When Earl stopped by that afternoon, she told him four was finally back. He made a show of looking toward the ceiling and thanking heaven, but then he asked whether Hank seemed all right. Rachel told him what she knew without repeating more than necessary. Earl's face grew quiet, and he said Hank had been having a difficult few years. The old farmer did not sound triumphant about finally having his key returned.
"I ought to go see him," Earl said. "I spend too much time being irritated with people when I don't know what they've been carrying."
Rachel looked at the pegboard. "That'd be a good thing to do. Just leave the seed drill out of it for a day."
Earl smiled and went to his truck. Two days later, he reported that Hank had agreed to help inspect the old drill for the group's records and that they both accepted it should remain retired. The machine was too far worn to justify the cost of returning it to safe service. Hank seemed almost relieved to have someone make the decision out loud.
The next challenge was number two. A storm blew through the county in June with hard rain and enough wind to bring down tree limbs along several roads. A section of fencing on Lou Martin's place failed when a large branch fell across it, and the cattle began collecting near the broken line. Lou could repair the fence by hand, but setting new posts in the wet ground would take more time than he had before the animals found a way through.
He called Rachel to ask about the post driver. She could hear strain in his voice, and she knew he had already tried borrowing a working rig from a neighbor. The neighbor was using it himself. The old driver marked two was still in her shed with a split hose and a damaged support leg, and she had no intention of letting it leave in that condition.
"It's not safe right now," she told him. "I can inspect it tomorrow, but I can't promise a repair."
"I need those posts in before the cows decide the road belongs to them."
"Then I'll come look at the fence this afternoon. Maybe we can solve the immediate problem without putting that driver into service before it's ready."
Lou hesitated. "You'd come all the way out here?"
"You're going to pay me for the time."
He laughed. "Fair enough."
Rachel drove to the Martin place after closing, carrying a post-hole tool, a small set of hand equipment, and spare fencing hardware. Rose met her by the barn and walked her to the fallen branch. The broken section was shorter than Lou had made it sound, but the ground was too soft to support heavy machinery without leaving deep ruts. Rachel helped Lou and Rose secure a temporary barrier to keep the cattle safely away from the road and marked the damaged posts for replacement when the soil firmed.
The immediate problem was not solved by forcing the post driver back into service. It was solved by looking at the actual conditions and using equipment suited to the moment. Rachel liked that. As she drove home, she realized the old pool's scheduling rule about ground conditions applied to more than fertilizer spreaders. Sometimes the right machine was one you didn't use yet.