Saints at the River

It is raining in the morning. When Allen and Maggie arrive at the river site, the equipment is already there to erect the temporary dam. Although Luke and his environmentalists vociferously object, and despite concerns over the river’s swelling after a night of rain, work begins. Before Luke departs to watch the engineers from a safe perch, he confronts Maggie: “I hope this isn’t just some twisted way to get back at me for what happened between me and you years ago” (186). And then, turning to Allen, he coldly dismisses Allen’s part as some misdirected way to make up to his dead daughter.

The work on the river begins. Townspeople, as well as local business owners and representatives of an array of state government offices, ring the river. A helicopter hovers overhead. Upstream, along the riverbank, Ruth’s mother waits alone. A bulldozer moves in, and the polyurethane walls of the temporary dam are fitted into the rocks with supports. Slowly, the river recedes, pressing against the A-frame dam. The current proves stronger than the work crews anticipated. The dam bows against the river pressure. The engineers, however, reassure the local rescue team that the dam will hold and that pulling out the girl’s body should take no more than two minutes.