Blue

By James P Hutchinson

When a strange illness comes to a small rural town named Greystone everyone becomes sick. An little dog is found who not only brings joy to the young boy and his family who take him into their home it seems to have special gifts to touch them all and he turns into a hero saving the day.
The story of a rescued dog that saved everyone in a small town. A sickness has hidden in a place for many decades. After being abandoned by unknown people he finds a new home where he not only recovers but shares his natural defenses with all of the people with whom he comes in contact. All the people of Greystone are protected by a boy's simple love of his new found friend.
This simple story touches on times and emotions that are found in common experiences we all have shared. Perhaps it suggest times in which we have recently lived or in which we felt a common kinship.
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• Language: English
• Publisher: James P Hutchinson
• Release date: Oct 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005583835

James P Hutchinson

Mr. Hutchinson lives in Gallup, New Mexico. Over the years he has had the opportunity to live in eight states and traveled to many of the remaining. This has provided the joy of variety of people and places that have contributed to a diverse view of the world which aids, or contributes to his writing. So many stories start with something learned whether it results from the people we meet or the things that we encounter each and every day.A curiosity about the world in general and an obsession about our daily existence makes for a variety of interest. The smallest of details often seem of little importance but are often the piece of a larger puzzle.

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Published by JP Hutchinson at Smashwords

Copyright 2022 JP Hutchinson

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Blue by JP Hutchinson

The story of a special dog’s anticipation of danger and that came forward to protect the lives of all he touched.

Prologue

The small town of Greystone Village is located about an hour east of Boston. In the fall it did attract some traffic along the main road that passed thru town reached into town. Other than the fall foliage there were few reasons to pass this way. The total population was a little over 15,000 people but had been in decline over the last several census periods. Pretty place but not much to attract new residents. Sure it was close to Boston and so much to do there yet far enough away to avoid the congestion of the big city. Some people had even thought about living out here but soon learned that the spring rains, the summer storms, and the snowy winters often made for a difficult commute.

Greystone Village had been established a little over hundred years earlier. When compared the age of the other towns nearby with histories spanning 200 plus years, this small community it was just a child. The town was named after the wealthiest family … that’s right Greystone who had moved into the area to open a small mining business. He saw logic to building his empire here. Much of the stone had a grey tint or veins of gray running thru it. This was no west adventure for gold or silver. The founders saw a big need for simpler materials such as marble, granite, sandstone, and just rock and gravel in the big cities and choose the area for the variety of these materials it offered. Many folks cheered them on for their visions and about just as many whispered how foolish they were to make this choice. One might picture the Greystone family as a big rock – split down the middle. For every two members of the family it seemed that one would flee the town to look for work in other places.

The era in which this city was founded was a difficult time in America. Job’s seemed to becoming scarcer by the day and with the exception of a few wealthy families there was much suffering. When the opportunity to find work mining this area for what at the time was a good wage the town seemed to find new residents coming in like a flood. Of course that meant finding places to live, buy foods and other needed goods, and build families. It wasn’t long before the exciting news of a post office proved the towns as a success and with the formation of a town council became a city. The founding family determined who would be on the council and determined what the important issues for that council to rule on. There was little debate about the important issues. Some people were just happy to have a home there and others were just too afraid to speak up.

The original family patriarch, Mr. Greystone (nobody ever called him anything but Mr.) owned this area as it was his personal kingdom. Most people in town worked directly under his firm control and few dared to question his decisions. Even the members of the two churches in town bowed to his authority. For the most part Mr. Greystone made fair decisions that created benefited those who followed his directions. Of course a few found reasons to challenge his authority and these people tended to either surrender or to find places outside the city limits. As long as they strengthened his family’s positions they could find rewards. They soon elected one of Mr. Greystone’s sons as mayor. It only seemed right because of the good the family had done to build this town. It also was an easy choice since the only name on the ballet was his.

The economy boomed for about a decade then things started to change. Other businesses forced the Greystone Corporation to compete. Having seen their success and stealing a few of the key workers other companies were able to get a share of the market. A war sharply diminished the need for the product that the Greystone Corporation produced. Interest shifted further to the west and south where steel and other similar materials became the hot products.

A few members of the Greystone lineage still remain in the city to this day. A couple owned the only realty agency in town, one a manager of the only local bank, a few others manage a handful of small stores handed down to them from their parents, and for the past two years the police chief could claim tenuous and suspicious tie. He made the most of this claim to win an election that nobody real cared about. The most popular descendent was Bill Greystone who was the town’s veterinarian. It didn’t hurt that Bill was quite handsome and single. When folks have little else to do it seemed that they took in pets and pampered them as much as possible. Because of this the vet had become a well-known and much needed resident. The rest