Billy Creekmore by Tracey Porter

Author:Tracey Porter [Porter, Tracey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-06-201762-8
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2007-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I Daydream Too Much,

and Learn About

THE UMW,

RATS,

and

a GHOST

Oh, but I thought about the circus plenty while I was deep in the mine. There I’d be, driving Markel, and I’d see myself as one of the trick riders making his stallion race around lightning quick with its mane all ripply in the wind. Sometimes I saw Markel and me thundering across the plains all set to attack General Custer. I liked that part of the circus, even though Uncle Jim found fault with it.

“Are you my stallion, Markel?” I’d say as I fed him lumps of sugar, which is what Clayton said I should do if I wanted him to work hard for me. “Do you want me to braid your mane with little bows and get you a spangled headdress?” Markel loved sandwiches and pie, but wasn’t too keen on the cold potato Aunt Agnes packed in the lower tray of my pail. Neither was I, to be honest, but you don’t mind bland food when you’re hungry.

Plenty of miners got awful angry at me ‘cause I was stuck in daydreams and not keeping up with ‘em. I couldn’t remember who was spending the morning undercutting and who was filling up a car. All I could think about was the trick riders, and how one of ‘em was blindfolded but managed to somersault from one galloping horse to another. Oh, it was a grand thing to see! And awful thrilling since you didn’t know how he could possibly know where the next horse was and if he missed he’d break his neck and get trampled. How I wanted to be a daring horseman, riding around with an audience cheering me on! But the roof of the mine was too low for me to stand on Markel’s back. And then, of course, I didn’t have no time at all to waste learning any kind of trick down there. I’d show up at the wrong room at the wrong time, and the miner was getting ready to drill a bit of blasting powder into the face.

“What you doing here, Billy? You know I’ve been undercutting all morning. I won’t have a car of coal for another two hours!” Then down the corridor I’d hear a miner yelling my name, “Creekmore! Billy Creekmore, git over here! You’re costing me money, boy!” A good miner shoveled ten tons of coal a day, and he sure didn’t want me standing in his way.

Lots of the miners was angry men, just like Clayton said, and I overheard more and more of ‘em talking about the United Mine Workers when I passed by on my route. Every now and then, one of ‘em would say something to me about how the UMW needed young boys like me to stand with ‘em. Fortunately I remembered what Aunt Agnes said, and the words spilled outta me easy enough.

“Boys like you should join the union,” said one miner to me. “After all, you’ve got more to gain than an old man like me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.