Papa laughed. “We still have a ways to go, Chérie. We’re just on the eastern edge of B.C. We have to travel across the whole province to get to the west coast. It’ll take us a couple of days at least.”
Days! Days of going up and down those steep mountains, the trailer bouncing behind them? She would have to watch every single minute so their car didn’t go off the road.
As the car slowly climbed the mountain, zig zagging back and forth, back and forth on the narrow switchbacks, Joseph and Henri didn’t seem to care. They closed their eyes and snoozed as the car motor droned along. Even Arthur stopped watching the road after awhile and dozed off.
The road was so narrow in parts that Papa had to stop the car when they met another car coming toward them, to let it pass by. Then they came to a big dark hole, like a cave in the mountainside. The road went right into the hole, and the car went in as well. It was so dark inside Papa had to turn on the headlights to see where they were going.
“What an amazing tunnel!” he said. “Those engineers cut it right through the solid rock of this mountain.”
“It must have been a very dangerous job,” said Maman.
“A lot of men were killed building this road. As for the railway, you can see why this section going through the mountains was the hardest and most expensive to construct.”
They were out of the tunnel now and Sophie looked across the hazy valley to where a long train was slowly making its way up the steep side of another mountain.
Their car went slower and slower, pulling the trailer up the steep road. There were patches of dirty snow at the edge but the road was clear. Eventually, it seemed to level off and there was another sign.
“Summit” read Sophie. “What’s a summit?”
“It’s the top,” said Papa. “We’re at the top now.”
“How could this be the very top of the mountain?” said Sophie. “I can see higher mountains right over there across the valley where the railroad is.”
“Oh, we don’t have to go to the top of the mountains,”
laughed Papa. “The road will take us through a pass. It’s still pretty high. Sacré Bleu!” He braked hard and blasted the horn. They just missed an old jalopy. “Whew! Now that was too close!” He tilted back his fedora and wiped his brow with his handkerchief.
“What did that man think he was doing, driving like a maniac?” said Maman.
Zephram who had been sleeping in her lap, woke up and started to fuss.
“Hush, petit bébé,” she murmured, stroking his hair.
“Slow down this minute, Antoine!” said Grand’maman. “Slow this car down right now.”
“But I’m not speeding,” said Papa. “We’re not even doing the speed limit.” He was driving the car downhill now.
“But it’s too steep!” cried Grand’maman. “The road’s too narrow. We’re much too close to the edge. Oh no! I can’t look!” she squealed, squeezing her eyes shut.
Sophie was scared too, and her stomach churned, but she had to keep her eyes wide open and on the road the whole time. It looked as though this section had been carved right into the rocky side of the mountain. On one side of the narrow gravel road, the rocky cliff went straight up, and on the other, it went straight down.
She got dizzy looking down over the edge. The cliff seemed to go down forever and she couldn’t see where it ended. She felt the little trailer bouncing behind them, nudging their car forward and she smelled a strong burnt-rubbery smell which she knew must be connected to the brakes. Would the car brakes hold?
Papa rounded another sharp corner. By now everyone in the car was wide awake. Even Joseph and Henri were staring out at the steep cliffs.
Papa pushed back his fedora and wiped the sweat off his forehead again. Then he gripped the steering wheel so tightly Sophie could see his knuckles were white.
“That truck! Antoine!” Maman gasped. “Watch out! It’s coming straight for us!”
Papa hit the brakes and the car jolted to a stop, the trailer bouncing into the back bumper.
Sophie squealed and slid off the seat to hide behind Papa. She held her breath. She was sure they’d be shoved right over the cliff.
But the truck didn’t crash into them. It chugged by, missing them by a whisker.
Sophie let out a big sigh of relief.
“That’s it,” announced Maman. “This road is not safe. We’re going to have a terrible accident. I just know it. Stop the car, Antoine. We’re all getting out.”
“Getting out? Now, Marie. You can’t get out here.”
“We’re going to walk,” Maman said, firmly. “We’ll walk to the bottom.”
“Yes, stop this instant,” said Grand’maman. Her hand was on the door handle and she pushed it down.
Papa had no choice. He had to stop the car.
Grand’maman pushed her door open and scrambled out. Maman was right behind her, holding Zephram tightly around the waist.
“You get out too, Sophie,” she directed. “We’re all getting out now. The whole family.”
Sophie had already opened her door. She stepped down onto the gravel road. It felt wonderfully solid and secure.
Maman made Joseph, Henri and Arthur come out of the car as well. They unfolded their long legs and came out grumpily. They stood around the car shaking their heads.
Papa said if they really wanted to walk, he’d wait for them at the bottom of the hill. Then he shrugged and drove the car away. What else could he do? They soon lost sight of the Mercury and the little trailer bouncing behind it.
“We’ll walk down,” said Maman. “Marchons.”
“Oui,” said Grand’maman, straightening her hat.
“Allons-y!”
Maman and Grand’maman started walking with great determination. Sophie followed them. Then Joseph, Henri and Arthur shrugged and followed, shaking their heads.
Sophie took a deep breath of the cool, clear mountain air. Walking down this steep slope certainly felt a lot safer than driving. Even so, they kept away from the edge of the road where it dropped straight down over a cliff. The road was wide enough for a walking path but Sophie thought they’d never get to the bottom. They walked on and on. It was as if they were a straggly line of pioneers in the olden days, journeying west through the mountains. Every now and then a car or truck would pass and all the passengers would stare out at them bunched together at the edge of the cliff. Then they’d drive on, leaving them in a cloud of dust.
Before they’d gone far, a car stopped and the driver asked if anything was wrong.
“No,” said Maman, squaring her shoulders at him. “We’ve just decided to walk.”
He shook his head and drove on.
As they rounded a sharp bend, they startled a shaggy white animal. Sophie saw it scramble on the loose rocks, then climb straight up the cliff.
“A mountain goat!” said Joseph. “Wait here a minute.”
“Wow!” breathed Arthur. “Just look how it goes right up that cliff!”
As they huddled together watching it scramble up the rocky face, it dislodged some pebbles which tumbled down in a shower to the road at their feet. They waited until the mountain goat was out of sight, then they continued trudging down the mountain.
Sophie heard a distant roar which became louder as they continued.
“Sounds like water to me,” said Henri.
“Run-off from the melting snow,” said Joseph.
The roaring became louder and louder until they came to a big stream crashing down the side of the mountain. A narrow bridge made out of big logs tied together with thick cables, crossed over it.
Sophie’s heart beat hard. They’d have to walk over that bridge but it didn’t have any railings to prevent them from tumbling right into the roaring stream. It was worse than the flooded Seine River beside Grand’maman’s house.
Zephram was fussing in Maman’s arms so Joseph took him onto his shoulders. “Come on, Zephie,” he said. “We’ll gallop like a horse right over the
river. Hang on tight now.”
Zephram grabbed Joseph’s hair and Joseph galloped over the bridge. Henri and Arthur jogged after him. Grand’maman held onto Maman’s arm and they both stepped resolutely onto the log bridge.
“It’s safe, Sophie,” shouted Maman over the roar of the water. “As long as you stay in the middle.”
Sophie took a big breath and started walking over the bridge. The thick logs were slippery with spray, and she was careful to avoid places where she could see the crashing water between the cracks. Finally they all got to the other side and continued down the long twisty hill.
When they got to the bottom they saw their car parked under a huge evergreen tree beside a burbling river that was a bright turquoise colour. Papa was inside the car having a nap.
“What a huge tree!” said Arthur. “I’ve never seen a tree that big.”
It was so enormous that it took Sophie and her four brothers joining hands with their arms outstretched, to reach around its trunk.
The family was thirsty and hungry so everyone took long cool refreshing drinks from the turquoise river and devoured the lunch Aunt Michelle had packed for them. Zephram even ate all his crusts.
BRITISH COLUMBIA QUICK FACTS
Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Splendor without diminishment)
British Columbia was named by Britain’s Queen Victoria.
Population: 4,028,000 (1999)
Size: 947,800 sq. km
Capital: Victoria
Main industries: Forestry, mining, farming, fishing
Flower: Dogwood
Bird: Stellar’s Jay
Tree: Western Red Cedar
History:
Various groups of First Nations people lived, and still live, in the area now known as British Columbia. They fished for salmon and seals and hunted deer and elk. In 1778, Captain Cook charted part of the Pacific coast. He was followed by George Vancouver who mapped most of the coastline. Then in 1793, Alexander Mackenzie travelled overland along waterways, to the Pacific coast. In the 1800s, Europeans began setting up trading posts along the coast and rivers. In 1857, gold was discovered in the Fraser River Valley and the Cariboo, and thousands of prospectors flocked in. In 1871, BC joined Canada after the federal government promised to build a railway as a link to the rest of the country. Many Chinese labourers arrived to work on the railway. After it was completed in 1885, many settlers came from the east. In the early 1900s, mining coal, gold and copper became important industries, as did forestry and fishing.
9
Sophie had a secret.
She’d had the secret even before her family had driven away from their home in Montreal, shouting to their neighbours, “Good-bye! Au revoir! Come to B.C. and see us!” It was a secret she hadn’t shared with anyone. Especially not with Maman.
As they travelled west they had visited friends and relatives along the way. First in Ontario, then in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The closer they got to B.C., the heavier Sophie’s secret grew. Her secret was hidden in her small red suitcase.
“Are we almost there?” she piped up from the stuffy back seat where she was wedged between Joseph and Henri.
“Soon, soon, Chérie,” Papa said. “We’re almost there.”
Finally after so many days of travelling that Sophie had lost count, her father turned into a road with a row of houses on both sides. The sign at the corner said, “Quadling Avenue.” He stopped the car in front of a tall green house and announced, “There it is. Our new house. Home, sweet home.”
Sophie’s three brothers chanted, “We’re here because we’re here, because we’re here, because we’re here.…”
But Sophie had to hurry. She scrambled over her brothers’ sharp knees and elbows and quickly pushed her way out of the car. She had to get her suitcase.
At the back of the car she jumped impatiently from foot to foot as she waited for Papa to unload the suitcases. The outside of their new car was gritty with prairie dust and splashed mountain mud.
Papa opened the trunk and unloaded the suitcases one by one. As he lifted out Sophie’s with the big ‘S’ on its side, he grunted. “Sacré Bleu! This one’s heavy!” He wiggled his black eyebrows at her. “What have you got in here, Chérie? Chunks of gold?”
Sophie shook her head and took the suitcase from him. She gripped the handle and hurriedly dragged it along the front walk and up the wide wooden steps of the new house.
Their tall new house was painted a dark, unfriendly shade of green, she thought. It was set back in a tangled front garden. Thick ivy grew up the side of the front verandah and across the top.
Maman was jiggling a key in the lock in the front door. It was a wide door with a brass knocker under a round window. The brass knocker was an angry face with a big ring pushed through its nose. It frowned at Sophie so she stuck her tongue out at it.
Maman tut-tutted at her.
“There we are,” Maman said, finally unlocking the door. She pushed it open and its hinges creaked.
Joseph, Henri and Arthur jostled past Sophie and raced inside. She followed them, still dragging her suitcase. Then came Grand’maman and Papa followed with Zephram riding on his shoulders.
“Oh, perfect, perfect!” exclaimed Maman when she saw the living room. “I love it! Will you just look at that beautiful stained-glass window! What a perfect spot for my piano!”
Sophie didn’t think the living room was that great. Compared to their cozy apartment living room in Montreal, this one was cold and empty and dark. There were two windows. The one Maman said was perfect for her piano, was a high window with stained-glass flowers. The other window faced the front yard and had ivy leaves growing around its edges like gigantic green teeth. Greenish light trickled into the room.
Sophie turned her back on the window and noticed a brick fireplace in the opposite corner. Might be a good place to roast potatoes or wieners, she thought. That was one good thing.
But there was no place here for what she really needed, which was a place to hide her suitcase.
Lugging it down the long hall, Sophie explored the rest of the house. Her running shoes made an empty hollow sound on the wooden floor and the air smelled damp and musty.
When she pushed open the door to a big front bedroom, it groaned as if it hadn’t been opened for a long time. In the bedroom were a big double bed and an alcove the right size for Zephram’s crib. Obviously her parents’ room.
No hiding places here. She traced “S.G. WAS HERE” with her finger in the dust on the floor and left.
Dragging her suitcase one step at a time she climbed to the attic, each step creaking more than the one before.
There, under the low sloping ceilings, her brothers had already strewn their suitcases and baseball mitts, bats and balls, claiming the attic as their own.
Sophie wouldn’t want to stay up there anyway. The shadows were too creepy.
In the dust beside a bureau she traced “S.G. WAS HERE”.
Then back down the stairs she dragged her suitcase bouncing it one step at a time.
At the bottom of the stairs was another door. She pushed it open and it squealed too.
Another bedroom. It had a good springy bed, a low window with a broad windowsill, and best of all, a closet.
Great, thought Sophie. Exactly what I need.
But when she looked inside the closet, she saw Grand’maman’s black suitcase was already there.
The bedroom door opened and in came Maman.
“Good. You found your bedroom, Sophie. You’ll be sharing with Grand’maman. Won’t that be fun?”
Sophie pictured herself in bed wearing the fanciest, silliest night cap in the world. She started to shake her head to protest, but Maman reached for her suitcase.
“Let’s get you unpacked and put your clothes into this bureau for now,” Maman said.
Sophie’s stomach flipped. She held onto the handle. “It’s okay, Maman. Really. I can do it myself later.”
“Ill just help you ge
t started while the boys are bringing in my piano,” said Maman. She grunted as she lifted the suitcase onto the bed. Before Sophie could stop her, she threw open the lid.
“Oh my heavens!” Maman exclaimed, her hands flying to cover her cheeks. She stared into the suitcase.
Sophie felt her face flush with embarrassment. She wished she had Star Girl’s magic powers and could disappear.
Instead of being full of clothes as Maman thought it had been when they left Montreal weeks ago, the suitcase was jam-packed full of comics. Star Girl comics! Sophie’s entire Star Girl comic collection that she couldn’t bear to leave behind in Montreal, had been added to by all the comics she’d found on their long journey across the country.
“All these comics, Sophie!” cried Maman. “And what ever’s happened to your clothes?”
“Well, um.” Sophie swallowed hard. “I couldn’t leave my Star Girl collection in Montreal. And cousin Janine in Carbon liked my saddle shoes so I traded them for a couple of comics. And who needs a winter coat in April? So I gave that to Louise in Regina. And, well, there wasn’t room for my Star Girl comics and all those clothes, so I just, sort of, well, gave the clothes away.”
“But Sophie. What will you wear for your first day at the new school next week?”
Before Sophie could answer, Joseph poked his head around the corner.
“Maman. That box for the dishes. I just opened it and it’s full of books! Music books! Where are all our dishes and pots and pans?”
Maman’s hands flew to her cheeks again. Sophie saw that her face had become quite pink.
“Dishes?” Maman’s voice quavered. “Well, actually, I left them with poor Angeline in Brandon. She didn’t have a single good dish in her cupboard. Besides I needed more space for all my new music books.”
“But how can we make supper, with no dishes or pots?”
Sophie could see that her mother was very embarrassed. She knew exactly how she felt.
“I know,” Sophie said. “Let’s have a wiener roast in that fireplace in the living room.”
Sophie Sea to Sea Page 8