ON A WINTER MORNING

£1

by

Edward Denison

Gerald drove the pickup truck carefully over the frozen sleet-covered fields toward the old house on the knoll. Beside him sat Mac, his fine tanned complexion reddened by the cold and his bold handsome features made more distinct in so much white light. Mac was not a regular employee on the ranch, but on this occasion he had volunteered to help Gerald remove some lumber from the house toward which they were driving. Gerald was pleased to have Mac with him. They had done some work together before and enjoyed working together. To the casual observer it would seem they had little in common: Mac, competent in practical matters and at ease in his own rather simple world, a devoted young husband and a doting father; Gerald, a young bachelor, aristocratic in his tastes. reserved in human relationships, and inclined to theory and to dreaming. Of course they were in some degree complementary personalities but they were not close friends. A certain distance always separated them.

Gerald stopped the pickup in front of the house and ushered Mac into an empty room. They looked over the planks of the walls and ceiling. Mac suggested that they take planks only from the ceiling. Gerald agreed and led Mac into the next room. Here they found bales of hay and above the hay a hatch leading into the attic. They climbed up the bales of hay, through the hatch, and into the empty and dimly lighted attic. A large crack in the south gable admitted a shaft of white light. Both were rather surprised to find themselves in such privacy.

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