Chapter Ten
Joe spent his day putting out one fire after the other. First, the well pump broke, so there was no water to the house. After spending all day fixing it, he had no time to mill wood, and he needed to finish the order for a new contractor who was building a mile up the road. He was just wiping his hands and turning on the power to the working pump when Ryan came walking up the road with this backpack looped over his shoulder. “Hey, Ryan. How was school today?” Joe asked.
“Good,” Ryan said, shrugging his shoulders. It was the same response he gave every day.
“Any homework?” Joe asked, knowing exactly what was coming.
“No.”
He watched Ryan saunter to the house. “So if I call your teacher, she’ll tell me the same thing?”
Ryan stopped and seemed to hesitate before looking up a
