the lunch crowd were gone, except for the bit that Flo held back to feed us and herself and Gertie. We sat around a table near the front window, eating together, kind of like family.
“How’s it going with the Hellor?” Gertie asked Mose. “Did Wooster Morgan agree to help?”
He signed, Said he’d be damned if he’d help out Truman Waters. But Albert talked to him. He likes Albert. Agreed to let him use the equipment and tools. I think he believed Albert was pissing in the wind, but Albert’s making good progress.
I translated and Gertie shook her head. “Truman is one stubborn son of a bitch. But I’ll give him this. He cares about the Hellor and his crew.”
Flo said, “He made a solemn promise to Pap that he’d take care of that boat.”
“Pap?” I said.
“Our dad. When he died, he passed the Hell or High Water down to Tru. We’ve been river people for generations. Taking care of the Hellor, that’s kind of a sacred duty for Tru.”
Gertie gave a derisive snort, and in response, Flo said gently, “In every sinner, Gertie, is the possibility of a saint.”
When the kitchen had been cleaned, Mose headed back to the boatworks. Gertie, who looked well and truly beat, finally agreed to Flo’s insistence that she lie down for a while. Flo asked Emmy if she’d like to help her bake the biscuits that were going to accompany the beef stew she’d be serving that evening. I was thinking of catching a little shut-eye, like Gertie, when John Kelly stepped in and said, “You wanna do something fun?”
* * *
I’D NEVER HOPPED a freight before, but John Kelly was a pro.
“They all slow down, see, while they rumble through the Flats.”
We waited near the arched bridge where an iron trestle crossed the Mississippi. We’d just missed a train, but John Kelly said another was bound to come along any minute.
“How’re your mother and baby brother doing?” I asked.
“Aces,” he said. “Ma’s strong like an ox, and it’s easy to see that Mordy takes after me. He’s got lungs on him like a ragman.”
“Mordy?”
“Mordecai David. But Mordy fits him good,” the proud big brother said. “God’s truth, though, I don’t know if any of us’d make it without Gertie. She’s made sure there’s food pouring in so Granny can take care of Ma and Ma can take care of Mordy.” He pointed down the tracks. “Here she comes.”
The engine rumbled passed us, hauling a long line of boxcars. Occasionally we saw shabby men looking out at us through open doors. An empty car came abreast of us, rocking a little as the weight of it pressed down upon the rails. John Kelly yelled, “This one!” and launched himself up and through the open door. I stood there eyeing all those big, groaning iron wheels, thinking that if I slipped, I could end up looking like a loaf of sliced bread with strawberry jam.
“Come on!” John Kelly hollered.
I had to run to catch up, and when I leapt, John Kelly caught me and pulled me safely in beside him. “Where are we going?” I asked, breathless.
“Just to the yards across the river. But if we caught the right train, hell, we could go to Chicago or Saint Louis or Denver or you name it. Trains go everywhere from here.”
As the train slowed on the other side of the river, we disembarked among a network of rails and idle cars. John Kelly had no trouble, but I stumbled and fell, and the letter that I’d written to Maybeth Schofield and had stuffed inside my shirt slipped out. I brushed myself off and picked up the letter.
“What’s that?” John Kelly asked.
“What’s it look like?”
“Maybeth,” he said, reading over my shoulder. “Some girl you’re sweet on?”
“Something like that,” I said.
“Want to mail it?”
“Sure. But I need a stamp.”
“Easy as pie,” he said.
He led me downtown to an enormous gray stone building with turrets everywhere and a big clock tower, the most impressive structure I thought I’d ever seen. It was the federal courthouse and also served, John Kelly explained to me, as the main post office for the Upper Midwest. It was imposing and, because it was a courthouse, was sure to be filled with all kinds of representatives of the law. John Kelly marched right in as if he owned the place, and although I was full of trepidation, I followed.
The interior was all marble and mahogany, and within it was a constant flow of bodies.