Thurston House (34 page)

Unless you're here to buy quicksilver from me, Mr. Harte, you're wasting your time, and mine.

That's one of the things I like about you. He did not seem put off as he looked down at her. There's something very warm and welcoming, I knew it the first time we met. In spite of herself she smiled and moved back in her chair, waving to a chair on the other side of her desk.

I'm sorry, it's been a rough couple of days. Sit down.

Thank you. He did, and pulled a cigar from his suede coat, and she suddenly remembered the Indian girl. She wondered if he still lived with her, not that it mattered to her. But the pretty little Indian squaw had struck in her mind. There was something so delicate and sensual about her, it was an odd insight into this rugged, almost gruff, man. I hear you've had an interesting week. Mind if I smoke? It was an afterthought. It was difficult thinking of her as a lady here. She was in a man's world and he half expected her to light one herself, although she was a remarkably pretty girl. But she had put herself in a rough spot, and he wanted to offer her a way out.

I don't mind. And yes, it's been an interesting few days.

I hear two thirds of your men have quit. He wasn't going to play any games with her, and she smiled tiredly.

Looks like it. I imagine by now, most of them are working for you. Even though he had a far smaller mine than she.

Some. I didn't need them all. I took what I could. They were good men.

Apparently not. She looked at him defiantly, and he admired her for her guts.

You took on a mighty tough horse to tame, Miss Thurston.

I know that. But it belonged to my father, and now it belongs to me, and I'm going to break this horse if it kills me first, Mr. Harte. And she meant just that.

Is it worth it to you to do that? His eyes were kind, but she didn't want kindness from anyone now. She was going to fight her own fight, without the Dan Richfields of the world, or the John Hartes, or anyone. She was alone now. And she'd make it on her own, no matter how unorthodox that was.

It's worth it to me, Mr. Harte. I'm not going to give this up.

Then I guess you were right. He sighed with a smile.

About what?

I'm wasting my time. He put the cigar down and leaned closer to her. He wanted to make her see things sensibly. He wasn't trying to steal anything from her, but she had to be reasonable about this. What she was doing was wrong. Even her father wouldn't have approved, and he was prepared to say that to her. Miss Thurston, you are a very intelligent, very decent, very charming young girl, and from all I understand, you were the apple of your father's eye.

Her face hardened into a frown. You're wasting your time' .

Hear me out! This time his words were harsh. You know what I want. I want to buy this mine, all of it, all three mines in fact, that's obvious to both of us, and I'll pay you a handsome price, and if you turn me down, I'll survive. I have plenty on my hands as it is, and I'm making a damn fortune over there, so I don't really care, but what I hate to see is waste. You're wasting this mine hanging on to it, you've already had to close two of your mines down, but more important than that, you're wasting yourself. You're a young girl. He looked around the dingy room. What in hell are you doing here? Is this what you want to do with your life? You're not a man, you're a girl. What are you trying to prove? He sat back with a sigh and shook his head. I didn't know him well, but from the little I knew, I can tell you that this isn't what your father wanted for you. No one in their right mind would. It's a lonely, ugly, filthy, tiring life, grinding away, and digging dead men out of mines, fighting fire, and floods, keeping drunks in line. How the hell do you think you're going to do all that and you don't even have Dan Richfield now? He looked genuinely distressed for her, but she was leery of him now. She was leery of everyone.

How do you know that? Dan had only left the night before.

He was honest with her. I hired him today. He's a good man.

She smiled scornfully. At least he won't lay a hand on you. There was a sudden silence between them and a look of instant fire in his eyes.

He did that?

She hesitated and then nodded her head. There was no reason to protect him now, and she knew John Harte wouldn't do the same thing. He wasn't that kind of man, and besides, he had the Indian girl. Yes, he did. Fortunately, he came to his senses in time.

John Harte shook his head, and covered his eyes before looking at her again. If you were my daughter, I'd kill him for that.

She smiled gratefully and then remembered who he was. Well, I'm not, and my father's dead, and it sounds like you have a new foreman at your mine, Mr. Harte. She was hardened to everyone now. And she stood up and held out a hand. She didn't want to hear any more. Thank you for your vote of confidence, and your interest in our mines. If I ever decide to sell, I'll be sure to let you know.

Don't do this to yourself. He looked deep into her eyes. He meant every word that he said. It'll break your heart, and eat up your whole life. She wondered if that was what it had done to him, and he sounded like a sad man. But that wasn't her problem, and she had plenty of her own.

Don't come here again to see me, Mr. Harte. You have no business here. She didn't want to be rude to him, but she didn't want him visiting her at her mines again. She still remembered his visit to pay his respects to her father the week before ' was it only a week? ' it was difficult to believe as she looked at him now. My mines are not for sale, and won't be for a long, long time.

You're giving up marriage and a family then. He was pushing her hard and she wanted him gone.

That is not your concern. Her eyes flashed at him.

You can't do both, you know.

I'll do what I damn please! Her voice suddenly lashed out at him and she came around the desk. Now get the hell out of here, Harte!

Yes, ma'am. He doffed his hat at her and strolled slowly toward the door. He had to give her credit for the guts she had, but he still thought she was dead wrong, and he was sorry she wasn't willing to sell the mine to him. He would have liked to incorporate the Thurston mines with his own. But the one thing that bothered him most was what she had told him about Dan ' At least he won't lay a hand on you ' had he tried to rape her then? The damn fool ' he would have to warn Spring Moon about him. He didn't want the man anywhere near her, but he didn't even like the idea of him laying a hand on Sabrina Thurston, as it were. It was desperately unfair to take advantage of the girl, as crazy and headstrong as she was to take on her father's mines, and when he went back to his own office that afternoon, he was particularly harsh with Dan, much to his new employee's surprise. He couldn't imagine what he had done so soon to incur his new employer's wrath. The truth was that it was a bitch working for anyone, and it tightened his guts just thinking about Sabrina again. If it weren't for her, he would have been running the Thurston mines.

John Harte wanted to tell him to never go near Sabrina again, but he didn't want to tell him he knew what had gone on. Instead, he just warned Spring Moon and she laughed at him.

I'm not afraid of him, John Harte. She always called him that, and usually it made him smile, but not this time.

Look, dammit, listen to what I say. He's got a pale, ugly wife, and a houseful of kids ' maybe he's hungry for a tender little morsel like you. I don't know who or what the man is. All I know is that he worked hard at the Thurston mines for the past twenty-three years, but I don't want him giving you any trouble. Is that clear? Watch out for him, Spring Moon.

I'm not afraid. She smiled, and with a single gesture, a long sharp knife fell from her sleeve and she wielded it so quickly that one could barely see the blade, and this time John Harte grinned.

Sometimes I forget how cunning you are, pretty one. He kissed her on the neck and went back to work, but he wasn't thinking of his mistress when he did. He was thinking of the girl, who was almost a child, attempting to run her father's mines, with barely a skeleton crew of men, and he was almost sorry he couldn't lend her a hand. But that wasn't the plan he had in mind. Dan and he had already discussed it more than once. He was going to sit back, let her fail, and then buy her out, and they both knew it wouldn't take long, no matter how much she thought she knew about her father's mines. She was still only a girl.

* * *

And two weeks later, watching the men work in one of the shafts, she turned eighteen. She had given them the promised raise, and still they seldom, if ever, spoke to her. The two smaller mines were closed, and she was running the main mine at full power, and she had promoted one of the newer men as her new foreman to replace Dan. He wasn't any fonder of her than the others were, but he liked the pay, and she liked that about him. She played him like a violin, promising him raises that made him drool, if he could recruit new men for her so that she could open the number two mine again. And by November of that year she did, just in time to have it flood and kill five of her new men. But she was there in the pouring rain, helping to dig them out, and it was she who knelt beside them and closed their eyes, she who rode soaking wet and bone tired to tell their wives, she who helped bury them as her father had done, and she who opened the third mine in the spring. It had taken her a year to recover from the blow of losing more than three hundred men, but they were working at full force and full profit again. It made Dan Richfield sick every time he thought of it.

You have to hand it to her, Dan. She's as tough as her old man and twice as smart. John Harte could barely believe what she'd done.

Little whore ' He said nothing more as he slammed out of the room, and Harte watched him go. He had learned a lot in twenty-three years at the Thurston mines, but there was nothing decent or likable about him, and John was surprised Thurston had kept him on for so long. Perhaps he had guarded his tongue more in those days. He had had a profitable end in mind, which no longer mattered now. But John Harte thought of it again and he approached Sabrina for the second time.

He walked into her office one day, and took her totally by surprise. For the last year, she hadn't even thought of him, and she was proud of what she had done at her father's mine. She knew the men weren't fond of her, and probably never would be, but they worked hard for her and the pay they earned.

Did you come to shake my hand, Mr. Harte, or to work in my mines? Her eyes laughed at him as he approached her desk.

Neither one. I'm bolder than that. Not unlike you. He admired her more than she knew, and he saw that she was pleased with herself. She had a right to be. The war wasn't over yet, but the first battle was won. The mine was at full strength again, though whether or not she could keep it that way was another thing. He doubted that, and so did Dan, and perhaps he was wrong to return to her so soon. He could wait until she began to fail, but he didn't want to now. He had a plan to expand that year, and it included buying at least one of her mines from her, perhaps two. You can spare that. Sell me the smallest one.

She looked at him like a snake ready to strike. No. Not one. Nothing. On the other hand, she smiled carefully, I would be happy to buy yours, Mr. Harte. She had just turned nineteen and she looked far more womanly now. It had been a long, arduous year for her, and it was still a fight every day, and there was no one to make it easy for her. I'd be happy to buy your mine, Mr. Harte. Have you considered that?

He smiled at the sheer nerve of her. I'm afraid not.

Then we've reached a stalemate again, haven't we?

You're a stubborn little cuss. Were you like that when your father was alive?

I suppose I was. She smiled, thinking back to only a year before, which seemed like a lifetime ago. Maybe I didn't have as much reason to be. She had fought for her own survival every day for the past year, and no one had supported her. When she went home at night, she had to listen to Hannah berating her. She almost hated to go home now, but she didn't have the heart to send Hannah away after all these years, so she stayed late at the mine every night, and she had lost a great deal of weight. Even John Harte noticed it, but he said nothing of it to her. He just felt sorry for her. She would have been wiser to sell out to him.

I'm sorry you won't reconsider this year.

I told you. I never will. The Thurston mines will be put up for sale when I die, and not before, Mr. Harte. Of course, if I say that loud enough, I'm sure there will be plenty of people who'd be happy to oblige you. It was a sad thing to say, but she meant every word of it. She had no friends here, a few who were coming to respect her perhaps, but still too few. She had more than five hundred men working there again, but only a handful who cared if she lived or died, they were the ones who had worked with her in the flood, or seen her do her damnedest in the mines herself, trying to learn every aspect of what they all did. But they had no real love for her, not as they had had for Jeremiah only a year or two before. She looked at John Harte with few illusions now. She had grown up. And he thought she had paid a high price for it. He felt sorry for her. He held out a hand and she shook his, but there was no warmth in her eyes for him. Too many people had hurt her in the past year, too many people had tried to do her harm, starting with Dan. Harte wasn't all that pleased with him himself. Dan's wife had died in childbirth the year before. And ever since, he had been out carousing every night, leaving his nest of children hungry and filthy and ill clad, and John had warned Spring Moon again, but she had only laughed and flashed her knife at him.