She had to get a closer look, but she couldn’t risk alerting anyone to her presence. It would have
been easy to deal with the two guards, but then they would know she was here. Billie looked around,
scanning for options.
Her gaze settled on the elevated rail. If she could get up onto it, the moving train of buckets would
hide her as she reached the mine entrance. Once she was up there, she could grab a basket and follow
the workers deeper. To help with the disguise, she reached down, scooped up handfuls of the thick
gray dust that lined the cavern, and smeared it all over her black uniform. It wasn’t perfect, but it
would do.
As the first cargo loader slowly filled up, Billie pushed herself off the wall, using the roar of the
falling rock to cover her movements. She darted to the cargo loader, using it for cover, then climbed
up the side before jumping up, her fingers catching the edge of the elevated rail. She pulled herself up,
squeezing next to the buckets, the iron bridge providing a scant few inches of space for footing. With
the buckets moving in the opposite direction, Billie skirted along the bridge, finally reaching the
cavern wall high above where she had been hiding. She kept going, using the buckets for cover, until
she was close to the mine entrance. Here, light blazing from the mine provided a deep shadow for
cover, and now Billie could see a steep ramp, cut into the rock wall, allowing access up into the
workings itself, a stack of heavy wicker baskets nearby.
Billie took a basket and headed up the ramp.