As Jake and Colt rode out toward Whitaker’s place, Colt commented, “Why was Old Man Caldwell so mysterious about sending us out to see how the fishing was at Whitaker’s? The boys finished harvest a month ago, and Old Man Caldwell’s grain bin is full once again. I don’t know how many wagon loads they took to Davis Grain and Feed. Then they asked for a month to go fishing just as the days were getting shorter and the weather cooler. They had plenty of time to fish when they were watchin’ the grain grow before harvest.”
Jake replied thoughtfully, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I think Caldwell knows something we don’t know, and he wants us to find out for ourselves.” He looked ahead and suddenly pulled his horse up slightly.
“Hey, Colt… this can’t be the Whitaker place, can it? Have we ridden past it and missed it while we were jawin’? That barn looks almost new, with a fresh coat of red paint and a patched roof.”
Colt stared ahead, wonder in his voice. “Look at the house. There’s a room added on. New windows, it looks like from here… and the whole place has been painted. It looks almost brand new too.”
Jake sniffed the air again. “Not only that… I smell hogs. The wind must be blowing the wrong way today. We never caught that scent before. Wonder if Whitaker has new neighbors close by raisin’ hogs. No… there’s the pigpen near the barn!”
Colt replied with awe, “Pard, you haven’t seen the half of it. Look there, that’s a chicken coop or my eyes are deceiving me. That’s a brand-new chicken coop. Bet there’s room there for a dozen chickens… maybe more.”
As they rode closer, Colt pointed toward the pasture. “There’s Jennie and Jessie out there, Morgan’s mule and Whitaker’s. This is Whitaker’s place. And look… there’s six head of cattle, and I bet one or two of them are milk cows, if I’m counting right. What’s been going on here?”
As they rode into the yard, they could see Tiny, Eli, and Morgan working together, setting the roof on a new house about the same size as Whitaker’s.
In amazement Jake exclaimed, “What in the Sam Hill is going on here? Looks like, with the help of our boys, Whitaker’s planning on hiring a new family to come here and work for him. He needs somebody besides himself.”
About that time, in his booming voice, Tiny yelled, “Look who’s here! Jake and Colt! We wondered when Old Man Caldwell was going to send you out.”
Colt laughed and replied, “He told us to come out and see how the fishing was. Said you boys asked for a month off after the harvest just to relax and fish. Looks to me like you’ve done a lot more than plowing, planting, harvesting, and fishing.”
Whitaker called from his chair on the porch of the new house. “Hey Jake, Colt, come sit. I’ll have Liz bring out some coffee for us.”
Liz called from the open front door, “I saw ’em ride in and I put a fresh pot of coffee on the stove. I’ll bring it out soon as it’s ready. I’m in here helping with the furnishings.”
As Eli was getting down from the roof, Morgan walked over and shook their hands.
“Wondered when Caldwell was gonna send you out,” he said.
Before Jake could answer, Whitaker butted in, “It’s amazing when a man with only one useful arm can find a partner, like Morgan here, to make his farm better than he ever dreamed possible. And it could never have been done without Tiny and Eli working hard with him from sunup to sundown.”
Looking at Morgan, Colt stammered, “Did he say partner? Is that official? Is that why Caldwell sent us out… to learn that Whitaker took you on as a partner? That you aren’t coming back to the ranch? He could have just told us.”
Jake replied, “Well, I can see why! We never got him rightly broke as a ranch hand. He’s a born farmer! We can sure see that for ourselves. He’s not just walking behind a plow. He’s raising hogs and cattle and chickens.”
Liz called from the window again, “Not the chickens! Eli built the coop, but those chickens are mine!”
Morgan smiled. “Well, that’s part of it.”
Colt said, “Part of it? You mean there’s more than becoming a partner, owning half a farm now, and doing all we’re seeing?”
Tiny said, “We’re tired. Let’s sit down, and you can hear it all from Morgan himself. Looks like Liz is bringin’ our coffee now.”
As she poured their coffee, with tears in her eyes and a quivering voice, Liz looked at Jake and Colt.
“We never would have survived if it had not been for you two, and Mr. Caldwell, Tiny, Eli, Morgan, and all the boys at Roaring Rapids chipping in to help us from the beginning. We never would have had a home like this if it had not been for Morgan working harder than I’ve ever seen a man work, except Samuel here. Samuel’s the one who taught him how to do things the right way. Morgan just kept finding one job after another that needed doing and putting his hand to it, with Tiny and Eli helping whenever he needed it, and often doing more besides. Truth be told, he’s been such a blessing that sometimes I think he ought to own this place outright and us working for him.”
Though younger than him, Morgan said with affection and respect while giving Liz a gentle hug, “No, Mom, you took me in and made me part of your family. And Pop, sittin’ there with a busted arm, taught me more about how to do things on a farm than I ever knew before. I may be an equal partner legally now, but in my heart we’re family. We’ll always be family.”
“Well now,” Jake said with relief, “now we know the whole of it. Looks to me that all of you were blessed when Morgan volunteered to come help plow that field.”
Tiny interrupted, “Let Morgan tell it.”
“Well,” Morgan grinned, “Mom and Pop are getting another daughter, and that’s who we’re building this new house for. She’ll be moving in come the middle of November.”
Jake and Colt looked stunned and said at the same time, looking from Liz to Samuel, “Well, congratulations to the both of you.”
And Jake added, “Where did you find her?”
Samuel replied, “Morgan found her for us. He’ll tell you.”
“You mean he did all this,” Colt said, looking around the farm, “and found you a daughter too?”
With a large grin, Whitaker replied, “Better let Morgan tell you. He knows more about it than we do.”
Tiny was holding back a laugh while Eli covered his mouth, looking down so as not to reveal his delight.
Morgan took a sip of coffee and cupped it in the bottom of his hand. “You know Davis Grain and Feed opened up about a year ago. Family came from Missouri.”
Jake nodded. “Yes, they’re buying, storing, and selling grain for feed and planting. A Godsend for all the farmers!”
Morgan went on, “You’ve met their daughter Janet, I think… at the last Roaring Rapids barn dance just before harvest time.”
Colt interrupted, clueless, “I met her parents. Is Janet the one you danced with all night and never let anyone else cut in? Are her parents okay? Did something happen to her dad or mom, so she needed to find a new home? How come we never heard about it at the ranch. That’s big news! Puts the Davis business at risk of failing. A lot of farmers could go under if they lose their grain storage or seed supply. And you three have had time to build her a house? I don’t know how you’ve done it! And I don’t know how you’ve had the time to do all this either,” as he looked around again.
Behind Jake and Colt, Tiny and Eli were laughing quietly so hard they could barely contain themselves.
“No, that isn’t it exactly,” Morgan replied. “You see, we’re getting married the first of November, then going back to Missouri so I can meet the rest of her family, then coming back and moving her into our new home.”
And Tiny and Eli burst out laughing, enjoying the moment.
Jake leaned back, shaking his head and smiling as the laughter rolled across the porch. Looking out over the fields, the cattle, and the new house rising near Whitaker’s old one, he finally understood why Old Man Caldwell had sent them to “check on their fishing.” They needed to see it and hear it to believe it.
Sometimes a man plants more than grain when he helps a neighbor. Sometimes he plants hope… and before long, it grows into something bigger than he or anyone expected.
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