Dear reader, if you don't remember who Lenney is or why he's important, please refresh your memory in Chapter 2 before you continue reading :)

A few weeks passed, and spring was maturing from baby green growth to lush foliage. Every third day or so it would rain at one point. As the fields sprang to life, Jack found himself pondering his own, and what he needed to be happy.

It was a much more difficult question than he would have anticipated. He felt Lenney's presence on his land, and with it, all of Lenney's generosity, compassion, and trust. Lenney's land loved him, he knew it, and he loved every minute he spent working it. So that was covered- he was happy doing his job where he did it. That's huge, he thought to himself as he milked the cows. I haven't had a single day since coming here were I said, "Ugh, I really don't wanna go to work."

He patted the cow he'd finished on the rump and coaxed the next big girl into the milking stall. As he lowered the bar to keep her from leaving, Lenney's face sprang up in his mind, exactly as Lenney had looked when he'd gotten lost on the farm as a kid. Did I ever even ask him about his family? Since Jack had arrived, not one soul had talked about Lenney. No mention of a spouse, child, parent, or even friends. No one seemed to harbor any ill will, though, as far as he could tell. It made Jack wonder: was that why an elderly man was so willing to befriend a young child, who could barely write?

Jack left about a dozen gallons of milk in the big cooler by the shipping bin, little flag up like on a mailbox, so Zack would know to stop there. Then he stopped by Mayor Thomas's.

The mayor was understandably confused. Of all people in town, Jack had yet to visit him, despite having visited almost everyone else. He hoped that Thomas wasn't aware of it, but Jack particularly disliked Thomas. It was the need for attention, the need to be in the spotlight whenever something happened. Someone like Lillia could've announced the birth of her own grandchild, for instance, and probably could've gotten them a lot more money donated, as it would have been more personal. But no, Thomas had to get credit for someone else going throw the arduous process of birthing a baby through her body so he could have fifteen more minutes of fame.

After about ten minutes of small talk, Jack asked the mayor if he knew anything about Lenney. Had he won any contests? Yes, several. He was a great farmer in his time. What did he do when he wasn't farming? Mayor Thomas looked puzzled, his mustache wobbling as he chewed his lip. Jack guessed that Mayor Thomas was in his forties. Lenney had to have been in his eighties when he died. If Jack had first been to Mineral Town about fifteen years prior, Lenney would've been in his sixties, and Mayor Thomas was almost certainly not yet mayor in his twenties.

It quickly became apparent that Jack had come to the wrong place, and apologized for wasting Thomas's time. He went next door and was about to knock when he remembered that Ellen was dead. "Dammit!" he swore aloud, hitting himself in the forehead. "Okay, the only other people old enough are Barley and Saibara. Saibara's probably got his hands full. Better not to trouble him if I don't need to."

On the other side of town, Jack knocked on Barley's door and was welcomed in. "Hey Barley, I'm really sorry to bother you, but did you know Lenney?"

Barley looked up at him, bald little elderly man in coke bottle glasses. "Who?"

"The man who used to own my farm."

Barley became visibly stiff. "Jack, you're always welcome here, but I don't want to talk about him."

"Barley, please-" Jack stopped the door from closing. "It's important."

"Jack, I'm sorry, but I'm an old man now, and I don't want to spend these years being angry about things I've forgotten long ago."

Needless to say, Jack had to trouble Saibara. The elderly, usually quite ferocious man let him in with the unusual air of being glad for company. "I never got to properly thank you for saving my grandson's life, Jack. I'd like to find a way to thank you."

Jack waited for his host to take a seat respectfully. "You may have one such opportunity. I've been trying to learn more about Lenney."

"The man who used to own your farm?"

"Exactly!" Jack nodded.

"You've had a lot of difficulty?"

"Well, Ellen passed away a few months ago, Barley hated him, and Thomas is useless…"

Saibara chuckled. "At least I'm not the only one who thinks so." He served some tea and rice crackers, clearly not usually one to have company. "I've never understood why a town of a hundred or so people needs a mayor. All that aside though, may Ellen rest in peace."

"To Ellen." They lifted their teacups and took a sip. "So why is Lenney such a difficult person to learn about?"

"I'm sure you've already found, Jack, that it's lonely on top."

"What do you mean?"

Saibara paused thoughtfully, itching his mustache rather than stroking it. "Lenney, in his day, was the best rancher that you could find anywhere in this province. No one made better quality produce, animal products, animals for slaughter, you see where this is going." Jack nodded. "Lenney invested his entire life in his farm, and that was how everything he sold became so magnificent. Of course, I felt that he was a very spiritual man, and I've found my own spirituality extremely important, in fact necessary, to ascend to the highest left of smithing. I think his spirituality lent him a special connection with the land, and it was gracious with him."

Jack was spellbound. He remained silent, drinking in the story that he craved so much.

"When Lenney and Barley were young men, sixty-odd years ago, they were both starting out in the same business. Barley had two sisters, June and Bethany, who needed his support until they found work and partners, but his parents had left them the land and a little money when they passed away. Lenney bought his land himself, and soon bought his first pair of diary calves from Barley. He gradually built up his stock, both in seed and in head of cattle, and rumors were starting about a young no-name in Mineral Town.

"Within five or ten years, the quality difference became noticeable. Barley was then selling cattle much as he is now: the same amount per head of cattle, calf after calf, culling the bull calves and selling the meat. He bred decent dairy cows, and lots of them. After three or four generations of breeding with high-profile bulls, Lenney was clearly selling superior dairy cows. Lenney was selling descendants of Barley's cows for several times the cost of the original heifers, and it burned Barley up.

"To keep up, Barley had to sell several times as many cows as Lenney was. Lenney almost ran Barley out of business a couple times, and they feuded for years and years because of it, even after Barley's sisters married and moved away. They only buried the hatchet somewhat after Barley was married, and more so after Joanna was born."

"But Saibara, do you think he intended to ruin Barley?"

The old man sipped his rapidly cooling tea. "I don't know, Jack. All I know is that they did get spiteful after a while."

"How so?"

"They never really buried that hatchet. At one point, Barley's herd caught some kind of highly contagious disease, and he lost more heads of cattle than he saved. He turned to Lenney to help him replenish his herd, but Lenney was wary of lending his superior breeding stock to Barley, because then Barley could take all of his hard work to better his own herd and surpass him. Lenney refused, and Barley never forgot it. Joanna was young, and Barley never forgot the humiliation of not being about to feed his family.

"Of course, it wasn't one-sided. After that, Lenney was barred from almost every event involving Barley's family or business. Lenney was never invited to Barley's wedding, or to see Joanna after she was born. He was never invited to Joanna's going away party, or to see May after she was left with Barley."

Jack was stunned. "It's so hard for me to imagine. I never knew Lenney that way."

"Neither did I, honestly. I'm a couple decades younger than him, believe it or not. And it appears that Barley is the only person to have had an issue with Lenney, given the competitive nature of their livelihoods. But I did know Lenney for almost forty years, and I can tell you that he was a good friend of mine."

Jack finished his tea, not raising his eyes. "Saibara, thank you for telling me all of this. I've been trying to figure out what I need to be happy, and I was looking to Lenney's example." Jack's voice broke, although he tried to remain strong. "Mr. Saibara, do you believe Lenney died a happy man?"

Saibara's eyes softened, and he looked away. "No, Jack. I don't. But I think he was lucky to have found you."

Jack's eyes stung, and he was embarrassed. "He was so good to me. He's given me everything I have. I know you will understand what I mean when I say that he's all around me on the farm."

"I know, Jack." Saibara nodded. "You were Lenney's rightful heir. That's why the farm gives so prosperously to you, because you have his blessing."