In The Beginning by Gail Daley (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📕

"Well, of course," she said. "Why wouldn't I be staying?"

He smiled at her. "Thank you, Darling. It's not exactly what you are used to."

"So, we make it what we want it to be," she retorted. "I wonder if I could move the dairy herd and cheese making up here. Are there tunnels around where my cheeses could cure?"

"We'll find some," he promised, and began designing a new dairy building in his head, ashamed he hadn't been sure his bride would be willing to give up the comfort of her father's ranch house to live with him up here in the wilderness. He was beginning to appreciate that while Iris might look fragile, she was much tougher than she seemed.

The trip up the mountain took several hours, and it was noon by the time they reached the Lucky Strike. The returning workers all went to their respective bunkhouses or cabins to drop off their clothes.

The first thing Iris noticed was the noise, but the most visible feature of the mine was the winding tower surrounded by what Carlos told her was the shaft collar. Spur lines for the ore cars waiting to be loaded ran from under the tower to the train

"The collar supports the tower and drops ore into the bins. See those holes? The men and ore can come in and out of the mine there. After the ore gets dropped into bins, the bins are loaded onto the rail cars and transported down to the processing plants outside town."

The mine camp was its own little village, Iris discovered. Set far enough away from the working parts of the mine to mute the noise somewhat were cabins, bunkhouses and cook sheds. An enticing smell was drifting up from the cookhouses.

The owner's cabin where Carlos lived was nestled back in a grove of Ironwood trees. A tiny cook stove and sink looked out the back window, and a small but efficient bathroom was attached to the bedroom. Carlos had added a leather couch to the living room and a desk to the office. A painting of Iris filling a flower basket on St. Vyr's patio hung on one wall.

She looked at it in surprise. "Where did you get that?"

A tinge of red crept up his neck. "I had it done the year Lucille Jones was visiting Mike. She was an artist. She did it from memory since you didn't pose for it."

Iris took his face in her hands and kissed him. "Don't be embarrassed. It's a sweet gesture. I'll need to get a matching one of you done."

He dropped the duffle with their clothes on the bed and held out his hand.

"Since lunch is ready, lets go and eat. We can search Hennessey's cabin afterwards."

"You said you always eat with the men?" she asked as they walked back to the cook sheds.

"Yes," he admitted. "I'm afraid we will have to do that this time since I forgot to bring supplies with us. Do you mind?"

"Of course not. This will give me a way to meet everyone. Do families live up here too?"

"Well, a few of the wives work as cooks, so those men do have their families with them. Since we don't have a school up here, most of the men prefer to keep their families in town or board the children with relatives or friends who do."

She had expected the meal would be rough fare, but it was surprisingly good. Afterwards, she helped the women clear and wash the dishes while Carlos discussed work matters with the men.

Returning to their cabin, Iris stepped out on the back porch and found herself looking out over a small glade. The lush grasses were knee-high, and a small stream gurgled along the edge.

"The goats would love it here," she said.

"Yes, but they would need guards to keep them safe. We are high enough for there to be tribes of pokadot wolves around. They don't much bother us humans, but a herd of goats would be a big temptation. We'd have to bring in some big guard dogs to protect them," he warned her.

"Yes," Iris agreed, "and a barn to store hay and grain and for them to shelter in during the winter. I'll do some cost estimates for you. But right now, we need to search Hennessey's cabin."

"Right." Surprised, he opened his mouth and shut it quickly, reminding himself Iris had run a successful dairy business for years. He had to quit underestimating her. "Hennessey's cabin and office are about fifty yards from here."

Like Carlos, Hennessy had picked one of the more isolated cabins.

"It's a long way from camp," she remarked. "I can hardly hear the machines from here."

Carlos nodded. "He said he valued his privacy. Of course, in hindsight, it might just have been he didn't want anyone to notice his comings and goings.

Unlike the owner's cabin, the two-room shack was almost bare of anything but a bed, chair and table and there was no pretense of a cooking area. It was Iris who found the hidden compartment in the wall in the bedroom. Hennessy had done a good job disguising it, but Gran's house in Copper City had a similar hidey hole she used as a safe.

She pressed a peg on the wall, and the panel door popped open.

"How did you know it was here?" Carlos asked, studying the mechanism.

"Gran was a gem merchant in Copper City," Iris explained. "She didn't trust banks, so she always kept her valuable stones hidden in a secret panel. When the Smiths raided our house, they didn't find it. If they had, they would have taken them as well what she had on display."

Carlos frowned. "They raided your home? Did they hurt you?"

"No, Leonard Smith, the man in charge, told Gran they wouldn't molest us if she turned over her inventory to him. She always kept a fair amount of less expensive gems out on display, so she told him those were all she had, and he believed