Setting the Scene

A near blizzard howled through the John Day Valley in Eastern Oregon. Fine snow sifted through the cracks around the windows of the board-and-batten ranch house.

Homemade curtains were tacked to the windowsills to keep everything inside snug and warm. In the corner of the kitchen a hot fire burned in the iron cook-stove, and the old black iron teakettle hummed as the steam from its spout drifted almost to the ceiling.