The Bet

It took Traci three days to get her pictures. She carefully washed each piece before she took the picture then moved it into the house after the picture was taken. They went to town and Sam let her out at the library then ran errands while Traci did her research. Two hours later Sam returned to the library but Traci was only about half done with her list. They sat and talked as Traci and Sam worked. Sam worked at the computer next to Traci to speed the task along. By late afternoon they had prices on maybe one-half to two-thirds of the items they found. They added up the prices and sat in total shock. The value of the items they found prices for totaled almost $6,000 and that was without the whiskey contained in the decanters that had not been emptied. By the time they completed their research they only found prices for about two-thirds of the steins and three-fourths of the decanters. Almost none of the signs were priced but representative examples potentially indicated they were worth as much or more than the steins and decanters. They were especially valuable if they still worked properly.

On the way out of town Sam slammed on the brakes and pulled into the parking lot of a Floor Store. He pulled up behind the building beside the dumpsters. He got out and began walking around the overflowing dumpsters lifting and looking at the carpeting and padding they contained. He pulled three large rolls of used carpet from the dumpsters and opened them up slightly. They all seemed to be the same beautiful burgundy color. "Hey Trace," he said. "What do you think about this carpet for our floors? I think there's enough here to completely cover them. I even think we can salvage enough of this used padding to use also."

"Could we? That would be a lot warmer this winter than the concrete or bare wood floors we have now."

"Ok, help me get it into the truck."

"What? Just take it? We can't do that can we?"

"Sure. It's no different than taking cans from the dumpsters is it?"

"I guess not. Are you sure we won't get into trouble?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine. Tell you what, I'll go inside and check if it'll make you feel better."

Sam walked around the front of the building and headed toward the sales counter in the back. A smiling salesman met him and asked how he could help. Sam introduced himself and said, "My girlfriend and I are a little short of cash. We saw the used carpet and padding in your dumpster and wondered if we could have it?"

"Well, I don't know. You'd have to talk to the boss about that."

A portly man walked up and said, "Did I hear you ask about that junk carpet in the dumpster?"

"Yes. My girlfriend and I are a little short of cash. In fact, we're almost totally broke. We converted a grain bin on our farm into a house and I was wondering if we could have the used carpet and padding in your dumpster?"

"You're joking right? You really live in a grain bin on a farm?"

"Yes, sir."

The man looked at Sam for a moment then said, "Hell, I don't suppose it matters. If you don't take it the whole mess will end up in the dump. Yeah, you can have it. Most people just drive up and the it without even asking."

"Great. Thanks. I would like to purchase some of the tape and strips we need to lay the carpet if that will help."

A few minutes later Sam and one of the dock workers came back to the dumpster area carrying Sam's purchases. The store employee helped Sam and Traci select and load the padding and carpet. He even helped them tie it down. Soon the couple was back on the road grinning from ear to ear.

On the way home the truck cab was filled with excited conversation. Traci said, "I can't believe we have all this carpet and padding and it was free. Have you ever laid carpet? This is going to be so great. And can you believe the prices we found for some of the items in the barn. What should we do with all those things, Sam? I'm scared to death to have that valuable stuff just lying around in the house. I think we need to sell it but how will we do it? I know Fenton said we could use anything here and sell anything we wanted to sell, but if this gets out I bet he tries to take it from us."

"I don't know what to do. We need to sell some of it just to build up our nest egg but I agree we don't want to be too obvious here. Why don't we put some of the more common pieces and the duplicates on E-Bay and see what happens? We can put a reserve price on them and charge a little extra for shipping and handling. We can just sell a few of the empty pieces at a time. I think I can come up with a pretty safe place to store the rest of the things. We can hang a shelf over the bedroom ceiling and put them up there. No one would probably look there even if they break into the house. There are a few of the things I would really like to keep too. A couple of the mirrors and signs as well as some of the steins and decanters would look good in our house. If we get hard up for money we can sell more. Let's just sell what we don't think we want right now."

By the time the auction was completed the couple managed to sell all the duplicate items in their find. They also sold some of the steins and decanters they didn't want to keep. The final take from the stein and decanter sales was $9,397. They sold the unwanted neon signs for another $7,327. There was also a profit from shipping and handling of $1273.27. The couple still owned 12 steins 17 decanters, four mirrors and three neon signs. All 17 of the decanters were unopened and still had whiskey in them.

In late August Professor Francisco called and asked if she could come visit. Of course the couple said, "Yes."

Paula was awed by the progress Sam and Traci made when she saw it. She fell in love with their little grain bin house. She spent the entire afternoon taking pictures and interviewing the couple. They told her about selling the barn wood but didn't mention the other finds for fear it would get back to Fenton. They also told her of the plan to sell firewood in the winter, produce in the summer, and pick up cans and haul scrap metal off local farms as well as mow yards and do odd jobs. She was skeptical about their ability to do all that work. She also was skeptical about their plans to write a book about their experience. She tried to tell them unknown authors with no degree and no agent were wasting their time to attempt such a task. Most people who write fail to find an agent, she said, and the majority of the publishing houses won't read a manuscript if it isn't submitted by an agent.

By the middle of September Sam and Traci had their home looking nice. The "yard" was cleared within 50 feet of the house and kept mowed. They also mowed a strip down to the stream and around the garden. They also had jars and jars of canned food ready for the winter. During the summer they sold all the barn wood and cut a good sized pile of firewood. They had forty cords of wood cut, split, and piled with metal covers on it to keep it partly dry. They planned to sell much of the wood but would burn some to heat their house. They believed they could heat their house with a total of 6-8 cords. If they sold the remaining 32 cords of wood they would gross $3,060 for their effort. The cost of cutting was maybe $100 and then they would have to deduct delivery fuel. They expected a net of about $2,000 from the firewood.

In September one of the neighbors began picking a large field of corn next to Sam's and Traci's small farm. Sam and Traci watched him open up the field. Throughout the first day they would marvel at the speed with which his modern combine moved through the ripe corn. Near quitting time Sam looked at Traci and said, "I think I figured out how we can make more money here Trace. Why don't we check and see if we can pick up the corn the combine misses in the field after Mr. Stevens finishes combining? We can make our own corn meal and save the extra corn we pick up for chicken or other animal feed if we get some animals."

The next morning early Sam met the neighbor in the field when he did his before operation maintenance on his combine. They visited for a short time then Sam made his request. Mr. Stevens said, "Heck, I don't have a problem with you picking up the ears I leave behind. I usually turn my cattle into the field to clean it up but they won't miss the small amount you pick up. Take all you want."

"Thanks. What will you charge us for it?"

"Heck, there's no charge, son. Glad to help. I remember how tight things was when me and Martha was starting out."

"Sir, I'm sorry but I can't let you give us the grain. We have to pay our own way and make our income without help or we'll lose the land. I have to pay you something for the grain or I can't take it."

The two neighbors visited for a while longer and finally settled on $50 as a token amount for the grain. Sam knew he could pick up enough corn to more than be worth that small amount. They wrote up a contract on a piece of paper and both signed it. The farmer even sold Sam and Traci four bushels of wheat for $12.00. They planned to grind it into flour and make their own bread. There were a lot of loaves of bread in 4 bushels of wheat.

Before the corn left in the field was damaged by the weather to a point it wasn't fit for human consumption Sam and Traci picked up almost five pickup and trailer loads still on the cob. After they shelled it by hand they figured they had about a ton of shelled grain. Since the USDA specified a bushel of corn weighs 56 pounds they had approximately 35 bushels of corn for their $50 investment. Corn was selling for $3.79 a bushel so they almost tripled their money. If they used the corn for feed they would make even more than that because feed prices were higher.

Fenton put in an appearance once just after college started and was his usual obnoxious supercilious self. He walked around looking at the improvements they made to the place, gave them a nasty looking smile and said, "Things are looking better here. Keep up the good work kids. This place might be worth something when you leave." After a couple more cutting remarks he drove off and left a seething couple in his wake.

Neither Sam nor Traci managed to do much work in town that summer. They were much too busy preparing winter quarters and working on their garden. They did obtain three yards to mow. This income kept them in the foods they had to purchase and paid for their fuel to and from town. They actually managed to end the summer with more in the bank than they started with! A lot more. Almost half of the barn money was in the bank as well as their initial cash balance and the $17,997.27 from the sale of the liquor store items. The barn wood sales paid all their summer living expenses and built their house for them and they still had money from that left over.

In early September Sam finally found the time and began working on the old tractor to see if he could get it running. Luckily, it was a 1975 Ford 3000 diesel and parts were neither expensive nor too difficult to find. It needed a few gaskets, belts, and hoses, a new battery and seals in the hydraulic cylinders for the loader. Sam's grandfather had a 3000 just like it for years. It was a very good small tractor and best of all the implements it used were in the barn with it. The tires were nearly ruined and would be very costly to replace but they did still hold air. Sam and Traci decided not to replace the tires until they were forced to. Sam thought that would be in the spring when they began to use it heavily.

By the time the walnuts began falling the tractor purred like a happy kitten as it should. There were less than 3,000 hours on its clock. For the last week in September and first three weeks in October Sam and Traci spent every spare moment picking up walnuts and hauling them to the buying station. By the time buying ended they managed to make another $1635 from picking up and selling black walnuts. This money also went into the bank. During the time they picked up walnuts the young couple also picked up several hundred pounds of pecans from three wild pecan trees on the property. They were the smaller less tasty native pecans but still good to eat. They kept those nuts for their personal use.

Finally the mad pace they followed during the summer slowed down and Sam and Traci could relax somewhat. They were sitting on their porch one morning enjoying some rare free time drinking coffee when Sam said, "Traci, I've been thinking about next year. We won't have such a hectic summer next year because we won't be trying to get our house built. What do you think about putting in a large acreage of corn and tomatoes and selling them at the farmer's market? We can even plant some other vegetables to sell in addition to what we need for our use. I would also like to plant some pumpkins to sell around Halloween. If we do that and mow yards I think we can make some pretty good money. In the fall we can cut and sell firewood and pick up walnuts like we did this year."

"That sounds fine with me. I would like to buy a small freezer if we can. I enjoyed the fish we caught this summer but I am sure getting tired of fish and wild game and would like the freezer so we can buy some beef, chicken, and pork to eat along with the wild game. I would like to be able to freeze some of our produce instead of canning so much, as well. There are some vegetables I like frozen better than canned."

"I agree. I don't think we should buy a small freezer though. I think we should get a larger one. They are only about $100 more than the small ones and hold a lot more. Why don't we think about raising our own chickens and maybe even hogs and beef? We have some corn to feed them and can pick up more next fall I'm sure. We can butcher most of the chickens and save some for eggs and to set for more chicks the year after. We can buy a couple of calves from one of the dairys and raise them on milk replacer to butcher. Heck, if we can afford it we can buy three or four calves and keep all but one to breed and start a small cattle herd. We have plenty of pasture here for them."

Traci smiled and said, "Yeah, lets. We can get a fence in this fall before it gets cold and build a chicken coop and shelter for the other animals so we will be ready in the spring. We still have some of the poorer wood and metal from the barn left for the shelters. That's a great idea."

The young couple continued improving their home and working together the rest of the fall. They didn't feel as if they had the money to return home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas so they agreed to only go home Christmas. They did splurge for the Thanksgiving Day's meal however. Thanksgiving was the beginning of a new phase in their lives. They purchased a small turkey and made the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Traci was somewhat moody and sad during the day but happy none the less. It was the first major holiday either spent away from their families.

That evening the couple sat on their porch and looked over their little spread. Without thinking Sam wrapped his arm around Traci and pulled her against his side. She laid her head on his shoulder and relaxed against him. He turned to kiss her. After the gentle kiss they relaxed and watched the sun set. When it became too cool to remain outside they rose and moved inside and up the stairs to their bedroom. Without conscious thought they kissed and began undressing each other. The kisses became more and more urgent as more skin was uncovered.

Sam moved Traci to the bed and gently laid her on it then crawled up beside her. He continued to kiss her as he gently massaged her breasts. She moaned with need and gently guided his head to her breast. When Sam took a nipple into his mouth and sucked she moaned once again and arched her back.

Sam moved back and forth between breasts for several minutes as he caressed her body. Slowly he kissed his way down her torso and moved between her legs. Traci spread her legs and gently cradled his head as Sam began licking her labia and pressing gentle kisses on her upper, inner thighs. Slowly Traci's pelvis began to move and thrust as she writhed under Sam's expert manipulations and licking.

Sam ran his tongue from her taint to her clit and gave it a quick flick. Traci groaned and her hips thrust. Sam moved back and licked up her slit, then delved into her love hole as deeply as his tongue could go. He gently pressed his tongue into her cleft as he moved up to her clit once again. He sucked her clit into his mouth and began quickly flicking it with his tongue. Traci screeched and pulled Sam's head tightly against her as her pelvis began wildly thrusting and she rubber her clit against Sam's tongue.

Finally, Traci sighed and collapsed back against the bed. Sam smiled and moved up to give her a gentle kiss. Traci licked her juice off Sam's lips and pulled him to her while she thrust her pelvis upward. Sam smiled and nudged his cock forward until he felt it notch into her vagina. He thrust and pulled back twice. On the third thrust Traci thrust upward to meet him and he bottomed out. They began the old in and out so familiar to sexually active humans. As they continued they became more and more frantic until they were slamming against each other.

Finally in less time than it takes to tell of it they reached a mutual plateau. They screamed out their pleasure as each felt their body shake and twitch as orgasm rushed through them. Sam gloried in the feeling of Traci's cunt fluttering and caressing his cock while she came. Traci felt more fulfilled as a woman then she ever had before when she felt Sam pump his seed from his throbbing cock into her spasming pussy.

Traci looked up at Sam and pulled him down for a kiss. She whispered, "Sam, I love you so much. I can't believe it has taken us this long to do this. We've been living together and sleeping together for almost six months."

Sam rolled to the side and pulled Traci against him. He gave her a gentle kiss and said, "I love you, too, Traci. This whole mess has been worth it even if we don't succeed because I've found you."

"Sam, don't talk like that. We WILL succeed. This will be our farm free and clear and I don't ever want to leave it. Never. I want you here with me always. It's our home now and I love it and you."

The two new lovers drifted off to sleep and didn't stir from bed the rest of the night. The next morning Sam woke up to find Traci already gone and the smell of perking coffee coming up the stairs. He quickly pulled his clothes on and followed his nose. When he got to the foot of the stairs he stood watching Traci work. She was in jeans and a tight T-shirt, her braless breasts bouncing with every move she made.

When Traci heard Sam she looked up at him, smiled, and poured his first cup of coffee and carried it to him. When he took the cup he pulled her to him with his free arm and gave her a quick kiss, then smiled down at her. She smiled at him and said, "Good morning, Honey. I'll get my coffee and a coat and join you on the porch."

After the couple was seated on the porch they talked about their plans for the immediate future. Sam thought they should clear brush and prepare the fields they wanted to plant next year while the weather was good and the ground wasn't frozen. Traci agreed so the plan was made. They had already made arrangements to purchase a truckload of chicken litter to use for fertilizer. Sam intended to take soil samples and get them tested so he knew how much fertilizer and lime to apply before they planted in the spring,

For the next three weeks they worked clearing ground, stopping only to make necessary trips to town either for supplies or to deliver firewood. They did take time out to cut and split wood to replace the wood they sold. By the time it became too cold to work the ground they had about five more acres cleared and ready to plant in sweet corn, tomatoes, and other vegetables the next spring.