Charlotte's Comeuppance by Mariella Starr

Author:Mariella Starr
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Historical, Westerns, Romance, Western, Historical Fiction, Genre Fiction, Literature & Fiction
Publisher: Blushing Books Publications
Published: 2014-01-15T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Brett was spending his weeks split between working on the ranch and working with the mayor, the bank president and the businessmen in Yreka as they tried to come to some agreement on rebuilding the town.

Three men held the future of Yreka in their hands. Mr. Carson Huggins, the president of the Yreka Bank, Brett Madison, owner of the H/M Karma ranch and the banks largest depositor, and Mayor Freemont Ferguson, the second largest depositor in the bank.

Some of the smaller businessmen simply packed up their families and left town. But the long-established businesses that had settled in Yreka weren't ready to give up so easily.

A lot of money was pouring into the town coffers from residents of other towns and cities in California who'd heard about the fire. Decisions had to be made and one of those decisions was causing a big problem. Two of the three men saw no sense in rebuilding unless the new buildings were built sturdier than the previous construction. The oldest part of town, the part that burned, had been erected during the gold boom. As men had rushed the area to lay claim to dry gold diggings, the town had been built practically overnight. Those flimsy structures – little more than thin boards covering rough-cut timber – had gone up fast, and additions over the year weren't much of an improvement.

Town ordinances were drawn up for the town of Yreka, something that hadn't existed in its short twenty-year history. A town meeting was called and held at the rodeo grounds. There was a lot of shouting, a lot of arguing, but it was finally decided that if Yreka was going to survive it was going to be rebuilt as a stronger town. Some of the buildings would be built with the municipal money that was coming into town as donations, buildings like the schoolhouse and courthouse, and a real hospital with sixteen beds. The train station had to be repaired and there was talk about building a larger jail and an office for the mayor. Other money would be split out evenly to help the owners of businesses rebuild and supplement bank loans.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, business was being taken care of and Charlotte and Brett were getting along fine.

Brett took Charlotte's and John's warnings seriously, and he assigned fourteen-year-old Joey the responsibility of staying behind with the women each day. To say the boy was not happy about that situation was an understatement. The lad was insulted. But Charlotte and Rosa and some of the other women talked to him and made him feel like he was doing an important job of protecting them, so he settled down, his fourteen-year-old manly pride slightly appeased.

To Charlotte's surprise one evening after dinner, Brett took her off away from ranch buildings and set up a target out in a big open field. He showed her how to load a Spencer 1865 Carbine repeating rifle and how to aim it. Charlotte's first practice shot of the rifle knocked her flat on her back.

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