His eyes dropped to the tic in her cheek as she clenched and unclenched her jaw. He didn’t think she realized she was doing it. If they had been playing poker, it would have been a tell. In a way, it still was. For all that her words were cutting, he believed they were a bluff. That muscle working in her exposed her vulnerability.
“I don’t know where this leaves Clay. I have a genuine offer to propose, and Ben led me to believe you would consider it. That makes me wonder if Ben knows about the men who come calling on you.”
“He knows,” she said. “There’s not much that happens in Frost Falls that Ben doesn’t know firsthand. He’s run a couple of my would-be suitors out of town, and it gave him pleasure to do so, but if he encouraged you to bring your offer to me, then he’s coming to understand that I’m able to managewithout his help or he thinks well enough of you that he’s anticipating I’ll come around to a similar opinion.”
“Why can’t it be both?” Roen meant the question sincerely, but he didn’t expect a response. He observed that her fingers ceased their drumming and there was no more movement in her cheek, but it was not until she unclasped her hands and set them on the arms of the rocker that he thought she might have stopped seeing him as a threat.
“Tell me about your offer of work for my son.”
Roen merely nodded, careful not to show any pleasure in his small victory. “Of course,” he said, and launched into an explanation of the duties Clay would perform as his assistant. “He’ll act as my guide some of the time. You said yourself that he knows the lay of the land. His familiarity is firsthand knowledge, but I’ll be teaching him how to read the maps that Dave and Ed Saunders provided for me as well as the ones I brought from New York. This is more than simply getting to a place. I have to factor elevation, slope, and the roadbed before I can confidently recommend a route to the company. There are other considerations such as the location of depots, drainage, and right-of-ways. I can teach Clay all about that as I go forward. Trestles will have to be constructed where none exist now. The Rockies present challenges like no other, but Northeast is only looking for a new spur to Stonechurch. Northeast doesn’t want to cross the range, only put down rails that match the gauge of the track coming up from Denver.”
“Why not lay the new rails along the same route as the one that already exists?”
“That was the first question I had to answer. I spent most of my first week here on horseback riding alongside the tracks, and that was after taking the train to make my initial observations. The answer is that there are too many places where the route isn’t wide enough to accommodate a second, wider track, and tearing up the current track to lay new rail would disrupt service for months.”
When Roen saw Lily nod her understanding, he went on. “Northeast didn’t lay the rails that go through Falls Hollow and on to Stonechurch. The track was laid for expediency, to get the silver ore from the mines to Denver. The rails hug the mountains, which made sense because the engines at that timecould not climb the steeper grades. Narrow gauge was often used because of the difficult terrain, but there was no uniformity in the track gauge among the competing railroads so the cars had to be offloaded at various switching points. All of those companies are bankrupt now, most of them bought out by Northeast. Northeast entered into an agreement with Stonechurch Mining to improve service to the business and the town.”
“Stonechurch Miningisthe town,” said Lily.
“You’ve been there?”
She shook her head. “Reputation is all I know about it.”
“Well, it’s true. What is good for the mining operation is good for the town, and Northeast is eager to increase its presence here in Colorado.” He saw Lily looked doubtful, but he didn’t know why. “Do you have questions?”
“Is your work dangerous?”
“Maybe, if I poke my eye with a pencil that I’m trying to put behind my ear.”
“Blasting?” she asked.
“That’s a long way off, and Clay wouldn’t be allowed anywhere close to it.”
“If my son’s curious enough, he’ll find a way.”
“Then I’ll keep him on a leash.” He smiled slightly as he said it, and she smiled as well. Small inroads, he thought. He was also learning the lay of the land.
“I’m guessing that you’ll want him during school hours,” said Lily. “It’s starting to get dark earlier.”
“Yes, but I won’t ask him to accompany me every time I go out. He’ll take care of the particulars, getting the horses from the livery, packing my instruments, and recommending a route when I tell him what I want to see.” Roen moved the hat in his lap to a nearby table. He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. “I am going to teach him about building lasting structures, Mrs. Salt. There will be book learning; he’ll have to study. There will be calculations, formulas. He’ll be using basic algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. If he shows aptitude, there will be calculus.”
His posture was meant to engage Lily, but he watched her press her lips together. Uncertainty returned to her eyes.
“I don’t know what that is,” she said.
“Calculus?”
“Yes. And the other thing you mentioned before that.”
“Trigonometry.”
She nodded.
“They are methods of mathematics for assuring the correct height of a bridge, how much weight it can support, and whether it can be built at all. Mathematics is used to factor the cost. I don’t want to climb canyons if I can connect them at the gap.”
“Clay has a head for numbers.”
“I thought he might. He was interested in the ones I showed him. He didn’t understand what he saw, but he seemed keen to learn.”
