“Five minutes.”
Ellie climbed onto the cracked seat.
Daniel stood beside the front wheel.
She adjusted the throttle slightly.
Turned the key.
Starter groaned.
Nothing.
Again.
The engine coughed.
Daniel leaned closer.
“Wait.”
Ellie stopped.
“What?”
“Give it fuel.”
She waited.
Ten seconds.
Turned the key again.
The engine coughed twice.
Shook.
Then stopped.
Ellie’s heart pounded.
“One more.”
Daniel did not answer.
She turned the key.
The engine rolled.
Cough.
Cough.
Then, with a violent shake that rattled the hood, the old tractor fired.
A cloud of dark exhaust erupted.
Ellie shouted.
Daniel raised one hand.
“Don’t celebrate yet.”
The engine almost died.
Ellie adjusted throttle.
It caught again.
Then settled into a rough idle.
The sound filled the machinery shed.
Deep.
Uneven.
Alive.
Ellie stared at Daniel.
His smile appeared slowly.
“You bought a running tractor.”
“I told you.”
“You bought a tractor that now happens to be running.”
“Dad.”
He laughed.
“Okay.”
She climbed down.
The engine continued.
Ellie walked around the machine as though it might disappear.
“One eighty.”
“Plus seal.”
“Four dollars.”
“And trailer fuel.”
“That doesn’t count.”
“It absolutely counts.”
She laughed.
Then Daniel suddenly frowned.
“What?”
He pointed beneath the fuel-pump area.
Something white had appeared behind the linkage bracket.
A corner of paper.
Probably loosened when Ellie worked.
She reached.
“Engine off first.”
Ellie shut it down.
The sudden silence made everything feel strangely important.
She pulled the paper free.
It was not ordinary paper.
A small laminated service card.
Oil-stained.
Folded.
One side carried a faded service-shop logo.
PRAIRIE STATE EQUIPMENT SERVICES
The other contained handwriting.
Daniel took it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He did not answer.
“Dad.”
He handed the card over.
Ellie read.
LOT 189 — MERCER AUCTION
That alone confused her.
The card had been written before the auction.
Below:
ENGINE GOOD.
Then:
DISABLE FUEL CONTROL BEFORE SALE.
Ellie stopped.
Her eyes moved to the final line.
BUY BACK UNDER $500. C.R.