Wanted: Engineer (Silverpines Series Book 11)

by George H. McVey

  “He’s Mister Ryder’s Mining Engineer.”

  “Isn’t that interesting, and just when you were advertising for a husband that does that very thing.”

  “Yes, Miss Edith.”

  “Well then it isn’t polite to keep a caller waiting, dear. You get yourself on down to the train depot and make sure your young man makes time to come speak to Ethel and me.”

  Maude blushed and smiled. “Yes, Miss Edith.”

  She hurried out of the house before the two loving but eccentric sisters decided to accompany her. Maude turned the corner to head toward the train depot wanting to be one of the first things Jeremiah saw when he got off the train. But what she saw up the street froze her in her steps. Several men were erecting a fence of some sort around the mine site. She squared her shoulders. She was Betsy’s representative when it came to the mine and she knew who these men were and that they had no right to be doing what they were doing. It was time to put a stop to this. She marched up to the man putting up a fence post. “Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?”

  The man looked at her. It was obvious he’d been hired for his tough looks and the gun on his belt. “What’s it look like?”

  “It looks like you’re trespassing on private property and putting a fence around the property.”

  “Well you’re partly right, I’m putting up a fence.”

  “Stop it this instant. I know for a fact that the owner hasn’t authorized a fence to be put around the property.”

  “I don’t know about that, Miss. All I know is I was told by my boss to put up a fence and keep people out and that’s what I’m doing.”

  “Go get this boss, I demand to speak to him.”

  The man looked her up and down in a way that made Maude feel dirty and in need of another bath. He then looked over his shoulder and yelled in the direction of the heavyset man she’d seen yesterday in the shiny buggy. “Hey Boss, this lady wants to talk to you.”

  The man walked toward her, and Maude got her first good look at him. He was tall and a bit wide, his stomach round like someone who enjoyed rich foods often and to excess. His hair was long and greasy with obviously too much pomade in it, plastering it to his head and making it look oily. The skin on his face, on the other hand, was gaunt and almost skeletal. Pale and pockmarked he had dark almost black eyes and a scar on the edge of his right cheek starting at his ear and ending at the corner of his mouth. Contrary to how his hair looked, his mustache was waxed and curled up with great care and his beard, a long pointed well-waxed goatee, made him look a bit like a picture of the devil Maude had seen in a Bible once. He too looked her over like she was wearing nothing, only his look made her feel as oily as his hair and skin looked. “What can I do for such a lovely lady this fine day?”

  “You can stop is what you can do.”

  “I’m sorry but that I cannot do. I’ve been authorized to prepare to reopen this mine and that’s what I’m going to do.”

  “Under whose authority were you authorized? Not the owner’s, as I’m her duly appointed representative for the mine at this time, and I was told nothing of this authorization.”

  The man chuckled at her. “I was authorized by the man whom your Mrs. Sewell owes money to. He has a lien against this mine until such time as he’s been paid, and I’ve been tasked to ensure he gets his full investment back as fast as possible.”

  “I must insist that you stop until such time as Mrs. Sewell has been shown this lien.”

  The man stepped too close and she caught a cloying scent of dead flowers and sour sweat. His heavy wool vest and suit jacket doing him a disservice in the unseasonably warm weather. “Now, you must be my prize. I was told that a young woman had been given as an incentive to get a man to take the job as Engineer. If you, as you say, are the owner’s representative that makes you my prize. I believe I’d like a taste of what I’m being offered. His hand struck as quick as a timber rattler and held her elbow in his grip. He drew her against her will and strength up against his body and wrapped his other arm around her waist. Maud gasped and released her parasol to slap his face, but his other hand released her elbow and grabbed her hand, forcing it down to her side. “Oh, you have a little bit of fight in you. I like that!”

  Maude struggled to get away from his clutch. “Unhand me this instant!”

  From behind her and slightly to her right came a deep bass voice that sent shivers through her spine. “You heard the lady. Let her go.”

  Jeremiah had debated dressing up, but as he’d risen, Nathan knocked on the door. “I know you want to impress your young lady. However, I’m feeling strongly you should dress in your everyday work wear and let her be the one to shine today. Feels like we might have work to do soon as we arrive.”

  “How long is that?”

  “Long enough for you to dress, strap on your Colt and make sure it’s loaded, and eat a bite.”

  So he had put on a simple canvas shirt and pair of dungarees. He tucked them into his boots and then strapped on his Colt after checking that it was indeed loaded. He made sure his hair was neatly combed and used his scissors to make sure his beard and mustache were trimmed close but neat like he preferred. Lastly, he took a soft brush out of his bag and gave the pale leather of his cowboy hat, the only concession to living in the west he’d adopted fully, a good brushing making sure it was clean and spotless.

  He entered the main room and sat the hat on the small side table. The Howard sisters’ deportment lessons still holding after all this time, reminding him a true ‘gentleman’ never wore his hat indoors. He smiled at the thought of seeing the old gals again. According to the letter Maude had sent him in response to his, they were even more eccentric than before.

  Nathan nodded when he sat down. “I know you want to catch up with your friends and spend time with your lady and I’ll let you do that a lot while we’re here, but I also need you at least part of today to explain to Mrs. Sewell exactly what you told me yesterday. About how this Lucius works and how you work.”

  Jeremiah nodded; he had agreed to keep working for Nathan. “Of course, Boss.”

  Nathan shook his head. “You know, until two days ago I always thought you were joking. But you don’t know, do you.”

  Jeremiah’s face showed his confusion. “Know what?”

  “That’s what I thought. I hadn’t realized it until we were talking yesterday. Jeremiah, you aren’t my employee.”

  “Yes I am.”

  “No, you aren’t, you’re my partner. Betsy’s too.”

  “What?!”

  “I’m going to guess after your pa died you were so upset you didn’t listen or pay attention to what Justin told you or the papers you signed, did you?”

  “Not really,” Jeremiah admitted. “I just assumed they were the terms of my employment.”

  “No, Jeremiah, they were your father’s shares in both Pike Mining Consortium and Goldtown Mines. You own part of Silverpines and part of Goldtown. That’s why your father followed Nugget Nate. Because they were partners in the mining business.”

  “But I’ve been paid a salary all this time.”

  Nathan shook his head. “No, you were paid a draw against your dividend. The rest was deposited into the same account it’s always been deposited into, an account right now worth about five hundred thousand dollars, Jeremiah.”

  Jeremiah sat his coffee cup on the table as he took in what he was told. “Five hundred thousand dollars?”

  “As of last quarter yes. It will go up again soon.”

  “So I’m part owner. And obviously wealthy.”

  “That you are. Truth is you wouldn’t have to work for a long time, if ever, and could live fairly well off.

  Nathan looked him in the eye. “Tell me this, Jeremiah Henderson, right now if you could do anything you wanted to do, what would it be?”

  Before he could start thinking Nathan shook his head. “Don’t think about it, just tell me the first thing that comes to mind.”

  �
�Court Maude, convince her to marry me, start a family.”

  “Would you work?”

  “I love what I do, Nathan, but…”

  Nathan smiled. “But it’s not where you want to do it.”

  “Exactly.”

  “You want to go home, marry your girl and reopen this mine, don’t you?”

  Jeremiah didn’t even need to think about it. “Yes, I do.”

  “Figured that. I had Bart crate the rest of your things and they’ll be on the next train. Your assistant’s already been promoted and all you have to do is sign this piece of paper authorizing Justin to act as your attorney and he’ll have your bank accounts transferred by armored security to the Silverpines Bank. Let’s take care of business and then you live the life you want, Jeremiah.”

  “If she’ll have me.”

  “That I can’t help you with. But I can tell you what worked for me. I loved Grace with all my heart and she responded.” Nathan shrugged. “Wouldn’t hurt if you could romance her and find a way to be her hero either. Speaking of which, soon as we stop you need to go straight down Main Street to the mine. Your girl’s gonna be in a bit of trouble.” Nathan held up his hand “Don’t ask, it’s a Callin’, and I’m only supposed to back you up. Go save your girl and then woo her. Oh, and be nice to the two old ladies, they are still important to her.”

  Jeremiah laughed. “That last one I knew.”

  Just then the train blasted the special whistle that told a station to get ready to uncouple Nathan’s cars from the train. Jeremiah moved outside to the platform rail ready to spring onto the depot platform the minute they slowed enough. When the grab of the brakes to slow the train started to let up he vaulted onto the depot platform and took off at a fast walk after setting his Stetson onto his head. If Nathan said his girl needed him, then his girl needed him.

  He got to the mine and saw a large fat man grab a woman in stunning blue and white and saw her struggling to get away. Instinctually Jeremiah knew it was Maude. Her dark chestnut hair was falling down her back. Then he saw her try to slap the man and he captured her hand and with a cold smile said. “Oh, you have a little bit of fight in you. I like that!”

  He was close enough now that he could see Maude struggling to get loose as the man pulled her body flush against his in an obscene way. “Unhand me this instant!”

  The man chuckled. Jeremiah saw red and his hand moved smoothly to his holster and his Colt rose in his hand as he calmly stated, “You heard the lady. Let. Her. Go.”

  The man looked at him and smirked. “What if I don’t?”

  Jeremiah very deliberately pulled the hammer back, cocking the Colt 45. “Then mister, I’m going to put a bullet in the middle of that fat chest of yours, and this close I couldn’t possibly miss.”

  The man turned red with anger. “Then these men would fill you so full of lead they wouldn’t be able to pick you up with a shovel.”

  Jeremiah nodded once. “That’s probably true but it won’t matter to you, will it? Because by the time all those bullets you predict stop flying at me, it will be too late for a doctor to help you. Dead is dead.”

  The man made a show of taking his hands off of Maude. “Miss, you okay?”

  “I am now, yes.”

  “Good; would you mind coming and standing behind me then, out of the way?”

  Maude looked at him confused and his heart raced. She was beautiful. Without a word she did as he said. He kept his Colt pointed at the man in front of him. “I’m gonna assume you’re Lucius Fagan?”

  “That’s right, who are you?”

  “I’m a representative of two of the three owners of this mine. You aren’t authorized to start work so take your men and get.”

  “I don’t work for you. And representative or not, you aren’t authorized to tell me what to do.”

  Jeremiah would give the man this, he was smug in his confidence with an army behind him. Just as Jeremiah was ready to speak a voice came from his left. “No, but I do have the authority; do as he told you.”

  Jeremiah glanced and saw a large man with a badge on his chest approach, weapon drawn. Beside him, a bit further left, was Nathan carrying a rifle and a guy who could have passed for Nathan’s brother was beyond him. Nathan spoke next. “If you think he doesn’t, then I really do.” Nathan moved his coat back to show the badge of a U.S. Marshal.

  Lucius smirked. “Four against my men. You’d be dead before I could turn away.”

  “I wouldn’t bet on it, Mister. That’s Nathan Ryder,” the local lawman said.

  One of the gunmen’s hands twitched toward his holster and without even looking at him Nathan’s rifle swung to point at him. “I would move your hand away from that hogleg, son. I shoot you with this rifle it won’t even make you famous. Just dead.”

  The gun-hand slowly moved his hand away from his six-gun. “I’ve wired your boss, Mister Fagan, and explained to him that no work will be done until he comes and meets with the three owners of this mine. If he thinks you and your security force are going to scare me into doing what he wants, you and he are mistaken. Now get off my and Mrs. Sewell’s property before I have you arrested for trespassing.”

  Fagan’s face stayed angry red. He looked at Maude and licked his lips. “I’ll get my taste later.”

  Jeremiah quickly holstered his colt and moved up with a flying right fist, crashing into Lucius’s mouth, smashing and cutting his lip. “Well, not until that nasty split lip heals you won’t, will you? I suggest you learn the proper way to treat a lady, Mister Fagan, or I’ll have to continue to give you lessons in proper deportment.”

  The man spit blood at Jeremiah’s feet. “I’d watch my back if I were you, cowboy.”

  Jeremiah smiled. “Actually, I’m a Mining Engineer and if you keep insulting my fiancée you’re going to be the one who needs to watch his back.”

  Like the bully and coward he was, Lucius Fagan yelled at his men to pack up and go back to the hotel and then he slunk away. Jeremiah turned and looked at Maude. “Hello, my beautiful girl. I told you I’d be back to marry you some day.”

  She looked at him and then started to laugh. “Well, I hope you have that hundred dollars or the deal’s off!”

  “Oh Sweetheart, if you only knew!” Together they walked away arm in arm.

  Four

  Maude wished she’d been able to get Jeremiah alone for longer than the walk to Betsy’s and just talk with him but duty for both of them called. Mr. Ryder had quickly talked to Clay and made arrangements to meet his family later that afternoon. Then he had thanked Alexzander for his help as well before turning back to Jeremiah and Maude. “Mister Henderson, are you going to introduce me to your companion?”

  Her heart raced, and her knees felt a bit weak as Jeremiah smiled down at her. “Maude Jones, allow me to introduce you to Nathan Ryder, my friend and former employer. Nathan, Miss Maude Jones; childhood friend and the woman I intend to marry.”

  Maude blushed. “Jeremiah, you shouldn’t say such things.”

  He looked down at her, a twinkle in his eye. “Why? It’s true. Unless you tell me you don’t want me to court you or that you’re already married, that is exactly what I intend to do. Let there be no mistake here, Maude, I’ve come home for no other reason than to make you my wife.”

  She could see that he was serious. “I thought you came to reopen the mine.”

  Jeremiah nodded. “I will if that is what I’m asked to do but it was not my main reason for coming. The place I grew up was in trouble and the girl I left behind has become a beautiful woman. I always intended to return to you. Life just got in the way. That newspaper article reminded me of what I wanted and at the top of that list is a life with you.”

  Nathan laughed, reminding them both they were walking down the street and weren’t alone. “I’ll say this for you, Jeremiah Henderson, when you decide to do something there’s no halfway about it, is there? How about you two save that conversation for later. Right now, young lady, I need to meet your
friend and my other partner, Mrs. Sewell.”

  “Of course, Mister Ryder.”

  “It’s just Nathan, miss. Mister Ryder makes me feel old.”

  “Well then Nathan, I’m just Maude.”

  Nathan smiled. “Lead the way Maude, and let’s let Mrs. Sewell know what’s been going on at her mining enterprise.”

  “I for one am glad you’re here. I was worried that Willard Francis Lunsford man was going to keep pushing and Betsy was going to lose her baby. Doctor Richards told her she needs to take it easy.”

  “Hmm.” Nathan wasn’t as reassuring as Maude would have liked and she looked at Jeremiah. “We have to help her not become too stressed and keep this man from causing her to get sicker. It could be bad!”

  Jeremiah rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “Maude, I promise we’ll try to keep from upsetting her but we can’t let that man open the mine his way. It’s dangerous. You say Betsy needs to be less worried, but wouldn’t another disaster be more worry?”

  Maude gasped. “Don’t even say that in jest, Jeremiah, this town couldn’t handle another disaster like the last. Look around; we are better than we were but we still haven’t recovered from April.”

  “I’m not joking. I’ve seen the type of opening that this Mr. Lunsford and that Lucius Fagan are pushing for, it always leads to disaster. I’ll do what I can to help Betsy, but she has the largest stake in this mine. She has to be the one to decide how to open and I have to be the one to convince her to do it right.”

  Maude stopped the men at the Sewell house. “I’m going to need about an hour. She’s been confined so she won’t be dressed for company and she’ll insist on being dressed before she sees you both.”

  Jeremiah reached out and took Maude in his arms. “Stay inside with her okay? I don’t want you wandering around when I don’t know where that slimy Mister Fagan went. He’s not one to give up easy.”

  “Are you worried about me, Jeremiah? Did you forget who my guardians are?”

  “No, I haven’t forgotten about Miss Edith or Miss Ethel but we both know that if he grabs you on the street anything can happen. So please, Maude, stay here with Betsy until I can at least take you back to the Howard House.”