Chapter 3 - The Ledger Under the Floor
They returned to Black Ridge before midnight.
Getting Amos down the mountain took five hours.
Bessie did most of the pulling.
Nobody joked about her weight.
Nobody complained she was slow.
By the time the camp appeared through the snow, Silas was limping and Amos had lost consciousness twice.
Bessie's gloves had split.
Blood seeped through the wool from both palms.
She kept pulling.
At the edge of camp, three miners ran toward them.
Tom helped Silas.
Two others reached for Amos.
Bessie refused to release the rope until they had him inside the infirmary.
Only then did her knees give way.
She sat heavily on the floor.
Dr. Henry Tate cut away Amos's bandage.
The doctor was seventy if he was a day, with a permanently irritated expression and the gentleness of a man who disliked anyone noticing he possessed it.
He examined Amos's leg.
"Bone's cracked."
Bessie leaned forward.
"Can you save it?"
Henry glared.
"I'd prefer to save the whole man."
"Can you?"
"If everyone stops asking questions."
Silas touched Bessie's shoulder.
"Come."
"I'm staying."
"He needs surgery."
"I'm staying."
Henry pointed toward the door.
"No, you're not."
Bessie stared at him.
"Doctor—"
"Out."
Bessie looked at Amos.
His eyes opened.
"Bess."
She moved to him.
He whispered, "Cabin."
"What?"
"Floor."
Then Henry pushed her away.
Outside, Bessie repeated the word to Silas.
"Floor."
Silas understood.
"The ledger."
They hurried toward Amos and Bessie's cabin.
The door was open.
Bessie stopped.
She had locked it that morning.
Silas raised his rifle.
Inside, drawers had been emptied.
Mattress cut open.
Cupboards searched.
Even Bessie's flour bins had been dumped across the floor.
She stared at the destruction.
Someone had gone through everything.
Silas shut the door.
"Where?"
Bessie thought.
Amos had said floor.
But which floorboard?
The cabin had dozens.
She moved toward the stove.
Nothing.
Bedroom.
Nothing.
Then she remembered something.
Three weeks earlier Amos had repaired a loose board beneath the kitchen table.
He had insisted on doing it immediately.
At the time, Bessie had teased him.
"Afraid I'll fall through?"
Amos had looked too serious.
Now she understood.
She moved the table.
One plank had newer nails.
Silas pried it up.
A wrapped package sat beneath.
Bessie exhaled.
Inside was a narrow ledger.
Company property.
She opened it.
Dates.
Loads.
Weights.
Names.
Payments.
Silas looked over her shoulder.
"These aren't official shipments."
"No."
Dozens of silver loads had left Black Ridge without being recorded in company accounts.
Someone had been stealing from the mine.
For months.
Maybe years.
Bessie turned pages.
One name appeared repeatedly.
N. Pike.
Another appeared beside several late-night shipments.
E. Hobbs.
Her heart sank.
"Earl."
Silas said nothing.
"He knew because he was helping Pike."
"Looks that way."
"But Amos trusted him."
"Maybe Earl changed his mind."
"Or maybe he was the man in the trees."
Silas studied the dates.
"Wait."
He pointed.
Near the bottom of one page, Amos had written a note.
Saw Pike and Hobbs divert shipment. December 3.
Then another.
Hobbs says he wants out.
Bessie looked at Silas.
"He wanted out."
"That may be why he's missing."
A knock sounded.
Both froze.
Silas raised his rifle.
"Who?"
"It's Henry."
Bessie opened the door.
The doctor's face told her something was wrong.
"Amos?"
"Alive."
She breathed again.
"Then what?"
"Someone came into the infirmary while I was operating."
Silas stepped forward.
"Who?"
"Didn't see."
"What happened?"
"Medicine cabinet was opened."
Bessie stared.
"Anything taken?"
Henry nodded.
"Laudanum."
Silas swore.
"Enough to kill?"
"Half the camp."
Bessie's skin went cold.
"Amos?"
"Still unconscious."
She shoved past Henry.
They reached the infirmary minutes later.
Amos lay pale but breathing.
Bessie sat beside him until sunrise.
By morning the storm had closed every road out of Black Ridge.
No telegraph.
No stagecoach.
No law.
No help.
And somewhere in camp, someone had stolen enough poison to kill a man without leaving an obvious wound.
Amos woke near noon.
Bessie was holding his hand.
His first words were, "Ledger?"
"Safe."
He relaxed slightly.
"Silas?"
"Reading it."
Amos tried to rise.
Pain stopped him.
Bessie pushed him down.
"No."
"They'll come for it."
"Then they'll meet me."
Amos almost smiled.
"You sound frightening."
"I am frightening."
"True."
She lowered her voice.
"Earl's in the book."
Amos nodded.
"But he wanted out."
"Why?"
"He told me Pike had gone too far."
"Stealing?"
"Worse."
Amos stared at the ceiling.
"Two miners died last spring."
Bessie remembered.
A tunnel collapse.
Declared accidental.
"You're saying Pike caused it?"
"Hobbs said Pike ordered unsafe blasting to open a shortcut."
"Why?"
"Silver pocket."
Bessie swallowed.
"And Pike covered it up."
"Paid Earl to keep quiet."
"Then why did Earl help with the shipments?"
"Fear. Money. Maybe both."
"Until now."
Amos looked at her.
"Until Pike told him to cut the support beams."
Bessie's breath caught.
"Earl did it?"
"He told me he refused."
"When?"
"Yesterday morning."
"Then who cut them?"
Amos shook his head.
"I don't know."
Silas entered carrying the ledger.
"Maybe I do."
He set it down.
"There's another name."
He opened the book to the back.
Most pages recorded shipments.
The final page contained payments.
Initials only.
N.P.
E.H.
And H.T.
Bessie stared.
"H.T.?"
Silas looked toward the hallway.
"Henry Tate."
Bessie stood.
"No."
"The doctor?"
"The entries go back two years."
"That doesn't mean—"
The door opened.
Henry entered.
He saw the ledger.
Stopped.
Silas raised his rifle.
Henry's eyes hardened.
"So you found it."
Bessie stepped between him and Amos.
"Explain."
Henry closed the door.
"I treated the men Pike injured."
"You're in his books."
"Because I took his money."
Bessie stared.
"For what?"
"Silence."
Silas moved closer.
"You let him kill men?"
"No."
Henry's voice sharpened.
"I used his money to keep their widows fed."
"That's supposed to make it right?"
"No."
For the first time, Henry looked old.
"It means I was a coward."
Bessie studied him.
"Did you take the laudanum?"
"No."
"Can you prove it?"
"No."
Silas kept his rifle up.
Henry looked at Amos.
"But if someone means to poison him, they're running out of time."
"Why?"
"Because Pike knows this storm won't last forever."
A bell rang outside.
Once.
Twice.
Then continuously.
The mine alarm.
Silas ran to the window.
Men were rushing toward the center of camp.
Bessie saw smoke.
Not from a chimney.
From the company office.
"The records," Amos whispered.
Silas opened the door.
Bessie followed him outside.
The office was burning.
Miners threw buckets of snow through shattered windows.
Superintendent Pike stood in the road shouting orders.
His expensive coat was buttoned to the throat.
Every brass eagle button was still attached.
Except one.
Bessie reached into her pocket.
She still had the button from the mountain.
Pike looked across the crowd.
His eyes found hers.
Then moved to Silas.
Then to the ledger in Silas's hand.
For one second, his expression broke.
He knew.
Bessie saw it.
Pike turned toward the miners.
"Silas Crane started this fire!"
The entire camp went silent.
Pike pointed directly at Bessie.
"And that woman has stolen company records."
Men began turning toward them.
Silas whispered, "Don't move."
Then a rifle cocked behind Bessie.
May you like
A voice she knew said quietly:
"Give me the ledger..."
