Chapter 10 - The Railroad Men
The Continental Western Railroad expected Abigail to surrender.
Instead she negotiated.
She offered station access in exchange for passenger contracts.
They refused.
So Abigail contacted their competitor.
Within three weeks, Northern Prairie Rail agreed.
Whispering Pines became a major supply stop.
Passenger trains brought hundreds of travelers.
Abigail built a hotel.
Then a bakery.
Then warehouses.
Caleb watched buildings rise where dying cattle had once stood.
"You realize we're rich."
Abigail shook her head.
"We're solvent."
"Abigail, we own half the town."
"Which means half the roofs can leak."
He laughed.
Their wedding took place beneath cottonwood trees.
All twenty men Abigail had saved attended.
Samuel walked her down the aisle.
Wyatt cried and denied it afterward.
Caleb waited beneath an arch covered with wildflowers.
When Abigail reached him, he whispered, "You came here to cook."
"I did."
"You built a town."
"That was an accident."
They married at sunset.
The feast lasted until morning.
But during the celebration, Samuel discovered something in the company's accounts.
Someone had been stealing.
Not hundreds.
Thousands.
May you like
And every forged authorization carried Abigail's signature.
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