“Stay here,” she said to Blair.
He moved. The stubborn man wouldn’t listen much longer if he felt better. She pointed at him. “Stay. I’ll be back as soon as can.”
Miss Katy Lee followed the guard downstairs to the boardwalk. Six men used a door as a stretcher to carry Frederick Worthington. Soot from the burned building covered his entire body. Ash and dirt mixed with the blood on his face. His left leg lay twisted in an awkward position, broken, as was his left arm. He looked more dead than alive.
“What happened?”
The leading carrier said, “Don’t know.”
“Take him upstairs to Milly’s room. I’ll be right up.” Before Milly could complain, Miss Katy Lee gave orders to her and Susanne to fetch two pails of fresh water, clean rags, a needle, thread and a bottle of whiskey. She had bandaged up her share of men in the saloons and brothels she worked. She would need all that experience to save the professor. Why? To let him die by the fangs of a vampire tonight?
* * *
Mayor Burdett’s group set the dynamite in the three entrances to the Jollytime. The men drew straws to see who would take lanterns inside the main shaft. This would allow the miners to at least see if a vampire was coming out the tunnel at them. Victor, who had told András Kovách about the vampires being in the mine, drew the short straw.
“Hell, I’ve already done been in there.” Victor stared in the darkness. “Light ‘em up, boys.” Three lanterns were given to him to carry. Four armed men followed him inside. Two of them went as far as the first placed lantern, about twenty yards from the opening. Victor quickly hung the second lantern on a support timber. He counted twenty steps out loud, dropped the third flame down and sprinted outside.
The four guards stayed inside to watch the tunnel as the others prepared the dynamite. They set enough explosives to collapse the tunnels for at least twenty-five yards, maybe more. The same work was completed at the two other openings.
András Kovách divided the volunteers into three groups, with himself and his nephews leading them. András would take the larger of the groups into the main tunnel. Péter’s group was stationed in the west shaft, which was to be blown after they were safely inside. János and his men would clear the east shaft all the way to the main tunnel, then hold the ground as the escape route.
Pastor Anthony Jones led the miners in prayer before they split up. At twelve o’clock the Hungarians directed the three groups into the Jollytime.
At 12:15 the first explosion roared through the valley. Earth filled the west shaft, leaving Péter’s men with no way to escape. Five minutes later the main entrance crumpled into a cloud of dust. Two guards were left at each of the destroyed entrances, in case anything clawed its way out. All of Burdett’s crew moved to the west shaft. They built temporary shelters in a semi-circle outside the entrance. Men hid behind downed trees, cut timber, ore carts and rocks. Mayor Burdett opened his crate of Southern hospitality—a small Confederate cannon he kept after the war. He set up the mountain howitzer facing the shaft and prepared three charges to be ready if the wrong people came out of the dark.
János’ party left several lanterns in the tunnel on their way in. This gave Burdett’s men a good line of sight deep into the shaft. Though they could see people moving, the lanterns did not give off enough light to determine if they were human or vampire.
* * *
“He doesn’t love you. He never will,” Milly said.
Susanne frowned. “Who?” She didn’t want to admit her feelings.
“Susie, all the girls know you like him. It’s the way you stare at him.” Milly set down her bucket for water and cranked up and down on the rusty pump handle behind the saloon. “Jonathan Blair deserves better than a whore. That is what you are, Susie, a whore.”
Susanne didn’t like where this conversation was going. What she was and who she liked weren’t any of Milly’s business.
“Did you see the way he stared at Miss Katy Lee the other morning when we were getting the bread? He had the glimmer in his eye for her. He was kind of awkward with her, you know, like when a guy likes a gal.”
Susanne held her empty bucket, trying not to cry. Her lip quivered and her eyes were glossy.
“She’s a higher class, owns her own business, so she’s not like us. We’re used and abused, worthless to any real man. Trash. We’ll be lucky if we find a man who only beats us occasionally.” Milly paused. “Miss Katy Lee, she has something to offer him. A business, a saloon, and us.”
“Stop it.” Susanne dropped the bucket and let it roll in the dirt. No one had spoken to her like that in years. What hurt the most—the words were true.
“I think they’ve already slept together. Look at the way she’s taking care of him in her own bed—hasn’t left his side. She doesn’t let just anybody in her bed.”
“Why are you saying this?”
“He’s fond of Duane Collins, too.” Milly twisted the emotional knife into her past. Susanne had a family once, a handsome man and precious little boy. “I’d bet that man would put up with his mother, Mary, just to have a boy like that. Then again, she’s not damaged goods, like you. Lot of guys talk about how pretty Mary is, prettier than you.”
Susanne could no longer hold the tears back.
“She’s been a wife before and knows how to take care of a man the right way. I’d bet Mary would forgive his past if she thought he could raise the boy to be a proper man.”
Susanne lowered her head into her palm, covering her eyes. She didn’t want to deal with this today. Death surrounded them. Disappointment followed her.
“Not like you. You only know how to do one thing. And some of the guys say you don’t even do that very good.” She rolled her eyes. “Just think, the woman we’re taking care of might steal your man.”
“Enough.” Susanne could barely get the word out between sobs.
Milly stopped pumping and stood straight up. She pointed her finger at Susanne. “You shouldn’t let that man lead you on like he’s done. That Jonathan Blair’s a sorry son of a bitch for doing that. Men are wicked and shouldn’t be trusted. They play you like a piano and leave when they want a different tune. If I were you…” Milly checked to see if anyone was listening to them. “I’d kill him. I won’t take a man doing that to me. That’ll teach other men not to mess with me.”
Susanne wiped her face.
“You could say you thought he was a vampire.” Milly touched her right shoulder. “He’s got a bite mark on him, right here.”
“I couldn’t do that.”
“Sure, you could, Susie. Don’t be so weak.” Milly reached out for Susanne’s hand, and held it. “Men have been treating you bad for years. After all, he’s a worse piece of trash than you or I are. He’s a murderer. No one will miss him. From what I heard, the law is looking for him anyway. You’ll be doing ‘em a favor.”
Susanne stopped crying. “I’ve heard enough.”
“I’d do it for you, but Miss Katy Lee’s guards won’t let me or anyone else get close. They’ll let you in though.” Milly gave her a hug and whispered in her ear. “No one will miss him. I can help you.”
Milly said something Susanne didn’t understand, a foreign word. A word that disgusted her. Susanne pushed her away. Milly let go and picked up her bucket. “Here, take this. I’ll clean the other one and be along shortly.”
“Your eyes?” They looked dark, black. Susanne tried to see through her own tears.
Milly wiped the face, then opened her eyes wide and blinked repeatedly.
Chapter Nineteen
Bring Us Help
An hour passed as Mayor Burdett and the men waited restlessly outside the east entrance to the Jollytime. Spurts of shooting had echoed up through the tunnel and the air shafts every few minutes after the Hungarians led the heavily armed miners inside. Every noise put Mayor Burdett on edge. The men stood silent and worried staring into the darkness.
“Something’s coming,” Tommy D said from edge of
the shaft. A farm boy from Nebraska, he was in his twenties and braver than most experienced miners.
“Something or someone?” Burdett hollered back hoping for a human
“I don’t know.”
“Get ready, men.” Burdett stood up so his men could see him. “We can hold ‘em.”
Three men readied the Confederate mountain howitzer. One held the firing cord. Another was set to reload.
“I hear something.” Tommy D took a step inside. He came out waving his arms. “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot.”
“Stand down,” Burdett ordered. He blew out a breath, releasing his tension. “What is it, Tommy D?”
“Someone is coming up.” Tommy D yelled into the mine, “We hear you, it’s safe. Come on up,”
Two men walked into the light, dirty and bloody—János Kovách and Billy Carter.
“We need more help down there.” János blocked the sun from his eyes. “We lost a lot folks, but we drove the vampírs back.”
Billy, a short, stout man in his forties, squinted and said, “We can take them, but we need more men.”
Burdett took off his hat and rubbed his hand through his graying hair. They survived, which was a miracle. Now they wanted to go in. “I don’t know. We got to hold this position. We can’t let them out.”
“I know, but we need help inside,” János said. “We’re going to town to see if we can get more men.”
Billy said, “The fact we went in and came back out should show others we can win.”
“Good idea.” Burdett said. How long would that take them? Would anyone listen?
“Look out!” Tommy D started shooting into the tunnel as a figure ran toward him.
A cannon crew member yelled, “Fire in the hole!”
“Not yet,” Burdett hollered back.
With a snap of his wrist, the man twitched the howitzer’s firing cord.
The cannon roared, sending small lead balls through Tommy D’s back and the chest of the human figure coming out of the mine. Their bodies burst apart. The balls hit the rock walls, spraying shrapnel and sparks, igniting a dynamite wick. Billy darted inside. He yanked the wick from the bundle of explosives. The big smile Billy flashed at the other men, died instantly. Another fuse hissed.
“Fire in the hole!” Billy yelled, but did not have time to move.
Burdett grabbed János and ran from the tunnel as it exploded, caving in the only remaining exit.
* * *
The third explosion rumbled the ground in Gothic. People gathered on the boardwalk and in the street outside of the Maroon Saloon staring at the cloud of dust billowing over the forested ridge. Questions flew between the spectators.
“Is it over?”
“Did they stop the vampires?”
“When will they come back?”
“How many survived?”
“Should we go see if they need help?”
Duane heard them chattering and decided to see what happened at the mine. He jumped from the boardwalk and ran to the stables where Skedaddle was already saddled. Duane brought him out of the stall and climbed on. He rode through town toward the mine before his mother knew what he was doing. The horse was eager to gallop, and Duane let him.
By the time he arrived at the east entrance the men were trying to dig out the rocks. Two dirty and bloody men sat wounded under the shade of a pine tree. The older of the two clung to his shattered right arm. The younger victim moaned and cried as a third man wrapped his knee where his shin bone used to be. Three others were dead, laid in a row, face down. The dirt beneath them was black with blood. Duane remembered the stories of battlefields and began to understand the words of veterans.
Duane spotted Mayor Burdett and rode over to him. “Mr. Mayor, what happened?”
Burdett pointed in the direction Duane came. “This ain’t no place for a boy. Now, get on out of here.”
“What happened?”
“Boy.” Burdett shook his finger at Duane. “Go back to town. Hear me?”
“Yes, sir.”
János Kovách came over. “Leave the kid alone. I want you to go back to town and tell anyone who will listen that we need help digging out the entrance. It blew up too soon. Our men are trapped down there.”
The faint sound of gunfire came from inside the mine. The debris blocked the shaft, but it didn’t stop everyone from trying to see through rocks and broken timbers.
“They got to be right there,” one miner said. “On the other side of the rocks.”
“Help us dig!” another miner yelled through his cupped hands into the pile of rubble. “Help us dig!”
Muffled gunfire continued.
“They’re fightin’ ‘em off,” Burdett said. “We can’t help ‘em.”
János Kovách patted the horse. “Go quickly. Bring us help. Bring them help.”
“Yes, sir.” Duane led the reins, spinning the ugly stallion around. “Let’s go, Skedaddle.” He tapped the horse with his heels and they were off. He felt like Paul Revere.
* * *
“They’re talking about you,” Milly whispered in Susanne’s ear.
From down the hall, she had a view of Miss Katy Lee sitting next to Jonathan Blair’s bed. He was sitting up, eating some biscuits. Miss Katy Lee giggled.
Susanne furrowed her eyebrows. “How do you know?”
“I could hear them through the wall when I was in the next room.”
“What did they say?”
“Oh, just about how you were pawing after him.”
“I did no such thing.”
“Well, that’s what he said.” Milly leaned in. “Then Miss Katy Lee said, ‘that’s what cheap whores do.’”
“That bitch.”
“Don’t let her hear you say that.”
“Why? What’s she gonna do?”
“Probably flap her mouth like she usually does. If she talks back, slap her.”
“She is all talk, isn’t she?” Susanne swiped the hair out of her red face.
“Yep. She acts like a southern belle, but she’s just Tennessee trash.” Milly put her arm around Susanne. “Mary Collins was downstairs mending his shirt. Do you think they know that each of them is trying to be his woman?”
“They’re a bunch of meddling hussies.”
“They’re working every angle to get your man. He should be yours.”
Susanne nodded her head, but her eyes were pinned to the room.
“Too bad he don’t want you. He thinks he’s so much better than you.”
“Yeah.”
“Look at them in there. That should be you, Susie. What do you want to do?”
“I am not sure.”
“You know what I would do.” Then she whispered again in the unknown language.
Susanne cringed as the words irritated her ears, and then she relaxed. She stared at Jonathan and Miss Katy Lee for several quiet seconds.
“Let’s do it.” Susanne’s heart thumped in her chest.
Milly gently took Susanne’s hand and guided her along the hall to her room. “You can use my gun.”
Professor Worthington was alive, barely, and unconscious in Milly’s bed. “Don’t worry about him. He’s gonna die soon anyway.”
Milly opened her armoire and removed a hat box from the bottom. She untied the bow and reached inside. She handed a small pistol to Susanne. It was the same gun Susanne held the night when she first met Jonathan Blair on the trail into town. She considered shooting him then, out of fear. Now she’d kill him out of anger.
“Shoot him first,” Milly said. “Be quick.”
Milly grabbed a shawl from a coat hook. “Here. Put this over your arm. Like this.” She put the knitted material on Susanne’s left forearm. “Hold your arm up so the fringes hang down. Yeah, like that. Now hide the gun inside.”
Susanne held her arms together against her upper stomach. The shawl covered the gun.
“He won’t think you would stand up to him like this. So it will be a surprise. Walk in, get
close to him, and start shooting.”
Susanne nodded.
“I’ll walk you down to the door. The guard will let you pass.”
* * *
Miss Katy Lee kept Jonathan Blair company as he finished his lunch. His eyes felt heavy from the lack of sleep the past week. He hadn’t seen a mirror lately but was sure he had dark bags under his lower eyelids.
His attention switched to the woman beside him. Katy Lee’s light-brown dress was simple and practical for the work being done downstairs with all the people stranded in the saloon. But she carried herself as if she was attending a formal ball. Her natural beauty shined through. Before this, he’d never thought much about women who owned whorehouses. Now, as she continued to fuss over him, he knew she was a good woman.
Footsteps approached the door.
“Hey, Susanne.” Blair greeted her with a smile.
Her stoic face concerned him. “You okay?” he asked.
She didn’t respond.
“Susanne?” Katy Lee didn’t have time to say anything else.
Susanne let the shawl fall to the ground to reveal the pistol, which she pointed at Blair.
He glanced at the empty night stand where his gun had been. Worthington moved it.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
No response.
“Susanne.”
Her hand shook. She gripped the gun with both hands to control the jittering.
Blair motioned for Katy Lee to stand up. She did so slowly. Blair moved to the edge of the bed and put his feet on the floor.
“Don’t move,” Susanne said. “How could you do this to me?”
“Do what?” he asked.
“Her.”
“Katy Lee?”
The rage returned to her eyes. “Don’t act like I’m stupid.” Her body bobbed with each word.
“Susanne, nothing is going on here,” Miss Katy Lee said.
“Shut up.” She levered the hammer back with her left hand.
“That’s enough.” Mr. Tab stepped through the open door, dragging Milly by the throat. He lifted the woman until her feet dangled in the air.
Susanne shifted her eyes to the angel.
Blair slid out of bed and put himself between Susanne and Katy Lee. “What the hell is going on?”
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