Far away the largest industry in Spearfish Lake is Clark Plywood, located out on the west end of town. The company is a little misnamed since it actually hadn’t made plywood in over a quarter century, concentrating on waferboard, chipboard, and veneers, but they are a sound company that directly or indirectly provides much of the employment in Spearfish Lake. While the company is technically a corporation, the stock is almost completely family owned, by Ryan Clark, the company’s president and CEO; his son Randy, who owns and manages Clark Construction, and by their wives.

Ryan Clark wasn’t exactly in a good mood that morning. A couple days earlier his son had called him with some news that was less than good, but they had to go through the motions of dealing with it. After the meeting this morning, Randy was still no less angry about the news than Ryan. The third person involved was hardly less angry when she was told about it, and that had led to some decisions being made this morning, decisions that were necessary but that some people were not going to like.

Ryan gave some thought to waiting to make this phone call, at least until he was cooled off a little, but with Randy and Carrie sitting right there he figured that there was no time like the present. Might as well do it, he thought, and let the wood chips fall where they may.

It took him a few minutes to get Bryson Payne on the phone, which didn’t help Ryan’s anger any. “Yes, what is it?” Payne snapped, obviously upset about something else.

“Good morning,” Ryan said affably to try and cover up his true feelings. “This is Ryan Clark. Among other things, I’m the chairman of the Donna Clark Foundation.”

“Oh,” Payne replied, his anger dialed way down. “I wasn’t expecting action on those grant applications so soon.”

“Some things have come up,” Ryan told him, “but in short, all five of them you sent over have been rejected.”

“Rejected?” Payne said, his anger heating up again. “They should have been accepted. Those are all good students, and they come with my recommendation.”

“Those applications in no way reflected the goals and guidelines of the Donna Clark Foundation,” Ryan said in a firm voice. “Considering the applications, I doubt that you’ve even read the guidelines. If you did actually read them, it’s clear that you can’t be bothered to try and understand them.”

“But . . . but I was told that you accepted the recommendations of the principal.” Payne backpedaled.

“That was how it used to be,” Clark explained. “Mostly because Harold Hekkinan was and is a long-time personal friend who helped to write those goals and guidelines in the first place, a good many years ago. Since we knew he understood them and we trusted him, we’ve mostly tended to accept his recommendations. However, none of that applies to you. In fact, based on what I’ve been told and these applications I’ve seen, the board is of a mood to automatically reject any application with your recommendation. You just don’t seem to understand the program.”

“But those were all perfectly good applications! Those are good students, and they deserve a break!”

“That’s just proof that you’re totally unaware of the goals and guidelines,” Clark said, trying to keep from exploding. He was close to it, and could feel his blood pressure rising. “Athletics are specifically not grounds for making a grant to an applicant. Academics, community service, and career goals are. None of those applicants came anywhere close to consideration.”

“You can’t do this!” Payne exploded. “You’re supposed to support students who need help.”

“That we do. In fact, we granted scholarships to two very deserving individuals this morning.”

“It can’t be to anyone from here! I’ve been strict about what applications I’ve allowed to be forwarded.”

“You have no control over that,” Ryan laughed. “I don’t know what makes you think that you do. In any case, there’ll be an announcement in the Record-Herald next week that Donna Clark Foundation applications will be available at a number of places around the community. That list will not include the school. Bluntly, we don’t trust you or your counselor anymore.”

“That’s outrageous! We know our students, and you don’t!”

Ryan got a big grin on his face, knowing that he was about to piss Payne off even more and enjoying it. “You don’t know a thing about your students, and you’ve proved it. You don’t even care, especially about students who aren’t athletes, which is why we were happy to grant full scholarships this morning to Cody and Janice Archer.”

“Cody Archer! That punk! What the hell do you think you’re doing, granting a full scholarship to that killer? After that shit that got pulled on us in court this morning, especially! My God, that was insulting to have a judge tell us we had to pay for his educational expenses, no matter what the law says, when I don’t even dare let him be around this place.”

“If you knew a thing about your students, or you even cared, you’d realize that Cody Archer is a very level-headed and intelligent young man with a strong career plan toward community service. In fact, part of the reason we were happy to make the grants was to make up for the extreme disservice you did to him.”

“Community service, my ass! I’m worried sick about him coming over here and shooting up the place.”

“Cody is much too self-controlled to even consider something like that,” Ryan told him. “However, if no one else has pointed it out to you, I will. If Cody was unhinged enough to really want you dead, you’d be dead. He wouldn’t have to shoot the place up. If he can kill flies with an offhand shot with a nine millimeter at fifty feet, you’d be a snap. But that doesn’t matter, because he won’t consider something like that. Like I said, he’s much more controlled than you seem to think. But this is all beside the point. The point is, don’t be sending us any more applications, since we won’t be approving them. Don’t waste our time.”

Payne was saying something else when Ryan hung up the phone. “Well, that went about like I expected,” he smiled.

“You left out something,” Carrie Evachevski smiled. “I expected to hear ‘Fuck you’ in that conversation somewhere.”

“I think I pretty well said it without having to say it,” Ryan sighed. “Jesus, what was DeRidder thinking of when he passed over a couple good local candidates to hire an asshole like him?”

“Probably something like what happened with the city manager a few years ago,” Randy shrugged. “He tried to build a staff that was loyal to him, rather than to the city. Well, the city manager got his butt burned big time on that one, and I’m surprised that Batchelor kept Abernathy around as long as he did. At least Abernathy’s doing the time he deserves.”

“Only because he got caught red-handed doing something he shouldn’t have,” Ryan shook his head, “but that’s neither here nor there, since the same circumstances don’t obtain. Now, I’ve got a question for the two of you. This is really beyond the realm of foundation business, but the situation over at the school has been getting worse for some time, and I’m wondering if we shouldn’t make an effort to do something about it.”

“No doubt, doing something about that mess would be a community service,” Randy said, “and that’s what the foundation is supposed to be all about.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ryan conceded. “Still, I think that we probably shouldn’t be directly involved as a foundation, at least visibly. But it’s clear to me that while Payne is a problem, DeRidder is the problem.”

“He and the people on the school board who keep him around in the first place,” Carrie agreed.

“Yeah,” Randy said, “the school board is an issue, mostly because they lie down and let DeRidder get his way. There’s a couple people over there who can be counted on to do the right thing, but they’re pretty far from being a majority on the board.”

“I haven’t kept as close an eye on it as I should have,” Ryan sighed, “so that’s a point against me. I suppose the first thing to do is hold DeRidder’s feet to the fire and see if the board gets the message. If that doesn’t work, then we’ll have to take a little more positive action.”

“It’s not going to be easy to deal with the school board,” Randy pointed out. “Even if we were to take steps to change the composition of the board, there’s no board election till next spring, and depending on how the terms run it could take two or three years to get control of it if we wanted to put our own people on it.”

“You’re probably right, but maybe we won’t have to go that far. It might be possible to do something next spring, too, depending on how the terms run, and depending on whether we can get another couple board members to see the damage DeRidder and Payne are doing to the school.”

“I don’t want to say leave me out of it,” Randy told the other two, “but with Nicole working there, I’m going to have to keep a pretty low profile on this.”

“Well, you’re right,” Ryan agreed. “Really, all three of us should keep a low profile and stay behind the scenes, for good and solid reasons. What it would be nice to have is someone who could be out in front who’s not connected to us.”

“How about John Archer?” Carrie suggested. “He’s respected in the community, and no one will doubt that he has reason to be upset with the way things are done.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Ryan smiled. “Maybe he’d like to have some support in a run for school board next spring. Of course, that means that we’re going to have to keep the heat on DeRidder and the board so he can run as a reformer with the intent to clean things up.”

“That’s true for just about anyone we’d want to support for a board seat,” Carrie agreed.

“No point in letting time go to waste,” Ryan smiled. “What do you say I call DeRidder up right now and let him know what’s what? Payne has had enough time to get him thoroughly worked up by now.”

“No time like the present,” Carrie smiled.

It took Clark considerably less time to get the superintendent on the phone than it had taken for Payne. “Ryan,” DeRidder said, “I just got off the phone with Bryson Payne, the new principal. I’m afraid I don’t understand the logic of your decision to reject his recommendations for scholarships, and then turn around and approve scholarships for students who have caused an awful lot of trouble around here.”

“It’s pretty simple,” Ryan told him. “The board of the Donna Clark Foundation has lost any confidence they may have had in the school’s administration. For that reason, there will be an official letter coming along the first of the week to inform you that the foundation is withdrawing support from any projects at the school. If there are any contractual obligations outstanding they will be met, but everything else is cut off as of this minute.”

“But . . . but . . . what about the new bleachers at the football field? That was planned for next spring!”

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to find the money somewhere else,” Ryan told him, “and don’t bother asking Clark Plywood. You’re going to get a second letter from us that says essentially the same thing.”

“But . . . but . . . we’re not even going to be able to balance the budget without that assistance. That’s nearly a quarter of a million dollars!”

“What can I say besides ‘tough?’ That’s what happens when a major contributor loses confidence in your ability to use the donated funds wisely, especially in tough economic times when we feel that we can use that money to better purposes. Now, if the schools can clean up their act, speaking both for the Clark Foundation and Clark Plywood, we’re willing to reconsider our action at some point in the future.”

The Wednesday following the phone call from Ryan Clark telling them that they’d been approved for full scholarships from the Donna Clark Foundation Janice had to go over and help out at the store. Since Cody and Janice were home all day, they sometimes welcomed the chance to get out of the house for a bit. So, in spite of their studies, Candice had no problems with asking Janice to come over to the store and help for a while in the changeover from summer to winter stock. It was a slow process, an hour or two a day and could be expected to last for a couple of weeks.

She hadn’t much more than driven off in the pickup when Cody got a call from Charlie Wexler. “Hey, Cody!” the chief said, “I’ve got something over here you might be interested in. You like to drop by?”

“Sure,” Cody said. “I might as well do it now, Janice is gone and it’s a little dull around here. See you in a few minutes.”

Not having a car available meant that Cody would have to walk, but it wasn’t a long haul to the police station by any means. To top it off, it was a nice day for what was getting to be along in September, so it was nice to get out for a while, especially to be able to do it by himself. He didn’t get to do that very often with Janice around all the time.

By now, it had been over a month since they’d come close to having sex in the tent outside Munising. That had shown that he’d gotten over most of his reservations about it, he still had some. While the idea was appealing to him now, he’d long ago decided that he wanted to wait till the time was right, so they could use the occasion as something special to really declare their love for each other. But with all the hassles of the last month, the time had never seemed quite right and he couldn’t see it coming soon.

It wasn’t long before he walked into the police station; Charlie was the only one there, sitting in his office in the back. “That was quick,” Charlie said. “Did you happen to see the Record-Herald by any chance? Boy, the school really got lambasted over that one!”

“No, I haven’t,” Cody said. “Got a copy?”

The announcement that Clark Plywood and the Donna Clark Foundation were withdrawing support from the schools was the lead story, with a big headline. Cody took a couple minutes to glance over it. Ryan Clark had made some pretty strong statements about the general incompetence of the administration; the replies from the superintendent were mostly uninspired, insipid, or reflected the fact that he had no idea why this had happened. The fact that a huge lawsuit had been filed on behalf of an unnamed student was mentioned as one of the reasons for the action; usually students weren’t named in legal actions against the school.

“Yeah,” Cody said after glancing it over. “That might get their attention. Is this what you wanted?”

“Well, no, not really, but I thought you might not have seen it. I noticed there wasn’t anything in there about you and Janice getting the Clark Foundation grants.”

“I’m not surprised,” Cody smiled. “Ryan Clark told me that he wanted to hold off on the announcement so it won’t get overshadowed by this.”

“That was nice of him,” Charlie smiled, suspecting that Clark was actually up to something, probably something that would stick it to the school again, and that the scholarship announcement was part of it. “But hey,” he continued, “I got to talking to Matt Schindenwulfe over breakfast, and he told me about that deal you guys worked out with the school.”

“He worked it out, we just sat back and watched him make them squirm,” Cody smiled. “They squirmed pretty good, but Judge Dieball got them right between the eyes.”

“He’s good at that,” Charlie grinned. “But like I was saying, I got to talking with Matt about it, and my understanding of the deal is that the school has to pay for any educational stuff that you two do between now and when school lets out next spring.”

“That’s right,” Cody laughed. “He was being pretty cute about the petition he presented to Judge Dieball. There’s a big loophole there, one that will send Janice and me down to Riverside Community College for free in the spring semester.”

“I thought that was pretty slick of him,” Charlie laughed, “but do you realize that there’s another loophole there that you could take advantage of?”

“No I didn’t. What’s this?”

“Well, actually it’s the same loophole, but you can take even more advantage of it than you’re planning to. You ever hear of the Southeastern Michigan Public Service Academy?”

“Yeah,” Cody said. “Not much, though. It’s a police academy, isn’t it?”

“Among other things,” Charlie said. “And it’s easily the best one in the state and not cheap, something like five thousand for the course. Here’s the deal. If you have your high school diploma and a little of the right college credit, you can qualify for it. You can get the college credit you need at Riverside next spring. Riverside lets out the end of April, and there’s an academy course you could get into starting right after the first of May. It’s not cheap, and it has to be paid up front.”

“Hold it,” Cody said. “You’re saying that I could go to this police academy and the schools here would have to pay for it?”

“Well, that’s what Matt told me,” Charlie said. “My understanding is that they don’t have dorms so you’d have to rent a place for the summer, but since it’s an education-related expense the schools will be liable for that too, plus mileage.”

“Wow, I can just hear them scream over at the school when they get that bill,” Cody laughed. “It’ll be almost worth it to do it just for that.”

“Just to be on the safe side, you ought to run it by Matt yourself. The academy course is a little concentrated; it’s designed for college students trying to get the academy course in during the summer, but you come out of it with full certification to be a police officer.”

“Charlie, I have to admit that I still haven’t made up my mind if I want to be a police officer,” Cody shook his head. “That incident over at the Frostee Freeze didn’t make me any more confident.”

“That incident would have been a lot different if you’d been wearing blue,” Charlie smiled. “You ought to know that.”

“Well, yeah,” Cody admitted. “There’s an authority there, no doubt about it. But like I said, I’m still not sure about it.”

“You remember when we were talking about this back last winter?” Charlie said. “Even if you decide to become an attorney, there’s no harm in being certified to be a police officer. In fact, things might be better if more attorneys were able to see the police point of view. Besides, it’d be a long time before you’re an attorney if you decide to go that route, so there’s no reason you couldn’t work part time as an officer some place to help out with your college expenses.”

“That’s something to think about,” Cody agreed. “The Donna Clark Foundation grant covers tuition, but we still have to come up with books and other expenses. That could make it a lot easier.”

“Look, I don’t want to sound like I’m trying to talk you into this,” Charlie said, “but I guess I am. The thing of it is, that class is going to fill up fast. I can probably get a spot reserved for you if we move on it, but we can’t put it off for long.”

“Well, I can’t give you an answer right this moment,” Cody told him. “I really should run it by Mr. Schindenwulfe just to be sure, then see what Mom and Dad and Janice think about it.”

An hour later, and after a quick consultation with the attorney, there was another Archer family council – this time in the Spearfish Lake Outfitters store. “I haven’t been able to look into it yet,” Cody said after summarizing what Wexler had told him, “and I really haven’t had time to think about it much, but my initial reaction is that it’s a pretty good idea.”

“It does sound like it’s got some advantages,” John smiled. “Including the fact that it sticks it to the school again. I’m saying that we should bleed them for all we can, just on general principles.”

“That’s pretty close to my thinking,” Cody agreed. “Right off the top of my head, I think maybe we might as well tell Charlie to go ahead and make the arrangements to hold me a spot. If something goes wrong I can always withdraw and it won’t cost us anything. But if I do decide on a career in law enforcement, police academy is one of those things I’d have to do, and this way it doesn’t cost us anything.”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Candice nodded, “It might be too good an opportunity to pass up. And, like you say, you can still change your mind if you have to.”

“Janice,” Cody said, you get a say in this too. What do you think?”

“Cody, you know that I’ll always go along with what you want,” she replied unhappily, “but do you have to do this?”

“Like I said, it’s one of those things I’d have to do if I want to be a law officer,” he replied.

“Yeah,” she sighed, “I know that. But Cody, I can’t stand the thought of the two of us being apart for four months like that. It’s hard enough to come down here and work when you’re at home, and I’m getting used to it a little. That’s one thing, but four months stuck here in Spearfish Lake without you around is something really different. I’m not sure I could take it, at least not yet.”

“Well, you wouldn’t have to stay here in Spearfish Lake,” he shrugged. “Charlie said I’d have to rent a place down there, an apartment or something. You could come with me.”

“That’s not a lot better,” she shook her head. “You’re going to be at that academy eight or ten or twelve hours a day while I sit around an apartment someplace where I know nobody, just staring at the bare walls. Then, when you get home, you’ll be tired and have to study, and you won’t have any time for me.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “That wouldn’t be much fun for you, that’s for sure. But it’s only four months, well, three and a half, and there are a lot of advantages to it for us in the long run. This might be one of those times we have to pay the price.”

“I know it makes sense when you look at it that way,” she sighed, “but I still don’t like it very much.”

“There are going to be downsides to anything,” Candice commented. “That is a big downside for this, but I’m thinking it might be worth trying. Janice, maybe there’s something you could do while he’s down there.”

“Like you said,” John added. “It doesn’t cost us anything to get started on it. If something comes up, and this could be one of those things, you could always withdraw and it won’t cost us anything.”

“It won’t cost us anything in the short run,” Cody replied, “but it’ll get expensive to do police academy in the long run, especially not having the school to pay for it.”

“That’s a heck of an argument,” Candice agreed, realizing that they were going over points they’d already covered. “I agree, you should tell Charlie to go ahead with it. It really is too good of a deal to pass up when you look at it from a financial viewpoint.”

“Right, but Janice makes a good point,” Cody pointed out. “Even if she comes with me, it’d be hard on her, and it wouldn’t be any better if she stays here. I know I’d miss having her around if she stayed here. Maybe there’s a college down there somewhere where she could take some summer courses. That would at least help her fill the time a little.”

“That might work,” Candice nodded. “Janice, what would you think of that?”

There was no answer. Candice looked around, to see that the girl wasn’t there. “Janice?” she said, a little louder.

There was still no answer, but when they looked to the front door they could see the pickup pulling away from the curb.

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