34
Connie leaned into the spanner and shifted so she could throw her weight against it. It wasn’t going to budge. She needed—
Grumps stood close behind her and handed her a three-pound sledge.
Exactly! She struck the handle of the two-foot-long wrench once, twice, three times, ringing so loudly it hurt her ears in the narrow bay. It might have once been a horse stall but now it held an ancient John Deere Unistyler tractor, one with the majority of its bolts rusted into place.
On the fourth strike, a shower of brown flakes flurried into the air and the bolt let loose all at once with a low, grinding groan and a high squeal of steel.
“Always the last one that’s most stubborn.” Grumps leaned on the half-wall and watched her progress.
She used a triple block and tackle she’d rigged from
