Coal Dusters
Chapter XX
Birk Catches A Fish
“The crying’s coming from over there.” Birk nodded to a nearby back garden.
They walked over to a fence covered with sweet pea vines. A woman sitting on a bench in the corner of the garden was sobbing.
“Why, miss, what is the matter?” Clancy asked.
When she looked up Birk recognized her. “Ah tis her.”
He saw the bruise on her face and though she explained it as some sort of accident she caused herself he didn’t believe her.
“Come on, Clancy we best be on our way.” Birk didn’t feel comfortable in this part of the town and especially talking with with someone in the priest’s yard. After the way they had led on Manny last night he didn’t want to add anything to that fire.
They continued on their way.
“Burns me up,” Clancy kicked a stone on the path. “See a woman treated that way. Any man that’d do that don’ deserve to live.”
“We sees it often enough around though don’t we. Ma says it’s a sin but a good man’s fault too. Some wives can’t keep their mouth shut when a man needs a bit of quiet. I hear that in the house next to ours. He says ‘Give me a bit of rest’. She says ‘Rest! I got them kids all day, I needs the rest.’ And the next thing you know – bam.” He hit the palm of his left hand with his right fist.
“Not right.” Clancy shook his head.
“Another reason fer me not to get married. You see how fast I can be with m’ fists.”
“Yeh but who’d want to hurt her? Surely not Father Patrick, a man of God would never do that sort of thing.”
“True. Maybe she was speaking the truth. Ma slipped in the kitchen once’t and hit her face some hard on the table. Most knocked herself out. Bruise was bad for days after that. Everyone thought Blackie done give her a whooping.”
“Yeh but …”
“Funny thing to see her right after Manny jumping to defend her honour against us.” Birk said.
“It’s a sign or something do you think?”
“A keep away sign, if you ask me.”
It took them another half hour to get to Blue Lake.
“It isn’t a full lake, ya see. River starts somewhere in the hills there.” Birk pointed to some distant mountains. “There’s rapids along not too far that cuts it off, makes it swells up here before turning back into the river. Best place for fishin’ is along here.”
They went along the rocky shore of the lake. Then walked through a patch of purple wild flowers and scared a rabbit into the open. Some ducks squawked and swam away from the shore.
“Gramp Dusty used to bring me and Geo along t’ here. Dusty lost an arm in the mines and two fingers off’n his other hand – wasn’t much he could do after awhile but he kept busy lookin’ after us boys. He always said we was more than a handful. That’d alway make us laugh ‘cause he didn’t have hands. But he could sure catch fish.”
“Gramp Dusty was your father’s father.”
“That’s right. Lost the fingers when he was about my age. Crushed in a rock fall. But didn’t stop him from becoming the best fuse man they had. Then one shift he’d set the fuse and it didn’t go off. They waited long enough and he went back to check and boom!” Birk had held his hands apart as if he was holding a ball then threw them apart when he said ‘boom.’ “Not a chance to think of gettin’ away.”
“Don’t expect I’ll want to be a fuse man any time soon.” Clancy scratched his forearm. “Even it does pay more.”
“Company pensioned him off with hardly anything. He taught us all how to cast and fish though.”
They climbed over a small rocky bluff above a cove that was sheltered by maples and willows. There was a trail that lead down to the lake.
“This is best spot.” Birk pulled off his boots and socks. Slipped a basket across his chest to hold the fish he caught. He rolled up his pant legs and waded into the lake.
“Cold?”
“No worse ’en the wash tubs at the mine.” he said. He cast his line, pulled it back, cast it again. “Gramp Dusty taught us this way to give the impression of a fly flying.”
Clancy waded out a few yards to Birk’s left. “Ya think she’ll remember who we are?”
“She? Ya mean that Boston gal. Maybe.” There was a yank on his line. “Got something.”
He let the line play a little then pulled it back. The fish darted up into the air trying to escape. Birk let it have its head then begin to pull it back in again.
“Just a brook trout but got some fight, eh?” Birk grinned as he dropped the speckled fish into the basket around his belly.
With an hour they had caught a dozen fish between the two of them. Birk catching the most. Most were trout but here were a couple of smallmouth bass.
“How you tell ‘em apart?” Clancy asked.
“Can’t till we lands ‘em. Bass shaped a different. Trout’s got spots. Ma’ll be pleased with these. We’ll save the bass for her.”
“I’ll be pleased with these. Don’t care what yer mother thinks.”
Clancy found some dry scrub brush and started a small fire.
“Let’s see if I’m a better cook than a fisherman.” He gutted and cleaned two of the smaller trout and speared them with a branch and held them over the fire, a little out of the flames.
“A grand day.” Birk laid back on the rocks and shaded his eyes with his forearm.
“Yes.”
“How did you end up here in Castleton?” He rolled over to watch Clancy turning the fish carefully to cook them.
“Took the train.”
“Yeh, I know that, but why here? You could a gone anywhere, Halifax even Montreal.”
“When my Da died I knew I had to something. I was still in school, you see, doing pretty good.”
“School? How far did ya get.”
“Grade ten. Graduated that but with my Dad gone and us needed something, I knew I had to do something for my mother and sister. Not that they needed much. My mother comes from good folks. She went back to their farm. I didn’t see myself working in some farm so I set out.”
“Yeh, but with schooling you could be doing more than raking coal. You could be one of them clerks, even an engineer like Blackie. Why break your back.”
“I had to prove to myself that I could do it.”
“I sees that. Wished I stayed for more schoolin’ though.”
“Suppose it was different for you though. Not much opportunity for anything else, eh?”
“Once a miner’s son always a miner. I knew I was going to follower me Dad as he followed Gramp Dusty into the pits. Not the same pits mind you but coal’s in the blood. No need to decide anything.”
“These are ready.” He pushed one of the charred fish onto a piece of bread and handed it to Birk.
Birk took a bite. “Not bad.”
“Nothing beats fresh air and sun to make a bad cook job taste the best thing you ever ate.” Clancy laughed. He took off his shirt. “Sun feels good.”
“Yeh.” Birk finished his fish. “Yer right about sun being the best salt.”
“You saying you didn’t enjoy my cooking?” Clancy swatted at Birk’s bare back.
“The branch might’ve tasted better.” Birk joked.
“You …” Clancy rolled on top of Birk and they wrestled each other.
It started playful but became serious as each refused to surrender to the other.
“Think you tough, ya mine rat.”
“Tougher than some soft arse like yourself.”
Unaware they rolled into the embers of the fire.
“Ouch. Ouch. Yer burning the hair off m’back.” Birk shoved Clancy off himself and jumped up. He dashed to the lake and dove in.
Clancy followed suit.
“Whoa that’s cold water.”
“Not too bad once you get ducked under.” Birk jumped on Clancy and pushed him under then released him.
Clancy surfaced sputtering water. “Guess I had that coming. Turn around I see how bad the burns are.”
Birk turned. He could feel Clancy’s fingers as they pushed his hair.
“A bit red.” He shivered. “Too cold to say in this water though.”
He went back to the rocks and peeled off his pants and under drawers and put them to dry in the sun. Birk did the same. They lay back on the sun warmed rocks using their dry shirts as pillows.
“This is the life.” Birk sighed. “Can’t remember having a quiet day away from the mines.”
“Think I’d rather be spending it with that priest’s niece though.” Clancy said.
“You got that gal stuck in your mind. You never seen a pretty gal before or what?”
“Sure but there’s something about her. I can’t say what though. She goes from my mind to down here.” Clancy put his hand between his own legs.
Birk glanced over and saw that Clancy was handling his manhood.
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