Harvey did try his best. He went first to the wealthy couple who had taken in the little girl that morning. They were very sorry, but they had to turn him away. They weren’t that wealthy. “Times are hard, you know,” they told him.

He wanted to go on looking for a good home for the baby. But it was past dark, and Harvey had walked many long miles since early that morning. He was just too tired to do more. Finally, he headed for the desert that licked the outskirts of Des Moines. Ten years ago, cornfields surrounded the city, but now it was just too expensive to irrigate large fields. Smaller, more intensely husbanded crops now grew in large greenhouses, but lord it was expensive to buy soybean meal these days.  Even with his job, Harvey was frequently hungry. He knew he could sell the child here. Very soon a young couple stopped him and asked about the child.

Image by Smithsonian Institution via Flickr

“He sure looks thin. How much do you want for him?”

“He weighed six pounds at birth. He might have lost a little weight since but he’s still worth $30.00.”

“I don’t know, Paul.” The young woman interrupted Harvey and her husband. “What kind of parents would we be if we did this?”

“We have to do this, Helen. We’ve got two children of our own to think about. What kind of parents would we be if we didn’t?”

“No, I won’t!”

Harvey could tell she was only acting to soothe her conscience.

She broke into tears. “I can’t and I won’t.”

“Alright,” her husband answered. “You just go over to Jane and David’s and ask them if you and the kids can share their campfire.”

“No! If we share their fire, then we have to share… everything.” She motioned towards the baby without looking at him.

Harvey disliked her. How hypocritical she was with her tears only seconds before.

Her husband roared, “You don’t think I’m going to do this in front of the children do you?” Then he spoke more calmly but still in an angry tone. “I’ll come and get you when I have everything taken care of. Don’t mention this to Jane and David.”

With that the woman scurried off, cursing and crying and the man turned to Harvey, “Thirty dollars, you said?”

“Yep.” Then Harvey made one last desperate attempt. “Mister? Just look at him for a minute would you. He sure is a cute little guy, isn’t he?”

The husband didn’t look down at the sleeping child, snuggled in a blanket and cap and lying on the cart. He just handed over the money and picked up the baby.

“You disgust me, old man! You and your kind who come by selling these corpses and dying babies and then acting like you really care. Just take your money and go buy your dope or whiskey or whatever you do with it.”

Harvey didn’t answer; he just turned his cart back towards town. He hated his job but times were hard. Really hard.

Image via Wikipedia

DES MOINES E-SCENE NEWS
Deaths reported on Dec 13, 2106
23. Rebecca Ann Colter, 19, reported by Heartland Orphan’s Home, childbirth. No investigation will be conducted.
24. Baby Boy Colter, newborn, reported by Heartland Orphan’s Home, stillborn. No investigation will be conducted.
137. Harvey Alvin Track, 88, reported by Heartland Orphan’s Home, presumed robbed and killed by desert cannibals. No investigation will be conducted.
161. Sarah Elizabeth Warren, 6, reported by anonymous individual, strangulation during sexual contact. Police are investigating an alleged prostitution ring which apparently bought children from local orphanages……(click here for more details)