Leaving the barn, JW bent down and hugged Gulliver again. “I’m going back to school, full-time, boy. You’ll be seeing lots more of me around here.” The full-body shuffle said it all: Gulliver was happy too.
JW had been too excited to eat earlier but felt his stomach grumble and went back into the house. He bounded up the stairs and went to his bedroom. The money he had managed to save he took from the jar on his bedside table and put in his pocket. The unfinished novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, stood out on his bookshelf. He pulled it down and opened it to the last page he’d read, then laid it face down on his bed for later.
“Hope it ends well,” he said to himself.
He went down the stairs as quickly as he’d gone up. The smell of fish cakes got his attention, and JW put two on his plate. The tea was hot and the biscuits warm.
“I would have got that for you,” his mother said as she entered the kitchen. She held a pair of rabbits in her hands. “I was planning on making you another stew, but maybe a rabbit pie would be nice for a change.”
“That would be great, Ma,” JW said. “When can I start back to school?”
“Why, tomorrow, of course. Your mining days are over for now. Hope you never have to go back.” His mother put her arms around him and hugged him for a long time.
JW pulled the money from his pocket and laid it on the table. “I was saving up to get you and Beth each something for Christmas, but it might come in handy for something else.”
“You keep it, dear,” his mother said. She reached into the cupboard and placed the silver dollar he’d won back on grading day on the table with the other money. “I couldn’t bear to spend your hard-earned dollar. So you take your money and spend it on whatever you want.”
—
JW took his time walking to town. As he was about to pass his grade eight teacher’s house, he noticed she was in her yard. She looked up as he came near her fence.
“Oh hi, John Wallace. How are you? I was sorry to hear you had to leave school, but you have to be commended for trying so hard. Perhaps next year. Maybe things will pick up.”
JW listened politely, waiting as she spoke, but he couldn’t hold back his good news any longer. “Da took another job, and I start back to school full-time tomorrow.”
Mrs. Johnson opened the gate and hugged him. “I am so happy for you. If you need any help, just ask.”
JW thanked her and continued on his way. He walked up the few steps and knocked on the door of his friend Mickey’s house and came face to face with Shawn McGuire.
“C’mon in, son. Mickey’s at the table. I hear your pa took Red’s job.”
“Yes, sir, he did,” JW said.
“Guess there’ll be lots of changes then?”
“Da said he’d like to keep it running as smoothly as Red has it. He said with all the experienced men like you and the others, he should be able to.”
“Why don’t you have a cuppa tea with Mickey?” Shawn said.
JW took his shoes off by the door and joined Mickey at the table. Mickey’s mother poured a cup of tea and put a biscuit and jam on the table for him.
“I hear your da took Red’s job. Guess you’ll get all the easy work now,” Mickey said, then laughed.
JW looked at his friend. “With Da working full-time, I won’t be working anymore. I start back to school tomorrow.”
“I figured you might. Good for you, JW,” Mickey said.
“Maybe we could still meet on some of your days off and—”
“Sure, sure. Ole Long Jack might let an above-grounder travel for free.”
They talked a little longer and tried hard to laugh and keep the conversation light, but as he closed the door behind him, JW felt like he was losing his best friend for the second time in his life.
Chapter 46
JW stood on the hill overlooking Beth’s house. He watched as she came outside to start on her way to school. He smiled as she glanced to where he stood. She took a second look and realized that it was him. She dropped her books and ran to meet him halfway up the hill. She hugged him fiercely when she reached him, looking at the books in his arms.
“What? Are you coming to school today?”
“Today and the rest of the year. Da took Red’s old job, and he’ll get more shifts, so I don’t have to work anymore. Except I’m going to have to spend the next month trying to catch up. I sure hope Mr. Cantwell will let me make up the tests I missed.”
“Oh, I’m sure he will. He seemed really disappointed when I told him that you had to quit.”
“That’s good.” JW paused. “Uh, I saw you walking with Davey Brown. Is he your boyfriend?” he asked, holding his breath while he waited for her answer.
“Well, he is kind of cute,” Beth said. She looked at JW’s crestfallen face and bent forward and kissed him. “But there’s only one boy for me, JW.”
JW felt Beth’s hand slip into his and took a deep breath of the crisp November air.
The End
Acknowledgements
My sincere thanks to Cape Breton University Press.
I would also like to thank the following people for their assistance: Tom Miller (Director of the Glace Bay Miner's Museum), Wish Donovan (underground guide at the Miner's Museum), Jack Humphries, Shelley Johnson and Donald MacGillivray, who was always available to answer a question or two. Thanks to all the boys and men who toiled underground and the women who awaited their return.
Thank you to Kate Kennedy for all the editorial suggestions and for making such a positive impact on the novel. Most of all, thank you to Joanne for her love and support and for reading everything I write.
H.R.M.
About the author
Hugh R. MacDonald is an award-winning writer of fiction and enjoys the company of other writers. He has been fortunate to belong to a local writing group for years and attends workshops that include renowned Cape Breton and Canadian authors. Hugh has been a member of the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia for many years. His work has been published online and in two anthologies. Hugh is a graduate of Cape Breton University and works in the human service field. He resides in Cape Breton with his wife, Joanne. At the time of printing, he is busy on his next project, a mainstream novel set in Cape Breton. Trapper Boy is his first published novel.
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