Blood-Born

Chapter XIX - Part 2

"Nothing ..." Clementine cried out with frustrated exasperation. "I sense absolute nothing beneath us."

She and Abby had rushed to the mine when word of the accident had reached them via the wail of the sirens.

Mining was a dangerous business each and every time the men descended into the depths along with the possibility of a forever night that weighed heavily upon each man who also prayed for yet another day to live for at the end of their shift.

"Seventeen men can't just disappear; even if they are truly dead and crushed – we should be able to recover their bodies or parts in the very least." Abby replied with equal irritation.

"If the fort had not called for Rose we might have access to her abilities to dig properly."

"I've done what I can to look ..." Clementine was clearly distraught at having to deal with yet another disaster, "... and I'm telling you that between us, the crushed rock and bed rock below that, there's nothing to recover of those men."

Abby shook her head as she stepped back with her hands on her hips.

"It kills me to say that I wish Pike were here, but I'll take your word for it. Do they even know what happened?"

It was at that particular moment that someone else chose to answer.

"They were pushing faster than they should have and were setting charges well below bishop's rock."

Both women turned to find that Pandora had joined them.

"Would you expect any less?" She continued. "I've learned to listen to the clients before, during and after the girls have told me what they've managed to share during their visits."

"That particular rock ..." Abby sighed, "... is ... an abomination."

"Of unbreakable black granite ..." Clementine added, "... the men named it; so bishop's rock it is whether appropriate or not. It's just a spike in the earth set there to annoy them by higher powers that continue to confuse us with their efforts."

"To be perfectly honest, that particular flat surface does look like some sort of an alter ..." Pandora offered with hint of nervous mirth.

"Don't you start ..." Abby chided, "... this place is cursed enough as it is."

"Other men have refused to return having claimed the same thing ... about the curse and the Dutchman." Pandora sighed with irritation. "I simply can't wait to find that particular mad man and learn his secrets."

Abby looked at Clementine who in turn looked back with equal confusion before both looked back to the young turn.

"Dutchman...?" Abby finally prompted for both of them, "What Dutchman?"

Pandora smiled with irritatingly dark glee.

"Well, since all of you were away, someone else has been stalking miners here and at other surrounding mines, leaving them dead on the side of country roads unable to see their way properly home."

"We have far more important issues to deal with than ... absurd stories of drunken miners getting lost." Clementine chastised in reply with clear disgust as she shook her head.

"If they can't get these shafts re-opened we'll lose the entire mine."

Abby shook her head as well. "We need to speak with Valeria; this mine does not need any more phantoms to haunt those that already work it."

The crowds that waited above were not happy when they were asked to disperse, freshly minted widows and orphans now clueless as to how they would continue and business owners suddenly forced to make plans to move and save what inventories that they could for their next location.

Abby and Clementine spoke at length with the foreman and several of his senior crewmen who were resigned to have to admit that for all intent and purposes, as far as they were concerned the mine was indeed closed beyond repair with the loss of so many men that could have been fairly easy to replace, while the progress that they had lost in the dig could not.

The crushed rocks from the cave-in were something none of them wanted to consider as a short term project worth the effort for little or no return given the cost that even Valeria would undoubtedly have considered excessive.

It had become unbearably clear that the mine was now as dead as those who had seemingly vanished in the mix.

"Poe will need to be notified." Clementine finally offered in near whisper, fully knowing how it would affect him with everything else that had happened.

"I'll tell him when he's done with that suit and finds his way here." Abby suggested as she shook her head.

"I'm still his deputy."

"I can tell Valeria." Pandora offered as cheerfully as she could.

"We will tell her together." Clementine corrected, with a glance back at Abby who nodded as they both moved to follow the young vampiress.

Collectively they all wondered if things could get any worse.

But there would be the memorial services over the next few days that they would have to get through before the full extent of how bad things had become.