Epilogue
The rest of the summer passed faster than a priority mainline freight. The end of August approached before Roane was quite ready. He filled out the papers to resign effective the end of the next week and took them to Coal Mesa, the same place he’d hired out. When he asked about coming back the next summer, the hiring agent said there were no guarantees, but he’d be welcome to apply.
Dom and Alden had traded the foreman duties back and forth, each serving a two-week pay period before transferring the role to the other. So far nobody had come out to take the job permanently, and no one seemed to know when that would happen. They completed the work at the Ventura Mine and got to see the first ore train head down to the main line. Roane could tell every man on the crew felt a surge
