On Wings of the Morning by Dan Verner Page B

doesn’t need a lot of company until he gets settled. You can see him tomorrow.”
    The three stood. Otto shook Doc’s hand. “Thank you, Doctor Carter.”
    Carter sighed. “I wish I could do more, but I can’t. Go on home.”
    Ed drove them back in silence. He dropped them off, saying “Anything you need, let us know. I’ll come back tomorrow to see about the barn.”
    “Thank you, Ed,” Mata and Otto said in unison. They stood and watched him go. They turned to the pile of charred lumber which had been the barn. It was still smoldering.
    ***
    Otto was out a couple of hours later poking in the debris when he saw the sheriff’s car coming down the drive. He stood still as Joe Draper climbed out of his car. He walked over and surveyed the damage, pushed his cap back on his head and whistled.
    “I’m sorry, Otto,” he finally said. “The Smiths did this?”
    Otto nodded. “Steve started the fire, but he was with the whole bunch.”
    “Well,” said Draper, “I suppose my next stop is the Smith farm. Steve has been heading for something like this for a long time.” He clapped Otto on the shoulders. “We’ll take care of this, son, don’t you worry.”
    Otto hung his head. “Thank you, Sheriff.”
    Draper climbed back into his car and drove off. Somehow, Otto didn’t feel any better. He went into the house.
    He supposed he was in charge of the farm now, although he didn’t want to be. Maria couldn’t run it by herself. Mata could, so maybe she could be in charge. They could hire a man to help, and that would give him more time to work at the airport. Business was up sharply, and Wilson needed him practically full time. He would have to think about his options. As soon as he saw to his father.
    ***
    Ed Lawrence came by early the next morning. “I have a message from your mom,” he told them after Mata had invited him in for a cup of coffee. “Maria called last night and said that your father might be in the hospital for a few weeks, so she has found a nice German woman near the hospital to stay with. She asked that you bring her some clothes and some money.”
    “I can fly over there this afternoon,” Otto told him. “I need to start cleaning up the barn site.”
    “I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Ed said. “Look out the window.”
    Otto and Mata went over to the kitchen window and saw a caravan of cars and trucks bearing building materials. They recognized their neighbors, and friends from church, even Doc Carter, Betty Ross and her father from the bank, and old Mr. Rice who ran the hardware store. Ed pulled out some work gloves. “We’re going to build another barn for you. You go work at the airport and take the stuff to your mom. Don’t worry about it—we’ll take care of it.”
    Mata began weeping. Otto shook Ed’s hand. “Thank you, Mr. Lawrence. I have a feeling you had a lot to do with this.”
    “I’m not doing anything one neighbor wouldn’t do for another,” Ed told him, and he and Otto went outside to greet the workers.
    ***
    Otto drove out to the airport with the barn well under way. Some of the men had built more than one barn, so, with their supervision, the structure went up quickly.
    He parked in the lot and pulled the bag with Mama’s clothing and cash out of the back seat. He went into the office to check with Wilson.
    “Otto! Good to see you!”
    “I need to take the Cub and fly this bag to my mom at the hospital in Eau Claire,” he returned.
    “Fine. Take it. I heard you had a fire at your place yesterday.”
    “Yes, we did.”
    “I heard it wasn’t accidental.”
    “No. Steve Smith set it. My dad was badly hurt trying to save his cows.”
    “So I hear,” mumbled Wilson around an unlit cigar. “I hear this Smith is a punk.”
    “That’s one of the nicer terms I would use. His family is bad news.”
    “You want something should happen to Smith? A little accident with injury, perhaps?”
    “No, Mr. Wilson, the sheriff is investigating. He’ll