Chapter 66 – Making a Deal

As Andy left, Dee headed up the stairs. He had a few messages for his dad, but he also wanted to know what was going on. He also wanted to let them know who he was dealing with. When he walked in, he handed the messages to his dad and then sat down.

"So." Lee said. "I know that you said he owns the Silverton and Rock Creek mines, but I haven't heard anything about reopening the mine here. Is this something that you are considering, Abigail? What is going on? I think that we need to have a meeting before we make any decisions."

"Slow down, Lee." Wynn said.

"I wasn't planning on reopening the mine." Abigail said. "Mainly because I didn't think that Rocky Mountain Mines out of Boulder, Colorado was a good fit. When I had been contacted by Mr Mullins, I looked into the company and found they had Crownsnest Pass, I contacted the mayor down there. We had been writing back and forth for months, anyway. He sent me a long letter telling me to stay away from them. I trusted what he said because of other things that he told me. I am not going to get into why we were writing, but I felt like I could completely trust what he was saying. I sent a message to, this, Mr Mullins telling him that Hope Valley wasn't interested. I thought that was the end of things until Mr Mullins showed up here yesterday looking for Henry Gowen. He didn't know that Gowen wasn't mayor anymore and that in fact he was dead. He thought he had been talking to Gowen this entire time and I was his secretary or something. But if we are going to be dealing with Andy, I might be willing to reconsider as long as the town is behind me."

Lee looked around the room at Abigail, Wynn and Dee. He was trying to piece things together.

"Whoa." Lee finally said. "I am missing something."

"Yes, you are." Dee said. "Andy's uncle is Arthur James and he is the owner of Rocky Mountain Mining as well as two other mine companies – he deals in coal, silver and gold. He also is the owner of two railroad companies – one in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and the other building out from Colorado. Andy here has his own company but has the financial backing of his uncle. Arthur James is a big deal in the States and has businesses across several states. He is listed as one of the wealthiest and most influential businessmen of the time. In a roundabout way, he is related to Carnegies and Pierponts. He has his hand in every major growing industry in the States. I am sure that you have heard him."

Lee just looked at Dee.

"How do you know this?" Lee asked. "Yes, I have heard of Arthur James, no one in any type of industry hasn't. Are you really saying this kid is his nephew?"

"Earlier when he said his uncle's name, I knew it sounded familiar." Dee said. "So I put in an urgent wire to a contact and he got back to me. This guy, Andy, is super wealthy and honestly wants to grow his mining business. He has an excellent safety record, as does Rocky Mountain. Andy here also owns or partly owns several other businesses. It looks like the majority of the money for the coal mines comes from his uncle, but Andy is the owner. If they are going to get rid of Mullins like he said, then it might be worth thinking about. I don't live here and can't make decisions for the town, but think about it. Yes, this Andy is the heir to his mother's half the James fortune. His connections could mean big things for Hope Valley if that was something that you all wanted. I mean Hope Valley will never be another Hamilton, but it could be the center of business for this region."

"Wow." Lee said.

Without saying anything, Wynn and Abigail were just as impressed with what Dee had shared.

"Dee." Abigail said. "If I give you a list of names, would you be able to get them here in a couple of hours?"

"Yes." Dee said.

"Good." Abigail said. "Lee, go to your office and meet with the guy. More housing would be great, even if they are for Silverton miners to start with."

Lee got up and left. Abigail wrote out a list of seven names. She handed it to Dee.

"Tell them urgent town business." Abigail said. "Meeting at 4:30, mayor's office. That should give us enough time to talk about things and also make sure the wounded are tended to."

"On it." Dee said.

He left to do what he was asked. After he left, Abigail turned to Wynn.

"What do you think?" She asked. "I want an honest opinion. I have conflicting emotions and need some clarity. I want to do what is best for this town in the long run, but I think some might be hurt in the short term."

Wynn looked at Abigail, sat back and took a moment to think before speaking.

"Right now." Wynn said. "I think that you need to do what is best for the town. I think that this guy is legit. I would also get what he wants in writing and what he is expecting. I would also put the terms of the leases in writing. I would say the town gets half the rent of each house until they are paid off, then they become the sole property of the town, to be rented as seen fit. I would also spell out things like he would be responsible for taxes like other businesses. He would also be expected to contribute to the school if the children of his employees attend. From what you have said as well as what Beth has told me, her wage is paid for by the mothers. So if there are new students, their parents need to pay as well. If the town takes over then do what you need, but you see what I am saying for now.

He should also contribute toward the infirmary and maybe help bring in a full-time doctor. I would also spell out he is not to set up competition, say another cafe and undercut you by making his employees eat there. I have seen things like that in other places. These are all things to consider, whether you are dealing with reopening the mine or the railroad coming in. The same principle would apply to any other businesses that want to open here. Be very clear and spell things out up front, it saves a lot of trouble in the long run. I have seen many towns not do that and it creates lots of problems that the Mounties have to sort through. Having said all that, are you ready for Hope Valley to change. Because this would mean that Hope Valley would grow and with that things might not stay the same."

"Thank you Wynn." Abigail said. "You have given me a lot to think about. I need some time. Can you please check on Faith and make sure all the men have been taken care of? Can you also please stop in and see Jack? Please let him know what is going on. I know that this morning he was worried about Rock Creek. We need a clear plan moving forward. We need to be able to lay out the options to the people and let them choose."

"I will." Wynn said. "And it sounds like you are thinking ahead, which is good. For a moment I was afraid that you would have a knee jerk reaction with emotions because of the past."

Wynn left Abigail in her office and headed toward the schoolhouse. He first wanted to check on Faith and then he was going to go talk to Jack. As Wynn was walking to the schoolhouse, he remembered the messages that Dee handed him. He pulled them out. The first was letting him know that Constable Jacobs had arrived in Union City and was heading toward Hope Valley with a stop in Benson Hills. The second was from his wife letting him know that she was sending him something and it would arrive by stagecoach on Friday.

When Lee got to his office, Andy and Hickum were already going over plans. Hickum had drawn up a simple floor plan for additional row houses and had figured on the amount of wood and the number of workers that would be needed.

"Would you be able to stick around for a couple of days?" Lee asked. "Abigail is having a council meeting tonight. We also want to be able to talk to the families and see what they were thinking. Ultimately, staying here or going somewhere else will be their choice."

"Sure." Andy said. "Let me tell the stage driver that we are staying."

"I will." Hickum said, handing Lee a stack of papers. "Be back shortly."

Lee quickly looked over the papers that Hickum handed him and then turned to Andy.

"I don't usually jump into business with people that I don't know." Lee said. "That being said. You seem like an honest guy and I have gotten to be a great judge of character. But let me say this, don't cross or try to cheat me. I have been working since I was twelve years old and owned my first company at fifteen. Hope Valley is special to me and I don't want another mining company coming in and tearing this town apart. They are finally starting to heal after what happened last year. Do you hear me?"

"I hear you loud and clear." Andy said. "I like to work with people and build a better community. I am heartbroken about what happened in Rock Creek. I haven't been here long, but I can see that Hope Valley is special. For a community to take in others when disaster strikes without thinking about themselves is the type of community that I want to build upon. I wish all communities that I have worked with would be more like Hope Valley."

"Good." Lee said. "As long as we understand each other. Now let's look at what Hickum came up with."

Lee scanned the papers that Hickum had given him.

"For sixteen houses." Lee said. "Let's see, Hickum thinks that we could get a crew of twenty-five men and get sixteen houses up by the end of summer. Based on what he drew, they would match the existing row houses. I think that we should push them back as far as possible and then if wanted/needed we can add ones in the middle. What do you think? Here are the numbers."

Lee handed Andy a piece of paper. Andy looked at it and wrote another number under it and handed it back to Lee. Lee looked at what Andy wrote. Lee did some quick math, wrote something and handed it back to Andy. He looked at it and then at Lee.

"Final offer." Lee said. "Deal?"

"Yes, we have a deal." Andy said. "Write it up and we can sign tomorrow. Please let Mrs Stanton know that we reached a deal and I will work with her on the other end of things."

"Good, I will." Lee said. "I will have Hickum put the wanted ads out right away. Would there be a way to put half down, so I have some working capital? If you want, we can set up a separate account, I will use it to get supplies and pay the workers."

"No problem." Andy said. "I will have a check for you tomorrow. Now where can I get a room?"

"I think that Sam over at the saloon has a couple of rooms." Lee said. "Abigail's is open for food and you know there is still a dry order in effect because of everything that has happened."

"Okay." Andy said. "I know about the dry order. Thank you for the suggestions. Please let's meet tomorrow afternoon before I leave. I can always stay until Thursday, but I would like to get up to Rock Creek to see things as well as talk with Mr Annesley."

"We will do that." Lee said. "I should be in the office all day, if not Hickum will be here. I will get these typed up right away."

With that Andy left Lee's office he headed to the saloon to see about getting a room. Sam was more than willing to let him have a room. Andy also talked to Sam about clearing out Mullins room since he was sitting in the jail and would be there until they left. Sam let him know that Mullins' room was clear, but his bag and briefcase were brought back here. Sam let him know that he was holding them in the office. Andy took the bags that belonged to Chris. After Andy put his things in his room he decided to go for a walk and see a bit of the town. He wanted to see what the town had to offer. He really wanted to reopen the mine here, especially after he learned that Henry Gowen was no longer around. He knew that the mine in then Coal Valley was a great mine and had a large production capacity but he had not wanted to work with the likes of Gowen. He was still angry at Mullins and as a result he was angry with his cousins. He knew that he needed to wire his uncle and get to the bottom of things, but he needed to calm down first and think about what he wanted to say. He didn't like what had happened in Crownsnest Pass and he wanted to fix it. He knew that the first step would be getting his uncle there. He also knew that he was going to have to go there himself, he just knew that dealing with what was in front of him at the moment was more important. One thing that Andy knew was if he was to reopen Hope Valley, one thing that he would do, was make sure that the railroad came here and with it, the telephone lines.

As Andy walked around town, he noticed a number of Mounties. There were at least three more than the two he had met with. He wondered if the extra Mounties were because of the disaster or were they there all the time. He knew they had at least one full-time Mountie, but all he knew was that he had been injured and was recovering. He would like to get to know the townspeople, but things had to be done in the proper order. As he was walking around, he saw where the old mining office was. That was where he had seen a few of the Mounties. He wondered if they were using the office. He saw that they had a small infirmary and a newspaper office. He also saw the mercantile and his first thought was that the mercantile and infirmary needed to be expanded, but he thought that they had the room and with the increase in business, they might be able to do it and maybe he could help with the infirmary. He also saw the cafe and a few other shops. He saw that there was a railroad office, but no one was there. He saw that there was plenty of room for growth. He knew that Hope Valley would never be another Montreal or other large city back east, it wouldn't even be another Calgary, but it had the potential for growth and that was what Andy liked. Also from what he had seen, he liked the people of Hope Valley.

As Wynn was approaching the schoolhouse, he saw Dee. He wanted to talk to him to see how he was doing, but he also knew that Dee was busy. He was doing what Abigail asked. He was probably also checking on the wounded to see what was needed. There were still so many unanswered questions, but Wynn knew that he wasn't the one that needed to or could make some of the decisions. He would be there to help where he could, but he also didn't want to see things get worse for Jack or the town. He wondered what bringing in temporary workers would do. He wondered where they would stay and if they would cause trouble. Wynn realized that temp workers might be the only way to go forward. He figured that Lee knew what he was doing. He probably had the ability to set up a tent-like city for workers. He also knew that Lee would focus on single men to bring in for temporary work. He also thought that if push came to shove he could assign a new young Mountie here to help Jack if that was something that the town and/or Jack wanted and needed. He knew that he would have a new class of Mounties by summer.

Instead of checking on Faith, Wynn headed back to the jail. He wanted to work on some things. He wanted to write out the list of questions that needed to be answered and see what he could do. He would feel better when all of Hope Valley residents were back in town. Bill and the two men with him had yet to return. He also was waiting on the return of young Gabe. He should be back soon. Wynn didn't like waiting and at that moment it was all that anyone could do. He needed to do something and working on the list of questions that needed answering as well as what he needed was something that Wynn could do while waiting to see what happened. He had brought some work with him, but the things going on in town were more pressing. Everyone was waiting to see if more injured arrived. They were waiting to get answers about housing and what families were going to stay. They were just waiting, period. Wynn wished that there was more that he could do to help, but he knew that until they had more information they were all stuck waiting.

When Wynn got to the jail, he forgot that Mullins was in a cell. Mullins immediately started demanding to be released. Wynn just ignored him and set about working. Mullins grew louder and finally Wynn stood up and walked over to where he could see Mullins and knew Mullins could see him.

"Shut up!" Wynn bellowed. "I have had enough of you. If it were up to me, I would leave you in there permanently, but as it is, it currently is up to Mr Yeager as to when you get out. He is the one that can drop the charges of disturbing the peace. Until he makes a decision, you are staying right there. Keep it up and I can and will bring you up on harassment of a city official which in the providence of Alberta, can carry a penalty of up to two years in jail. I also have the ability to launch a full investigation into all of your dealings in Canada. Don't push me because I am in no mood to deal with you."

"You can't do that." Mullins huffed.

"Yes he can." Dee said, coming to stand by his father. "I am sure that Mrs Stanton and Sheriff Avery would back us on that. In addition, he is a Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. He says jump and the men don't even ask how high, they just do it. Trust me when I say you don't want to piss him off any more than he already is. I have seen him tear into others for less than what you have already done."

Mullins just looked between the two men and finally realized that he had better just shut up. Mullins sat back down with a huff. After Mullins sat down and was quiet, Wynn then turned to Dee.

"Was there something that you needed?" Wynn asked.

"I was going to check on him." Dee said. "I also needed to talk to you but I don't know if this is a good place."

"Let's head over to the old mining office." Wynn said.

Wynn grabbed some paperwork and Dee held the door for him. As they were walking across the street, they saw a wagon with at least one outrider coming into town. As the wagon got closer, he realized that the outrider was Gabe. He was going to wait to see what was going on. Gabe spotted Wynn and Dee and headed to them. The wagon followed.