Second Harvest

"But I thought Wells Fargo didn't get all their money back?"

"Actually, we were able to retrieve all but four thousand dollars. Buddy sang like a bird when the Federal Marshals showed up for his arrest. In fact, Buddy traded the return of the hidden money, for a reduced sentence."

"How many years did he end up with?"

"He received ten years of hard labor, in a prison in Yuma."

"So what happened to the four thousand dollars?"

"We tried to return the automobile to the dealer in Phoenix where Buddy bought it, but they claimed it was no longer new. I finally purchased the machine and paid Wells Fargo for the automobile. Since it was used, it saved me a ton of money too. The land was auctioned off and the high bid brought the return for Wells Fargo to ninety-three thousand. They were ecstatic and happy."

"So where is the reward money?"

"It's in your bank account Roy. The money has been sitting in there since they paid it. I don't think you're going to need that loan, Roy."

Roy was speechless. "When were you going to tell me, Grover?"

"I figured you'd show up one day looking for the reward, or I'd surprise you at your wedding." Grover opened a drawer and pulled out a small green booklet. He slid it across the desk pushing it at Roy.

Roy slowly picked it up and opened it to the front pages. There were several entries on many pages along with dates and their amounts. When Roy arrived at the last two entries, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Roy's mouth dropped open. He looked up at Grover.

"Is this number correct?"

Grover leaned back in his chair again and smiled.

The beauty of the Arizona desert is that when the rains stop, the sandy soil quickly soaks up the moisture. Over the next day or two, thunderstorms would appear dumping gallons of the rain everywhere and then the sun would reappear. It was unbelievable how green the area looked after several days. Roy loaded Sara and the boys into the buckboard for a ride out to their respective farms for an inspection. Roy purposely went to his place first.

While visiting his homestead, Roy was dispirited when he saw his personal belongings soaking wet and on the ground in front of the cabin. Everyone assisted in sifting through the wet mud and retrieving his pictures and treasures from the fireplace mantle. Billy found a wooden box and they cleaned everything off as best they could and stored them in the box. Except for the logs around the perimeter of the cabin and the fireplace, the cabin was a total loss. Roy sighed heavily.