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Authors: Catherine Anderson
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laugh. “All of them. Except for Shorty and Stringbean, of course. They’re like family. The others ran in the opposite direction. When one part of a shaft collapses, the rest might. We all knew that. Many of the men have families who depend on them so I couldn’t blame them.”
Jake went over the story slowly, trying to pick up on anything that didn’t fit. One thought blocked out all else. “You knew another collapse might occur, yet you went in to get your father out and returned to examine the timbers afterward?”
“Naturally, I went in after my father. And I had to know what caused the cave- in. It wasn’t the first, you know. We had already begun to suspect tampering. We have a number of men working for us. If other shafts had been tampered with, their lives could have been at risk. What would you have done?”
Jake shifted his shoulders against the tree trunk. “The same, I suppose. It’s just that—”
“I’m a woman?” she finished. “Understand something, Mr. Rand. I’ve been working with my father since childhood, at both sites. I don’t stand aside while others do the dirty work.”
“I’m sure you don’t. That doesn’t negate the fact that you took a terrible risk.”
She made a fist on the wet leather of one pant leg. “Would it have been less tragic if a man had gone in and died? Besides, what choice did I have? I couldn’t ask Shorty and Stringbean to do what I wouldn’t. I had to either go in or close down.”
Jake couldn’t fault her for lack of courage. He studied her a moment and decided the brief rest had restored her sufficiently to move on. There would be time later for more questions.
Pushing up from the ground, he offered her a hand. She hesitated and then placed her slender fingers across his palm. Jake pulled her to her feet, amazed at how little she weighed. Her hand, small and pliable within the circle of his fingers, felt icy cold. In an attempt to warm it, he held on longer than necessary as he drew her from beneath the tree. He noticed her skin was chapped. Like his mother’s had once been.
“It’s stopped raining,” she said.
Jake hadn’t noticed. He released his grip on her so she could move away, which she did with all speed. He nearly smiled again. She had braved a dangerous mining shaft, but the touch of a man’s hand unnerved her.
Fully prepared to give Jake Rand a rundown on her father’s operation, Indigo was perplexed when he bypassed all the things she had hoped to show him and instead insisted on seeing the pile of removed timbers. After examining them at length, he concurred with her that someone had taken an axe to them.
“The weather’s darkened the blade marks, of course,” she explained. “But they were fresh right after the collapse.”
Crouching by the pile of rubble, he glanced up to meet her gaze. “Even though they’ve darkened, I can still tell that they’re recent.”
The touch of his gaze on hers was unsettling. He seemed more troubled by the collapse than a stranger should. She looked away. Dusk was beginning to fall. Deep within the woods, the colorful tangle of myrtle, laurel, and madrone blurred into a black void that seemed to stretch forever. The air smelled of night’s crisp coolness. She should give him a rundown on what he needed to know so they could head home. Why was he examining timbers that had nothing to do with the work scheduled for tomorrow? There wasn’t that much daylight left.
Unlike most parents, hers allowed her to do pretty much as she pleased, but they were strict about some things, especially social mores. One rule they adhered to was that young women didn’t stay out after dark in the company of gentlemen. It simply wasn’t done, no matter how trustworthy the man. Samuel Jones, who owned the general store, had ended up the groom in a shotgun wedding because he had taken Elmira Johnson on a picnic and been delayed in getting her home when his horse broke a foreleg. Indigo didn’t
Jake went over the story slowly, trying to pick up on anything that didn’t fit. One thought blocked out all else. “You knew another collapse might occur, yet you went in to get your father out and returned to examine the timbers afterward?”
“Naturally, I went in after my father. And I had to know what caused the cave- in. It wasn’t the first, you know. We had already begun to suspect tampering. We have a number of men working for us. If other shafts had been tampered with, their lives could have been at risk. What would you have done?”
Jake shifted his shoulders against the tree trunk. “The same, I suppose. It’s just that—”
“I’m a woman?” she finished. “Understand something, Mr. Rand. I’ve been working with my father since childhood, at both sites. I don’t stand aside while others do the dirty work.”
“I’m sure you don’t. That doesn’t negate the fact that you took a terrible risk.”
She made a fist on the wet leather of one pant leg. “Would it have been less tragic if a man had gone in and died? Besides, what choice did I have? I couldn’t ask Shorty and Stringbean to do what I wouldn’t. I had to either go in or close down.”
Jake couldn’t fault her for lack of courage. He studied her a moment and decided the brief rest had restored her sufficiently to move on. There would be time later for more questions.
Pushing up from the ground, he offered her a hand. She hesitated and then placed her slender fingers across his palm. Jake pulled her to her feet, amazed at how little she weighed. Her hand, small and pliable within the circle of his fingers, felt icy cold. In an attempt to warm it, he held on longer than necessary as he drew her from beneath the tree. He noticed her skin was chapped. Like his mother’s had once been.
“It’s stopped raining,” she said.
Jake hadn’t noticed. He released his grip on her so she could move away, which she did with all speed. He nearly smiled again. She had braved a dangerous mining shaft, but the touch of a man’s hand unnerved her.
Fully prepared to give Jake Rand a rundown on her father’s operation, Indigo was perplexed when he bypassed all the things she had hoped to show him and instead insisted on seeing the pile of removed timbers. After examining them at length, he concurred with her that someone had taken an axe to them.
“The weather’s darkened the blade marks, of course,” she explained. “But they were fresh right after the collapse.”
Crouching by the pile of rubble, he glanced up to meet her gaze. “Even though they’ve darkened, I can still tell that they’re recent.”
The touch of his gaze on hers was unsettling. He seemed more troubled by the collapse than a stranger should. She looked away. Dusk was beginning to fall. Deep within the woods, the colorful tangle of myrtle, laurel, and madrone blurred into a black void that seemed to stretch forever. The air smelled of night’s crisp coolness. She should give him a rundown on what he needed to know so they could head home. Why was he examining timbers that had nothing to do with the work scheduled for tomorrow? There wasn’t that much daylight left.
Unlike most parents, hers allowed her to do pretty much as she pleased, but they were strict about some things, especially social mores. One rule they adhered to was that young women didn’t stay out after dark in the company of gentlemen. It simply wasn’t done, no matter how trustworthy the man. Samuel Jones, who owned the general store, had ended up the groom in a shotgun wedding because he had taken Elmira Johnson on a picnic and been delayed in getting her home when his horse broke a foreleg. Indigo didn’t
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