by Tina Gayle
“This is Gang Memor. He is one of the mineralogists at the mine,” Guilio said.
“Anything related to the mine, she feels is her responsibility, even if she was absent.” Stihl picked up the cup the waiter had placed in front of him.
“Vin puts a lot of pressure on that little lady. I guess he planned for a boy,” Guilio said, referring to her father.
Stihl decided he needed to have a talk with her father. Then he grinned. “Well, I’m glad he didn’t get one.”
The other men studied him. A smile formed on their faces with male understanding.
“What are you guys smiling about?” Marohka asked after joining them.
Standing, Stihl rushed to answer for the group and ended their conversation about her. “Guilio informed us the mine is open.”
“Good, then we should leave.” She refused the seat Stihl pulled out. “Cyd, where are those reports and maps? Guilio, I want the latest output reports.” She worked her way around the table. “Gang, where is Upton?”
Stihl grabbed her arm, not letting her walk away. “Wait an iton. Why don’t we eat a bite before we head out?”
Her green gaze sent him a scorching glare. Her thoughts screamed with her impatience for action. He grinned. In his mind, he replayed her sweet surrender from earlier, but their tussle hadn’t dampened her will to fight.
“We need to get to the mine.”
“When did you last eat?” He tugged her into the chair beside his. She might’ve grabbed some food while he was at the mine, but he doubted it. Her gaze bit into him. He returned to his seat.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Yes, but the rest of us are.” He indicated the men around them and slid his coat from her shoulders. She couldn’t keep going without eating. He hoped one of the dishes would tempt her appetite. “A hot meal is being served now. We don’t want to come back to a cold one.”
She let him help her with her coat then turned away. The server placed plates in front of each of the other men. Stihl addressed the waiter. “We’ll both have lunch, too.”
The man nodded and left.
Stihl slid his arm along the back of her chair and leaned close to her ear. “You need your strength if you plan to pin me later.”
She stiffened and edged away. He couldn’t help but smile, and he toyed with the hair dancing around her neck.
“Where is Upton?” she asked the other men.
Gang answered. “He should be here in a few itons. He said he wanted to shower before we went back to the mine.”
She nodded. The waiter returned and served each of them a plate full of food. She picked up her fork. He waited until she ate a bite before he started to eat his own lunch. He’d discovered since they’d been together that she wouldn’t eat if she was upset.
With everyone eating, he delayed speaking until the end of the meal, then turned to the mine owner. “How long, Guilio, before you decide on the new buyer?”
He popped the last bite of his bread in his mouth and swallowed. “Don’t think it’ll take too long. There’s only one other group interested in the mine. They should have their deal in by tomorrow morning.”
Marohka shoved back her chair and rose to her feet. She’d eaten about half her lunch and played with her food the rest of the time. Stihl longed for her to eat more, but he rejected the idea of embarrassing her in front of the others.
“Can we leave now?” She slid her chair back into place.
Stihl drank the last swallow of caffleck. “I guess.”
The men around him shuffled to their feet. Chairs scuffled against the floor. Other men in the room stood. Voices grew louder. The lunch crowd broke up and walked to the door.
“I’ll get the reports from Guilio’s office.” Cyd stepped in the opposite direction from the group.
Stihl caught Marohka’s arm as they stepped outside.
“Where’s Upton?” she asked Gang again.
The man looked around. “Don’t know. He hasn’t been sleeping well lately. Maybe, he went back to sleep. Do you want me to get him?”
“No, let him sleep,” Guilio said before she replied. “I’ll send him out when he wakes up.”
“You’re not going, Guilio?” Stihl sensed her frustration with everyone on her staff.
“No point,” Guilio said. “Marohka doesn’t need any of us. Do you, girly?”
“If you want to come—” she started, but he cut her off.
“You know what you’re doing.” He waved a hand, turned, and strolled away. His uneven gait caught Stihl’s attention. What did Guilio mean? Why didn’t she need their help?
Determined to find the answer, Stihl turned. Cyd joined them with the reports and maps. The group boarded their hover-jets. He rushed to catch up.
* * * *
Upton felt like a prisoner in the room he’d called home for the past year. The glow of the two suns barely cast any light through the milky glass of his window. Even the pictures of naked women on the walls didn’t improve the cavelike atmosphere of the small space.
“She’s going to find where we diverted the tunnel,” Upton said to the man on the other end of his ECD. He drew circles on the batt on his bed. “It won’t be long before the qualtrilium starts rolling in.”
He filled his lungs with musky air and slid his sweaty palms over the covers. He disliked the part he played in deceiving Taunton Minerals.
“It won’t matter,” said a rough voice in his ear. “Tomorrow, the bid will be in to Guilio, and we’ll have control of the mine by lunch time.”
“How can you be so sure he’ll accept your offer? Did you tell Guilio about the other mineral we’ll be mining?” Upton questioned the bright story he was being told. The dark walls of his cabin shrank. He shifted his gaze to the sexy curves of the woman he dreamed about nightly.
“No, but with the amount I’m giving him, he’d be dimcoco to refuse.”
“Did you”—Upton hedged, not able to breathe normally—“hear what happened to Zook?”
“Caught in a cave-in, right?”
“That’s what they’re saying, but it looks suspicious. Zook continually voiced concerns about the way the mine was being managed.” Upton waited an iton. “With all the delays we’ve caused, you know, they’ll blame us for his death.”
“Doesn’t matter. They can’t prove a thing. We’ve been doing our jobs. As soon as this sale goes through, they can take their suspicions and our jobs and cook them.”
“I’ll just be glad when it’s all over.” A stream of sweat worked a ticklish course down his back. He peered at the naked woman above his bed again. She tempted him with wicked thoughts. His rod swelled. Money would buy him all sorts of pleasures.
“One more day,” the voice growled and ended the call.
* * * *
“What are you doing?”
Stihl’s voice echoed through the dark, dust-filled mine. A heavy pungent smell of wet rock, soil, and men’s sweat clung to the air, making it hard to breathe.
Marohka didn’t respond. A low tick which came from the wall beside her, sounded in her head. Armidiggos liked to burrow in the dirt. The small animal helped her pinpoint the exact location of the qualtrilium.
“Marohka.” His hand touched her arm.
“Yeah.” She jumped and slapped his hand away. “What are you doing, trying to scare the life out of me?”
“No, I was trying to figure out what you’re doing?” He held up the light.
“I’m working.” She leaned closer to the wall. “Now, be quiet.”
He stood beside her, but she tuned him out and refocused her attention on the signals running through her thoughts. Click, click, click—food, food, food rang in her head. The small animals scrambled back and forth through their small tunnels in the wall.
She walked back along the wall, searching for the armidiggos’s outlet into the tunnel. On the dirty floor, she bent to examine the scattering of debris. The small scratches and droppings marked the animals’ paths, but t
hey were very easy to miss.
“It looks like the tunnel took a wrong turn there.” She pointed to a spot about three zits back down the wall to her right.
“How do you know?”
“Because that’s where the ore is.” She rose and stopped next to the spot where the tunnel should’ve been. Lifting a staining pen, she marked the rock. “The reports show somewhere along this tunnel we got off-track. This is where.”
He shook his head. “How do you know?”
“Years of practice. Let’s tell the guys they can come in now.” She strolled toward the exit.
“Don’t you want to examine the spot where the cave collapsed?”
A chill shivered down her spine. She’d told everyone but Stihl to stay out of the mine while she determined the problem with the mine’s drilling. Now after resolving the issue, she longed to leave. But as usual, responsibility dictated she at least examined the site of the accident. Not, she thought, that it would give her any answers.
“It’s just down this way.” She walked quickly through the tunnels.
“Slow down.” He grabbed her arm. “I still don’t see how you can know where the digging got off course when you didn’t use any equipment to help you.” He pointed to the instrument in her hand.
“I’ll tell you later.” She shivered. The dark rock walls were closing in, robbing her of air. All she wanted was to complete the business at hand and leave.
“Right up here is the support beam that failed.” She pointed to the bent metal pole at her feet. “Zook’s partner stepped around the corner up there.”
Inspecting the repairs, she noticed the new beam, but the area still held several large rocks lying against the tunnel walls. She took a mental note to mention the oversight to Upton.
Stihl stood a few legs-lengths away. He stepped off the distance from the beam to the bend in the tunnel.
“Do you think Zook’s partner could’ve seen something?” She wondered out loud.
“No, it’s just lucky he wasn’t hurt too.”
The depressing thought of two men dying at the site increased the pounding beat of her heart. Old fears gripped her nerves, and she bit her tongue to keep herself from crying out. All her childhood nightmares of cave-ins crashed over her senses.
The dark tunnel walls slid closer. She stepped back. The smell of blood tickled her nose and turned her stomach. Dark images raced through her mind. I’m an adult. Silly little dreams don’t scare me. She turned and hurried down the path to the entrance, leaving Stihl behind.
“Marohka, wait up.” He rushed up beside her and grabbed her hand to draw her to a stop.
She gulped down a quick breath. The dank air sat heavy in her lungs, smothering her with fear. Her heart raced. She wrapped her arm around his and pushed him forward. “Stihl, let’s get out of here first so I can tell the men they can get back to work.”
“All right.” He matched her steps.
With the exit in sight, Marohka slowed her stride. “I’m heading off to talk to Gang right now. I’ll meet you back by the jet in a few itons.”
She left him standing by the exit. The men loitering around the opening cleared a path, and she walked to the foreman. “I found where we got off course. I marked the place. You should start digging there.” She stopped by Gang’s side. “There must be a problem with the reports. I’ll go over them when I get back to camp. But for now, let’s start on a new tunnel.”
“Right.” He turned to the men. “Boys, it’s back to work.”
As the miners filed past her, their whispered snippets fell on her ears.
“. . . bewitches the rock.”
“Wish the walls would . . .”
“Has the touch.”
The men liked to talk about her ability. The rumors claimed she possessed mystical powers. She didn’t care what they said as long as the mine got back on track.
“I want ‘two sun’ teams digging a new tunnel. We should hit qualtrilium in the next few zitons.” She smiled at Gang. “Let’s see if we can get the mine to cough up some of its riches.”
“I’ll let you know our progress,” he promised and turned to carry out her orders.
Letting him deal with the details, she walked back to Stihl. He stood next to Cyd talking to some of the other miners. Their voices dropped when they saw her.
“You ready to go?”
The guilt on their faces confirmed her assumption of them talking about her, but she didn’t pursue the issue.
“Whenever you are.” Stihl slid his arm around her waist and led her to his jet. “Cyd, we’ll meet you back at the camp. I want to show Marohka a special spot I found earlier.”
Cyd nodded, boarded his scooter, and took off in the direction of the camp.
Chapter Thirteen
Unlike the valley below, the rough landscape held no sign of spring waiting around the corner. Here the wind blew frigid air against her skin. In the distance, the mountains still showed snow on their peaks. The chilly temperature didn’t foster a desire from her for a scenic side trip.
Marohka shifted her vision from the gray, dreary plateau stretched out in front of her to Stihl. He sat on his glider. “There’s not a rock, tree, or mountain around here I haven’t seen. What’s up?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he helped her onto the jet.
The scooter sped down the path Cyd had traveled for a few hundred leg-lengths before Stihl changed course. He turned, maneuvered around a bend past a number of large boulders, and stopped next to a little stream.
The engine died. He stepped off the jet and held out his hand. “I thought I’d find a secluded spot so you could tell me what happened back there.”
“Are you talking about in the mine?” She walked to the water. Gravel crunched loudly under her feet. She leaned against a large rock and stared at the purple, pink, and orange stones in the riverbed. During rain season, this whole area stood under water.
“Yes.”
“You mean the part about me not using the measurement tools, right?” she asked in case he’d noticed how nervous she’d gotten about being in the mine.
“Yes.”
“I’m a witch. Or didn’t you hear? The men all say I can talk to rocks.” In jest, she turned to the rock. “Mr. Rock, tell me your secrets.”
“Marohka.” His voice held a stern quality. He walked behind her, cupped her shoulders, and turned her around. “Tell me how you did it.”
What could she say? Would he laugh or even believe her? She lacked the courage to find out.
“Stihl, a woman has a right to her little secrets.”
His hands dropped to his sides. His whole body poised for action. He didn’t move. His gaze hit her like picks. He waited, waited for her to tell him what he wanted to know.
“You won’t understand.” She longed for him to drop the matter.
His hand touched her cheek. His rough glove brushed over her cold face. “Why can’t you tell me?”
He’d never understand. Drawing in a deep breath, she gathered her strength. “I hear the chatter of armidiggos.”
“Arm-i-dingos?
With a sigh, she repeated, “No, arm-i-dig-goes.”
Marohka drew her face away from his hand. It hurt too much to have him touching her, especially when he’d reject her soon. She stepped back, but she couldn’t move more than a zit away. The boulder behind her blocked her escape.
He stepped forward and trapped her against the rock. His arms circled her waist. “Go on.”
She stared at the black coat one of the men let him borrow. “It’s a small animal which lives near qualtrilium. I track their movements, so I can determine how close we are to the ore.”
She focused on his strong features. His thick biceps tightened under her hands. She waited for him to shift away or for his expression to change. “They’re unable to burrow through the qualtrilium, but they like the rock around it. That’s how I knew where we needed to dig.”
“How do you track them?” His c
hest caressed her breasts.
“I hear them in my head.” She slid her hands to his shoulders. A well-placed knee could still save her, if he decided to laugh. “I recognize the markings for their tunnels. If you walk through the mine without any light, you can hear the sound of their claws twittering. They like complete darkness.”
A twinkle lit his brown eyes. She shuffled her feet into a better position, just in case.
