Author's note: Well, I managed to do something to my e-mail program and lost it all! If you e-mailed me in the past couple of weeks and haven't had a response please send it along again. Thanks.
Luke & JJ
by Greg Bowden
Chapter Twenty Four
Devil's Shaft
Luke and J.J. lay close together in their bed, each seeking warmth from the other. Outside, they knew, the snow was still falling although they couldn't see it through the thick blankets they'd hung over the windows in an attempt to keep the February cold at bay.
It was well past time for J.J. to be up but still he lay there in Luke's arms, putting off getting out of bed until he was certain that Ah Man had a good hot fire built up in the cook stove. He felt some guilt about this but not enough to propel him out into the icy room yet.
Besides, he was very content lying there with Luke nuzzling at his neck and gently petting his belly.
In the end it was his full bladder which forced him out of the bed. He relieved himself in the blue china chamber pot, his stream throwing off steam as he did so, pulled on his union suit--which he refused to sleep in, winter or summer--and hurried out to the kitchen to dress in front of the stove.
Ah Man looked up from the eggs he was breaking into a large bowl but said nothing. The young master was always prompt on the weekdays and so, if he slept a little later on Sunday, it was not something to shame him. He poured out a cup of coffee and handed it to J.J. with a bow.
J.J.
accepted the coffee and returned the bow. "Good morning, Ah
Once they had served the few unlucky men who had to work that day, the rest of the food would be put in pans set in simmering water and kept hot for those who slept late. J.J. had started this practice the first Sunday after he and Luke had bought the house and it was well favored by all who lived there.
While J.J. was rolling out the biscuits, Catlan came in from the dining room. "G'morning, Sir," he said, and began greasing one of the big baking sheets. "Fire's laid and lit and the table's set."
Catlan pretty much lived at the boarding house now, since his sister had taken up with a new man. She'd given up the rooms she'd shared with Catlan and gone to live with the man in a small cabin on the hillside up above Birds Walk. The man, a prospector, had made a small strike in the hills off to the east and was flush with gold. He was also jealous and didn't take well to having Catlan around.
When Luke and J.J. learned that Catlan was spending most of his nights rolled up in a blanket on the floor in a corner of the Devil's Heart, they cleared out the big storage closet on the stair landing and made it into a tiny bedroom for him. He earned his keep, and a few coins for pocket money, by helping out with the mid-day meals and, under Ah Man's careful supervision, with the house chores.
Catlan began cutting out the biscuits, being careful to push the cutter straight down and not twist it, just as J.J. had shown him. About the time the first batch went into the oven they heard the first of the men gathering in the dining room. Catlan refilled J.J.'s coffee cup and then took the pot into the dining room. Ah Man poured the eggs into the big frying pan and began stirring them while J.J. ladled gravy into a bowl.
"Smells good in here." Luke wandered in with sleepy eyes, sniffing at the air.
"Coffee there." J.J. pointed to the cup Catlan had just refilled.
Luke bowed to Ah Man before taking the coffee. "Can I help?"
Ah Man smiled and handed him the paddle he was using to stir the eggs. "With care. Dry eggs no good." He turned his attention to the potatoes and onions frying at the back of the stove.
When things were ready Ah Man shooed the two men out to the dining room to take their accustomed places at table. He would serve the meal, with Catlan's help.
After breakfast, and after the cooking utensils had been scrubbed and polished to Ah Man's satisfaction, Catlan went out back to chop wood for the boiler in the newly built bath room.
The
bath room had turned out to be a much greater success than either Luke or J.J.
had ever expected it would. Their idea had been to make a
place where the men who lived in the house could have a bath any time they
wanted, not just on Saturday night, and where preparing a bath would not be so
much of a burden on
They'd dragged the boiler the foreman gave them down from the mine and then built a fair sized room to house it. When they put their old copper tub in the room Luke had thought that it looked kind of lost in that big space so they decided to put in a second one, so two men could bathe at the same time, without waiting.
Luke had seen a bathtub over at Mr. Davidson's store but it was gone when he went to see about it. He did find some galvanized tubs, though, that would serve the same purpose quite nicely and which were much cheaper. The tubs had been specially ordered several years earlier for Mr. Stilton, who had planned to use them as horse troughs at the stables. Unfortunately, something about them, possibly the bright galvanizing inside, spooked the horses and they wouldn't drink from them. Mr. Davidson, anxious to get them out of his store room, offered Luke all five of them for the same price as he asked for one copper bathtub. Luke bought them.
J.J. had seen the possibilities right away and within a week, following his mother's example, he had learned enough about plumbing to equip the tubs with both hot and cold running water and he'd even figured out a way to drain them conveniently, channeling the water into a ditch outside and eventually down to the creek. When he was through, it was no more trouble to prepare baths for half a dozen men than it was for one.
The rest of the idea for the place was Mr. Gentry's. "You know," he said to J.J. one day, sitting almost up to his neck in hot water, "I should have brought some clean britches with me. Seems kind of a shame to have a bath like this and then get back into those muddy jeans." He stretched himself and relaxed in the water. "And I think I'd probably kill for a bit of whiskey to sip."
Like
After that, most any day after supper and in the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday, any man in Devil's Shaft could stop in at the Williams Brothers and have himself a bath, for as long as he wanted, and enjoy a glass of good whiskey while his clothes were washed and his boots were polished. All this for a dollar. It was a great success and you could almost always find three or four miners there, soaking the kinks out of their muscles, sipping whiskey and gossiping.
"I got the boiler fired up, Sir."
"Thanks Cat. Now you be sure to keep an eye on it." Catlan had taken to that boiler the way some men take to a woman, handling all of its valves and levers with a light, sure touch, all the while keeping a close watch on its gages to be sure it was at just the right temperature and that pressure was high and steady. It was also his job to drain the tubs and scrub them out after each man finished his bath but it was the boiler that got his main attention and care.
J.J. went into the parlor and threw another log on the fire there and then went to the window, looking out at the snow piling up on the porch. He had grown to hate the bitter cold and the snow and ice that winter brought. He longed for the more temperate winters he had grown up with.
Luke came in and stood with his back close to the fire. "What're you looking at, J.J.?"
"Nothing to see but white." He went and stood next to Luke. "You know, I used to think the winters in San Luis were cold but they were nothing like this. I think maybe we had snow once when I was eight or nine but that's the only time. I swear," he moved closer to the fire, "if we ever spend the winter back there, I'll never once complain about the cold. Never once."
Luke laughed. "Yea. I thought the snow was fun when we first got it in December but now..."
"Room for another there by the fire?" Rusty came in and limped over to the fire place. Luke and J.J. made room for him, sharing the warmth.
"Sure is cold, isn't it? You been outside?"
Rusty shook his head. "Not me. I got no intention of goin' outside lest I have to." He turned so he was facing the fire. "You know the worst part? Mr. Guill, he's been around here most of his life and he says this'll go on another six, eight weeks before it warms up." He shook his head. "In six or eight weeks, I'll likely be dead from it."
"Or something. How's the leg doing?"
"Okay, I guess. Heat's the best thing for it; takes the ache right away. Cat said he had the boiler started so I think, pretty quick, I'll go and soak for a while. That new whiskey okay?"
They'd struck a deal with Rusty. He brought them whiskey and they let him bathe for free although he didn't get his clothes washed or his boots polished. If he wanted that he had to kick in six bits which entitled him to a glass of whiskey, too. They didn't know what kind of a deal Rusty had with Mr. Guill.
"It's the best yet," Luke said. "We had a sip last night in the bath and it was very smooth. I believe, in fact, that it's almost used up. Lots of men buying seconds and a couple even thirds."
"I'll bring around a couple of cases tomorrow, if you want. Extra special price."
"Could you bring a couple of bottles of that Sherry wine Ah Man uses in the kitchen? I believe that's about gone, too."
"Sure, J.J. Be happy to. Now," he moved stiffly away from the fire, "I think I'll go see if Cat has that boiler heated up yet."
Luke shook his head as he watched Rusty limp out of the room. "We gotta do something, J.J. That Maybell is going to kill him one of these days, you know she is."
"He knows it too, Luke, but you can't talk to him about it. It's like she has some sort of hold on him..."
"And we know what it is she's holding, don't we. What do you suppose she does to him that's so special?"
J.J. pointed to his head. "It's something up here. I don't know what--and I don't think we'd understand it even if we did know--but somehow he's got himself tied to her and he can't let go." J.J. took the poker and moved the logs around in the grate, making sparks fly. "You know, sometimes I think it scares him; I think he knows he's going to give her his life but somehow he can't stop."
"The poor fellow," Luke said, staring off into space. "Like... Like going to sleep, liking sleep, and then the dreams come, trying to kill you." He shuddered and J.J. reached out to touch his hand.
"Like that, yes."
A couple of the men came in and asked Luke and J.J. if they wanted to join in a game of poker.
"No thanks," Luke replied, putting another log on the fire. "I have a lot of little jobs around here to keep me busy."
"And I have to go help Ah Man with the dinner or maybe there won't be any today," J.J. laughed. "But I'll send Cat in with some coffee if you promise not to try to get him involved in your game."
Later that evening, after dinner, J.J. went in to see how things were in the bath room. Since the snow had come, the place had turned into a sort of social center with men coming around just to sit, enjoy a glass of whiskey or two and pass the time with the others in the tubs. It was J.J.'s opinion that many of them came because it was always warm in there, not like the places they lived where the landlord might be trying to cut expenses by skimping on the wood for the fire. The Williams Brothers' house would never do that, hating the cold as much as they both did.
In
the bath room J.J. nodded to Clark Hearn who was there just about every
evening, sometimes taking a tub but most often just sitting, watching the other
men and trading gossip with them. Dusty was there, too, soaking in one of the
tubs as were four other men, none of whom J.J. knew. One of them was talking
earnestly with
"...gold
all around it, Mr. Hearn, but hell, I ain't got time
to work three stakes. Got me a real good one..." he stood and slicked the
water off his body, "hey, boy, got a towel for me? Like I say, a real good
one I'm workin' now so I just don't know what to do
about that piece out East." He stepped out of the tub and took the towel
Catlan held out to him, walking over to stand in front of
"You interested, Mr. Hearn?" The man arched his back, rubbing his hair briskly with the towel. "I'd be willing to let you have it for a good price."
"Hey
"Now
why would you be interested in a mining claim,
"Well,
no, I guess I don't,"
When
"Luke?" Catlan often omitted the 'Sir' but only when Ah Man was not around to pinch his ear for it. "When I grow up, will my little pee'r grow too and get big like theirs?" He waived his arm, indicating the men who had occupied the now empty tubs.
"Sure it will, Cat. Everybody's does."
"Big as Rusty's?" He grinned with anticipation.
"Well, maybe not that big." Seeing the grin fade, Luke put down his scrub brush and sat back on his heels. "You've seen the men in here Cat," he waived his arm, just as Catlan had, "some big, some not so big, just like some of them are tall and some aren't. A man takes what God gives him and makes the best of it that he can."
He picked up his brush and went back to work on the tub. "But as long as we're on the subject of that particular part of you, you sure you're cleaning yourself good when you take your bath?"
"Yeah, 'course I am." He ran some water in the tub to rinse it out. "Why?"
Luke stood up. "Well, I see you sometimes, scratching at yourself. A man shouldn't be doing that, least not out in public."
Catlan's cheeks colored and he turned his back, pretending to polish the marble on the table next to the tub. "Luke? Is... Is it bad to touch yourself there?" He whirled around and the words came tumbling out, "will terrible things happen to you, like you go crazy or blind or can't have children or things?"
"Now who would tell you stuff like that?" Luke asked in a low, steady voice.
"My sister. She said awful things happen to boys who touch their pee'r and then they go to Hell."
Luke exploded. "God Damn..." He caught himself and took a deep breath. "I tell you Cat, sometimes sisters don't rightly know how it is with a man. Not being one, how can they? And there are some men, too, that way though I don't have any idea why. Maybe they don't like being men. Anyway, people say things that are stupid sometimes, things that're wrong. That's one of them."
Catlan, who had been standing as though frozen, suddenly let out the breath he had been holding and went back to rinsing the tub. "You mean it's okay," he said, looking up at Luke.
"Well, I guess it is and it isn't. Look, Cat, a man just shouldn't go around scratching at himself. It makes him look like he's not clean or maybe his union suit is too tight. Folks don't want to see that. So, if you're going to play with yourself, do it where it's private and folks won't have to see it."
They worked in silence for a moment while Catlan absorbed what Luke had said.
"So I won't go to Hell?" Catlan looked thoughtful.
"Not for playing with yourself once in a while you won't. You might for doing something evil like killing a man or... or turning out someone who loves you." Luke had a sudden attack of lightheadedness and sat down heavily on the floor.
Catlan ran to his side. "What's wrong, Luke?"
"Nothing, Cat, nothing. I just got a little dizzy from leaning over that tub too long." He smiled. "Maybe we ought to get on to bed, huh? I think this place is scrubbed enough, don't you?"
"Yea. I think so, too." Catlan picked up their brushes and rags and arranged them next to the boiler where they'd dry properly.
"Look," Luke put his hand on Catlan's shoulder, "in a little while, as you grow to a man, things are liable to happen that... well, that'll show you're a man. When they do happen, if you want to talk about it, well, you just come to me or J.J. No point in worrying about something that's natural as going to sleep at night. Now go on," he pushed Catlan toward the door. "Get yourself to bed."
Catlan slept well that night, knowing he wasn't going to Hell. Luke didn't fare so well; the dreams were back, trying to kill him.
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Artisan'>The Old Adobe
Dear J.J. and Luke,
It is a lovely day here, perhaps a bit warm for April but the warmth is appreciated. All the fruit trees seem to be in bloom and the hills are covered with new green grass. It won't be long before those self same hills turn to purple and gold with the wild flowers. I do wish you were here to enjoy it with us. Portia is entranced with the flowers and seems to love the sun. I think she will prove to be a strong healthy girl.
Reverend Shaffner asked about you again this morning after services. He wishes you both to know that you are in his prayers often and he hopes you are attending services there in Devil's Shaft regularly. I had to admit to him that I was not acquainted with the name of the church that you attend nor the name of it's minister. I'd be pleased if you would mention these things in a letter so I could tell the good Reverend.
I had occasion to visit Mr. Clifford's store this past week and there met his new houseman. I believe the man is actually more of a companion than houseman although I was given to understand that he does cook for Mr. Clifford and keep the house tidy. They seem quite well suited to each other.
On the subject of cooking, I was most interested in the description you gave of your Chinese man's method for preparing chicken and vegetables. I haven't tried his way as yet but Millicent did and it was quite successful. Even Eliot commented on how good it was. I am so glad you have managed to retain the Chinese to help you with the your chores. He must be of great help to you.
I think our Millicent is with child again although she has said nothing to me about it. She has begun an extensive program of house cleaning and has taken to quilting and rug making. She is like a bird, cleaning and fixing its nest. Now don't you go and accuse me of wishful thinking. She has all the signs. I expect she will become sure herself soon, and will then tell us about it.
It is late and I must do a bit of mending before I go off to bed. I hope you are both well and warm. Is there still snow?
With love from all of us.
Mother
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To be continued.
Comments, suggestions or criticisms always appreciated and always answered.
Greg Bowden