A Most Unusual Passage
Copyright© 2026 by J&J
Chapter 8
Martha was in the yard when I got home, hanging sheets on the line. A long time ago, I’d quit asking why she insisted on hanging sheets out to dry when we had a perfectly good dryer in the mud room. The only answer I ever received was one of those “Are you serious?” looks.
I parked the car, made my way into the house and changed into more comfortable clothes. When I finished, Martha was still in the yard, so I walked out to meet her.
“Hi there, Beautiful,” I said, giving her a smooch on the cheek.
She giggled, and then answered, “How was your day, dear? Did your meeting with Everett Miller go OK?”
I chuckled, “Well the day was interesting, to say the least. The meeting with Everett, well, that’s another matter.”
She finished pinning the last sheet on the line, and then turned to me and said, “OK, you going to tell me about it?”
“Yes ma’am,” I answered, with a grin.
“There’s fresh coffee on. Let’s go inside, and you can tell me all about it,” she said, taking my arm.
With a full cup of coffee in front of me, and Martha seated across the table, I related the events of my day. When I’d finished, she shook her head and then asked, “So you and this Elizabeth are going up to Akron tomorrow?”
“Yep, we’re supposed to leave right after roll is taken tomorrow.”
Martha chuckled, and then said, “I hope she’s driving. That old car of yours would scare the daylights out of anyone with half a brain.”
I laughed, “Yeah, she said she’d drive. Besides, it will give me a chance to show her this beautiful country we live in.”
“Marcus, there isn’t much to see. ‘Less you want to look a prairie, cows and wheat fields.”
“Yep,” I answered, “but there is so much of it!”
Martha chuckled, and then put a serious look on her face. “Marcus, what do you think about retiring?”
I thought for a moment, and then said, “Well, I’m sure as hell not getting any younger. Besides, it’s getting to the point where it’s hard for me to get around like I used to.”
I paused for a moment, and then said, “Only thing really bothering me is, I hope we have enough to live on. I’d really hate to have to sell this place.”
Martha gave me an incredulous look; then said, “You’re kidding, right?”
I was puzzled by her remark, and answered, “No, not really. I know my retirement pension from the county will be about twelve-hundred a month. I just hope that is enough to live on.”
Martha started to laugh. Not a little chuckle either, a real honest to goodness belly laugh. After a few moments, she caught her breath and then said, “Marcus, do you ever look at the investment information we get every month?”
“Not really,” I answered, “that’s your egg money, and I never figured it was any of my business.”
She shook her head, and then said, “Marcus, it’s a lot more than my egg money. I’ve been putting whatever we could afford into that mutual fund for the past twenty-five years. Besides, I haven’t sold eggs for years.”
Now I was puzzled; just what the hell did that mean? Martha must have seen the questioning look on my face; she got up and went over the desk where she kept all of our papers and pulled out a file folder.
She returned to the table, sat down, and then handed the folder to me. “The top statement is from last month. Look down towards the bottom; that’s how much we have in the fund.”
I opened the folder, looked down towards the bottom of the top sheet and promptly got the shock of my life. I looked up, and said, “It says here that we have almost a million dollars; how can that be?”
Martha was sitting there, a smug look on her face. She gave me a smile, and then said, “Like I said, I’ve been putting what we could afford in that fund for over twenty-five years. Not only what little I’ve made off of eggs, but what we could spare from your salary too. George has also been paying what he could afford for land rent on the pasture he uses, and I’ve put that money into the fund as well. Also, back when we used to raise horses, I put every dime we ever made on them into that fund.
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