Snow White's Mirror: Fairy-tale Inheritance Series, #3

Prologue

At last.

At the top of a winding staircase, she’d found it.

Disregarded by everyone but the aging queen. How could she ever forget the trouble it had caused her?

The mirror.

A fine coating of dust dulled its finish, and made it look deceptively old and harmless. Hesitantly, Queen Snow wiped the surface. She wanted a clear look at whatever, or whoever, was inside. The thought of meeting her adversary made her shiver, and she took a moment to compose herself.

She set her lantern on a nearby table and stood in front of the mirror, arms loose at her side. Taking a deep breath, she peered into the surface. Her reflection stared warily back, her cheeks flushed red from the climb, and her once black hair, now mostly gray, no longer a stark contrast to her fair skin. She breathed out with force. Time for answers. She began the poem:

"Mirror, mirror

on the wall,

Who’s the fairest

of them all?"

The glass rippled near the edge of the frame like it was melting. Slowly at first, then swiftly until the entire surface was a swirling, twirling mass of molten glass. Her reflection twisted until it was only a rush of colors that melded together and became a white mist. A silhouette appeared in the middle, growing increasingly visible as the mist cleared. At last, the figure turned to face the outside.

Oh. Snow blinked in recognition. It’s you.

Chapter 1

Wilhelmina Bergmann lay in a patch of shade too close to a prickly pear cactus for her liking. Arms spread wide, she aired out her armpits in a decidedly unladylike fashion. Truth be told, this wasn’t the only thing she’d done in the last twenty-four hours that would shock her friends back in Boston.

She closed her eyes against the bright sun, bemoaning for the hundredth time her black crepe shirtwaist and long skirt. But she was in deep mourning, and thanks to Queen Victoria, God rest her soul, this was what fashionable women wore when in mourning.

Her uncle splashed in the small creek not twenty yards from her. As he swirled his pan, the sound of rocks scraping on tin rose above the gurgle of water. She prayed he would find gold soon, so they could move on.

Water feels great, Uncle Dale called. Grab a tin and join me.

Billie opened one eye and squinted in his direction. Wet up to his knees, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his exposed skin paled from the cold water. His prospector’s hat, filthy thing that it was, and purchased from a man leaving the valley, shaded his face so she couldn’t read his expression. His chevron mustache bobbed as he chewed tobacco, and his formerly clean-shaven chin sprouted the makings of a beard, marking the hours they’d been away from civilization.

Ah, Uncle Dale. He could talk a dying man into buying a vacation home.

She shouldn’t have given in so easily. Had they stuck to the original plan of mailing her cousin the watch and contacting an attorney to handle any other business, they would have been home by now. She didn’t understand his quick change of mind, but after spending a day holed up in Daddy’s home office, he was adamant that they travel through Bisbee.

Billie had never even heard of the place, but Uncle had caught her at a weak moment, when her brain was so muddled she couldn’t even make basic decisions like, did she want toast or oatmeal for breakfast? Her whole life had changed when she moved out to California, and now she was returning to her old life, minus her father’s oversight.

Uncle said not to worry; he would take care of everything, and she could return to her school before the fall session started to resume her social life as it was before.

However, if she were honest with herself, she’d admit that she was scared to go home, worried that Holly and Jane and Suzanne had replaced her with someone else and wouldn’t make room for her return.

A side trip put off the unknown. That’s why she agreed to this fiasco. Uncle Dale told her it would be a lark, a fun detour, and when would she have a chance like this again? She could go back home with a pocketful of gold to show her friends instead of the red-rimmed eyes she was currently sporting.

There was no gold, but there was no telling him that. There also wasn’t any point asking him to hurry up, regarding either the gold panning or settling Daddy’s estate.

Her friends didn’t even know she was coming home. There hadn’t been time to send word, and Mother wouldn’t think to tell them. What with all her doctor’s appointments and specialists, Mother’s life in Boston was full, if not pleasant.

Found something. Ah, no. Never mind. Uncle dumped the contents back in the water and scooped up more mud.

Billie groaned. How much longer? My life is wasting away.

Not much.

Daddy died a few days after the finishing touches went on the big house in California, and then Uncle, instead of Mother, was there at her side taking care of everything. The funeral arrangements, the estate, going through Daddy’s unorganized mounds of paper in his office. Before Billie knew it, Daddy was in the ground, and she and her uncle were on a train back to Boston. Back to their old life.

With one detour.

She fanned her face. What would her friends think of her lying in the dirt? What would Branson Hughes think?

If she’d stayed in Boston, he might have declared himself by now. She’d spent months trying to assure him his interest was reciprocated, but he was so shy the progress was slow going. They’d finally had a moment when she was leaving. He’d seen her off at the train when she’d left with her dad for California and offered to carry her luggage. When she handed it to him, he held her gaze, and deliberately brushed his hand against hers. Deliberately. No young man was able to make her insides flip like Branson Hughes, the biggest catch in Boston.

And, had she stayed, she would be with her friends right now planning the next season of parties. She and her girls. This was to be their year. They were the ones to set the bar higher than any other class, to show them all how it was done. Just like her daddy taught her.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them back. She didn’t expect to miss her father so much. He was never around when he was alive, but in the end, he had been trying. Boston was going through a smallpox epidemic, and he wanted her away from the illness.

Mother refused to leave her own doctors. She was not in favor of moving to the west coast, but Daddy hoped to change her mind with a pretty new house near his new mine. In the end, it wasn’t Billie’s or Mother’s health that was in jeopardy, it was his. Heart failure comes without warning.

A fortuitous event, Uncle had said, that their train ride east would take them from California to Boston via Arizona. What better time to see her long-lost relation, a cousin to whom her father had bequeathed a watch. Billie could exchange news about the German side of her family.

But she’d had no idea how difficult Uncle’s little side trip was going to be. Nor had she realized her long-lost cousin lived out in the middle of nowhere in Arizona Territory. No wonder it wasn’t a state yet. Miles of nothing but scrub. It was frightening. Wild. She’d never fully relax until curled up in a cozy hotel bed in Bisbee.

She considered her high-top boots, not made for traipsing about the countryside, and certainly not made for crossing creeks. They were made for tea parties and strolling Boston Common. They were her favorite pair; she’d begged Daddy to get them for her even though his secretary advised that they were too mature for her sixteen years. White leather with twenty-two lace holes—two more than Sally Johnson’s fancy boots—and a buckle detail near the base of the foot. Most striking, they had a black leather flower rising up from the heel. No one had ever seen that before. They were perfect.

At least, they used to be. Now they were brown with Arizona dirt and the binding near the right toe was pulling loose. She’d snapped the left set of laces last night when she was angry at Uncle for taking so long panning that they had to spend the night under the stars with the coyotes.

She was sure if Mother knew where Uncle was dragging her, she’d never stand for it. Gold Rush fever was over. Her uncle was late to the party, and no amount of panning was going to pay off for him.

Uncle Dale splashed out of the water. Got a little dust, he said. May as well head into town and sell it.

Billie sat up. Now?

Sure. Town’s less than an hour that-a-way. He jerked his head to the right.

Billie widened her eyes. What are we waiting for?

Restaurants. Hotels. Proper bathrooms.

She was already standing and slapping off the dried bits of scrub from her black skirt. She could practically feel the warm bathwater washing away the dust clinging to her legs. It would be the best thing this side of heaven. You should’ve told me sooner.

I scouted the trail out this morning while you were sleeping.

Billie gasped, surveying the rugged land. You left me out here alone?

Uncle dried his tin pan along his pants. You were getting your beauty sleep. It wasn’t like you were going to wander off.

Coyotes? Bears? Bandits? Billie waved her arms to emphasize her point. She could have been killed—or—or worse.

Uncle raised his eyebrows. You seem perfectly fine to me. Besides, you’re tougher than you think. I just proved it to you, and now you’re the better for it. He turned his back and shoved the pan into a sack. Let’s go.

She clenched her jaw while carrying her own carpetbag. The rest of her belongings had been checked through to Boston. Her shirtwaists and shoes would be home before she was.

They’d taken the train as far as Tombstone where Uncle had complained that all the jostling was affecting his lumbago, and the stage would only make it worse. Besides, wouldn’t it be an adventure if they did some hiking in the desert?

The thing was, when they got off the train in Tombstone he went into a saloon to ask word about the local silver mines. He was gone long enough to gamble their money away. It was the only logical explanation for why they were walking instead of taking the stage as planned. In fact, Uncle had been acting strangely ever since leaving California.

She worried about what terrible secret he was keeping from her. Was she a pauper now that Father had died? Or worse, had her mother finally succumbed to her illness, too, and Uncle Dale was putting off telling her? And if so, did he plan on leaving her in Bisbee with this relative they’d come to see?

Tomorrow we’ll take the stage to the nearest town with a train, yes? she reiterated. She was determined to keep her uncle focused on their tasks. Headed for Boston?

Hm. We’ll see.

I need to get home to Mother. She’s grieving alone. And so am I. She felt like she couldn’t freely grieve until she got home to the place where she knew her dad best.

I know what my sister is going through, Uncle said with an edge to his voice as they reached the top of the ridge. That’s why we’re here. He spread his arms wide where the town lay nestled in the valley. To secure your future.

Chapter 2

Billie didn’t understand the connection between her future and this particular mining town, but sure enough, they had found the place hidden in the narrow valley.

With nowhere else to go, wood and adobe houses climbed the steep sides of the mountain. Rickety wooden stairs leaned against the slope forming a haphazard array linking the street levels. It looked exactly like the network of stopes inside the mountain. It was as if the mine had inverted itself, creating a reflection above mirroring the work below.

The smell of sulfur, the clang of distant machinery. Daddy would have loved this place.

Town’s bigger than I expected, Uncle Dale said. Look at the size of that one mine. I’d love to get a look at the generators powering that thing. You know anything about magnetic flux?

No, but I know plenty about the importance of warm bread, Billie said. So why don’t we get a look inside the nearest restaurant?

She followed her uncle down the road, mindful of her dainty boots. The business end of town ran along the floor of the valley, and Billie and her uncle walked on through town until they entered a narrow gulch. Here, the buildings were a mix of false-front wooden structures sandwiched between solid brick buildings. The brick indicated the town was beginning to put down roots.

Billie’s heart leapt. It wasn’t Boston, but there were people. And where there were people there were amenities. A hotel, a cafe, a blacksmith. The usual trappings of a mining town. Several respectable buildings where one could buy a meal or supplies or have one’s laundry done. Also, several unrespectable buildings over which Billie had best not ruminate.

She scanned for women, for they were who she wanted to see. Men seemed able to put up with wilderness, but if there were enough women in town she could judge how luxurious the hotel might be.

Overwhelmingly, there were mostly men riding horses through the streets or clustered in small groups. A few children played marbles in the dirt beside a candy store. And there. Yeehaw—to quote a ranch hand they’d met on the way—a group of women dressed in clean, respectable gingham. Another woman walking on the wooden boardwalk dressed as a lady with fashionable bell skirt and puffed sleeves as modern as any Billie would wear. There was hope for this town yet.

As she continued to sum up the place, she noticed the train depot. She stared at it in disbelief, clenching the handle on her bag.

Uncle, did you know the train comes right through this town? You needn’t have worried about your lumbago. She kept her voice even, masking her irritation. We didn’t need to walk at all.

His gaze darted past the tracks. Of course, there’s a train. How else are they going to get the ore out?

Her face warmed. But you said we’d have to switch to the stage, and it would hurt your back.

Not my exact words, he said. He turned her attention to the general store. Why don’t you go shopping? I bet you could find yourself a trinket in that there building. Maybe something for your mother.

Of course, there’s a train. Where was her head? She was the daughter of a mining baron. She knew how it worked. Once a strong vein was found the company moved in and set up shop. They used mules at the beginning to pack out the ore, but if the mine proved itself, it didn’t take long to lay rails and increase production. With the demand for copper rising thanks to Tesla’s invention harnessing electricity for light, copper mines were as valuable as gold mines. Maybe more so.

Billie needed to quit daydreaming about returning to Boston and focus on what her uncle was up to. He said to buy something for her mother, so that meant she was still alive. That was one less worry.

I’ll just see to some business and come back for you, Uncle Dale said. Then we’ll go find your cousin Lou.

Billie listed her head. By his tone, he was too eager to get rid of her. Fine Uncle. I’ll learn your game. And then we are on a train to Boston.

He handed her several coins. Off you go, he said, before sauntering up the packed-dirt main street.

Out of habit, she picked out the pennies and slipped them into a pocket within her reticule. She caught her bedraggled reflection in the window and tucked a stray hair under her bonnet. She sighed. Hopeless. It’s a good thing no one of importance could see her now.

Then she stepped up on the boardwalk, pretending she was going to the store, but as soon as her uncle was a reasonable distance away, she followed him. The only business they had in this godforsaken place was to find her cousin. Business that involved her side of the family, not his. There was nothing he needed to do alone. Except maybe gamble their train money away.

But instead of heading into a saloon, he stopped in front of the assayer’s office. Brushed off his pants. Looked up and down the street.

She pressed herself against the nearest wall.

The gold dust? If he was having his gold dust weighed, what did he care if she saw? She knew how much, or should she say how little, he’d collected on the way. Maybe he’d found more than he let on. Still, why would she care? Her father’s estate held more than enough funds to support her. Or it did.

Billie continued on up the boardwalk, half-heartedly examining the tea display in the small window panes of another general store. Once her uncle disappeared inside the assayer’s, she edged along the boardwalk, nodding politely to the folks she passed.

The assayer’s windows were dirty, preventing the curious from getting a look at the gold being weighed. She wiped a corner with her fingers, but the dirt was also caked on the inside. She could only make out muddled shapes indicating cabinets, a table, and a blurred image of her uncle standing before the counter.

Now what?

A boy across the street stared at her with a disapproving look. He wore the same outfit all the men seemed to be wearing in this out-of-the-way place: butternut trousers, dirty plaid shirt, and that awful style of prospector’s hat. He seemed more suited to a cowboy hat with his tan face and hard look. If he smiled, he might hope to be as handsome as Branson. This lad appeared a little older than she and obviously annoyed that she was trying to get a look inside the office. What was it to him?

Their eyes met, and his face shifted when he realized she caught him staring. He pulled his hat low over his face before slipping down an alley.

Billie laughed. Silly boys. They were the same no matter what city or town you were in. Curious about girls, but slightly scared of them. He was quite nice looking. Too bad she was only in town long enough to pass off the watch, politely spend time with the cousin, and, if she had to, spend a night in luxury at the hotel before catching the first train headed east.

Dismissing the incident, she turned her attention back to the dusty windows. She cupped her hands to block the light when the door banged open.

Uncle stormed out of the assay office fuming. Too early, he muttered.

When he saw Billie, he forced a smile on his face. Good, there you are. He said it like he’d been looking all over for her. Let’s head out to cousin Lou’s place next. It’s back around that there mountain.

Billie eyed said mountain. The one where the road looks like it turns into a path? Are you sure that’s the one?

Yup. Your dad’s cousin never was one to live in town. From what I hear, cousin Lou is unusual. Doesn’t get along with people.

Couldn’t we send a messenger up? The hotel down the street looked new and therefore filled with modern conveniences. Cousin Lou’s place, with barely a road leading to it, did not sound promising at all. Nor did Cousin Lou.

Uncle hopped off the boardwalk. No time like the present.

Billie reluctantly followed. She was pleased to finish their business but was beyond tired of trekking through the dusty mountains.

When she stepped off the boardwalk, she landed on a rock and wrenched her ankle. She took a careful step, hoping she hadn’t caused a sprain, but she stumbled. In dismay, she looked at her pretty little boots. She’d broken off the heel on the left foot. Figures. She should have worn her all-black mourning boots instead of letting her vanity get the best of her for her trip across country.

That’s it, she said, letting annoyance flood her voice. A girl could only take so much. I’m buying myself a pair of western boots. It would be penance for her vanity to give up her kid boots. Besides, she’d be willing to buy the ugliest pair in the general store if it meant she could trek out of this town faster.

Uncle Dale bent down to examine the damage. I could drive a nail in there for cheaper, he said. Those boots are so pretty, why’d you want to wear anything else?

Two dollars should cover it, Billie said, not budging an inch. It is my money.

Country boots won’t match your city clothes, he said. I know how important it is for you ladies to coordinate. He waved his hand up and down indicating her boots all the way up to her wide-brimmed hat.

Billie set her lips into a line and crossed her arms.

Reluctantly, her uncle led the way to the store.

As expected, the general store had little in the way of goods to attract a woman. Filled with canned beans, flour, and hardware implements, she wouldn’t be spending much time in here.

What can I do for you today? asked the shopkeeper. Dressed in a long white apron, he stood behind the glass counter near the candy jars. Lemon drops and licorice.

Uncle nodded at Billie. She needs some sturdy shoes. Not these dainty heels the ladies like to wear to parties.

The man nodded and indicated they meet him at the back of the store. He came around the long counter with two pairs of boots, not even remotely pretty. Billie tried not to make a face as she picked out the only pair of shoes small enough to fit her, likely made for a boy. Brown leather boots lacking all style and sophistication.

While her uncle chatted with the shopkeeper about the workings of the local mine, Billie slipped off her white leathers and put on the work boots. What would Holly and Jane say? Suzanne, with her head in books all day, probably wouldn’t mind, but the other two would refuse to be seen with her if she showed up in these clumpy boots. It didn’t matter out here. For now, she would willingly bow to practicality over beauty.

Billie wiggled her toes and took a few tentative steps around the store. Her heels pounded hollow taps on the wooden planks. Not bad. They were sturdy, only rubbed her ankles a little. They would get her up the mountain.

I’ll take them. She plopped her old shoes on the glass counter while the shopkeeper rang up her new boots.

That’ll be three dollars, ninety-five.

Four dollars? For these? She bent over lifting her skirts to show the plainer-than-plain footwear. That was almost as much as she’d spent on her designer boots.

If you don’t want ’em, just say so, said the shopkeeper, making a move to go back around the counter.

No, I’ll take them. Billie dropped her skirt and stood tall. When they got back to civilization, the first thing she would do is buy a decent pair of kid leathers and toss these into the charity barrel. She nodded to her uncle to pay the man.

Even more reluctantly, Uncle Dale pulled out the bills. Billie was not surprised to note the bulge in his wallet was significantly smaller than it should have been. Maybe her hunch about the gambling was right.

Uncle Dale grinned when he saw her looking at his wallet, and he quickly stuffed it back into his pocket. Let’s go find that cousin of yours.

Chapter 3

The hike up the far mountain led them through scratchy brush, and Billie was infinitely glad she’d changed into boys boots. She was also infinitely glad she’d convinced Uncle Dale to let her use the bathroom facilities at the new Copper Queen Hotel before setting out.

It had cost them a sit-down dinner of roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, which, after eating barely anything but pork and beans cooked on an open fire for the past two days, was the best meal she’d ever had.

China plates. Silverware. Cloth napkins.

She was in heaven.

It didn’t even bother her when that same disapproving boy walked by the window and saw her wolfing down her potatoes like she hadn’t eaten in a week. Although, she did slow down and daintily wipe the corners of her mouth to make a point to him before he walked on. That rude boy had nothing on Branson Hughes.

Besides, he was much too forward if he was trying to catch the eye of a strange girl twice in one day. Queen Victoria wasn’t in the grave yet two years, and already the Victorian age was changing. This may be the Wild West, but it didn’t mean she would act out of turn.

Is it much farther? Billie asked, stopping on the