One Sunday, Wade showed them an old aerial photograph he had borrowed from a retired farmer who remembered the region before the county road was widened. The image was grainy and taken at an angle that made exact locations difficult to prove. There were open patches where Nora's current map showed brush, and several lines that might have been orchard rows. But buildings, shadows, and tree crowns blurred together enough that no one could claim it was a definitive orchard plan.
"Could be our trees," Tess said.
"Could be," Wade replied. "The problem with old photographs is they let you see the past just clearly enough to become confident about what you can't actually prove."
Nora placed the image in the binder beside their own measured sketch. She labeled it possible historical context, not evidence of a planting record. The county file still offered no reliable account of who had planted the pecans, who installed the irrigation system, or why the orchard had been abandoned.
That lack of certainty began to feel less frustrating than it once had. Nora had spent the first months on the property trying to get quick answers because the deadline demanded quick action. Now she was discovering that some questions were useful even when they stayed open. The identity of the former orchard owner might one day explain the grafted trees, but it would not change the need to protect their roots today.
Rook's training continued in short sessions throughout the spring. Jonah returned occasionally to check that the dog was still offering a quiet indication instead of scratching. Between visits, Nora practiced in places where the source locations were known to Tess but not to her. That arrangement prevented Nora from steering him toward the answer by accident.
The first time Rook passed a practice area without sitting, Nora stopped walking. She looked at the ground, certain the scent must be nearby. Jonah, watching from a distance, called out, "Keep moving."
"He missed it," she protested.
"Or there's nothing useful there. Your job is to listen either way."
Nora kept walking. Later she learned that Tess had deliberately left the area without a target. The dog had been correct, and she had nearly trained him to report something that did not exist simply because she wanted a result.
She laughed at herself afterward, but the lesson stayed. A false positive would cost more in the orchard than a wasted training reward. It could mean disturbed roots, spoiled observations, and another season without knowing whether the truffle-like fungi were maturing beneath the trees.
They also trained Rook to wait while the handler moved away, so that a find could be documented before anyone touched the soil. The exercise sounded simple: sit, hold position, allow the number to be read, and remain calm while a sample bag was prepared. In practice, the dog wanted to investigate the handler's hands, the treats, the shovel, and anything else that entered his field of attention. It took weeks for the sequence to become natural.
At home, the new routine changed how Nora observed ordinary things. She waited before drawing conclusions from uneven pecan growth. She checked repeated goat browsing records before shifting rotations. When an unexpected clump of brown material appeared near the barn, she photographed it and left it alone rather than digging for more. Tess noticed these small pauses and began making fewer corrections to her mother's notes.