I turned my back on the house and walked down the concrete steps toward the rental car.

I pressed the button on the plastic key fob to unlock the doors.

The headlights flashed bright white in the dark driveway.

I opened the driver’s door and set the brown folder on the passenger seat.

I looked back one last time before getting in.

Ranata stood alone in the open doorway.

At seven in the morning, the flatbed’s diesel engine rattled the windows of the empty barn.

Four men in thick canvas jackets wrapped heavy iron chains around my rusted seeder.