The Deerfield Finger

An aging gentleman named Perry Melstone must travel to Montana from the Oregon Coast for a medical checkup. In the process he begins to discover that the hometown he grew up in in Montana begins to experience a strange phenomenon. It is being surrounded by a thick wire, almost like a steel bar that cannot be destroyed. As he comes to realize he has some guilt in these events, he must make some choices to protect his own health as well as his family.

Meet Perry Melstone... an aging single gentleman in his 80s retired on the Oregon Coast. As he makes his way to Montana for a medical check-up he discovers the joys of modern hospital visits. As a diversion he goes to the small town he grew up in to find several people killed by a strange growing wire coming from nowhere. It begins to seal the town off from the rest of the world. He escapes via Yellowstone Park and heads for Bozeman where one of his sons lives. While there he gained a new admiration for his boys. As he goes back to his home in Oregon he finds he must deal with other problems including his dog, his neighbors, unusual weather and his boys. He also finds out the shocking truth of the strange wires in his hometown. He remains independent to the end, causing surprise to those around him.

Ken McCulloch was born and raised in Bozeman, Montana near Yellowstone Park. He was a high school English teacher for several years before moving to Boise, Idaho to work with blind children for thirty four years. His wife was a nurse and went blind in mid-life from diabetes. She later had kidney failure and through their life together they had to make tough decisions about how to handle life-threatening medical issues. Ken now directs a low vision center in Bozeman.