Chapter 18: The BargainThree days after returning the stranded children, Lorenz and Kendall rode towards the spring where the homesteaders had filed. Lorenz's and Kendall's saddlebags were filled with flour, beans, and rice. From Lorenz's saddle hung an axe, and from Kendall's a miner's shovel. Kendall had almost stayed at home, and then decided he wanted to watch and listen. He would have lots to report to Marty.
“Why are y'all taking that food to the homesteaders, Pawpaw? That'll just help them stay.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but it doesn't matter. I won't have people starving to death on my land.”
Kendall almost reminded his father that the government considered it the homesteaders' land, but held his tongue. Neither he nor Randall had ever won an argument with his father. Only Melissa cou
