Read Online Harvestman Lodge by Cameron Judd - Free Book Online Page B

morning, at my request. That copy will be yours to use, then will go into the office collection. Keep up with it, please. And start reading it. Tonight, even. The book was funded by the government of Tylerville and had a small printing, so it’s hard to come by copies these days. Hadley himself has given away or sold most of his own supply, and the local library copies are pretty thoroughly worn out and falling apart. I had to make a new financial pledge to the Kincheloe County Historical Society to persuade Hadley to give me a new copy this morning.”
    “I met him at the front door as I was coming in. Friendly man.” Eli made no mention of King’s hair color.
    The interview progressed in meandering fashion. David Brecht was prone to run down rabbit trails in the conversation, but from the start it was obvious that Eli’s hiring offer was a foregone conclusion. Eli, though, would finalize nothing until he knew the details of compensation and benefits and had some idea of what housing costs and so on would be in Tylerville.
    At last Eli goaded his prospective employer through to the matters that had to be dealt with, and found what he’d expected: a reasonably good offer, one that at least provided him a chance for some professional pride and use of his education for something other than calculating shoe sizes. The pay was actually slightly higher than he had anticipated, and greatly lessened an earlier worry that he would have difficulty in affording decent rental housing during his time in Tylerville. Insurance and retirement benefits were acceptable, especially considering that his shoe store job offered none.
    Officially, his new position, as related to the magazine, would last twenty-four months, enough time to get the thing produced and distributed, and for Eli to be present to help deal with any issues that might rise from it immediately afterward: complaints, corrections, and so on. When the bicentennial project was behind, Brecht said, there almost certainly would be the chance for Eli to move into a permanent editorial post, working as an assistant editor focusing on special publications the paper regularly produced … an edition spotlighting Kincheloe County business and industry, another on local education, one highlighting church and religious life, the inevitable yearly “progress edition” … the usuals of any small-town newspaper.
    When the deal was done and hands were shaken and papers signed for Mary Helen Truxton, whose “assistant to the publisher” title included basic human resources duties, Brecht had one further question for Eli. “You told me you are from Knox County, Strawberry Plains … do you have any family heritage in Kincheloe County? I’ve not encountered the Scudder name around here.”
    “I do have connections, just not on the Scudder side. My mother’s parents, Will and Sally Keller, lived here. He was a farmer and rural mail carrier.”
    “Keller. Yes, now that’s a family name you do find in Kincheloe County. Plenty of Kellers hereabouts. Are your grandparents still living?”
    “They’re gone now, but they lived long enough for me to know them when I was little. We visited sometimes for Christmas and so on. The house is still standing, I’ve been told. Empty now, and sold out of the family years ago. I’ll get around to trying to locate it just to see it again.”
    Brecht nodded. “Sentimental journeys can be gratifying. But sometimes sad. And revelatory.”
    “I suppose.”
    Brecht thrust out his hand. “Thoroughly glad to have you joining us, Eli. I look forward to welcoming you back in three weeks to get started.”
    “Any recommended places to look for an apartment?”
    “I’ll check around over the next couple of days. Unless you are set on finding a place today.”
    Eli shook his head. “Getting the job is accomplishment enough for one day. But I’ll come back and go apartment-hunting this next weekend.”
    “Umm, hang on a second.” Brecht pulled out