The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County

A Novel

Jerry Apps

 

Terrace Books

A trade imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press

Terrace Books

A trade imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press

1930 Monroe Street, 3rd Floor

Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2059

uwpress.wisc.edu

3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden

London WC2E 8LU, United Kingdom

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Copyright © 2014 by Jerry Apps

All rights reserved. Except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any format or by any means—digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—or conveyed via the Internet or a website without written permission of the University of Wisconsin Press. Rights inquiries should be directed to
[email protected]
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Printed in the United States of America

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 

Apps, Jerold W., 1934–, author.

The great sand fracas of Ames County: a novel / Jerry Apps.

pages     cm

ISBN 978-0-299-30070-8 (cloth: alk. paper)

ISBN 978-0-299-30073-9 (e-book)

1. Sand and gravel mines and mining—Wisconsin—Fiction.

2. Conservation of natural resources—Wisconsin—Fiction.

I. Title.

PS3601.P67G74       2014

813′.6—dc23

2014012643

 

 

 

To

Steve, Sue, Ruth, and Kate—

all had a hand in creating this book.

Acknowledgments

Prologue

1. Ambrose Adler

2. Marilyn Jones

3. Emily Higgins

4. Fred and Oscar

5. Ambrose Adler

6. Marilyn and Stony Field

7. Link Lake Historical Society

8. Cemetery Walk

9. Ambrose, Ranger, and Buster

10. Marilyn Jones

11. Economic Development Council

12. Ambrose and Gloria

13. Historical Society Meeting

14. When Ambrose's Life Changed

15. Ambrose and Stony Field

16. Bank Robbery Reenactment

17. Village Board Vote

18. Fred and Oscar

19. Ambrose's Reaction

20. Editor's Response

21. Ambrose and Ranger

22. Karl Adams

23. Karl at the Eat Well

24. Karl and Marilyn

25. Vegetable Stand

26. Karl and Emily

27. Fourth of July

28. First Protestors

29. Free Wi-Fi

30. Supper Club Remodeling

31. Trail Marker Oak Days

32. Lake Coffee Bar

33. Busy Summer

34. Thresheree

35. Problem Solved

36. Arrest the Protestors

37. Oscar, Fred, and the Protestors

38. Don't Give Up

39. Explosion

40. Reaction

41. Perpetrators

42. Emergency Meeting

43. Cooling Off

44. Quiet Time

45. Karl Adams

46. Dry Weather

47. Storm

48. Aftermath

49. Storm Stories

50. Another Drilling Machine

51. Eat Well Café

52. Meeting

53. Stony and Ambrose

54. Revelation

55. Eagle Party

56. Phone Calls

57. Los Angeles Journal

58. Reaction

59. Billy Baxter Responds

60. Overrun with Attention

61. Karl and Gloria

62. Barn Fire

63. Reacquainted

64. Memorial Service

65. Trail Marker Oak

The idea for this novel came from a discussion my son, Steve, and I had when we were canoeing and fishing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northern Minnesota three years ago. The fish weren't biting and Steve put up with (and had some great responses) to my “what if ” questions as the foundation for this novel emerged.

Along the way, my wife, Ruth, offered her usual excellent comments. She reads all of my writing, both fiction and nonfiction. If my writing doesn't get past her, it goes nowhere. Once again, my talented daughter, Susan Apps-Bodilly, who also is an author, read and critiqued several drafts of this novel and offered many useful suggestions. Kate Thompson, editor extraordinaire, has an uncanny ability to spot weaknesses that I don't see and a structure that is less than satisfactory. She gave me several pages of suggestions of what to leave out, what to add, and how to arrange things so they made sense. Much thanks to all of those who read, reread, and helped this project through its many revisions and rewrites.

I especially want to thank Sheila Leary, press director; Raphael Kadushin, executive editor; and Andrea Christofferson, marketing and sales manager, all with the University of Wisconsin Press, for their continued support of my work. It is very much appreciated.

Prologue

T
he whine of a chain saw assaulted the quiet of the new day as the mists rising from the waters of Link Lake slowly drifted west and the sun's first rays broke the horizon, illuminating the brilliant autumn colors of the maples and the aspens, the oaks and the birches that clustered on the hillsides around the lake. Three men walked from their truck. One carried a chain saw; the other two carried axes. The chain saw operator, a burly man in his fifties, his face hidden under an orange safety helmet, revved the machine a couple of times like a teenager with a new driver's license and permission to drive his father's car alone for the first time. The men, all professional loggers, walked the short distance from their truck. The chain saw operator held the saw well in front of him, the saw sending off little spurts of chain oil. As the trio approached the old bur oak tree that they were ordered to cut this October day, they saw something emerging from the mist—something that surprised them. The chain saw operator shut off his machine and fished a cell phone out of his pocket to call his supervisor. “Boss, we've got a problem.”

1

Driving his team of horses on his way home from one of his infrequent visits to his doctor, Ambrose Adler was thinking that old Doc Stevens was right. The doctor had told him, “Ambrose, you keep doing what you're doing and you'll have a heart attack. And that will be it.” He said it without the hint of a smile, so he obviously meant it.

Ambrose Adler was born in 1933 on a hilly, sandy farm located a mile west of the Village of Link Lake. For his entire life, he refused to be caught up in the wave of technology that began to sweep through Ames County in the 1950s and continued to this day. He raised a big garden and sold fresh produce during the summer months at a little stand he operated alongside the country road that trailed by his farm on the way to Link Lake. He had no electricity and no telephone, but he did have a battery-operated radio. He heated his ramshackle house with a wood stove, had no indoor plumbing, and continued to plow his hilly fields with a sturdy team of draft horses. He did not own a car and drove his team to town or most often walked there. Ambrose's long scraggly hair was white, his knees were bad, and he had arthritis that flared up especially on cool damp days, but his gray eyes were clear—and so was his mind.

When Ambrose arrived home from the doctor, Ranger was at the door to greet him. Ever since he was a young boy, Ambrose had kept a pet raccoon. The one he had now he had named Ranger because, with his little mask, the animal reminded him of the Lone Ranger, one of Ambrose's heroes when he was a young lad.