Chapter 5 - Page 48 - Building A Village

grocery store and wait while he purchased several bags of groceries. Once he’d deposited the groceries in the back of the jeep, they continued the drive to the construction site, and arrived at the entrance of Jim’s property about an hour later.

   As Fishman turned onto the narrow dirt road, Jim could see that it was still dusty. He looked ahead and saw the water truck coming slowly toward them. As it got closer, Jim could see water spraying out from the back of the truck. Behind the truck, the dust had settled.

   There was no sign of Jim’s trailer. The utility truck was gone, so Jim knew the driver was on his way to get it. Jim and Fishman sat in the jeep and watched the fires burning. The smoke made Jim’s eyes tear.

   “I’ve had enough of this,” he finally said under his breath. “Something’s got to be done about it.”

   Jim got out of the jeep and walked over to Bujugy’s foreman, Randy. Randy stopped what he was doing when he saw Jim coming.

   Jim said, “We have a problem with all these fires.”

   “I know, Jim,” Randy replied, his tone slightly apologetic, “but we have to burn all that undergrowth.”

   “I understand that, but does it have to be today?”

   Randy frowned. “What do you mean? If we burn it today or tomorrow, it doesn’t matter. It still has to be burned.”

   “Yes, but wouldn’t it be more comfortable for everyone if we didn’t have all this smoke?” Jim could tell that Randy was puzzled. “Randy, the workers can pile the brush up as high