But he cut me off, suddenly urgent and animated as he said, “Never in the history of the world has there been a drought that did not end. I looked it up at the library in Oakden a few weeks ago. Droughts come and go, yes. But they always end within a few years. We got a little rain a few weeks ago, remember?”

“It was less than a quarter of an inch!” I exclaimed.

“But that’s how it starts!” Henry said, bending forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Don’t you see, Lizzie? The weather pattern changes slowly—a quarter inch here and there becomes half an inch becomes more and then enough. Normal rain will be here before the winter is over.”

“And if you’re wrong?”

Henry took another gulping swill of the drink, then exhaled slowly.

“That’s why I asked for two years to pay it back. There’s no chance the drought would last more than another year. Besides, if I am wrong, we were going to lose the farm anyway, so it makes no difference.” At my gasp, he shot me an impatient look. “What do you think happens when people don’t pay their property taxes, Lizzie?”

My stomach churned. I set my mug down in the dust and took a few deep breaths until it passed.

“How much did you borrow?”

“I know how much they’d have got for a harvest on a good year. That’s how much I borrowed.”

“But the farm has got to be worth much more than that.”

“This land is barely worth the paper the deed is written on just now—that’s why the bank wouldn’t help us. But…yeah, in the longer term, it’s probably worth more than I borrowed.” He shifted awkwardly, then dropped his voice as he admitted, “It’s just that Judge Nagle wasn’t keen at first. He likes me, but he’s shrewd, you know? I had to show him that I was serious about this. But he wouldn’t really take the farm. He’s a good man, and besides which, it’s not like he’s short of cash. What would he want with this place?”

“Daddy is not going to be happy about this.”

Henry shrugged, all calm and confident again.

“He doesn’t really have much choice. The judge drew up a contract and I signed it right away. Betsy is going to go to the bank when it opens tomorrow and she’ll deposit the check into Daddy’s account.”