The Mountain That Walked by Katherine Holubitsky

Author:Katherine Holubitsky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2005-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

Ten

I know I don’t look like much,” I tell Mr. Ash in the mine office. “But I’m strong as any mule. I pick up on things fast too, so I won’t take much training. You’ve just got to give me a chance to prove myself, that’s all.”

Mr. Edgar Ash leans back in his chair, waiting patiently as I rush through my words. When I’m finished, he smiles, but he shakes his head. “Well, lad, I would give you a chance if I could, but we aren’t hiring. All I can do is suggest that you try again in a few weeks. Are you planning to stay in town for a time?”

I nod. I mean to show that I’m serious, but I also haven’t thought of what else I might do.

“All right. The weather’s turned and I’m expecting to lose some fellows to the fields. Summer’s our busiest time, with the railroad stocking up on coal so they can move the harvest in the fall. Leave your name and check back with me at the end of the month.” He stands up. “Maybe I’ll have something for you by then.”

I tell him I’m grateful for his consideration and he won’t be sorry. I then write my name in the ledger. For my residence, I put the town of Frank.

Outside the office, I look over the property belonging to the Canadian American Coke and Coal Company. Across the Crow’s Nest River are piled heaps of coal, mounds of rock waste harvested from the picking tables, and stacks of timber to shore up the mine. The pit head is maybe thirty feet above the river at the base of Turtle Mountain. Men work around the towering mine tipple, where the hoisting, dumping and screening equipment is housed.

A train engine backs down the mine spur, headed toward the tipple across the bridge. Two miners stand next to the track, waiting to hook up the hoppers. The engine clangs along the track—brakes squeal as it backs up to the cars to be coupled. I turn and head toward Dominion Avenue.

After crossing Gold Creek, I pass a boarding house for men working at the mine. Perhaps I’ll have a chance of getting room and board there once I’m taken on. In the meantime, I have to find a way to live. My wages from the stopping house will not hold out for two weeks.

I then remember what Mr. Francis Rochette said about the hotels.

The Frank Hotel has no positions available. I continue down Dominion to the Imperial Hotel, where I speak to Mr. Ruben Steeves. I tell him I’ve heard he runs a booming business and suggest that he might need help. He looks at me skeptically, but he doesn’t say no right away, which gives me some hope. Folding his arms, he rocks back on his heels.

“Well, son, tell me what you can do.”

“Anything,” I quickly answer. “I can do whatever you’ve got that needs to be done. I can work in the kitchen, chopping, cleaning and washing dishes.

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