Eleven
Reistown, Sandy
"I need tickets for three," I said, walking up to the agent in the canal terminal station.
"Where are you going?"
"Seaford's our destination, but…" I sighed.
"But?"
"Ev's aunt lives in Farmingham, and we'd like to visit, but with what happened?" I shook my head and sighed again.
"What, Farmingham's fine! They didn't get hit at all."
"But we were told you can't get there because of what happened at Isleton."
The agent snorted. "Oh, you can get there; it's just a longer trip. I can give you tickets to Louisburg with a ten-day layover. From there, you should be able to catch a bus. One leaves every morning, it's a long ride though, and you won't get in until after dark."
I blinked. "Are you from Farmingham?"
The agent shook his head. "No, but with the Isleton terminus destroyed, they had to set up new routes for the surrounding towns, and they made sure we knew them. We got a lot of folks who grew up around there coming back to the area."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, there's a lot of construction jobs, a lot. The government wants the locks and the terminus rebuilt as soon as possible, and they want the city cleaned up, and I hear they're going to rebuild it as well."
"Wow, I had no idea."
"What's taking you to Seaford?"
"Work. I was making stuff for the mines, but with everything going on, small timers like me can't make a living. So I figure the shipbuilders or the refitters will have a lot of work with the war going on. I'm an engineer and a machinist."
"Huh. You might want to check in with the town jobs office when you get to Farmingham. I hear they're looking hard for skilled workers."
"Why's that?"
"Because a lot of them are going off to work supporting the war effort, like you."
"If we stay, can I get a refund on the unused part of the tickets?"
"That I can't help you with, sorry."
"Well, give me three tickets, and I guess I'll just have to see. Thanks for the info."
"Not a problem."
I paid him, and we got the tickets.
"Boat leaves at noon. Good luck!"
"Thanks."
"Well, that was easy," Suzona said as we walked down the docks on the side of the lake.
Several canals met here; it was like a switching yard for the canal boats, I figured.
The passenger terminal where we were was nice, and there were docks for what looked like four boats.
The cargo terminal was on the other side of the lake, and it looked massive by comparison.
There was a cargo boat currently being unloaded across the way, and it was a lot bigger than I'd expected.
"I'm just glad we got here early; now we won't have to come back tomorrow."
Both of them nodded at that, and we went and found a place to sit down.
The canal boat, when it showed up, was definitely different than any ship I'd ever seen before.
It was two stories tall, in that it had two deck levels.
It wasn't very wide, maybe twenty feet from port to starboard, and it was at least a hundred feet long.
"There must be a lot of ballast down in that hull to keep it from capsizing," Evean said.
"Not like any waves will ever hit it, I do wonder if they're even allowed out on any of the larger lakes?"
"Definitely not in a storm. That high structure would act like a sail, and I don't care how much weight they've got in the bottom."
"Let's go find our room, okay?" Suzona said, picking up her bag.
"Might as well," Evean agreed.
Our room was on the second deck. The fancier rooms were on the first level, not that I think there were many.
The room itself was simple: a bed that was fixed to the floor, big enough for two, cozy for three.
A table that was likewise fixed with two bench seats.
At least there were cushions for the bench and a mattress for the bed.
"Well, at least they're keeping the weight down on the upper level."
"They're also making sure nothing up here shifts around," I said, agreeing with Evean.
"You've both spent a lot of time on boats? The type that go on the water?" Suzona asked.
"Some," Evean said.
"A lot," I replied. "I grew up with it."
"So should we be worried?"
I shook my head. "We're in a canal, which is about as controlled as water can get. Plus, this boat doesn't look new, so I'm guessing they know what they're doing."
The next two days would have been boring if Evean and Suzona hadn't had ideas about how they wanted to spend them—which wasn't just abusing me on the bed. A steward stopped by to show us how to turn the table into a second bed come evening. We told him not to bother, and he just shrugged.
Food was prepared onboard in a kitchen at the back of the boat, and the stewards delivered it.
I was surprised at just how fast the boat traveled down the canal, which was wide enough for boats going in the other direction to pass.
We went through several locks during the trip, and there were passing zones that functioned like railroad sidings when we caught up with a cargo ship that took up most of the canal.
It was obviously a well-controlled system.
When we got to Louisburg, however, everyone who got off the boat was questioned.
"Follow me," an armed man said at the bottom of the exit ramp, and he led the three of us to a room where a middle-aged man in uniform was sitting behind a simple desk.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"The ticket seller back where we boarded told me there were a lot of jobs here for skilled workers, and they're having trouble filling them. He suggested that we should layover in Farmingham for a few days and see."
"Is that why your tickets say Seaford?"
I just nodded.
"Why are you looking for work?"
"I'm a small-parts fabricator. I make stuff for the mines out west. With the war, the demand for parts has fallen off so much that I can't make any money.
Plus, a number of the companies I bought raw stock from were in Isleton, and with them out of business, my stock prices have gone up.
So, I thought I'd go to Seaford and get a job supporting the war effort. "
"What's with the women?"
"They're my women—well, technically, one's my wife, and the other is our girlfriend."
"Oh? And how did that happen?"
"None of your damn business."
"Well, I'm making it my business."
Evean spoke up then, and I could tell she was dipping into her champion's voice abilities.
"He saved me from a bad situation out at the mines. Ummm…" Evean looked down at her feet, embarrassed. "I was being forced to do things I didn't like to pay off my dead husband's debts."
"What kinds of things?"
Suzona loudly slapped her hand down on the table, scowling at the man, who literally jumped back in his seat.
"Leave her alone. She's a good woman, and she's our girlfriend, understand? My husband saved her, and she's like a little sister to me now. Leave her be!"
I moved a bit closer to Evean and put an arm around her, as Suzona, who was in her champion form, had totally intimidated the man.
"Ar—" he coughed to clear his throat and get his voice under control, "are you looking for work, too?"
"That will depend on what's available here. I'm not as good a machinist as my husband, but I'm very good at inspections and handling tough customers when our husband is away."
"I bet you are!" I heard the guard who'd brought us in mutter under his breath with a chuckle.
I suddenly flashed back to the time Laria and I were taken into custody and questioned. While this was by no means as violent, something about the man behind the table bothered me.
"Look, we just want to be on our way into Farmingham, so I can see if there's any work for us. If not, we'll be on our way to Seaford," I said with a hint of indignation.
"Oh, I'm sure they'll have work for you!" the man behind the desk said, then looked over at the guard.
"Put them on the bus with the others. We'll send it off as soon as I'm done with the rest of the passengers getting off here."
"This way, please," the guard said, and we picked up our bags, and went where we were directed, which was a bus that was painted blue and had bars on the windows.
"What's with the bars?" Evean asked.
"We had to borrow buses from the police," the guard said, but I didn't miss that he held his rifle at the low ready, and there was another guard standing by the bus.
Going up the stairs and inside, I noticed it was very much like the school buses I'd ridden in as a child, and there were about half a dozen people already seated.
It was a mixed group; the men all looked young and fit, like me, and the women were young and attractive.
"I have a very bad feeling about this," Evean whispered.
"Me, too," Suzona agreed.
"I guess we'll be getting off the bus after it leaves town," I said, looking around.
"I wonder what's going on here?" Evean said. We looked around and took the front seats. Everyone else was seated more towards the middle or the back.
The guard was still outside, so I turned to the people in the seat behind me.
"Hi, I'm Will," I said, sticking out my hand. "What brings you here?"
"Ted. I'm looking for work," he said, shaking my hand. "This is my wife, Patty. Word going 'round is that there's good jobs here. You?"
"Was heading to Seaford to look for work, but the ticket agent told me I should check this out first. The war dried up my business. Who else here is looking for work?" I asked, leaning on it with my champion's voice.
A lot of hands went up.
"I'm here to check on my mother," one young man said. "I grew up around here."