Showdown at
Border Town
Leaders & Legacies
Showdown at
Border Town
An Early Adventure of
PAUL MARTIN
Foreword by former
Prime Minister Paul Martin
By Caroline Woodward
Fireside Publishing House
This book is fiction but many of the characters and events are based on real people and actual historical events.
© 2013 Caroline Woodward
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of Fireside Publishing House.
ISBN 978-0-9812433-8-2 (pbk.)
$12.95 CDN.
Fireside Publishing House
www.firesidepublishinghouse.com
For an Access Copyright license, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call (toll-free) 1-800-893-5777.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Woodward, Caroline, 1995-
Showdown at border town : an early adventure of Paul
Martin / by Caroline Woodward ; foreword by Paul Martin.
(Leaders & legacies ; bk. 3)
Includes bibliographical references.
Also issued in electronic format.
ISBN 978-0-9812433-8-2
1. Martin, Paul, 1938- --Childhood and youth--Juvenile fiction.
I. Title. II. Series: Leaders & legacies series ; bk. 3
PS8645.O642S56 2013 jC813’.6 C2012-906543-9
Printed and bound in Canada by Maracle Press Ltd.
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative.
Cover art, book design and illustrations by riad
eBook development by WildElement.ca
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the late Mary-Anne Bellamy, sister of the Right Honourable Paul Martin, for the invitation to her home and for sharing stories about her childhood. Thanks to the staff members of the Windsor Museum Archives and Library and Archives Canada who were most helpful. A note of thanks to my family for their incredible support and enthusiasm. To my Literature teacher, thanks for reading an early draft of the book.
– CW
A special thank you to the Right Honourable Paul Martin for the time and enthusiasm he dedicated toward this third book in the Leaders & Legacies series. His generosity and support of both the book and the series concept has been incredible.
We would also like to acknowledge Tim Wynne-Jones, Arthur Milnes and Nancy Payne for their willingness to read the novel, for their testimonials, and for their helpful suggestions. To Chris Johnstone of the OPP Museum in Orillia, thank you for your knowledge and research of police firearms during this time period. To Jack Innes, President of the Canadian Automotive Museum, thank you for your valuable input on automobiles of the time, both in 1950 and in the flashback scene of 1922. To Dean Jacobs and James Jenkins, of the Walpole Island Heritage Centre, we extend a special note of thanks for your helpful research and patient conversations about life on Walpole Island during 1950.
– Fireside Publishing House
Books in the Leaders & Legacies Series
Book One
The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder:
An Early Adventure of John Diefenbaker
Book Two
The Legends of Lake on the Mountain:
An Early Adventure of John A. Macdonald
Book Three
Showdown at Border Town:
An Early Adventure of Paul Martin
Upcoming
An Early Adventure of Richard Bennett
An Early Adventure of William Lyon Mackenzie King
An Early Adventure of Pierre Trudeau
Also by Fireside Publishing House
Arthur Meighen: A Way with Words
an e-book for youth
with a foreword by the Honourable Michael Meighen
For Mom – thanks for turning
on the kettle when I needed it most
“I know what we are capable of. I have seen the power of our quiet patriotism. I know the sense of determination and the spirit of fairness that beats within the Canadian heart. To the men and women of our country, to the young Canadians today – Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal – who will lead us tomorrow, I would say we have accomplished much, but working together in a “real” partnership, one of true respect and understanding, we can accomplish so much more.”
– Prime Minister Paul Martin
May, 2012
Contents
Foreword by the
Right Honourable Paul Martin
1 Troubled Water
2 Cadillacs and Picnics
3 Work Wanted
4 Couldn’t Have Been Easy
5 Tom Whitehawk
6 The Fishermen
7 An Unexpected Visitor
8 Walpole Island
9 Nanabush
10 The River
11 Danger Under the Moon
12 Vanished
13 Search for Answers
14 Something to Hide
15 The Stain of Blood
16 Desperate Measures
17 Downtown
18 A Secret Space
19 Found
20 Showdown
21 Epilogue
Fiction or fact?
Foreword
by
The Right Honourable
Paul Martin
21st Prime Minister of Canada
A few years ago I received a letter from Roderick Benns of Fireside Publishing House, accompanied by a mystery novel starring the Right Honourable John Diefenbaker. I was told that this was to be the first of a series of mysteries and adventures depicting the Prime Ministers as teenage sleuths. The purpose of these novels is to encourage reading and history knowledge among young Canadians and would I accept to be the third ‘Sherlock Holmes’ in the series. (The Right Honourable John A. Macdonald came second, after Mr. Diefenbaker.)
I said yes and the next thing I knew I was on the phone with Caroline Woodward, then 15, now 17 years old. She was the winner of a contest sponsored by Fireside Publishing House and won the right to pen the novel.
Caroline is a charming young woman, obviously of considerable talent. She is also a detective in her own right. For although we have yet to meet, not only did she delve into my father’s books and my own as research material, she spent an afternoon with my late sister, Mary Anne, who gave her a boatload of background information which in her book brought the Colchester, Ontario of the 1940’s and 1950’s back to life.
That being said, the plot is totally Caroline’s, as is the dialogue. There’s action, suspense, danger, detective work, menacing bad guys and heroes too.
I am delighted however, to see that Caroline uses her book to foreshadow my passionate belief in Aboriginal Canada, through my interaction with the fictional character of Tom Whitehawk.
In real life, when I was a young man, I hitchhiked to Hay River in the North West Territories and got a job on a Mackenzie River tug-barge. All of my friends were First Nations, Inuit, or from the Métis Nation. I couldn’t help but notice that the opportunities my friends and I had back in Windsor were not there for them, even though they were every bit as intelligent and hard-working
as we could ever hope to be. That feeling of unfairness never left me.
This is one of the reasons a number of us started the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative to implement programs that will help support elementary and secondary school education for Aboriginal students, and the CAPE Fund to invest in Aboriginal enterprise.
I have to say, when I think of my childhood I inevitably think of Colchester and those long, glorious summers on Lake Erie. As I read Caroline’s book so many memories came back to me – playing along the shore with my sister, cousins and friends, going to community events with my father and just generally getting into a lot of trouble. If it’s true that we are shaped by our childhoods, then I was a lucky young man indeed.
The Leaders & Legacies series on Canada’s Prime Ministers as young teenagers is meant not only to help with literacy but also Canadian historical literacy. Those of us who entered public life may have chosen different ways of getting there, but I know that our hearts beat for Canada, its success and its shining example to the world. What I did not know is that we were all apprentice detectives.
If you are a student reading this book I would encourage you to continue with your learning and to develop a healthy curiosity about the world around you. Work hard and play hard – and then look for opportunities. It’s then that they’ll come. You should also visit Windsor and Colchester, they are wonderful places in which to grow up and live.
In the meantime, sit back and enjoy this adventure I might have had as a boy. Did I mention there’s action, suspense, danger, detective work, menacing bad guys and heroes?
Enjoy.
The Right Honourable
Paul Martin
21st Prime Minister of Canada
November 2012
Summer, 1950
Colchester-Windsor, Ontario
Chapter 1
Troubled Water
It was here where his partner died in a pool of blood.
It was here, on the shores of the Detroit River, that he realized he would never be the same man because of the events of that night.
Inspector Doug Ward, greyer now, put his hand on a metal beam of the Ambassador Bridge and looked up at it. He felt the night come alive again from 28 years ago, back when the bridge was only somebody’s plan. In his mind’s eye, he could still see the four men stuffing crates into a boat while a black car idled on the river’s shore. One of them had a cigar in his mouth.
His partner and friend, Officer Hal Clifton, was a veteran of the Windsor Police Force. Clifton drove their black model T touring car in real close, trying to surprise them. They opened their police car doors and shouted for the four men to put their hands on their heads.
The inspector took his hand off the bridge and froze the memory. What if they had assessed the situation from further back – not driven in so close? What if they had waited for more officers to show up? In earlier times they had worked together so effectively. He, a junior partner with promise, paired with the veteran Clifton. They had chased gangsters together and broken up blade fights in Windsor’s back alleys. They had found where the so-called ‘blind pigs’ were – the places where alcohol was being sold illegally.
Inspector Ward, now a senior Ontario Provincial Police officer on the verge of retirement, tilted his grey fedora over his eyes. He stared at the choppy river
underneath the Ambassador Bridge and watched the Detroit office towers etched into the sky on America’s side.
He remembered how his heart hammered against his young chest as they waited for the four men to comply. Instead, the quick flash of gun metal from a revolver. The horror of seeing the perfect first shot take down his partner. Another rattle of bullets. His own wild dive into the front seat of the police car to save himself. He returned fire but the black car had already started to move away from the scene and the boat away from the shore. Instead, all he was able to do was hold the head of his dead friend, Hal Clifton, the finest man he would ever serve with. He had never felt as guilty or as powerless as he did on that night.
Inspector Ward lifted his fedora and ran his fingers through his thick, grey hair. He looked up at the bridge, alive with traffic and trade. For most people, the Canada-U.S. bridge was a lure that pulled people back and forth. For him, it only pulled him apart.
He had left Windsor that same year and moved to Toronto. Got married. Had three kids. Watched them grow. He had never returned until today. Now, here he was, back in the same border city, except it wasn’t the past anymore. No, 1922 was long gone. Instead it was July, 1950. The lawlessness of the Prohibition years hadn’t exactly gone away in Windsor. He had been sent here to make things right but the cop in him told him that things could always go wrong – fast.
He knew he wasn’t the same man after the events of that night. Who would be? So here he was, then – the changed man – ready to make things right in this city one more time.
Chapter 2
Cadillacs and Picnics
Paul Martin ran down the sunlit gravel road, kicking up dust and sand as he moved. No school, no strict routines, just the endless promise of summer holidays. He loved vacationing at the cottage in Colchester. Twelve-year-old Paul and his family spent every summer there on Lake Erie, just outside of Windsor. This hideaway had been purchased by Paul’s grandmother in the 1930s and was later passed down to Paul’s mother and his aunt.
As he reached the right-of-way where his friends met to play baseball most mornings, he heard a familiar voice.
“Hey! There you are!”
Abby Gallagher stood on their makeshift pitcher’s mound, marked by an old pop can. “Come take my place! I’ve been pitcher all afternoon.”
Abby was practically Paul’s best friend. Three other neighbourhood boys that Paul usually played with were there, too, as well as a boy and a girl he didn’t know. They all nodded in agreement that it was time for Paul to be pitcher. Paul made a show of sighing first. He knew it was only fair to give Abby a turn at bat, but being pitcher was the worst position. No question.
“That’s what happens when you get here so late!” called Anthony.
Paul glared at him. Abby rolled up her muddied blue jeans, saying, “You’re three runs back from us. Good luck.” She handed her baseball glove to Paul.
“Hurry up!” the boys called in unison.
“Yeah, unless you lovebirds need some private time,” Anthony snickered.
Paul saw colour flood Abby’s freckled cheeks. He watched her hit home plate with the bat. Everyone knew they were just friends, but the boys liked to tease them about their close relationship.
Once they were set up, Paul pitched overhand, his lanky frame twisting for maximum effect. Abby hit the ball on the first swing and took off running. However, the ball landed straight into an outfielder’s waiting glove. Next up to the plate was Anthony. With mock-theatrics, he tapped the ground with his baseball bat and did multiple practice swings. Impatiently, Paul hurled the ball over home plate before he thought Anthony was settled. But Anthony’s bat connected. The ball sailed over everyone’s heads, over hedges and fences.
Right into the back of Bud Brunner’s property.
Everyone froze. Bud Brunner was someone who kept to himself. He didn’t much like visitors – especially the kid kind. Although he lived on the same road as the Martins, that’s where the similarities ended. Ever since he had moved into Colchester last year he had kept mainly to himself. His small fishing business seemed to struggle.
“I’ll get it,” Paul said, feeling a burst of courage. He ran in the direction of the Brunner home, dodging trees and clambering over the low fence that marked the property line. His heart pounding, Paul scanned the dense woods for any sign of their baseball.
Why couldn’t it have landed in Mance Campbell’s property instead?
Mance Campbell and his family were
the Martins’ immediate neighbour and trusted friends of the family’s. Paul hoped to work for him when he got a year or two older. But he had to deal with facts – and the fact was that Anthony had slugged the ball onto Bud Brunner’s rundown property instead.
Paul’s eye caught sight of a small shed, its doors open, beside the bungalow. It was full of large wooden crates. At the water’s edge, he saw a pale-blue fishing boat attached to a dock. Wherever Paul looked the property was littered with junk – scrap wood, old pails, and a broken-down wheelbarrow.
Junk was everywhere with one exception. Paul nearly whistled when he noticed what was parked
in Bud Brunner’s driveway. A sleek, brand new 1950 Cadillac Coupe de Ville gleamed under the sun. The cherry red luxury car had lots of chrome.
Jeez Louise – who in town could afford a car like this?
From a distance, Paul admired every angle of the gleaming car until he noticed a small white object in the long grass near the front wheel.
The baseball. You’ve come this far – don’t turn back now.
Paul walked cautiously towards the car, careful not to make a sound. He crouched to retrieve the baseball and examined where it had landed. Must have hit the rubber of the wheel. No damage. Paul’s hands started shaking as he stood, grateful the car had not been hit.
That was close. Have to get out of here.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Brunner’s deep voice growled. In a panic, Paul began to formulate an apology in his head for trespassing.
“The deliveries are supposed to be done at night,” Brunner continued. “Do you think the neighbours won’t start to notice?”
Paul put his hand over his mouth and shrunk down again.
Brunner was talking to someone else!
“Sorry, Bud.” The voice was weak. Subservient.
“Don’t ‘sorry’ me all the time. Just use your head or people are going to start getting suspicious. And don’t think I’ll bail you out of this one if you slip up.”
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