Wanted: Gravedigger Page 5

  Will’s hair was cut short and he at least looked clean. However, Dawson was surprised to see he was still wearing the same dirty clothes that he was wearing when they first met. Dawson sent a note to the mercantile asking them to fit him with a pair of dungarees and several shirts. “I thought you were getting some new clothes?”

  “I did. And I thank you mightily for them. I put them here in my knapsack as I didn’t want to get them dirty. And thank you for the meal, too. First good one I’ve had in a while.” He patted his belly.

  “You’ll need that energy to help dig. Throw your sack on the back of the wagon and then grab a shovel or pickaxe over there. Let’s get to work.” Will nodded and did as he was told.

  There wasn’t much discussion, just a few grunts as the men moved buckets full of dirt into a pile. It wasn’t long before the second shift came to work. Zhang was supervising the second and third shifts, and he called to the men to rotate workers.

  “You did good, Will. Let’s go get you a place to sleep and then you can rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

  Will nodded. “It felt good to actually do some hard work. I missed it.”

  “We’ll see how good you feel tomorrow. You can stay at the undertaker’s office. There is a room in the back that will work for now. Unfortunately, the bed isn’t the best, but it is clean and dry.

  Tess walked into Lily Jo’s café with flyers in her hand. She had taken most of the morning at Hattie’s writing out the pieces of paper. Of course, Kijab decided that they would make good backgrounds for his artwork and now they had scribbles around the words begging for help.

  Lily Jo owned the diner in town. The café was empty as it was past breakfast time, but not quite for lunchtime. She was talking to a few customers and pouring coffee when she spied Tess.

  “Hello, Tess. What brings you by today? Do you want a table?”

  “Good morning, Lily Jo. Not right now. But perhaps Dawson and I will stop by later. I heard Hattie rave about your meatloaf.” Lily Jo smiled. “I’ve just stopped by to see if I could hang up a flyer. We need more help to get these bags sewn.”

  “Of course, but didn’t Dawson bring in a bunch of Chinese women? Maybe they could help. It isn’t like they are digging.”

  “Well he didn’t actually bring them in. They are married to the workers that are digging the graves for the residents of this town. Besides, I don’t think it is their responsibility to care for our dead.” Tess felt very defensive of her husband’s choice to bring Chinese workers to the town. Some residents were not happy to have a tent community full of migrants outside the church and graveyard.

  Lily Jo had the decency to look remorseful. “Of course, that isn’t what I meant. Have you talked to the sewing circle? Perhaps they can switch from quilts to bags. It makes sense.”

  “Great idea. I’ll go see Fannie Pearl next.”

  A ring at the door caused Tess to turn and she saw her momma walk in with a man she didn’t recognize. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn’t place it.

  “Momma,” she cried and ran to put her arms around the woman she had been missing so much. “You don’t normally come out until later in the afternoon. Did Milan tell you I’ve been by? I’ve been so worried about you.” She leaned into her mother and the cloying smell of stale perfume greeted her.

  Charlotte stiffened, but then put her arms around her daughter, patting her on the back. “It is nice to see you, Theresa,” she said, breaking the contact. “I was just going to have lunch with my friend Mr. Clemmons, here.”

  “Mr. Clemmons?” Tess looked at the man. There was definitely something familiar about him, but Tess couldn’t place if she had seen him before.

  “Yes. We had business to discuss.”

  “What kind of business.”

  “The kind of business that is not your business, Theresa. Don’t be rude. Why don’t you stop by and see me later? I’ll tell Milan to let you in.”

  “I will.” She hung up the poster and left the café. Several things bothered Tess. First, her mother was rarely out until late afternoon. Since she tended to sleepwalk, she normally slept until at least noon. If her friend was responsible for getting her momma out of the house, Tess would be grateful.

  Second, that strange perfume smell. She didn’t recall her momma having any such fragrance. Normally Charlotte wore lavender water. Maybe it was a gift from her man friend? Either way it made Tess suspicious.

  Tess dismissed her Momma from her mind. She proceeded towards Fannie Pearl’s house to see if the sewing circle could help her and then she’d find Dawson.

  “I want to go with you.”

  “Honeybee, it is going to be a short trip. I am literally going to pick up the lime for the burials and I need to get right back. They found the first body this morning.”

  Tess wrinkled her nose. She had to think of something.

  “I think Hattie needs some more herbs. She can’t go with the morning sickness. It would be a great help to her if I went and got them.”

  “I don’t know if we will have room.”

  “Please, Dawson. She only ever carries a small box, so I can put it underneath my feet.”

  She looked at him with her big blue eyes and prayed he would let her go. She honestly did need to get supplies for Hattie, and additional sheeting for the bags. But mostly, she didn’t want to be away from Dawson. They had already been separated quite a bit in their short marriage.

  “Fine. You can go. But you need to understand I’m going to pick up this one item. It isn’t a shopping trip.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll stay in the market area. That is where Hattie gets her herbs anyway. Let me go and get a list of what she needs.” Tess gave him a quick kiss and skipped out the door to head to the apothecary.

  The bell rang as Tess went into the clinic next door to where she and Dawson lived. Hattie was complaining that she never knew if someone came into the clinic. Tess recommended she get a bell similar to the one her father used at the undertaker’s office. She went down to the mercantile and Robert installed it the very next day.

  As soon as Tess had shut the front door, Hattie appeared from her office. “I heard the bell. What a pleasant surprise.” She looked tired. Her normally bright skin turning sallow. She had bags under her eyes. She looked very un-Hattie. Tess was concerned for her friend.

  “Are you feeling alright?”

  “I don’t think there is enough ginger tea to make me feel alright. I made some pilot crackers last night, hoping they would stem the nausea, but they haven’t yet. Only a few more months and this little girl will be out in the world.”

  “You know you are having a girl?”

  “I feel it in my bones.” She went and sat on the couch and patted the seat next to her. “I know you didn’t come to discuss that. What’s going on?”

  “I’m going with Dawson down to New Harbor. He is going to pick up the extra barrels of quicklime. I was able to convince him to let me go by telling him I needed to pick up herbs for you.” She gave Hattie a big smile.

  Hattie raised an eyebrow and laughed at her friend.

  “You don’t like the Harbor. I recall you only went once to buy me herbs and that was because Robert was going. I honestly thought he was going to marry you.”

  “You know I only did that because I wanted to get you two together. And it worked!” she said, placing her hand on Hattie’s bulging belly. “So, what do you need?”

  “I can’t believe you sometimes,” Hattie replied, shaking her head. She pushed herself up from the comfortable cushion and walked over to the shelves that held all the herbs containers. She’d pick them up one at a time, shaking them lightly. If the container was full, she put it back in place. If it was empty or low, she put it on the counter.

  When she was done, there were about 10 containers on the counter.

  “You call them out and I’ll write them down,” Tess offered.

  “Cat’s claw. Ginseng. Willow bark. Dried mus
tard…” Hattie called out the herbs one by one, placing the containers back on the shelves once Tess wrote them down. “If they have any dried lavender flowers, pick up about 5 pounds of those.”

  “That’s a lot of lavender flowers.”

  “I don’t think people are aware of how those bodies are going to smell when they come out of the ground. I don’t have enough camphor to go around, so lavender flowers can be wrapped in a linen cloth and the workers can smell them to get rid of the stench of decaying bodies. Anything left over I can use for tea.”

  She handed some coins to Tess. “Let me know if it wasn’t enough when you get back.” Tess nodded “Let me have Marty drop the herb box by in a bit so you don’t have to carry it. Is the wagon still in the run-in?”

  The undertaker’s office had a lean-to run-in where Dawson stored their wagon. Blackjack, his beloved horse, stayed at the livery. Dawson was hoping to keep him at their new house once they figured out where that would be.

  Tess gave her friend a quick hug and headed back to the apartment to get ready for the day trip.

  Chapter 6

  They were almost home, six large barrels of quick lime in the back of the wagon. Tess had her arm threaded through Dawson’s as he drove the team. Normally they would just have one horse on the wagon, but given the weight of the barrels, they had two leading the way.

  They left early in the morning, before dawn, to get down to New Harbor. Tess slept in a blanket in the wagon bed on the way down. Dawson didn’t know how she could sleep given the dirt road was bumpy, but he knew she was tired, so he just let her lay there.

  They didn’t have much time to talk once they arrived, as Dawson wanted to load the wagons and get home. She ran to purchase Hattie’s herbs and then met him back at the quarry at the edge of town. Li Wei helped her carry what Hattie needed.

  Dawson did treat her to a quick meal at a café overlooking the harbor. Tess looked so content staring out over the ocean. “I swear, I could look at this view every day.”

  Dawson ponder her words. “Do you want to leave Silverpines and move down here?”

  “Oh no. I just love overlooking the water. I wish we had a big pond or something near town.”

  “When we decide where we are going to live, I’ll make sure there is a pond or something.”

  Tess thought about that conversation on the way home. She was so in love with her husband sometimes it hurt to breathe. Is that what love was supposed to feel like, or was it the baby pressing on her lungs? Heaven knows it was pressing on her bladder enough. She gave a little giggle.

  “What’s on your mind, Honeybee?”

  “Just thinking how much I love you,” she said. “And wondering if the baby will let up so I’m not making water all the time.

  “Do we need to stop? I can find a spot with some trees if you need it.”

  She patted Dawson on the arm. “No, I’m fine right now. I’ll let you know if we need anything.”

  “Do you think we are having a son or a daughter?”

  “I think a son. Hattie says I’m big like I’m carrying a boy. A big healthy boy. I don’t care as long as the baby is healthy.”

  “A son. I like the sound of that.”

  “I was hoping we could name him or her after our parents. Combine the first names of both your parents and my parents.”

  “So, say… Oscar Harris if it is a boy?”

  “Or Harris Oscar,” she laughed.

  “As you said, just as long as the baby is healthy.”

  Tess looked a bit up the road. “Aren’t those two of Zhang’s men?” Two Chinamen and their wives were walking down the road with their belongings. The wives were falling behind, and Tess could see that they appeared to be crying. “I wonder what happened?”

  “I don’t know,” Dawson said. “But I’m sure we are about to find out.” He pulled the wagon up to the men that were walking back towards the harbor. “Sing Wei,” he called to the one man he knew. The other man he recognized but couldn’t remember his name. “Why aren’t you back at the mine?” Sing and his companion were the ones in charge of putting the bodies in the bags and pouring the quicklime on them before sewing the bags closed.

  “There was an accident.”

  “An accident,” Tess cried. “What kind of accident?”

  “We open the quicklime and it explodes in a cloud of smoke. Poof!” Sing Wei said, using his hands to mimic the smoke going through the air. “Ghost men were close by and got covered with the quicklime. It burns the skins. Very bad.”

  “Ghost men?” Tess whispered to Dawson.

  “It is what they call white folks. We are like a ghost.” Dawson furrowed his brow. It still didn’t explain why these people were walking away from Silverpines. “Where was Zhang?”

  “Zhang was digging the grave. He came over as soon it happened. We were told to pack up and go. He says safety is number one.”

  “I’m sorry,” Dawson said. Being down two, no four able bodies was not going to be easy, but he totally supported Zhang’s decision. “You mentioned several men being burned by the quicklime? Do you know who they were? Are they OK?”

  “Doctor with long red hair taking care of them. Two miners and the one that always wears the black coat.”

  “Black coat?” repeated Tess.

  “You mean Brawny?”

  “Yes. Mr. Brawny. He burned baddest of all.”

  Dawson stopped the wagon in front of the clinic and put the brake against the wheel. Marty came out with tears in his eyes. “How is he?” Tess asked, climbing out of the wagon.

  “Not good. He lost an eye. Doc Childs is caus – cot..”

  “Cauterizing it,” Dawson offered.

  “Yea, that was the word. Doc Tory is helping him, but it don’t look good.”

  “You okay to get this lime delivered? And water the horses?”

  “Dr. Tory said to stay away from the area until the quicklime is mixed in with the dirt. If it blows around, then it could cause more problems.”

  “That sounds reasonable. Take the wagon to the lean-to and then water the horses.”

  “Thank you, Marty,” Tess called over her shoulder.

  Marty nodded and climbed into the wagon, giving a soft click to the horses.

  Dawson went into the clinic below their apartment. Lacy Lou was seated behind the counter, wincing each time a sound came from the room behind her. The smell of burning flesh and the sound of a scream tore through the small office. As suddenly as the scream happened, it stopped.

  “He must have passed out,” Lacy Lou said, wringing her hands.

  “You’ll have to get used to this stuff if you want to be a nurse,” Dawson gently offered.

  “I know. It is just different when it is someone you know.”

  The door opened, and Chelsea came out, tears glistening on her cheeks. “How is he, Doc?” Dawson asked.

  “Badly burned. The quicklime started to burn the skin. It is blistering, and it went into his eye. We took care of everything, but he is going to be badly scared when it is all done. Not to mention him losing his eye.”

  Tess wiped the tears away from her cheeks and took a deep breath. Dawson put his arm around her pulling her close and kissed her forehead. He didn’t care for Brawny too much when he first met him. Brawny was delivering a telegram that had arrived in New Hope.

  The second time he met him, he liked him even less. Brawny had scared Tess silly by coming around a corner through the shadows. He got over his dislike when he and Brawny ended up in a saloon together before Dawson headed to Chicago. Now they were friends, and he really did like the quiet man.

  He knew Tess cared for Brawny, as a sister would a brother, and that helped as well. As different as they were, Dawson and Brawny were also very similar.

  “Where is Hattie?” Tess asked.

  “She’s next door. I insisted she stay over there because of the dust. I didn’t want to risk anything.

  “Should I be concerned?”

  “You
are fine, Tess. We’ve cleaned everything up. I know Hattie would probably like the company. I’m walking over to give her an update.”

  Just then Robert walked out of the office. “He’s asleep for now. I gave him some laudanum to help with the pain and help him sleep. I’m going to go check in on the other two now.”

  “Anything I can do, Doc?”

  Robert shook his head. “Not right now. We’ve got to get those bodies back in the ground, otherwise something like this might happen again.”

  He gave Tess another kiss on the forehead. “You go visit with Hattie for a bit. I’m going to check the progress on the grave and at the mine.”

  Tess nodded, and she left with Chelsea to go next door.

  “I want double shifts until we get these graves done. We should have been done with at least three of them.”

  “It turns out we needed them much larger than we originally thought,” Will said.

  “Just do it. Split the duties with Zhang,” Dawson told Will. He then turned to the group of workers. “Double shifts, except on Sundays. Will and Zhang are in charge of making sure this gets done. I also want more men at the mine. The women can start sewing the bags closed. We need to get the bodies the moment they come out of the ground. Out of the ground. Into the bag. A bit of lime and then sew them shut. I don’t want that barrel opened unless it is absolutely necessary. And I want whomever is handling it to be fully protected. Fully. Do I make myself clear?”

  The workers nodded.

  “Get back to work, we need to get this done.”

  Will picked up his pickaxe and shouted to the men, “Let’s go!”

  Dawson led a group of men down to the mine. He found Ian, the Scotsman was barking orders, but when he saw Dawson approach with a group of men, he walked over to them.

  “I just came from the clinic. Doc Childs said your men are going to make a full recovery. Apparently they didn’t get much on them. They’ll just have sensitive skin for a bit and it will probably undergo a slough.”