His silver tie bar sat crooked on a wrinkled blue shirt, and his loud voice was gone.

Nathaniel walked out of the heating barn carrying a ring of brass site keys in his right hand.

Arthur leaned an iron framing square against his truck tire and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

“The state auditor called my bank twenty minutes ago,” Arthur said, his voice quiet and flat.

“They pulled my subcontracting registration for Lancaster County.”

“I know,” Nathaniel said, stopping ten feet away by the timber stack.

“You have the right to file for statutory double damages under the commercial code,” Arthur said, straightening his silver tie bar with a hand that shook a little.