Chapter 10
Thomas was distracted. It wasn’t good to be distracted when working with insanely hot substances, and he had almost spilled the molten sludge on the floor twice.
Each time, something in his hindbrain had suddenly pushed to the fore and rectified the problem, but how often could he rely on that happening?
If he wasn’t careful, he could cause the whole building to burn down again.
And that brought his thoughts full circle to what El Aguila was expecting him to do.
Thomas couldn’t fathom breaking something on purpose.
It wasn’t in his nature to do so. He was a builder, not a destroyer.
How was he supposed to sabotage the lift?
And what was the point of doing that? It would slow down production; that was all. How would that help El Aguila?
It doesn’t make any sense!
“Thomas, you have a visitor,” a voice called from somewhere.
Thomas hurriedly tossed the wood into the kiln and closed the door. “Trevor, can you keep an eye on the kiln for me?”
“Sure can,” Trevor said with a dark look. “I’ve had to watch it all morning anyway,” he mumbled under his breath.
With guilt swiftly rising in him, Thomas headed to the door. It wasn’t safe to have visitors enter the smelter. There were too many places where they could get hurt, so all folks who needed a quick word with a mine employee had to meet them at the front entrance.
Thomas was surprised to find Mildred and Evelyn waiting for him.
Mildred smiled broadly. “Thomas, how are you?”
“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?” he asked.
“Very well, actually. We’d love to have you and Clary around for a good home-cooked meal, wouldn’t we, Evelyn?” Mildred said.
“Absolutely. I have to thank you for helping me,” Evelyn said.
She looked better than when she had arrived in town. Her hair was clean and neat and her clothes were pressed. She still stood with her shoulders back and her chin out in defiance of the world, though. It was heartening to see that she was still herself but much calmer.
“I owe you a lot, Thomas,” Evelyn said. “And I just wanted to … Well, I wanted to give you this.” She stepped forward and, with her arms flung wide, she wrapped them around him and hugged him.
“I’m so grateful that you helped me to see that I needed help and found someone who knew what to do. ” She held him tightly.
Gingerly, Thomas wrapped his arms around her.
He had thought maybe a handshake would suffice.
Suddenly, her foot seemed to slip on the stony ground, and she clutched at him harder.
Thomas moved to keep her from falling, and in the moment of confusion, their hands were all over the place. Especially hers.
“Oh my!” Evelyn cried as she regained her footing. “These stones are mighty slippery, aren’t they?”
“Maybe we should get you better shoes,” Thomas said, helping her right herself.
Evelyn smiled at him. “That won’t be necessary. I’m not so far gone that I can’t sort out my own footwear. Anyway, I just really wanted to thank you. Oh, and I was supposed to tell you that Clary had a little accident in the boarding house last night.”
“What?” Thomas asked, his heart thudding into his temples.
Had El Aguila found out about her? Had he targeted her because Thomas hadn’t done what he wanted yet?
Had he hurt Clary because Thomas wanted to tell her about the note and the telegram?
No, that couldn’t be it. It was one day. Surely he couldn’t move that quickly.
“She’s all right. Sarah and Alexander somehow spilled a lot of lamp oil on the stairs. Clary didn’t know and she slipped … twice.”
“Is she hurt?” Thomas asked, untying his leather apron. “I must go and see her.”
“No, don’t worry,” Mildred said, placing a hand on his arm. “Diane was there, and she took care of her. She’s just a little banged up with a few cuts and bruises and a sprained wrist.”
Thomas’s heart settled back where it belonged in his chest. He rubbed his beard. “Okay. You’re sure she’s fine?’
“Yeah, it takes more than that to stop a Wilson woman,” Evelyn said proudly. “We’re made of stern stuff.”
“Good,” Thomas said. “You’ll need it here.”
“Yes, and speaking of here, we should leave,” Mildred said. “You clearly have a lot of work to do. We’ll see you later.”
Thomas nodded.
He watched them walk away down the path to the bridge. It was really thoughtful of Evelyn to come and thank him like that and to tell him about Clary. Perhaps he should stop at the bakery and pick Clary up a sweet treat. Yes, she would like that.
“Is everything okay?” Ethan asked. He had come out of his office and was looking at Thomas strangely.
“Yes, everything is fine,” Thomas lied. Everything was very far from fine.
“Are you sure? You seem off today, like your mind is far away,” Ethan said. He considered Thomas. “Is it your brother? Is he in trouble?”
“No, Luke is all right,” Thomas said. He didn’t add the for now that he was thinking.
“If there’s something you need to talk about, you know you can always come to me, right?” Ethan asked.
Thomas nodded. “Clary had a little accident last night. I guess I’m just worried.”
“Oh, what happened? Is she okay?” Ethan asked.
It felt really good to have something to explain away his mood, so Thomas told Ethan all about what had happened to Clary.
Ethan nodded. “Well, why don’t you knock off an hour early today and go see her?”
“Thanks, that would be wonderful,” Thomas said.
Ethan smiled. “Good. Now can you please focus on your work for the remainder of the day?” His words were friendly, but his tone was sharp and Thomas was chagrined. He wasn’t used to being unfocused or reprimanded.
Back on the floor, watching the kiln heat the smashed rocks and chemicals together, Thomas tried to keep his thoughts from El Aguila and what he could be doing to Luke and his family.
He tried to keep focused on the work, but he was so consumed with fear that his thoughts wandered yet again.
Just about anyone could be El Aguila’s spy, positioned to make sure that he didn’t spill the beans to anyone.
Could it be Trevor? The man was always around, eyeing everything. Thomas found himself glaring at Trevor.
“What?” the man asked.
“Nothing,” Thomas said. He needed to think about something else or he was going to get himself into trouble.
His mind moved to the elevator he was supposed to sabotage.
Why? That was the question that bothered him the most. Why did he have to sabotage it? What would El Aguila gain from that? Did he think that Thomas would do it at a time that would either kill a lot of miners or trap them down in the mine?
He had to know Thomas would never do that. He would render it useless at night when no one was around, and no one would get hurt. So, what was the point?
Not having the elevator would slow down the mining operation until Troy and Lizzy got it up and running again. That wouldn’t be long. So, what was the point?
He couldn’t work it out.
“Thomas!”
It was Trevor again. He stood beside Thomas now with an annoyed look on his face.
“What?” Thomas asked.
Trevor pointed to the temperature gauge on the kiln. It was too cold; the fire was dying inside. Thomas gathered more fuel, hurriedly adding it to what was already there.
“Thomas, I don’t think your mind is here at all,” Trevor said. “Maybe you should go home.”
“No, it’s fine, I’ll do better,” Thomas promised.
Just then a familiar and annoying figure walked into the smelter. Thomas and Trevor noticed Mr. Rossi at the same time.
“And now he’s here,” Trevor sneered. “What did we do to deserve that fellow being here all the time? He’s a fly buzzing around.”
“Or a mosquito,” Thomas agreed. “He’s looking for blood.”
“Poor Ethan. He’s the unlucky one who has to talk to him.”
Speaking to Trevor was like magic. All the worry and the confusion Thomas was feeling didn’t disappear; it simply melted into the background.
Maybe this was how he could stop from making a huge mistake and killing all of his friends in this building by accident because he couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand.
Even if Trevor was the spy, what better way to ferret it out of him than by talking to him?
For the rest of the day, Thomas struck up a conversation with Trevor or anyone else who was close by whenever he found his thoughts flitting to his problems.
It worked. He managed to get through the day without burning himself or the building down.
When his shift was over, an hour earlier than usual, Thomas went to his locker to change. He took off his gloves, untied his apron, and changed his work boots for his normal ones. Then he began to check that he had everything he needed in his pockets.
He had his keys, his money, and his handkerchief. But that was all.
Cold ran through him as he began to search his pockets.
They were gone—both the note he’d found in his locker and the telegram.
He’d kept them on him since he got them, not wanting anyone to stumble across them.
With people actively trying to find El Aguila’s spy in Unity, those two pieces of paper would set him up as a marvelous scapegoat.
He would be raked over the coals, possibly jailed, and the real spy would escape without suspicion.
Okay, don’t panic. Perhaps you just dropped them.
Thomas went back to the floor and made a casual round of where he’d been working.
“Did you lose something?” Trevor asked.
Was that a knowing look in his eye? Had he taken the telegram and note? No, he would say something. The man couldn’t keep his mouth shut for love or money.
“The telegram from my brother,” Thomas said. “It has some information in it that I need, and I can’t find it. I thought it was in my pocket.”
“I didn’t see you drop anything,” Trevor said. “Maybe you left it at home.”
“Maybe I’m going crazy,” Thomas said with as nonchalant a smile as he could muster, watching Trevor closely. The man really gave no indication that he knew anything. “Well, take care. I’ll see you tomorrow.”