Otto nodded.
Ruth sighed.
Silas knew that sigh.
It meant a decision was losing ground.
Two days later she opened the coffee can stored above the refrigerator.
Inside were bills she had been saving toward a new water heater.
She counted forty dollars.
Placed it on the table.
Silas stared.
“That’s yours.”
“No.”
“It’s for the heater.”
“The heater still works.”
“It makes a noise.”
“So do I.”
She pushed the money toward him.
“This is all I’m giving.”
Silas did not touch it yet.
“If you spend it badly, you live with that.”
He nodded.
“If you buy nothing, you keep it.”
Another nod.
“I am not bidding for you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m not going to stop grown men from laughing either.”
Silas looked up.
“Why would they laugh?”
Ruth smiled sadly.
“You’ll see.”
The night before the auction, Silas sat beside Otto.
The old man had a pencil.
His hand trembled.
He tried writing.
Could not.
Silas pulled out an index card.
“What do I check?”
Otto looked at him.
Silas waited.
“Cow.”
“Yes.”
Otto pointed at his own mouth.
“Mouth?”
Otto nodded.
Silas wrote:
CHECK THE MOUTH.
Otto pointed toward his feet.
Silas frowned.
“Hooves?”
The old man nodded.
Silas wrote:
CHECK HOW SHE STANDS ON ALL FOUR FEET.
Otto closed his eyes.
Thinking.
Then he pointed toward the kitchen where Ruth stored feed sacks.
Silas understood.
“Ask what she’s eating.”
Otto smiled.
Silas wrote:
ASK WHAT SHE’S BEEN EATING.
Three lines.
That was all.
Silas folded the card.
Put it into his jacket.
Now, standing inside Ferris Livestock Exchange, he touched that pocket.
Still there.
Ruth stopped near the concession area.
“You know where I’ll be.”
Silas nodded.
“You get uncomfortable, come find me.”
“I’m okay.”
“I know.”
She looked around the room.
“But you don’t have to prove anything.”
Silas frowned.
“I’m buying a cow.”
“Maybe.”
“I am.”
Ruth smiled.
“There’s your grandfather.”
Silas walked toward the holding pens.
The first laugh came before he reached the third gate.
A man in a green cap nudged another buyer.
“Somebody lose their kid?”
Several men chuckled.
Silas kept walking.
Otto had taught him another rule without ever stating it directly.
People who did not pay attention to you did not deserve yours.
Pen six.
Two Holstein heifers.
Healthy.
Too expensive.
Pen nine.
Older Jersey.
Good feet.
Thin but alert.
Seller expected decent money.
Pen eleven.
Brown Swiss cross.
Strong.
Too large for the Coyle pasture.
Then pen fourteen.
Silas stopped.
The cow inside turned her head.