“You're just exactly like your grandfather.”
She smiled.
He took a breath.
Then he became serious.
“I need you to ask your mother.”
May nodded immediately.
“And if she agrees, your aunt has to handle the bidding registration and paperwork. You're eleven years old. You can't simply walk into a sale and sign contracts like an adult.”
“I understand.”
“And we don't spend money we don't have.”
“It's money I saved.”
“I know.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder.
“But even your own money deserves careful thought.”
She nodded.
He looked at the notebook.
Then he smiled faintly.
“Still, I suppose fifty-five dollars isn't the worst price I've ever paid for an interesting question.”
May threw her arms around him.
“Thank you!”
He laughed.
“Your mother hasn't said yes yet.”
May released him and ran toward the house.
He watched her go.
For a moment, he felt lighter than he had in weeks.
Then his eyes moved toward the old notebook.
He remembered his father sitting at the same workbench, explaining that the best mechanics were not the ones who always had the answers.
They were the ones who knew how to ask the right questions.
He smiled sadly.
“She's got your stubbornness, Dad.”
Inside, May's mother listened to the proposal with a mixture of amusement and disbelief.
She sat at the kitchen table while May explained the serial number, the old drawings, and the plan to bid using her own savings.
When May finished, her mother folded her arms.
“You want to spend almost every dollar you've saved on a tractor that doesn't run?”
“Yes.”
“Instead of a bicycle?”
May nodded.
Her mother studied her.
“Do you believe this machine is valuable?”
May considered the question.
“I think it's important.”
“That's not quite the same thing.”
“I know.”
Her mother smiled.
“What if nobody ever offers to buy it?”
May looked toward the window.
“Then I want to learn what it was supposed to do.”
The answer surprised her mother.
She had expected the girl to talk about becoming rich.
Instead, May seemed more interested in solving a mechanical mystery.
Her mother thought about the grandfather who had spent years encouraging that curiosity.