The Escort - By Gina Robinson Page 0,53

gave her the kind of solicitous attention that always comes before bad news. Angelina and May took chairs opposite the desk from Mr. White, who cleared his throat several times before speaking.

"Mrs. Allessandro," the throat clear, "I hate to be the one to deliver bad news when you have evidently just arrived. But you seem unaware of your husband's condition." More throat clearing. "He's dead, ma'am. I'm sorry. I don't know how to break it gently."

"Dead?" The word seemed to echo off the walls. Only in Angelina's worst fears had Mr. Allessandro ever been dead.

"Killed in a mining accident?" May's tone issued a challenge.

"No, ma'am. He collapsed on the job. Bad heart, the doctor said. We summoned help immediately. There wasn't anything our doctor, or any doctor, could have done." Mr. White cleared his throat again. "He was owed two weeks' pay. I'm glad you've come to claim it. Had no idea who to send it to. Let me count it out for you."

Sunshine streamed into the tiny one room log cabin that served as the on-site offices of the Jupiter mine as Tonio walked in. Gus Preston, former dairyman, now one of the partners, sat behind a decidedly unofficial-looking desk, a sheaf of tunnel diagrams and supply orders spread in front of him.

"Tonio! Welcome back!"

"Gus, good to see you. Where the heck is Harry?"

Gus shook his head. "In Boise ruling the state. Legislature's in session."

Tonio nodded. He'd have felt a lot better if Harry had been running the mine instead of hanging out with that bunch of yahoos in Boise who made nonsensical laws for the common man. Harry claimed having him in the Legislature gave them some representation.

Harry Scott was a bright, intelligent man with a receding hairline. Reared in an entrepreneurial, politically active household, the huge task of turning a small hand worked hole in the ground into a major mining facility left him undaunted. His vision kept the venture going. Conversely, Gus was a digger, a worker, not a visionary.

"Heard you had a little excitement," Gus said.

Tonio smiled at the understatement. "You could say that."

Gus arched an eyebrow and smiled back. "Lucky no one was killed. Sorry about your uncle. Got everything taken care of, I trust?"

"All closed up and taken care of. What's been up in my absence?"

"We started working a second level, an adit on the Firefly claim." He shuffled through the papers on his desk, finally pulling out a diagram of the new tunnel.

"A new level. We're a big time operation now?" Tonio jested, trying to contain his excitement. "Have we hit ore?"

"Not yet. We've barely begun to tunnel. It's good you're back. We really need an explosives expert right now."

"That reminds me. I brought a present back with me." Tonio stepped outside the door and returned with a large crate.

"Explosives?"

"The best. Got a good deal on them from a railroad friend of mine in Chicago. High grade nitroglycerin with an excellent dope for a nice clean blow. Same stuff the railroad uses to blast mountain tunnels. The rest of the shipment is back in Burke."

"Not too near the tracks, I trust?" Gus teased.

"As far off the tracks as that one-street town allows. Might be a faster way to get our tunnel, though. The amount of dynamite I bought could take away half the hillside." Tonio laughed.

The tiny town of Burke was something of an anomaly as far as towns go. Built in a narrow canyon, there was barely room for the one street and the businesses that lined it. The town existed solely to support the Hecla mine and consisted of those businesses that best suited the Hecla—a refining mill and two train depots. No mine could operate without the use of the railroad to haul ore. Since there had not been room for both a main street and a set of railroad tracks, the railroad tracks ran straight down the middle of the street. The space for the town was so small that when the town merchants heard the whistle, they lifted their awnings to prevent sparks from the passing train from setting them on fire.

"You know," Tonio commented, "We could use a better road up here. I had to haul this crate on my back."

Gus sighed. "Yeah, that and several thousand dollars. And while we're wishing, a better social climate for orderly mine development."

"H.L. still having problems?" Tonio asked.

H.L. Scott was Harry's father and the current county commissioner, as well as a Jupiter partner. He'd made a controversial decision the