“Who do you think you are?” said the giant. “You don’t get half, you greedy little cuss. You get a third, like we agreed on.” The big man shoved Coot out of the way and stood before Joseph. He towered over the old man by at least two feet. He glared at him without saying anything.

“Well?” said Joseph. “You got something on your mind, then say it.”

The big man licked his thumb, then counted out two hundred and fifty dollars. He placed the money into Joseph’s hand and said, “You’d better be quick, old man, or I’ll use that brick I was telling you about.”

Joseph tucked the money into his breast pocket. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Fifty-Five
Leaves of Grass

Vern listened to the radio blaring in the truck. The preacher’s voice came through the speaker, saying, “There is a fountain filled with blood, flowing from Emmanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath . . .”

Ruth watched Pete hide from the dogs behind the tall grass. It was late at night, and the moon was throwing a blue glow on the world. Vern sat with his hands folded behind his head.

“Vern, turn that stupid thing off,” said Paul. “It’s distracting.”

“But it’s Wednesday night,” said Vern.

“So what?”

“It’s J. Wilbur.”

Paul reached over Ruth and snapped off the radio. “I’ve been listening to that dummy’s sermons every Wednesday night for a hundred years, whether I want to or not. We’re working right now. Go listen somewhere else.”

Vern crawled out of the truck and wandered toward the barn. Paul explained to Pete and Ruth that it was better to train the puppies at night than in the morning. It forced them to use their noses instead of their eyes.

Ruth thought it was magnificent to watch the animals in the glow of the headlights. The animals were only three months old but getting long and lanky. And they seemed to know exactly what to do when it came to using their noses.

Training the dogs to track short distances was done with an exercise. She and Paul held the dogs by the collars until they were yelping with excitement. Then Pete would walk far away, duck beneath the tall grass, and let out a single whistle.

Then Paul and Ruth would turn the pups loose. The clumsy animals would follow the trail Pete had left in the grass, tripping on oversized paws, long ears, and each other. And Pete would praise the dogs with such sincerity that Ruth could feel his gentle spirit from where she sat, even though she could only see his tall shape in the moonlight. She could hear him sweet-talking the puppies like they were his best friends. She loved him with all her heart.

Paul placed his arm around Ruth. He said nothing, only held her.

“What’s on your mind, young lady?” he said to her.

“What?”