H.J. Gaudreau - Jim Crenshaw 02 - The Collingwood Legacy by H.J. Gaudreau Page B

up and down; the second tilted the V shaped bucket forward and backward.
    Sherrie found some moving blankets and packing material in the processing shed while Gerry grabbed two coils of rope. They quickly made a cushioned bed for the tanks of oxygen and acydlene and then secured them in the bucket with chains. Satisfied the tanks would not roll or fall out of the bucket Jim, Eve and Sherrie piled into the pickup truck. Gerry climbed to the tractor seat and soon they were on the way through the orchard to the mysterious block building on the new property. Arriving at the building they surveyed the exterior for several minutes.
    “This thing is a regular Fort Knox!” Eve exclaimed. All nodded in general agreement.
    “I’ve always wondered about this place,” Jim said. “Did the title search tell you anything?”
    “Its been owned by the state for the past thirty years. Apparently, the state got it because the property tax wasn’t being paid. When the title was transferred it seems that whatever office is responsible for government property was never notified. The lawyer told us the State of Michigan didn’t know it owned this land. No one knew about the property until an alert auditor found it during an inspection of the Secretary of State’s records. This popped up,” Gerry explained.
    “How did the county not collect property taxes?” asked Eve.
    “That’s a mystery to me too,” Gerry answered. “When someone figures out how to pull that trick off let me know.”
    “From what we could tell this building isn’t on any tax role. And, the property owner in the sixties was a guy named William Tocco. Apparently he died and this piece wasn’t processed with the estate,” Sherrie offered.
    “Well, it’s a nice piece of property,” Jim said glancing around.
    They all admired the view for a moment, then Jim said, “You ready to do this? Pick the window you want to replace.”
    They settled on a spot where the ground looked firm, Gerry squared the tractor to the building and tilted the loader so that the point of the V sat on the ground. Jim climbed in and knelt on one knee. When he was ready he signaled Gerry to lift the bucket. Slowly the bucket reached its highest point, Jim was just below the window. Gerry then tilted the bucket forward a few inches leaning the bucket against the barn’s wall.
    Taking a pipe wrench in his right hand, and covering his face with his left, Jim reached out and smashed the wrench into the window. Glass cascaded into the bucket. Behind the painted glass was a heavy wire mesh. Jim set to work on the remaining glass, removing it from the steel frame. After several minutes the frame was clean. He then lit the torch and began to cut the heavy-duty wire mesh, a few minutes later it fell away to the floor of the building.
    Gerry lowered the bucket and Eve and Sherrie took a ladder from the back of the pickup and placed it in the bucket. Eve then climbed in next to Jim and the bucket was raised once more. Jim secured a rope to the top of the ladder while Eve tied the other end to the bucket. Satisfied with their knots, Jim and Eve pushed the ladder through the window then gradually lowered it to the ground.
    “Ready?” Eve asked.
    “Almost,” Jim replied.
    He finished tying a bowline knot, slipped the end of the rope around his chest and passed it through the knot.
    “Loop it there,” he pointed.
    Eve quickly looped the line around the hydraulic arm, then snubbed the line as Jim squeezed through the window, hung from the windowsill, and found the top of the ladder with his toes. “Okay, give me some slack,” he called.
     

 
    Chapter 15
     
    Dolly was determined to find the boat. Unfortunately, she was two hundred miles from where ever that boat was hidden. She needed to eat and the only way she could do that was to work at the diner. But, she needed time off too. Her boss was the problem. Mel rarely scheduled any of the diner’s crew for more than five days in a week, but he