Free Olivia's Mine by Janine McCaw

dancing.
    “No, she died, I’m afraid.”
    “I’m sorry sir, I didn’t know…”
    “Please call me McMichael, everyone else does
around here. It’s like it’s my given name, not my surname.”
    “I think I’d better call you Mr. McMichael,
as obviously I’m not very familiar with you, and you are Frank’s
boss. That’s probably more appropriate. Again, I am terribly sorry
about your wife, I didn’t know.”
    McMichael was comforted by the sincerity in
her voice.
    “Well, you will be hearing many things about
me over the next few days, I’m sure. It would have come up
eventually. Good to hear Frank hasn’t been gossiping about the
boss.”
    Olivia blushed at that remark and McMichael
noticed how the colour only made her more stunning.
    “Hmm. Well then, I see the music has stopped.
I’d better take you back to your husband. Welcome to Britannia,
Olivia. Make sure he’s not late for work in the morning. I’m sure
you’ll find everything you need at one of the stores in town. If
not, let the shopkeeper know and we will have it brought in for
you. We like to keep the money in the town, to keep people
employed, so outside goods are frowned upon, just so you’re aware.
It was a pleasure to meet you,” he smiled, releasing her, as the
dance was done.
    “Well he’s a bit of a pompous chore,” Olivia
said when she was safely sitting on Frank’s lap. “Let me guess. He
owns the most of stores in town?”
    “Nothing gets passed you, pretty lady,” he
said, kissing her softly on the neck.
    The old steam clock in the centre of town
struck midnight, letting out eleven short whistles, followed by one
long blast.
    “Does that go off every night?” Olivia
asked.
    “It does, but you’ll get used to it. I hardly
hear it anymore,” Lucy replied.
    “It’s a little quieter up the hill where you
are,” Frank admitted. “There’s been a few nights when I’ve wanted
to stuff a sock in it.”
    “Last call!” the bartender yelled above the
music.
    “I’ll go get us another one,” Frank
offered.
    “No more for me Frank,” Lucy said “I really
need to get home, I should have gone hours ago. I’ll never hear the
end of it from Marty. I was just having so much fun with you
two.”
    “Cut the music,” McMichael said, taking the
microphone from the singer’s hand. “I want to make a farewell toast
to the bride and groom.”
    The musicians stopped playing and the hall
grew silent. But only for a moment.
    A thundering noise could be heard outside, a
noise that was so loud it caused the walls of the dance hall to
vibrate.
    “Oh my God, what’s that?” Lucy asked.
    McMichael took control over the panicking
crowd. “Men, outside! I want the women and children to remain
indoors. Mrs. Schwindt, take care of the girls. Keep them
inside.”
    “What is it? An earthquake?” Olivia asked.
Earthquakes had been known to occur at various locations up and
down the Pacific coast.
    “I don’t know Liv,” Frank replied. “Do what
he says, stay here, I’m going outside.”
    The rain had mercifully let up, giving the
men emerging from the hall a clear look at the horror that was
unfolding before them. A torrent of mud and debris was coming down
from the top of the Jane Mountain at a tremendous speed. The entire
north face of the mountain above the 1000-foot mark had split from
the mountainside and was sliding down towards the town site. The
noise became deafening as the rock crushed what had once been
longhouse number six, home to eight Chinese workers of the mine,
their cries for help stymied by the rumbling force of Mother
Nature. Louder and louder the noise got as the rubble worked its
way like falling dominoes down the side of the mountain, toppling
one structure after another and carrying parts of them in its path
of destruction.
    “What do we do?” Frank asked McMichael.
    “Nothing. We do nothing.”
    Frank looked at him cold-heartedly. McMichael
read his mind.
    “Right now, we are safe and we are