The Other Side of Time by Bart Palamaro

Author:Bart Palamaro [Palamaro, Bart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780615601366
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29 - Seed Money

THE CREW PITCHED IN willingly, they knew the stakes. Gold rings, earrings, studs, silver dollars, a silver money clip. Between Maggie and Emma Benton each piece was valued to the penny and a receipt given. A one carat man’s diamond pinky ring was donated anonymously. It was an unusual ring with a white gold top holding an oddly cut round diamond, and an ornately scrolled yellow gold band. If it hadn’t been an anonymous donation Susan would have refused to take it. Maggie gave up her diamond studs, but Susan rejected her Rolex watch. No wedding bands or family heirlooms were accepted, but Emma Benton insisted on putting her emerald earrings into the pot.

In the end they collected almost twenty thousand dollars, 1912 valuation, of gold, silver and jewelry. Susan knew they’d be lucky to get ten percent of that, but it would give her some working capital.

Four senior chiefs were fitted with donated suits slightly modified to conform to 1912 fashion, and vests stitched together from the remnants of other jackets. Only a manual laborer would walk the streets of New York without a vest. Hats were a different story. While not as critical as vests, hats would add to their anonymity. Unfortunately, no one could think of a way to come up with a bowler or a soft cap, so they went bareheaded. Hats would be one of the first things they purchased.

The SDV (Swimmer Delivery Vehicle) dropped them off under the Manhattan Bridge at 0500, 5:00 a.m., then quietly motored out into the East River and submerged. The SDV crew prepared to spending the next ten hours on the bottom, outside the main shipping channels, fighting boredom, keeping watch and sleeping.

The chiefs walked along the river the short distance to Pike St. then turned north. They crossed Division where Pike turned into Orchard St. On Orchard they began to see the residents stirring, the smells of cooking and the sound of Italian and Yiddish filled the air, sometimes side by side. They turned left on Hester St. and took it to the Bowery. By this time businesses were beginning to open, and horse drawn wagons were moving slowly through the pedestrian traffic. The sidewalks were suddenly crowded with people going to and from shops, selling, buying and generally making a multilingual racket. Somehow an incredible number of pushcarts had appeared, seemingly from nowhere.

They turned north on The Bowery and walked until they found what they wanted. A pawn shop. The Jewish proprietor was nervous at their appearance, four tough looking men, hatless and with nearly shaved heads, but not so nervous that he gave them an easy bargaining session. At last they left the pawn shop a few ounces of silver lighter, with fifty dollars in their pockets and directions to the nearest hatter. “Mention my name, tell him Moshe Rosen sent you, you’ll get a good price.”

They found the hatter’s store on Delancy St. and each of the Chiefs purchased a derby hat.

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.