Page 52 of Freedom Mine
As soon as he and Liet finished surveying the mine, he’d find her and take the time to talk to her, really talk to her, if she’d let him. He wanted to see her smile, to know she was okay. She didn’t even need to speak with him.
“You sure about this, boss?” Liet said as Kayo donned his hardhat. He broke out in a cold sweat, just thinking about some of the narrow passages in the mine. He leaned against a boulder, trying to focus. As he pictured his sweet Alli, his breathing eased.
“Maybe you should let me go instead,” Liet said. He and Diggs traded glances.
Kayo had thought about sending Liet in. If Kayo got killed down there, his land would be split amongst his neighbors according to local law, putting his plans at risk. But Liet didn’t know the danger spots of the mine. He wouldn’t recognize which shafts to avoid. No, Kayo wouldn’t send anyone else to risk their lives unnecessarily until he determined if Sanctuary was still viable.
“I’m good,” Kayo said, as he pushed himself upright again, took the lightstick Liet was holding out to him, and entered the mine.
Despite all the growth they’d had to clear, the entrance wasn’t in bad shape. Eight years was a long time. The wood supports could easily have rotted or warped over the years from water seepage and high humidity.
He was barely a hundred feet in when he lost the sunlight completely due to the downward slope and turn in the drift. His light stick hugged his neck, leaving his hands free.
It was eerie how quiet the mine was compared to when he’d first worked it. Almost peaceful. More importantly, the mine didn’t stress him out as he had expected. Memories of working alongside good men and having hope for the future struck, but no cold sweats, blurred vision, or trouble catching his breath.
When had he lost that hope? Soon after Mac had died, but by then it was too late. Kayo had owned half a dozen men. Now he owned eleven. And a woman. HeownedAlli.
Kayo followed the route that he and Jace had discussed. There had been a rich vein, a contact vein, that they’d been excavating the day of the collapse. The collapse had been in another part of the mine, three levels lower, but bad enough that Mac had closed the mine permanently. Three men had died that day. Was he a fool to consider opening Sanctuary? Kayo had to trust his instincts.
He made it down the first shaft without any issues. Most of the tunnels appeared to be in good shape with barely any fallen rock. The timber had held up well, too.
He stopped at the crosscut to assess the condition. Nothing had really changed in all these years. Inside the mine or out. He managed the property, leaving Jace to manage the men.
Together, they had helped over twenty-seven men gain their freedom in the five years since Mac had died, without any problems. He’d never given any thought to Freedom drying up or suffering cave-ins like Sanctuary. He’d been cocky, buying men with the expectation that Freedom would keep producing.
The second shaft made him question the wisdom of reopening the mine. One beam rested at an odd angle. He descended the ladder, pausing halfway to assess the beam. It hadn’t split but had shifted. He tossed an extra light stick down the shaft. As it dropped, light reflected off part of the wall. Another twenty feet down, he removed a glove and ran his fingers along the rough surface close to the dislodged support. Heat, subtle but enough to tell him the rock that had fallen had revealed a vein.
“Look at that. . .” Kayo said, amazed.
They had built a shaft inches from a vein and they’d never known. That was the nature of mining, mere inches could make the difference between getting rich and going broke. Sanctuary held a lot of promise.
There’d be a party tonight, for sure. Some of these men, Ranth, Liet, and Masher, had been here three years waiting for the mines to pay off and finally free them.
Alli. Gods, he could buy her freedom status sooner than expected too. She wouldn’t have to question her freedom any longer, and maybe then she could see him as something more, something better than an owner.
Kayo left yellows markers along the route he’d taken, with several light sticks on specific beams they’d have to shore up before any excavation could begin. All in all, he. . .they. . .had been lucky today.
As he climbed the first shaft, a loud rumble reverberated through the tunnels. He scrambled out of the shaft and ran. He had just reached the first of three turns that would take him to the entrance when the ceiling gave way.
* * *
ALLI
Alli was on her fifth trip to the river to refill canteens when she heard one of the men shout, “Found it!”
Her heart raced. They’d been digging for hours. She kept them hydrated, fed, and watched for signs of exhaustion. They couldn’t afford any mistakes in the mine. Another collapse would turn the mine into Kayo’s tomb, if it hadn’t already.
She raced back to the mine, the canteens bouncing against her hips, bruising the hell out of her, but she didn’t care. When she reached the makeshift worksite, Jace was still pouring over the maps of the mine, in the same position she’d last seen him when she went to refill the canteens.
“What did they find?”
“An old adit that’s probably close to where Kayo is, but it’s useless to us.”
Her heart sank at the news. Kayo was down there, buried under half a mountain and she was doing nothing except standing there useless.
“I’m hoping he’s between these points.” Jace pointed between two levels on the map. To her untrained eye, it looked like a lot of area to cover. They still had no idea how far back the collapse went.
“And if he didn’t stick to the route we’d laid out?” Liet asked.
