Money To — Buy Land

When the deed was finally signed, Elias didn't go out for a steak dinner or call a friend. He drove to the edge of the overgrown orchard, walked to the highest point where an old, gnarled apple tree still clung to life, and sat down. He pressed his palms flat against the cold, damp earth.

"You know, Elias, a mortgage would have been much faster," Marcus said, counting the weathered bills. money to buy land

The day he finally walked into the local branch of the Grange Bank, he wasn't wearing a suit. He had grease under his fingernails and the cedar box tucked under his arm. The loan officer, a young man named Marcus, looked at the stacks of crumpled fives, tens, and twenties with a mixture of pity and confusion. When the deed was finally signed, Elias didn't