"Where are the others?" Samuel shouted.
"Inside!"
Samuel turned toward the tunnel.
Elena's warning returned to him.
If the barrier failed, the water could flood the lower passage.
He knew he could not stop the collapse himself. But he could help the men escape before the entire tunnel became unstable.
He grabbed a lantern and entered the mine.
The air was filled with dust and the sound of rushing water. Wooden supports creaked overhead, and loose stones fell from the walls.
Samuel shouted for the workers.
Two men appeared near the first chamber, struggling to carry a toolbox.
"Leave it!" he yelled. "Get out!"
They dropped the box and ran toward him.
Farther inside, someone shouted for help.
Samuel moved deeper into the tunnel.
He found a worker trapped behind a fallen beam. The man's leg was pinned beneath the timber, and water was rising around him.
Samuel knelt beside the beam.
"Can you move?"
The man shook his head.
Samuel examined the timber and searched for a way to lift it.
The beam was too heavy to move alone.
He looked toward the tunnel entrance.
"Help!" he shouted.
Two workers rushed back inside.
Together, they lifted the beam enough for the trapped man to pull his leg free.
The group began moving toward the exit.
Then the ceiling cracked.
A section of rock collapsed behind them, blocking the main passage.
Samuel stopped.
The only remaining route was the lower tunnel, where the water was rising rapidly.
He looked at the trapped worker.
"Can you walk?"
The man nodded, though his face was pale.
Samuel led them into the lower passage.
The water reached their knees.
The lantern flickered as the wind from the collapsing tunnel pushed through the chamber.
Ahead, a narrow opening led toward the hillside.
They struggled through the water, supporting the injured man between them.
Behind them, the sound of collapsing timber grew louder.
At last, they reached the opening and climbed through into the rain.
Samuel collapsed onto the wet ground, breathing heavily.
The workers gathered around him.
One of them looked back at the mine.
"Hale knew this could happen."
Samuel stood slowly.
"Then he will have to answer for it."
By dawn, the collapse had damaged the underground barrier and altered the flow of the spring.
Water no longer reached the town well at its usual rate.
The crisis Elena had predicted had begun.
Chapter Eight: The Price of Water
By sunrise, Red Hollow was in chaos.
The well's water level had dropped dramatically. The eastern channel was clogged with mud, and several ranchers reported that their cattle troughs were nearly empty.
Residents gathered in the streets, carrying buckets and containers.
At first, people assumed the problem would be temporary.
Then the town's water pump stopped drawing water.
A man climbed down far enough to inspect the well and discovered that the spring was flowing through a different channel beneath the ground.
The town had lost its primary water supply.
Victor Hale responded quickly.
He sent wagons carrying barrels of water from a private reservoir north of the valley. His workers distributed the water in the town square, where a large sign announced that emergency supplies were available through the Hale Water Company.
The price was several times higher than the usual cost of transporting water.
Families who could afford it purchased enough to last a few days.
Others stood in line, arguing over the cost.
Hale's men explained that the reservoir had required significant investment and that the price reflected the difficulty of transporting the water.
They also reminded residents that the company had offered to modernize the valley's water system months earlier.
If the town had accepted the proposal, they said, the crisis could have been avoided.
The message was clear.
Hale intended to turn the disaster into proof that his company should control the water supply.
Samuel watched the wagons from outside the general store.
A young mother stood near the back of the line, holding an empty bucket. Her two children waited beside her.
She examined the coins in her hand.
Then she stepped away from the line without purchasing anything.
Samuel approached her.
"How much do you need?"
She looked embarrassed.
"Enough for today."
He handed her a small purse containing several coins.
"Take what you need."
She shook her head.
"I can't accept this."
"Then consider it a loan."
"I don't know when I can repay you."
Samuel looked toward the water wagons.
"Neither do I."
She hesitated, then accepted the money.
Elena approached from the opposite side of the street.
She had spent the morning organizing residents who were willing to share their remaining supplies. Several ranchers had opened their private storage tanks, allowing families to collect limited amounts of water.
It was not enough to solve the crisis, but it prevented the situation from becoming worse.
Elena looked at the Hale Water Company sign.
"He planned this."
Samuel nodded.
"The collapse may have happened sooner than he expected, but he was ready to profit from it."
"Can we prove that?"
"We have the ledger, the workers' statements, and the original water agreement."
"We also need evidence that he knew the structure was unsafe."
Samuel told her about the workers who had warned Hale before the collapse.
Elena's expression hardened.
"Then we need their testimony."
They returned to the mine and found the workers gathered beside the damaged entrance.
Several were preparing to leave the territory.
They feared that Hale would blame them for the collapse.
Samuel approached the foreman.
"We need you to tell the truth about what happened."
The man looked at him with exhaustion.
"We told you what we knew."
"We need it in writing."
The foreman shook his head.
"Hale can ruin us."
Samuel considered the statement.
"He may try."
"That isn't enough."
"No," Samuel admitted. "It isn't."
He looked toward the town.
"I cannot promise that you won't lose your jobs. I cannot promise that the court will protect you from every consequence. But I can promise that if you remain silent, Hale will make certain that you carry the blame for what he ordered."
The foreman stared at him.
Samuel continued.
"You were told to build an unsafe structure. You warned your employer. He ordered you to continue. If you tell the truth, the responsibility may finally reach the person who made the decision."
The workers exchanged looks.
At last, the foreman nodded.
"I'll testify."
One by one, the others agreed.
Their statements would become the final piece of evidence needed to establish that Hale had knowingly endangered the spring.
But the businessman had not yet accepted defeat.
That afternoon, he announced that he intended to purchase the town's remaining water rights.