In the end, they only needed the chainsaws for one of the pine trees.
Several were indeed down, unable to carry the weight of the heavy snow after days of warm rain had loosened their hold on the soil. Thankfully none of the real giants were among the fallen. Either the four of them pushing or Carol’s Jeep and the chains she kept in back for emergencies handled most of the trees with no trouble at all.
At the end of the driveway, they ran into one that wedged itself too hard into the trees across the road to shift without cutting it up.
While Carol, Sid, and Katie worked on the tree, Miss Kellen walked alone through the gorgeous still-falling snow, to the main road to call the sheriff down in Wolf Branch.
She returned looking sad but determined, and carried as much of the branches and
