He stepped back.
The payment clerk handed May's aunt the completed receipt.
The woman examined it carefully.
Then she counted May's money.
Five tens and a five.
She placed the bills on the counter.
The clerk recorded payment and provided a stamped copy of the bill of sale.
May stared at the paper.
It described the tractor as Lot 47 and identified her aunt as the responsible purchaser on her behalf.
The girl looked toward the old machine.
She had done it.
The tractor was theirs to investigate, subject to ordinary title and estate-transfer requirements.
Her aunt handed her the receipt.
“Don't lose this.”
May held it carefully.
Then she smiled.
It was the kind of smile that made her look unmistakably eleven years old.
For nearly an hour, the barn had been filled with people mocking her judgment.
Now she had fifty-five dollars less and an enormous rusted tractor to bring home.
She was happier than she had been in months.
The elderly collector approached.
“Would you mind telling me your grandfather's name?”
May did.
The old man's expression changed.
He repeated the name softly.
Then he looked toward the notebook.
“I remember him.”
May stared.
“You knew Grandpa?”
The collector nodded.
“Not well. We met at a machinery exhibition many years ago.”
He paused.
“He was one of the smartest mechanics I've ever spoken to.”
May felt her throat tighten.
The collector continued.
“He told me about a test tractor that helped engineers develop an unusual control system.”
May looked toward the machine.
“This one?”
“Possibly.”
The collector studied the notebook again.
“He said the machine had been loaned to a local farmer after the trial. Then the records became confused, and nobody seemed to know what happened to it.”
May felt her heart pounding.
“Was it valuable?”
The old man smiled.
“That depends on what you mean by valuable.”
She frowned.
He continued.
“If it's genuine and the history can be established, collectors and agricultural museums may be extremely interested.”
May looked toward the tractor.
Then she asked the question that mattered most to her.
“Did Grandpa help build it?”
The collector became quiet.