The Escort - By Gina Robinson Page 0,92

escape?"

"He has no proof Tonio was trying to escape. We were out for a walk. He was escorting me home. If we were near the Lux building and the captain assumed I worked there, it is his misconception. What's the real reason you won't let me go to the pen?" Angelina stared at May.

"Tonio doesn't want you there," May said.

"Since when have I lived and breathed on what Tonio wanted!"

For ten days Angelina didn't mention the bullpen. She worked side by side with the rest of the women of the community arranging aid for the families of the imprisoned miners. These women and children depended on the daily wages their providers brought home; without it many were destitute.

A few miners began to trickle out of the pen. The governor issued an order requiring any miner seeking employment in the Valley be required to obtain a red card work permit. The card could only be obtained by swearing an anti-union plea before the county coroner. But even for those who were able to obtain a card, work was scarce. The Bunker and several other mines would not be operational until power could be restored and the concentrator rebuilt. The reconstruction could take months. Families packed and left the Valley. Grim described the general mood around town.

On the fourteenth day following his arrest, they released Al. May had finally convinced his fellow Masons to help and he was let out. It was common men, and not her fancy attorney that secured his release. Angelina hadn't heard a word from John. She feared that Nokes had gone back on his word and not contacted him. She waited hours in line on the first day the telegraph office was reopened to send him a message, but she received no response. The General had reopened the railways and limited, carefully scrutinized routes ran. Families of imprisoned miners were finally able to make the journey between Wallace and Wardner by rail.

Conditions for the Halls remained grim despite Al's release. The railroad refused to reinstate Al, claiming that he was "a willing tool of the rioters." With no job to go to, Al resorted to working the Hole full time. Tonio remained in prison.

On the day of Al's release May was happily distracted. Angelina saw her opportunity and after stopping by the hotel to fill a basket with baked goods, she headed for the depot to catch a train to Wardner and the bullpen.

Bullpen was an apt name, Angelina thought as she approached the compound where the miners were being held. A hastily constructed fence of chicken and barbed wire surrounded a sea of tents and several weathered board buildings. Blue-coated troops swarmed throughout the compound yard, supervising their weary prisoners in a variety of tasks, most of them aimed at keeping the area clean and the prisoners occupied and dispirited.

Angelina stepped carefully around the recently formed puddles in the dirt road that led to the post gates. The spring sky was as gray as the camp and its sullen prisoners, but patches of blue were beginning to appear, lifting Angelina's spirits and adding to her optimism. The day would soon turn warm and humid. She was stopped at the bullpen entrance by a short, solid African American man.

"I am here to see a prisoner." She was not accustomed to African American people. Italy and Idaho had so very few. She smiled tentatively.

"Which one?"

"Antonio Domani."

The man laughed. "The demolitioner?"

"The accused demolitioner."

"You'll need to see the captain to get clearance to see that one."

"Where is the captain's office?"

The man pointed to a large building in the center of the compound. He grabbed her arm as she started through the gate toward the building. "We're under orders to search anyone coming in."

Angelina stood indignantly still as the man ran his hands familiarly over her bodice and skirt. He took liberty and pleasure with his assignment.

"The basket."

She lifted the lid. The guard smiled at the sight of the goodies inside. "These are too good for a demolitioner." He reached in and pulled out a plate of cookies.

"Help yourself." She didn't bother hiding her sarcasm.

The guard laughed as he motioned her through.

The captain's secretary showed her into his office, which was as small and stale as the man who occupied it. The set of his face as he looked up from his paperwork turned quickly from disinterested irritation to surprised recognition. Her heart sank. Surely a company of soldiers as large as the one stationed here had more than one captain,