Chapter 10 - The Bitter Creek Winter Market
Josephine attacked the forty-thousand-dollar gap with mathematics.
She calculated cattle values.
Future orders.
Land leases.
Equipment.
Receivables.
Anything that could become cash without destroying Ironwood.
The answer remained the same.
Not enough.
Then Bitter Creek announced its Winter Market.
Merchants from five counties would gather for three days.
Mining companies.
Hotels.
Rail suppliers.
Army contractors.
Freight companies.
Josephine read the notice twice.
Lucien saw the expression.
"No."
"I haven't spoken."
"You get that face before expensive ideas."
"What face?"
"The one that cost me three smokehouses."
"They made you money."
"That's not the point."
"It is exactly the point."
Ironwood purchased a stall.
Josephine planned samples.
Jeb built display crates.
Billy developed a spiced sausage using dried sage.
Lucien surprised everyone by suggesting a smaller travel ration.
Josephine stared at him.
"What?"
He shrugged.
"Riders need food that fits saddlebags."
She smiled.
"You're learning."
"Don't tell anyone."
The Winter Market opened January twenty-fourth.
Ironwood's stall drew a crowd before noon.
Their display was simple.
No luxury.
Wooden boards.
Clean wrapping.
Visible prices.
A sign:
IRONWOOD BASIN PROVISIONS — NOTHING WASTED. NOTHING PROMISED WE CAN'T DELIVER.
Josephine had written the last line.
Lucien liked it.
Buyers sampled smoked beef.
Rail representatives asked questions.
A Denver hotel placed a spring order large enough to make Josephine's hands tremble.
Then a man named Colonel Matthew Reeves approached.
He was no longer active military but managed supply procurement for territorial posts.
"Who prepares this?"
Josephine raised her hand.
"How long does it keep?"
"Depends on the cut, salt content, and storage."
He asked technical questions.
She answered all of them.
Reeves looked impressed.
"I need provisions delivered to two remote posts."
"When?"
"March through June."
Josephine's excitement faded.
"Payment schedule?"
"Thirty days after delivery."
Too late.
They needed money now.
Reeves continued.
"Unless you offer discount for prepayment."
Josephine's eyes lifted.
"How much prepayment?"
"Twenty percent."
"Fifty."
He laughed.
"No."
"Forty."
"Twenty-five."
"Thirty-five."
"Thirty."
Josephine held out her hand.
"Done."
The advance would be substantial.
Not forty thousand.
But enough to reduce the gap.
Lucien looked at her.
"We might get close."
"Closer."
By evening, Ironwood had more signed orders than it could currently produce.
They needed expansion.
Workers.
Salt.
Transportation.
Josephine should have been thrilled.
Instead she noticed Gideon Crowe across the market hall.
Watching.
He did not look worried.
That bothered her.
Then Thaddeus Vale entered.
He went directly to Crowe.
The two spoke privately.
Josephine nudged Lucien.
He saw them.
January twenty-fourth.
Four days before the planned note transfer.
Josephine walked across the hall.
Lucien followed.
Crowe saw them coming.
"Mrs. Hatcher."
Josephine ignored him and addressed Vale.
"Is First Territorial selling Ironwood's note?"
Vale stiffened.
"Bank matters are confidential."
"So that's yes."
"I said nothing of the kind."
Crowe smiled.
"Careful, Josephine. Accusing respected institutions can damage a woman's reputation."
She turned toward him.
"My reputation survived arriving here to marry Lucien. I think it'll survive you."
A nearby merchant laughed.
Crowe's smile vanished.
Lucien asked Vale directly.
"Did you prepare assignment papers?"
Vale's face betrayed him.
Only a fraction.
Enough.
Lucien stepped forward.
"You agreed to hold my note until maturity."
"Your agreement permits assignment."
"Legally."
"Then we have nothing further to discuss."
Josephine watched Crowe.
He wanted Lucien angry.
Wanted him reckless.
She touched Lucien's hand.
He looked at her.
She shook her head.
Not here.
They returned to their stall.
An hour later, Colonel Reeves came back.
"I've got someone who wants to meet you."
A well-dressed woman accompanied him.
"This is Eleanor Whitcomb."
Josephine recognized the name.
Whitcomb Freight operated routes across three territories.
Eleanor tasted their product.
Then asked, "Can you produce five thousand pounds a month?"
Josephine nearly answered yes.
Instead she said, "Not yet."
Eleanor smiled.
"Good."
"Why good?"
"Because everyone else lies."
She opened a notebook.
"I need reliable preserved food for freight crews. I'm willing to finance equipment expansion against contract delivery."
Lucien stared.
"What kind of financing?"
"Advance purchase."
Josephine's pulse accelerated.
Not a loan.
Revenue in advance.
"How much?"
Eleanor named a figure.
Josephine almost stopped breathing.
Combined with existing cash and the Reeves advance, it could put them within reach of the bank balance.
Very close.
"Terms?" Josephine asked.
"Six-month supply contract. Fixed pricing."
Josephine calculated rapidly.
Fixed price was risky if beef or salt rose.
But losing Ironwood was riskier.
"We need one adjustment clause tied to salt."
Eleanor raised an eyebrow.
"You've done this before."
"Unfortunately."
They negotiated for an hour.
Finally Eleanor signed.
Lucien looked at the figure.
"Josephine."
"I see it."
"We can almost pay the bank."
Almost.
Still twelve thousand short.
But forty thousand had become twelve.
That night, Ironwood's group celebrated at the hotel dining room.
Jeb raised a glass.
"To Mrs. Hatcher."
Josephine shook her head.
"To all of us."
Lucien raised his.
"To Ironwood."
They drank.
Across the room, Gideon Crowe stood and left.
His expression revealed nothing.
At midnight, someone knocked on Josephine and Lucien's adjoining hotel rooms.
Lucien opened the door.
Sheriff Bellamy stood outside.
"Need to talk."
They let him in.
Bellamy closed the door.
"I got word from the county clerk."
"About what?" Lucien asked.
"Crowe filed papers today."
Josephine frowned.
"What papers?"
Bellamy looked at them.
"Transfer of secured interest."
Lucien's face went cold.
"He already bought the note?"
"Not exactly."
Bellamy removed a document.
"Crowe bought an option to acquire it on January twenty-eighth."
Josephine read it.
Then stopped.
There was something else.
The purchase value.
It was far lower than Lucien's outstanding debt.
"The bank is selling the note at a discount."
Lucien looked.
"Why?"
Josephine's mind began moving.
A bank could sell distressed debt below face value.
That wasn't illegal.
But why would Vale refuse Lucien restructuring while accepting less from Crowe?
Unless...
She looked at Bellamy.
"Does Vale own anything in Red Hollow?"
Bellamy frowned.
"Don't know."
"Find out."
Lucien looked at her.
"What are you thinking?"
Josephine stared at the discounted figure.
Crowe wasn't merely buying Ironwood's debt.
Someone at the bank was helping him do it cheaply.
And if Josephine could prove Thaddeus Vale had a private financial interest in Crowe's acquisition—
the entire foreclosure strategy might collapse.
She looked toward the window.
Snow fell over Bitter Creek.
Four days remained before the transfer.
May you like
And somewhere in this town, Josephine believed, existed a record Gideon Crowe and Thaddeus Vale desperately needed her never to find.
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