Chapter 13 - The Frontier Cooperative
Abigail gathered thirty-two ranchers.
Each contributed what he could.
Some brought money.
Others cattle.
Others land.
Abigail contributed warehouses and transport contracts.
The cooperative guaranteed fair access to food, freight, water, and markets.
It grew rapidly.
Caldwell's old monopoly became impossible to recreate.
Then drought struck.
Springs weakened.
Grass browned.
Cattle began dying.
For the first time since the starvation winter, Abigail faced an enemy she couldn't negotiate with.
Nature.
She ordered emergency wells dug.
Caleb moved herds north.
The cooperative purchased hay collectively.
Some ranchers wanted to abandon smaller members.
Abigail refused.
"We survive together."
"But it'll cost us."
"Then it costs us."
Whispering Pines lost money that year.
A lot.
Yet nobody starved.
When rain finally returned, the cooperative remained intact.
Other communities copied it.
Abigail's model spread across the territory.
One evening Caleb found her sitting outside their house.
"Regrets?"
She looked across the town.
"No."
"You could have kept the money."
"I have enough."
Caleb sat beside her.
"What is enough?"
Abigail thought.
"A warm house. Food. Work worth doing. People who'd notice if you disappeared."
Caleb took her hand.
"Sounds rich."
"It does."
Then Samuel came running.
A tornado had struck one of their southern stations.
May you like
And dozens of families were missing.
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