Chapter 7 #2
“Why do you think that?” Robert asked. “Most of the people who have come to live here with us are happy. They like being part of our community. We haven’t had other thefts or even violent outbursts. So, why do you think it might be foul play?”
It was a good question and not one that Michael could really answer. Something was wrong, and he had to look at all possibilities.
“I don’t have a definitive reason,” he admitted.
“It just feels like there’s something wrong.
Maybe it’s my pride messing with me. That is a possibility, and believe me, I hope it’s me.
Then it’s easy to fix. I do more tests, and we find the right seam to follow.
But if it’s not me …” he shrugged. “Then we need you to make sure we deal with it the right way.”
Robert nodded. “Okay, honesty. I like that.” He sniffed and rubbed his chin with his hand.
“Let me see if I understand you. You want to know if your work or someone else is at fault. So, the way I see it is, it would be silly to start working both angles at once. We don’t know if anyone has done anything wrong, and pointing fingers, especially erroneously, is not something you can come back from easily.
Do your tests, make sure it’s not you, and then we will talk. ”
He stood and gave Michael a definitive nod.
“Okay,” Michael agreed.
Robert went back to his work, and Michael headed to the smelter. It was another hot place. Things didn’t work, it seemed, in mining without heat. Michael began to run his tests. They involved extracting the ore from his samples, each separately, and then checking the quality.
It took hours of concentration, especially since the smelter was still busy. Stevens had stepped up and sorted the men into teams, and things were running pretty smoothly.
By the end of the day, he was still busy when Stevens came into Ethan’s office.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, looking as though he was stepping into the headmaster’s office. “We’re done for the day.”
Michael looked up from his tests. “Oh? Is it that time already?”
“Yes, sir,” Stevens said with a smile. “Time flies …”
“It certainly does. How is the ore looking?” he asked.
“It’s too soon to tell,” Stevens said. “Why, was there a problem?”
Michael shook his head. “Do you think there was a problem?”
“Well, we refined the ore, and it wasn’t the right color,” Stevens said with a worried look on his face. “Not all the way through. We mentioned it to Ethan, but he said he would deal with it. Did he? Before he was shot, of course.”
He studied Stevens for a moment. He had blond hair that was plastered to his forehead with sweat. Was he trying to tell Michael something with his question?
“I’m not sure,” Michael said. “We’ll have to wait for him to wake up, but I’m sure the seam is to blame. The miners are most likely mining an inferior site. We’ll switch them to another one and the quality will return to normal.”
Stevens seemed to relax visibly. “Oh, that is good news.” He smiled. “We’re going to head to the campfire for dinner. Coming?
“Yes,” Michael said. “In a minute. I’m waiting on some test results.”
“Okay,” Stevens said. He smiled and left.
Soon the noise of the smelter that had been ringing in Michael’s ears all day was gone, and he was alone. He waited another half an hour before his first results were in.
“I knew it,” he said.
“What did you know?”
The voice made Michael jump.
Turning, he saw Emily leaning against the doorframe and smiling at him.
“Oh,” he said, smiling back and feeling a heavy weight lift off his shoulders just from the soft look in her eyes. “Your voice sounded different in here.”
“I think it’s the level of your concentration that changed it,” she said with a knowing nod. “How are you? It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?”
“Too long,” Michael agreed. “But it’s good.”
“And? Did you find out what happened to the ore?” Emily asked.
“I know that it’s not the rock,” Michael said. “It has to be something else. See, my samples show that nothing is wrong down in the mine. That means the problem has to be up here.”
“That’s good news, isn’t it?” she asked, stepping into the room. It wasn’t a large office, and with the two of them, the desk, two chairs, and a filing cabinet, it was very close quarters.
Michael stood up from his seat at the desk and moved around it to greet her properly.
He leaned in, his heart thumping as he drew her into an embrace.
They were working their way up to a proper kiss.
The one he had planted on the cheek the other night had been tender, but he had really wanted so much more.
As he held her tight, feeling how soft and warm she was, something clanged on the workshop floor. It sounded like a metal bar falling over, or something dropping. The clang rang through the air and Michael and Emily flew apart.
“What was that?” she asked, startled.
“I don’t know,” Michael said. He went to the door to the workshop and looked in. There were no lanterns lit, and the darkness was thick and cloying.
He was about to head inside when Emily grabbed his hand. “Don’t leave me here alone.”
He smiled. “I won’t.” He turned back to the darkness, which smelled strongly of chemicals and sweat. It was probably nothing. “Let’s go and get some dinner.”
“Now that is a plan I can get on board with,” Emily said.
Hand in hand, they headed to the campfire and dinner.