The Girl From Eureka

by Cheryl Adnams

  ‘What in the name of sweet Jesus are you on about?’ Indy asked. Sean picked up his shovel one handed and pointed it.

  Following the direction of the shovel, she spotted Will walking through the diggings. Alone. And in uniform. He did indeed have giant potatoes. Or perhaps the knock to his head was still clouding his judgement.

  ‘Better not let your ma hear you talking like that, Sean,’ Indy reprimanded with a smile. ‘Balls indeed.’

  ‘Do I look like I have a death wish? Unlike this one who comes a calling.’

  Indy swallowed hard at the sight of Will as he moved closer. It had been a mere four days since she’d seen him last. And what a miserable four days it had been. Her pride had suffered most when he’d denied her. But as the days dragged by, pride gave way to another feeling. A feeling of loss and hurt she didn’t quite understand. She’d been maudlin, she knew, and had snapped often at Annie and Sean who had not deserved it.

  And now, one look at the man who walked towards her, tall and distinguished and roguishly handsome and her heart was fluttering like a traitor.

  ‘Shall I leave you two alone to smooch?’ Sean teased Indy with an elbow to her ribs.

  ‘Why don’t you shove some more of those boiled sweets in your mouth. Maybe when you don’t have any teeth left you won’t talk as much,’ Indy said just as Will joined them.

  ‘Good afternoon, Miss Indy, Sean.’

  ‘Good day to you, Lieutenant,’ Sean said in greeting and offered him a boiled sweet from his paper bag.

  ‘Oh, thank you,’ Will said taking one. ‘These are my favourite.’

  ‘Are you mad?’

  Will sucked on his lolly and gave Indy a confused look. ‘Because I like sweets?’

  ‘You walk into the goldfields as though you wore King Arthur’s armour,’ Indy said incredulously. ‘There are at least half a dozen men here who would kill you before they even asked your name. Not to mention the bad position you put me and Sean in just by speaking with us.’

  ‘Would you like me to arrest you so you can protect your reputation?’ Will’s tone heated to match hers.

  Indy took a deep breath. Sweet Moses. They’d been two minutes in each other’s company and they were fighting again already. Giving Sean a look that he should disappear for a moment, he took the hint and gladly stepped away. Although ensuring he was out of listening range, Indy saw him stop where he could still see her.

  ‘I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.’ Indy was proud of how calm her voice sounded, but her heart was dancing a reel of its own beneath her blue mining shirt.

  He looked good. As usual. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her corduroy pants to stop herself from touching him. ‘I wasn’t sure I would ever see you again after you left the house in such a rush.’

  His expression showed genuine remorse. ‘Would you please convey my apologies to your mother when you see her next? I fear I left the cottage on awkward terms. You gave me a lot to think about.’

  Her eyes flew to his. He’d been thinking? Thinking about what? Did she dare to hope?

  He took a step forward. ‘Indy I—’

  A loud groan, followed by a crack, interrupted Will and had both of them turning to look back across the goldfields. They watched in horror as above a nearby mineshaft the wooden barrel of the windlass snapped in half, and the rest of the A-frame and winch crumbled in on itself. The large pieces of broken off timber plummeted into the shaft beneath. The yells of panic and pain that rang out from the hole had Indy and Will rushing towards the collapsing mine. The timber that had fallen into the mine had dislodged other pieces of lumber used to shore up the shaft.

  The first to reach the mine, they found the miner desperately trying to climb out and he had almost made it to the top when the loosened dirt began to fold in on him, trapping his legs. Will fell to the ground on his stomach and extended his arm to give the man his hand. The miner was able to grab it and dangled heavily in mid-air for a moment until the earth caved in and acted like quicksand, trying to pull the man back down into the dark hole. No matter how hard Will tried to pull the man up, the deeper his legs were buried. He was losing his grip.

  ‘Get a rope!’ Will yelled, grappling to hold on to the sinking man’s hand.

  Indy pulled away some of the loosened rope from the damaged windlass and handed it to Will. He tossed one end of the rope down to the man.

  ‘Loop it around your back and under your arms!’ Will called.

  ‘I can’t!’ the man yelled back. ‘If I let go of you, I’ll sink. Help me!’

  ‘I’ll have to go down,’ Will told Indy.

  Fear clutched at her chest. ‘You can’t. You’ll be crushed too.’

  Will looked around, and spotting two strong-looking men he called them closer. They came but with suspicion in their eyes.

  ‘Tie the rope around my legs and lower me down,’ he told them. ‘I can get this loop around the man and then you can pull us both back up. Understand?’

  ‘Let me do it,’ Indy insisted. ‘I’m smaller and lighter.’

  ‘Never in a million years,’ Will said in a tone that brooked no argument.

  But Indy being Indy she argued anyway.

  ‘Lieutenant—’

  ‘Indy, please, we don’t have time to have another of our legendary quarrels right now.’ He turned back to the man in the mineshaft. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Trevor!’ he called back.

  ‘Trevor, I’m coming down. Don’t let go of my hand.’

  With the rope tied firmly around his ankles, Will was lowered carefully into the shaft head first.

  Another groan from the remaining wood had Indy’s heart pounding in her chest, as she watched Will drop lower into the hole. More soil loosened and collapsed from the side of the mine and fell on Will’s head. Trevor was now buried to his waist and he shook his head to remove the dirt that covered his face. Indy shimmied closer to try and see in but the edges were now unsteady as well. Many other miners had moved in to watch and help, but they had to retreat back as the edge of the shaft began to give way. What if the rest caved in and buried both men?

  Pushing all the horrible scenarios aside, Indy moved in beside Sean and another man and grabbed the rope, preparing to winch Will and Trevor back out. She wouldn’t stand idly by and watch while others did the work. She heard Will’s call, and the group pulled back carefully while he held onto the rope now attached around Trevor’s underarms.

  Will came out easily but Trevor was a little tougher since his legs were well caked into the packed dirt. Finally, with one last slow tug, Trevor popped like a cork from his would-be grave, and Will and the other miners were able to drag the man up the side of the shaft. Like a landed fish, Trevor fell to the ground beside Will. A resounding cheer went up.

  The man received pats on the back when he pushed himself into a seated position beside Will, both men fighting to catch their breath. A few men even shook Will’s hand and it made Indy smile.

  ‘Get them some water!’ she called out and knelt beside him, dusting the dirt from his face and hair with her kerchief. ‘How did you know how to do that?’

  ‘We had to pull the pig out of the mud at the workhouse on a regular basis,’ Will said, puffing from his exertions. ‘You soon find out how to not get yourself muddy.’

  She knew he was making light of a situation, which could have ended badly for both himself and Trevor. She didn’t want to think about how that had made her feel—the panic that had all but debilitated her.

  A woman came running towards them and threw herself onto Trevor, weeping. Indy knew exactly how she felt, and had to bite her own lip to stop the wave of unexpected emotion that came over her, as she took in Will’s dirty but uninjured appearance.

  ‘Come now, woman, get a hold of yerself,’ Trevor reprimanded. But Indy could see the relief in his face as she kissed him. ‘Don’t be getting all soppy on me. I’m fine.’

  There was some blood, but mostly just superficial cuts
and scrapes from what Indy could see. He’d been lucky the falling windlass had missed him, or things may have been considerably worse. The rope burns on Trevor’s hands were soothed easily by the water, when it arrived.

  The woman turned and reached over to kiss Will’s cheeks too.

  ‘Thank you, sir, thank you.’

  ‘Dry your tears, madam, your husband is fine,’ Will said with a reassuring smile and handed her back to Trevor.

  ‘He’s not my husband,’ she said, gripping her man for dear life. ‘Not yet. We’ll be married come Sunday.’

  ‘Congratulations,’ Will said taking the pannikin of water someone handed him. He washed the dirt from his face and mouth before he drank thirstily.

  ‘You must come, sir,’ she said. ‘And help us celebrate.’

  Indy could see the hesitancy in Will’s expression.

  ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea,’ he said and looked to the husband-to-be.

  Both men scanned the diggings and the untrusting glowers of the collected miners.

  ‘I am still persona non-grata in my red uniform, no matter how filthy its current state,’ Will added quietly, dusting himself off.

  ‘Please, sir, I owe you my life,’ Trevor added. He drank a mouthful of water before also using the water to wash his filthy face. ‘The least Eliza and I can do is give you a drink and a slice of mutton or two. We don’t have a lot but what we do have, we’d like to share it with you. Indy here is coming along, so you will be protected from the rabble.’

  Indy bit back a chuckle.

  ‘Well, if Miss Wallace will be there to protect me, how can I say no?’

  He shook Trevor’s hand in agreement.

  ‘Lord bless ya,’ Eliza said and leaned over to kiss Will’s cheek again.

  Indy watched him blush. It was such a cute trait he had. He didn’t take thanks or compliments well. But she imagined he’d grown up without ever having been thanked or complimented, so it wasn’t surprising he didn’t know how to take either graciously.

  Trevor’s mates and wife-to-be, Eliza, helped him back to camp where he would rest up for a few hours. No one had any doubt he’d be back digging out and shoring up his poor collapsed mine before the end of the day.

  When the noise had died down and the sightseers had seen enough, Will and Indy were left alone. She put out a hand to help him up and after looking at it a moment, he took it.

  ‘Do you mind?’ he asked, still holding onto her hand.

  ‘Do I mind what?’

  ‘My invitation to the wedding.’

  ‘Of course not. You earned it. Don’t worry, I won’t make you dance or anything.’

  ‘We’ve danced before,’ Will reminded her. His thumb moved rhythmically back and forth across her fingers causing her tummy to flutter each time. ‘If I recall, you complimented me on my dancing.’

  She bit back her smile. ‘Then I shall look forward to the first reel with you, sir.’

  He smiled and let go of her hand.

  As they began to walk back to her mine, she remembered he had started to say something to her before the mine had collapsed.

  ‘Was there a reason you came by the diggings today?’

  ‘I just wanted to see how you are,’ he said with a light shrug, his eyes on the ground. ‘I promised your mother I would check in on you from time to time. To see how you are.’ He must have realised he had repeated himself, and she was delighted when she saw the red creep into his cheeks again.

  She stopped walking and stared at him until he finally lifted his eyes to hers.

  ‘And how am I, Lieutenant?’

  He looked at her as though he were committing every inch of her to memory. She felt the depth of it in the heating of her blood. Then he smiled wistfully and shook his head.

  ‘You look wonderful.’ He let out a frustrated groan. ‘And you’ll be the death of me, Miss Indy.’

  ‘Then I trust it shall be a good death, sir,’ she said and then chuckled. Feminine wiles were not her thing. She just couldn’t do it without giggling. ‘It’s good to see you also, Will.’

  They were interrupted by a loud group of men heading their way, calling out to diggers and mates as they passed.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Indy asked as they barged past, more than one of them giving Will a shove or an elbow, until Indy pulled him behind her.

  ‘I won’t hide behind your skirts, Indy.’

  ‘I’m wearing trousers and shut up,’ she told him before calling out to an Italian digger she knew. ‘Carboni! What’s happening?’

  ‘We’re meeting to discuss bailing out McIntyre and Fletcher,’ the Italian called back and kept moving.

  ‘McIntyre and Fletcher?’ Will asked.

  ‘The men arrested for the fire at the Eureka Hotel,’ Indy told him. The diggers who passed continued to give Will a suspicious glance as they followed the others up towards Bakery Hill.

  ‘You should leave,’ she said. ‘It’s not safe for you here.’

  ‘It’s not safe for you here.’

  ‘I’m fine. I keep my head down. I don’t get involved in all that male posturing. I’m not the troublemaker you seem to think I am.’

  ‘Really?’ Will mocked. ‘And how many times had you been tossed out of the Eureka Hotel before they burned it down.’

  ‘One of those times was by you, if I remember rightly,’ she said, jabbing at his chest with her index finger. ‘Now get out of here before you end up face first down a mineshaft. And they use the old ones as latrines, did you know that? Full of piss and shit. You want to be face down in that?’

  Will laughed uproariously as they reached Indy’s mine site. He turned to face her.

  ‘Well, then I will be going. But do me a favour?’

  ‘Depends,’ she said, narrowing her eyes.

  He smiled. ‘Have a care, my lady.’

  And with that he bowed lightly and walked away.

  God, she loved it when he bowed like that. She loved it when he walked away from her. She could see the tightness of his uniform trousers around his arse. Her stomach clutched at the sight of him in retreat. Well, he could retreat all he liked. She was going to kiss him and kiss him soon. She had to. She was near to bursting with all this … this … stuff inside her. Then she’d get over this ridiculous fascination with him and life would go back to normal.

  Chapter 16

  He wasn’t going to come. The wedding was already in progress and she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him. The minute she’d arrived with Sean and Annie, Indy had been on the lookout for Will. It was a large crowd that had gathered near the Irish settlement for the ceremony, and she’d left Annie and Sean to move about the guests in hope of finding him. But there was no red coat to be seen.

  As the wedding progressed she stopped searching, told herself not to be such a silly woman and tried to concentrate on the ceremony. It had been ridiculous to think he, a soldier, would come to the goldfields where he was most definitely not welcome by ninety-eight percent of the population. And for what? A simple wedding? He’d made himself perfectly clear at her mother’s house that he did not wish to be with her. But then he had come to see her at her mine. To see how she was, he’d said. Her brain was a muddle.

  She sighed as she watched Trevor and Eliza smiling dreamily at one another. Eliza was lovely in her plain taffeta gown. The bodice was overlaid with lace and the full skirt unadorned, but Indy imagined that even this simple dress would have cost plenty. A halo, made of a selection of native orchids, matched the little posy she held. Indy thought Trevor’s face might just split in half if he smiled any harder. His brown suit was not new, but it looked clean, which was no mean feat here in the dustbowl of the goldfields. It was not a society wedding, that was for certain, but the bride and groom radiated happiness and Indy found herself feeling a little twinge of envy.

  She shook herself out of her reverie. Marriage was not on her list of things to accomplish in life, so the envy was misplaced.

  After another lon
g sermon about the virtues of marriage, Father Smythe proceeded to the vows, and that’s when she spotted him. Will stepped out from behind a woman who wore a large, wide-brimmed bonnet, and Indy’s breath caught. He was resplendent in his dress uniform. The brass buttons on his red coat gleamed in the afternoon sun. His trousers looked as though they had come direct from the tailor, their creases pressed to perfection. She’d never seen a man look so handsome as to steal her breath. When his eyes met hers, he winked. Her cheeks warmed, her heartbeat fluttered wildly in her chest and she knew she was in trouble.

  ‘I now pronounce you man and wife.’ The priest’s voice broke through her daydream.

  Loud cheers went up all around her, as Eliza and Trevor kissed with much fervour. She grinned and clapped along, while people moved in to congratulate the happy couple, before they all headed across to the open field where a reception feast had been prepared.

  ‘Miss Indy.’

  She started at the sound of his voice behind her, and her heart leapt again, not from fright but from joy.

  ‘Lieutenant,’ she said breathlessly, feeling shy all of a sudden. She didn’t turn around for fear her face would give away emotions she had not yet come to terms with.

  ‘You look lovely today,’ he said, his warm breath touching her ear, sending delicious tingles along her skin, down her body, all the way to her fingertips and toes.

  She’d made an effort. More of an effort than she usually did for the continuous stream of weddings that seemed to have overtaken the goldfields in the last three years. She’d been to more weddings than she could recall, and they’d become much of a muchness over time.

  ‘And what a pretty dress,’ he continued, as he stepped into her eye line. ‘I like the colour. Indigo. Just like you.’

  She knew she should say something, but all she could do was blush like a ninny, feeling foolish all of a sudden for the effort she had taken to look feminine for once.

  He leaned in closer to her side and whispered conspiratorially, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you’re actually a girl.’

  That did it. She elbowed him in the ribs, and he laughed. He’d known exactly what to say to get her to relax. He held out his arm and she finally looked up and into his face. His beautiful face.