they’re younger, a lot of them have young families—kids. Kids have accidents—need a nurse or a doctor …’
Keanu sighed.
He understood that part of the situation—but nevertheless the mine would have to shut! Safety had to come first and their small hospital just wasn’t equipped should a major catastrophe like a mine collapse happen.
Caroline’s heart had shuddered at the thought of the miners working in tunnels that might not have been shored up properly, or in water that hadn’t been pumped out of the tunnels, but the best way to find out was to talk to them.
‘Well, if there are people working here, shouldn’t we start the checks?’ She turned to Keanu, and read the concern she was feeling mirrored in his eyes. ‘How do you usually handle it?’
But it was Reuben who answered her.
‘I’ll ring through to the team and they send one man out at a time—we do it in alphabetical order so it’s easier for you with the files. I’m a bit worried about Kalifa Lui—his cough seems much worse.’
‘Should we see him first?’ Caroline asked, but Keanu shook his head.
‘He’ll realise we’ve picked him out and probably cough his lungs up on his way out of the mine so his chest’s clear when he gets here. Better to keep to the order.’
Reuben had placed a well-labelled accident book in front of Caroline and a box of files on the table where Keanu sat.
Index card files?
Caroline looked around the office—no computer.
Ian’s cost-cutting?
She didn’t say anything, not wanting to confirm any more Lockhart inadequacies or bring up Ian’s name unnecessarily.
Keanu was already flipping through the files, and Reuben was on the phone, organising the check-ups, so Caroline opened the book.
But she was easily distracted.
Looking at Keanu, engrossed in his work, making notes on a piece of paper, leafing back through the files to check on things, she sensed the power of this man—as a man—to attract any woman he wanted. It wasn’t simply good looks and a stunning physique, but there was a suggestion of a strong sexuality—maybe more than a suggestion—woven about him like a spider’s web.
And she was caught in it.
The memories of their childhood together were strong and bitter-sweet given how it had ended, but this was something different.
‘Aaron Anapou, ma’am.’
Jerked out of her thoughts by the deep voice, she looked up to see a dust-smeared giant standing in front of her.
‘Ah! Hi! Actually, Keanu’s doing the checks. I’m Caroline—I’m the nurse.’
She stood up and held out her hand, which he took gingerly.
‘You should have gloves on, ma’am,’ he said quietly.
‘But then I might miss a little gold dust sticking to my fingers.’
Aware that she’d already held up things for too long, she waved him along the table towards Keanu, who already had the first card in front of him.
Reuben had helpfully laid out the medical implements between the two of them—a stethoscope, ear thermometer and covers, and a lung capacity machine. So what did she do? Act as welcoming committee? Wait for orders?
Behind her desk Reuben had also opened the doors on what looked like a well-stocked medical cabinet.
Maybe she did the dressings.
But, in the meantime, there was the accident book to go through. She looked at the recent pages, then flipped back, interested to see if there were always so few accidents recorded.
It wasn’t hard to work out when the crushing and extracting operations had closed down as most of the reported accidents had been caused by some chance contact with some piece of the machinery.
In the background she heard Keanu chiding men for working in flip-flops instead of their steel-capped boots, listened to explanations of water not being pumped out, and her heart ached for the days when the mine had been a well-run and productive place.
‘If you’re done, you can give me a hand.’ Had Keanu guessed she’d been dreaming?
The next miner hadn’t tried to hide the fact he’d been working in flip-flops—they were bright green and still on his feet. The skin between his big toe and the second one, where the strap of the sandal rubbed, was raw and inflamed, and a visible cut on his left arm was also infected.
Caroline worked with Keanu now; he cleaned and treated wounds, handing out antibiotics, while she did the lung capacity tests and temperatures.
‘I’m surprised there are any antibiotics to give out,’ she said when there was a gap between the miners.
‘I keep the keys of the chest and no one but me can ever open it,’ Reuben said firmly. ‘I suppose it was too big for Mr Lockhart to take away and he couldn’t break the bolt, although I think he tried.’
Caroline sighed.
Her uncle had left a poisonous legacy behind him on what had once been an island paradise.
And, given her name, she was part of the poison.
‘We definitely have to close the mine.’ Keanu’s voice interrupted her dream of happier times, and she realised the parade of miners—a short parade—from the mine to the table had ceased. ‘It would be irresponsible not to do it.’
‘And that will damage the Lockhart name even more,’ Caroline muttered as shame for the trouble her uncle had caused made her cringe.
He touched her quickly on the shoulder. ‘We’ll talk about it later,’ he said, pulling the accident book from in front of her and checking the few notes she’d made.
‘Given the state of the mine, there’ve been remarkably few accidents,’ he said. ‘Unless, of course …’ he looked at Reuben ‘… you haven’t been recording them.’
Reuben’s indignant ‘Of course I have,’ was sincere enough to be believed, especially when he added, ‘But remember, not all the men are working. Only this one team at the moment.’
‘But even if there haven’t been many accidents, that doesn’t mean there won’t be more in future,’ Caroline said, seeing the sense in Keanu’s determination that the mine should close.
So what could she do?
Find out whatever she could?
‘Reuben, would you mind if I looked at the accounts and wages books?’
He looked taken aback—upset even.
‘I’m not checking up on you, but it would help if I could work out how much the miners are owed.
