“Well, I done some research. I been cutting a trail for the town up around that hydroelectric place up there, and I saw how it was just getting ready to go into high gear. I mean, there’s a hell of a lot of constructin’ that needs to be done. I started figuring, hey, I bet somebody’d pay good money for a nice house near that place. I was thinkin’ of building one—but then I knew there was just no time for that. So I kept my eyes open.” He glanced at David. “Oh, I know what you’re thinkin’—how the hell could I afford to buy a house, just like that? Well, my grandaddy left me a little, and I used it for a down payment when this place opened up a few weeks ago. Like I said before, my finances ain’t the best, but I been saving that little chunk for something just like this. It was dirt cheap, and I figured I wouldn’t have to keep makin’ payments, once spring came. Somebody was bound to snap it up.”

“Pretty smart,” David said.

“Got that from my grandaddy too. Was a lumber man, he was. Had a pretty good company going, before the Depression hit. He managed to save a little.”

By now the road had dwindled down to two twisty lanes with no shoulder. Hank kept the old Cherokee at breakneck speed, its tires sliding softly on patches of ice, then squealing in protest when they hit dry tar. David clung to the door handle; this had become a genuine, white-knuckle ride. Hank still drove with one hand on the wheel, paying almost no attention to the road.

“We’re about five miles from the border right here. The road runs past the house and then you can take it over the bridge and into the States, or left to St. Boudin. That there’s the closest real town, you know. Got a police station, clinic, even a place to grab a sandwich. Right civilized, least out in these parts.”

Then, finally, he began to slow down. “This is the driveway. Goes in about one mile.” He turned the old Cherokee into the driveway. “See, it’s plowed now. Had to pay my friend Jimmy thirty bucks up front, and he’s a drunk. Thirty bucks’ll buy him a few drinks at the bar.”

The Jeep bounced and lurched over the ruts in the road. David wondered if the Toyota would even make it down this far.