Home Fires

by Susan Cameron

  Annie lifted her head to see her new son. He had all his fingers and toes and seemed well formed, but was very tiny. His skin was a healthy pink and he was breathing well on his own. The doctor swiftly swaddled the howling baby and gently laid him on Annie’s chest.

  “I’m sorry that you were alone for such a long time.” Jim tearfully apologized. “Oh, Annie, I, was so afraid that I might lose you this time.”

  Annie cried quietly, in happiness and relief. She took Jim’s hand in her own and brought it to her cheek. Jim rested his other hand on the mewling infant and leaned down to kiss Annie.

  After the doctor washed up and gathered his bag and hat, Jim followed him to the door and handed him his fee. Annie silently resented that they had to dip into their meagre savings. However kind and considerate the man seemed to be, she had done most of the work of birthing this baby. Before he left, though, he said how wonderful it was to help bring a child into the world instead of dealing with crushed bones or sewing up gashes. She conceded to herself, that with all the rough men around here, working, living and playing hard, it would be a pleasant change to attend to a birth of a healthy baby.

  Annie changed into a clean nightgown and wrapped the baby in a freshly washed pink blanket. “I’m sorry, little one, but I was sure that you would be a girl!” After she brushed and pulled her long hair back into a neat braid, she told Jim to call in the boys to meet their new little brother. Jim opened the door and the three children spilled into the kitchen. They all spoke at once.

  “He’s so small!”

  “Why does he have a pink blanket?”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Are you all right, Ma?”

  “He’s bald!”

  Jim held up his hand and said, “Enough! Give your poor mother some peace and quiet. We haven’t chosen a name yet for him.” He glanced at Annie. “He’s so wee, he needs a manly name.”

  “You name him, Jim. I’ve only girl’s names in my head now.”

  “Well, I’ve always favoured the name Harold.”

  “Harold is a fine name. But he’s so tiny, perhaps for now we can call him Hal.”

  Annie felt quite weak and stayed in bed for several days with her newborn. Hal required frequent nursing but between feedings Bobby and Jack took turns rocking him, or carrying him around the kitchen to soothe him.

  Annie was sitting up in bed, sipping a cup of tea and nibbling a slice of toasted bread. Georgie had climbed onto the bed to snuggle beside her and Jack was in the rocking chair with Hal contentedly nestled against his chest. Annie smiled as she heard Jack singing Jim’s lullaby. Bobby was at the kitchen stove making oatmeal porridge for the family.

  The calm morning was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Bobby opened the door and there stood their neighbour, Pierre. He still wore a huge unkempt beard and was wearing a red flannel shirt despite the summer heat. His deep booming voice rang out across the kitchen.

  “Madame, Jim tol’ me you have a new son, ‘arold. Marie, she make a little sweater and ‘at for ‘im, and I made a gift, too.”

  He reached down out of view from the doorway, and carried in a beautifully crafted pine bassinet. After he removed his boots he brought it into the bedroom and placed it on the floor by Annie’s bed. Tucked inside were Marie’s gifts of a soft, white crocheted baby blanket, a hand-knitted pale blue sweater and a matching bonnet.

  “Oh, Pierre, this is so generous,” said Annie. “The cradle is beautiful. And little Hal’s brothers will be glad to see him dressed in blue. Please tell Marie thank you so much for her gifts. Will you stay for a cup of tea?”

  “Oh, no t’anks, madame, I need to get back to da farm, but I’ll take a peek at the baby. Marie will want to know all about ‘im. She want annuder baby but so far we jus’ ‘ave Louis.”

  The big man clomped back into the kitchen and leaned over Jack to see Hal’s tiny face. “Look at you, petit homme. He’s very small, no? Our Louis seem big now.” Just then, the baby awoke and howled. Pierre laughed. “‘e may be little but ‘e make up for it, eh? Well, I better get back ‘ome.” He relaced his boots, waved goodbye and disappeared out the door.

  That evening, Hal was particularly colicky, and Annie was exhausted from lack of sleep. She was uncomfortable in the stuffy cabin. The baby’s howl brought Annie to tears. She noticed Jim watching her with a worried expression on his face.

  “Oh, don’t mind me,” she said, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. “I’m just feeling sorry for myself, and I miss Mother. She always came to stay with us when our babies were newborn.” A sob escaped. “When I look at little Hal, I remember Maggie. Marie and Pierre only have Louis. I should be thankful we have four healthy children and pray they stay that way.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The following Sunday, Jim announced, “I’m taking the day off. I’ll be back in half an hour and we’ll be gone most of the day. Annie old girl, we’ll need to bring our lunch.” When he left the house Annie watched him, puzzled, as he walked down the lane.

  She packed up a generous picnic, placing the food in a wicker basket to wait for Jim, outside, with the children. She heard him before she saw him. He arrived in a cloud of dust and exhaust, with the loud fanfare of an engine roar. In Annie’s arms, Hal flailed and howled in protest. The automobile was dented and dusty but it was more welcome than the King of England’s private carriage.

  Jim stopped the car in front of the house and it wheezed and hissed in complaint. He laughed at Annie’s startled expression.

  “Hop in. I borrowed it for the day. We’re going on an adventure.”

  The boys enthusiastically piled into the back and Annie tried to soothe the screaming baby as she climbed in beside Jim. They drove a few miles on a gravel road and Hal mercifully fell asleep in Annie’s arms. After several more miles, Jim stopped the car in a grassy area. A clear blue lake with a fine, yellow sand beach could be seen a short distance away. A few other families were there as well, but Jim and Annie found a secluded area for themselves and spread a blanket on the sand. The boys quickly stripped to their underwear and dipped their toes in the cool, clear water. Annie watched them splash each other and test out their versions of a dog paddle. Jim removed his shirt and joined them. Impulsively, Annie pulled her skirt through her belt, took off her shoes and stockings, and walked the shoreline dipping Hal’s toes in the water.

  After an hour in the water, they were all ravenous and devoured Annie’s lunch in minutes. Jim had to return the car for six o’clock, so by five they reluctantly gathered their possessions and climbed back into the vehicle. The day was still warm, and by the time they arrived home, they were almost completely dry. Hal had fallen asleep again in his mother’s arms and Annie was content.

  “That was the most wonderful day.” She leaned over and kissed Jim’s cheek. “Thank you. I feel renewed.” She realized that she was coming to terms with living in the North. Even the baby seemed more settled. He was becoming less fussy now that he had discovered his own thumb. Annie hated the cold of the brutal northern winter, but the summer here proved to be pleasant and, although they were nowhere near an ocean, she was thankful to know there was water close by.

  In August, Annie and the children discovered blueberries. The sandy, acidic soil provided perfect conditions for the sweet berries to thrive. The fruit was so plentiful that Annie and the boys could sit on the ground and easily fill a bucket without getting up. They started going on regular blueberry-picking excursions, and they took turns carrying Hal to keep him content. Her children ate as many berries as they put in their pails, but it made Annie smile. She made several blueberry pies over the summer and many jars of preserves.

  Sometimes Bobby brought a filled basket on his paper route and sold them to the cook at the camp. One day he surprised his brother Jack. “Look what I bought with my blueberry money!” He had made enough money to buy another bicycle and so he gave his old bike to his brother.

  “You are the best brother!” Jack
exclaimed as he ran and jumped up on Bobby’s old bike. He and Bobby took turns giving Georgie rides in the yard.

  “Just wait ‘til school starts up again, Jack. We can ride our bikes there and back.” Bobby put his arm around Georgie’s shoulders and said, “Don’t you worry, Georgie. I’ll give you a ride every day.”

  That summer Jim installed a pump in the kitchen. Annie was thrilled. “Oh, this is wonderful,” she said as they stood in the kitchen. “At least until the first frost, we’ll have water right in the house!” She looked out the kitchen window. “You know, except for the tomatoes, my garden has been quite successful! Maybe I can pick a few of the green tomatoes and put them on our windowsills to coax them to ripen. And I think we’ll have enough root vegetables to feed us over the winter.”

  “You do have a gift for gardening.” He joined her at the window. “Ha! Look at our boys raiding the garden. They’re eating your peas and carrots.”

  “They think I don’t know that they sneak in when I’m not looking. I won’t tell them that they’re good for them.”

  Her sweet peas had thrived; they covered the garden fence with an explosion of colour. Some animal or bird had helped itself to most of her sunflower seeds, so she ended up with only two plants. Annie recalled the day that Jim bought her a lilac shrub, which he had planted by the well. The shrub had grown over the summer and she anticipated the blossoms she would enjoy next year. As she dug up her harvest from her garden, she was already planning her garden for next summer.

  Over dinners that fall and winter, they often talked about the frenzy of activity around and through Jackpine Junction. Jim heard gossip at the train station that the government had granted tender for a pulp and paper mill to be constructed, just seven miles from town.

  “I can get extra work when they build a railway spur to the construction site. They need the rail to carry the heavy equipment and supplies. Then a new gravel road will be constructed to the site. Both the rail and road will pass at the edge of our property.”

  “That will be wonderful for your extra wages, and I won’t feel so isolated with a new rail and road so close to our property.”

  One night, Jim returned home agitated. “You should see how many men are passing through Jackpine Junction,” he said, annoyed. “There are American engineers and tradesmen from Ottawa arriving to build the pulp mill. Ukrainians, Finns and Italians are all looking for work too.”

  Annie said, “Let’s just see how long they stay once winter comes, or when they get eaten alive by blackflies.”

  “I suppose. But I even saw a group of small Oriental men in funny trousers, with coal-black hair, long and plaited like girls’. A Chinese work crew - I was gobsmacked! I hear they’re paying them half wages!”

  “Ha!” said Annie wistfully. “To think that Pappa sailed to the Orient, and now Chinese have landed here. The world is getting smaller.”

  “But all these foreigners are taking away work from the real old-timers like me! It makes me angry that these outsiders, who haven’t proven themselves in the North, are just taking good-paying jobs and passing through.”

  “Don’t worry,” Annie soothed. “The contractors know you’re a good worker and trustworthy. They’ll pick you over any unknown new man.”

  As Annie predicted, Jim got many extra shifts at various sites around the new mill. Often when he came home, he entertained her with local gossip and news. He said that with so many transient single men around, bootleggers had been attracted to the area to earn easy money. He said construction had slowed down numerous times when men became ill after drinking bad whiskey.

  Jim returned home from a job one evening, weary and dirty, but laughing about his day.

  “There have been a lot of men getting sick from this one bloke’s bad booze. The mill superintendent ordered the bootlegger be brought to him, if he trespassed on mill property again. That poor bugger came back today - he got some pioneer justice, all right.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Well, they tied him to the end of a long pole and dunked him repeatedly in the river, until he near drowned. He finally agreed to stay away from town. What a sight that was, him being chased down the road looking like the drowned rat he is!”

  Annie frowned. “Seems a bit brutal to me. Why didn’t they call in the police to take care of him?”

  “I don’t feel sorry for that slimy bootlegger,” said Jim. “He almost killed some of the men. Besides it would have taken a few days for the police to come to town. This way worked. They successfully ran him out of town.”

  Annie didn’t like the idea of some men taking the law into their own hands and making up their own rules as they went along. We need more women here to civilize them, she thought.

  A few mornings later, Annie noticed that Jim had forgotten his lunch on the table when he left for work. She knew he was busy with the many trains arriving north or heading south, so decided to bring his lunch to the station herself. It was a beautiful day for a walk; she left Bobby in charge of the others and took the path to the new train tracks that ran close to edge of their property. She knew there wouldn’t be a freight train until noon so it was safe to walk beside the rails. She reached the station in twenty minutes.

  Just as she stepped up onto the railway platform, she heard some large dogs barking. To her surprise she saw two Great Danes pulling a homemade cart on the tracks, galloping towards the station. The wooden cart had three wheels that fit the spur tracks and had harnesses that attached to the dogs. The strange mode of transportation stopped in front of the station, and a young man jumped out of the cart. He filled two large tin pans with water from the pump.

  While the young man brought the water to his panting dogs, Jim came out carrying two mail bags, and he placed them in the cart. He helped the young man turn the cart around for the return journey to the mill.

  Annie handed Jim his lunch. “What on earth was that?”

  Jim laughed. “The trains to the mill site are just for freight, so they send a man to pick up the mail here every second day. That fellow was just a little inventive and figured a way to make the trip quick.” He kissed her cheek. “Thanks for bringing my lunch. I wouldn’t have had a spare minute to fetch it myself.”

  It was only three weeks later that Jim forgot his lunch once again. Annie laughed. It’s like taking care of another child, she thought. But she welcomed the excuse to escape the house and enjoy a pleasant walk on another warm day. She left Bobby in charge and took the path to the tracks. The freight train wouldn’t be travelling until early afternoon; living so close to the tracks, she knew the schedule well.

  She arrived at the station just as Jim was bundling the mail for the mill site and lugging it outside. Jim greeted her but then suddenly looked down the tracks, dropped the mail bags and pushed Annie behind him. He pointed in the distance. Annie gasped. A gas speeder was hurtling down the tracks towards them. The machine screeched to a stop in front of the station. An athletic young man leaped out and announced to Jim that he was there to pick up the mail.

  Jim shook his head. “Where’s the other bloke with the Great Danes? And what in God’s name is your hurry? Are you trying to kill yourself and take some others with you?”

  The fellow laughed. “The mill just bought this gas speeder and gave me the job to pick up the mail. This baby can move. So far, I can travel the seven miles in seven and a half minutes!” Then he left as quickly as he arrived.

  Annie felt the blood drain from her face, and she flopped down on the outside bench. Jim went over and took his lunch from her hands.

  “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

  “I just walked the railway tracks from our place. I knew the freight train doesn’t come until after twelve o’clock. I could have been killed!”

  Jim’s face turned ashen. “Thank God you got here before he did! Well, we can’t take that shortcut ever again. I’ll tell the boys to stay well clear. That kid could easily derail going that speed!”
>
  Annie began to shake and Jim pulled her towards him. “You’re all right now. You just had a bad scare. Hold on, love. I’ll get you a nice cup of tea.”

  Walking back home, on the road this time, Annie was still shaking. She was thankful for the time alone to pull herself together before she got home.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  One evening, early in December, Jim looked out the window and remarked, “Looks like we’re in for a snowstorm. I’ll go out and bank the sides of the house with more snow, and bring in extra wood for you. Make sure that the boys are well-dressed when they go to school tomorrow.”

  The snow did not begin to fall until after the boys left for school; the blowing flakes increased in intensity over the day. Then in late afternoon it stopped snowing and the temperature plummeted.

  Annie paced the floor and fretted as the weak afternoon sunlight disappeared and another dark evening set in. Jim was still at work and the boys had not come home from school yet. She listened to the wind whistle around the house exterior. The children should have been home hours before. Suddenly, she heard Mike barking and scratching at the door. She raced to open it - but the dog was alone. He continued to bark at her, and bounded down the path and back, seemingly urging her to follow.

  Mike was right. She would have to go out and look for the boys, and she would have to take Hal with her. He was still a little feverish with a cold, but she had no choice. She bundled him until she could only see his eyes peeking out under all the scarves and blankets, and then she dressed herself in many layers too. Lighting a kerosene lamp, she put the baby in the sled and pulled him along the path, and then onto the road towards the school. Mike raced on ahead and disappeared.

  The bush was silent, except for the crunch of her boots on the snow-covered road and the scrape of the cutters of Hal’s sleigh. She felt ice crystals form on her eyelashes and frost build up on the scarf she had wrapped over her face. Suddenly the silence was broken by the howl of some animal in the bush. She shuddered, recalling her mother’s stories of growing up in Norway, where wolves had often chased the cutter she was riding in. Where is that damned dog when I need him? She quickened her pace.