by Paty Jager
The prospect of picking berries today and the tea and toast enlivened her spirits and appeased her stomach for the time being. Darcy knew of her scar, so she’d only wear a bonnet while picking berries. Rachel entered the parlor, set a second cup of tea on the table, and opened a box of supplies Dr. Runkle had sent with Mr. Smith.
The old doctor had sent along instruments he would no longer be using. Tears burned in her eyes. It was highly unlikely the man would still be alive when she made a trip back to Salem. She wiped at the tears and continued unwrapping the instruments, placing them on the table.
The patter of small feet skipped down the hall. “Ra’l. Ra’l,” Sadie called.
Rachel smiled at the child’s pronunciation of her name. “I’m in here, Sadie,” she called, finishing her unpacking.
“There you are.” Darcy followed her daughter into the room. “What chores are we tackling today?”
“I would like to pick huckleberries and learn how to make preserves.” Rachel faced Darcy and the child.
Darcy’s eyes opened wider, and Sadie’s cheerful face fell into sadness. The child walked to her.
“Ra’l hurt,” Sadie said, her small hand reaching up.
“No, I’m not hurt.” Rachel stared at the two.
“Are you feeling well?” Darcy asked.
Surely her earlier bout of nausea wasn’t apparent? “I’m fine, why?”
“You look a little pale, and you didn’t apply your makeup.”
Rachel’s hand shot to her scar. She hadn’t thought what their first reaction to her scar would be. Heat flushed her face. “I’m sorry. If it bothers you I’ll go put my makeup on.”
“No. If you didn’t feel like covering it that’s fine. I’ve just never seen you—you know, like this. I thought maybe something was wrong.”
“No, you don’t need to stare at the hideous scar. I’ll cover it.”
Darcy caught her hand when she started out of the room. “It isn’t hideous. I just wasn’t prepared even though you told me how long it was. I didn’t—I didn’t realize what I’d see.”
Rachel wanted to jerk out of the smaller woman’s grasp and hide in her bedroom. But her mother’s training on handling any situation snapped her spine straight and had her sniffing back the tears that wanted to fall.
Sadie tugged on her skirt. “Me kiss it.”
Rachel scooped the child up in her arms.
Sadie carefully kissed the scar and traced her tiny finger down the line. “All better,” she said and squirmed to get down as if the scar had magically disappeared.
“I agree.” Darcy looped her arm with Rachel’s leading her to the kitchen. “Let’s have tea and go pick berries.”
****
They didn’t have to bother Myrle. Darcy knew how to make preserves. After lunch, they cleaned the three buckets of huckleberries they’d picked and started cooking the fruit. Darcy had gone upstairs to check on Sadie napping, leaving Rachel to take in the emotion overwhelming her. It was stupid to be this excited over a daily chore. Her life had been easy and unfettered with chores of survival, unlike Darcy’s.
Rachel pushed the curls clinging to the side of her face back and stared at the dozen small jars sitting on her drain board. Elation and pride welled in her chest. Tears burned in her eyes. Heavens. She’d made preserves. It wasn’t an emotional triumph. Being with child would be a trial if she cried over everything. She blinked back the tears and stared at the jars. The proof she’d been domestic sat in front of her. The mess and warm kitchen, as well.
Pounding on the front door jerked her out of her thoughts. She swiped the apron across her eyes, hurried into the hall and to the door. She swung it open to a man raising his fist to bang on it again.
“You the new lady doc?” he asked, his gaze fastening on her scar. He wasn’t as large as Clay. The dirt in his graying brown hair told her he’d been in a mine.
“Yes, I’m Dr. Tarkiel. What can I do for you?”
Darcy’s hurried steps came up beside her.
“My son is stuck in the mine. A rock rolled, and I’m scared to move him.”
The hope shining in the man’s eyes pushed her into motion. Adrenaline surged, jittering her motions.
“I’ll get my bag. Do you have a buggy?”
The man shook his head.
“I’ll get my horse saddled, you can use her.” Darcy pushed past the man and down the front steps.
“Wait here.” If she had to ride a horse she needed to change into a riding skirt. She ascended the stairs quickly, stripped off her dress, stepped into a riding skirt, and pulled on a cotton blouse. She buttoned it quickly, hurried down the stairs, and grabbed her bonnet from the hook by the back door and her doctor’s bag from her office.
“Ready.” She pulled the front door shut behind her as Darcy arrived with her saddled horse.
“Where are you taking her so I can let Clay know when he gets back?” Darcy asked.
Rachel continued to mount the horse and mentally slapped herself for not thinking about asking. Clay would be worried if he returned and had no clue where she’d gone.
“Tell him it’s James Tupper’s mine. He’ll know the one.” The man mounted his horse and headed up the road the Halseys had built to put in their stamp mill.
They traveled at a trot. Rachel had questions she wanted to ask but she still had trouble staying on a horse doing any gait other than a walk. The jarring also didn’t sit well with her stomach, but she couldn’t tell the man to slow down. Not when another’s life could be at risk.
They veered off the road about halfway to the stamp mill. Once on the narrow trail, they slowed to a walk for which she was grateful. Now she could ask questions.
She urged her horse to get as close to the tail of the one leading her as possible to hear and be heard. “Are you Mr. Tupper?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your boy’s name?” She shifted in the saddle easing the soreness starting to set in from the bouncing trot.
“Harvey.”
She inhaled. “How old is he?”
“Fifteen.”
That would make the boy close to Jeremy’s age. How could this man remain so calm when his son was hurt and lodged under a rock?
“I’m—I hope I can help him.” She fell silent and let her horse lag behind slightly. Would Clay be this calm if his son were trapped under a rock? She didn’t think so. He would have worked his hardest to get the boy out and then brought him to the doctor.
“The going gets tougher here.” The man turned his horse into a narrower trail cut in the rock.
She stared ahead. They were scaling the side of the mountain. Farther up she saw the opening of a cave or mine. When the boy was loose and stabilized, how would the two of them carry him to safety?
Chapter 34
Clay walked out of the newly constructed shop. Donny and Jasper remained inside tidying up their work stations and arranging the new equipment. He’d expected Rachel to show up at the shop by now. She couldn’t have missed their arrival. He untied his horse from the hitching post and mounted. The horse knew the way to the house.
The horse stopped, and the front door banged open. A smile spread across his face, and he patted his pocket. He couldn’t wait to give Rachel the gift he had hidden there.
“Clay, might as well stay seated,” Darcy said, her quick footsteps tapped across the porch.
“Where’s Rachel?” Apprehension knotted in his guts. No one had spotted the man who followed them to Sumpter. The thought he was still out there somewhere niggled at Clay every waking moment he wasn’t in Rachel’s arms.
“James Tupper’s mine. A man came and got her. Said there was an accident.” Darcy placed a hand on his leg. “Soon as Jeremy gets back from the mill he can take you.”
“I’ll head that direction, it’ll take less time.” He pulled his horse’s head around and pointed it toward the road to the mill.
“You shouldn’t set out by yourself.”
Darcy�
��s words went unheeded. He tapped his heels to his horse’s side and the animal set off at a slow lope toward the mill. If he met Jeremy on the road it would save time. If he made it all the way to the mill, he’d grab Jeremy or Hank to take him to the mine. Either way was better than sitting around waiting.
****
Rachel followed Mr. Tupper into the mine. He held a lantern that illuminated an area eight feet around them, revealing dirt walls and rock littered floor.
“How did the rock fall on your son?” The cloaked silence of being underground raised goose flesh on her skin.
“We dug into a soft spot, and before we could brace it half the wall fell, catching Harvey.” The man kept moving, his steps steadily increasing in length and carrying him faster and faster until Rachel stumbled, jogging to keep up with him.
“Mr. Tupper, I know you’re anxious but you’re going too fast.” Rachel caught a toe on a rock and grabbed at the dirt wall to keep from falling.
“Sorry, ma’am. I just…”
“I understand, you’re getting closer to your boy and want to do something.” She caught up to him. “But it will take me longer to get to him if I have a sprained ankle.”
He nodded and walked slower. She saw the glow of another lantern. They approached the illuminated area, and she spotted a young man half buried in dirt and rock.
Rachel hurried forward. “Get him uncovered. I can’t help him if I can’t see what’s wrong.” She knelt at the boy’s head.
“Harvey, do you hear me? I’m Dr. Tarkiel.”
She felt for the pulse in his free wrist. His chest rose and fell in labored breaths. He didn’t respond to her voice.
She raised one of his eyelids. The eye was rolled back. With gentle fingers she probed the back of his head and found a knot and sticky blood. She’d be surprised if he didn’t have a concussion.
“We have to get him free of the debris. Until the dirt is removed I won’t be able to see if there are any broken bones.” She leaned forward, scooping the dirt from his chest. With every two scoops more dirt slid down. She saw why the man hadn’t attempted to free the boy by himself. It took the two of them working in tandem to keep the boy from being completely engulfed in the dirt.
Rachel stepped away from the light of the lantern and slipped out of a petticoat. She returned to the unconscious boy and tucked one side of her petticoat under his shoulder. Holding the other end up, she shielded the debris from falling on the young man’s face.
Mr. Tupper continued to scoop dirt tirelessly.
****
Clay heard the steady clomp of a horse approaching and the lilt of Jeremy whistling.
“Jeremy!” he called out, stopping his horse and waiting.
The hoof beats picked up pace and stopped a few feet from him.
“What’re you doin’ out here?” Jeremy asked.
“Rachel went to the Tupper mine to help someone. I need you to take me there.”
“I’m not sure where it is.”
Jeremy’s frustrated declaration sunk in Clay’s gut like a rock in a well. The layout of the mines in the area flashed in Clay’s head. “How far are we from the mill?”
“About a mile an’-a-half.”
“Then if we head back to town, the next trail to the west should be the one to the Tupper mine.” Clay reined his horse around and started out at a trot. A nagging sensation ate at his gut like the stamps crushing rock. He had to get to Rachel.
“You’re comin’ to a trail,” Jeremy said from beside him. “Hold on. I’ll go first so your horse follows.” His horse trotted by. Clay followed the sound of hollow hoofed steps and brush scratching leather.
They traveled a half a mile with the brush tugging at his boots before he heard the clatter of shale rock under foot. The mine should be only a short distance now.
“Do you see the mine or any horses yet?” Nervous sweat beaded his forehead. He wouldn’t be able to calm his nerves until he saw Rachel and knew she hadn’t come to any harm. This was foolish. As a doctor she would have to go out to mines and other dangerous places to take care of people, but he’d planned to be along when she did. A lone woman could be lured into any number of traps. He knew Tupper to be an honest man with a nearly grown son, but the hair on the back of his neck kept tingling—a sure sign something was up.
“There, I see the opening and Darcy’s horse and another one.”
Clay made a mental note to get Rachel a sound horse. His horse quivered and surged, leaning him back as they made the final climb to the mouth of the mine.
His horse stopped, and he heard the clatter of shale from Jeremy’s dismount. Clay dismounted and grabbed the stirrup as his feet slid in the loose rock.
“Over here,” Jeremy called.
Clay found solid footing and walked the direction he heard Jeremy’s crunching footsteps.
“I don’t see a lantern near the entrance.”
“They probably have them all in the mine. Hang on to me and follow.”
Clay ran a hand along the cave entrance and started in keeping one hand along the wall. Jeremy grabbed a fist full of Clay’s shirt. The boy breathed fast beside him.
“H-how far back do you think they are?”
The tremor in Jeremy’s voice reminded Clay the boy hadn’t grown up in mines like he had.
“I’d say, as long as the mine has been here, probably fifty yards or better.” He kept a steady pace, kicking a rock here and there. After about ten minutes he heard the buzz of voices and scraping. In the dark silence sound carried well.
“Do you see any light yet?”
“Yes. There’s a glow deeper in the tunnel.”
Clay stretched out his steps. He’d soon hold Rachel in his arms.
“His breathing is getting shallower. We have to get him out of here soon.” Rachel wished for the tenth time they had help. She couldn’t clear the debris and keep it from falling on Harvey’s face. One person couldn’t keep up with what continued to fall.
A commotion in the mine caught her attention. She peered into the darkness outside the lantern light. Her heart caught in her throat at the sight of Clay walking into the circle of light. Her eyes drank in the wonderful sight of him. A mild curse behind him drew her attention to Jeremy.
“Need some help?” Clay asked as Jeremy guided him around the lantern sitting on the ground.
“Yes.” Relief and happiness flooded her voice. “We can’t get Harvey unburied to get him out of the mine.”
Clay knelt next to Mr. Tupper and moved his hands all over the dirt and the boy.
“James, do you have some timbers in here?” Clay asked.
“Yes, back a few yards.”
“Take Jeremy and bring as many as you two can carry. We need to brace this dirt so it doesn’t keep falling down.”
The man stood, taking Clay’s orders without even a blink of his eyes. He snatched up one of the lanterns and Jeremy followed him.
Clay held his hand out. Rachel placed her hand in his and leaned toward him, wanting a kiss and to feel his strong arms.
“I prayed you’d come and help,” she whispered before her lips touched his.
He drew away from her lips. “You’re not leaving with anyone again unless I’m with you. It’s dangerous to be traipsing around alone.”
“I can’t wait around for you if someone is hurt.”
He cupped the back of her head in his palm and lowered his head into the brim of her bonnet. “Then I guess I’ll have to never leave your side.” His lips crushed against hers, searing, demanding, and controlling.
Her body shivered from the heat of his lips and the affirmation he would never allow anything to happen to her.
“Is this enough?” Mr. Tupper and Jeremy dropped half a dozen boards on the ground.
“Jeremy, roll a couple large rocks over. One beyond Harvey’s feet and one beyond his head.” Clay started scooping dirt out beyond the young man’s feet and pointed for Jeremy to roll the first rock there.
Rac
hel continued to hold the petticoat to keep dirt from falling on Harvey’s face. Clay and Mr. Tupper wedged the boards, one on top of the other, behind the rocks and in front of the dirt, forming a barrier to keep the dirt from running down. The three men scooped the dirt free from the unconscious Harvey.
Rachel evaluated him for other injuries after the dirt was removed. A rock had landed on his ribs. She feared they were either cracked or broken. Moving him could do further injury, but they had no choice.
“I’m worried he may have cracked ribs due to the rock. His limbs don’t appear to be broken. We should move him from this precarious spot to a safer one and use two boards to carry him out of here. I don’t want his ribs getting twisted. They could puncture a lung.”
She instructed Jeremy and Mr. Tupper how to slide Harvey along the ground to get him out of the way of the cave in. Rachel grabbed the top board and tried to pry it loose.
“Rachel, no!” Jeremy yelled.
The board popped out from behind the rock. The end struck her in the middle. She doubled from the impact and the ripping pain. The earth rumbled as strong arms scooped her up and everything went black.
“Move! Pick him up and start moving!” Clay hollered hurrying through the mine toward the entrance. His heart hammered against his ribs. Fear clogged his throat making it hard to breath. He didn’t have a clue what had happened to Rachel. The sound of a board hitting a body and the air hissing out of her had driven him toward her. He’d picked her up and started out of the mine at the sound of the crumbling walls.
Rock hitting rock, the thunder of earth moving, and the snap and creak of boards giving brought back the day he’d lost his sight. He froze. Would he end up trapped in the mine this time with no one to find him?
Rachel moaned, and he heard James and Jeremy struggling through the dark with the boy. These people needed him. Rachel needed him. He breathed deep the musty air and wrestled with his self-doubts. He was the only one who could navigate the darkness and not become disoriented. Anger propelled him through the mine. He may have lost his sight but he damn sure wasn’t helpless.