Page 22 of Freedom Mine
Chapter Six
ALLI
Alli rose early, giving up on sleep. The sun hadn’t risen, but she heard noises downstairs. Kayo, making breakfast and getting ready to head out. He was the reason she hadn’t slept well. The way he had looked at her yesterday, with disappointment and anger in his eyes, had hurt. She’d felt so good after helping Ranth clean out the harkifa stalls. The work had been rewarding and hard, though she couldn’t imagine it was as hard as mining.
The idea of working in the stables seemed like a good one. She had been eager to tell Kayo that she’d like to work in the stables. Maybe in time, she could take over enough of Ranth’s duties that he could help the men in the mine, but she wasn’t going to suggest that to Kayo without talking to Ranth. She didn’t want to steal his job and have him end up with a harder one.
The moment she’d noticed Kayo and Jace sitting on the porch yesterday, she’d done her best to fix her appearance. She wasn’t even sure if that had been from years of owners always insisting she look clean and neat, or because she had felt a need to please Kayo the man, not Kayo the owner.
Gods, she still wasn’t surehowshe should think of him. He owned her, though he kept insisting she was free. She wasn’t even sure what free felt like at this point. It had been so long...
In the end, what she thought didn’t matter. Legally, Kayo owned her, and she’d done or said something that had displeased him. She’d have to be careful. Life wasn’t so bad here, but if she angered him, he could sell her.
Kayo had stormed inside. She’d never approached an owner before, but she’d found the courage to do so at that moment. The second she put her hand on the door to follow him inside, to ask him what she had done wrong, Jace had stopped her.
You’ve clouded his judgment enough,Jace had said, and then the man had left.
She’d stayed on the porch, until four miners emerged from the woods, Masher and Tieg among them. Masher flashed her a smile and shoved Tieg forward the moment he tried to look at her. The other two stared at her their entire walk to the longhouse.
When she’d finally made it up to the attic last night, she found a pile of clothes on her bed and smooth river stones on her dresser. Gray, black, white, red, even a blue stone, all with yellow and orange specks, had been stacked into a pyramid on her dresser. Perfectly smooth stones that served no apparent purpose, though they were pretty.
The light from the rising sun filtered in the dormer window and struck the stones. The yellow and orange specks glowed. She picked up the top-most stone. Warm to the touch, the yellow and orange specks heated the entire stone. She wondered if they’d heat the bedding on a cold night, or if they’d lose their heat during the day. Whatever the intended purpose was, they were yet another gift from a man who continued to confuse her.
When she ran to him after her encounter with Masher and Tieg, Kayo had held her with such tenderness, such caring, that she was sure he was attracted to her. Then he’d abruptly run off to make repairs, with no explanation.
She dressed quickly. Kayo had left a pair of pants, old work boots, and a long-sleeved shirt for her. Already she felt nervous but in a good way.
Once she told Kayo about her idea of working in the stables, he’d know she wasn’t a slacker. Whatever she had felt yesterday when he’d held her hadn’t gone away. The need to touch him, to feel his strength at a time when she felt so insecure, had intensified, making her worry about what it would take to make the need go away.
On her way to the kitchen, she heard Jace and Kayo talking on the porch. Long ago, eavesdropping had become one of her tools, a survival skill that had kept her out of trouble many times, and she’d never feel guilty or apologize for it.
“We’ll drill another adit, higher this time,” Kayo said.
“It doesn’t matter how many we drill. The men are working the mine. They know it’s dry. One minor vein in four months, Kayo They’ve been working hard, extra hard, with nothing to show for it. You need to motivate them. Give them a reward of some sort,” Jace said.
“There’s only one thing they want besides freedom. Women. I’m not taking them to the pleasure house.”
There was a pause, then Jace spoke again. “I have an idea for how to best use Blue.”
“We’ve been over this already. She’s not strong enough for the mine.”
“But she can give the men what they need. Up at the shack.”
“No,” Kayo said, his voice firm.
“It’s not like she would have to serve both shifts. The second half of the early shift and the first half of the second. You’d have her back early evening.”
“I don’t like the idea of wearing her out up there.”
“You bought her, now make use of her. The shack’s a good idea and you know it. The men could go to her when they want. There’s no risk of her getting lost in the mine, not to mention getting filthy there.”
“She’ll be a distraction.”
“It will keep their spirits up. We’re talking, what, five minutes per man, as needed? If it keeps the men going, who cares if they have an extra break or two? They’ll keep the bigger picture in mind.
You know what it’s like working so hard and feeling like it will never end. You need something to look forward to, even if it’s a few minutes up at the shack. You’re worrying over nothing.”
“Fine,” Kayo said, but he didn’t sound happy about it.
