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When the noise and dust settled, no one was harmed, and the tunnel was ready for the miners to get to work clearing away the debris.
“Hey, Ike wants to see both of you,” a young man named Billy said as he hurried toward them.
“Wonder what that’s about?” Theo asked as they made their way to the elevator cage that would take them back up to the surface.
Rena closed her eyes and held her breath as the cage carried them up through the mine. She hated the weightless feeling it created in her stomach almost as much as she detested being deep in the mine. The lack of fresh air, the heat, and stillness, not to mention the consuming darkness, left her jittery every time they went into it.
Despite how much she detested it, she kept her hands steady and did her job flawlessly. Her life, Theo’s life, and the lives of so many others depended on her ability to execute each task with precision, not panic.
Once they reached the top and stepped outside, Rena stopped and inhaled a deep breath, letting the sun rest on her face for a moment before she followed Theo to the mine’s office.
The camp had an assay office, a medical building, a company store, the cookshack, the building where they kept dynamite and blasting equipment, a large barn and four corrals, a wagon shed, and a warehouse building where machinery and supplies were kept. Cade’s cabin, Ike’s cabin, and a long bunkhouse, where the miners who lived at the Gilded Pine slept, rounded out the rest of the buildings. About a quarter mile down the hill from the mine, the two sisters who worked there had their own place that looked more like a cottage from a fairy tale.
As Rena and Theo walked past the hulking building where the ore was processed and the gold refined from it, the noise was deafening. The boilers that powered the mill belched steam into the blue sky, adding to the discordant cacophony around them.
Grateful when they reached the office and the noise lessened, Rena walked inside and waited as Theo joined her.
Ike looked up from a stack of papers he was going through at his desk and stood. “Good. I’m glad Billy found you. There’s a load of dynamite ready to be picked up in Baker City. I want the two of you on the afternoon train. I already arranged for your tickets and to have the wagon and team transported. It will save two days that way. As you know, time is money. Today is Wednesday. If you make good time, you should be back late Friday afternoon, otherwise, we’ll see you on Saturday. Don’t blow yourselves up. The boss said you get double pay for hauling it up here. There’s a five-dollar bonus for each of you if you make it back before noon on Friday.”
Rena’s mind latched onto the words “double pay” and “bonus.” A grin stretched her cheeks. “We’ll do our best, sir, to return in one piece.”
“Good. I don’t like the thought of gathering up pieces of you two, the wagon, or the team. The train tickets will be at the depot in Holiday. Just ask for Mr. Masters. See you Friday.”
With that, Ike returned to his paperwork.
Rena strode outside and glanced at her cousin as he fell into step beside her. “Will we have time to clean up before we board the train?”
“If we hurry. I’ll hitch the team while you get Scout and Thomas. No need to leave them up here eating company feed while we’re gone. If you want to ride ahead and ask Mr. Findley to milk the cow and feed the chickens, that would be a big help.”
“Sure, Theo. I’ll do that.” Rena saddled Scout and Thomas, then took the mule’s reins in her hands and swung onto the horse’s back. She waved at Theo as he hitched a team of four horses to one of the hulking wagons, then she rode out of camp down the hill.
She stopped at the nearest neighbor’s place and asked the older man if he could take care of the livestock for the next two days. He promised to have his son see to the chores, and wished her well when he learned the reason for the trip was to haul back a load of dynamite.
Rena nudged Thomas into a trot and was soon at the cabin. She made sure he and Scout were settled in their stalls with plenty of feed and water before she raced into the cabin and got what she needed to take a quick bath in the creek.
As filthy as she was from being in the mine, she took time to wash her hair before she climbed out and dressed in her best clothes. She tucked a change of work clothes for each of them into a bag, along with her hairbrush, toothbrush, and a jar of toothpowder.
“I’m going to get a bath,” Theo called as he dashed into the cabin and grabbed soap, a towel, and the clothes she’d left out for him on his bed.
Before she could answer, he’d returned outside to the creek. Rena was thankful they didn’t have to haul water for bathing every night. They each took turns at the end of the day at the creek cleaning up and washing away the grime and sweat accumulated at the mine.
Rena styled her hair, spending a few extra moments to arrange loose tendrils into finger curls, then pulled on the jacket that had belonged to her in a happier time. She might not look like a lady in her trousers, but no one could deem her attire improper.
She took several coins from the leather purse she’d hidden in the toe of an old sock in her dresser and stuffed them deep in her trouser pocket; then she pinned the pocket shut for good measure. The last thing she needed was a pickpocket stealing her hard-earned money from her.
When she’d sold the farm where she’d been raised and many of the belongings she couldn’t keep, she’d known that money would have to last her a good while. She’d been frugal with it. The only extravagance had been the train fare from Denver to Baker City. Now that she was making good money at the mine, she had a short list of a few luxuries she intended to purchase if they had time once they reached Baker City.
Rena grabbed her father’s old hat and stuffed it into the bag she’d packed, then hastened to make a lunch she and Theo could eat on the short drive into Holiday.
“Now I feel like I’m fit company for my fellow passengers on the train,” Theo said as he hurried inside with his dirty clothes rolled into a bundle. He tossed them in a large basket Rena kept by the door for laundry, then combed his hair and gathered a few things.
“Extra clothes?” he asked, pointing to the bag she held.
“Yes, a change of work clothes for each of us, and I made a lunch we could eat on the way to the depot.”
“Great. I think we have plenty of time to catch the train, but I don’t want to miss it. Let’s be on our way.” Theo looked around the cabin, as though he needed to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything important, then followed Rena outside. She tossed the travel bag in the back of the wagon, then climbed up to the high seat with the basket of food draped over her arm.
“Did you talk to Mr. Findley?” Theo asked as he released the brake and snapped the lines that set the horses and heavy wagon into motion.
