“We could mine what’s at the top with picks, but the bottom would be too inaccessible because of the column’s narrowness. Once they’ve assessed what’s there, they’ll blow off the outer rock on top and then mine what’s exposed. They’ll keep blowing it off section by section, working their way down until we get everything out. And then . . .” Warren gestured to the foothills beyond. “Then we go after that.”

“Where you’ll get a lot more than a forty percent commission,” I said with a smile.

“Hey, boss,” called one of the men on top. He’d been looking in the crevasse. “This place is stacked. I can tell just from where he picked at it the other day.”

This elicited a few cheers from the men on the ground. Warren looked equally excited but managed to keep his voice dignified. “Well, that is what we’re here for. Proceed.”

The men on top set to work placing the combined explosive components. Warren took my arm and began steering me backward. “The charges are designed to be strong enough to break through the rock but not so powerful they bring that whole structure down. Nonetheless—it’s best if we keep our distance in case there’s any falling debris.”

Other men on the ground were doing the same, and I cast an anxious look over at Cedric. He was on the opposite side of the outcropping from me but farther back than we were. When the explosives were set, the men pulled the pins out and then began quickly rappelling back down. Part of me expected something dramatic—like the explosives going off just as the men made it to the ground. But the mixing of the components had been timed to give a high margin of safety, and the men were back in the safe zone when the top of the outcropping exploded spectacularly.

Even knowing what to expect, I couldn’t help a small cry of surprise. Thunder boomed around us, and the ground shook as a flash of fire lit up the crevasse. Warren pulled me to him and put his arm out protectively, but there was no need. We were indeed outside the most dangerous radius, and the rocks and debris that rained down stayed relatively close to the cliff itself. As the smoke blew away, I could see glittering spots on the ground among the rocky debris.

“There’s gold there,” I said.

Warren smiled. “From the outer layers of the deposit. We can just walk over and pick that up later when the main part of the excavation has wrapped up. A lot easier than panning, huh?”

I started to answer and then caught sight of something in my periphery. I turned and saw a figure on horseback approaching from the side of the claim opposite the one that led to town. “Cedric,” I called. “There’s someone there.”

Cedric rose and put a hand to his eyes to block the sun. A big grin broke out over his face. “Hey, Sully!” Cedric strode away from his task and waved to the approaching figure, who answered with his own wave.

A few things happened almost at once then. I saw Elias shoot Warren a questioning look. Eager to meet Cedric’s infamous neighbor, I left Warren’s side and hurried after Cedric, going very near where he’d been working on the rope. Elias ran up and grabbed me from behind, literally throwing me back toward Warren so that I hit the ground hard and bit my tongue.

“Hey,” I said, struggling to my feet. “What’s the—”

The world was suddenly ripped apart. The prior explosion in the crevasse had been loud, but nothing compared to this deafening roar. One successive boom followed after another. I covered my ears, but it did little to dampen the sound. The shaking of the ground caused me to fall over again. Plumes of flame rolled up into the air from the equipment pile, soon leaving black smoke in their wake.

A hand on my arm tugged me up, and I found Warren looking down at me solicitously. At first, my ears rang too much to make sense of what he said. Then I finally heard: “Are you okay?”

I gave a shaky nod and looked around. All of his men were grouped not far from us, over by the outcropping and well away from the pile of explosives that had just gone off. Being on open ground like that, the blast had thrown up little debris short of dirt. My real panic, of course, came at seeing Cedric. He stood up on wobbly legs, having also been knocked over by a shock wave, and moved about unsteadily. I started to head toward him, but my own balance was still off.

“Easy there,” said Warren, holding me again so I wouldn’t fall.

I started to protest, but then Sully rode up to Cedric and dismounted. The older man said something, and Cedric nodded. As I watched, his steps grew surer, and his balance returned.

“Get some water on that!” shouted Elias.

Most of the fire from the explosions was already out. A little of the surrounding grass still smoldered, but all that remained of the initial blast was a shallow crater. Warren’s men all had canteens and used them to put out the residual flames. This just created more smoke, and for a few minutes, we all coughed and wiped tears out of our eyes.

“Having a little trouble with your charges?” asked Sully conversationally. He was a stereotypical prospector, long and lanky with shaggy gray hair and an unkempt beard.

Elias turned on Cedric angrily. “This is what comes of letting you near those! You never should have been let near any of this! A coddled city boy has no business out here around real work—deadly work for those too stupid to know what they’re doing!”

Cedric took an angry step forward, fists clenched at his sides. “I did know what I was doing. I handled every one of those components perfectly, and then I checked them over twice. No pins were out. Something in the explosives was faulty—just like that harness you brought me.”

“Don’t blame your continued incompetence on me!” exclaimed Elias.

“And don’t act like I can’t see this sabotage!” returned Cedric. “There was nothing wrong with the canisters I assembled.”

I was rubbing my head, still recovering from the blast. Slowly, memories surfaced to the front of my mind. “But you didn’t assemble them all,” I said. Everyone turned to me, and I pointed at Elias. “When you brought the rope, you added more explosives to Cedric’s pile.”

“Leftovers that weren’t needed in the first wave,” said Elias. “Safer to keep them in one place rather than—”

“Leftovers that Cedric didn’t put together,” I interrupted. “I don’t fully understand their mechanics, but they must have been tampered with from the inside to do a slow mix and eventually combust.”

Warren placed a gentle hand on my arm. “Adelaide, you need to rest. That blast was harder on you than you realize.”

I pulled away from him. “Elias knew! It’s why he pushed me away when I started to get close to the explosives. He steered everyone away. He knew they were going to go off. If Sully hadn’t arrived, Cedric would’ve been right there.” I choked for a moment, unable to comprehend such a terrible outcome. Then, a new realization hit me as I met Warren’s eyes. “And you knew too. Elias turned to you when Cedric left. And you made sure to keep me away too. You were in on it.”

Cedric moved forward, putting himself between Warren and me. “What’s your endgame been? Why did you bring us out here? Has this really all been some sort of elaborate revenge scheme?”

Several heated moments hung in the air as we all sized each other up. Then Warren gave a simple nod, and two men lunged forward and tackled Cedric to the ground. I screamed and moved forward, but Elias grabbed hold of me. Sully also started to come to the rescue, but Cedric managed to lift his head through his assault and cry out, “Go, get help!”