[ WP ] A man and a dragon cooperate to run the most successful farm in the region .

Round about sunup Alyx and I headed over to the plot of land I'd inherited from Uncle Jack. 
 
 `` This is it?'' Alyx said. 
 
 The lawyer had described the land as forty acres of prime farming soil. The farms all around it produced abundant yields of pumpkin, wheat, yam, barley, corn, and potato. `` You put it in the ground, it'll grow,'' the lawyer said. 
 
 `` I knew Uncle Jack was a lazy jackabout,'' I said. 
 
 `` But this beats all,'' Alyx finished my thought. 
 
 Brambles. Forty acres of black brambles, so thick on the ground I could n't grab them by the stem to pull them up, and with thorns like wolf claws. 
 
 On the very edge of the lot, squeezed onto the only patch of clear land, Uncle Jack's home looked about ready to collapse. Wooden boards slapped onto a shaky frame. Gaps just the right size to get the wind whistling when it whipped through. I shoved a wall and the entire shack wobbled side to side. 
 
 `` How'd he live this way?'' Alyx said. 
 
 `` Booze.'' I unhitched the horses and staked the wagon into place. `` I'll be sleeping in the wagon until we get this sorted. You'll have to find somewhere nearby. Maybe those cliffs past the river bend?'' 
 
 Alyx unfurled his wings. `` Worth a look.'' He took a running start, wings beating powerfully, and launched himself airborne. Before flying off, he swept by overhead. `` I'll scout the rest of the property, see if there might not be something worth salvaging.'' 
 
 `` Good on ya!'' I hollered to his retreating tail. 
 
 Hands on hips, I surveyed my possessions. Land. Brambles. Two horses. A wagon with goods. A beat-up old shack. 
 
 `` Jack, you always said you'd haunt the place after your time came.'' I braced my shoulder against the shack's wall and dug my heels into the earth. `` Here's to you, you old drunk.'' 
 
 I heaved against the shack. It lurched away from me then rocked back. I timed my pushes to match the lurchings away. 
 
 With much cracking of wood and popping of nails, the whole shaky structure collapsed. 
 
 Already the air seemed that much fresher. 
 
 `` Let's get to work!''
