New Beginnings (New Beginnings Series) (27 page)

The baby started to fuss in the bassinet. “I generally feed Sammy before I do the noon dishes. I guess he is hungry,” Edith stated.

“That’s fine, go ahead and feed him, I’ll take care of the dishes.”

“If you don’t mind.” By this time the crying changed from a slight fussing to full-fledged wailing.

“Of course I don’t mind.”

Edith quickly took the small child and immediately the noise stopped as his fist filled his mouth and he made a loud sucking sound. She sat down in the rocking chair nearby and quickly unbuttoned her blouse.

Sara remained at the sink. Even the sound of the child sucking and the slight humming sound of contentment placed a knot in her stomach.

Sam returned from the other room. He also looked away quickly as he saw the young mother feeding her infant. To the lower and middle class it wasn’t usual to find a woman nursing her baby wherever it needed to be done. But it was completely unheard of among the class of people he became so accustomed to being with. Sam took the tea towel and helped by drying the dishes.

Edith started to hum quietly an old familiar lullaby to her son. The couple finished up the dishes in silence, but gradually they also joined in humming the well-known Brahms Lullaby. Sara grew silent as she listened to her husband continue the song and very well too, she noticed. They finished cleaning the counter and table without glancing at Edith until the mother placed her son on her shoulder, patting his back to produce a burp.

Quickly Sara announced she was going upstairs to get ready for the afternoon outing. Sam noticed her eyes were moist and said he too would join her.

“I’ll be up as soon as Sammy is ready to nap and we will find more suitable clothes for you to wear,” Edith spoke up as they were leaving the room.

As soon as they were out of Edith’s earshot Sam placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Sara. Maybe this is not the best place for us to stay. We can continue on to Montreal or find another place if you like.” He closed the door into their room.

“I’ll be fine … really,” Sara answered quietly, “I’m just being silly.”

“This wouldn’t have happened if we went to the hotel.”

“It’s all right, really. I like it here and Edith seems so nice. I want to stay here. Besides I can’t avoid babies all of the time.”

In silence Sam pulled her close and hugged her tightly until the knock came at the door.

Chapter Twenty

“If you dress like you may be looking for work rather than tourists, you probably won’t have those con men after you as much,” Edith said as she took the Fieldings into the storage room.

“I think that is an excellent idea,” Sam agreed as he held a pair of slightly-worn denim jeans and a warm flannel shirt.

Edith presented Sara with a thick wool skirt and hand-knit top. She also handed her a pair of heavy wool knickers and remarked, “You may want to wear these over your regular bloomers. The wool can be irritating, but I’m sure you will enjoy their warmth.”

After dressing, then donning borrowed outerwear, Sam and Sara stepped out to a sunny but cool day.

Together they walked unhurried through the streets. Sam explained because it was winter many of the businesses were closed for the season, but still Davis waited for anyone who was unsuspecting. Sara asked him who this fellow was, he mentioned his name so often and she didn’t want to meet up with the fellow.

“He is a man who would stoop to any low to take money from anyone. I am happy to say I never reduced myself to his standards, although I am also embarrassed to say I admired and in a way fashioned myself after him … in the old days,” Sam added quite seriously. “Hack drivers from either side of the river bring their fares to the Table Rock Hotel, often whether the passengers want to or not. If it was summer, the five-dollar tip I gave our driver quite possibly would not have worked, but in the winter with fewer guests the hacks tend to take their pay wherever they can.”

“Davis hired a few big men, one a prizefighter, to force patrons to pay for things they never asked for, or told were provided free of charge. These people were often manhandled to make them pay. Because most come from far away not much was done. Davis has often been told to clean things up, but never met the terms and the law wasn’t enforced. News started to travel about the dishonesty here and from what I understand, it kept people away.”

By this time they were walking along what was called ‘The Front,’ the strip following the river. This area was the main tourist trap and the businesses along the street displayed it very well. Many small shacks for selling trinkets and other souvenirs were closed for the season.

Edith was right about their clothing. It appeared few people looked at them, let alone tried to pressure them into any money-spending schemes.

As they walked past the famous Table Rock Hotel they noticed some people who were not so fortunate and two gentlemen were forcefully arguing on the steps at the hotel. Two bigger men came outside to join them and stood behind their boss, arms crossed, feet apart, standing tall and looking unstoppable. The victim angrily gave in to the matter and opened his wallet and counted out what appeared to be a large amount of money. Moving away from the door, the hooligans allowed the man’s wife to exit the building. She looked to have been crying and quickly grabbed onto her husband’s arm, when a suitcase came flying out the door and fell open on the street, clothing spilling from it.

“You have done this to the wrong man, Davis!” the gentleman shouted back, but the three going back into the hotel just laughed at him.

Sara wanted to step ahead to help the older couple pick up their things, but Sam anticipated her move and held her arm tightly. “It is still Davis’ law here. We best stay out of it.” Reluctantly she obeyed as the pair had already stuffed their belongings back into the bag and were quickly walking in the direction of the train station. At this point the hack drivers looked to be ignoring the people. They were sitting outside of their boss’ hotel and not allowed to show any sympathy for them.

Sam took Sara’s hand and shrugged his shoulders, “It is a different world here.”

The roar of the massive falls was becoming quite deafening and seemed to pull Sara toward the sound. As the street was higher than the water and some buildings blocked the view, Sara didn’t see the sight until she could have leapt into it. Her mouth dropped open at the display in front of her, until she came out of the spell. “The falls are enormous. I never in my wildest dreams imagined they could be this big.”

The sight was hypnotizing and even though Sam had seen them many times before he looked at them differently. He wondered why they were not the same this time, but realized it was really the first time he actually looked at the falls. All he had seen before were the wealthy tourists.

Even in the cold of winter the sight was extremely beautiful. The area was humid and this morning the mist in the air created a stunning heavy white frost on the bare trees, shrubs and anything else it landed on. It appeared to be a mystical fantasyland. Sara’s vision followed along the top of the falling water, but the expression on her face seemed to change as she saw the other side of the river. Her imaginary-land suddenly changed back into the reality of the industry the immense power of the falls created. Instead of the tourist trap on the Canadian side, the American bank overflowed with industrialized businesses. Sara gave a slight sigh, but brought herself back to the beauty close at hand.

“If it wasn’t for being winter we could have toured down to the base of the falls and walked behind them into the ‘Cave of the Winds’. I worked there, guiding tourists down the ladder and into the cave.” Together they started to walk along the street taking them further away from the falls, but providing them with a view at a different angle.

“Why is it they have placed the shanties and fences so the view is blocked from the street.” Sara was quite baffled.

“Money,” Sam answered. “The tourists must pay for the view. If the shops were open we wouldn’t have been allowed to watch the falls without paying.”

As they continued, they came to another hotel called Table Rock House. “Thomas Barnett owned this hotel and he was a much nicer man. He was more interested in showing the people the sights of the falls. More than that, he had a passion for collecting items for his museum. It tended to be an expensive hobby and probably the main reason he went bankrupt.”

“The summer of ’72, when I was here, he tried a grand plan … to bring the Wild West to Niagara Falls. Barnett went down into the United States to bring back items for a show, including buffalo, Indians and Wild Bill Hickok, who by this time was becoming quite famous. Barnett billed the performance, trying to draw people from far and wide to the falls. He was prepared for forty thousand viewers, but instead only three thousand arrived for the big event. In the end it was a huge failure because the buffalo were too hard to keep in captivity. Only three adults and a calf survived to see the act. Even then, the cow Wild Bill was to capture had to be aggravated into running. From what I understood, Barnett lost twenty thousand dollars from that performance alone. I read years later in a Toronto paper he had to sell everything and to kick a man when he is down, the buyer was Davis.”

They took time to stop at the famed museum. It was true Barnett really was eccentric when it came to stocking the amazing and amusing items. Sara was quite fascinated with the idea she stood before a real mummy and many animals she read about, but never considered herself lucky enough to see. She thought for a moment it was unfortunate they were indeed stuffed and possibly lost their lives for such a display. In turn she also realized how lucky she was to see such items. They were nowhere near finished looking at everything when Sam suggested they should go as there was still more for her to see on their tour before nightfall.

Sara noticed an impressive building in the distance as soon as they stepped on to ‘The Front’. As they walked closer and closer to it Sam explained it was the prestigious Clifton House and if they came in the summer they would have stayed there. It was the hotel for the most prominent people visiting the falls. However, guests had to nearly fight to avoid Davis’ hack drivers to board the bus going from the train station to Clifton House. It was this site that boasted accommodations for four hundred guests and provided an extravagant restaurant and ballroom. In the snow Sara could see the attractive garden gracing the front of the massive building. She seemed quite taken with the fancy place. When her husband said maybe they would be back someday in the summer, she insisted where they were staying now was much more enjoyable and relaxing. But a slight glimmer of imagination shone in her eyes and he knew the thought excited her.

As they continued their walk, Sam explained a few of the interesting tales of the area. He told her about two gentlemen, Charles Blondin and Bill Hunt, better known as Signor Farini. They drew big crowds as they displayed their prowess by tightrope acts over the river. People often crowded in to see one of them fall, but instead were entertained with many amusing feats.

By this time they walked far enough they could view the suspension bridge crossing the river into the United States. It was quite amazing to see such a large crossing traverse a gorge without supports in the water. Two large pillars sat on each bank and the bridge was suspended in between. “That must have been almost impossible to build,” Sara said, quite surprised such a thing was attempted at all. “And I have never in my life seen a bridge with two levels, the top one for the train and the bottom for horse-drawn traffic. I can only imagine what would happen with an inexperienced horse the first time a train would thunder by overhead.”

Sam nodded, it never crossed his mind before, even though he was a passenger in a hack when, as Sara said, a train went thundering over. He never had seen a runaway horse, but no doubt it happened.

The sun was low in the western sky and they knew in order to be back at the boarding house for the set seven o’clock supper they must be on their way.

“Are you getting tired?” Sam asked. “Would you like me to wave down a driver?”

“No, I’ve so enjoyed this walk we’ve had together and these mukluks Edith loaned me are so comfortable. I feel like I could walk back to Manitoba in them.”

“I’ll have to try a pair,” Sam admitted, “these work boots are getting uncomfortable, but they will be fine for the walk back.”

“Are you sure?” Sara asked, concerned, “And your leg must be getting sore. Maybe we should catch a ride back.”

“No, I’m fine,” Sam insisted. “We can stroll along and it gives me a good excuse to put my arm around you and hold you close.” He tried hard not to show the slight limp as they walked along. He knew the way Sara’s arm went behind his back, holding him tightly she also felt it in his walk.

It was ten minutes after seven when they arrived back at the boarding house. Their hostess was quick to meet her guests at the door. “Everyone just sat down to supper.” She took their coats and placed them over the sofa arm in the sitting room. As they removed their footwear Edith presented them each with a pair of handmade moccasins, saying, “When we have guests I really like, I give them a pair of these to remember us by.”

“They are beautiful,” Sara said, giving Edith a hug, “but you really didn’t need to. We have enjoyed ourselves here so much we won’t soon forget you. These must be expensive.”