It was about lunchtime by the time Buck Rogers and Elias reached the Kentucky Glass Container Factory.

Buck slowed the team as they approached the entrance.

"This looks like the place," he said.

The factory grounds had been overtaken by waist-high weeds. Young saplings had begun growing through cracks in the pavement, and vines climbed sections of the chain-link fence. Beyond the neglected yard stood solid brick buildings with tall smokestacks rising above the trees, silent but still standing with quiet dignity.

Inside the gate sat a small office building.

A man in faded work clothes rose from a wooden chair on the porch and waved as the wagon approached.

Buck pulled the horses to a stop.

The man walked forward with an easy smile and held out his hand.

"My name's Jake."

Buck shook it firmly.

"Buck Rogers."

"Elias."

Jake nodded.

"I ran this factory... and I'd still be running it if the big change hadn't turned the whole world upside down."

He looked back toward the silent buildings.

"I just couldn't bring myself to leave."

Buck studied the grounds.

"Have you been here all this time?"

Jake nodded.

"Every day."

"Alone?"

"Someone ought to know where everything is if folks ever came looking."

Elias glanced toward the long warehouse beside the furnace building.

"Did they?"

Jake smiled.

"No."

His eyes brightened.

"But you two just did."

Buck reached beneath the wagon seat and lifted Rebecca's lunch basket.

"Our cook would be mighty disappointed if we talked business before sharing what she packed."

Jake laughed.

"I reckon I already like your cook."

The three men carried the basket to a weathered picnic table beneath the shade of an old maple tree.

Rebecca had packed thick slices of fresh bread, butter wrapped in cloth, smoked ham, wedges of cheese, apples, and two jars of preserves.

Jake looked over the meal with appreciation.

"I haven't seen a lunch like this in a mighty long time."

Elias handed him a slice of bread.

"Her name is Rebecca."

Jake took a bite, smiled, and slowly nodded.

"If she cooks like this every day..."

He looked toward the silent factory.

"...I believe I know where I belong."

After lunch, Jake unlocked the factory doors.

The smell of dust and old machinery filled the building.

Rows of glass molds rested exactly where they had been left. Conveyors stood silent. Crates of unused jars filled one warehouse from floor to ceiling. Window glass leaned safely against wooden racks, still wrapped in protective paper.

Buck let out a low whistle.

"Rebecca wasn't asking for a few jars."

Jake smiled.

"No."

He gently picked up one of the clear jars and held it toward the light.

"She was asking for a future."

For the next several hours Jake walked Buck and Elias through every department of the factory.

"This is where we mixed the batch."

He pointed toward another section.

"The furnaces melted the glass there."

Farther along stood rows of forming machines.

"Those shaped jars, bottles, and lantern chimneys."

Finally they entered a warehouse stacked with crates.

Jake opened one.

Perfect glass jars, untouched by time.

Elias looked around in amazement.

"There must be thousands."

Jake nodded.

"Enough to keep a settlement busy for quite a while."

Buck quietly closed his notebook.

"Jake..."

"Yes?"

"Would you like to see this factory run again?"

Jake answered without hesitation.

"More than anything."

Buck looked around the enormous buildings.

"We'd have to spend weeks just clearing away the weeds and getting everything running."

Jake nodded.

"That's true."

Buck smiled.

"Or..."

Jake waited.

"We could take the whole factory apart."

Jake blinked.

"Take it apart?"

Buck nodded.

"Load every useful machine onto wagons, haul them back to the settlement, and build the factory again where there are hundreds of willing hands."

Silence filled the room.

Elias slowly smiled.

"You wouldn't just have your factory back."

Buck continued.

"You'd have apprentices."

Jake looked from one man to the other.

"Apprentices..."

"Hundreds of people are looking for meaningful work," Elias said. "You could teach them everything you know."

Jake slowly removed his glasses and looked across the silent factory one last time.

For years he had guarded an empty building, hoping someone might someday unlock its future.

Now two strangers had offered him something he had never imagined.

Not the return of the past.

The beginning of something greater.

He carefully placed the jar back into its crate.

"When do we start?"

Buck grinned.

"I was hoping you'd ask."

As the three men walked back toward the wagon, Buck looked over his shoulder at the quiet buildings.

They had come searching for glass jars.

Instead, they had found a master craftsman, a factory waiting to live again, and another cornerstone in the rebuilding of civilization.