Chapter 4 - The Man Who Came Back
Bessie turned slowly.
Earl Hobbs stood behind her.
Blood streaked the side of his face.
His left arm hung uselessly.
But the rifle in his right hand was steady.
For one terrible moment Bessie thought Amos had been wrong.
Then Earl moved the barrel away from her and pointed it at Pike.
"Give me the ledger," he repeated.
Pike's face went white.
Not Bessie.
Pike.
Earl took another step.
"The one you keep in your safe."
The miners murmured.
Pike recovered quickly.
"This man is delirious."
Earl laughed.
"Funny. I got less delirious after you stopped hitting me."
He looked at the crowd.
"Pike's got a second book."
Silas stared.
"Another ledger?"
"Names. Buyers. Bribes."
Pike raised both hands.
"This is absurd."
Earl looked at Bessie.
"Button."
She took the brass eagle from her pocket.
Earl nodded.
"Came off his coat when he jumped me."
Every eye moved toward Pike's jacket.
One missing button.
Pike looked down too late.
The camp changed.
Not dramatically.
Nobody charged him.
Nobody shouted.
Men simply stepped away from him.
That was worse.
Pike saw it.
"You're taking the word of a thief?"
Earl nodded.
"Yeah. You should. Takes one to know one."
He lowered the rifle slightly.
"I helped him."
Bessie heard gasps.
Earl continued.
"Moved silver. Falsified weights. Took money."
He looked sick.
"I told myself Pike would do it anyway."
Silas said, "And the supports?"
Earl's face changed.
"No."
"You were ordered."
"Yes."
"You refused?"
"I did."
Pike laughed.
"Convenient."
Earl turned.
"Tell them who did it."
Pike said nothing.
Earl raised the rifle again.
"Tell them."
The mine bell suddenly stopped.
For two seconds there was perfect silence.
Then a deep crack came from above the camp.
Amos had described the mountain feeling wrong.
Now everyone felt it.
The sound rolled through the valley.
Silas shouted, "Move!"
Snow broke from the southern slope.
Not a full avalanche.
A heavy slide.
Enough.
It hit the supply sheds first.
Wood exploded.
Men ran.
Bessie saw two children standing frozen near the boardinghouse.
She didn't think.
She ran.
She grabbed one child under each arm and threw herself behind a stone trough.
Snow and splintered boards rushed past.
Someone screamed.
Someone disappeared.
The slide lasted perhaps twenty seconds.
It felt like twenty minutes.
When the snow stopped, Bessie pushed herself upright.
Both children were crying.
Alive.
Their mother ran toward them.
Bessie handed them over.
Then she remembered Amos.
She turned toward the infirmary.
Half the roof had collapsed.
"Amos!"
She ran.
Silas was already digging.
Earl joined him.
So did men who had mocked Bessie at her wedding.
Nobody needed instructions.
They tore through snow and wood.
Bessie lifted a beam two men could barely move.
Adrenaline erased pain.
They found Henry first.
His leg trapped.
Alive.
Then Amos.
His bed had tipped sideways.
A roof timber had fallen inches from his chest.
Bessie crawled through the opening.
"Amos."
His eyes opened.
"Starting to dislike this mountain."
She laughed despite everything.
"Can you move?"
"Not elegantly."
She wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Good. I married you for your personality."
He grimaced as she pulled him free.
Outside, Pike was gone.
So was the company safe.
Earl saw the empty office.
"Damn him."
Silas turned.
"He took it?"
"Second ledger's inside."
"Where would he go?"
Earl looked toward the north trail.
"Old assay cabin."
The storm had weakened.
But darkness was coming.
Silas shook his head.
"We can't chase him."
Earl grabbed his coat.
"I can."
"With one arm?"
"Better than none."
Bessie spoke.
"No."
They looked at her.
"We don't chase Pike."
Earl stared.
"Then he walks away with proof."
"He can't cross the pass tonight."
"How do you know?"
"Because Amos tried yesterday."
Amos leaned against the wall.
Bessie continued.
"Pike has two choices. Hide until the road opens or use one of the old mining trails."
Silas understood.
"South tunnel."
Earl nodded.
"The abandoned shaft comes out beyond the ridge."
Amos swore.
Bessie looked at him.
"What?"
"Explosives."
Silas's expression hardened.
"What explosives?"
"Old blasting powder stored inside the south tunnel."
Earl went pale.
"If Pike reaches it—"
"He can seal the entrance behind him."
"Or bury the whole camp."
They looked uphill.
Black Ridge had been built beneath a maze of abandoned shafts.
Nobody knew which were stable.
A blast in the wrong place could collapse half the mountain.
Silas started gathering men.
Amos tried to stand.
Bessie blocked him.
"No."
"Bess."
"You have a broken leg."
"Pike knows those tunnels."
"So does Silas."
"Pike has a gun."
"So do twenty angry miners."
Amos lowered his voice.
"He knows about you."
Bessie frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Amos looked around.
"Pike asked me about you before the collapse."
Her stomach tightened.
"What did he say?"
"He asked whether I'd leave Black Ridge if something happened to you."
Bessie stared.
"Why?"
"I thought it was a threat."
"And now?"
Amos hesitated.
"Now I think he was trying to find out how much I knew."
"About the silver?"
"About something else."
"What?"
Amos looked toward the ruined kitchen.
"Bessie's Kitchen account book."
She blinked.
"My what?"
"You keep records."
"Food."
"Everything."
Bessie began to understand.
She recorded which crews ate meals.
When they left.
When they returned.
Who collected extra rations.
Which wagons arrived late.
Without realizing it, Bessie had created a daily record of activity in Black Ridge.
Two years of it.
Dates.
Names.
Times.
If silver wagons moved at night, her books might prove when.
Earl stared at her.
"Pike knows?"
"Maybe."
Bessie ran toward the kitchen.
The building had survived the slide.
Inside, pans covered the floor.
Shelves had fallen.
She went straight to the drawer beside the stove.
Empty.
Her account books were gone.
Someone had taken them.
Silas entered behind her.
"Pike?"
Bessie shook her head.
"He didn't have time."
They heard a groan.
From the pantry.
Silas opened the door.
A man fell forward.
Tom Ellis.
One of the miners who had brought Caleb down the mountain.
His forehead was bleeding.
Bessie knelt.
"Tom?"
He opened his eyes.
"Man came in."
"Who?"
"Looking for your books."
"Was it Pike?"
Tom shook his head.
"No."
Bessie leaned closer.
"Who?"
Before Tom could answer, the back door creaked.
Silas raised his rifle.
Amos's crutch tapped behind them.
Then a familiar older voice came from the doorway.
"You shouldn't have kept such careful records, Bessie."
Bessie turned.
Dr. Henry Tate stood there.
May you like
In one hand was her kitchen ledger.
In the other was a pistol...
