Damnation Spring

Rich collects his pay from the Sanderson office and from the friendly secretary, Marsha. While there, Rich takes the bold step to ask to speak to Merle. Merle is a step ahead and knows that Rich owns the 24-7 and needs to rely on Sanderson infrastructure. Still, Merle makes a show of magnanimity and shares a map of his planned roads with Rich. On paper, they go exactly where Rich needs them to. Merle also tells Rich he can mill his timber at Sanderson’s mill. Merle just needs Rich to see through work on Damnation Grove, if work is allowed to resume there after the discovery of the human skull. The forestry board is due to decide. Rich calculates that if they can be back at work by October, they will have six weeks before the weather turns to cut the roads and begin the harvest. His savings will only keep him afloat, though, if he gets his timber out by summer.

The discovery of a second skull at Damnation Grove forestalls the harvest. Merle puts in an appeal, but it will take 90 days for the forestry board to decide on its merits. This is worrying news for Rich. Now, Sanderson won’t harvest its timber until spring at the earliest, leaving Rich’s timber stranded. In the meantime, Merle considers tasking Eugene with a few security shifts at the Deer Rib site, ostensibly to scare off any protesters or saboteurs. Eugene needs the money; otherwise, he faces a winter working on a crabbing boat to make ends meet.

The situation at the Grove has become big news. The local paper reports it, alongside concerns about silt run-off, rising water temperatures, and their effect on the coho salmon run.

Colleen’s period is late. She worries Daniel might have got her pregnant but cannot deny her excitement at the prospect of maybe expecting again. She is distracted by the situation and has no idea how to tell Rich.

Later, the family go out for dinner. On the way home, they spot Eugene pulled over by the side of the road threatening a long-haired man with a bat. He is a protester. Eugene smashes one of his truck windows before Rich intervenes.

Eugene helps Rich clear some of the brush leading up to 24-7 Ridge. As they chat, Eugene tells Rich that Merle is paying him to work security, as the season wanes and winter beckons. At the top of their freshly cut path, the pair find another miscarried deer carcass. Still, they move on to their next task, wading into Damnation Creek to clear blockages from Rich’s water line. Here, they stumble upon Daniel taking water samples. Eugene threatens to shoot him if he catches him trespassing again.

Colleen performs a pregnancy test. Despite all the trouble a positive result would cause, she is devastated when it turns out negative. She berates herself for hoping she might finally have another baby.

Daniel briefly interrupts a complex tree-felling at the Deer Rib site. Eugene and the Sanderson kid on the crew—Merle’s cousin’s son—rough him up. Eugene’s appetite for violence causes raised-eyebrows amongst some of the workers.

Colleen has trouble sleeping that night. She thinks back to her time with Daniel and then back to how she met Rich. Guilt over her infidelity plagues her.