The Year Money Grew on Trees - Aaron Hawkins [37]
"We better go, you guys," I called out. "We don't want to be down here if the water turns on." My accumulated years of warning had begun to make me nervous.
***
We repeated our canal inspection on Tuesday and still found it dry. On Wednesday, however, muddy water was flowing six feet deep and ten feet wide.
"It's on! It's on!" I yelled at my cousins.
"Now what?" asked Sam.
"I dunno. We're going to need some serious help."
That night I grabbed the phone book and turned the pages toward the BROWNS.
"Mom, do you know Brother Brown's name?" I called to her.
"You mean your Sunday school teacher?"
"Uh-huh."
"I think it's Jess or Jessie."
I looked through the list. There was only one Jess. I read out the number to my mom.
"Does that sound right?"
"How should I know?" she replied.
I grabbed the phone, untwisted the long cord, and dialed. I half hoped it was the wrong number.
"Hello?" said a woman's voice on the other end.
"Um, is Brother Brown there?"
There was a pause, then, "Yes, I'll get him." It seemed like a whole minute went by.
"Yeah, hello?" said a recognizable, croaky voice.
"Hello, Brother Brown, this is Jackson Jones from your Sunday school class." I paused, but he didn't say anything. "I saw that the canal water got turned on today, and I was wondering if I could come over and watch you irrigate. Like we talked about."
There was a long silence. "When would you want to come?" he finally asked.
"Anytime that's good for you. Oh, wait, no, I guess it would have to be after school. Say, four o'clock."
"Well ... I guess so. Be here tomorrow."
"Thanks. Thanks a lot. I'll see you tomorrow."
I hung up the phone excitedly. I ran and told Amy and the boys about the special training and how I thought we should all be a part of it.
"How are we supposed to get there?" asked Amy.
"Ride the tractor," I suggested. She groaned, but the boys liked the idea. I also told Lisa and Jennifer that we had to make a special exception and they needed to come along even if it was a school night.
"Think of it as kind of like a class. Or a field trip. Whatever you feel best about," I explained.
"I don't feel good about either one," grumbled Lisa.
***
Amy drove the tractor the next day because she said it was better than riding in the wagon. We pulled up into Brother Brown's yard and saw him walking toward us. I jumped out of the wagon while everyone piled out behind me. "Brother Brown," I called cheerfully, "I brought my whole work crew with me."
Amy gave me a dirty look while Brother Brown inspected us and grunted a little. He was wearing blue biboveralls, and he looked more relaxed than he ever did at church.
"Let's go, then," he said, and gestured toward the nearest trees.
We followed him in single file, walking past a large, brightly painted green tractor.
"I like your tractor, Brother Brown. It's a John Deere right?" called out Sam.
Brother Brown turned his head slightly to see who had spoken but didn't say a word in return. We tunneled through a part of his orchard. The trees were about the same size as ours, but the rows much longer so that when you were in the middle of one, you began to lose your sense of direction. We emerged near the highway and then followed Brother Brown across. He climbed the canal embankment and found what looked like a steering wheel attached to a long screw. The screw ran down into a cement wall built into the side of the canal. Brother Brown began turning the steering wheel, which raised a sheet of metal built into the cement.
"Uh, whatcha doin'?" I called to him from a little way up the canal's bank.
"Gotta open the ditch," he said, and kept turning.
With each twist of the wheel, the metal sheet rose higher and water began rushing into a smaller ditch perpendicular to the canal. When the gate was all the
way up, a healthy stream of water had filled the ditch, flowing