Ben moved gracefully under the scorching sun. One after the other, he planted red pine seedlings along the jagged furrow. The dull thud of his planting shovel cleaving the earth laced the silence with rhythm. The heat had long since driven the birds into hiding.
Planting trees in northern Ontario is a tough job, but it pays well if you are good at it. Ben could plant between 2000 and 3000 trees in a twelve hour day. He was making good money. And yet, the loneliness would sometimes get to him. Some days, he would go up to six hours without any human contact.
Many people broke under these conditions. At the start of the season, the base camp supported about 80 workers. At this point, only about 30 planters remained.
During the day, the only person Ben would see was his crew leader Linda Holmes. Linda was a veteran tree-planter that the company hired as a supervisor for the season. She was a level-headed confidant for everyone in her crew.
She was very tall (about 6' 2) and had wide hips. She was the type of woman that an early settler would have valued as a wife. She demonstrated more physical endurance than any man working for the company at the time. Green eyes, reddish hair, and the hint of freckles characterized a face that was more striking than lovely.
Linda made a point of visiting every member of her crew at least once a day. This was no small feet considering they worked on plots that were miles apart. Ben became accustomed to chatting with Linda for about 15 to 20 minutes everyday. They got along really well and Ben kind of thought of her as a sister.
Ben was planting up a steep incline when he first noticed Linda walking down the hill toward him. She was wearing khaki pants, a sports bra, and a hard hat. This outfit was not unusual since every woman tree-planter wore something similar. The grey bra was dark with sweat in the space between her breasts. Ben's eyes fixated on this area for awhile before they slowly rose to meet her gaze.
