My Neighbors Dug A Two-Acre Lake On My Land While I Was Out Of State—Then Told Me Their Contractor Said It Was Theirs, And That Was The Day I Learned How Expensive Arrogance Can Be

had built the lake.

Not yet.

I asked a simpler question.

“Who issued the permit?”

The person on the other end of the phone paused.

Then came a question that made the hair rise on my arms.

“Mr. Mercer, are you sure the construction is on your property?”

I looked across the water.

At the cut bank.

At the destroyed pasture.

At the pipe coming from my spring.

At the old stone boundary.

“Yes,” I said.

“I am absolutely sure.”

Another pause.

Then the county employee said something I wasn’t