Dick Estell The Radio Reader Public Radio's Reading Program
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Carlisle McMillan, a traveler and master carpenter seeking a place of quiet amid
the grinding roar of progress finds himself in Salamander, Wyoming. He finds his
quiet, or so he believes, and begins rebuilding a decrepit house as a tribute to the
gruff old man who taught him a carpenter’s skills, rebuilding his life at the same
time.
He finds two very different, independent women: Gally Deveraux, who works at a
diner in Salamander and longs for something more than she is, and Susanna
Benteen, beautiful and enigmatic, who was drawn to Salamander for mysterious
reasons of her own, a woman the town has labeled a witch. The women and his
carpenter’s trade and an old Indian known as Flute Player bring Carlisle a sense
of contentment for a while. But his quiet is shattered as bulldozer treads begin to
turn and the Yerkes County War commences. Run or stand your ground, that is
Carlisle’s dilemma, Gally on one side, Susanna on the other.