Dakota Born

9780778325116_PL.inddExtracted 1 threads from 9780778325116-exw.PDFUntitled Article 01: UntitledoeWere doomed, Jacob Hansen said in sepulchral tones. He marched into the room, shaking his grizzled head. oeYou might as well board up the entire town right now. Marta Hansen followed her husband into the dining room at Buffalo Bobs 3 OF A KIND. With the energy that so often ac- companies righteousness, she plunked herself down at the table with the other members of the Buffalo Valley town council. Joshua McKenna figured this kind of pessimism pretty much ensured that they wouldnt accomplish anything. Not that he blamed the couple. For nearly twenty years the Hansens, along with everyone else in Buffalo Valley, had watched the once-thriving farm community deteriorate, until now the town was barely holding on. The theater had closed first, and then the beauty shop and the florist and the hardware store It hurt most when the catalog store pulled up stakesthat had been six years agoand then the Morningside CafA, the one decent restaurant in town, had closed for good. Even now, Joshua missed Melissas cooking. Shed baked biscuits that were so light and fluffy they practically floated into your mouth. Joshua got hungry just thinking about those biscuits. Businesses survived as long as they could on their continu- ally diminishing returnsuntil they were driven to financial ruin and finally forced to close up shop. Families drifted away and farmland changed ownership, the bigger farms buying up the smaller ones. Large or small, everyone struggled these days with low agricultural prices. He had to hand it to the farmers, though. They were smart, and getting smarter all the time. Over the years, agricultural research and hardier strains had made it possible to urge a larger yield out of the land. Where an acre would once produce a hundred bushels, it was now possible to harvest almost twice that. Somehow, a lot of the farmers had managed to keep goingbecause they believed in their heritage and because they trusted in the future, hoping theyd eventually get a fair price for their crops. Since they stayed, a few of the businesses in town clung, too. Joshuas was one of them, although hed certainly been struggling for the last while. He sold used goods and antiques, and did repairs; in that area, at least, business was steady. It was his gift, he supposed, to be able to fix things. With money tight, people did whatever they could to avoid buying some- thing new. He just wished his talent extended to fixing lives and rearranging circumstances. If it had, hed start with his own family. Heaven knew his son needed help. His daughter and granddaughter, too. He didnt like to think about the changes in their lives during the past few years, and he hated the helpless feeling that came over him whenever he did. His wife, Marjorie, had always dealt with the children, but shed been gone ten years now. He often wondered if shed rec- ognize Buffalo Valley these days and wished he had her wisdom in dealing with its problems. She wouldve been shocked to learn hed been elected president of the town council. A position he hadnt sought, but one heaMacomber, Debbie is the author of 'Dakota Born ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780778325116 and ISBN 0778325113.