The Emerald Key - By Christopher Dinsdale Page 0,41
a drawer and gave Jamie back his change. “You’re welcome. Come back anytime. And Beth, it’s so good to finally see you with your brothers. You really are a dear. All the best!”
“Thank you!” Beth grinned.
“Bye!” said Colin.
“Thank you, Jamie,” Beth said as she curled her tongue around the candy.
“I thought you would enjoy it. Now, which way to the immigration station?”
“It’s not too much further. Come on!”
Colin and Beth’s beaming faces lit up the dreary afternoon sky as they licked their sweet. Seeing the children munching on a colourful candy seemed to placate many in the passing crowd. Surely, such smiling children sucking away on a candy could not be carrying sickness. Jamie was pleased to have killed two birds with one stone.
Beth turned a corner and led them away from the busy business district. Ahead was another collection of large wooden warehouses. Workers moved in lines through the huge sliding doors behind which were rows of neatly stacked crates. Some were being hoisted onto waiting wagons, likely destined for the port and then destinations overseas.
“All these warehouses are full of stuff to be put on boats,” she explained. “The docks are just over there. Those warehouses are full of crates and crates of beaver, bear, and fox fur. That building over there is so full with lumber that it reaches all the way up to the ceiling!”
“How do you know all of this?” queried Jamie.
“I ran messages to all of the owners of the warehouses, asking if they were interested in hiring some of the older orphans as workers. They used to take in quite a few of us, but when the sickness returned, they refused to hire any new immigrant children. That’s why I was shipped off to a farm. They said my job had become pointless since no one was hiring anymore.”
Jamie smiled. “But now you’re back.”
She took a lick of her peppermint stick and nodded. “Now I’m back! It feels so good to be back, seeing all of those shops. I didn’t think I would ever see Montreal again, you know. When I was sent off, I thought I would be surrounded by trees, corn, and grumpy farmers for the rest of my life.”
She wrapped her arms around Jamie and squeezed. “Thank you.”
Surprised, Jamie managed to wiggle out of her embrace. He decided to change the subject.
“Are we close?”
Beth scrunched her face. “Actually, I can smell that we’re close. Can’t you?”
Jamie sniffed the afternoon air. A foul stench tickled his nostrils. He hadn’t smelled such a disgusting aroma since his time in the hold of the Independence.
“Is it going to be bad?” he asked.
She nodded sadly. “Worse. It’s just behind that big warehouse across the street.”
Jamie stopped and bent down to talk to the children. “Listen, we’re blessed that we are still healthy. I don’t want either of you two taking a chance of getting sick by going to the station with me. I’ll go by myself. Beth, I need you to look after Colin until I get back.”
“I’m tired of walking,” complained Colin.
“You get to have a rest right now,” Jamie explained. “Beth will look after you.”
“We can’t wait here,” commented Beth, looking warily at the nearby workers. “Someone will think we are runaway orphans, and they will send for the police. We might get caught and put back into an orphanage.”
“All right, then,” said Jamie. “What do you suggest?”
Beth thought for a moment. “I know a nearby hiding place — if it’s still there. Follow me!”
She led them away from the water and the warehouses to a pile of broken and discarded crates at the edge of an undeveloped field. They walked around to the back of the pile. Almost hidden was a narrow entranceway to the interior of the jagged mountain of wood. Dropping to her hands and knees, Beth crawled through the opening and disappeared from view. A couple of seconds later, her head reappeared, grinning.
“Yep, the burlap sacks are still in here, just like I left them! They make a great sleeping mat.”
Jamie studied the pile of crates. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
She tapped the crates affectionately. “They haven’t moved this pile of boxes in over a year. It’s one of my favourite hiding places. I can’t see it moving by itself anytime soon. Come on, Colin! I’m a mama bear and you’re the baby. Follow me into our cave!”
Colin laughed and together they growled and scurried on all fours into the makeshift bear cave. Beth glanced over her shoulder