Kisses With KC (Cowboys and Angels Book 11)(35)

“Get yourself outta here,” the angel yelled. KC took off at a run toward the cave’s back door. In a quick moment, a deafening explosion rattled the mine. Dust billowed around him, and even the light from his lantern was swallowed up by it.

Toward the back of the passageway, KC saw the golden glow of the angel’s wings. “Hang on,” the miner said. “This here’s the part you need me for. We’ll get you out of here.”

“Where are we going? Where’s Eliza? I can’t leave her in here.”

“Keep up. We’ll get to her.”

KC blindly followed the angel. When he saw an exit, he also saw Eliza behind MayBelle, who stood across the passageway blocking Eliza from entering.

The dust still hadn’t settled. KC looked over his shoulder. “Where’s Anders?”

The angel shook his head. “You’ve still got some work to do. The marshal is here at the other side.”

“What happened? Was it a cave-in?” KC looked at the angel, but it was Eliza who answered.

“The men you said were Holmans were on the other side, and it looked like they were setting charges.”

KC thought out loud. “They’re the ones who hid the bodies in here, aren’t they?” The angel just nodded. “And they were going to blow up the cave to hide the evidence.” The angel and MayBelle nodded together.

“Oh!” Eliza yelped. “It’s you. You’re … here.” She looked directly at the prospector.

“I reckon you can both see me now.”

MayBelle shook her head and butted against the miner.

“Yeah, maybe I slipped up, but you’ve been trotting around like you’re a donkey.”

“She’s not a donkey?” Eliza asked.

“Well, yeah, she’s a donkey,” the miner replied.

MayBelle sounded like she was laughing again. “She says you’re dirty as a mud monster,” the old miner said to KC.

“Well, I ain’t dead.” KC smiled, tasting a little dirt on his lips. He picked up one of Eliza’s hands and laced his fingers with hers. The other arm pulled her to him.

The donkey brayed and bobbed her head with mirth.

“My mine had two entrances. This here is the front entrance. That one that’s collapsed now was the back. And see, that there was my house, and now it’s yours.”

A two-room log cabin sat off at the edge of a meadow.

“You didn’t … um …”

“No. I didn’t die in there.”

“Or in…” KC pointed to the mine.

“Nope. Got it in my head that silver weren’t good enough. All the talk was of the gold rush. I wanted a piece of that, so I left and went up to Cherry Creek. Then I ran off to California, chasing after gold. Didn’t make it back here. Didn’t find gold, neither.”

Everything that had happened over the past few weeks rushed at KC. He’d set out to solve a mystery, and it seemed at an end. Then he looked back into the dark mouth of the cave and saw the fiery orange eyes of Death glowing through the dust. Death walked out of the cave with not a speck of dirt marring his black hat or the overcoat that flailed open as he walked. He carried a large steel pick over his shoulder with three souls skewered on the end. He slammed the pick into the ground, rending the rock beneath him. With the sound of thunder, the earth split into a great crevasse. Wind tugged at the bushes and trees nearby, drawing their limbs toward the opening. The souls of the Holmans and Anders were sucked into the crack with a slurping noise, then it snapped shut, and Death was gone.

Eliza and KC rode around the ridge on the deer trail. On the other side, they yelled and waved toward Marshal Wheeler, who was trying to move boulders.

When they came up next to him, Eliza asked, “Why are you up here, Marshal?”

“I got word you might need my help, Murray.”

“I saw two men here trying to place the powder, caps, and fuses,” the marshal said. “I started riding forward to stop them, but something went wrong, and all the dynamite set off at once. I didn’t see them get away.”

KC hugged Eliza to his side, then asked, “Eliza, will you ride back and arrange for the undertaker to come up? Have him bring five boxes. I’ll stay with Marshal Wheeler to help.”

“How do you know they’re dead?” the marshal asked. “And how do you figure there are five?”

“I’ll tell you the whole story while we work.” KC talked while they tied ropes from horses and the donkey to drag stones away from the pile. The old prospector hung around and directed KC as to which rocks to move to find the bodies, including the two the Holman boys had hid in there earlier.

“It seems this town has a legion of angels hovering over it,” Marshall Wheeler said. “We need you here, Murray. I spoke with the city council last night. They voted to have a town marshal and to offer you the job. You interested?”

“I’ll think on it,” KC replied. It seemed like a good thing to do. What he really wanted to do was talk to Eliza. Would she think the job too dangerous?

Shortly after the undertaker had boxed up the five bodies, Marshal Wheeler rode back down the mountain with him.

The old prospector revealed himself again. “Well, my task is done.” MayBelle whinnied in agreement. “I can’t say as I ever thought you’d be all right in the end.” Then he squinted toward KC. “I think I done my best work on you. No rocks fell on your head, right?”