Moon Over Manifest Part 19

"He's over at the school yard. Sister Redempta's got him fixing the fence he ran into on his bike." Ruthanne perked up an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because Hattie Mae's having a contest. She just doesn't know it yet."

HATTIE MAE'S NEWS AUXILIARYAUGUST 9, 1936To the faithful readers of "Hattie Mae's News Auxiliary." First an explanation, then an announcement. Many apologies for the mix-up last week. Uncle Henry set out a stack of old newspapers (from 1918 to be exact) to be stored in the shed out back. We all know that man can't part with a penny or a paper.Anyway, Fred got the papers as far as the back door when his lumbago set in. Of course I had to get him home to bed, even though my knees have been no great shakes lately. Fred's never been a silent sufferer, but "for better or worse," right, ladies?Well, I guess it's asking too much for Billy Clayton to actually read the papers he delivers. I'm a.s.suming he's got bad eyes, as he hits the bushes and the roof as often as the porch at our house.For those of you who thought that we were back at war with the Huns, that Woodrow Wilson was still president, and that you could buy a was.h.i.+ng machine for fourteen dollars, wake up and smell the Depression.Still, it was a hoot seeing the hats that were in fas.h.i.+on at the millinery. Remember the styles for men? Those stiff celluloid collars around their necks and the spats around their ankles. And the lace-up boots we women used to wear. Lord, have mercy.Remember when Manifest boasted citizens of twenty different nationalities? When you could walk down Main Street and smell Mama Santoni's warm bread instead of dust and wind? Listening to Caruso sing "Eyes of Blue" on the Victrola? When we all bought Liberty Bonds to support our brave soldiers "over there"?This brings me to the announcement. Due to Fred's "injury" and the fact that his mother is coming in from Springfield to "help," I will be taking a sabbatical from "Hattie Mae's News Auxiliary."However, some of our younger patrons wanted to know more about our fair town back in the day. So at their suggestion, we are inaugurating the Manifest Herald Manifest Herald's Remember When contest. Write up a favorite memory from 1918 in your best handwriting and submit it to the Manifest Herald Manifest Herald by Friday, August 23. We'll run as many as we can, but the winner will receive a five-dollar cash prize. I asked Uncle Henry for ten but...read the above. by Friday, August 23. We'll run as many as we can, but the winner will receive a five-dollar cash prize. I asked Uncle Henry for ten but...read the above.Good luck and, as always, for all the whos, whats, whys, whens, and wheres you can't find in the rest of this nickel-and-dime paper, turn toHATTIE M MAE M MACKE Reporter About Town

Miss Sadie's Divining Parlor

AUGUST 11, 1936.

The town was abuzz about the recent "mix-up" with the newspaper. Billy Clayton loved a good prank and had been happy to deliver the 1918 newspapers that had not made their way to the bas.e.m.e.nt.

He said there wasn't anything worth reading in the current papers anyway. Everyone knew that these days there wasn't much news and most of it was bad. So, for the time being, we waited to see if anyone would respond to the contest announcement.

Hattie Mae was excited about the idea. It was true that we wanted to know more about Manifest back in the day. We just didn't mention, even to Hattie Mae, that we were particularly interested in who might have the same handwriting used in the note telling us to "leave well enough alone."

I stood at the sink in Miss Sadie's tiny kitchen, wrapping an a.s.sortment of exotic tea leaves in a worn piece of cloth. I tied a string around the neck of the cloth and dangled the tea bag into a pot of boiling water on her cookstove. Waiting for the tea to brew, I gazed out the window, watching the clouds churn and roil high above the neat rows of Miss Sadie's garden that in fact had come to feel like my own. Those seeds of all kinds-carrot, pea, squash, pumpkin, onion-rested just beneath the surface. I had touched each one, planted each one in rows. Removed and replaced every bit of dirt just so, in hopes that they might take root in this place.

Those seeds. My seeds. Maybe they were wondering, as I was, if this would be the day rain would come.

I looked at the shed, still locked and dark. As the rich, spicy aroma from the teapot filled the kitchen, I found myself wondering if this would be the day Miss Sadie would tell what she had brewing inside her.

Then I felt her presence behind me. There was less idle talk each time I came. It was as if she had fewer words in her and the ones she had were the story. I pulled a stool over to her and she rested herself on it, leaning an elbow on the cabinet.

There was plenty I wanted to ask her. I wanted a conclusion to the story. I wanted to know about the skeleton key, the last remaining memento from the Lucky Bill cigar box. I wanted to know where Gideon fit into all of this. Why he was never mentioned in any of her stories. But I knew from experience that Miss Sadie told the story in her own way and in her own time. I was afraid that there were parts of it still simmering in her that she might never share.

In the silence of Miss Sadie's kitchen, I thought of Gideon. I wondered about his story and why he had retreated so far into himself, where I couldn't reach him. Why had a cut on my leg been such a big deal? I knew I'd gotten very sick. But I got better. I remembered the way he'd looked at me. I had just turned twelve and he said I was growing up into a young lady. True, "young ladies" were not often found living on the road, traveling from town to town and job to job. But wasn't it more important that we were together? I wondered where Gideon was and when he would come back. If If he would come back. he would come back.

Miss Sadie studied me, trying to read my thoughts. But I kept her out. She had her secrets and I had mine.

Suddenly, the kettle whistled, and for the life of me it sounded just like a train whistle blowing in the distance.

Miss Sadie's voice was husky as she began.

"The Santa Fe steamer chugged into town-three days early...."

Day of Reckoning

SEPTEMBER 28, 1918 28, 1918.

The people of Manifest emerged cautiously from their homes and headed toward the depot. When Arthur Devlin himself stepped off the first pa.s.senger car with Lester Burton and the county medical examiner in tow, they knew the quarantine was over. But how?

Devlin gestured broadly. "You see, Dr. Haskell, they're in fine health, wouldn't you say?"

Dr. Haskell pushed his gla.s.ses up on his nose and squinted at the lot before him. Shady, Hadley, Mama Santoni, Mrs. Larkin, and others. "Well, in order to end an official quarantine, I'll need to examine them and-"

"And as soon as you p.r.o.nounce my miners of sound mind and body, I'll expect them back to work within the hour."

Devlin made a show of brus.h.i.+ng off unseen dust from his suit. "Ahh, Eudora. This must have been an awful experience for you. I'm sure you would never have taken part in such a charade if you'd known. Now that it's over, perhaps you would enjoy dining with me this evening in Pittsburg."

Mrs. Larkin was uncharacteristically fl.u.s.tered by the attention of Devlin and the suspicious looks of the people in the crowd. "Well, Arthur, I-"

"Now, Eudora, you turned me down years ago, but I'd hoped you'd learned your lesson. I hate to say it but your husband was a chump. Always working on his books and numbers. What kind of life is that? You know as well as I do, Eudora, that we are both meant for things greater."

"Mother!" Pearl Ann Larkin cried, stepping off the train. She rushed up, throwing her arms around her mother. "Manifest has been all the talk at Kansas University. When I found out they were letting trains back in, I rushed straight home."

Devlin was disgruntled by the interruption but took Mrs. Larkin's hand and kissed it. "I see you are occupied. Perhaps another time."

Devlin ordered double s.h.i.+fts for all the mine workers. No exceptions or you'd be fired. Of course, this meant that production of the elixir stopped. Dozens of full bottles remained in the abandoned mine shaft, because no one could get away to sell them. Sheriff Dean kept one eye on Shady but kept the other on Jinx, like a cat waiting for a mouse to steal a piece of cheese so he could devour both at once.

October 1, the Day of Reckoning, found a ragtag band holed up at Shady's place: Shady, Jinx, Donal MacGregor, and Hadley Gillen, along with Callisto Matenopoulos, Olaf Akkerson, and Casimir Cybulskis. Mrs. Larkin, who liked to have her nose in everything, was conspicuously absent. Those present all stared at the wad of cash splayed out on the bar. "All this for nothing," said Donal. "There's a rat in this town who's been feeding information to Burton and Devlin and I say it's high time we found out who it is."

"We'd all like to know," said Shady, "but right now we've got bigger problems." Hadley counted the money first, then Shady, and finally Donal. No matter who counted, it always added up to $740.

They stared at the money as if they could mentally conjure another $260 before the court hearing at noon. Then they heard a car pull up. In one swift movement, Shady pulled a lever and the portion of the bar with the money sank and was covered by an identical s.h.i.+ny piece of wood, which blended in perfectly with the rest of the bar top. All was quiet when Lester Burton walked in.

Swaggered was a better word. He came in like he owned the place. "You know they'll blame you for it," Burton said. "The double s.h.i.+fts and docked wages, all because of your fancy scheme. And here you are, sitting nice and cozy, probably counting your money." was a better word. He came in like he owned the place. "You know they'll blame you for it," Burton said. "The double s.h.i.+fts and docked wages, all because of your fancy scheme. And here you are, sitting nice and cozy, probably counting your money."

The others looked up in surprise.

"Oh, you didn't know I knew about all that, the so-called elixir, nighttime rum runs. It took a while, but for the right price, someone's always willing to talk. In fact, get the right rumors started and folks might get the idea that it was one of you who told me what was going on-just so's you could keep the money. I imagine a good tar and feathering wouldn't be out of the question."

"As if anybody's had time to pluck feathers," Jinx muttered to Shady.

"You got something to say, boy?"

Jinx didn't answer.

Just then, a stranger walked in, carrying a briefcase, looking decidedly out of place. Burton regained his composure and leaned on the bar. "While I'm here, Shady, I'll have a shot of your finest. For medicinal purposes, of course."

Shady poured him a gla.s.s and slid it across the bar.

The stranger, a young man wearing a black suit, white s.h.i.+rt, and bow tie, set his briefcase on the bar and asked Shady for a gla.s.s of water.

"Water?" Burton scoffed. "Why, haven't you heard about the miracle whiskey made right here in Manifest? Drink up, son. What's your pleasure?"

The man wiped his brow with a crisp white handkerchief. "I've heard, but I'm here on business, not pleasure."

As Shady handed him a gla.s.s of water, the man looked at it as if he might check to see if the water was up to code. Then the stranger opened his briefcase and pulled out a gla.s.s vial of white powder. Under the curious stares of the men and Jinx, he poured the powder into the gla.s.s of water and watched it fizz and foam. He raised the gla.s.s to the light streaming in through the window, giving it his full attention. He pulled a small notepad from his jacket pocket and jotted down some notations, all the while looking back and forth from the pad to the gla.s.s of water.

"Where do you get your water?" he asked Shady with an air of authority.

"Who's asking?" Shady countered with a bootlegger's dose of suspicion.

"From the spring just fifty yards west of here, isn't that correct?"

Now Shady was unnerved. If the stranger had already been to the spring, he'd been uncomfortably close to the whiskey barn. They had planned to take down the stills before the quarantine ended, but hadn't got the chance.

"That's the one."

Burton looked at the man with great interest. "What kind of business might you be in, son?"

"Government." The answer was curt, as if he didn't need to explain himself to the likes of Lester Burton.

"Well, before you go poking around these parts anymore, I think we need a little more information."

"Then perhaps you should take it up with the state board of health. Word has gotten all the way to Topeka that there's something very interesting about this springwater." He poured a small amount of water from the gla.s.s into the empty vial and replaced the rubber stopper. Again, he held up the vial to the light, giving it a flick with his finger. He studied the cloudy water and made another notation in his little book. "Hmm," the stranger mused. "Very interesting."

"What's very interesting?" asked Burton.

"Is there a mine near here? A vein of some metal ore?"

"Yes, just a little farther west than the spring."

"That would explain a great deal. I hear you've had a lot of sick folks in this region whose condition improved."

Burton's curiosity was piqued at the mention of the mine. "I happen to be the pit boss of that mine and I have a right to know what's going on. Why would the government want to know if there's metal in the water?"

"Do you own the spring, Mr....?"

"Burton. And no, but-"

"Then this is not your concern." He placed the vial in his briefcase and locked it shut.

"I always knew that mine would kill us all, one way or another," Mr. Matenopoulos lamented. "Whether it's black soot in our lungs or contamination in our water, it will get us all in the end."

The room grew quiet as the weight of his words, as dark and cold as a mine shaft, pressed around them. Mr. Matenopoulos and the others were consumed by their gloom and Burton seemed the only one to notice as the young man drank half the gla.s.s of cloudy water.

"Now what?" Burton asked.

"Now"-the man tore out a page of his notebook, placed it into a brown envelope, and slid it into an inside pocket of his jacket-"I have some very important information to deliver at the courthouse." He laid his suit coat over his arm and lifted the gla.s.s of water in salute. "Good day."

Burton lowered his voice so the others in the bar couldn't hear. "Now hold on there, son. There's no need to be so standoffish. Smart young fellow like you wouldn't drink that water if there was something wrong with it." He spoke with a smile. "No, my guess is there's something special about this here water. Is this something like those healing springs in Arkansas and Colorado, where people come from all over to buy the stuff? Healing water, they call it."

"Well, I can't speak to that, Mr. Burton. I've never been to any of those places." Then he drank the rest of the cloudy water in one long gulp. "All I can say is I'm feeling better already, and that's a fact." He placed the gla.s.s on the bar, winked at Burton, and was gone.

Judge Carlson rapped his gavel. "This court will now come to order." The crowded courtroom grew still. The monthly court date was always a well-attended event, as it provided citizens with a forum to settle disputes, conduct all manner of legal transactions, and hold public auction.

That day's session, however, was jam-packed. The whole local cast of characters was present. Lester Burton sat in the front row, smiling and confident, while Shady and Jinx sat across the aisle. Arthur Devlin sat a few rows back, holding his gold-tipped cane and stretching one leg into the aisle. The man from the state board of health had himself wedged into the second row, briefcase on his lap, with the still pregnant Mrs. Cybulskis on his left and Hattie Mae on his right. Even Sister Redempta slipped in the back door and stood to the left side of the courtroom while the Hungarian woman stood to the right.

Hattie Mae, pen and paper in hand, was prepared to record all the whos, whats, whys, whens, and wheres and so tried not to notice the handsome man sitting beside her. He, on the other hand, made no attempt to avoid noticing her.

"We have a full slate today, ladies and gentlemen, so let's keep things moving." Judge Carlson peered through his half-gla.s.ses at the schedule, as if he wasn't fully aware of the item at the top of the list.

"First off, we have-"

"Your Honor," Mrs. Larkin interrupted from the jury box, which was being used for extra seating, "there is a matter of some urgency that I insist be dealt with immediately." She stood. "It has come to my attention that Shady Howard has been producing illegal substances on public property."

Half the courtroom glared at her. As often as she'd been seen making telephone calls from the post office and frequenting the telegraph machine, funneling who-knew-what information to Arthur Devlin, they still couldn't believe she would take this opportunity to knock Shady's legs out from under him.

"Mrs. Larkin." Judge Carlson rubbed his forehead as if this was going to be the beginning of a very long afternoon. "I a.s.sure you we will address your grievance, but the first item on the agenda is the settlement of the Widow Cane's property."

Mrs. Larkin sat down, holding her tongue for the time being.

Judge Carlson continued. "As stated, the towns.h.i.+p of Manifest has the first rights to the land upon payment of back taxes and the land fee in the amount of one thousand dollars."

Shady stood and spoke for the group. "Your Honor, we are a little short of the thousand dollars and are requesting an extension to raise the remaining funds."

The Honorable Judge Carlson was just that. Honorable. He was one of the few authorities around who was not in the back pocket of Arthur Devlin. He would come down on the side of the law, wherever that happened to fall. But his voice couldn't hide the weight of what he was about to say. Judge Carlson shook his head. "I'm sorry, Shady. The statute is clear. As of October first, if the town doesn't buy the land, it becomes available for public sale."

"But, Your Honor, we can pay the portion we have now and-"

Lester Burton stood. "Your Honor. These shysters have been deceiving everyone long enough. Producing illegal alcohol, or their so-called elixir, to raise funds to buy the land. I'd say it's time to put that land up for sale."

Judge Carlson's gavel wavered for a moment. "Very well. Let's get on with it. Since the towns.h.i.+p cannot make payment in full at this time, then in accordance with public statute, the aforementioned tract of land is now open for public bids."

Lester Burton looked around the room, defying anyone to bid against him. The crowd remained still. "Your Honor, since there is no stipulation that the land be sold in one piece, I'd like to first bid on the section including the spring from the tracks to the stream."

The room ignited with a buzz of murmuring voices. Judge Carlson banged his gavel.

"I thought the mine wanted the whole tract of land."

"The part I want doesn't involve the vein. That pertains to the mine. Right now, I'm not bidding on behalf of the mine. I'm bidding for myself and all I'm interested in is the spring. I'll start the bidding at fifty dollars."

Shady tried to figure what Burton was up to. Jinx snuck a look at the government man sitting in the second row. "Shady, that fellow from Topeka never said the water was contaminated. He just asked if it was near a mine," Jinx whispered.

"So?"

"What if that's a good thing? What if that's why people were getting better?"

"You mean it might be healing water?" Shady pondered the idea. "Like in those spas in Arkansas and Colorado?"

"Yes, and folks come from miles to drink, even bathe in it. Burton will make a fortune."

"Going once...." Judge Carlson looked around the courtroom.

"You can't just let him buy it," Jinx whispered.

"But it's the town's money."