“Then do not give it further concern, husband.” Pearl smiled so sweetly at the man. Theirs was a true love match, and Addie couldn’t help but be a little envious.
Pearl began again. “We prayed about this and felt it was the right thing to do—the thing God called us to do. Satan wants us to doubt. We cannot spend all of our time in worry.”
He drew a deep breath and refocused on the food. “You are right. I will stop my fretting.”
Hiram Bryant was tired of being bossed around, but as a part of an early release agreement with the Canadian government, he and Shep had signed on for the hard work in order to get out of prison.
They had been sentenced to ten years for an armed robbery that had resulted in a man being severely wounded. After serving seven of it, they were offered a deal. If they would participate in helping with the heavy lifting aspect of moving artifacts to Seattle for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, they would receive an early release. The news was well received by Hiram and Shep, who had more than wearied of life in prison.
“You fellas have done a good job,” the overseer announced. “I have paperwork here that declares you’ve served your time and met all of the requirements for early release from prison.” He handed out the envelopes to a dozen men and smiled. “The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition is going to be better for all of your work on the Yukon exhibit. You’ll find a small amount of pay included in your release papers. You’re welcome to spend the night in our tent, but tomorrow it’s coming down.”
Not a single man there cared one whit as to whether the exposition would be better, nor did they have any interest in staying in the prison tent. Hiram took his papers and elbowed Shep.
“Let’s go into town. I’m sure we can manage to find something else. At least a decent meal, and maybe some female companionship.” He took up the sack of their worldly possessions and threw it over his shoulder.
Shep nodded and followed his brother away from the Yukon exhibit. As they neared the front gate area, a man called to them.
“Hey, you two. Wanna earn some money?”
Hiram stopped, and Shep ran into him. His growl was enough to cause Shep to jump nearly three feet to the right.
“What did you have in mind?” Hiram asked, turning around.
“I’m helping with landscaping. We’re laying the last of the sod tonight. I could use a couple more fellas to help with carrying the sod from the wagons to the areas where it will be planted. It pays well.”
Hiram considered it only a moment. “I suppose we could.”
“We’ll probably work quite late,” the man added, “so if you want, you can stay in the dorm we have for the groundskeepers. I know for a fact there are a few empty cots—private too. They arranged rooms for the men who would be working throughout the fair.”
“Sounds good.” Hiram nodded. “Where can I put our gear?” He nodded to the sack.
“I can take it to the place where you’ll stay. After we’re done laying sod, I’ll escort you there as well. I promise you it’ll be safe.”
“It better be.” Hiram looked to Shep and then to the man. “Let’s go.”
It wasn’t that he wanted more meaningless work to do, but the promise of good pay and a place to stay was too much to pass up. He was determined to get a drink as well, but this exposition was dry. Whoever thought that was a good idea was obviously blind to the profits that could be made by whiskey and beer. People would get thirsty, and the advertised lemonade and iced tea didn’t satisfy like a cold beer. The exposition planners were fools.
They worked until midnight, and when the last of the sod was laid and the last adjustments made, the man who’d hired them reappeared.
“I’ll walk you over to the dorm.”
Hiram and Shep were covered in dirt and sweat, but it didn’t matter. They’d never worried overmuch about cleanliness. It took money to stay clean.
As if reading Hiram’s thoughts, the man pointed. “At the far end of the building are showers. There’s plenty of hot water. Soap is provided as well as towels.”
Suddenly settling for dirt and sweat didn’t seem nearly so appealing. “Thanks,” Hiram said.
“I never really introduced myself. The name is Riley Martin. You fellas worked hard. Want a job helping to keep up the grounds? Pick up trash and so forth. You’d carry a canvas bag around and use a pickup stick to get the trash. It doesn’t pay as well as what you just made, but I can keep you in the dorm for no charge.”
It wasn’t at all what Hiram wanted, but he was starting to think it might be to their benefit. “Any time off? We haven’t had even a day since they brought us down here.”
The man smiled. “I can give you opening day—tomorrow—but you’ll need to be available at the crack of dawn on Wednesday. We’ll need to have the entire campus cleared of trash before the expo opens that day. The other trash collectors will do what they can through opening day, but we’re anticipating around seventy thousand people or more, so it’ll be difficult to keep up. Your regular days off will be Thursdays and Sunday until noon. The expo doesn’t open until one in the afternoon on Sundays.”
He opened the door to the groundskeepers’ dormitory and led the way to a small room with two cots. “This will be yours for as long as you’re employed by the exposition. Oh, and you get a free lunch each day—part of your pay. Otherwise, you can get food from the expo at a discounted price. Just show them your work pass.” He handed one to each man. “This will get you in and out of the expo for free, and like I said, discounts on food and drink and a free lunch.”
Hiram looked over the small room. The cots were made up with a pillow, sheet, and blanket. There wasn’t even a window in the room or another piece of furniture. It wasn’t all that different from prison. “Sounds good.” Hiram and Shep received their pay and waited until the man was gone to speak.
“Why’d you do that?” Shep asked. “I thought we were going into town. I wanted to get a beer.”
“I know, and we’ll have tomorrow off to do just that.” Hiram noted that their sack of goods was placed at the foot of one of the cots.
“I thought we were gonna make some money for ourselves. Make money our own way,” Shep said, sounding quite disgruntled.
Hiram pushed him aside. “Look, I had an idea. If we work here and live nearby, we can pick the pockets of all who come to the expo. It should be an easy way to make a living—at least until this fair closes down. As employees of the expo, no one is going to expect us to be picking pockets.”
Shep actually smiled. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“We’ve got a place to stay, showers, and free meals. There’s been many a time we’ve gone hungry in the past, so at least there’s that. We’ve got some good money in our pocket and the day off tomorrow to figure out what all we want to do.”
“You suppose Addie might come to the expo?”
Hiram frowned. “That’s hard to say. We don’t know exactly where she ended up.” They had overheard Millie telling one of the store owners that Addie had moved to Seattle. That had been enough to set Hiram’s mind on future plans. He figured to beat it out of Millie, but instead he and Shep had gotten caught robbing a man who just happened to be a judge. There had been no mercy for them—only prison.