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She thought he asked if she could walk, and she put weight on both feet. Pain clawed up her leg to her back, but she ignored it and nodded her head, leaning on Theo for support.
Claude disappeared from view, which was for the best. By the time they made it outside the mine, Cade, Ike, and Harry were there, along with half the mining camp. Thankfully, the ringing in her ears was receding, and she could hear most of the conversations buzzing around her.
Cade strode over to them wearing a scowl. “What happened?” He looked from Theo to Rena, and she could see in his gaze he thought she’d done something wrong.
Theo looked around and tipped his head toward Claude as he sat on a stump a few feet away, picking his fingernails with the blade of a knife.
“He nearly got us all killed!” Theo pointed to Claude, then to Rena. “I told him to wait to detonate the charge, but he did it anyway. Rena got the worst of it, but there were several men who barely made it clear.”
Cade looked at Rena, then at his nephew. “Claude, would you care to explain your actions?”
“Aw, Uncle Cade, what’s it matter? They’re just a bunch of dumb ol’ miners. Nobody cares if they get blown to bits, especially her. She don’t belong at the mine anyway. Women like that should have a job at the Ruby Palace in town. I’d pay a day’s wages to take her upstairs and —”
Rena didn’t know what came over her. Whether it was the stress of handling the dynamite, nearly being blown to pieces by the idiot on the stump or Claude’s blatant disregard for everyone, but she closed the distance between them in two long strides, drew back her fist, and hit Claude so hard, he somersaulted off the back of the stump.
The miners around them cheered, although Theo looked disappointed that she was the one to knock Claude off his pedestal instead of him.
She turned to Cade and fisted her hands on her hips. “I’m not one bit sorry for doing that, sir, and if you want to fire me, go right ahead. I refuse to work with a spoiled, arrogant child who is endangering the lives of everyone here.”
“Well, Burke, to tell you the truth, if you hadn’t punched him in his pie hole, I might have done the job myself,” Cade said, striding over to his nephew and yanking him to his feet by the back of his collar. “Go home to your mama, Claude. If I ever see you around here again, I’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”
“But Uncle Cade, Daddy said if I didn’t stay up here a month, he’d cut off my allowance and kick me out of the house.” Claude pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his bloody nose.
“Well, I guess you better figure out where you’re going to live on your way home. If you hurry, you can catch the afternoon train back to Baker City.”
“But, Uncle Cade,” Claude whined.
Cade pulled back his fist and gave his nephew a threatening glare. “Go now, or you’ll have a black eye to go with that bloody nose and cut lip.”
Claude took off running for the corrals.
“Somebody saddle a horse for that fool, or he’ll fall off before he ever makes it out of the camp.” Cade turned from watching his nephew’s departure to Rena. “Are you hurt, Burke?”
“I don’t think so, sir, but I’m having trouble hearing you.”
“Marshall, take Burke home. I’ll see you both tomorrow.” Cade looked around and waved a hand toward the mine. “The rest of you, get back to work!”
“Thank you, sir,” Rena said, giving her employer an appreciative nod before turning toward the corral. Her leg ached too much to disguise her limp, so she didn’t try. Suddenly exhausted, all she wanted to do was go home, take a bath in the creek, and go to sleep.
“Sit here while I get Scout and Thomas,” Theo said, gently pushing her down on the stump where Claude had so recently sat.
“I can help,” she said but didn’t make an effort to move.
“Sit. Stay.” Theo grinned at her. “But if you start barking like a dog, you are on your own.”
Rena rolled her eyes at his teasing, realizing her eyeballs might be the only thing that didn’t currently ache. “Just hurry it up, please. I’d like to go home.”
She watched Theo jog to the corral, then felt someone beside her. She glanced up at Harry as he studied her. “You are one of a kind, Rena Burke. I’m right proud to know you. If I was thirty years younger, I’d sweep you right off your feet.”
Rena laughed. “If I were forty years older, I might just let you.”
Harry grinned and patted her on the back, then ambled off in the direction of the dynamite shack.
Theo led Scout over to the stump and gave her a measured look. “Do you need help getting on him?”
Rena surprised both of them when she said yes.
Theo helped her to stand on the stump, then positioned Scout so she could step into the saddle without putting any pressure on her right leg.
