Us and Them

by Hugh R. MacDonald

  Chapter 14

  “Da, can I use Lightning to haul coal with Mickey? Shawn, I mean, Mr. McGuire won’t let him use their horse. Mickey says he has a few customers now, and we’re hoping to get a few more for the summer.”

  Andrew looked across the table at his son. He seemed to be growing every day, as was his appetite. Two helpings of everything was the usual for JW, but Andrew had to force himself to bring each forkful to his mouth. Whatever was ailing him had taken a really good hold. He dreaded walking the tunnels while feeling this poorly.

  “Sure, just be sure to take it easy on the old boy. He’s not getting any younger,” Andrew said, smiling.

  “Thanks, Da. We will. At least he can have some more oats, ’cause he’ll get lots of exercise.”

  “What are you planning to do with all your money?”

  “I’m going to start saving for college, but I might have to spend a little taking Beth to the Strand for a matinee or two. Can’t leave a pretty girl like Beth alone too long, or some other boy might try to steal her,” JW said, thinking of Davey Brown. He was going to use Davey’s words to Beth as a lesson for himself and be sure to pay closer attention to her.

  JW pulled his satchel from his bookcase. The last few weeks had sped by so quickly. He hoped the summer would go more slowly. He’d told Beth about the work he’d be doing with Mickey but that he would have lots of time for swimming and picnics with her once he tended the garden. To himself, he wondered where he’d find the extra hours in his days.

  JW was glad Alfred was still in the work shed. The old man had attempted to leave a few times, but his pride stood in his way because he wouldn’t accept money to buy a ticket. Instead, he tried to leave by walking the tracks, with the hope of climbing into a slow-moving boxcar. Once he’d even managed to board a boxcar, only to have it shunted to a line ten miles from where he’d started. After spending the night in the car, he realized it wouldn’t be moving anytime soon. It had taken him a day and a half of walking to get back to the barn.

  When JW’s father mentioned that they might have to hire someone to help with the harvest this year, Alfred quickly offered his services. His new plan was to help with the garden to earn his keep and work through the harvest, hopefully earning enough to buy a ticket. JW had learned a few gardening tricks from him and liked how the beans followed the trellises that Alfred had constructed.

  From the crest of the hill, JW saw that Beth was waiting for him. All thoughts of the garden left him. He absently patted Gullie and told him to go home, then ran down the hill. His hand slipped into Beth’s, and they started on their way to school and the last day of grade eleven.

  “I’ve made up my mind. I plan to go in to be a nurse, JW,” Beth said.

  “Good. That will come in handy while we travel the world,” JW said. His plans had changed from his mother and father travelling with him to just Beth. She had mentioned becoming a nurse before, but now she was clearly ready to pursue it.

  “Or if we decide to live around here. I’m going to put in an application.”

  “I want to be an engineer and build – or maybe a carpenter,” JW said, remembering that to become an engineer would cost a lot of money and a carpenter a lot less. “I still want to travel, but maybe after working for a few years.” JW still believed what Mrs. Johnson had told him, that with an education he could do anything, but he was coming to realize that not everyone could afford an education. “With the two of us working and saving for a few years, we could save enough to ship out to Africa or Europe.”

  “Perhaps. Or maybe we could travel to Ontario to see Niagara Falls. That would be nice,” Beth said.

  “Sure, that would be nice, but ... yes, that would be nice,” JW said. He realized that Beth was only trying to be realistic. “Yeah, Niagara Falls would be a great place to start, then Victoria Falls in Africa.”

  Beth smiled. “Yes, then Victoria Falls.”

  —

  School was now finished for the year and grade eleven was a thing of the past. Hauling coal with Mickey had made these last weeks fly by. It was hard work, but the money made it worth it. Both JW and Beth had done really well on their exams and were looking forward to the summer off.

  JW stood looking up at the high school. Although he was happy the school year was over – happier still that he had passed – he felt a sense of loss. He enjoyed going to school each day and loved learning new things. Since he’d been old enough to read, JW had a book in his hands whenever he had the chance.

  He remembered that even when Mickey had been in school, his friend had seen books, scribblers and pencils as torturers’ tools, and homework as punishment. Although their elementary teacher, Mrs. Johnson, had told everyone about the importance of school and how an education could open up new worlds for them, few took her words to heart. JW realized that most children of coal miners would have been indoctrinated into that culture at an early age and would see a pick and shovel in their future, with little time to dream. He was so grateful he’d been able to go to school and that he was facing a future where he got to choose what he wanted to do. He’d certainly never choose to go underground again.

  JW sat on his bed and listened to his father’s hacking cough. Andrew seemed to be getting worse with each passing day. He joined them at mealtimes only for the sake of appearance, going through the motions of lifting the food to his mouth but putting most back on his plate. JW got under the covers, hoping and praying that his father would get better. When the coughing subsided, JW drifted off into a fitful sleep.

  Chapter 15

  “Didn’t expect to ever see you down here again,” Smitty said.

  “It was never in my plans, Smitty, but with Da ... you know,” JW said.

  Smitty nodded, not knowing what to say. He chuckled, “Now you’re bigger than the door. The size of you, you’ll never have to worry about the door sticking on you.”

  “Yeah, the tunnel ceilings seem to be a lot lower these days, and I don’t like the trip any better. Still seems to travel pretty fast.”

  Smitty smiled. “Wait until you go down tunnel twelve, it’s a cage they use there. Listen, I’ll try to drop by and give you a hand with some of the work around the farm until your pa gets better.”

  “Thanks, Smitty. I’ll be alright.”

  The familiar sound of another tram approaching halted their conversation, and JW opened the door to begin his first shift underground in almost three years. He was glad he wouldn’t have to face Shawn McGuire. Mickey said he was working dayshift this week.

  JW looked up the tunnel. Although it was the same one he’d spent months in before, the familiarity didn’t give him any pleasure. He looked at the wall where he had pulled the shale away years ago to create an opening large enough for his satchel. The opening was still there. He’d have to clean it a little, but it would keep the satchel dry and away from the scurrying rats.

  This time there was no soft-spoken overman to make the first night bearable. Instead, there was a gruff man who pointed the way to the door and said, “Pull it open, push it closed. Nothing else to know.”

  JW started to tell him he’d done the job before, but the man was already walking away. He hadn’t bothered to introduce himself or ask JW his name. The long shadows cast by his headlamp sent a shiver up JW’s spine, especially when he saw the rats dancing in the light. He wished he hadn’t read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

  —

  Mary Donaldson dried her face, wiping away the tears she didn’t want her husband to see. Barely three months ago Andrew had appeared fit as a fiddle, but then coughing fits robbed him of most of his strength and eating so little stole the rest. His clothes hung on him like on a scarecrow. Try as he might, he had to stop going to work. She had watched him argue with JW against his going back to work in the mine.

  “It’s not right that you go there. All your hard wo
rk studying, you hafta go back to school in the fall,” Andrew had told his son.

  “By then, you’ll be back on your feet, Da, and I’ll go back.”

  That had seemed to calm Andrew. Mary did see some improvement in him, and she’d been relieved when the doctor said it wasn’t tuberculosis, it was pneumonia. One of his lungs had partially cleared up, but the other was barely allowing any air into it at all. The doctor said it could take a while. “It might get better,” he’d said, but quickly added, “it might not.”

  Mary prayed that her husband’s lungs would heal, but she knew he was a long way from being well enough to return to work. She was sure even old Alfred could beat him in a foot race. Now, she was glad Alfred was still with them. He tended the garden and looked after the animals, even making sure that JW’s pet rat Tennyson was fed.

  She hadn’t seen fear or disappointment on JW’s face as he’d readied himself for his first shift. But he was sixteen and bigger than most of the men in town, so she didn’t expect him to show it. She just hated that reality had to make him rethink his dreams. She knew his father’s illness and the fact that the cost of a college education was beyond their means must be weighing heavy on him. Mary poured a cup of tea, took her prayer book and sat at the kitchen table. She opened it to her favourite prayer and began to read.

  —

  “Kate, when I look at the boy, I see an intelligence and ... it’s like he’s an old soul. He’s only fifteen or sixteen, but he sees injustice in the way others are treated. He shouldn’t ever have to work in the mines; he should be working for the men. Each time I see him at the library, he’s got a different book in his hands. He has a thirst for knowledge and is like a sponge soaking it all up. He seemed quite indignant when I told him that young girls in Britain worked the coal mines.” JB looked at his wife, and smiled while he waited for her to speak.

  “James Bryson McLachlan, you’re going after them a little young for your cause, aren’t you?” Kate said.

  “Never too early to learn right from wrong, dear.”

  “At least your version of it, James,” Kate said, smiling. “Why don’t you have a little lie-down before supper? I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

  She watched as he shuffled from the room. He had the heart of a lion, and although they had broken him physically during his stay in jail in 1923, his spirit was as strong as ever, or stronger. She knew he loved his family above all, but she would never ask him to choose between them or the miners. Fighting for miners’ rights had been his life’s work, and even with his failing health, she supported him fully.

  —

  “Hiya, Patty,” JW said, slapping him on the back.

  “JW. I never thought I’d see you back here,” Patty said.

  “Me neither.” JW looked at the faces of the men and boys waiting for the trip to take them below. He had heard the same or similar comment from most of the men who knew him. “But it’s been more than a week and a half so far.” He didn’t really mind the rake, but he had to bend a lot lower these days. If not, the overhead beams would take off the top of his head.

  “Looks like you grew another foot since I saw you last month. Don’t think I’d want to wrestle with you these days,” Patty said, smiling.

  JW looked at the slightly built Patty and thought he hadn’t changed much since they’d first met almost three years ago. They had been pretty much the same size then. At six foot two inches, JW figured he was just about done growing. Perhaps the fresh air had helped him grow, and the pit had stunted Patty’s growth. Perhaps his spirit as well, although JW saw that he was still quick with a smile. “Probably not a good idea. Especially since we don’t have Red to give us a break if we got caught,” JW said.

  “Didn’t ya hear? The company asked him to come back while your Pa’s off.”

  “No. I never heard that.”

  “Yeah, someone said they asked him today. Right now, Anderson is doing the job,” Patty said. “He came from the other side. Never says much. All he does is grunt. How’s your Pa doing?”

  “He seems to be getting a little better, but it’ll be a while before he can walk the tunnels. That’s why I’m here.”

  “I hope he gets better soon,” Patty said. “But it’s nice having you back, if only for a little while.”

  “Yeah, I hope it’s only for a little while.” JW believed that his father was still a long way from being ready to return to work and that he would be working with no end in sight.

  “Mickey’s back tomorrow night. It’ll be just like old times,” Patty said. “He keeps talking about moving off the trap door, but it’s easy, so I don’t know why he would. Although I heard that he and Sally are talking about getting hitched.”

  “What? Who told you that?”

  “My ears are closer to the ground, so I hear everything,” Patty said, laughing. “Time to get aboard.”

  JW watched a young fellow walk their way.

  “JW, this here’s Donnie. He’s been here a while now. Knows the ropes, but don’t much like it.”

  “Can’t say I blame him. What’s to like, eh, Donnie?”

  “Well, I don’t mind the rats or the work. But, to be honest, the darkness and the wind bringing the voices from below every time I open the door make the hair on my neck stand up. Some of the other miners said that some trapper boys left their doors and got lost down in the deeps, and that’s the voices I’m hearing,” Donnie said.

  JW looked at Patty. Before JW had worked his first shift, Patty had told him about trapper boys being lost in the tunnels.

  “Don’t look at me,” Patty said. “I never told him that. I said it’s just a story to try and scare the new boys.” Patty saw JW’s look and added, “Honest.”

  Still, the thought of voices coming through the tunnels made JW a little uneasy. “That’s just talk, like Patty said. They want to scare the new folks, probably because they went through the same thing. Some of them might still be scared,” JW said. He thought he saw Donnie relax a little. It was mean to scare people when they had no choice but to be there. “How old are you, Donnie?”

  “Sixteen,” Donnie said. He looked behind him then lowered his voice. “I’ll be fourteen next month, but Ma said I’m to tell everyone I’m sixteen ’cause we need the money real bad since Da left. Ma keeps looking out the window and telling the younger ones that Da could be back any day now. It’s been a long time since.... I don’t expect him back, least ways, not soon. He’s been gone three years. I worked at the breakers for almost two years. Wish I was still there.”

  JW didn’t like to be back in the mine, but he knew he was far better off than poor Donnie. Patty took the seat beside JW, and Donnie sat behind them. “What’s tunnel twelve like?” JW asked.

  “The tunnel’s okay, but getting there is scary,” Patty said. “You gotta go down, straight down – more than eight hundred feet – in a cage held by a wire rope. The trip moves at a snail’s pace compared to the cage. Feels like your stomach stays at the top when your body’s at the bottom. Lots of breakfasts on the floor of the cage.”

  “Is this something you heard, or something you know?” JW asked.

  “I’ve only been down a couple of times, but I’m in no hurry to go down again. The cage only takes you so far, then you still have to go on the rake to get to tunnel twelve.”

  “I’m good on the trap door for the next while,” JW said, thinking he didn’t want to go any deeper in the ground than where they were already working.

  “And it’s not much better on the return ride to the surface. That old cage ain’t too steady,” Patty said.

  The rake started moving, and JW tried to put the cage out of his mind. He doubted he’d be long on the door. He knew he could end up anywhere the bosses put him. He’d been back almost two weeks and hadn’t worked with Shawn McGuire yet, but he heard his voice further back on the rake and knew he’d be se
eing him tonight. He wondered how the night could get any worse.

  Chapter 16

  The summer was passing quickly, and between working in the pit, hauling coal with Mickey, and haymaking, JW didn’t have much time for Beth. She said she understood, but JW didn’t want to jeopardize their relationship. He planned a trip to the movie theatre soon. He hadn’t known what to say when Beth asked if he was looking forward to school starting in another month, because unless his father’s health improved miraculously, JW believed he would miss the year.

  Alfred was good to look after much of the day-to-day chores, which included feeding the chickens and gathering their eggs. He fed the animals but found milking the cow a little too difficult, as his hands cramped from the repetitive work.

  JW pulled on his clothes and made very little noise as he descended the stairs.

  “Breakfast’s ready, John Wallace,” his mother said. “What have you planned for the day, dear?”

  JW started eating the second he sat in the chair. “Gonna check on the garden and see if the hay is ready to cut in the lower field. I don’t have any coal to haul today, so I was thinking if I get through my chores quickly enough, I would head over to Beth’s for a while.”

  “Sounds like a pretty full day.”

  “How’s Da?”

  “His strength is getting a little better every day, I think.”

  “Yeah, I noticed his hands don’t seem to shake when he cuts his meat anymore. Is he sleeping?”

  “Yes, but he was awake for much of the night. He finds it difficult sleeping at night after lying around most of the day. But he’s up longer periods of the day, and he started taking little walks, so before you know it....”