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ACH BLADE OF GRASS twisted then leaned in unison like some natural chorus line. A hot wind—the natural breath of some unseen evil—pushed an eclectic mix of prairie grasses down only to have them rise again. Each blade returning to stand full upright as if only to defy nature’s incessant pushing. And through wide eyes, a little blondehaired girl named Molly Marie Anderson watched. Stems of buffalo and tall gamagrass reached skyward, defiant across a vast stretch of small rolling hills deep in Western Kansas. The stems swayed, bent and fought to remain standing against a wind that never seemed to rest. The little girl watched the grasses falling over, then back in a timeless ritual like the waves of some great ocean. As far as she could see, the scene never changed. There were no trees, no singular structure either natural or manmade to block her view. Huge white puffy clouds floated overhead often reaching high into the deep blue sky. Now and then they blocked the sun creating irregular shade patterns across the prairie floor. The land was alive, an idyllic mix of beauty and mystery.
Six-year-old Molly watched the family dog chase a rabbit that had ventured too near the family home, and she smiled. Life was good. The dog she called Spots was a mixed breed of assorted colors and parentage. His efforts were in vain, but the girl was mesmerized by his efforts. The Anderson family lived in a sod home built into the side of a hill—one of the few in the area. Sod blocks carved from the prairie floor were stacked like bricks on top of each other to form the walls. Only two small windows and the front door were made of wood. Grass born of the sod grew wildly over the roof like a man’s unruly hair. Only where a chimney emerged from the roof was any attempt ever made to keep the grass cleared. Thus nature was making every effort to reclaim the sod, perpetuating the never-ending struggle between man and nature. The house blended into the surrounding landscape. A narrow stream fed by a spring of unknown origin was their only water source. So it was here deep in Comanche country surrounded by an endless prairie and wide open skies the Anderson family had homesteaded two years earlier
