Black Snow: a novel of the Halifax Explosion by Jon Tattrie

Author:Jon Tattrie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, historical fiction, canada, world war one, explosion, great war, halifax, imo, mont blanc

Chapter Twenty-three

A group of soldiers comes through, collecting bodies. When the corpse crew reaches for Adelaide’s mother, the girl screams and attacks them.

“Hey!” one shouts, pushing her down. He’s exhausted, angry to have a hard job made harder. Night is falling faster than the snow.

Krauss steps in.

“Look, it’s her mother. Just leave it for now,” he tells the soldier.

“I’m only following orders, mister – and we’ve got to clear all the bodies from this area. We can’t wait for everyone to finish grieving.”

“Just … just give her a few minutes. Start with those bodies,” he says, pointing to the far end.

“All the same to me,” the soldier answers, shrugging.

When they get to Adelaide’s mother, Jack coaxes her off. She stands clutching him as they load her mother onto the sled – at least they manage to do that with some decency. When the wagon pulls off, she runs after it, chasing it until she trips over a stray beam, sending her flying into the nails and splinters of a dead house.

“Adelaide!” screams Jack. He picks the girl up off the rubble but she’s bleeding bad, red staining the white snow. She’s moaning, calling for her mother, growing paler by the second.

“It’ll be all right,” Jack whispers, hoping that it will.

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