At what Jack took to be midday, a gong sounded twice.

“That is the signal that the midday meal is being served. Come! It’s not a gourmet meal but it will fill you. It will also do you good to meet some of the others that are in the mining camp”, Isaac explained as he got up to head towards the mess tent he’d shown Jack earlier.

The mess hall itself was uninteresting, just a larger tent with a handful of old wooden stools and a few tables that had seen better days. To the side of the entrance there was a longer counter set up, with a small pile of beaten up bowls and spoons on one end. Isaac took one of each, Jack following suit. “At least they look clean”, he thought. 

Behind the counter was a large, pudgy man standing ready with a ladle next to a large pot of, well, something. It looked like a soup, but despite the fact that Jack couldn’t identify anything he could see floating in it, it didn’t smell half bad!

“Isaac”, Isaac intoned dully when he presented his bowl to the cook, who mechanically ladled in two portions of the mystery soup before adding a thick slice of bread from under the counter.

Jack noticed a small, mousy woman sitting at a table behind the cook, scribbling down what Jack assumed was Isaac’s name in a ledger, similar to the one he’d seen in use in the toolshed. 

Jack held out his bowl as Isaac had done. After a few seconds the mousy woman looked up and droned “Name?”. 

“Jack”, he replied before the cook gave him the same treatment as Isaac. “Thank you”, his ingrained politeness made him say. The cook just grunted. The mousy woman scribbled in her ledger.

Isaac walked over to a small table near the back of the tent and sat, Jack joining him. “Like I said, everything here comes at a price, even the food”, Isaac answered Jack’s unspoken question about the ledger. 

As they sat and ate their meal in silence, a handful of people trickled in. The Dalton brothers that Jack had met in the mine, a few other surly men that kept to themselves. He was surprised to see a couple of women come in, older than himself but still young. 

“Ronald, and ye’ damn well know it”, came an uproarious voice from the counter. 

Jack looked up from the last of the soup he was mopping up with the bread, to see a very large gentleman holding out a bowl for the cook to fill. The man looked to be well over 6 feet, and bulky to boot. Unlike the others, his work clothes were clean - he obviously hadn’t just come from the mine. 

“Make it double”, Ronald demanded, holding out a second bowl in his other hand. The cook didn’t seem surprised and filled the second bowl, while Miss Mousy made a note in her ledger.

“What’s his story?”, Jack asked softly of Isaac. 

“That’s Ronald. Or Ronny to his friends, not that he has any here. He’s the last to arrive here, before you”, Isaac leaned back as he spoke to Jack. 

“Not a friendly fellow, I take it?”, Jack asked.

“He’s bad news, no one here with any sense will associate with him”, Isaac responded. Seeing Jack look at him askance, he continued; “Story is, he’s an enforcer for some or other big shot money lender back in the capital. The type that gives people that owe money friendly reminders in the form of broken bones, you know?”. 

Jack nodded. It certainly fit his own impression of the man. “So why’s he here?”

“Broke the wrong bones, some noble’s kid with a taste for the finer things in life. His employer made a deal, Ronald took the fall in return for a lighter sentence, and here he is, stuck with us”, Isaac continued. 

“He seems quite sure of himself. Doesn’t he pay extra for that second bowl of food?”, Jack asked.

“He does, but he doesn’t care. Tells anyone willing to listen about how his ‘Boss’ will buy him out of here any day now. It’s been almost a month though...” Isaac elaborated.

“Is that significant? That he almost been here a month?”, Jack asked.

“He hasn’t set foot in the mine, so he’s not earning his keep, you see. And unless his employer is a better man or woman than most of that ilk, tomorrow should be quite a show”, grinned Isaac. “Don’t ask, it’s better that you see for yourself”, he headed off the inevitable follow up from Jack.

The meal finished, Isaac and Jack returned to their tent where Isaac handed Jack a full canteen. 

“Time for us to get to work, unless you have other plans”, Isaac announced before heading back to the mining shed, Jack in tow. “Today, we’ll work as a team. Once you feel comfortable, you can start heading down by yourself if you want. It’s a free world after all!”; he laughed at his own joke.

“Ha ha. Very funny”, thought Jack uncharitably as they entered the shed.

Isaac took the lead, requisitioning a lantern, a large pickaxe, a smaller hammer and two differently sized bags for the two of them. Once more, they headed down the shaft at the far end of the shed. 

This time Isaac walked briskly, carrying the large pickaxe with ease while Jack carried the lantern, the hammer tucked in by his waste. He was relieved that the hammer felt normal, unlike everything he’d tried picking up as Confucius’ patient-turned-guest. 

“How do you not get lost down here?”, Jack asked after they had taken more than a few side passages. It couldn’t be by the slope, as not all the passages sloped downward.

“Look here”, Isaac said as he headed for yet another branching tunnel. “Here”, he reiterated, pointing to a simple line scored into the passage wall. “This shows us which way to the surface. Simple!”, he was practically beaming.

“Of course”, Jack said and nodded. Simple but effective.