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“Stop right there,” Rattigan Cooke said.
Talbot Court faced Rattigan and snorted with contempt.
“You’ll stop me, will you?” he said.
“I will, because you have to listen to me.” Rattigan pointed at the miners who had gathered for this confrontation. “You all do.”
Talbot tipped back his hat in irritation at Rattigan’s attitude, and his expression tightened when from out of the darkness of the tunnel Rattigan’s brother Bradley emerged and stood with Rattigan.
“If you don’t listen to him, you’ll listen to me,” Bradley said with a roll of his shoulders.
Despite the mine’s enclosed working conditions, the brothers rarely exchanged more than the occasional word so his support was welcome. It also made the miners frown as they weighed up which side of this argument they wanted to be on.
The miners at the Silver Gulch mine were always arguing; the work was hard and there wasn’t much entertainment to be had in Silver Creek, but the last week had been more argumentative than usual. A tunnel had collapsed killing two miners, Wilson Thorne and Lloyd Fincher.
This was the first fatal accident in a while and these men had been popular with their enthusiasm providing a calming influence. With that now gone, grumbling discontent had grown and, in the poisonous atmosphere, rumors had gathered credence.
Some said the latest mine owner Frank Johnson was having financial problems and that meant they wouldn’t get paid. Some even claimed the accident could be blamed on him. Talbot was the ring-leader of the discontent and he had organized a delegation of miners to gather at sundown in a tunnel to confront Frank. Rattigan had become tired of the unease and he was relieved that he wasn’t alone in not agreeing with the complaints.
“So it’s two against ten,” Talbot said when no more miners joined Rattigan and Bradley.
Bradley took a long pace forward to stand toe to toe with Talbot.
“Yeah,” he said. “Do you want to back down now?”
Talbot’s answer was to snarl and push Bradley away. Then, with a shoulder down, he charged him, shoving him on into the tunnel wall. With that, Rattigan faced the other men. He’d hoped the rest wouldn’t be as angry as Talbot was and he’d get a chance to talk with them rationally, but that possibility died when several men moved in on him at once.
The entrance to the tunnel was twenty feet away and Rattigan turned to it, but before he could move off, they surrounded him. Then they all closed in. Rattigan raised his fists in a futile attempt to defend himself, but within moments he was overwhelmed.
Trapped in a forest of whirling arms he was quickly batted to the ground, although Bradley was faring better than he was. Bradley had already knocked over Talbot, another man was lying on his back and he was wading into the rest of the mob that wasn’t attacking him.
Heartened, Rattigan clambered to his feet. He barged one man aside, thumped a second man in the stomach and tripped up a third. He was looking for his next target when a hand slapped down on his shoulder.
Rattigan jerked his elbow backward, but it failed to hit flesh and worse, that gave his assailant the opportunity to grab his arm and yank it up his back. Rattigan squirmed without success until he noticed that the mob had all taken a backward pace and even Bradley had stopped fighting. Frank Johnson’s men had arrived.
“You’re coming with us,” Rattigan’s assailant said in his ear.
“This isn’t what it seems,” Rattigan said.
“They all say that. Save the excuses for Frank.”
Rattigan was turned away while two men moved in and secured Bradley. With Talbot and the rest acting with apparent innocence, they were led from the tunnel and across the mine to the tents that housed Frank and the rest of the mine’s management.
When one of the guards went inside Frank’s tent, Bradley and Rattigan sighed at the irony of being punished for fighting when they’d been defending Frank. After a few minutes, the guard came out and beckoned them to enter.
Nobody followed them in and for one of the rare times since he’d come to work here, Rattigan faced the mine boss. Frank’s steely gaze complimented his steel-hair. He was sitting with a turned-over book on his lap and a bottle of liquor at his feet.
“I’ve been told an interesting story about your exploits tonight,” Frank said.
Frank’s calm tone, which suggested this meeting might not turn out as badly as he’d feared, made Rattigan relax his stance.
“It wasn’t like it seemed,” Rattigan said. “We fought with a group of miners who were trying to gather support for their complaints.”
“I know. Talbot’s been itching to cause trouble since Wilson’s and Lloyd’s unfortunate deaths.” Frank bade them to sit down and he didn’t speak again until they’d located chairs and positioned them facing him. “So it must have taken guts to stand up to him alone.”
“We’re not alone. We all accept that conditions here are tough, but it just needs men like Talbot to gather support and those grievances build.”
“Then we’re of the same mind, and I like that.” Frank gave a benign smile and then turned to Bradley for his view.
“I agree with most of what Talbot says, but not with the way he planned to raise his concerns,” Bradley said, making Frank raise an eyebrow in surprise.
“I also like men who speak their mind, and I want to make conditions safer, too. I’ll call a meeting before the first shift tomorrow and deal with the matter.” Frank spread his hands, inviting them to say more, but with this encounter having gone better than either man could have expected, they said nothing. “Although you might not be around to attend.”
“Why?” Bradley and Rattigan said together.
“Your behavior tells me that I can trust you, and I rarely meet miners I can trust unconditionally. The last two were Wilson and Lloyd.”
For several seconds silence reigned as the brothers digested that information.
“You want us to fetch supplies?” Rattigan said hopefully, his guess making Bradley beam at the possibility that Frank might be about to offer them one of the few desirable jobs at the mine.
“That’s my offer.” Frank waited while both men punched the air with delight. “Wilson and Lloyd would have made the trip to Bear Rock tomorrow, but last week’s sad events mean I have an opening. I assume you’re interested?”
The railroad was building a track to the mine, but with that work incomplete, supplies had to be brought in from Bear Rock. The three-week round trip was fraught with dangers from the unforgiving terrain and from the bandits that sometimes ventured into the area, but as an alternative to spending all day underground, the trip was Rattigan’s idea of heaven. Although, as a long trip with only his argumentative brother for company was his idea of hell, he checked that Bradley was smiling as widely as he was, and he received an eager nod.
“We sure are,” Rattigan said.
“I’m pleased.” Frank tapped his fingers together, his pursed lips promising them that despite the welcome offer, there was a less appealing element. “There’s one other matter that I entrusted to Wilson and Lloyd, and which they kept secret. I expect the same discretion from you.”
“Of course,” Bradley said.
“So as not to draw unwanted attention, when supplies come in, I deliver batches of silver to Bear Rock. You’ll take around twenty thousand dollars’ worth.” Frank smiled. “You’ll deliver it to Victor Greystone and thankfully he’s the most trustworthy man you could ever hope to meet.”
Rattigan shrugged. “We didn’t know about that, but if the shipment is a secret, that shouldn’t make the trip any harder.”
“It shouldn’t, but the other rumor Talbot spread is true. I have financial problems, so I can’t afford for the shipment to be stolen.” Frank narrowed his eyes, his expression grave. “So take no chances and, if you lose the silver, don’t come back!”