Chapter 1

I put in five days of overtime fixing the village's harvesters, and all they did was complain I was too slow and charged too much.

The whole village drove their harvesters over and blocked my gate, trying to force me to back down.

They even said the mechanic in the next village charged less and did better work.

Fine. Then go find him. I'm done waiting on you.

And when the wheat was about to rot in the fields, they were the ones who came crawling back, begging me for help.

1

Harvest season had come around again, and I'd already worked five straight days of overtime.

I'd just gotten back from an emergency job out in the fields, throat so dry it was smoking.

Foreman Lawrence from Sunnyvale kept circling me, holding out a cigarette with a big smile pasted on.

"Mentor Bell, our village has thirty harvesters. We're counting on you for all of them."

"It's the middle of the season. We can't afford anything going wrong."

"Foreman Lawrence, doesn't your village have that mechanic, Mr. James?" I asked.

Clearfield alone had me run off my feet lately. I really didn't want to go bail out some other village.

Lawrence spat. "Bah. That bastard's a snake with a smile. Anybody who hires him is cursed for eight generations."

I drank half my bottle of water.

"All right, I'll come take a look at what's going on. But you already heard my terms, so don't go saying I'm gouging you."

Lawrence broke into a grin. "Mentor Bell, don't talk like that. If you can free up time to help us, I'm more grateful than I can say. I'll head back and wait for you in the village."

I rested for ten minutes, and just as I was about to head out, Toby Finch came limping over.

He farmed thirty acres of wheat on his own, with three machines, big and small.

"Maxwell Bell, heading out?"

"Yeah. Something you need, Uncle Toby?"

"I've got two of the small machines that won't crank. Come take a look for me."

Toby was the type who loved getting something for nothing. Time and again I'd diagnose the problem, and then he'd go buy the parts online himself.

But I never said a word about it.

"I'm in a hurry to get out. Just grab a battery and jump it yourself."

Toby's face fell in an instant. "Maxwell, you skip the little jobs and there won't be any big ones. We're all from the same village. You can't even come glance at it for me?"

"I don't have time. I've got harvesters to fix over in Sunnyvale."

Toby's voice turned sour. "Oh, so you've picked up a big job for someone else. No wonder you can't be bothered with us little fish."

I looked at him. I didn't want to make an enemy of him, so I just said, flatly, "Uncle Toby, check your own conscience before you talk like that."

"All these years, how many times have I helped you for free?"

I turned to leave. Toby was muttering as he fished out his phone. "Don't act like you're the only one who can do it!"

I went over to Sunnyvale, worked through the machines, tallied up roughly which parts I'd need to order, and then headed back to the village.

The plan was to put in more overtime and knock out the three machines still sitting in the fields.

But from a good way off, I could already see the harvesters packed into my yard.

I had to leave my own truck out by the road.

A crowd of villagers sat smoking in the shade of the trees, Toby out front, Geoffrey Miles right behind him.

Toby spoke up first. "Maxwell, this shop of yours runs entirely on us folks here in Clearfield keeping you in business."

"It's harvest season now. You've got to fix our machines first."

Geoffrey held his cigarette, all smiles. "That's right, Maxwell. Whatever else, we're all one village."

"You'd fix Sunnyvale's harvesters before ours? That's not right, is it?"

The others muttered among themselves, all agreeing that was the way of it.

I looked them over. "Everyone, isn't there such a thing as first come, first served?"

"Every one of your households has at least one harvester that still runs, doesn't it? Jamming all these machines you don't even need right now into my yard, what exactly is that supposed to accomplish?"

Toby's eyes darted around. "Mentor Bell, we're just playing it safe, aren't we?"

"One way or another, you've got to help us first."