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10
With statehood officially settled and the celebration more than a week behind them, everyone seemed to fall into a routine. Diego got up every morning and made his way to the meeting hall to have breakfast. After this, he headed into the mine as the whistle blew the top of the hour. At noon, another whistle blew, and they stopped for lunch. At six, the whistle blew again and the shift changed, and Diego was free to go home or wherever else he desired. The trouble was there was nothing here he desired. The idea of waiting an entire year while doing hard labor was quickly losing what little appeal it once had.
Diego looked at his torn and bleeding hands and cursed. These were not the hands of a gentleman but a common laborer, something he had never intended to be. Worse still, his father wasn’t even here to see his efforts. Mr. Garcia had no doubt written to Father and told him all about it, so Diego was doing his best to look productive, but it wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t have to prove himself at all.
He pulled on his work gloves and went on with the backbreaking work of picking up ore. With each cart he filled, he thought of being that much closer to his end goal, but it washard to remember it would take an entire year of this kind of work before Garcia would consider him worthy enough to court Isabella. In the meantime, he was hardly allowed to see her, and he knew better than to seek out others for female companionship. Garcia seemed to have spies everywhere.
“Don’t forget to stop by the office and pick up your pay, Morales,” Mr. Briggs said as he watched what Diego was doing. “It’s payday.”
“Sounds good to me. Where does everybody go to celebrate?”
“You’d have to talk to the boys to figure that out. I go home at the end of the week. My wife and children are celebration enough for me.” Briggs turned and walked away without another word.
Diego hated his supervisor. He had tried to be friendly with him, but Briggs would have no part of it.
One of his fellow workers came alongside him. “There’s a great bar we go to on the far side of town called El Conejo Enojado—The Angry Rabbit. Most folks just call it Conejo’s. The beer is cheap and the food, good. You’re welcome to join us tonight.”
Diego nodded. “Thanks, Rudy. I’d like that.”
“We’d better get back to work, or we won’t have a job for long.” Rudy went back to his place and left Diego to his work loading rock.
Diego wished he’d proposed to Isabella long ago. He wished he’dmarriedher years ago. If he’d done that, her father would be giving him a better job than this. No doubt this was to humble him and make him more mindful of the good fortune his position in life had brought him, but Diego already appreciated his position. That was why he resented being forced to work like a peon.
The longer he thought on it, the angrier he grew. Hewanted very much to put Daniel Garcia in his place. The memory of Josephina Garcia just before she fell down the stairs flashed through his mind. She knew the truth about him, and so did her brother. Hopefully, Daniel would soon follow her in death. After all, once Daniel Garcia was gone, he could no longer dictate the course of their lives.
“On Monday I want you to get down to Engle and work on what additional tracks are needed for the new dam,” the superintendent declared. “I have word from the construction supervisor that they’re nearing completion of the track from Engle to the dam site. We have railcars full of supplies waiting to ship.”
Aaron looked at the map he’d just placed on the table while the superintendent continued.
“As best I can tell from his letter, they’ve laid track to this location.” He pointed, and Aaron took note.
“When do you want me to go down?”
“Right away. There was some talk of additional track being laid, and I need a detailed outline of what they have in mind. When you have that figured out, I want you to go to Silver Veil and talk to Daniel Garcia about the new town idea, since you didn’t get far when you were down there after New Year’s.”
“He’s dying, and his health continues to diminish. I’m not sure we’ll convince him to start anything new. Frankly, it might be best to wait and see what happens.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well...” Aaron hesitated. He’d never shared Garcia’s desires with the superintendent for fear he would demand Aaron agree to them.
“Get on with it, man. I haven’t got all day.”
Aaron drew a deep breath. “Garcia wants me to quit my job for the Santa Fe and work for him. He wants me to take over managing his affairs.”
The older man stared at him for a moment and then smiled. “But don’t you see, that’s perfect! If you’re in charge, you could set things in motion for building the town.”
“I know, but it would mean leaving my job with the Santa Fe.”
“We could arrange something. I could give you a leave of absence. Or you could continue to work for the Santa Fe from Silver Veil.”
Aaron shook his head. “I would have far too much to do for Garcia. I doubt I would have time for anything else.”
“Well, that would be fine too. He has a lot of land and money and plenty of business with the Santa Fe. Let me talk to management, but I think we can spare you. It would be worth it to have a man like you managing Garcia’s money and stock. I think you should take his offer. In the long run you could really benefit the Santa Fe.”
“I’ll continue to think about it, sir. However, if I do what Daniel Garcia wants, my focus would be benefitting Mrs. Garcia and her daughter, not the Santa Fe.”
“Why don’t you make your way to Silver Veil and see what all Garcia would expect of you? Perhaps if you knew the details of the job, you’d find it more appealing. I don’t see this as an opportunity we can let go by the wayside.”
