Monday evening, Uncle Billy comes home from work with a dark expression staining his face.
"Might as well tell it now "fore dinner gets sour in our mouths," Granny tells him.
I already knew bad news was coming. Billy hadn"t even tried to toss his hat to land on the hook.
"Minor and Shaw are itching to start culling trees. They"re sneaking in before the senior Albertson can get to a judge to turn "round his son"s conservatorship. Our lawyer," he nods at Granny, "can"t get into court to protest their claim on our land "til the end of the month."
He looks at Abe. "How"s things going with tracing ownership?"
"Slow but goin"."
"Meaning?"
"There were four original families. Ones that stayed around, anyway: Bastien, that was the first in line. Williams, that be the line come through Alice"
