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located in the north quarter along with a bit less than sixty acres of grass. The balance of the north quarter was essentially trees and wasteland with a few nearly impassable bluffs, one of which flattened out into a broad mesa that had a special meaning to him.
    “You know the place?”
    “More or less.”
    “Clem wants to sell the land pretty bad.”
    “He hasn’t owned it more than four years. Why does he want to sell?”
    “He doesn’t own any other land within five miles. With all the fences going up, that’s a long way to drive cattle to and from pasture every season. He didn’t even run cattle on the grass this season and didn’t plant a seed on the crop ground.”
    “I did notice that. I thought it was strange. You can’t turn a profit that way.”
    “The old fart’s past eighty. He came out to this country with the Free-Staters almost thirty years ago. He loved the Flint Hills, but his wife hated it here and went back to Ohio, taking their two nearly grown daughters with her. He let all but one or two of his hands go, and he’s cutting his operation way back.”
    “So, what do I have to do with this?”
    “I want you to partner with me on the land.”  
    Thad eyed her suspiciously. “Why?”
    “I worked out a deal with Clem before Max . . . passed away. I haven’t told Cam about this . . . I know I’ll have to . . . but Clem agreed to sell the whole thing for twenty dollars an acre. Close to robbery, but the south boundary’s less than a mile from my home section, and I figured someday I could link it all up.”
    It was an old story. Ranchers weren’t land hogs; they only wanted the land next to them. “I still don’t see where I fit.”
    “After selling off some of the yearlings and adding the rest of some money my dad left me, I could only come up with half of the $6,200. I think I could have taken out a mortgage for the other half, but Max would have had to sign the note and lien papers. He said he wouldn’t do it unless I put his name on the home section and another three hundred acres I own. I told him he could go to hell. I finally gave in and said we could own the Rickers land together. He refused and said it was all or nothing. That was the first time he beat the shit out of me.”
    “You do need to tell Cam about this. I’m not a lawyer, but I’ll bet Frank Fuller would love to know about this.”
    “I’ll talk to your brother first thing in the morning. But I came up with this idea that I’d talk to you and see if you’d be interested in going partners on the deal. We’d split the land some way.”
    “The bottomland’s on the north quarter . . . and the waste and buttes.”
    “Well, shit . . . take the south, but the south’s closer to my place. I just figured we’d each have the parcel that’s closer to our home places. And I’m not a farmer. I don’t give a damn about the bottomland.”
    “If . . . and I say ‘if’ we partnered, I’d want the north quarter section, so we don’t have differences on that score.”
    “You’re nuts. You’d be taking all the wasteland and the bluffs.”
      “And I’d have the bottomland.”
    She looked at Thad suspiciously and was silent for some moments. He met her gaze. “What?”
    “You said you knew about Clem’s land ‘more or less.’ I think it’s ‘more.’”
    “Alright,” he replied, “I do know something about the properties. And I like the bottomland. I’d lease it out on shares and get a cash crop to help pay for the place. And I don’t have enough cow-calf pairs yet to stock the pasture . . . I’d rent it out to you if you wanted.”
    “At least you’re starting to make some sense, Doc. But you’re still dancing around the truth. Please, don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.”
    Thad sighed and shrugged. The woman was nothing if not insightful. “Okay, I’m not trying to take advantage of you.”
    “I never thought that.”
    “I was just embarrassed to tell you my real reason