fish?”
“No.”
“Are you willing to sit on your ass for a few hours with nothing to entertain you but watching the water ripple from the wind?”
“Beats rubbing two sticks together all day.”
“Good. I brought two poles, they're over there by my bag. Get them and meet me by the creek.”
Either fishing really is that simple, or Paul was just as ignorant about it as I was. We just sat near the edge of the creek for a few hours. There were a few bites, but only Paul was able to reel a fish in. I only had two chances at it myself, and failed both times. No matter, I enjoyed myself enough just sitting in the sun.
“Hey, Paul, I've never really asked you this before, but how long have you been in Montana?”
“I've lived in this same town my whole life. A lot has changed over the years. Helena was never much, but it hasn't always been the depressing hell hole it you see it as today. I feel like it started going downhill ever since the mines opened.”
“Didn't you say that your brother started up the mining operation?”
“He didn't really 'start it up'. He was one of the original speculators who got the big companies to come in and start mining. He was smart, though. Before he told anyone what he thought was under the dirt, he started buying up huge lots of vacant, and at the time, extremely cheap, land.”
“And then he sold it all to the mining companies for some fat stacks of cash.”
“He did better than that. He sold the land for stakes in the mines and the companies. He bore none of their startup costs, and had a piece of all of their profits. It was getting disgusting how rich he was becoming.”
“Are you still in touch with him? Or does he hole himself up in those McMansion communities like all of the other rich folk?”
“He died several years ago. He had a bit of a falling out with the mining companies. He was still making money off them, but it seemed that as time went on they tried keeping him at arm's length. He was a mining engineer by education, so he was actually helping them plan out the mines at the beginning. Before he died, they wanted nothing to do with him. They even barred him from entering any of their facilities.”
“Piss off the wrong people? Or did he just go crazy?”
“A little of both, if I had to guess. He kept telling me he was 'onto something', but would never get specific. He mumble something about 'what they're doing to our water.' That was the closest I ever got to a full explanation. He didn't have a wife or kids or anything, so I inherited everything he had when he died. I don’t know what legal loophole the mining companies used, but they were able to seize all of the money he’d made off them. The only thing I got were boxes and boxes of documents he saved that are sitting in storage. I always figured I'd wait until I retire to go through them, see if I can piece together what exactly he was rambling about.”
“Good luck with that. No one retires these days. Once you're unfit to perform your job, they start you digging a hole to lie down in.”
“Hate to say it, but you're right.”
We stayed out in those woods until spring was halfway over. I quickly lost my elated state, but I never sunk back down to where I was before. Paul was at least half right. It wasn't the hardest work of my life. I had certainly put in much more effort into my self-loathing and regret before, but it was still damn hard. I'd like to say I learned a lot, but I still didn't know shit about fighting a forest fire. I hoped that all that really mattered when you were caught in an arbor hellfire was the ability to construct a lean-to from branches and a fraying rope.
Chapter 3
The summer had started out slow. At least that was what Paul told me. It’s not like I had the slightest inkling of what was normal or not. According to Paul, twenty years ago I would have been going through what he called ‘Fire Science’ school. Learning about what exactly is happening at a chemical
“No.”
“Are you willing to sit on your ass for a few hours with nothing to entertain you but watching the water ripple from the wind?”
“Beats rubbing two sticks together all day.”
“Good. I brought two poles, they're over there by my bag. Get them and meet me by the creek.”
Either fishing really is that simple, or Paul was just as ignorant about it as I was. We just sat near the edge of the creek for a few hours. There were a few bites, but only Paul was able to reel a fish in. I only had two chances at it myself, and failed both times. No matter, I enjoyed myself enough just sitting in the sun.
“Hey, Paul, I've never really asked you this before, but how long have you been in Montana?”
“I've lived in this same town my whole life. A lot has changed over the years. Helena was never much, but it hasn't always been the depressing hell hole it you see it as today. I feel like it started going downhill ever since the mines opened.”
“Didn't you say that your brother started up the mining operation?”
“He didn't really 'start it up'. He was one of the original speculators who got the big companies to come in and start mining. He was smart, though. Before he told anyone what he thought was under the dirt, he started buying up huge lots of vacant, and at the time, extremely cheap, land.”
“And then he sold it all to the mining companies for some fat stacks of cash.”
“He did better than that. He sold the land for stakes in the mines and the companies. He bore none of their startup costs, and had a piece of all of their profits. It was getting disgusting how rich he was becoming.”
“Are you still in touch with him? Or does he hole himself up in those McMansion communities like all of the other rich folk?”
“He died several years ago. He had a bit of a falling out with the mining companies. He was still making money off them, but it seemed that as time went on they tried keeping him at arm's length. He was a mining engineer by education, so he was actually helping them plan out the mines at the beginning. Before he died, they wanted nothing to do with him. They even barred him from entering any of their facilities.”
“Piss off the wrong people? Or did he just go crazy?”
“A little of both, if I had to guess. He kept telling me he was 'onto something', but would never get specific. He mumble something about 'what they're doing to our water.' That was the closest I ever got to a full explanation. He didn't have a wife or kids or anything, so I inherited everything he had when he died. I don’t know what legal loophole the mining companies used, but they were able to seize all of the money he’d made off them. The only thing I got were boxes and boxes of documents he saved that are sitting in storage. I always figured I'd wait until I retire to go through them, see if I can piece together what exactly he was rambling about.”
“Good luck with that. No one retires these days. Once you're unfit to perform your job, they start you digging a hole to lie down in.”
“Hate to say it, but you're right.”
We stayed out in those woods until spring was halfway over. I quickly lost my elated state, but I never sunk back down to where I was before. Paul was at least half right. It wasn't the hardest work of my life. I had certainly put in much more effort into my self-loathing and regret before, but it was still damn hard. I'd like to say I learned a lot, but I still didn't know shit about fighting a forest fire. I hoped that all that really mattered when you were caught in an arbor hellfire was the ability to construct a lean-to from branches and a fraying rope.
Chapter 3
The summer had started out slow. At least that was what Paul told me. It’s not like I had the slightest inkling of what was normal or not. According to Paul, twenty years ago I would have been going through what he called ‘Fire Science’ school. Learning about what exactly is happening at a chemical
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