He said, “Henry, you know you won’t last here much longer.”
“Nowhere to go, and besides, I’m not giving it up to those two.”
“There might be another way.”
“I’m listening.”
“They’re taking advantage because you’re young and they can get away with it.”
“I know that. I think they killed my mom and dad, too.”
Shell allowed a cruel smile to form. “Understand me. I don’t want your farm. I’m moving on when the weather clears but a delay of a day or two won’t hurt. Suppose we tell people we’re related. I now own the farm and am thinking about bringing in my family.”
“That would just make them madder.”
“Yes, it would. But I can also decide to sell your place use the proceeds to buy another, larger one near my home. That’s the story I’ll spin.”
“How will that help me?”
“Farms don’t have to actually touch each other, Henry. Have you ever spoken to the farmer across the road or the next one about buying your place?”
“No. Smithson wouldn’t let them.”
“When the rain quits, I’m going to go visiting. You should stay here and watch the place. You’ll have to trust me, but from what I see you don’t have much to lose.”
It was quiet in the room, but for the drips and the crackle of burning wood. Henry said, “I almost died in here last winter.”
“No food?”
“And too cold. I had already burned almost everything but that chair. I was going to start on the floorboards next.”
“We still might,” Shell said. “Did you have a barn or shed?”
“Burned the shed for firewood. The barn caught fire by itself right after.”
“I’ll bet it did,” Shell said, his determination to not sell to either of the two bordering farms suddenly solidified. At any price.
He fell asleep and managed to stay asleep until the door thumped a few times. Henry leaped up and swung the door open, and squealed in delight. “Someone left us part of a deer.”
Shell felt the wolf trotting up the side of the hill again and sent his thanks to it. He helped butcher the leg and left Henry to cut it into strips and cook them on the stove. A single glance up at the roof revealed the water didn’t drip anymore and a patch of blue sky could be seen.
He left the house and walked to the road. He ignored the farms on either side, both of which were prosperous and large. There was not a house directly across the road, but open pastures and fields of hay indicated another farm. The valley held at least fifteen farms on either side of the road.
Shell passed the nearest farm on his left and found a woman hanging laundry at the next. He stopped and talked, giving her the short history he and Henry had agreed upon. She called her husband, who acted interested, but didn’t have any money, nor did he make an offer.
He quickly moved on to the next farm. And the next. The lack of gold kept one buyer after another from being interested. Hard currency was hard to come by on farms. When he reached the last farm on the left, he crossed the road and spoke with three more on the other side, briefly. Then he came to a farm where a man of about forty invited him to eat with his family. Shell sat at a large table, with ten others who were quickly introduced and as quickly forgotten.
But the farmer who invited him said little and observed Shell. Shell noticed he watched everything. Shell had the impression the man wanted to speak in private after the meal. He glanced at the people at the table again and noticed two younger pairs, newlyweds by his guess. The farmhouse was small and crowded with so many people inside.
When they finished eating, the farmer asked Shell to walk with him. They went to a rail fence where three cows grazed, both placed a foot on the bottom rail and watched. Shell decided to wait him out. The person who initiated a negotiation is the one most ready to make a deal. The farmer finally said, “I know the farm you’re speaking about. It is good land, it’s nearby, and my family has recently grown and I suspect it will grow again, soon.”
“There can’t be many farms nearby with such good soil that are for sale.”
“I have little money.”
Shell said, “But you would like to make an offer.” It was not a question.
The farmer smiled without looking at Shell. “You don’t waste words.”
“I have only talked to the first third of the farms in this valley, and none in the next. I hope to make an honest deal.”
“I don’t waste words either. I believe you’re a good person trying to help Pudding and keep his neighbors from burning him out, or worse.”
Shell couldn’t help but react to the name, and the accusation. He nodded for the farmer to continue.
“I met his parents when they first moved here. Good people, and you wouldn’t know it now, but they built that house and had a nice little farm for themselves before the accident. Funny thing about accidents, you don’t see all that many that take both parents at the same time, do you?”
Shell said, “I don’t know much about it but suspect you’re right.”
“On a farm, men have their work. Women theirs. But one timber in an otherwise sturdy barn fell and killed the two of them. That was a couple of years before the barn burned. I’m not making accusations, but the men on either side of that farm want to expand.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“If Pudding were to leave, or die, they’d fight over the farm and probably end up splitting it between them. That’s the way most in this valley think. Then you come along and want to sell. I’d have loved to have seen the expressions on some faces around here when you offered it to them.”
“I didn’t offer it to either of the farms beside him.”
“They might have gold to spend. Both of those farms are as successful as any in the valley, or the next.”
Shell watched a cow watch him. He reached down and pulled a hand full of green grass and held it out. The cow eyed it, then came closer. “At home, I’m a herder. Sheep and goats. I’ve talked to them my whole life.”
“What do they say?”
“Mostly nothing, but they don’t ever trust dishonest people. If I took their gold, I’d probably lose it to bandits before I traveled a day. You were about to make an offer, I think.”
“I have no gold. I do have five large silver rounds, twelve small silver nips, and a few coppers.”
The sum was more than Shell hoped to get for a farm with no house or barn, but he waited.
“Do you know what sharecropping is?”
“I’ve heard the word.”
“In short, I could add to the coins I offer. I will split the crop value in half for seven years before owning the land. Each year, good or poor crops, half would be sent to Fleming and Pudding.”
“His name is now Henry. You are offering half the crops for seven years in addition to the silver and copper?”
“As you saw at dinner, my house is overflowing, but they are my family, and I want them to live nearby, but it is all I can afford. There are no other farms close by that are for sale at that price or any other.”
“What about Henry’s two neighbors? They won’t be happy.”
“My existing farm is larger than theirs, my family much larger, and my standing in the community well known. If they pull any of their tricks on us, we will return the favors with pitchforks and the Sheriff. I’ll understand if you continue to try and find a better offer.”
Shell turned to him. “As you said, I don’t waste words. Your offer is more than fair. I will accept if with a slight change. Your family needs to build a new house and barn. That will be hard with the deal you offered. I will accept the coin, but only a quarter of the crops for ten years, or half for five.”