THE HOUR OF LEAD

After losing both his twin and his father in a brutal, unexpected snowstorm, Matt Lawson must take over the family ranch. As his mother disappears into grief, Matt learns the hardest lesson the west has to teach: he is on his own. The necessity of work stabilizes young Matt against the pitfalls of first love with Wendy, the daughter of a local grocer, and their ragged end will sent Matt on a journey across the county, leaving Wendy to tend the ranch with local schoolteacher Linda Jefferson and her unwieldy son Lucky. It will take decades for Matt to learn his way back home, and that long journey will have great impact on all of those around him.

Part One opens with the exciting storm –the devastating Storm of 1918, which saw a seventy-five degree temperature drop in fifty-seven minutes – where Matt loses his twin but is saved by his teacher Linda Jefferson. After the storm, Matt continues to search for his father in the outlying neighborhoods, eventually accompanied by Wendy, the grocer’s daughter. Their budding romance stalls when they do uncover Mr. Lawson’s body. Matt attempts to reconnect to Wendy by leaving her anonymous gifts. Schoolteacher Jefferson, too, sees the storm put her on a new path when she decides to have a baby on her own. Our section ends with Linda giving birth and an accidental shooting that will send Matt into exile.

Part Two will follow Matt in exile, setting up as a laborer to a different family farm several counties away. Wendy will move into the Lawson family ranch to help Matt’s mom, and they will be joined by Linda and her errant son, Lucky. A series of events will eventually wear these three women down and away from each other. Matt will return from exile back to his family land, and to Wendy, with an infant in tow.

Part Three will follow Matt and Wendy’s attempt to create a new life and a new family as the great dam is constructed in the Coulee and American’s westward expansion takes hold.