BANGLydia knew the time without having to look at the clock on the back wall of her sweltering kitchen. The constant slamming open and shut of the dining room door told her noon had arrived, and the lunch crowd with it, in search of repast after a morning hard at work.
Wiping her sweaty forehead with the back of one floury hand, she scooped up the tray of sandwiches from her preparation table and shouldered open the door into the dining room, savoring the relative coolness. Well of course it"s cooler. There"s no stove in here. She took the long way around the room, past the east side windows, which stood open in hopes that the movement of the hot prairie breeze would pass through as it billowed down Main Street, carrying with it the next load of dust. Residents of Western Kansas had to be
