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Alanna didn't cos of the city were no longer rolling past herThe landscape was reen They were on the Taconite Trail Road in the e

In this arrowhead area of Northern Minnesota, the major source of the nation's iron ore had once been es had been so rich, it was thought in the beginning that they would last for ever, but progress and war had revealed a lack of foresight Now the abundant taconite was being processed into iron, enor above the trees

Behind the green façade, the story of the passing of the large iron h to read Abandoned open pits were being fast reclai over the empty land The yelloers of the hardy bird's foot trefoil plant covered old tailings

Alanna had spent her childhood here The twisting, winding canyons and ridges had been gouged out of the earth by heavy machinery to expose the iron veins With the riches plundered, foliage invaded to inhabit the land again

Mesabi was an Ojibwa Indian word, iven to the range of ure of a in forests had once covered its slopes, tramped by fur-trappers, felled by lu escavation equip pines the Ojibwa had known, ten feet in diarew in their place

While the sleeping giant rested, other giants walked the land Aaze slid to the impassive man behind the wheel That was how her father had once described Rolt Matthews, as a giant, referring to his stature as a man, not to his physical size He was tall and ure, but that was not what set him apart from others Or so her father had told her

Dorian Powell, her father, was a sensitive, erudite man Despite his earnest attempts, he had never been a successful businessman The iron mine—the farandfather When the vein played out, so did the family resources

In her heart, Alanna had known Rolt's statement that her father would have been bankrupt if his fir interest was accurate But she also knew her father's reasons for selling were not purely the ain for himself His main concern had been the economy of the area and the people orked for hi himself to a mere stockholder

When she had protested and insisted that he should have a more active part in the transition and future operation, he had smiled and shook his head

"It's a job for only oneto take someone ill drive himself as hard as he does these around his When you own a business and have people working for you, there's a tendency to play God You can't do that and be successful There were times when l was more concerned about an illness in some employee's fas like that bother you You've got to stand apart from the workers, is, yours or anyone else's, interfere with business It can't matter whether a e has to be above that—a giant You can't let anything stand in your way if you want to be successful Rolt Matthews is that kind of a man,"

"Cold and ruthless is what you mean," Alanna had retorted

"I suppose you could describe hireed, "but he'll make the company successful and himself in the process Everyone else will benefit fro ourselves"

Cold and ruthless The adjectives described hily above others To Alanna's knowledge, since Rolt had taken over control of the company, he had never associated with anyone from the company outside of business hours Kurt was the only exception Even then the occasions they were together were rare

Her gaze shifted for the second ti, tanned hands on the wheel She wondered briefly about the women he had known Alanna didn't doubt that the touch of his hands could bestow pain or joy, but she doubted whether Rolt ever felt anything himself

The car slowed and turned off the highway, and Alanna glanced up to see the entrance gate to the plant The security guard posted at the closed gate bent slightly to view the car's occupants With a respectful nod to Rolt, he swung the gate open and let thenized the guard His hair had grayed and his shoulders were stooping with advanced years, but he still looked familiar