Broken Promises (16 page)

Zak smiled. "Not quite, but I managed to pry out of him the date of his release, and that he returned to Baker’s Creek right afterwards. So I checked through back issues of the Baker’s Creek Gazette and I found this." He removed a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. Tess unfolded the paper, which was a photocopy of a newspaper article, and read:

"While serving as Platoon Sergeant of Company G, Second Battalion, Fifth Marine Division, Sergeant
Jedediah
Swenson was severely wounded while evacuating a fallen comrade when the unit came under heavy automatic weapons fire from enemy forces. Despite his wounds, Sergeant Swenson ran across a fire-swept range, completely exposed to view, and delivered a hail of machine gun fire against the enemy. Fighting pain, weakness and loss of blood, he braved the concentrated fire and charged an estimated twenty-five enemy soldiers advancing to attack, continuing to fire until the enemy ran for cover. For courageous and inspired performance in the face of overwhelming odds, Sergeant
Jedediah
Swenson has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor..."

Tess stared at the paper, unable to process what she'd just read. But the words were there. "I can't believe this," she said. "Swenson actually received a Medal of Honor?"

"And a Purple Heart for his wounds. But that's not all," Zak said. "After I got out of him the information about being in the Marines, I asked him what the problem had been at Timber West and he just said he wouldn't work for a woman, so I dug a little more. Now get this." Zak looked askance at her. "Apparently Swenson was raised by six women--his mother, his grandmother and four older sisters. I think he's just had his fill of women telling him what to do. I also think you'd better take another look at Curt Broderick. Swenson has stuck to his story that Broderick cut the trees and I believe him."

"But that doesn't make sense," Tess said. "What would Curt have to gain by sabotaging Timber West? He's already woods boss. He can't go any higher."

"I asked Swenson that too."

"And?"

"He said he didn't know either, that all he knew was what he'd seen... Broderick cutting the trees."

"Well, I'm not saying Swenson's off the hook yet," Tess said, "but I'll keep an eye on Curt, at least see where he goes during his spare time... maybe find out who he hangs around with."

"You might ask him if he was in the service, and if so, what he did. Maybe he's our explosives expert. The job on the ridge road was done by someone who knows explosives."

"That's what Herring said," Tess replied. "Now that I think about it, Curt didn't have much to say about the whole thing. But still, there's no reason for him blowing up the road, and cutting down trees, and shooting a hole in the skidder tire. And incidentally, the tire
was
shot."

"Considering everything else that's happened, that doesn't surprise me," Zak said. "You know, Swenson's really not a bad guy. He's a hell of a worker. If you need a new woods boss, you might give him another chance."

"He doesn't work for women, remember? Meanwhile, I have some good news, at least I think you'll like it
,[
?
]
" Tess said. Zak eyed her with curiosity and waited. "My father's no longer objecting to us. He didn't so much as blink when I told him I'd been with you for two days." She went on to explain her father's reaction to her announcement about being in
Navarre
.

Zak smiled. "Well, that's one bullheaded old cuss out of the way. Now, we only have one more to go, and I think you've just about got him wrapped around your little chess finger."

"Did your mother say something to him?" Tess asked.

"She didn't have to," Zak replied. "Anyone who'll be Father's chess buddy is in. So I guess our only problem now is how to keep the two old goats from butting heads."

Tess sighed. "I don't think that's possible. My father never has a good word for yours, and I'm sure it's the same with your father."

Zak agreed. "But there's sixty miles separating them, so maybe they won't kill each other."

"But you said there was a problem. This all sounds good," Tess said.

"There is a problem, " Zak replied, "and I wish I could put it off, but I can't."

The subject was serious. Tess could see it in his eyes, and in the furrows in his brow, and the way his jaw clenched. Then he looked at her soberly, and said, "You have to stop operations near the ridge. You're logging in the primary zone of a perch tree."

Tess stared at Zak in disbelief. "You can't be serious. It's only a perch tree? An empty tree."

"It's also an alternate nest tree."

"But the nest has been empty for years," Tess said. "Besides, we don't plan to cut that tree down, or even the timber around it, only the pole timber in the area."

"It still could disturb the birds."

"How can you do this, Zak? You and I are trying to get our lives together, my father has finally accepted you... Do you have any idea what this will do?" She moved away from him and folded her arms.

"I'm sorry," Zak said, "but I can't let your father dictate how I do my job."

"Fine, but you'd better understand one thing," Tess said, her fingers drumming against her folded arms. "If my father wants to keep cutting, we'll keep cutting, and the only way you'll stop us is to have me arrested, unless, of course, you want to arrest a sick, old man." She looked directly at him. "And I thought I was naive at seventeen."

Zak's eyes narrowed. "Don't put me in this position," he warned. "No one should be arrested."

"Then don't shut down Timber West," Tess pleaded.

Zak drew in an exasperated breath. "I'm not shutting down Timber West. I'm only telling you to stop logging within six-hundred feet of the perch tree."

"That's over twenty acres," Tess said.

"You have other timber, and other areas where you can log," Zak replied.

"The pole timber's what's keeping us going right now," Tess said. "We just wiped out the last of our working capital in order to make our quarterly tax payment, and in ten days we have a loan payment due, and that's just the beginning. We owe money for skidder tires, and equipment repairs, and wages, all of which could be paid if we harvest pole timber." She paused to settle her erratic breathing.

"I know you're struggling financially, and I'm sorry about that," Zak said, "but you'll still have to stop logging near the tree."

"I'll do whatever my father decides."

Zak glared at her. "Then you might end up in jail. You know what he'll decide."

"Yes, I do," Tess said. "So I suggest you stay clear of him after today. You won't be very popular with him... again." Tess held his unwavering gaze for a long, silent moment.

When she offered nothing more, Zak stood, splayed an agitated hand in the air, and said, "Fine, have it your way. It's out of my hands. The report's already gone in." He threw the door open, sending it crashing against the wall, and walked out. Moments later, tires spun as the truck lurched forward and sped into the darkness.

Tess slammed the door and stared at it, her heart racing, blood rushing to her face. Zak's crusade was very noble, but he was carrying things too far. And the one thing she refused to do was to stop logging because of an empty nest!

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tess stood on a rise at the edge of the forest, looking across the clearing to where logs were being stacked on the landing. In the distance she heard the buzz of chain saws cutting trees and the whine of the skidder hauling logs. And beneath her feet the ground vibrated with the rumble of the bulldozer. Normally, she gave the noise little thought, but for some reason, today the clatter from the machines grated on her nerves. She suspected it was a combination of lack of sleep, and Zak's angry exit from her cabin three nights before. She hadn't seen him since, and his abrupt departure hung heavy on her mind.

If they were forced to stop logging the pole timber, she didn't even want to think about her father's reaction when he learned Zak was behind it. Meanwhile, the more timber she could get down, the less she'd hear from her father when and if it came to that.

She watched Curt Broderick lower the blade of the Cat and start shoving limbs onto a burn pile. During her wakeful, restless nights, she'd pondered his reactions to the various incidents, suspicious that he might actually be the one behind it all, in spite of the fact that there seemed to be no logical reason why he should sabotage his own job. She'd also gone over in her mind what she'd say to him today, in an effort to draw him out.

But in the clear light of day, as she watched Curt operate the Cat, she questioned her reasoning. She wanted to point a finger at someone, and before reading the article in the newspaper, that person had been Swenson. Now, she realized, it was time to start asking questions, beginning with Curt. While she waited for him to finish moving limbs and brush, she saw her father's truck lurching up the rough road. When he pulled into the clearing, she noted that he was wearing his hard hat and work boots. From the pleased look on his face, and the spring in his step, she could tell he was excited about something, which he confirmed when he said, "I just got word that the price of pole timber went up again, and this stand is top grade. It might just keep us in business."

Tess forced a smile, but inside she felt the sting of Zak's ultimatum. "That's good. We should be done here in less than three weeks." She scanned his hard hat and work clothes. "I hope you aren't planning on operating any equipment," she said, "because I know you're not supposed to be doing that."

"I just came out here to see how things were going," he replied. "Any problems?"

Tess relayed to him what she'd learned from Zak about Swenson getting the Medal of Honor, then offered her reasons for suspecting Curt of sabotaging the place. "He was the first to discover the landslide, he's woods boss so he's first on the job every morning, he'd been working on the Cat the day before the steering hose broke, and he was also the first to discover the hole in the skidder tire, claiming it ran over a spike. And now we find out it's been shot with a high-powered rifle. He keeps one on a rack in his truck."

"So do lots of people," Gib said.

"But Swenson says Curt was the only one around when one of the two trees went down that Jean-Pierre de Neuville claims was on his property. Regardless of whose property it's on, you didn't order it cut, I didn't order it cut, and neither did Mr. de Neuville."

"That may all be true," Gib said, "but the fact remains, why? Curt has no damn reason."

"That's what I hope to find out."

"Well, you'd better keep him on until we get this pole timber down," Gib said. "Without it, the whole crew might be looking for new jobs."

"That's another thing I want to talk to you about," Tess said in a tight voice, broaching the next subject with trepidation. "There's some old-growth fir among the pole timber and one of them has an eagle's nest in it, and we're not supposed to log within six-hundred feet of the tree."

"That nest has been inactive for years," Gib said.

"Yes, but the eagles are still using it for a perch tree."

"Then they'll have to find another place to perch. There's no way in hell I'll stop logging just because of an empty nest."

"What if we're ordered to stop?"

"Then send whoever does the ordering to me and you just keep logging. No one's going to order me to stop cutting my own timber because of an empty nest!"

"We do have other areas where we could log."

"We have pole timber right here that needs cutting while the price is high and I don't want to hear anymore about it." He turned and got in his truck and slammed the door. As Tess watched her father's truck pitch and buck down the road, she desperately hoped that Zak would not carry out his threat.

She looked toward the creaking bulldozer and saw it lumber to a halt. Curt jumped down to toss scattered limbs onto the pile. "Curt!" she yelled, motioning to him.

Curt walked over to where she stood, and said, as he approached, "About two and a half weeks and we should have this area cleared."

"Good," Tess said. "My father's thinking about putting it into grass and leasing it for pasture, so as soon as the timber's down, we'll need to do something about these stumps."

Curt rested his hands on his hips and surveyed the area. "We can grub '
em
out with the Cat."

"I thought about that," Tess said, "but the quickest way would be to blast them out, but Swenson's the only man around who knows how to handle explosives and we're not likely to hire him to do it." She gave Curt time for her words to be absorbed, then said, "I don't suppose you've ever done anything like that, have you?"

"No," Curt replied. "I've never handled dynamite and I don't think I want to start now."

"I don't blame you." After letting that sink in, Tess said, "Were you ever in the military?"

Curt looked at her with curiosity. "No, why?"

Tess shrugged. "I want to sort of pool skills around here, and I figure the men who have been in the military might have learned some skills we can use. Have you done any other type of work besides logging?"

"Some construction work," Curt replied.

"Where?"

"In
Portland
."

"Who did you work for?"

Caught by surprise, Curt replied, "Maddox... Construction."

Tess noted that Curt seemed particularly restless. "What type of construction? Light, industrial?"

"Both," Curt replied.

"Dozer work?"

"No...well, yes. We did some... tearing down."

Curt's eyes shifted nervously and it was clear he wanted out of this conversation. Tess made a mental note to check on Maddox Construction in
Portland
and see what she could learn about Curt Broderick. "Well, if you know of anyone who can blast out these stumps, let me know," she said, giving Curt a brief smile.

Curt nodded. "I'd better get back to the Cat."

As Tess watched him skillfully operating the bulldozer, she hoped something would turn up that would prove her suspicions about him wrong, but she suspected that would not be the case.

Two days later, as the men were taking a break from pole cutting for lunch, a plain brown car pulled in next to the skidder where Tess stood talking to Herring. An official-looking man in a business suit stepped out, and said, "You Theresa O'Reilly?"

Tess nodded.

"Ms. O'Reilly," the man said, holding up a small folder with an identification card, "I'm Special Agent Richard Keightly and I'm with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife. It's been brought to our attention that you're cutting within the primary zone of a bald eagle nest and I must ask you to cease and desist all operations in this area, immediately."

"The nest has been abandoned for years," Tess said, "and we don't plan to cut any timber close to the tree. Besides, how can you be certain we're actually cutting in the primary zone?"

"The tree and the restricted zone have been plotted on an aerial photo," Keightly replied.

"Could we continue just for a few more days, until we get this timber out, "Tess asked.

"I'm sorry. No. You have to stop now. Today." Keightly reached into his inside breast pocket and withdrew a paper. "This is for you."

Tess looked at what was obviously a legal document. "What is this supposed to mean?" she asked, even though she knew precisely what it meant. She just couldn't believe Zak had really carried out his threat.

"It's a court order demanding you cease all operations here," Keightly affirmed.

Tess tried to hold her voice steady, as she said, "Will you be coming back?"

"No," Keightly replied, "not unless we have reason to believe you're still logging."

Tess peered down at the paper, and said in what she hoped would be a convincing tone, "Well, I suppose we have no choice but to move our operation to another area."

"We appreciate your cooperation," Keightly replied. With one final glance around the clearing, he got in his car and drove off.

Hands on her hips, Tess stared at the car until it moved out of sight, then she turned to the men, who had gathered in the clearing to see what Keightly wanted, and said, "Don't just stand there you guys, we have trees to cut." She'd leave a good stand of timber near the nest and only harvest the pole timber on the lower area. Maybe there would still be enough board feet to pull Timber West out of the financial hole it was in.

Over the next three days they worked from first light until dark. Gradually, the stack of logs rose high on the landing. Tess had just returned to the cutting site after calling and notifying the truckers to start loading, when the plain brown car returned, accompanied by an Oregon State Police car. Two officers stepped out of the police car and flanked Agent Keightly. As they approached Tess, one of the officers stepped forward. "Theresa O'Reilly?"

"Yes."

"Before we ask you any questions, you must understand your rights. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be used against you..."

***

The jail door clanged shut. Tess looked around. It was a four-bunk cell shared by three. One inmate, a young woman, lay curled on a cot facing the wall. The other, an
amazon
of a woman with a hawk-like nose, stepped forward. Her face was as hard as the cell floor on which Tess stood. Tess's lips darted into a smile, then she sat on the empty lower bunk, shoulders slumped, hands folded in her lap, wondering where her father had been when she called.

The big woman moved over to stand in front of the bunk, towering over Tess like an ominous Statue of Liberty. "That bunk you're on there's mine, honey," she said, in a gruff voice.

Without speaking, Tess got up and climbed onto the upper bunk. She might take on Jed Swenson, but she had no intention of quibbling over bunks with this woman.

The hulk of a woman spread out beneath where Tess lay, and Tess felt the entire frame of the bunk give under her weight. The woman gave a grunt, and said, "
Whatcha
in for, honey?"

Shaken by the woman's presence, and feeling uneasy to be trapped in the cell with her, for the moment Tess couldn't remember exactly what the charges were, so she replied, "Disturbing a bird's nest."

"You're pretty frail
lookin
' to be a smart ass, honey," the woman said. "Now, I asked
ya
.
Whatcha
in for?"

"I'm really not kidding," Tess replied. "I was logging in an area where there's an eagle's nest and that's against the law."

"You were what?!"
The woman sat up, whacking her head on the bottom of Tess's bunk and letting out a string of colorful expletives.

Somehow, in this bare, gloomy cube of space caging them, Tess found the humor of it and snickered. "That does sound kind of ridiculous, doesn't it, but that's it. I'm booked for disturbing an eagle's nest."

The woman sent a bellow of laughter ringing through the corridor and bouncing off the hard walls. "Now, don't that beat all? There's rapists, and murderers and child molesters out
roamin
' the streets, and those twits arrest a snip of a woman for
disturbin
' a bird's nest. Well, that beats all." The woman maneuvered herself off the bunk and stood. On her broad face was a smile.

As Tess looked at her, she found a warm, friendly face. Sitting up on her bunk, so she was eye level to the woman, she smiled and said, while extending her hand, "I'm Tess O'Reilly."

The woman crunched Tess's hand and smiled back. "I'm Rita Clatsop. You
wanna
know what I'm in for?"

Tess wasn't sure she wanted to know, but if Rita wanted to tell her, she'd definitely listen.

"I'm in here for
walkin
'."

Tess tipped her head as she tried to figure out what
walkin
' was.

A twinkle shone in Rita's eyes. "You know, street
walkin
'. Well, not me. My girls."

Tess swallowed. "Oh."

"This bunch around here won't even let a lady make a
livin
',
lockin
' me up for what I do best. Me and my girls can't make a decent
livin
' doing
nothin
' else. Now they're gonna reeducate us. How do
ya
like that?" Before Tess could respond, Rita said, "You ever been out on the streets?"