Chapter 8 - The First Cattle Drive
Spring became summer.
Whispering Pines cattle were healthy again.
Two hundred seventeen head were prepared for market.
Caleb selected twelve riders.
Abigail announced she was joining them.
"No," Caleb said.
"Yes."
"Who runs the kitchen?"
"Martha."
"Who manages the ranch?"
"Wyatt."
"Who—"
"Would you like me to continue answering questions you've already lost?"
Caleb surrendered.
The drive took seventeen days.
Abigail rode in a supply wagon containing food, medical supplies, spare tack, and her iron skillets.
Other cattle crews joined them.
Abigail fed those crews too.
By the time they reached the railhead, she had earned nearly three hundred dollars from meals alone.
The cattle sold well.
Caleb paid every debt.
Then he placed a document before Abigail.
Her ownership shares.
"You earned them."
She read the figure.
Thirty percent.
"This says thirty."
"Correct."
"The advertisement said ten."
"I changed it."
"Why?"
"Because without you, ten percent of Whispering Pines would be ten percent of a graveyard."
Abigail signed.
She was no longer an employee.
She was an owner.
At the railhead, a businessman approached her.
"Mrs. Prescott?"
"Miss."
"I hear you provision cattle crews."
"Sometimes."
"I operate three freight routes."
He placed a proposal on the table.
He wanted Abigail to supply meals at six stations.
Caleb looked over her shoulder.
"Can we do that?"
Abigail smiled.
"We can now."
May you like
The kitchen that had begun with rotten potatoes was about to stretch across the Dakota Territory.
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