by Paul Yee
January 28
The men are worrying about me. They think I am sick and weakening. I got tired of their concern, so I went and sat by the stove with my notebook. I had not written in a week. During those days, I slept and slept, while the men pestered me. Tiger Face asked me to play chess, but I shook my head. Thunder God proposed a poetry contest, but I pulled my blanket over my head. Old Fire and Saltwater Crisp offered to teach me how to play Heavenly Nines, but I said no. Ma’s letter is still tucked in my notebook. Tiger Face could have taken it to town yesterday but I refused to move.
The men said it warmed up outside, so they had all gone visiting, either in town or at other camps.
Blind Eye went to visit a friend at Camp 27. By dark, he had not returned. Old Fire took a lantern outside, in case Blind Eye was lost nearby. Then he put on his coat. He wanted to walk up the trail to the other camp. The tent-mates advised against going because there was no saying where he might be.
“Maybe he stayed overnight with his friend,” said Tiger Face.
“What if he got lost in the forest?” asked Old Fire. “How would you find him?
“He could have gone farther up the line,” said Saltwater Crisp.
“What do you think, Rock Brain?” Old Fire called out.
I almost cried out, “I don’t know! I’m just a boy!”
I was relieved when Old Fire stayed inside. We were all thinking of a story told in town. A worker walking to his home camp never arrived. Had he fallen into the river? Did a wild animal pounce on him? Had he been murdered for that night’s gambling money?
Hours later Blind Eye stumbled in. I don’t know how he found his way home. And I don’t care.
January 31
Thunder God asked if I was dreaming about girls, if that was why I slept so much. I claimed to have no dreams. In truth, I did dream, but had no memory of them.
Tiger Face made a soup with healthful herbs. I am sure he used his own money to buy the ingredients. If he did it for me, he certainly did not let on.
Blind Eye asked me if I had any brothers or sisters. When I mentioned Little Brother, he asked if I missed him.
“Of course not!” I snapped. “I was glad to escape from that little pest.”
Deep down, I worried about him.
Chapter 12
February 1883
February 2
Thunder God slipped on ice and fell backwards. When he tried to get up, he fell forward onto his bad knee. The pain makes him worry about work. The knee never healed from the first injury; the pain has never left. No-one knows what to do. Tiger Face took an axe into the forest to look for a tree branch that can work as a crutch. I should have gone with him but I was lazy.
Thick fog surrounded our site today. Sometimes it lifts by midday; other times it stays and stays.
February 3
Tiger Face went to town and had his forehead and straggly beard shaved. He looks handsome, and the men teased him.
“Too bad there’s no mirror for you to see yourself,” said Blind Eye.
“Too bad there are no pretty girls to smile at you,” said Old Fire.
“You waste money!” cried Thunder God. “Men don’t care how you look.”
Some clever fellow curtained off some space in the wash house, and is doing a brisk business as a barber.
Tiger Face brought me some sweets. I advised him to save his money. He also brought news that six Chinese had died at Camp 14 from an illness. The tent was quiet after that. Saltwater Crisp said he knew people at that camp.
Next week is New Year. Tiger Face is offering to wash people’s clothes for a small fee. He is clever. I wish I had thought of that. He can only wash one person’s clothes each day, because there is no room in the tent for drying.
February 6
Blind Eye started his term two days ago. Today, he and Old Fire took each person’s blankets outside, flung them open and shook them out with snapping sounds. Then they used tree branches to sweep away the grit and pebbles on the floor. They even tied open the door-flap, to let fresh air into the tent even though it was freezing.
“This isn’t a home!” shouted Thunder God, angry at being disturbed. “You don’t have to clean it up for the New Year. This isn’t China!”
Blind Eye heated extra hot water for everyone to do a towel bath.
“Too cold outside,” I mumbled. “I’m not taking off my clothes.”
“You smell worse than the outhouse,” he said. “Let me wash your clothes. You need a clean start for the New Year.”
I smiled, in spite of my foul mood. Ma used to say “clean start” at this time of the year too.
February 8
Today was the big day. I forced myself to leave my bed and shout, “Happy New Year!” Old Fire exploded firecrackers just outside the tent. The smell of gunpowder reminded me of home: the eight-sided box loaded with sweets, crispy round dumplings, red scrolls bearing good wishes for the next year. I yearned for Ma and Grandfather and the red packets of good luck money.
Blind Eye surprised us with sweet red-bean soup. Sugar was expensive, so he had put in extra money. All the men showed good manners today: no cursing, no arguments, and no complaints.
Thunder God’s friend Choy came with New Year greetings. He brought candied walnuts and a big jug of wine that he shared with everyone. He and Thunder God plan to pool their earnings and buy more farmland. They are eyeing a fertile site, located right beside the river. They asked the others what they planned for the future. Old Fire wanted to hire good tutors for his sons, and help them advance in the imperial exams. Blind Eye planned to invest his money in a business. I hadn’t thought about my plans in a long time.
February 10
Very cold, but nothing stopped my tent-mates from going to town or visiting friends. I stayed behind with Thunder God. I did not want to walk all the way to town and find no friends there. The men see me as a boy and prefer to talk to their old buddies.
Thunder God was grateful for my company, and praised me for being a good boy. He also said kind things about Ba.
Tiger Face reported Chinese merchants in Yale have set up a hospital for Chinese workers. But he did not know if it had the same rules as the Red Beard’s hospital, which accepted only workers who had been injured while working on the railway. If a worker just fell sick, the hospital would not take him. Thunder God wondered if he should go to Yale. But if he cannot walk properly, how can he get there?
February 13
It is too dark in the tent to see, and it is too cold to stay outside, so it was only at the latrine that Old Fire saw blood on Saltwater Crisp’s lips. Old Fire peered closer and saw blood oozing from the teeth. He noticed Saltwater Crisp’s hands looked bruised, and asked what else was wrong. Nosebleeds. Losing two teeth. Queasy stomach.
Old Fire put on his coat, to go to town for herbs, but I offered to go. I had not been there in a month. I refused to be afraid anymore. I borrowed Old Fire’s gloves and wrapped a shirt around my face, leaving a hole for my nose. This time, I did not get frostbite or attacked by snow-lump throwers. My only problem was how the sun, shining brightly on the snow, hurt my eyes.
Blind Eye made soup with the dried berries I brought back, and Old Fire told everyone to drink some. It tasted sour but not bitter like most herbal soups. Most of it went to Saltwater Crisp. I was surprised to learn that the same berries were used to make candies. Too bad the Company store didn’t have any.
February 15
Tiger Face gave me a letter that was addressed to Poy Uncle. He had it last week, but refused to spoil New Year’s week. I was determined not to get sad again and did not open it.
February 18
Blind Eye needed more berries, so I went to town again. The snow and ice were melting but it was foggy. At the Company store and the laundry, everyone was celebrating. People were too excited to talk to me. Two Chinese got arrested by the police! But why would everyone be happy?
Finally I got the story. Down the river, near m
y forest-clearing site, railway work went on through the winter. At a place called Maple Ridge, Chinese workers were badly treated by their crew boss. Two men fought with him, and he went to a judge. A police constable seized the two Chinese and was taking them to town when they passed a Chinese crew. These workers tried to free the arrested men, so the constable pushed his two prisoners into a store. The Chinese crew surrounded the store with their axes and shovels. They banged and shouted and threatened to tear down the building. Inside, two frightened Red Beards urged the constable to release the prisoners, and finally he agreed. The two freed men ran off with the work crew.
The judge then asked the Sto:lo people along the river to watch for the two escaped prisoners. Soon the two men came looking for a boat to take them to Second City. But the local people seized them and handed them to the judge. The judge fined the two prisoners $15 each. After paying their fines, the men went back to work.
People were happy with the end of the story: the men paid a small fine and went back to work. And none of the workers who had chased the constable were arrested.
My trip back to camp was a happy one. I hoped Ba’s case could be quickly resolved, to let life get back to normal. My tent-mates crowed that we should never fear challenging crew bosses. I was not so sure. They carry guns under their vests.
February 19
Old Fire predicted it would rain today. His almanac called for “spring showers.” And it rained! I will believe in the Chinese calendar if it brings warm weather faster.
Blind Eye’s term ended today. A month remains before work starts. We debated who should take the next term. Thunder God has a bad knee and Saltwater Crisp is still weak. Should we draw lots? Should we each do a week? Did anyone want to volunteer?
Thunder God shouted out, “I’ll pay one of you to do my term.”
The men looked at me because I was the youngest. I pointed out that my family had two members here. In the end, we all agreed Tiger Face should earn the money.
My family greatly needs the money, but I refuse to do that horrible job again.
February 23
Saltwater Crisp is better. He helped fetch water. He asked me to write a letter to his mother. He promised to return to China this year. He claimed to be in fine health, having survived the long winter. This time, he said, he would be ready to get married. I was surprised a man of his age had no wife. Of course, I dared not ask him about this.
February 24
Tiger Face came back from town and said that Hot Water Wing said that ever since the news about Maple Ridge, his Red Beard customers had treated him rudely. A few had not picked up their laundry. Hot Water Wing worried that other Red Beards would not pay their accounts because they were angry at how Chinese had disrespected their laws.
February 25
There was thunderous crashing from far off. The rains were loosening great packs of snow at the top of mountains. I didn’t understand why it would be so loud. Snow fell soft and lightly, did it not? Old Fire explained that when the snow pack began to slide, it moved like a solid wall that tore down trees and pulled out boulders and carried them down the mountain, pounding and bouncing against everything in its way.
February 28
Yesterday, the tent flap went up in the middle of the day and a dark figure barged in. It was not one of us, because all the tent-mates were present. The lack of light left us blind. Some renegade had come to rob us! Then a familiar voice barked out, “Rock Brain, why didn’t you visit me?”
I jumped to my feet. “I tried,” I stammered, “but it was too cold. My feet got wet. And people warned me that a cougar was prowling in the area.”
Ba dismissed my explanations and called me lazy, while the men loudly demanded to hear his story. I wanted to leave, but I was as curious as the others. Ba went before a judge for trial, where a businessman from Yale translated for him. When Contractor did not show up to testify, the judge sent an officer to Chinatown. The merchants there said Contractor had sailed to China. So the case was dismissed. What a waste, I thought.
Thunder God chuckled and called Ba lucky for having been fed and kept warm all winter in jail, without paying a penny. Ba grumbled about being locked up with no one to talk to and nothing but a water bucket to watch. He bragged about all the books he knew: Three Word Classic, Thousand Word Essay, Three Hundred Tang Poems. He had recited them all to himself, over and over.
For me, this was a first time, to hear Ba assert that he had been schooled.
“So now you can teach school?” The men laughed.
Tiger Face stoked the stove and made tea. I offered to go fetch water. I went as far away as possible and came back as slowly as possible.
Chapter 13
March 1883
March 1
I awoke early, and went to the latrine. To my surprise, Ba was already there. He grunted that he had eaten too much fine food last night. Fine food? Here? Hah! Then he surprised me further by reporting how the men had praised me.
They mentioned how I had gone to town to get berries for Saltwater Crisp’s scurvy, how I had chopped bed logs for them, and how I had struggled to reach Yale in a snowstorm, even though I was sick from spoiled food.
“Glad to hear this,” Ba grunted. “I did not think you would survive the winter. I know you hate it here.”
I shrugged. What else could I do? But it warmed me to hear that he was pleased, for once!
Before I could ask about our debt, he was gone. I guess being jailed did him good! Maybe he missed me! Maybe he had time to ponder our family problems.
March 2
The snow and ice are melting rapidly. I can see the dirt trail now. I want work to start soon, so that Ba can see me at work. In the meantime, many visitors want to hear about Ba’s ordeal in jail, so he gets plenty of talk time.
Ba asked my tent-mates about the winter here, and they chuckled about the mice, the burnt rice, and my frostbite. Everyone was in a jolly mood, which I had not seen for a long while. Was that due to Ba? Saltwater Crisp vowed to eat more vegetables. Thunder God showed his blackened knee. Old Fire and Blind Eye claimed they enjoyed having young folk in the tent. That was Tiger Face and me. “If anything happened,” Blind Eye said, “we knew the young ones would save us.”
Both Tiger Face and I were embarrassed.
March 4
When I gave Ba the letter that had come for Poy Uncle, he demanded to know why I hadn’t opened it.
Ba was being rude as usual but I decided to be polite. I reminded him that Poy Uncle was his friend, and that I was just a boy.
“You’re right.” He sighed. “This is my responsibility.”
I mentioned the letter from Ma that I had forwarded to Yale. He had received it, so I asked, “Did you write back to her?”
He did not reply.
March 6
Old Fire’s almanac says in three days it will be Insects Awaken. Therefore he predicts that railway work will resume soon. I pray he is right.
March 8
The Company man came and told us to be ready to move tomorrow. The men groaned at the thought of going back to work, but I wanted to jump for joy. We all need to earn money!
The Company man looked at Thunder God’s knee and shook his head. “No use for you to come along,” he said. “You go down to Yale.”
Thunder God has not spoken a word since then, nor has he eaten anything. Later, Ba went to him, and they chatted late into the night.
March 11, near Fargus Bar, British Columbia
After three cold months, men from five crews have assembled to form a new gang. No one is friendly; there are few prospects for new friends. Maybe they ate the same bitter food all winter, so now they are sullen and sour. One crew contained men all surnamed Zhou. In another, the men were all from Jung-San. Already borders are drawn between them and people from Toi-San. We asked if anyone had worked at this place last year. People shook their heads.
In my opinion, this site is the best so far. It is the farthest point to
which the railway has been built. Unfortunately that point (called the railhead) sits inside a tunnel. This morning we entered with lanterns, baskets and shovels. As daylight faded behind us, our voices echoed around us. The train stood like a statue in a deserted temple. Cars stretched behind it, loaded with gravel. The engine was quiet and still, but warm.
“Don’t touch it,” someone hissed. “Red Beards call this machine Satan. It was standing on a rail being repaired when it suddenly lurched and rolled ahead and injured the machinist.”
We jumped onto the cars and shovelled stone into our baskets. Once they were full, we pushed the stone onto the ground so the train could leave right away and fetch more. Then we started to extend the roadbed by building a layer of gravel fifteen feet wide and two feet high.
Before we finished shovelling the first load, more stone arrived. Already? So fast? Old Fire said the second train had likely been waiting nearby, so the first train and its empty cars went off the main track to let the second train pass. I heard it coming and wanted to drop my baskets and run back to see, but Bookman was standing right by me. I had no choice but to keep jogging to the end of the roadbed.
At day’s end, everyone muttered about sore backs and aching muscles. Old Fire bent over to wash but could barely straighten himself. Blind Eye lay down and refused to get up for dinner.
