"You're the cook. You know the supplies, the prices, the men, and the work. I can lift a flour sack. That doesn't make me the person who ought to run the place."
Loretta stared.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Then she whispered, "Most men would disagree."
Elias smiled sadly.
"Most men never had to keep fifty hungry miners fed with half the supplies they were promised."
She looked down.
He continued.
"I know what I can do. I also know what I can't."
She raised her eyes.
"And what can't you do?"
He grinned.
"Make gravy without turning it into something you could patch a roof with."
Loretta burst out laughing.
Elias laughed too.
Then she shook her head.
"That's true. Your gravy was terrible."
He placed one hand against his chest.
"Terrible?"
"Absolutely dreadful."
Elias grinned.
"Well, there's your answer."
Loretta smiled.
Then she looked toward the stove.
For the first time, she allowed herself to imagine the Copper Pot surviving.
Not because someone stronger took control.
Because she was finally being given the support she'd needed all along.
But Bram Kincaid was not finished.
He had spent years controlling the miners through intimidation, special favors, and the belief that challenging him meant losing work.
Now men were questioning their deductions.
Several had stopped laughing at his jokes about Loretta.
And his authority in the cookhouse had begun to crumble.
He blamed Elias.
The mountain stranger was an obvious target.
He wore a wolf-hide cloak, carried himself confidently, and refused to back away when threatened.
But Bram also knew that fighting him openly might end badly.
So he chose a different approach.
On a bitter Thursday morning, Loretta arrived in the kitchen and discovered that the rear delivery gate had been secured with a new chain.
A company notice hung from the latch.
UNAUTHORIZED SUPPLY ACCESS PROHIBITED.
She stared at it.
The gate was the only practical way to bring large deliveries directly to the storeroom without passing through the crowded dining room.
Closing it meant forcing workers to carry supplies along a narrow, icy side path.
Loretta called for Elias.
He examined the chain.
Then the notice.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Finally, he looked toward her.
"Who controls this gate?"
"The company built the fence. The widow always had access."
Elias nodded.
"Then we need to establish what rights the operating agreement includes."
Loretta looked frustrated.
"We have fifty men coming for supper."
He smiled faintly.
"Then we'd better find another way to get the potatoes inside."
They adapted.