by Jody Hedlund
Cold fingers against his own startled him awake. His eyes flew open to blackness instead of burning light. For a moment, he couldn’t focus, couldn’t get his thoughts to cooperate to tell him where he was and what was happening.
“Zeke?” came the groggy voice again. Kate.
Iciness hit him harder than a Cariboo winter storm. He was trapped in his mine. Had been for hours. The carbon dioxide levels in the tunnel were increasing, and he hadn’t found a way to save Kate.
“I need to check on Phil,” she said.
“I’ll do it. Then you don’t have to get wet.”
She was too tired to protest, which wasn’t a good sign. Earlier she’d complained of dizziness along with difficulty concentrating, further signs their oxygen levels were diminishing.
He carefully set her aside, and without his body to keep her warm, she started shivering. He fumbled for a match from the small bag of supplies Phil had brought down with him for emergencies. Zeke’s fingers were stiff from cold and refused to move as quickly as he wanted. By the time he lit the lantern, his frustration had escalated making him want to curse and yell.
But yell at whom?
Last time he’d been in so desperate a situation he’d cursed and yelled at God, as though somehow the Almighty was to blame for the problems. But God wasn’t responsible for the fire that had killed the Manchester mill workers any more than He was for the mine cave-in.
The truth was, they lived in a broken world tainted by sin, sickness, and the very devil himself. With such vice running rampant, horrible things happened. That’s all there was to it. No doubt they needed to do their part to stop the atrocities. But sometimes, even after doing everything right, bad things still affected them.
He held the lantern up to assess Kate first. Her hair was mussed and her face smudged. But she attempted a smile through her quivering lips.
If only she hadn’t come down to the mine. If only just he and Phil had been trapped.
Dragging his casted leg, he started toward Phil. Something about Kate’s story in coming to the mine didn’t add up and had been nagging him. He hadn’t been able to figure it out except that last evening’s explosion had felt similar in size and magnitude to the previous detonation that had nearly killed him.
What if the cave-in hadn’t been an accident? Had his attacker learned he’d be at the mine and planned the explosion, aiming to kill him but making it appear like a mishap? Maybe the person had been waiting for most of the miners to clear out, so he didn’t hurt too many innocent men.
Zeke shook his head to clear the fog. “Phil? Wake up, Phil.”
He drew alongside the prostrate form. Phil’s eyes were wide open. From the blankness of his stare and his motionless form, a fist of grief punched Zeke in his gut. Phil was dead. How would he tell Kate?
Before he could figure out a way, Phil blinked, then shifted his gaze to stare up at Zeke. “Blake.”
Relief rushed through Zeke. His foreman was still living and breathing. But apparently the concussion had knocked the wits out of Phil if he was confusing him with redheaded Blake. Either that or his eyesight hadn’t come back. “Phil, it’s me. Zeke.”
Phil stared at him for a few more seconds, then blinked again. “Aye, I know who you are.”
“Good. How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit with two tons of rock.”
“That’s because you did.”
Phil lifted a hand to the side of his face that was swollen and black and blue. He gingerly touched it before fingering the bandage on his head. “Then your woman is safe?”
“Aye. She doctored you up as best she could.”
“Try not to move too much,” came Kate’s weak voice from nearby.
Phil shifted his head and winced. “Don’t think I’d be going anywhere even if I could.”
“Hang in there.” Zeke tried to infuse his voice with confidence for Kate’s sake. “I have a feeling we’ll be out of here in no time now.”
Zeke didn’t want to meet Phil’s gaze and disappoint him with the truth of their dire predicament. But at his foreman’s steady stare, Zeke finally looked him in the eyes.
“How long have we been trapped?” Phil asked grimly.
“Twelve hours, maybe sixteen.”
“Then they’re still moving rubble from the main drift to get at our shaft?”
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
“So, it could be hours, maybe even—”
Zeke cut Phil off with a curt nod toward Kate, and they both fell silent.
“I hope Mr. Blake and all the other miners made it out before the explosion,” Kate said. “I’d hate to learn that anyone else was hurt.”
“Blake.” Phil started to push himself up but grimaced and reclined again.
“What about Blake?” Zeke had been surprised to learn of Blake’s role in delivering Kate to the mine. Blake rarely interacted with anyone in town, much less offered to help.
“I saw Blake in the mine,” Phil said.
“Aye. He walked Kate out from town.”
“No, I saw someone above the shaft just a few minutes before the explosion. I didn’t think anything of it, just figured one of the men had come back for something. But now I realize I saw William Blake.”
“Maybe Blake left something behind.”
“Or maybe he set off the explosion.”
“Now hold on.” Zeke’s mind raced to piece together what had happened. “Why would Blake want to harm me? He’s got his own mine and is doing just fine for himself.”
“He’s a decent fellow,” Phil added. “You’re right. Most likely he left something behind.”
They were quiet for a moment.
“What if Mr. Frank caused the explosion?” Kate interjected, still shivering and hugging her arms to her chest. “Maybe after our confrontation on the street, he was angry with me again and followed us up to the mine.”
Zeke hadn’t been able to convince himself of Herb’s guilt with the last explosion. From everything Zeke knew, Herb was usually easygoing and more reactionary than calculated. And this attack and the last were too well orchestrated. “There’s no way he’d have gotten the supplies together so fast. And besides, one of the men leaving the mine would have seen him coming in and stopped him.”
“Aye, that they would have,” Phil said. “And they would have come a-runnin’ to warn us.”
A wave of dizziness assaulted Zeke, and he wavered against his crutch. At the same time, he fought against the desperation that closed in. If they didn’t survive, it wouldn’t matter if Herb or someone else was guilty. His priority wasn’t solving the crime but surviving.
He offered Phil sips of water from the canteen, helped him get more comfortable, then returned to Kate. After extinguishing the lantern, he pulled Kate into his arms.
Darkness settled around him, and exhaustion made his eyelids heavy and his limbs lethargic. Someone wanted him dead. That much he knew. But exactly who and why eluded him.
TWENTY-ONE
GOD HELP! KEEP her alive. Please just keep her alive.
Zeke brushed his fingers across Kate’s cheek and then her mouth. The warmth of her breathing told him she wasn’t dead yet. But for the past hour or more, his gentle shaking hadn’t woken her. Likewise, Phil hadn’t answered any questions, and Zeke hadn’t been able to muster the energy to lift himself up and go to his foreman.
During the past hours, he lost track of how long they’d been trapped. He didn’t know if hours or days passed. He’d used the last of the oil in the lantern, and he was saving the remaining few sips in the canteen for Kate. But the last time he attempted to get her to drink, she didn’t respond, and the precious drops dribbled down her chin.
Though he wavered on the brink of unconsciousness himself, he’d clung tenaciously to wakefulness by reciting every Scripture verse Mr. Lightness had required them to memorize during his years at school. Psalm 23 came back to him quicker than others, especially the verse that spoke about deat
h.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Every time he silently spoke the words, the truth became clearer. God hadn’t promised to keep them out of the valleys or from experiencing tribulations, possibly even death. But during their walk through the valleys, He had promised to be with them and comfort them.
The more Zeke thought about it, the more he realized that during past hardships, he’d become disappointed—even angry—when God hadn’t taken him out of them. Perhaps he’d expected the Almighty to lift him high above troubles and make his life smooth. When things had gotten more difficult instead of less, he’d easily given up on God.
At a rumble from somewhere above, Zeke stirred and tried to open his eyes. He could only hope that meant the rescue efforts were nearby. Please, God. Please. For Kate’s sake. Not mine.
As he begged God, resignation settled within him. Even if the Almighty didn’t take him out of this trouble and even if he faced death, Zeke wouldn’t pull away from God and blame Him again. Nope, he’d seek out God’s plans and wisdom. He had a long way to go on that path, but now that he’d started, he had to keep going.
And if he died today? Before the rescuers could get to him?
A quiet urgency nudged him. He’d been working toward making his peace with God, and he couldn’t put it off any longer. Whether he lived or died, he had to get on his knees and repent before the Almighty.
He sat forward, but the movement sent needles through his leg. For a second, blackness hovered over his consciousness, but he held on until he was breathing again, even though each intake was shallow.
So much for kneeling. That wasn’t important anyway. God would hear his confession no matter where he was or what posture he took.
I’m sorry, he silently prayed. I strayed from You, went my own way, and did my own thing. But I don’t want to do that anymore.
Zoe had returned the pendant Mr. Lightness had given him the day he’d stood in front of the school and made his declaration to follow and love Christ. At the sight of the bronze circle engraved with a crucifix, he’d been tempted to toss it over a cliff. But he’d hung on to it and had instead tossed it into a drawer.
He vowed now if he made it out alive, he’d never push aside his faith again.
Kate shuddered, and he drew her closer. God help her! This sweet, beautiful woman meant more to him than anyone or anything. He’d gladly give up his own life if he could know she’d survive and be safe. If only there was some way to transfer the last of his energy and oxygen into her lungs.
But even as he attempted to think of a final effort to save her, his thoughts turned blurry and distant. And a roaring filled his ears.
Bright light stung Kate’s closed eyelids. Was she in heaven? Her body seemed to be moving, almost floating in the light.
“Hang in there, my dearest.” A gentle voice that sounded strangely like Mr. Peabody’s spoke above her. “You’ll be alright. I just know it.”
Kate struggled to open her eyes but was too tired.
The light came once more, this time brighter. Warmth wrapped around her torso, her limbs, and even her feet so that somehow the cold had disappeared.
“I need more warm blankets,” came Mr. Peabody’s voice.
She dragged in a deep breath, and the process of simply breathing in and out revived her. She cracked open one eye and blinked against the sunlight streaming over her face.
“She’s awake,” Mr. Peabody called.
A shadow crossed Kate’s face. “Miss Millington?”
Kate tried to pry her other eye open, but the brightness hurt, bringing tears to her eyes. But even without looking, she recognized the voice belonging to the doctor.
“Miss Millington. How are you feeling?”
She tried to formulate a response, but her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, swollen and dry.
“Stand back now, d’ye hear?” Another voice, this one feminine but testy, was at her side. “Miss Kate, think you can lift your head to drink?”
“Becca?” Kate managed.
“Mm-hmm. Who else gonna put up with you nonsense?” Tender hands slipped behind her neck, raising her, and a cool cup pressed against her lips. As the liquid spread into her mouth and down her throat, Kate drank greedily and would have kept going if Becca hadn’t pulled away. “Little at a time now, Miss Kate.”
With another deep breath, Kate pried both eyes open first to see Becca and then to find herself encircled by men of all shapes and sizes. The light was too intense, and she had to quickly close her eyes.
“Miss Millington, does anything pain you?” The doctor’s voice was laced with worry.
She wiggled her fingers and toes. They were no longer rigid from the cold. And though her backside and muscles ached, nothing else hurt. She opened her eyes halfway and found them filling with tears again. “The light is too bright. Would you mind moving it away?”
“It’s the sunlight,” the doctor said. “After almost forty-eight hours of darkness, your eyes will need time to adjust.”
Darkness. The mine. Being trapped. The memories rushed back. What had happened to Zeke? A cord of panic slithered around Kate’s middle, and she attempted to push herself up. “Zeke and Phil? Are they okay? Where are they?”
Becca’s hands upon her shoulders prevented her from jumping up altogether. “Don’t you worry none. They got people tending them too.”
“Then they’re alive?”
“Yep,” Becca answered. “Thank the good Lord.”
“How did you get us out?” Kate asked.
The physician pressed his fingers against the pulse in her neck. “Nearly every man in town has been working in shifts around the clock to clear away rubble.”
“Really?” She glanced at the men standing nearby, their faces sweaty and dirty and tired. But they were all smiling, and she offered them a smile of gratitude in return. “I don’t know how I can possibly thank everyone.”
“No need,” said one man to her left. “We’re just happy you weren’t buried under all the rocks.”
“It was a massive cave-in,” the doctor continued, “and would have taken much longer to clear away if not for the determination of these fine men.”
Kate squinted. Through her watery vision, she gathered she was on the hillside outside the mine. “Zeke? How’s his leg?”
Becca lifted the cup again and tipped it, so Kate had no choice but to take another drink. “He gonna need a cast on his other leg when I get through with him.”
“He saved my life down there,” Kate said, choking up. “If not for the way he kept me dry and warm, I would have frozen to death.”
“If he hadn’t invited you down, you wouldn’t be in this here trouble in the first place.” Becca’s brows were drawn into a fierce scowl.
“He didn’t invite me down.” Kate tried to lift a hand to brush at the moisture in her eyes, but her hands were still cocooned in blankets.
Before Kate could find the words to defend Zeke further, the crowd around her was parting. “Stand aside,” Mr. Peabody called, “and let us through.”
The men reluctantly shifted, and she glimpsed Mr. Peabody guiding Zeke toward her, his arm around Zeke’s waist propping him up. Zeke’s face was smudged and his dark hair askew. His garments were dingy and damp, and his boots coated with mud. His green eyes searched wildly until they landed upon her.
At the sight of her, he broke away from Mr. Peabody and hobbled faster, scanning her blanketed body as though needing to reassure himself she was really there. Mr. Peabody hurried to keep up with him, scolding him worse than a mother hen.
“How is she, Doc?” The panic in Zeke’s voice drew on Kate’s compassion.
“I’m just fine, Zeke.” She pushed up and let the blankets fall away. She would have stood and gone to him, but Becca’s firm hold and the shake of her head stopped Kate.
Zeke stood above her. “Are yo
u sure?”
“As soon as I have a bath and a meal, I’ll be as good as new.” She half-expected him to bring up their wedding and ask when she’d be ready to marry him.
Instead, he motioned toward the doctor. “If Kate doesn’t need you, then you should tend to Phil. He’s in bad shape.”
The doctor retrieved his medical bag and started to weave through the men.
“And I’ll have a crew make a stretcher to carry Kate back to my house. You can check on her there.”
The doctor gave a curt nod.
“I can probably walk,” Kate offered.
“The crew can carry her back to the laundry.” Becca glared at Zeke.
“You can both stay at my house until Kate is recovered.” Becca started to interrupt him, but he continued before she could say anything more. “I’ll take a bed at the boardinghouse.”
Becca’s response stalled, and she eyed Zeke warily.
“I didn’t invite Kate down into the mine.” His expression was firm, even sad, and trepidation whispered through Kate.
“Everyone know you did,” Becca insisted.
Mr. Peabody shoved aside several miners and stood on his toes, peering over the crowd and waving at his grandson. “Wendell, you come over here and tell everyone what you’ve learned about the cave-in.”
A second later, Zeke’s assistant was standing beside his grandfather, his thin face red and perspiring, his gaze darting around the mine yard as though expecting someone to set off an explosion at any moment.
Kate grabbed Becca’s hand.
“Don’t you be worrying none. That Herbert Frank locked up for good this time.”
“Then he’s to blame again?” Kate asked.
“Several men saw him argue with you before you went up to the mine,” Wendell interjected. “So when we learned of another explosion, he was naturally the suspect.”
Zeke rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you have proof he followed her?”
Wendell shook his head. “Only Blake’s word that he saw Herb following the two of them up to the mine.”
“If Mr. Frank was a threat,” Kate said, “then why didn’t Mr. Blake warn us?”
