association between these Jezebels and their pack of hounds must have an end. I'll see to it." He took a position at the gate and raised the pepperpot shakily. "Let 'em get past this."

   "It's not loaded," Aaron said. Cady looked down the barrels. He made a silent "Oh."

   Joshua told Biddie from the porch, under Cady's eye. "I don't understand it a bit," she said. "Why can't we see our men?...those of us that have men."

   "Because my father's a stubborn old idiot," Leonora said.

   "Then why..."

   Joshua didn't feel like arguing. "I'll explain to Candy when she gets back." Biddie started to say something. "It's only for a day or two. I'll let the men know, you tell the brides." He smiled hopefully. "I'm sure they'll be reasonable."

   "I'll wring that old man's neck!" Georgie said, then, remembering, "Sorry, Leonora." The other brides voiced their agreement. Surrounded, Biddie momentarily wished that Cady was beside her with his gun, but he was still playing sentry outside. "It won't be for long," she said, trying to sound encouraging. "You can occupy yourselves with edifying pursuits."

   Georgie started to answer, then stopped and started again. "All right, Biddie," she said, "we'll be good." The other brides looked at her. "Won't even think of sneaking out." That evening during supper Biddie heard a clumping from the back and got there just in time to restrain three of the brides from climbing out the windows. She put on her thinking cap.

   Leonora found her father half-dozing as he stood. She laid a plate of food on top of his baggage, which was piled up next to the gate. He blinked. "Letitia?" Then he realized his mistake. "You always did favor your ma."

   "You can't stay out here," Leonora said. "I'm certain Mr. Stempel will put you up." Cady shook his head. He saw the food but didn't acknowledge it. "If Mama could see how you're behaving..."

   "Don't use her name against me!"

    "Is that another thing only you're allowed to do?" Cady faced front. "Ashamed, you said. You should be...that you could forget everything you knew about me...everything you and Mama...I'm ashamed too." Her voice broke. Cady flinched a little, but didn't move until she'd gone. Then he picked up the plate and began eating as he carried it up to the porch.

   Jeremy crammed in another big lump of beef and potatoes. The men were taking supper by threes and fours. Some tucked it into their feedbags and took mouthfuls while they worked the logs. A great calm had settled on the darkening purple hills. "Cussed if you don't eat like a river pig," said a voice slurred with food. Sligo came up holding a tin plate even fuller than Jeremy's.

   "Now I know why you do this for a living," Jeremy said.

   Sligo laughed. "Do it if I starved. Y'ever see a map of the nation? The rivers is its veins and arteries. The life of it flows through 'em...feel it flowin' through me. When I'm on land, it drains right out. That's why I'll live and die a river man." Jeremy repeated the last two words dreamily, his eyelids dropping. Sligo caught his plate as he dropped it.

   "Best have a nap, lad," he said. "You're not used to all-night runs. You can curl up here on the wanigan." Jeremy didn't argue. The big cook pointed out a free corner and tossed him a cloth caked with grease. Jeremy was too sleepy to care. He tucked it under his head. Before he fell off, he thought he saw a man on the hill facing him. He propped himself up for a better look. The hill was empty. Jason would say he'd dreamed it. He resolved not to say anything, and went to sleep.

   Cady was asleep in the rocker. Leonora gently removed the pistol from his lap and laid an Indian blanket over him. She watched him sadly. They'd been apart for so long, and here they were still apart. She supposed there was nothing she could do. While he slept, two of the men he'd been watching for sneaked up at the back and threw pebbles at one of the upstairs windows. Georgie sat up in bed. After making sure the noise hadn't woken Biddie, she leaned over and touched Flora Sue, who was also awake. They silently rose, crept downstairs, and crossed the floor barefoot, halting at every creak. Georgie tried to open the window latch. "Tied shut!" she hissed.

   "I cannot tell a lie," said Biddie from the stairs. "It was I, with my little ball of twine." She held it up. Georgie glared at her. The loggers had their noses to the glass and were making the most pitiful faces they could summon up. Biddie marched to the window and made a face of her own, which sent them running.

   They and their fellows looked gloomy over breakfast the next morning. "Man can't hardly work without his girl," said Six Bits. The others murmured in agreement. "Man don't hardly have the heart to work." More murmurs. "If Jason was here he'd know what to do." Joshua slammed down his plate and stamped off. Six Bits took another bite of his biscuit.

   Cady woke with a yelp. His daughter had dropped a towelful of hot biscuits in his lap. The screen slammed behind her. Returning the towel to the sink, she made a cross between a growl and a moan. Biddie was drying the dishes. "If you need someone to talk to..." she began.

   "I'll wait for Candy," said Leonora over her shoulder. Biddie slapped down her towel and stamped out. As she passed Cady he demanded, through a mouth full of biscuit, to know where she was going.

    Lottie's was filled with men she didn't recognize from the logging camp or the mill. Two or three of them she thought she'd seen hanging around the wharf. Ken watched them all dourly from the bar. One reached for a bottle. Ken grabbed his arm. "You ain't paid for the last."

   "Put it on my tab," the man said. "'s what Lottie does." He grabbed the bottle with his other hand and scampered back to his pals. Biddie timidly made her way through the crowd. Ken asked what he could get her.

   "Well," she whispered, leaning forward, "if I could have a teeny-weeny..."

   "Biddie?" She turned with a start to see Joshua at the end of the counter.

   "I was...overcome unexpectedly..." she began.

   "It's all right," he said, "I needed one myself."

   She moved over to him. "Whisky, straight up," she said, slapping down a dime and a two-cent piece. When it came she took a long gulp. It would have been longer except that two men then got into a scuffle and one slammed the other into the counter next to her. She lifted the glass out of the way. "I muss...must say, Kenneth, the calibre of your patronage..." Ken took a belaying pin from under the counter and held it over their heads. He said the same gang of loafers came around every time Lottie left. Joshua asked why he didn't boot them out.

   "Aw, Lottie don't care," said one of the two. But they went back to their table.

   "That's why," said Ken. "They keep sayin' what Lottie'd do...and I ain't Lottie."

   His listeners both knew how he felt. They sipped their drinks.

   "Joshua..."

   "Biddie, I don't feel..."

   "I know, you'd rather it was Candy." Joshua looked at her in surprise. "Oh, Biddie, it's you, tell Candy I called.'"

   Joshua nodded. "If Jason was around, he'd know what to do.'"

   "You feel like you're exactly the wrong person..."

   "...but someone's got to do the job."

   They drained their glasses. "Barkeep," said Biddie, "hit me again."

   "Yer drunk!"

   "Not so drunk but I can take you!"

   "I could take you twice that drunk!"

   From adjoining logs Sligo and Crawdad were going at each other with jam pikes. The other men cheered on one or the other or both, swiveling their heads to watch them and the logs at the same time. Jason was trying to separate them without getting pummeled or speared. "I can take the two of you both hands tied and standin' on one leg," he said, "but this ain't the occasion!" He jumped onto Sligo's log and, using his peavey, gave Crawdad's a turn that sent it away and a little ahead, then barred Sligo from following. "Won't have you breakin' your neck," he said, "leastwise till we finish."

   "You've gone soft," said Sligo. "Been out in the woods too long." Then he saw the mill coming up on the right, and instantly forgot about Crawdad. "Let's have a look-see." He jumped off onto the bank, and Jason followed him. Inside, bars of light fell through gaps in the rafters onto the bays. "Sad to see her like this," Sligo said. "Used to roll the timber in here, then it'd get shipped to points..."

   Jason raised a hand to his lips and pointed to the water. It reflected a figure crouching on the roof, wearing an Indian loincloth. Sligo hoisted himself onto a frame, reached up through one of the gaps in the roof, and pulled the man down. He landed in one of the bays. Sligo jumped in after him. The man got to his feet, and they faced each other. Their eyes widened in mutual recognition. The man dashed out through a break in the wall and up through the woods.

   "Why'd he know you?" asked Jason.

   "Prob'ly worked here of a time." Sligo left quickly. Jason followed him, intending to press him further, but Jeremy interrupted.

   "What would you say to me takin' a year off, travel around with Sligo, learn the river trade?"

   Jason didn't like the idea at all, but before he could say anything a cry from Sligo diverted their attention. "Look sharp! White water!" Where the Green River emptied into the Duwamish, the water churned around a sharp curve. "We've jammed here before," Sligo said. The men had an up-and-down ride. Even with the spikes on their boots, they had to shift their balance constantly to avoid falling off, all the while steering the logs around the bend.

   At the far end, disaster struck. "Log jam!" shouted Crawdad. The Bolts saw it a second later. A huge log lay across the way. The lead logs had run into it and bounced back, hitting others. They were massing up, miring on the banks, finally stopping completely. Crawdad was already unsteady when his log collided with another, throwing him off. Jeremy extended his peavey. Crawdad grabbed onto it, but his weight pulled Jeremy in. The logs were still now, and the two helped each other through them toward shore. Jason watched with relief.

   Sligo jabbed him in the chest. "Your men oughta cleared the way!"

   "You blind? Someone set that here on purpose."

   A knife whistled past them and buried itself in the wood at their feet. Black-haired men in loincloths appeared among the trees. Two leaped down to meet Jeremy and Crawdad as they waded ashore. The only river men with a hope of escape were the sacking crew, slogging through the mud at the rear. Crouching behind a log, they climbed onto the bank, where they found a rear guard waiting.

   One of the Indians stepped out onto the big log. He was dressed no differently from the others, yet he was plainly their leader. "Sli-go!" he said, pointing. "You rob me! Now you, me settle!"

   "Oooh," said Sligo, "don't sound good."

   Jason grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "And if you survive," he said, "it'll be my turn."

   "Tell me someth'n'," Joshua said to Biddie, "you can talk on and on...and on...and on..."

   "Rattle on, you mean. I know, I can't help it, once I get started I can't shtop...stop...it's the queerest thing..."

   "Jason, now," said Joshua, "Jason...he can talk all night and into the next morning. Jeremy too, once he gets goin'. But me...you heard me yesterday...I was...I was..."

   "Tie-tongued...tongue-tie...tongue..."

   "What," said Joshua, leaning closer, "is the secret?"

   "The...secret," she said slowly. "Hmmmmmmmm. I have a kind of idea what I mean to say, then I pop out with the first thing that comes to mind, and hope the right words find their way in...and, you know, they usually do. The hard thing's keeping quiet." She put her finger to her lips. "Shhhhhh." Joshua copied her. "How do you manage it?" she asked.

   "Well, you..."

   "I couldn't, not to save my soul. It's like peanuts...I'm partial to peanuts...I believe most people are...and they're nutritious too...but you can't stop at one, can you? Talking's the same way...how do you stop?"

   "Well, you..."

   "I suppose some people are born knowing, but me..."

   Joshua covered her mouth. "Biddie...you listen."

   "Lsfm?" she said.

   He took his hand away. "Listen. And I...talk." They smiled at each other.

   "Came to have a talk," Joshua said to Cady, falling into step with him. Cady had begun patrolling the perimeter after he discovered the rear windows. "You talk and I'll walk...no, I'll walk and you talk...never mind." His head was floating a little, but he didn't care as long as the words came to the top. "How's the weather in New Bedford?" Cady looked at him sharply.

   Biddie and Leonora watched from the porch. Leonora asked what Joshua was doing. "Saying the first thing that comes to mind," Biddie said. My land, Leonora thought.

   The chief conferred with his shaman while Sligo told Jason the story. Two years earlier he'd visited the village to barter for rope and learned that the chief had a large collection of carvings made for him by his people. Sligo had returned with goods of his own and talked him into holding a kind of potlatch in which the two of them would give up their belongings to the river spirit..."'cept I had the boys waitin' below to catch 'em," Sligo said. "He sniffed it out and we had to skedaddle. But I wound up with the lot."

   Jason's eyes were like cold iron. "It never occurred to you he might be nursing a grievance?" he said, and before Sligo could answer, "You'll give back what you took."

   "Sold it."

   "Then give him the proceeds."

   "Spent it."

   "Timothy...." Jason grabbed him by the collar and forced his head into the muddy water. He counted to five, reflected, extended it to eight, then pulled him out.

   Sligo wiped his face. "Sure, there was no call for that."

   Jeremy looked at Jason. "And him an Irishman."

   "Yes, what of it?" Sligo said.

   "Remind me what it is Clancey's got against the English?"

   "Why, they stole our land, sent their armies to crush us, took advantage at every..." Sligo stopped, struck. The brothers shook their heads. Jason got to his feet and introduced himself to the chief.

   "I know of you," the chief said. "Men say you are true man."

   Jason's eyes widened. "They do?"

   The chief made a gesture like playing an accordion. "...who sometimes make truth long."

   "Never yet saw the fact that couldn't stand polishin'." Jason grinned. "Let's parley."

   Joshua's parley was going badly, Biddie decided. Joshua was of the same opinion. He was running dry of words, and those magical right ones hadn't emerged yet. He pressed on nonetheless. "...think we'd do anything to disgrace the brides? Why, the brides...the brides..." He caught sight of Biddie, who was making a gesture like lips moving. "The brides," he said, "Biddie...Candy...Ann...Flora Sue..." He got stuck. "Did I say Ann?"

   "A-yeah. And you lured 'em all here with your fancy talk."

   "I allow we made the place sound grander than it is." Otherwise none of them would have been fool enough to come, he thought. "But it was all aboveboard. If their honor was comper..." His tongue was a little thick. "...coppermised, we'da had to pay their passage home. We signed to that." Then the magic words came. "And y'know what else woulda happened? Show you." He put his arm around Cady's shoulder and led him to a view of Bridal Veil Mountain.

   Cady shook him off. "You lost your..."

   "Exactly. We'da lost our mountain."

   "That's yours?" He was impressed despite himself. "And you were willing to gamble it away?"

   "It was that or lose the town. Without the brides the men would have drifted off, or brought in a different class of women. They kept us respectable. Church is full on Sundays, we have a temperance association, we're building an opera house..."

   Cady looked narrowly at him. "Might be there's hope for you. Might be I'll give you a chance to redeem their honor." What price do you put on that? thought Joshua. "I'll not resort to the marshal...not yet. On the condition you close this establishment..."

   "But it's not..." Joshua saw it was useless. "Okay."

   "...and give me a piece of that mountain." He resumed his patrol. Joshua stood dumbstruck, but only for a moment.

   "I can't do that," he called after Cady. "My brothers would say the same."

   Cady turned back. "A-yeah. If you'd said different, I'da known you for a liar."

   "Then you believe me about the brides?"

   Cady considered. "A-no." He walked on. Joshua looked at Biddie apologetically. She saw she'd have to take things into her own hands.

   Jason came back with good tidings. The chief would let them go in exchange for a quarter of the timber, enough to build a new village. They'd fished out that stretch and would be moving upriver. "Another thing," Jason said to Sligo, "after the drive you and your men are going to come back and build it for 'em." The brave they'd met at the mill stepped up. "Katoowee'll come with us to make sure."

   "And if he doesn't," said Jeremy, "I will."

   "It's slavery, that's..." Sligo stopped suddenly, then said with an air of resignation, "If we must, we must." He proposed building a boom to hold the Indians' share. Looking out across the dammed-up logs, he made a cutting gesture. "This here's about a fourth, ain't it?" At a look from Jason, he moved the dividing line ten yards farther on. The men got busy with their pikes.

   "Fine talker I am," said Joshua. "We're worse off than before." He noticed that he was now the saloon's only customer. "What happened to the scrubwood?"

   Ken pointed to a broken lamp. "Got so riled I threw 'em out. They'll be back tomorrow."

   "Do what we do at the camp...set some rules. The wild men we get..."

   "Rules," Ken repeated. He took a pad and pencil from under the counter and slowly printed the word. Joshua bent around to read it. "It's one L," he said, "and no O's." Ken crossed it out and started over.

   Biddie had devised a plan. As Cady patrolled in front, a row of brides in their Sunday best marched out and formed a parade behind him. He was unaware of it until he stopped short and they came bumping up against him and one another. "What's this?" he asked.

   "Permit me to introdush...duce my fellow brides," said Biddie. "Many of them refused to come, being as they consider you a disturbed person. However," she went on, "this is Annabeth..." The first girl stepped up and curtsied, then trotted to the rear. "Lilibeth..." The second girl did the same. "Marybeth..."

   Cady halted her. "What's the aim of this?"

   "To show you the error of your ways," said Biddie. "Look at them...you can't seriously believe they're women of...of that kind."

   Leonora stepped out of line. "Do you, Papa?"

   Cady's jaw hardened, and he turned away. "You used to be clever girls," he said. "Now here you are in this wild place, abandoned by those that loved you, those that could have saved you...outcast in this world and the next." Their chins began to quiver. "The pit gapes wide and it's full of black scorching misery. I see it as plain..."

   Soon the parlor was resounding with their sobbing. "If anyone cares to say anything," Biddie said, "I'll listen."

   Georgie fell into her lap. "I don't want to be an outcast!" she said.

   "He was always stubborn," said Leonora, watching him from the window. "Fixed in his ideas. The quarrels he and Mama had! But now he only sees the worst of things, or manufactures it himself." She turned to see Biddie staring at her with saucer eyes, her face muscles rigid. She asked what was wrong. Biddie said she was listening. Leonora smiled despite herself. "Not so hard," she said.

   "Don't mind his bad opinion," said Biddie, "Joshua will make an honest woman of you." Then, hearing herself, "That isn't quite what I..."

   Leonora was glowing. "Biddie, you're wonderful!"

   "Oh, my," Biddie said, "well..."

   Leonora went to the escritoire and began writing a note, which she asked Biddie to deliver to Monroe. Biddie asked where she could find him. "Same place he's been all day," Leonora said, nodding toward the window. Biddie looked out to see him standing across the road with his hands in his pockets and a mournful look on his face.

   The logs sailed faster as the river approached the Sound. The drivers hastened back and forth at the sides to keep any of them from turning and stalling. Katoowee proved a dab hand with the peavey. "You done this afore," Sligo said. Katoowee said that as a young man he'd worked at the mill. "Lemme ask you," said Sligo, "as one lumberman to another...how'd you like a brand new fish net?"

   "Have many net," said Katoowee, "from father."

   "Father..."

   "...is chief."

   "Ah." Sligo abandoned whatever plan he'd had in mind and went over to Jason, who was riding nearby. "Oughta told me he was kin to the quality," he said. Jason asked who he meant. Sligo looked back. "The Inj..." But Katoowee had disappeared. The log he'd been riding had been seized in a small eddy and was heading into a sidestream on the left. Other logs were doing the same.

   The men were already leapfrogging to that side to retrieve as many as they could. Sligo got there first, with Jason a close second, and saw Katoowee going under. He dived in after him. He came up a few seconds later, empty-handed. A brace of logs shot toward him. He went down again. Jeremy appeared at Jason's side, and they watched anxiously. After almost a minute he came up again, this time with Katoowee under his arm. He was still alive. The Bolts pulled him out. But as Jason reached for Sligo's hand, a rogue log divided them and caught Sligo on the chin. He went under. Other logs sailed over him, making an impenetrable roof.

   "Save him!" Jeremy shouted to the others.

   "No use," said Crawdad. "Save the timber!" They were already occupied in doing that, as far as was possible. Jason searched the water. He saw Sligo's cap bob to the surface. One of the men fished it out and handed it to him.

   The sun hadn't shown itself much that day and was now too low to be seen if it had. Jason hung the cap on an oak limb that reached out over the water. Jeremy, Katoowee, and a half dozen of the drivers were gathered with him on the bank. No more men could be spared. "This bein' as much of a funeral as he'll have," said Jason, "I don't rightly know what to say."

   Katoowee stepped forward. "I will say. He was brave man. He not think...he move. Sometimes that is bad, sometimes good thing."

   As he spoke, a mud-soaked figure crawled out onto the bank behind him. Jeremy opened his mouth. Jason bared his teeth at him. The drivers held their breaths. Katoowee paused and looked off, as if listening. "It is good he die," he said. "If he live, he must go back. No matter he help me." He looked squarely at Jason. "But I see he is dead. I will tell father so." He turned and walked away, passing the muddy figure as if it were not there. No one made a sound until he was out of sight.

   "First time I ever seen a man rise from the grave," said Jason.

   "Here's how it was," said Sligo. "The devil took one look at me and threw me right back." His men gathered around him, laughing. Crawdad took down his cap and tossed it to him.

   "Hit me," said Biddie. She slapped down a quarter. Smiling, Ken poured her a whiskey. She downed it and ordered another. Joshua topped her glass with his hand.

   "You've had enough," he said. "Me too."

   "There's your problem," said Ken. "Too sober." He returned to wiping the counter. Better I should be drunk? Joshua thought.

   He noticed that Biddie was quivering. "I'm so madge...madse," she said. "They've been crying all afternoon..."

   "I mean," Ken said, "you don't get worked up like Jason does..."

   "...since that Mr. Cady told them how their families hated them and they're going straight to hell...ooooooops." She covered her mouth.

   "...'cause you ain't the wrathy type," Ken finished.

   It looked as if some of the hellfire had spread into Joshua's eyes. "He said what?" Five minutes later he was advancing on Cady, backing him into the fence. "You hateful old man!"

   "Eh?"

   "You self-righteous tyrant!"

   "Of all the ner..."

   "It's you that's got a nerve, coming here tormenting these girls...and one of them your own daughter. There's no evil here...you bring it with you like a plague, stirrin' up wicked thoughts where there weren't any before. No more! From now on..." Cady hushed him. "Oh, I've just started..."

   "I hear music," Cady said. Joshua stopped to listen. It was coming from the piano inside. Cady recognized it as Mendelssohn. He turned to it. Between billows of cloud a shaft of light fell on the dormitory and on Leonora, who was standing at one of the broken windows in a white laced dress.

   "Letitia...." said Cady.

   "No," Joshua said softly, "Leonora."

   She turned and saw her father look up at her through a rush of tears. "Papa...?" She ran down to him. Cady approached her uncertainly. She looked just like her mother the day she was wed. She was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. "But why are you dressed up?" he asked.

   "The same reason," Leonora said. "I thought if you saw me married, you might come to believe in me again."

   "Oh, Nora." Cady dropped his eyes. "After your ma died, the whole world got to seeming dark and cruel. And some of it is...some..." He looked up again. "...but not you...never you."

   "Papa!" She ran into his arms. He clasped her tight.

   "I've wronged you so...you and the others. How can I ever make it up?"

   "For a start, you can give me away." She looked across to where Six Bits and the Reverend were hurrying toward them. "Here come the other needful parties."

   "Hope we're on time," said Six Bits.

   Leonora smiled radiantly. "Just in time."

   For the recessional, the pianist, Georgie, played a new tune called "The Bluest Skies (You've Ever Seen)." The bride and groom came running out hand in hand. The other girls crowded onto the porch and threw rice after them. "Ladies," Joshua proclaimed, "your sentence is lifted. Go find your men." Sounding more like him all the time, he thought.

   With a cheer, the brides ran off in all directions. "Be back by ten!" Biddie called after them. One thing puzzled Joshua: the dress. Biddie told him it had been Amanda's. "I keep it in case..." Ken appeared at the gate, pad in hand, and asked for the fellow with the gun. Before Joshua could answer, a deep rumbling sound froze them all. Biddie asked if it was an avalanche. If she'd thought, she'd have known better.

   "Homecoming," said Joshua. The drive was drawing to a close.

   Under a full moon, the river pigs made their way from the mill to the saloon, looking forward to a bang-up time. They were brought up short by a figure sitting at the door, his chair tilted back, a six-barreled pistol in his lap, a newly borrowed ten-gallon hat on his heads. As they started in, Cady slapped the gun against a new sign on the wall. RULS, it read. NO FITEN. NO SWAREN. NO SLEPEN. NO SPITEN ON FLOR. NO OFENDEN LADES. NO DISRISPECTEN OF BARMAN. And finally, in bigger letters, NO CREDET. Their faces fell at this.

   Jason found them sitting in the dirt. "Intended to borry credit on your name," Sligo explained. "We're skinned till your miller sets a price for the timber. Be little enough, with all we lost."

   After a few seconds' thought, Jason offered to buy them out at six cents a foot. He said he'd keep the lumber for the opera house. "We'll even name it for you," he said to Sligo, "the late lamented." Sligo and the others agreed. Jason gave them what cash he had, which would be enough for the night, and promised them the rest before they left in the morning.

   "You know you're cheatin' yourself," Sligo said.

   "Well," Jason said with a smile, "saves you the bother."

   The other drivers filed into the saloon under Cady's steely eye. Sligo hung back. Thinking he might want a job, Jason offered him one. "Can't promise you a river," he said, "but honest work and fair play."

   Sligo said no. "I can always hire out as a driver, pilot, fetch-and-carry...anythin' if it's out there."

   "I believe your mother was a mermaid and your father was an ink-squirtin' squid."

   "It's only true." They both laughed. "As to the other...Seattle Opry House'll do fine." He thought. "Seattle was a chief's name, wasn't it?" They shook hands, and Sligo went to join the others.

   Cady felt the hat taken off his head. Leonora kissed him on the forehead. Six Bits was with her. "I see you've found your place in the community," she said. She knew Ken had agreed to board him in exchange for his services.

   "Only for a few days," said Cady. "When the steamer comes I'll be going along home." He refused to listen to her protest. "This is no place for me. 'tis for you...all's green and new. But I was brought up to the old ways and I'll go out with them."

   "Will you be all right?"

   "I have a man that looks after my needs."

   Leonora hugged Six Bits. "So have I." Cady offered him his hand. "Come back," said Leonora. "See your grandchildren." He watched her go. Darn fine girl, he thought.

   Jason found Jeremy outside the dormitory and urged him to bed. "If she's not back yet..."

   "I'll wait a little longer," said Jeremy. "In case."

   Youth! Jason thought. A stir from the direction of the saloon caught his attention. Ken was evicting Sligo and company. They left loaded down with bottles, which they carried with them to the wharf.

   "Sorry you won't be goin'?" Jason asked.

   Jeremy smiled. "As heroes go, he has pretty big shoes to fill."

   Jason gave no sign of understanding. "One thing's sure," he said. "When his kind are gone, there'll be none to replace 'em."

   "No, there won't." The remark came, unexpectedly, from Aaron. He stopped beside the Bolts, and the three stood watching them, each envying them in his way. Boarding the raft, the river men threw their heads back and howled at the moon. Jeremy howled back. The two older men smiled. Aaron showed Jason the broken windows, which the town council would have to replace. Jason asked what had broken them. "Gunshots," said Aaron, and before Jason could ask, "Joshua will tell you."

   Joshua was at Lottie's, which was mainly occupied by brides and their beaux making up for the days lost. They began to leave by twos as the clock neared ten. Joshua searched for Biddie. He found her at one of the tables, now back on the wagon, and practicing her listening. He stole up behind and whispered in her ear, "It's a party, Biddie, you can relax." She smiled up at him. He reminded her of his promise to walk her home.

   "I won't hold you to that," she said. "I'm sure there are plenty of other..." Joshua put his finger to her lips. "Thank you," she said quietly, "that would be lovely." He offered her his arm.

   They were so intent on their conversation that they passed by Jeremy without seeing him. He was leaning against the corner post, nodding off. Their voices recalled him. "Next time, perhaps," Biddie was saying, "you should wait for the second thing that comes to mind."

   "And you can save the parades for Easter," Joshua replied. They laughed. He opened the gate for her and laid a friendly kiss on her brow. His hands were on her shoulders. She trembled slightly. As they regarded each other in the cool blue moonlight, the same idea struck them both. That would be very nice, thought Biddie. And why the hell not? thought Joshua. They moved together and joined lips in a warm, slow, rich kiss. It was as if they knew they might never have another and had to make this one count.

   Jeremy watched with his head to one side. The two said their good nights and parted. Biddie gave a little jump, then ran in, letting out a yip. Joshua walked off in a pleasant stupor. Again he passed Jeremy without seeing him.

   Got to get some sleep, Jeremy thought. He started for home after his brother.

Please give the author your opinion on this story!