Chapter 20 #2
Just then a squeal of children could be heard coming down the path. Evie shrugged. “Guess we’ve come to an end of the quiet.”
“I need to make my way back anyway. I volunteered to help Mr. Flint with some paperwork. Your father recommended me to him, and he was quite eager to begin after lunch was cleared.”
“I have duties of my own,” Evie admitted.
They rose, and as children started racing by, Max leaned over and gave Evie a quick kiss on the cheek. “That will have to do until I can offer something better.”
Evie touched her face. “I will cherish it. Every gift from you is something special.”
They made their way back to where the men were already pounding away on the house frames. So much had already been accomplished, and it wouldn’t be long before each family had a house and the tents could be taken down.
Evie said good-bye to Max and spied her mother, who was instructing several women. Making her way over, she wondered how much longer they’d remain at the farm. She liked it well enough here but preferred the city. Did Max feel the same? It was funny how much she had yet to learn about him.
“Oh, there you are, Evie,” Mother said as she finished, and the women walked away, speaking to each other as if resolving a serious matter.
Evie smiled and nodded toward them. “You must have given them much to discuss.”
“They are on the sewing committee, and I recommended first thing that they work on the oiled canvases for the windows of each house. Your father and Mr. Flint have already arranged for an initial shipment of blankets, sheets, and towels; however, soon enough the women will need to make more of those things as well. I found two who know how to spin yarn, so we’re trying to find a couple of spinning wheels.
Poor ladies, the wheels they had before the fire were passed down through their families. Now they’re gone.”
“That is a tragedy. Max had the children talk about the fire this morning in school. Some are still struggling so much with bad dreams and fears of it happening again.”
“Poor dears.”
Evie glanced around the yard. “Where is Father?”
“He was called to one of the family tents. Seems there was a sick young man.”
Evie bit her lower lip. She still felt guilty when medical needs arose.
“Oh, look, there he is now. He seems to be in a bit of a hurry.” Mother pointed in the direction of the family lots where the tents had been erected. Father called several men to his side, spoke to them for a moment, and then headed to the commons building.
“I wonder what’s going on.” Evie recognized his serious expression as he disappeared into the building.
“Could be the young man was sicker than anyone knew. Your father might have to arrange transport for him.” Mother glanced at her watch. “Oh dear, I’m supposed to be teaching some of the young mothers about hygiene. I must run.”
Evie waited only a moment before heading to the common building to see what was going on.
“I suppose the smart thing would be to use one of the school room tables. We can close the door and keep others out,” she heard her father explaining to Mr. Flint.
“Father, what’s happened? Is there a problem?”
“I must perform an emergency appendectomy, and we were trying to figure out where to do it.”
“The school room would be perfect.” Evie remembered the tarps they’d used to cover the back of one of the wagons.
“We can take the waxed canvas from the wagon and put it over one of the tables. I can disinfect it and then put a clean sheet down on that. There’s good lighting in the school room, and we have several lamps if we need more. I’ll go grab my apron and help you.”
“Are you sure you want to help with this, Evie?” He eyed her with a doubtful expression.
Evie held up a vial that she’d had in her pocket. “I have my peppermint oil, and you need an assistant for such a surgery. God will give me the ability to face the challenge.”
The tenderness in her father’s face was all the encouragement she needed. “I’ll be right back.”
“Evie,” he called after her.
She turned. “Yes?”
“I’ve never been prouder of you.”
Max saw the scarred man standing by the water pump near the chicken house. He decided it couldn’t hurt to make conversation. The man gave him a nod and motioned toward Max’s arm. “I heard you were injured in the fire.”
Max nodded. “I see you know something of fire and burns.”
“Yes, sir. Got this several years ago in Chicago.” The man lifted his brown felt hat. “Hair won’t even grow here where it burned me to the skull.”
“I’m sure the recovery was long and hard. I’m not that badly burned, but the pain has been fierce.”
“Yeah, it was somethin’ of a nightmare. I would just as soon have died. Several of my neighbors did. I think they had it better that way.”
Max felt compassion for the man. “The Nicollet fire was certainly a bad one. I’m impressed that nobody died, especially over on Boom Island. That’s where I was. Fire just engulfed us before I even knew what was happening.”
“I watched part of it from the bridge. Brought back terrible thoughts, and all for boys being careless.”
“Some think the fire was intentionally set. Especially the one on Boom Island.”
He looked at Max for a long moment. “A man would have to be a fool to do such a thing. I heard it said that some folks were of a mind to burn down the mills and collect the insurance money, but it was just desperate talk. Folks are always running off at the mouth when they feel threatened.”
“So you don’t think anyone deliberately set the fire to collect insurance money? I mean, if they were speaking about it, it’s quite possible they might act upon those thoughts.”
“I suppose, but they would have hired it done, and the kind of folks who would do such a thing are the very men I live amongst. I would have heard about it. Men like that are braggarts with their friends. They’d want their work admired.
No, I don’t think the fire was set. Just a misfortune of timing and errors.
” The man paused and fixed Max with a look that suggested concern.
“Are you thinking it was done on purpose?”
Max didn’t know why, but the man’s comments made a strange sort of sense. “I don’t know, but I’d like to. I wonder,” Max said, reaching for his wallet, “if you would like to earn ten dollars?”
“Always,” the man replied. “I don’t do anything illegal, though.”
“Good, I wouldn’t want you to.” Max handed him a ten-dollar bill.
“Nose around and see if anyone did set the fire on Boom Island. I was nearly killed there, and if someone set it on purpose, I want to know why. Were they hired to do the job? Were they after revenge? Whatever the reason, I’d like to know. ”