Olivia's Mine (13 page)

McMichael noticed Frank’s glass was empty and
refilled it.

“I called you into my office Frank because
I’m considering you for the foreman’s job.”

“Well thank you, Mr. McMichael. That’s quite
an honour. I’m just sorry about the circumstances.”

“It’s part of mining life. An occupational
hazard if you will. John knows that. He recommended you for the job
Frank. So there’ll be no hard feelings between you. But I want to
make this clear, I need a man I can trust in that position, Frank.
You’ll be required to rotate shifts and supervise the men. I need
to know what goes on in there on a day-to-day basis. I need someone
who’s willing to tell me what’s going on with the crews. If
someone’s late, I want to know. If someone’s slacking off, I need
to know. If someone’s crazy, I have to know.”

There was an awkward silence again.

“You mean if someone is a danger to people
outside of work as well?” Frank asked.

“Exactly. The person who gets the job will
become one of my confidants. Tell me Frank, if you were in my
position, what would you want to know? Where would you draw the
line between your camaraderie with your co-workers and the
responsibilities of being in a position of authority?”

Frank thought about the events earlier that
morning. How much of the conversation had McMichael heard, he
wondered? Frank wanted the foreman job. It was an impressive
promotion and the extra money would certainly be welcome.

“I suppose I’d want to know my co-workers,
friends and family were safe,” Frank said, testing the waters. “And
I would hope I had the judgment to know when the guys were just
shooting off their mouths and when they were a real concern. I’d
have to get along with both you and them. I’d still be spending
most of my time down in the tunnels with the guys, not with you. I
know you’re looking for someone loyal. Loyalty is fleeting, Mr.
McMichael, but I’m pretty much a stand up guy.”

“Loyalty fleeting? You’re quite observant. It
is indeed. It’s often bought and sold.”

The two men locked eyes.

“I don’t like the way he looks at your
daughter, sir.” Frank finally said. “Not that me or the other guys
are always looking at her or anything, don’t get me wrong. But he
is. Ferguson just gives me the creeps.”

“I heard the entire conversation this
morning, right from Peter’s wolf whistle.” McMichael admitted. “The
foreman’s job is yours Frank, as long as you keep an eye on that
particular situation. You stayed behind, were late even, because of
your concern for my daughter. That’s what makes you a better man
for the job than anyone else. John is right about that. And you’re
right about Ferguson. Les is a crazy bastard, Frank. But I still
need him. At least until I see which way the waters are flowing
with this Wolanski character. But I won’t let anyone harm my
family. My daughters are precious. You keep your ears to the ground
and your eyes on Les. You start Monday. He pulls any crap with you,
you come tell me.”

“Thank you sir. And thanks for the
drink.”

Frank offered his hand to McMichael, but
McMichael just nodded at him. Frank took it as a sign the meeting
between the two men was over.

“Oh, and Frank,” McMichael said. “Pretty
young thing, I can live with, but watch your own mouth while you’re
at it.”

“Yes sir,” Frank said, closing the door
behind him.

Sarah had his cheque in hand as he left the
inner office.

“Congratulations,” she said to him. “John
says to get yourself down to the bar, the first round is still on
him.”

Frank nodded.

“No one knows that John Cruickshank is sick
Frank,” Sarah said. “I think he wants it kept that way.”

Being payday, Frank knew Olivia wouldn’t be
expecting him to come straight home. It was a tradition for the men
to knock a few drinks back once they got their packet, so he headed
on over to the bar as was his usual way. As he stepped through the
door, a round of good-natured applause greeted him. Apparently
everyone already knew about his promotion.

“Cheers to the new boss,” John said, handing
him his drink.

“Cheers to you John,” Frank said.

Les Ferguson sat by himself in the corner and
watched the men for a while. He waited until Frank went into the
bathroom, then followed him in.

“Let me guess,” Frank said, “you’re not here
to congratulate me.”

“You better watch it,” Ferguson said. “This
don’t mean a thing. You’d better spend less time watching me and
more time watching your wife.”

“What was that?” Frank asked, his ire up.

“You think Christina is the only one getting
cat calls these days? You should hear what your buddies say about
your wife when you’re not around. We used to all look at Lucy, but
now she’s locked up crazy-like in the hospital. Who do you think
all the guys are looking at these days? It’d be that pretty little
wife of yours. The one with the long, dark brown hair that, when
it’s not all tied up, goes all the way down her slender back.”

“Watch it, Ferguson,” Frank said.

“Or what? What are you going to do to me? Hit
me? I’d like to see you try. Then I’ll knock you out of commission
for a few days and there will be no one around to stop me from
going over to your house and spending some time with your
Livvy.”

John and the boys were startled by the sound
of the bathroom door coming crashing down to the floor inside the
bar, Ferguson’s back firmly attached to it. Sergeant Wolanski had
co-incidentally just stepped into the bar to check on things, it
being payday Friday and all.

“What’s going on here?” the sergeant asked as
Frank walked towards the exit.

“He fell,” Frank said, his voice still full
of anger.

Sergeant Wolanski grabbed Frank by the
shoulder.

“You look like a sensible man,” Wolanski
said, taking him outside. “Let’s get something straight. Les only
thinks he enforces the town. Maybe he’s got McMichael to back him
up on that. But I’ve got a few more rights than Ferguson does, no
matter what McMichael wants to think. I didn’t see what went on in
there. But seeing as you’re not drunk, I don’t think it was your
typical bar room brawl. Which pretty much tells me it was about a
woman. I see the wedding band on your finger. I’ve also seen
Ferguson stalking a certain teenager around town, and I’ve only
been here a few days. So I figure the fight was about one woman or
the other. How close am I?”

“Pretty close,” Frank admitted. “It was both.
Are you going to arrest me or something?”

“Like I said,” Wolanski offered, “I didn’t
see anything.”

“You know how it goes,” Frank said, “he was
making up stuff about my wife. The guy’s crazy.”

“So what you’re telling me is you are
actually listening to a man you believe to be a crazy? And you got
all worked up about it? Don’t believe everything you hear,”
Wolanski said. “It’ll drive you crazy and before you know it, you
won’t have a wife to worry about. You’d miss that. Take it from
me.”

Frank thought about what the lawman was
saying, and offered his hand.

“Frank Fitzpatrick,” he introduced
himself.

“Rudy Wolanski,” Wolanski offered back. “Now
get out of here before I start remembering what I did or didn’t
see.”

This particular year, autumn proved to be the
season of renewal, and everyone was looking forward to
Thanksgiving. Lucy had spent a great deal of time in the hospital
coming to terms with what had happened to her. She had stayed there
until after Christmas, not wanting to face the world until the
holidays were over. McMichael had tried to reach her family
stateside, but there had been no response from them, and he didn’t
know, under the circumstances, whether it would be a good idea to
find out what had happened to them or not. But Sarah had refused to
let it go, telling him that Lucy’s family deserved to know what had
happened to their daughter. He thought they must have heard, as the
news of the disaster spread quickly, and maybe there was a family
reason that had stopped them from being in contact. But there was
Sarah, constantly dropping little hints about it, in that off-hand
way she had, that no, they were a very close family, and this was
very strange. So finally he had sent Frenchie off to find them down
the coast. The news had not been good. Lucy’s parents had been
killed in a freak accident. Lightning had struck their home,
starting a fire, and it was late at night and they never woke up.
He dreaded telling her about it, but again Sarah had insisted, and
he had done so. It was never easy delivering or receiving such
news, but Lucy had been particularly a tough one for him to have to
approach. She barely had any emotion at all when he broke the news.
It was as if all life had already been drained from her. He wanted
to shake her into some kind of emotion, but of course he couldn’t
and didn’t.

Olivia had written home and assured her own
family that she and Frank were safe and sound. Letters came from
her family with some frequency, and she was delighted when she got
them. She had received several letters from her mother, who had
given birth to another son. This one they named Daniel and they
were both doing just fine. Anne had gone to a convent in Olympia,
and also wrote her often. She was teaching at the local Catholic
school and finding it to be quite rewarding. Emily had met a young
veterinarian and they were to be married this summer. The
invitation had arrived in the mail. Billy, her mother had written,
was building family homes in Seattle for a local construction
company. No sign of him settling down yet, he was enjoying playing
the field. Her mother never mentioned Jason. Olivia wondered if he
was in some kind of trouble, or in jail. She would have to ask her
father some time. Perhaps he was stationed somewhere in the Army,
she thought, and they just didn’t know where he was, or couldn’t
say. Olivia had read that the United States were actively
recruiting for the army. It would be just like Jason. He never
could settle down and he would have found the armed forces
inviting. America’s involvement was in full force and they needed
men desperately. Yes, she thought. That’s probably where her
brother was.

Canada was drawn into World War I
automatically when Britain entered the war. This was a prosperous
thing for the mine, as the demands for copper were enormous, and
more men were being hired to keep up with the growing demand. As a
result, the town too was growing. For most of the residents at
Britannia, it was a war that didn’t immediately involve them, the
action being in Europe, which for all intents and purposes seemed
so far away. But as time passed, more and more young Canadian men
were volunteering to fight for the allies. As the young men left
for the war, the older workers were having to put more time in at
the mine.

And so it was that Olivia found herself
glancing at a calendar and realizing that she had indeed been at
Britannia now for over a year. There had been no vacation time off
for the men, the mine was at capacity, so she still hadn’t had her
honeymoon at the resort as Frank had promised. While there was
always housework of some sort to keep her busy, she was growing
restless. She had made a few casual friends, but she found that the
townspeople, for the most part, had grown up together, and because
of this, seeding deep friendships was a bit of a challenge. Now
that more young families were moving up, she was hoping that would
change. Frank had encouraged her to join one of the women’s groups,
but she found, like Lucy had initially said, for the most part they
were not her cup of tea, the gossiping aside.

“I’m still worried about Lucy.” Olivia said
to Frank one night as she was preparing bread dough for dinner.

“She’s been through a lot Liv, she needs some
time.”

“It’s been a year now Frank, and she’s still
wearing all black.”

“She’s in mourning, Liv, you know that, and
you know you can’t put a time limit on that.”

It was times like this that she was glad she
had married such a kind, understanding man, although lately, she
had seen a few cracks in the façade. Frank had been putting in some
extra time at the mine at McMichael’s request and his demeanour was
changing. He had become overtired and irritable. McMichael was
hinting that he was going to create a new, well-paying job as a
mine manager, and Frank was taking the bait, afraid to turn any
request down from his boss.

“But I saw her headed to the quilting bee the
other afternoon. I remember her telling me how much she hated that
group. I suppose I should be thankful that she’s making the effort
to get out, but oh, I don’t know, somehow it doesn’t seem quite
like the Lucy I first met on the boat.”

She took the dough and started to knead it,
pushing and turning and pulling it towards her with some force.

“You’re right Liv,” Frank agreed. “She
wouldn’t do that if she were back to the old Lucy that we knew and
loved. Not that I spent much time with her or anything, but Marty
always said she was a handful, and most people seem to agree. Maybe
she needs her own welcome wagon. Why don’t you invite her over for
Easter dinner? You know we’ve never done that, had her over for
dinner, and the holidays are the loneliest, or so they say. Maybe
it will be a new start for her, and a new start for your
friendship.”

As Olivia continued to press the dough
outward, she heard her dress tear. She looked down to see a small
rip in the seam. Maybe it wasn’t such a small tear. Frank had heard
it too.

“Gaining weight there Liv?” he grinned. He
came and put his arms around her waist. “Are we pregnant yet?”

They had been trying since they were married,
with no success.

“No,” she sighed. “We are just gaining
weight.”

She noticed a change in Frank’s expression,
and his voice had a bit of an edge.