without batting an eyelash, and in the end the crowd seemed
satisfied. Either he had rehearsed all this before or he really
was on the up-and-up. She doubted the latter, and for a
moment considered challenging him herself, but stuck to her
earlier resolve to keep her mouth closed. This was neither the
time nor the place. Just as Greg began to finish up, she qui-
etly closed her notebook and slipped Out the backdoor, then
hurried to her car without talking to anyone. The whole -
thing was rather unsettling. This guy was incredibly smooth. -~
Once again she questioned herself-what if her research had -
been flawed? But then again, even if she was wrong about
this out-of-state developer, she knew that what Greg and
Rick had done to Mr. Westerly was terribly unfair. But then,
perhaps that was her main problem. Perhaps she needed to -
step back and make sure she wasn't just reacting emotion-
ally to this whole thing based on her feelings for Arnold
Westerly. She remembered the balance she had just recently
described to Scott... how a good reporter must guard against
letting her opinions take over. Just get the facts, she -
reminded herself. Just report the truth. Then let the people -
-decide for themselves. She must always remember to limit
her opinions to the editorial page, otherwise she would com-
promise the entire paper. And, as with all news stories, it was -
never purely black and white-good versus evil. No, most
stories were layer upon layer of varying shades of gray. Only
once in a blue moon did you uncover the truly wonderful L
tale of the valiant hero who rescued someone out of pure -
-chivalry. And even then, you often learned later that there
was more to the story...
Maggie decided to take full advantage of the mild
eather by taking both dogs out for a walk in the woods.
dashed energetically ahead, and then quickly returned
nose Lizzie as if to say, "Come on, old girl!" He'd really
wBtoart 118Melody Carlson
taken to the older dog, and she seemed surprisingly com-
fortable with his companionship, although Maggie was sure
Bart's limitless energy tried Lizzie's patience from time to
time. Especially lately, for between Spencer's broken foot
and Leah's long hours at the shop, the dogs hadn't had as
much walking as Bart had been used to in the past. Maggie
enjoyed having an excuse for a walk today. The ground was
still slightly moist from last week's melted snowfall, and the
trail was coated with a thick blanket of rusty-colored pine
needles, so that it was like walking on a soft, thick carpet.
The sky was a dusky periwinkle blue, and the smell of clean
-pine permeated the air with its freshness. She breathed
deeply and wondered once again how she had ever managed
to live most of her life away from all this beauty. But now
that she had found it, she felt certain Pine Mountain would
always remain home.