“Betcha,” the old man said.

“No way. You always win.” said my mom.

“Come on, you get Drummer if you win, and I get Sunny if I win,” Lee said.

“OK,” Eloise said.

Lee won his daughter’s horse.

####

Mom and I drove up to the house and my uncle Jim was roaching Sunny. The clipper buzzed. Handfuls of glowing mane fell to the dirt driveway.

“He’s just doing that to get Dad’s goat,” my mom said.

####

Grandma sent me to the mailbox.

“Bring the mail to me, ONLY me,” she said.

She was nowhere to be found when I brought the mail in, and I knew it was important, so I brought it to my grandpa. He opened the foreclosure notice on the ranch and died within hours.

####

Mom handed me a box.

“This is what you were left in your grandpa’s will.” I opened it. It was a “Polish calculator” — a large pencil with an electrical cord and plug attached.

I ran into the living room and showed it to my uncle. He ignored me.

“You shouldn’t have shown him. He didn’t get anything,” Mom said.

“What did you get?” I asked.

“Sunny back.”