Chapter 1
BUTTE, MONTANA
APRIL 1905
“What in blazes,” roared the head captain, as he came tearing down the stairs from the office. Three bells, then five, then three again sharply rang. Electric lights throughout the mine flashed in time, signaling danger.
Perched atop a full load of iron ore in the mining skip cage, seventeen-year-old Jules Parker drew even with the platform, metal against metal screaming a high-pitched screeeeech. The cage jerked abruptly and shuddered to a halt. She threw her head back, looking for the source of the piercing noise and spied the cause. The metal hoist wheel was stopped. Stalled. Deadlocked.
Jules’ heart raced—she knew that when a hoist wheel stopped turning, it caused tension on the hoist rope which then…
Her shoulders tensed just as a thunderous crack came from overhead. Flinging herself out of the cage and onto the platform, Jules landed on her hands and knees. Sharp gravel pierced her bare hands, scraping skin from her palms. Raking her long hair from her eyes, Jules peered up at the thick wood beam holding the three heavy metal hoists. A deep, angry fissure had formed in the main timber.
“Everyone back away!” Vanorden jumped over the railing towards the shaft. “Now!”
Jules scampered to her feet just as the metal gate to the skip cage burst open, and a huge chunk of ore rock plummeted into the mine shaft, dropping, dropping, dropping…1800 feet to the bottom of the mineshaft. Thud. She turned towards the hoistmen crowded around the collar, her eyes wide.
“Miss Parker!” cried the head captain from across the mine mouth. “Are you quite alright?”
“Yes, Mr. Vanorden,” she shouted in reply. “The timber hasn’t completely snapped. I’m fine!” Jules knew that the mine’s headframes had catch-gear that prevented cages from falling back down the deep shafts, but the threat of a severed main beam was spine-chilling. “We’re fine!”
Miners crowded near the stairway, far away from the wreckage. Vanorden walked quickly around the opening to Jules, mopping his brow with his sleeve. “What in tarnation happened,” he yelled, raising his voice over the din.
Jules took a deep breath in and out, then wiped her sweaty hands on her dungarees. She thought back to her morning down in the depths of the Metis mine, urging the men to work harder, to load more ore.
“I was working down below, ” she shouted. “I’d instructed Abbott’s men to double load the skip cages in order to ensure that today’s ore train was full before it left for the three o’clock freight to Bingham Junction.” She bowed her head and pinched her nose. “I challenged the men. Whoever got their ore cart loaded first would get a free beer at the Mountain Saloon, courtesy of yours truly.”
Vanorden closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. Jules glanced to the group of miners still standing by, catching the eye of a tall, dark haired man. Their eyes held but his gaze dropped to his feet, a look of guilt playing across his face. Jules winced and said, “Travis was the winner.”
“Well, that ore train was full, sure enough,” replied Vanorden, shaking his head. “We unloaded all those skip cages right as they came up.” The incessant hoist bells clanged around them.
“I knew you would.” Jules bowed her head towards him. “Thank you.” She placed a hand on his arm and mouthed silently, “I am so very sorry for the mess.”
Vanorden squeezed Jules’ hand. “We ain’t had a full train leave for months, Miss Parker. In my opinion, you done good.
“But now let’s have the men unload this last cage careful like, without tipping it even more than it already is,” Vanorden instructed.
With a jerk of his chin towards the skip cage, the miners finally moved slowly from near the stairs to the settled cage. Together, they gingerly began unloading the ore.
“That’s right,” nodded Jules. “Nice and easy.” She held her palms outward and gently patted the air. “And turn off those bells, please.” Vanorden nodded to the cager and the ringing promptly stopped, putting the headframe in an disconcerting silence.
“What is this?”
Jules turned around quickly when she heard someone approaching her from behind. A dark-suited man with a leather-bound ledger shading his eyes stopped. Gawking at Jules, he squawked “Did I just see you, young lady, riding atop an ore load in a skip cage?” His mouth puckered into a deep frown.
“Well, mayb—”
“I have never, ever seen such a hazardous thing in all my years.”
“It wasn’t all tha—”
“Why, even the cages before this were overloaded to excess,” he said, spitting his words. “Who’s in charge here?”
“I am, sir,” replied Vanorden, stepping forward.
“And who is she?” The man pointed at Jules, his eyes looking her over from top to bottom.
“I think the question is…who might you be?” asked Jules as she crossed her arms over her chest, exchanging a glance with Vanorden.
The man pulled his shoulders back then withdrew a business card from his pocket and handed it to Jules saying, “Wilfred Dory, Mine Inspector. Western States Division.” Seeing Jules’ grimy face and hands, he snatched his hand back, almost as if he didn’t want to foul his own.
“This has got to be one for the record books…a woman—excuse me, a girl—causing massive damage to a mine headframe from absolute stupidity.” Shaking his head, he opened up his leather book and pulled a pencil from his coat pocket. “And, this is exactly why women are not allowed in the mines.” Dory made a wry face. “They are not capable of understanding the functions of machinery and are too dim to grasp the severity of their actions.”
“It wasn’t stupid,” replied Jules, her eyes narrowing. “I was getting the freight containers filled so the train could take a full load down to Utah.” She placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin. “And this woman is entirely capable of understanding as much as any man. ”
“You don’t say,” Dory replied, carving angry notes into his book. “So are you capable of understanding how irate Mr. Parker will be when he gets the violations report I will be submitting to the mining board and the labor unions? A report that could shut down this mine?”
Craaaack! The fissure in the main timber widened just as the last load of ore was scooped from the skip cage. A collective gasp filled the room as the miners once again scrambled away from the mine’s open mouth.
“Now, now, Mr. Dory, no need for a violations report,” came a firm reply from around the hoist house. AJ Parker walked towards the inspector, his hand outstretched for a handshake.
Dory’s eyebrows shot up and he grasped AJ’s hand. “Mr. Parker! Thank goodness you are here. This vexing young woman has just caused potential risk to your workers,” he spit. “Not only has she broken a myriad of regulations, she claims she works here!”
“She does, and she is correct about the ore headed to the station. That was the first full train I’ve seen in months,” said AJ, eyeing the departed ore train in the distance. He turned back to Dory. “Plus, this vexing young woman happens to be my daughter.”
“Your daughter? Why, I never imagined…” exclaimed Dory, looking from AJ to Jules. He tugged at his suit jacket lapels. “But please Mr. Parker, a woman working in mining? Preposterous! It just isn’t done.”
“Yes, I suppose,” conceded AJ with a small shrug. “However, I treat everyone the same. Be it man or woman, each has to earn my respect. And until I decide differently, that is how it works here at Parker Copper Mining Company.” As if waiting to be challenged, AJ stood glaring, a frown upon his face.
Tension was thick in the headframe, with the miners unusually hushed. Even when the clang of the hoist bells rang, signaling shift end for the workers, no one moved an inch.
AJ deliberately pulled two cigars from his chest pocket, offering one to Dory. “Care to join me?” AJ asked, his hooded eyes looking down at the mine inspector. Jules saw what Dory was greedily looking at: a green bill peeking out from within AJ’s hand. Dory smiled then accepted the cigar, placing the end in his mouth and the $50 bill in between pages of his leather book.
AJ struck a match against a wood post then held it up, leaning into Dory and cupping his hand around the flame. “So, about that violations report,” started AJ.
Dory took a draw on the cigar and tucked his book under his arm. “What violations report?” he asked with his eyebrow cocked. “Your company seems to be fine and in good order, Mr. Parker.”
AJ nodded once firmly. “Wilfred, I know you are new to the West, and I hope it has been treating you well,” he said, staring at Dory for much longer than was comfortable.
“But know this, I will treat you better,” AJ said as he lit his own cigar. “Because I am AJ Parker and this is my company.”
Three gray and black turkey vultures slowly soared overhead as AJ and Jules stood beside his auto, the late afternoon sun dropping behind the hill. Jules shivered but couldn’t tell if it was because of the sudden drop in temperature, or of the bad omen of the circling vultures.
AJ stared across the grounds, with a deep frown rigid on his face. Finally he said in a low, biting voice, “Jules, your little stunt has caused us both time and money.” His arms crossed over his chest with his body stiff and unyielding.
In front of them, the last of the miners showed up for the night shift. AJ and Jules watched as each miner approached the entrance gate but were turned back, instructed to go instead to the Possum mine. With the Metis’ main timber cracked, the mine would be out of commission until it was repaired, which could take weeks.
Jules turned towards her father. “But Father, the Metis can produce so much more than we are sending to the smelters each day. If we didn’t have to pause mining operations because of train schedules and if the headframe were stronger, maybe steel, then we could get so much more out of her.”
“At what cost?” AJ swiftly turned to his daughter, his face full of anger. “Do you have any idea how close we were to getting shut down?”
“I … ” stammered Jules, her cheeks burning.
“Parker Copper almost had to cease operation because of your recklessness.”
“Bu—“
“Our hold on the mining business is precarious, what with Hailey Mines breathing down our necks.” AJ’s eyes narrowed and he leaned into Jules. She took a step back, her foot landing in a large, shallow puddle of slurry water.
“I’ve worked too hard to build this company into the greatest of its kind. Our success is based on my reputation and I will not allow my name to be desecrated due to someone else’s actions,” he said sharply. “Even my offspring’s.”
Jules breathed in deeply, her heart beating hard in her chest. She heard the low, nasal whine of the circling vultures.
“You are reckless and irresponsible. You are immature in your thinking,” continued AJ in a chilling voice. “And this is no longer amenable.”
“What is no longer amenable?” asked Jules, her anxious face lifting to her father’s.
“Having you work for the company.”
“What are you saying?”
“I need assistance, not interference. I need someone who will work with me, not against me.” AJ stepped to the side and said coldly, “I need someone else.”
“But Father … ”
A sharp clang rang out as the night-shift boss dropped a heavy metal lock against the entrance gates. He yanked against the chain twice, checking it was secure. Then with his hands in his pockets and chin lowered, he walked past Jules and her father, sliding a sideways glance at Jules.
The lights of the headframe flickered then blinked off, placing the mine in total darkness. AJ was right– she alone had done the damage and now the Metis was no longer in production. Jules had nearly placed a death warrant on one of Parker Copper Company’s mines.
She felt like she couldn’t breath, and her knees slowly buckled. Jules landed on her hands and knees in the grimy puddle, her head hanging with her long black hair draped over her guilty and ashamed face.
“Go home, Jules,” said her father in a low voice, turning his back. “You are officially barred from the Parker Copper mines.” He stepped past his daughter as darkness closed around them, then dropped his cigar in the slurry water, its ember dying out with a lingering hiss.
