“It was long trip from California. I’m sorry about your cousin Chester’s passing. Were you close?”
“We never met.”
“Oh. Well, I’m sure you would have been close, had you met. With your interest in mining and all. Looks like you’ve got a nice little claim here.”
Billie’s gaze vaulted back and forth from uncle to cousin. He wasn’t an unusually tall man, but he towered over Lou. Despite the disparity, Lou wasn’t intimidated at all. Whatever Uncle wanted from her, he wasn’t going to get it easily.
“You would know.” Lou took a step closer to him. “Hear you’ve been to the assayer’s asking about it. Plan to buy it out from under me, do you?”
Billie sucked in a breath. She knew that visit with the assayer had been suspicious. Uncle Dale wanted Lou’s mine; that was the real reason they’d come. So, what was Billie here for? Use the girl-in-mourning to create sympathy? She subtly adjusted her position to be closer to Lou and crossed her arms. She shot darts with her gaze, challenging her uncle to justify his motives.
Uncle Dale splayed out his hands. “You’ve not been working the claim in six months. It’s going to be declared abandoned tomorrow.”
“Looks like I came home just in time, then.” She pulled the ax off the wall, holding it with two hands. “Not selling.”
“As you know, Chester Bergmann was a smart businessman.” He acknowledged Billie with a sympathetic smile. “When I was organizing his desk, I noticed he had an interest in your mine. If it was his last intention to acquire your claim, I see it as my duty to fulfill that dying wish for him.”
“And if he were as smart a businessman as you say, it would behoove me to hang on to my claim with everything in me, now wouldn’t it?”
Billie was starting to like Cousin Lou. She liked the way the woman thought. She saw right through Uncle without even having to trek across the desert with him.
“Look, you know you don’t have the means to develop the claim yourself or you would have done so already. I’m not the only one who is interested. It’ll be me or Copper Queen Consolidated or someone else that takes it over. Wouldn’t you rather keep it in the family?”
“You’re not family.”
“But I’m acting on behalf of Billie.” He held his hands in her direction. “She’s family, and by extension, that makes us family.”
“Don’t patronize me. Give me the watch and then leave my home.”
“Would love to, but the watch is back in town.”
Billie cocked her head. When did he have time to find a place to store the watch?
“Fine. I’ll keep the girl here as collateral. Bring me the watch tomorrow. Then you can get the girl back.”
Billie gasped.
“Don’t worry, kid. I won’t eat you.”
Cousin Lou had misunderstood her reaction. It meant Uncle would probably go stay in the hotel with heated water, comfortable beds, and a dining room that served petits fours.
“Deal.” He nodded at Lou. “See you tomorrow, Billie.”
After he’d gone, Lou snorted. “Gave you up awful fast.”
“You did promise not to eat me.”
Lou winked. “Good one, kid. Now, help me bring in my bags.”
Outside the door were several canvas bags that looked like they’d traveled miles on their own.
“Were you gone a long time?” Billie asked. She picked up the closest bag to her, and it was so heavy it was all she could do not to drag it across the threshold. “How did you get all these up here?”
“Got a friend with a mule train. He detoured up here for me. Didn’t you hear us?”
Her face warmed. “I was daydreaming.” About Lou—the male cousin’s—tragic life.
“Doesn’t surprise me. And I’ve been gone long enough to let your uncle think he could jump my claim.”
Billie opened her mouth to defend her uncle, to say that wasn’t his intent, but on the surface, it seemed it was. However, it was logical to keep the claim in the family if Lou didn’t want it anymore or didn’t have the funds to develop it. Billie dropped the heavy sack near the bed. There was no point picking a side until she knew more. And the sooner they settled the issue, the sooner she’d be back in Boston.
Chapter 8
Billie plunked down two plates of stew.
Lou surprised her with a quick German blessing of the food before digging in.
Billie recognized the blessing from her own grandmother. It was the first sign she and this prospecting woman were related. Billie poked at a potato and suppressed a sigh. She pictured Uncle Dale sitting down in the dining room to tablecloths, waiters, and fine china. Roast beef or veal. Her mouth watered.
“What do you know of our family?” Lou asked.
“A few stories. About my dad growing up, and how grandad brought him into the family mining business when he was about my age.” Billie had spent plenty of time at her dad’s office and was used to ignoring the mining talk going on around her. It hadn’t interested her at all, past the idea that mining provided the lifestyle she enjoyed.
She swallowed, wondering how to be tactful. “I know that dwarfism runs in the family. I had a brother who died young, and they thought he would have been a dwarf had he lived.”
And there were some other odd stories associated with the dwarfs in the family that Billie was not about to reveal for fear of sounding like an idiot. As the story goes, two brothers were working a shaft with a collection of other dwarfs when a princess in need found her way to their secluded cabin. Something about a magic mirror, and Billie could only think that her family imbibed too much ale and mixed up their true story with that of the Snow White fairy tale.
Most of the family laughed it off, but a few were sticklers, insisting that every word was true. Her personal view was that the brothers had found a good vein, and they were trying to scare the rest of the people off to make sure they could mine in peace.
Lou nodded. “I’ve four siblings and I’m the only dwarf. There’s several others in our German branch of the family, but I’ve only met Fremont. He’s a bit of a black sheep who acts like a dark horse, if you know my meaning. Not a favorite among the aunts, but always seems to fall ahead, not behind.”
Billie hadn’t heard of any Fremont. Sounded like he wasn’t someone she’d want to meet anyway. “And how did you end up here?”
“It was Fremont’s idea. He set it all up through Bergmann Consolidated since he was still in Germany at the time. We were supposed to do some scouting for them. Fremont had a knack for spotting the look of ore in the rock based on the color of the rocks and the vegetation. But he never made it out until last year, so I was on my own. The mountain was pretty picked over, but I managed to buy this small claim for myself off a miner who’d given up. Wasn’t big enough for the company to be interested in.”
Despite carrying the conversation, Lou finished her meal and set about doing dishes. Billie had expected someone with Lou’s reputation to be more tight-lipped. It might not be so hard after all to find out what was so special about the mine and the watch.
“And what about Fremont?”
“Ach, like I said, he eventually showed up. We didn’t get on well, and one day he was just gone. Don’t know what happened to him. Don’t particularly care. He’s been gone so long I should probably sell off the junk he left behind.” She pointed to the locked door. Billie had thought it was Lou’s claim behind that door, but maybe it was a storage closet.
“You’ve been working the claim a long time, you must have hit pay dirt?” The question was intrusive, but time was of the essence. If she could determine the value of the mine for Uncle Dale, they would know whether to press Lou or move on to Boston.
Lou raised one eyebrow as she studied Billie. “You are a Bergmann, aren’t you? Have it in your blood? Does the metal call to you?”
Billie felt a chill go up her arms. “No, ma’am. Just making conversation. It’s what my father would have done.” Billie gulped down the last
of her food.
“What other stories have you heard about the family? Got any good ones for me? Anything…odd?”
Snow White.
Billie maintained eye contact. “No, that’s about it. You have any for me?”
Lou dried her hands. “Tell me about that uncle of yours. What’s his game?”
The woman was too perceptive. After a slow draw in of breath, Billie admitted, “No clue. I thought we were here to give you the watch and then go home to Boston.”
Lou narrowed her eyes. “You sure you seen this watch?”
“Once. He keeps it on him. Or at least he did till we got here.” Saying so reminded her that her uncle was keeping a lot of things. Lou’s watch. Billie’s money. His own secrets.
Lou grunted and pointed at the sink where she’d left the soapy water for Billie.
While Billie washed her plate, she asked, “What do you think he is after?”
Instead of answering, Lou glanced outside. “It’s almost sunset.” She began preparing her miner’s lamp. She poured a handful of carbide pellets into the bottom container, filled the top with water, and clicked the flow control four notches. After waiting for the gas to build up, she flicked the flint and the flame caught.
She used a key worn around her neck to open the door at the back of the room. A whoosh of cool air flooded the cabin with the smell of deep earth. The door really was the entrance to Lou’s mine.
When Lou beckoned her to follow, Billie’s heart began to race.
“You want to go in tonight?” She swallowed the lump forming in her throat.
“The inside of the mountain doesn’t know what time it is. Let’s go.”
Billie quickly dried her hands and peered into the darkness after Lou. The small lantern cast a shadowy arc of light two feet in front.
Carbide lamps had always fascinated Billie. The fact that water dripping onto the pellets created a gas that, when lit, could produce a continuous flame brighter than a candle amazed her. Even more amazing was the thought that the copper the miners were pulling out of these hills would be used to light up the world. It was beyond her understanding. No matter how many times someone explained it to her, it still seemed like magic. What a wonder, this modern world was turning out to be. Next thing, she’d be riding in a motor car.
“You comin’?”
“In a second.”
Billie steeled herself as the first wave of panic hit. She closed her eyes, let the darkness come. It was always like this going into a mine. Focus mind over body. Breathe.
Once the initial feelings of claustrophobia passed, she took a step and followed Lou into the mountain. The deep, rich smell of damp earth flooded Billie’s senses. Rock. Dirt. Darkness. She braced herself against the wall, waiting for the second wave to wash over her.
She was brought back to her first visit to a mine when her father and several miners took her deep into the shaft before shutting off all their lights. Despite being held safe in her father’s grip, she panicked. She’d never seen dark that dark before. Her scream echoed through the cavern, and the miner with the match instantly lit a candle wedged into the rock.
After the lanterns went back on she realized what she smelled wasn’t darkness, but that unmistakable, oddly sweet smell of being inside a mountain. The miners exchanged bemused glances with her father, who seemed embarrassed that his only child was afraid in the mine. Billie had squirmed out of his arms, determined to finish the mine tour under her own power to show everyone she was not scared. But she was. She still was.
Complete absence of light was a terrifying thing. It felt like breathing in darkness that would eat her from the inside out.
“You all right?” Lou’s gruff voice came from several feet away.
“In a minute.” Billie continued taking deep breaths until the panic subsided. She pushed off the wall and followed the light. “I’m good.” Her fingers trembled, so she clenched them tight.
Lou hesitated, then made a move to return to the shack.
Billie reached out to stop her. “No. I’m good. It happens every time I go into a mine. Once I’m through the opening I can breathe.”
Lou grunted. “Bet your father loved that.”
“He didn’t take me into too many mines.” Just enough to make sure she was able to work through the panic, and then he never invited her to see another. Which was fine by her. They all looked the same anyway.
Except for Cousin Lou’s mine. It wasn’t spacious like the company mines with their liberal use of dynamite to create stopes, open areas big enough to stand in. No, her methods were crude and not very effective. Billie wasn’t sure how long she could keep her panic in check.
The two of them were soon bent over, rock pressing in on all sides, and Billie had to fight the urge to freeze, knowing if she stopped, she may never get out again. The weight of the rock overhead was especially hard to take. “How much farther?” Billie’s voice sounded muffled.
Lou was now on her belly, pushing the light out in front of her. “Follow my feet. It’s over this ridge.” Lou’s body blocked most of the light, which wavered with each push.
Billie did as told, hoping whatever she was about to see was worth it.
When Lou got out of the way, the lantern light shone fully in Billie’s eyes and she blinked.
“Still doing okay? You’ll be able to stand up here in this cavern.” Lou held up the lantern, shining the light on the rocks.
Slowly, Billie took in the sight. This cave was different from any she’d ever seen before. Crystalline formations hung from the ceiling and rose up from the floor. Billie followed the arc of light from column to column as Lou spun around.
“A wonder, isn’t it?” Lou said with pride. She shone the light close to the wall, revealing streaks of blue embedded in the rock.
“What is it?” Billie asked. She ran her fingers over the rough surface. It was so pretty.
“The formations are from the limestone and the blue mineral is turquoise. But the opportune fact is that it’s not copper,” Lou said. “That’s all Copper Queen Consolidated wants. Oh, there is some—copper and gold—enough for me to live on. What I can get out on my own. The smelting’s the problem. Darn expensive that is for my small operation, but I survive. Hard rock mining ain’t for the faint of heart.”
“If you had economies of scale—” The family company could help Lou out so much. She wouldn’t have to live in her shack.
“Oh, listen to Little Miss Business.”
Billie bristled at her tone. “I know how it works. You don’t have enough ore in each load to cover the cost. You need to increase your production, and that’s hard for you to do on your own.” So there. I know a thing or two.
“The true value of my mine is in its beauty. That uncle of yours doesn’t seem the type to want to preserve anything beautiful.” Lou held the lantern between them so their faces were lit from below. “What do you think?”
Billie took another look around. She had to be honest. “I think they’ll want to find out what’s past all this. What’s causing the formations to look so beautiful. You might have something more valuable behind the turquoise.”
“Might. My methods are crude, but they give an idea of what’s here, and I haven’t found any vein worth following in this cavern. My main vein is in a shaft we passed back there. It produces enough for me but isn’t enough for the corporation to even send a mucker out for. That turquoise is real pretty when polished up, but Consolidated tosses it in their slag heap. They don’t want it.”
“I don’t know what Uncle Dale wants. Show him what you showed me to satisfy him, and we can move on.”
Lou snorted. “Doesn’t strike me as a reasonable man. More likely to stab me in the back when I’m not looking.”
Billie felt oddly defensive. “I think you’re wrong. He’s not a criminal. He just thinks he can handle the business better than you can, and he wants to help.”
“Even worse. Do you trust him?”
Billi
e paused. She did, but with caution. How could she explain that to this woman she’d just met? It was disloyal to speak against her uncle.
“Ach, nee. Your silence says it all. How’s about you have a chat with your uncle first thing in the morning. You’ll have to go to him, because he’s just going to wait me out.” She held the lantern high. “I’m trusting you to do the right thing. Get him to leave me that watch at the front desk of the Copper Queen Hotel, and then be on your way. The longer you stay, the more time he’s got to figure out a way to get what he wants.”
Chapter 9
While it was still dark, Billie woke to the inviting smell of coffee and flapjacks. Lou bustled in the kitchen area, not being subtle at all with the way she banged the pots around.
“What time is it?” Billie asked, her head still firmly nestled into her pillow. Lou had pulled out the extra bed roll from the supplies the other cousin had left behind in the mine. Billie was grateful he had left it behind when he skipped town.
“Look, Sleeping Beauty decided to join the rest of the world.”
Billie rolled over and grunted.
“Get a move on. I need you out of here before sunrise.”
What was it with Lou and the sun? Sunset. Sunrise. Why so precise?
Oh, to be back in Boston where she could sleep in like all her friends were doing. Nice, cozy feather quilts on cool mornings. Breakfast delivered on a tray with a silver vase and fresh cut flowers.
“Hey, no falling back asleep.”
Billie startled. She opened her eyes and blinked away the last vestiges of her lace-decorated room in Boston. Her gaze landed on the curtained window above the cot. “Five more minutes.” Billie buried her head farther into the pillow.
Thunk.
She found herself on the cold, hard floor. Lou was not messing around.
After a quick breakfast, Billie was pushed out the door by a very impatient cousin.
“I thought you wanted to exchange me for the watch?”
“Like I said, I don’t trust him. You, on the other hand, haven’t been completely corrupted yet.” She handed over Billie’s bags. “Do your best to get him out of town. Leave the watch at the front desk at the hotel. You don’t belong here, and I think you know it.”
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