Canyon Secret (12 page)

In order to take his mind off the grueling work, Tomas spent a lot of time imagining how to please David and get his dad and Nolan to start over with David. “Oh what the heck, I won’t get another chance like this when my dad’s gone. I’m doin’ man’s work and need time with the guys. Well, I can go for a while, David. But not too long, I have to—”

David tossed the clean tee shirt from the back of the chair and hit Tomas in the face, “Right. I’ll have ya back here by 7:30. Let’s hit it!”

Once inside of the truck, Tomas shook his head and smiled as he snapped the church key on the can of ice cold Great Falls Select. “I just opened a can of beer for the first time in my life. I can’t believe it.”

John Nolan tucked in his white tee shirt and zippered up his pants. He put his arm around the girl Mabel picked out for him that night. They walked out together and stopped at the door to the outside, “You’re a fine girl. Maybe I’ll be back tomorrow and we can shoot off some more Fourth of July fireworks together.”

The skimpy clad girl laughed and swatted him on the butt. “I’ll be here waitin’ just for—” She stopped talking as the expression on Nolan’s face changed. He glared at the two men staggering out of their black truck. She sensed trouble and hurried across the parking lot to Mabel’s house.

Tomas weaved back and forth and David totted him along arm in arm. “You’re gonna get your first piece of ass right now, Tommy Boy.”

Nolan stepped in front of David. “Well, if it ain’t Nolan the little prick. Out of our way, this boy is gettin’ his ashes hauled. I already arranged it with Mabel.”

Nolan pulled Tomas away from the clutch of David. “He’s coming with me asshole! You and me’ll settle this later. And if you ever pull a stunt like this again with this kid, I’ll kill you, you son of-a-bitch.”

“I’ll be here little man. Anytime, anywhere.”

“Oh, I’m, I’m gettin’ sick.” Tomas turned and staggered behind the truck and vomited.

Mabel limped as she and her bouncer walked over to David and Nolan. “Boys. You can settle your beef someplace else. It ain’t happenin’ here. Hit the road.”

Nolan walked toward Mabel and Tomas. “I’ll take care of him, Mabel. Here’s three bucks for the girl you lined up for him.” He guided Tomas across the road and down the path to the barracks. They stopped one more time as Tomas threw up again.

“Goddamn you. I told you to stay away from him. The best part of him ran down his mother’s leg.”

“Tomas wiped his mouth with his forearm and mumbled, “I know. I know. I didn’t listen. I love you John. You are the—”

“Just shut up. Did you eat anything?”

“Just some beer nuts.”

“I’m goin’ to have to kill that worthless—”

Tomas stopped and waved his hand, “It was my fault. Not David’s. Don’t do anything to—”

“I told you to shut up.” They got to the stairs of the barracks and started up. Tomas lost his balance, and in slow motion rolled over the railing onto the gravel. Nolan looked down at him and said, “It’s a good thing it’s early. You gotta get up and go. I’m waking you up at 5:00 and you’re gonna have the coldest shower and toughest walk of your life.”

The two men stumbled into Tomas’ room. Nolan flipped the young man onto the bed. He passed out before Nolan turned out the light.

I
t was the Fourth of July and the mercantile would be hopping with business. This was the biggest business day of the year for Polebridge and for her mother. Hannah woke up and slowly pushed back the blankets with a full body stretch. She felt the blood rush to her toes and fingertips giving her that welcomed warm feeling. As she made two fists to gently rub the sleep from her eyes like a contented feline, she thanked her lucky stars that she always had a list of activities to tick off mentally in the morning. She couldn’t imagine what it felt like to get up with a blank slate on her brain. The only thought better than knowing that the day was waiting for her was sipping those first drops of very hot coffee. That, too, was a gift.

Hannah dressed in the semi-darkness; it was 5:30 and her mother had been up for an hour. The kitchen was warm from the baking of the bread and pastries. Her mother greeted her with a cup of coffee. “Mornin’ Sunshine. It’s about time you rolled out. Probably thinkin’ about that big boy from Butte.”

“How did you know that?” She hugged her flour-covered mother on her way out the door. “I’ll be back in about twenty minutes and you can put me to work. That’s right after I devour some of that bread coolin’ on the counter.”

As she walked to the bridge over the North Fork of the Flathead River, Hannah laughed as she did have a nasty dream about Mikhail. “It’s been awhile since I’ve done that.” She sipped her coffee and continued with her thoughts. “Hmmm. I wonder what he dreamt about last night. I might have to ask him sometime.”

She stood on the bridge and looked north toward Canada. The river still ran high and the water reached the reeds on the shoreline. She looked over at the Ranger’s station and smelled the wood smoke coming from the chimney of the log house. The Ranger manned the north entrance to Glacier National Park and was up getting ready for the busy day ahead. He stepped out onto the porch and emptied a basin full of wash water. He waved to Hannah before going back inside to eat his waiting breakfast.

The Fourth of July in Polebridge featured a parade that went from the Mercantile down the half-mile to the North Fork Road and back. Locals wore patriotic costumes, rode horses, and walked in the parade. The tourists visiting Glacier National Park crowded in front of the Mercantile and the Northern Lights Saloon next door. The volleyball and horseshoe games continued all day long. Most of the tourists had their own beer, but the Northern Lights sold out all of their extra supply before dark every year.

Once Hannah returned from her walk, she stopped by the outhouse, left the door open, sat down, and gazed out over the field in front of the river. “I never get tired of the scenery around here. Maybe if things work out, I’d bring Mikhail and his son up here sometime to see this with me.” She giggled as she thought that it probably wouldn’t be from the inside of this outhouse.

Before and during breakfast on July Fourth, Mikhail daydreamed about his father telling him the history of McQueen. He vividly recalled his father’s voice as he looked out the front porch toward the East Ridge. Many times in school Mikhail wished that he could have recalled historical facts like he did about those of McQueen. Mikhail told the same stories many times to Tomas and Katya when they were younger.

 In 1891, a small community began life on Sunflower Hill named for the yellow flower that covered the hill. This newly formed community was named McQueen after the McQueen placer mining claim. In 1901 McQueen had grown to approximately fifteen homes. People moved to McQueen from primarily two locations, mining camps from around the United States and from fast growing Meaderville, its neighbor to the west.

The ethnic makeup of McQueen was largely Slovenians, Austrians, and Croatians. It had a small makeup of Italians, English, Swedes, Norwegians, Germans, Scots, and Finns. Many of the residents of McQueen spent their days raising chickens and hogs. As time passed and more mines opened up and became the predominate employer, many of the men turned in their hayforks for picks and shovels. Many of the “old country” traditions and recipes made their way to McQueen. Foods like kielbasa, blood sausage, cheese strudel, and homemade smoke dam were proudly served in the McQueen households.

The isolated location of McQueen kept it from having the same type of infrastructure as Butte city had. The streetcar system finally was brought to McQueen in 1909. McQueen also did not have a running water system in the early years; the residents used a community well at the northwest corner of the community. McQueen was one of the first neighborhoods to put in sanitary sewer and streetlights.

The first grocery store was built in 1907. Other businesses soon popped up such as Cesarini’s Grocery, Lutey Brothers Grocery, Grosso Meats, Tipperary Candy Store, Petritz Shoes Repair, Merlak’s Grocery, Tomich Barbershop and the kid’s favorite, Nettie’s Super Ice Cream. The Crystal Theater, which later became known as the McQueen Club in 1944, offered entertainment to the area.

Jesuit missionaries started the Holy Savior Catholic Church in 1901 and the elementary school in 1904. The McQueen Athletic Club and the McQueen Firehouse were the center of activities for many of the residents. The McQueen Club, the firehouse, Holy Savior Church, and the school were the heart and the people were the soul of the community.

After breakfast, Mikhail helped Katya with the dishes. As he dried the last cereal bowl, he asked, “No parade this year, huh?”

She wiped the splashed water from the sink counter and answered, “No. Nobody’s got money to build a float this year. Nobody feels like celebratin’ much anyways.”

He set the bowl in the cupboard and looked in the living room to see Anna napping in his big chair. “No, I don’t suppose so. Anything doin’ at the McQueen Club?”

“Ya. They’re having a potluck around 4:00. You wanna go over, Daddy? I’ll fix something and then I can stay with Anna. It might do you some good to see your friends. Everybody still asks about you.”

Mikhail shrugged his shoulders, “Oh. I don’t know. George most likely has talked to most people by now. They’ll know we’re moving to Columbia Falls.”

“Daddy. Let’s sit down on the porch and talk about it.”

Once they got seated on the small wooden bench on the porch, Katya began the conversation she rehearsed during her sleepless night. “How’ll this all work? Me and David are still legally separated. I miss him like crazy. But soon as we’re together, we start to fight. I don’t know if—”

“You and Anna can live with me and Tomas. We’ll have a big enough house for the four of us.”

She stood up and walked to the edge of the porch and leaned her elbows on the rail. “Me and David need to work it out. Anna’ll need a mother and dad to help—”

“He ain’t come down once since March to see her. And even that didn’t work. He got drunk, remember.”

She promised herself she would not cry. Fighting tears, she managed to turn and face her father. “He’s under a lot of pressure with his job. The poor man works seven days a week so we can get the best care for Anna.”

“So do me and your brother.”Her voice cracked as her temper flared, “I know, I know. But he’s a boss and the men depend—”

Mikhail felt his own anger build as he flashed on David falling drunk into Rocco’s Club two nights earlier. “Katya. He plans to come down soon and you can talk it over. If it don’t work out at first, you can live with us. Then—”

Her self-control vanished. “Why does it always have to be what you want?” Tears gushed. She slammed the gate after she ran down the steps of the porch and then disappeared into the alley.

Mikhail started to go after her but stopped as he heard the muffled voice of Anna from the living room through the screen door. He composed himself the best he could and went into the living room. Anna had her mask up on her forehead and struggled to catch her breath. “Put your mask back on, Anna.”

The harsh tone of his voice frightened her and she struggled even more to catch her breath. He gently slid the oxygen mask over her face and knelt down by her chair. “Easy now. Easy now. Take slow breaths.” He forced a reassuring smile and kissed her on the forehead. “It’s gonna be all right now.”

Mikhail stroked her hair with his hand. “Shhh, now. Shhh.” Anna caught her breath and the color came back into her face. Her little chest slowed down from the earlier heaving. He handed her the Indian doll that fell off her chair. A smile came across her face and she pressed the doll against her shoulder.

He changed his position to sitting on the floor. “Did I hear you snorin’ last night?”

She shook her head and gave him a harmless slap on his arm. Anna pointed at him and imitated him snoring. He laughed and softly rubbed her tiny arm. Talking was easier with Anna than with adults. This puzzled him and wondered why he was so short with adults and yet he talked easily with her, “Happy Fourth of July. Would you like a story about your mom when she was a little girl like you?”

Enthusiastically she nodded her head and squeezed her doll even tighter.

Mikhail rearranged his legs and arms and began. “One time on the Fourth, we took your mom up to Park Street to watch the parade. She wore this little red cowboy hat with the string under her chin.” The memory of seeing Katya as a child with the little hat triggered a similar memory of his wife as a young woman. For the first ten years of their marriage, Mikhail and Barbara lived a good life together. He felt she did everything right as she raised Katya and Tomas as little kids. They were happy together and shared the marriage in all ways. He flashed on seeing Barbara as a twenty-five year old women holding Tomas in her arms while Mikhail stood and watched his daughter wave at the ladies riding on the beautiful floats.

Barbara’s long brown hair draped below her shoulders and the smile on her face beamed as he made eye contact with her as he looked up from the parade. They made love that night after the kids went to sleep and she promised she’d love him forever.

He felt Anna’s hand tapping him on the arm. Mikhail realized he drifted off in the middle of the story. “Sorry, Anna. Anyway. Your mother waved at the pretty lady riding on the truck. The parade stopped for a minute in front of us. The lady waved your mother over to her. I took her over there, and the lady asked if your mother could ride up on the truck with her for the rest of the parade. I said okay. She hopped up and sat next to the pretty lady and waved to the people as the truck went by. I walked alongside on the sidewalk and picked her up at the end of the parade.”

Anna drifted off to sleep before he finished telling her the entire story. He slid the blanket up snuggly and covered her and her little doll. Mikhail drifted off back to the memory of seeing he and Barbara lying in their bed vowing to love each other until the end of time. An angry memory swiftly replaced that one as he flashed on the night fifteen years later when she asked him for a divorce so she could live with another man.