Ragged Company

The store owner writes down the address of the lottery office downtown for the stunned group, and asks Digger to take the ticket there to cash it in. Digger asks the group to go with him, as he’s splitting the winnings four ways. He doesn’t know what to do with the cash alone but thinks they might be able to figure it out together. They decide to watch the movie afterward. Timber feels “the world [he] thought [he] knew slipping away” (86).

Dick feels scared about the sudden change in their situation, and Amelia tries to reassure him, explaining that being rich means they don’t have to struggle anymore. However, Dick doesn’t want to do anything differently; he likes things how things are, especially when everyone watches movies together. Amelia promises him that they can still continue doing this.

Amelia remembers Grandma One Sky telling her about the Trickster, who took many forms and got into adventures with people and animals. The Trickster is essentially a teacher in whose escapades are hidden lessons. Amelia recognizes the money as one of his forms.

The group arrives at the lottery office, where they feel out of place. A woman named Margo Keane kindly offers to help them. She checks the ticket numbers and immediately brings out Sol Vance, the man in charge of prize allocation. He congratulates Digger and takes the entire group to the VIP lounge to be “treated special.”

After getting the group settled in with drinks and introducing them to the team who’ll help them out, Vance asks for proof of identification, revealing that the rules prohibit him from releasing the money without it. No one in the group currently has any identification; however, they have a year from the draw date within which to process the ticket, after which the money goes back into the prize pool.

Dick suggests that they ask Granite to help, but Digger is reluctant to involve yet another “Square John.” In addition, they don’t know how to reach him. However, Amelia has a feeling that they’ll meet again; she suggests that they go to the movies, where they usually see him.

Despite years as a journalist, Granite has never really gotten to know the city and its inhabitants properly. He resolves to learn more about his new friends’ worlds. Trying to guess which movie they might be headed to that day, he settles on Field of Dreams.

On the way to the theater, Digger declares that he wants to get drinks instead. The other men begin to agree, but Amelia presses on about finding Granite. She asks them to imagine how, if he were able to help them with the ticket, they’d never have to struggle again. They arrive at the theater, but a still-skeptical Digger agrees to see the movie only if Granite is in the next cab that stops there. He’s flabbergasted when this is exactly what happens.

Dick isn’t surprised to see Granite; he sensed they’d meet again. The group tells Granite about the lottery ticket and asks for his help. Granite says he can get his lawyer to draw up papers and open bank accounts for them; he invites the group to come home and watch movies on his VCR while he gets the process started.

Digger is defensive at first, thinking that Granite is just being nice to them because of the money, but Granite asserts that they’re special because of their loyalty to each other. To Digger’s inquiry, he assures them that they can have a drink at his place, and they finally set off together back to Granite’s house.

Walking to Granite’s house, Amelia feels a surge of maternal love for the four men and reflects on how she might have loved to have children of her own. She marvels at the kind of change that’s possible in life—not the money as much as being invited to a “Square John’s” place.

The group is amazed at Granite’s house and at his collection of movies. He invites Dick to pick anything he likes, but Dick asks Digger to choose. They settle on Requiem for a Heavyweight on Granite’s recommendation that Digger will like it. Granite sets up the movie for them, and they’re so absorbed that they don’t even respond to Granite’s offer for a drink.

Granite calls James Merton, his lawyer, and fills him in. Merton is amazed at the story and agrees to help them out but warns that it will attract much media attention. Granite hangs up and watches the group engrossed in the movie, reflecting on how they seem like young, naive children, unaware of how drastically things will change for them.

Granite explains to the group that Merton is willing to be their money manager and handle media questions. The story will generate a lot of interest, especially because of the group’s background—and because it’s a public lottery, the media has the right to ask questions.

The group decides to watch another movie, and Digger asks Amelia to pick, addressing her by her given name rather than her rounder name, to everyone’s surprise. He also reveals that his own given name is Mark Haskett and tells his story.

Digger’s mother was part Metis, and his father was white. They lived on scrap land owned by a farmer, who let them stay there out of pity. From a young age, Digger began to work for the farmer, who gave him food and cast-off clothes in return. When Digger was 14, he dropped out of school and began working full-time for the farmer, for a wage.

When Digger was 15, a carnival came to town, and he took a job with the wheelman, Dutch, to help set up the Ferris wheel. Dutch was one of the best in the business, and traveled all around setting up wheels for carnivals. Digger enjoyed the job immensely and discovered that he was a natural; when the carnival left town, Digger accepted Dutch’s offer to join him and never looked back.

Dutch died in an accident when Digger was 19, and Digger inherited the rig from Dutch. He became extremely well-known and eventually signed on as a permanent wheelman with a show run by a man named Peter Wood. They didn’t do winter shows, but Peter still paid Digger his regular wage through the five months off and fronted a hotel room. Bored, Digger began to frequent bars and drink during his time off.

At some point, something broke inside Digger, and he began to experience agonizing pain. He worked through the pain silently as long as he could by drinking. However, his condition deteriorated, and Peter started keeping him off shows. Eventually, he was let go from the show and was unable to find work elsewhere. The motel where he was staying asked him to leave when he became a nuisance.

Although unhoused, Digger refused to resort to begging; he decided to start digging for scrap. These days, when he’s alone in the space he spends nights in on the streets, he still feels like the best wheelman in the business. As long as Digger feels that to be true, he can handle anything else.

The unnamed voices discuss how Digger’s history reveals that often more stories are under the surface than meet the eye.

Silence follows Digger’s story until Granite offers to drop them all off where they’d like to go. Everyone wants to spend the night alone on the streets. Granite asks them to rent a room since they have the money now, but Dick asserts that rooms have walls; these make him and the others nervous at night. The group goes their separate ways for the night.

The group meets Merton at his office the next day, and Amelia likes him instantly, recognizing him as a good man. He helps them draw up and sign papers, and the process reveals that Timber’s name is Jonas Hohnstein. Merton promises to help deal with the media when they go to claim their prize later that day. Everyone heads to the lottery office, feeling a little uncertain about the change that’s headed their way.

A crowd is already gathered at the office when the group arrives. Vance and Margo greet them and take them in. Margo recognizes Granite from his time as a journalist and asks about his connection to the group, which he explains. Once everyone is ready, Vance and Merton make a general statement to the press, and Merton explains that he’ll be speaking on behalf of his clients. He asks the media to be humane in its questioning, considering the group’s circumstances.

Granite brings the group out; they’re uncomfortable with the cameras and attention. They’re asked about how they feel and what they’ll do with the money, and Dick responds that he just wants to watch movies. When questions begin about their street life and drinking, Digger angrily rants about how no one actually cares about them; they just want the story or wish they’d won the money instead. He asks them to imagine what it’d be like to come from such circumstances and suddenly have people thrusting these questions at them. Merton ends the interview, entrusting Granite, Vance, and Margo with handling the rest of the questions.

Timber reflects on how scared and uncomfortable he and the others are feeling. Once they’re done at the lottery office, the group heads to the bank, where the manager and Merton helps them through the paperwork and process of opening their accounts. The four are handed new debit and credit cards; Dick and Digger immediately withdraw $100 each, but Amelia and Timber don’t want anything yet.

At Merton’s suggestion, Granite and Margo take the group to the Plaza hotel, where Merton’s friend is the manager, and help them get settled in new rooms and buy new clothes. Digger gets defensive again, asking if Merton is one of the “wolves” coming after them for their money, and Merton reveals that he, too, was poor and worked his way up. He knows how tough life can be and like Digger he’s trying to get by; he isn’t interested in conning people. This reassures Digger.

Amelia notes how nice it feels to have their group grown in number, now; Timber, however, still feels unsettled. The only thing stopping him from running away is the sense that the other three might need him.

On the way to the hotel, Dick thinks about how, if he’s with his friends, he can handle the changes. Merton’s friend, the manager, welcomes the group and takes them to their suites. Dick and the others are awestruck by the grandeur of the place. Dick is especially amazed at the television in his suite and is thrilled to watch movies on it.

After Amelia takes a bath, Margo helps her pick out new clothes, and a stylist fixes her hair. The others also clean up and get haircuts and new clothes. When Amelia sees them all clean and dressed up, she’s moved to tears.

Digger and Timber leave the hotel to be alone for a while, overwhelmed by all the change. Amelia and Dick also desire some semblance of normalcy and decide to go to the movies with Granite and Margo.

Timber walks for a while before buying a bottle of Scotch and settling down on a bench outside to drink. He’s amazed at how everyone who passes him acknowledges and addresses him as “sir.” He wonders at what the bath, new clothes, and money, have washed off, as he still feels the same inside.

Dick enjoys the movie but misses Timber and Dick. Back at the hotel, Amelia invites him to watch TV with her, but he declines, wanting to be alone. He gets a drink, turns on his TV, and falls asleep watching a movie. Dick dreams that night; he usually doesn’t, and he hates dreaming because it dredges up bad things that happened in his past. He revisits his worst nightmare that night and wakes up screaming. Timber arrives and calms him down; they both discuss how the place feels strange and worry that Digger isn’t back yet. They decide to go look for him at the Palace.

Granite gets a call at three o’clock in the morning from Amelia saying that the boys have disappeared. Granite, Margo, and Merton head to the hotel and learn that Timber and Dick left in a cab some hours ago, while no one has seen Digger all evening.

Amelia is sure that they’ll be together, and Granite suggests looking at the Palace. Merton and Granite drive there and find a wild party going on; Digger and the others paid for the party but left some time ago.

Amelia’s brother, Harley, visits her as a “shadow person,” and she realizes that the boys have gone back to Dick’s old “digs”—the warehouse he used to sleep in. When Granite and James return, she tells them this and reveals how she never slept in one single place over the years because she couldn’t find a place without the “shadowed ones” telling her stories of the people who lived there. Granite reveals that he used to have a similar experience a long time ago.

The group drives to the warehouse and finds the three men drunk and surrounded by almost-naked women dancing and a strange man. Dick passes out just as they arrive. Granite and Merton manage to turn away the strange man and the girls, and they extract the extremely drunk Digger and Timber and the unconscious Dick from the warehouse.

Digger and Timber eventually recover, but Dick doesn’t wake up even back at the hotel. He’s taken to the hospital, where the doctors proclaim that he’s in an alcohol induced coma.

Digger feels immensely guilty for starting the party and egging everyone on to drink more. Granite privately tells Digger that he needs to stop messing things up; Digger has the power to change his life now, but if he keeps choosing the same old things, he’ll throw it all away. Dick is in a coma because of his own choice to drink; however, if Digger chooses differently and sets an example, the others will follow him, especially Dick, because Digger is their protector.

Digger shakes Granite’s hand, saying that Granite has given him a lot to think about. Amelia arrives, saying that Dick is awake and asking for Digger.

Amelia thinks about how almost losing Dick has brought them closer together; however, she knew he wouldn’t die, as it wasn’t his time yet.

Dick tells the group that Digger and he decided that they’ll all watch Field of Dreams after Dick leaves the hospital and then Dick will buy them all dinner. Amelia feels grateful for the friendship in their lives.

Before the group leaves Dick to rest, Dick talks to Amelia privately. When he was in a coma, he didn’t have any dreams and enjoyed the quiet. He wonders whether he can buy some quiet with the money, and Amelia agrees that it may be possible. Dick then asks to sit with Digger a while so that Digger doesn’t feel bad about what happened, and Amelia asserts that Dick is a good man.

Digger sits with Dick for all five days in the hospital while he gets better, watching movies with him. The night Dick leaves, the group goes to see Field of Dreams. Digger reflects on the movie and what Granite said to him; he decides to build something better for his friends’ sakes. He remembers how he used to be a wheelman who could build things from the ground up and realizes that building a new life with all this money doesn’t scare him anymore.

The unnamed voices discuss how Ferris wheels are like life itself, constantly turning, with ups and downs that are unavoidable.