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"Work is a necessary evil to be avoided." –Mark Twain
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Chapter 3
In Which Our Hero and the House are joined
"Sorry, boy, but you ain't gonna' find any work 'round here."
Jack had made it as far as the Ozark Mountains in northern Arkansas. He had taken one look at the rolling hills, lush forests, and blue lakes, and decided that if Arkansas was good enough for Scott Joplin, it was good enough for him.
Unfortunately, there were no jobs to be had in the Ozarks and no place to settle.
"If you need a job, I suggest you head down to Little Rock. That's where all the work is," the latest man Jack had questioned about employment was saying.
Soon, Jack found himself hitching a ride on a wagon headed for Perryville. The very wagon from the very store that Mr. Bowen had special ordered a maple banister for his stairway from.
"Son, I hear you're looking for work," Mr. Williams, the man driving the wagon, said to Jack
"Yes, sir, I am."
"Well, it just so happens that I'm delivering this load to a Mr. James Henry Bowen in Perryville. He's building his families summer home down there, and I hear he's givin' away jobs to whoever can take one," Mr. Williams said.
Jack pondered this a while and came to a decision. He could work for Mr. Bowen until his house was complete, then he could finish his trip to Little Rock to find a more permanent job offer.
"Boy, Mr. Williams tells me you'd like to work for me on my house," Mr. Bowen told Jack.
"Yes, sir," Jack replied.
"Well, how old are you, boy?"
"Eighteen, sir."
"Well, that's a good age, boy. And you seem like a strong young man. I'd be glad to have you working on my house."
"Thank you, sir."
"By the way, son, what's your name?"
"Kelly, sir. Jack Kelly."
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A/N: Reviews are my crack. Let me get high.