Nevada Nights (19 page)

*  *  *

Cameron stood at the window of her room, once more dressed in the clothes of the stableboy. Before this night was over she intended to know who was digging on her land, and why. She would conceal herself in the shadows and watch and listen.

The sun had long since dropped behind the mountains. She had watched the sky darken from deepest blue to midnight blackness. Tonight no stars were visible through the swirling clouds. The air in the room was oppressive. There was an electric, expectant feeling in the air. Far on the horizon, flashes of lightning lit the inky sky, then flashed off, leaving the night even darker. A storm threatened, but this was more potent than any storm she had ever witnessed on her sleepy island.

Despite the sticky heat of the room, Cameron shivered.

Was Ti holding Miriam now, offering her the comfort of his tender embrace? She hoped so. No one deserved love more than Miriam. She had been alone too long. It was wonderful to see her opening up to the world around her.

And what of Nina? Would she and Colt arrange to meet later, when Alex was out of the way? Now that Colt was living in the same house, it was easy for them to make their secret arrangements.

Cameron pressed her feverish forehead to the windowpane. Today, even Quenton had to hurry off to meet someone. Everyone, it seemed, had someone.

Except me.
The words echoed in her mind.
All I have is a dream lover. Michael Gray.
She closed her eyes, and instantly she could see him astride the black stallion, so sure of himself as he urged her to ride harder. Michael handing her his shirt to tend to Sister Leona’s wounds. Michael kissing her hands before riding away.

Now he was here in Virginia City, in the person of Colt. But they weren’t the same person. Colt looked like Michael, and when he held her in his arms and kissed her, her heart responded to Michael. But Colt was in partnership with her stepbrothers. Colt had agreed to destroy her uncle. Colt had to be stopped. And if, in the process, Michael was hurt as well, it couldn’t be helped. Her heartbeat raced for a moment, but she paced the floor until it settled back to its natural rhythm. Colt or Michael Gray. It mattered not to Cameron. She would fight either one to protect Quenton.

She glanced at the billowing dark clouds. It was time. Stealthily she made her way from the house to the stable. Under cover of darkness she rode across the hills toward the new mine.

*  *  *

Cameron crouched on the ridge above the entrance to the mine. This time there must be no mistakes. She couldn’t afford to get caught here a second time. She might not survive another fall down a deserted shaft. Shivering, she remembered the body that had hurtled through space to land beside her. Had that drifter been killed in the scuffle or in the fall? Not that it mattered. He was still dead.

Lightning sliced the blackness. A distant cannon burst of thunder rumbled, echoing and re-echoing across the hills. The storm that threatened drew closer. Cameron hoped it would hold off until she was able to reach the safety of home.

The sound of voices drew her attention to the mine below. Two men spoke in hushed tones, then disappeared inside the shaft. She needed to get closer. There was no way she could see or hear anything from this distance.

Slowly, she inched her way down the ridge toward the opening in the ground. Voices drifted and echoed from deep inside. Carefully glancing around, Cameron gauged the distance from where she huddled to the entrance. Fifty feet. No more. There was no movement from the surrounding ridges. And the night was so black, no one would be able to see her. Unless someone from the mine chose that moment to come out.

She took a deep breath, stood, then made a run for the mine. When she reached the entrance, her hands encountered the rough planking that shored up the mine. With her breath coming in hard spurts, she ducked inside and felt around for a place to hide. Inching along the wall of the mine shaft, she could feel the timbers set nearly every twenty feet to shore up the earth around the dig.

She was completely enveloped in blackness. Even when she held her hand to her face, she couldn’t see it. Cameron experienced a strange sense of dislocation. She had to keep touching her hands to her face to assure herself that they were still attached.

One part of her wanted to flee in horror. This was a terrifying place to be. Without light, without companionship, this tunnel, deep in the bowels of the earth, was like a tomb. She wondered if a cough or a scream would echo and reverberate throughout the tunnels, unleashing similar coughs or screams from those working down here.

Despite the terror, Cameron forced herself to keep moving. She had to know who was down here and why.

She stopped. To her right she could hear the rumble of voices. Feeling in the blackness, she discovered that the tunnel intersected with another, forming a fork that moved east and west. Choosing the westerly direction, she heard the murmur of voices growing louder. Dropping to her knees, she crawled closer until she could make out the words.

"... shore up this section before we move on. I’m going back to the other end, to make sure they keep working. Mind you, Jarret, don’t let them slack off. We’re too close now to start slowing down."

It was Alex’s voice. Cameron stared at the soft glow of lights from the torch in his hand. Beside him, Jarret held a similar torch.

Alex was turning to make his way back along the same route she had just taken. If she didn’t find a hiding place immediately, he would spot her.

Scrambling along the tunnel, she glanced over her shoulder and saw the eerie light of a torch bouncing off the walls of earth and rock behind her. Feeling her way, she began to move even faster. Her breath came in short gasps. Her hands encountered sharp edges of rock, splintered wood, hard-packed earth and mud. Several times she had to bite her lower lip to keep from crying out in pain. Still she hurried on, hoping to find either an end to the tunnel or a small indentation in the wall where she could safely hide from the man behind her.

A light flashed to her left, then she was once more engulfed in darkness. The sharp crack of thunder signaled the entrance to the tunnel. Unless she made it outside before the next flash of lightning, Alex would see her illuminated in its glare.

She began running. The sound of her footsteps echoed through the shaft. Behind her, she heard a muffled exclamation. Alex had heard her footsteps. She was certain of it. Instinctively, she ran harder, praying she wouldn’t miss the mine entrance.

She slammed into a wall of solid rock and fell back, stunned by the impact. With her heart racing, her brain flashing stars from the pain, she got to her feet and began blindly feeling her way along the wall of the tunnel.

Another flash of lightning showed her that she was only feet from the mine entrance. Running, her breath nearly choking her, she darted into the fresh air and kept running.

Behind her she saw the light of Alex’s torch. Scrambling along a ridge, she dropped to the other side, then peered cautiously over the edge. Below her she could see the torch flitting around the mine entrance. After what seemed an eternity, it disappeared once more inside.

She was safe now. She could go back home and forget this nightmare. She had part of her answer. She had probably known this much from the start. Alex and Jarret were responsible for the digging. But knowing this wasn’t enough. She needed to know why. Why, in this land pocked with deserted mines, would they go to all the trouble of digging yet another? What was it they were searching for?

Cameron took a deep breath and ran across the open expanse from the ridge to the mine entrance. Afraid or not, she was determined to have all her answers.

She again followed the black tunnel, feeling along the wall with her hands. When she came to the fork, she took the turn which she hoped would lead her to the area where Alex had gone. Knowing Alex, he would leave the dirty work to Jarret while he took the important job.

Far ahead she could see the flickering light of torches casting eerie shadows leaping along the walls of the tunnel. Although she heard an occasional man’s voice cursing, there was no conversation. Inching closer, she watched as four men worked with picks and shovels. Alex was standing beside a huge metal box or bin, into which they tossed dull, blue, mud-coated rock.

Flattening herself behind a plank, she peered cautiously at the scene. She needed to get one of those rocks from Alex. But how?

One of the men stopped to mop his brow with a filthy bandanna. "The pay better be as good as you promised. I thought there’d be a lot more workers than just us."

"What are you complaining about? It’s work, isn’t it?" Alex tossed the rock he was examining into the bin and glowered at the man. "What were you doing when I found you? Sitting in the dust of Virginia City, hoping to get up enough grubstake to head over to San Francisco and hunt for gold. Well, you’re never going to get that grubstake unless you finish tonight. So get back to work."

The man seemed to hesitate for a moment, then bent to his work. The others hadn’t even bothered to look up at the exchange. All four of the men were gaunt, unshaven. Drifters. Cameron had seen hundreds of men like them in Virginia City. Miners, dreamers, men down on their luck, hoping to find gold. Miriam had said the town was filled with losers hoping to find their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Cameron glanced at the growing pile of rocks in the metal bin. By no stretch of the imagination could this be called gold. What, then, was driving Alex and Jarret to work this mine?

Alex picked up his torch and headed toward Cameron. Squeezing herself into the corner of the plank, she flattened herself against the damp earth and prayed he would pass her quickly, without turning back. If he turned, even for a moment, he would have to see her.

"No stopping," he ordered the four. "Just keep digging. I’ll be back in a few minutes."

Cameron didn’t move, didn’t even breathe, until the light from the torch had moved far down the tunnel. Taking several deep breaths, she peered around the wood plank to watch the workers. As soon as they were certain Alex was gone, they dropped their picks and shovels and wearily sprawled on the ground. Grumbling among themselves, they were oblivious to the slender figure that crawled toward the metal box. Keeping it as a barrier between herself and them, Cameron made it easily without being spotted. Raising to her knees, she inched her hand over the top, felt around until she located a stone, then began crawling back to the shelter of the timber.

She leaned against the wall of the tunnel, taking deep breaths. Now she must make it to the entrance of the mine before Alex returned.

She jammed the rock into the bulging pocket of the baggy pants she wore. Slowly, she began feeling her way along the blackness. How many precious minutes had she wasted? Alex would be returning. She began to move faster. Did she hear footsteps? No, she was letting her imagination get the better of her. Remain calm. Soon she would breathe the fresh night air. She fought the feelings of disorientation. There was nothing here but rock and sand.

Something grabbed her shoulder so roughly she was spun around. A hand covered her mouth before she could scream. A terrified scream rose to her throat, then threatened to choke her.

"What are you doing here?" The gruff voice belonged to a stranger.

Still pinned against the wall by his rough hand at her shoulder, she could feel him bend. Straightening, he let go of her and lit a torch. Holding it up to her face, he stared at the slender figure in faded britches and torn shirt, a handkerchief tied about the lower half of her face, a wide-brimmed cowboy hat covering her head.

She dared not speak. Her voice would give her away.

"Did Alex send you from the other tunnel?"

Blinking at the light of the torch, she nodded her head.

He backed up a pace, then spotted the bulge in her pocket. "Helping yourself to a sample, sonny?"

Wrenching the rock from her pocket, he tossed it behind him, then snorted. "Hell, you’re just a kid. Too damn skinny to keep up with us. Go back and tell Alex we want one of the bigger ones. You can work with the crazy brother."

When she didn’t speak, he shoved her. "Go on now. Tell him we need a man, not some kid still wet behind the ears. Get. And keep your pockets empty, or Alex will nail your hide to the wall."

Nearly running, Cameron escaped the faded light of the torch and plunged into the blackness of the tunnel. There was no time to waste. Alex would be returning any minute now, and when he discovered a stranger had been in the mine, he wouldn’t stop until he had searched every inch of these tunnels.

There was no time to lament the lost rock. She would be lucky to escape with her life.

When at last she smelled the cool fresh rain at the entrance to the mine, she nearly cried with relief. Lightning tore the heavens; thunder crashed and rumbled across the mountains, echoing and reverberating its fury.

Mindless of the rain that pelted her, Cameron clawed her way up the ridge of the mountain and down the other side, determined to put as much distance between herself and the mine as possible. Reaching the place where she had tethered her horse, she sank to her knees, too exhausted to go another step. She needed all the rest she could manage because, now that she had reached safety, she had come to a decision. She had gone through too much to back down now. She would wait here until her stepbrothers and their workers left. Then she was going back for that rock.