The Emerald Key

CHAPTER 11





Beth led Jamie and Colin through the maze of warehouses that lined the port and out into the busy streets that crisscrossed the heart of Montreal. Jamie couldn’t stop himself from gawking at the passing people. The wealth of the colony was on display, as a sea of well-groomed men strode the streets in dapper suits, with islands of women in elegant high-necked dresses chatting among themselves on the street corners. He could hear both French and English being used by the crowds. Feeling self-conscious, Jamie realized that he had not washed his one and only outfit since nearly drowning in the St. Lawrence. He made a mental note to do something about his haggard look at the next opportunity. The three made quite the sorry sight among the well-off in this prosperous city.

Beth didn’t seem bothered by her ragamuffin appearance as she ploughed her way through the crowds along St. James Street towards the taller buildings of Montreal. An earlier summer downpour had turned the wide dirt road they were following into a sea of mud. Horses and wagons fought hard through the rutted glop while pedestrians tried their best to stay on the wooden walkways that lined the storefronts. Jamie couldn’t help but notice several adults scowling at them as they passed. Were they afraid of possible disease? Did they hate the fact they were so obviously Irish? Jamie wished he could somehow put their worries to rest. Meanwhile, Beth rambled on about the city before them.

“Down that alley is a butcher,” explained Beth, “and if you’re really lucky, he might leave out some nearly spoiled sausages in a bowl behind his shop. If you time it right, you can sneak a couple of links out of the bowl before he lets his dogs out for dinner. But cook them well over a fire, because if you don’t, you’ll get a gut ache that will floor you for a whole week! And right beside the butcher is the fire station. The firemen are really nice and sometimes spray water on me and the other kids if the weather gets too hot in the summer. And do you see that building? They sell the prettiest clothes in town. Just look at the window! I used to think that any woman who had enough money to shop in that store must be a princess. And the store we’re passing right now, this is a general store. The nicest owners in the world own this store. Whenever I had an errand to run to this store, the owner or his wife would give me a small peppermint stick! That’s the best-tasting candy in the whole world! It was — Hey! Where are you going, Jamie?”

Jamie made a sharp turn and pushed open the door to the general store. The children looked at each other, Beth shrugged, and they followed him in. A small bell jingled as the door opened. The store was filled with shelves of products ranging from canned food to everyday household items. A large woman appeared behind the counter. She had her hair pulled back in a bun and around her waist was a white, frilly apron.

“May I help you? Oh, it’s you Beth! I haven’t seen you in so long!”

“Hello, Mrs. McCormick,” replied Beth.

“I wondered what had happened to my favourite delivery girl.”

“The rest of my family finally arrived from Ireland,” she lied. “These are my brothers, Jamie and Colin.”

Mrs. McCormick smiled warmly at Beth’s new family. “My Jamie, you are certainly a handsome fellow. And look at little Colin! Red cheeks and all! So how can I help you three?”

Jamie pointed to a glass container on the shelf behind her. “I would like to purchase three of your best peppermint sticks, please.”

Mrs. McCormick winked at Beth. “Coming right up!”

She reached up to the shelf lined with glass jars. Each jar was filled with different flavours of mouth-watering candy. “Beth, I think your brother likes peppermint as well. You two must be related.”

She held the jar out, and they each helped themselves to a slender peppermint stick. Colin was delighted. He placed one of the coins that Monsignor Baillargeon had given him on the table. “Thank you very much.”

The woman reached into a drawer and gave Jamie back his change. “You’re welcome. Come back anytime. And Beth, it’s so good to finally see you with your brothers. You really are a dear. All the best!”

“Thank you!” Beth grinned.

“Bye!” said Colin.

“Thank you, Jamie,” Beth said as she curled her tongue around the candy.

“I thought you would enjoy it. Now, which way to the immigration station?”

“It’s not too much further. Come on!”

Colin and Beth’s beaming faces lit up the dreary afternoon sky as they licked their sweet. Seeing the children munching on a colourful candy seemed to placate many in the passing crowd. Surely, such smiling children sucking away on a candy could not be carrying sickness. Jamie was pleased to have killed two birds with one stone.

Beth turned a corner and led them away from the busy business district. Ahead was another collection of large wooden warehouses. Workers moved in lines through the huge sliding doors behind which were rows of neatly stacked crates. Some were being hoisted onto waiting wagons, likely destined for the port and then destinations overseas.

“All these warehouses are full of stuff to be put on boats,” she explained. “The docks are just over there. Those warehouses are full of crates and crates of beaver, bear, and fox fur. That building over there is so full with lumber that it reaches all the way up to the ceiling!”

“How do you know all of this?” queried Jamie.

“I ran messages to all of the owners of the warehouses, asking if they were interested in hiring some of the older orphans as workers. They used to take in quite a few of us, but when the sickness returned, they refused to hire any new immigrant children. That’s why I was shipped off to a farm. They said my job had become pointless since no one was hiring anymore.”

Jamie smiled. “But now you’re back.”

She took a lick of her peppermint stick and nodded. “Now I’m back! It feels so good to be back, seeing all of those shops. I didn’t think I would ever see Montreal again, you know. When I was sent off, I thought I would be surrounded by trees, corn, and grumpy farmers for the rest of my life.”

She wrapped her arms around Jamie and squeezed. “Thank you.”

Surprised, Jamie managed to wiggle out of her embrace. He decided to change the subject.

“Are we close?”

Beth scrunched her face. “Actually, I can smell that we’re close. Can’t you?”

Jamie sniffed the afternoon air. A foul stench tickled his nostrils. He hadn’t smelled such a disgusting aroma since his time in the hold of the Independence.

“Is it going to be bad?” he asked.

She nodded sadly. “Worse. It’s just behind that big warehouse across the street.”

Jamie stopped and bent down to talk to the children. “Listen, we’re blessed that we are still healthy. I don’t want either of you two taking a chance of getting sick by going to the station with me. I’ll go by myself. Beth, I need you to look after Colin until I get back.”

“I’m tired of walking,” complained Colin.

“You get to have a rest right now,” Jamie explained. “Beth will look after you.”

“We can’t wait here,” commented Beth, looking warily at the nearby workers. “Someone will think we are runaway orphans, and they will send for the police. We might get caught and put back into an orphanage.”

“All right, then,” said Jamie. “What do you suggest?”

Beth thought for a moment. “I know a nearby hiding place — if it’s still there. Follow me!”

She led them away from the water and the warehouses to a pile of broken and discarded crates at the edge of an undeveloped field. They walked around to the back of the pile. Almost hidden was a narrow entranceway to the interior of the jagged mountain of wood. Dropping to her hands and knees, Beth crawled through the opening and disappeared from view. A couple of seconds later, her head reappeared, grinning.

“Yep, the burlap sacks are still in here, just like I left them! They make a great sleeping mat.”

Jamie studied the pile of crates. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

She tapped the crates affectionately. “They haven’t moved this pile of boxes in over a year. It’s one of my favourite hiding places. I can’t see it moving by itself anytime soon. Come on, Colin! I’m a mama bear and you’re the baby. Follow me into our cave!”

Colin laughed and together they growled and scurried on all fours into the makeshift bear cave. Beth glanced over her shoulder at Jamie, her face flashing concern and hope at the same time.

“Good luck.”

Jamie bent over. “Hopefully there will be two of us when I return. Keep an eye on that baby bear of ours.”

“I will.”

Jamie retraced his steps back through the warehouses. The stench had risen to an almost unbearable level by the time he’d circled around the final building and found the entranceway to the quarantine station. There were not one but three massive buildings stretching out towards the bank of the St. Lawrence. Guarding the fenced perimeter of the buildings was a company of armed servicemen. As Jamie approached, the soldier guarding the main gate stepped forward.

“Good day, son,” he said, in English. “How can I help you?”

“Are armed guards really necessary for a quarantine station?” asked Jamie. “Most are too sick to walk, let alone try to escape.”

The soldier guffawed as if that was the funniest joke he had ever heard. “We’re not here to keep the sick imprisoned. We’re to keep the locals under control. There has been more than one threat to burn down the entire quarantine station along with the hundreds of sick inside. Wouldn’t want that to happen now, would we?”

Jamie was stunned. “Are you serious? That would be mass murder!”

“Some in town would claim the sick Irish have already committed mass murder on us Canadians. We’ve had over a thousand people die this year in Montreal alone of typhoid and cholera. Thousands more have died in the rest of the colony! So yes, considering it’s the immigrants bringing the sickness to Canada, some would rather not have any immigrants on our land, if you get my meaning. Have you just arrived here yourself?”

“Actually, I am a new arrival, but I’m healthy.”

“Can I see your papers?”

Jamie passed him the papers Officer Keates had passed on to him before leaving the ship.

“Everything seems to be in order.”

“I’m looking for my brother who arrived in Montreal on a ship a week or two ago. Can you help me find him?”

“Not me, but I can point you in the direction of someone who can. See that small building beside the next gate? There should be someone inside who can access the records of new arrivals.”

Jamie thanked the officer and walked along the perimeter of the fence to the small administrative office building. As he made his way along the fence, he glanced over to the entrance of one of the quarantined buildings. He shuddered as he saw rows upon rows of the sick and dying. The lines of cots were full, so many of the quarantined simply made makeshift beds out of straw and lay on the floor. The pungent smell of death wafting from the fenced-in misery was mixed with the sobs, groans, and screams of the still living. He could see only a handful of brave nurses trying their best to care for the overwhelming number of quarantined immigrants.

“Out of the way, boy!”

Jamie stepped sideways as a large horse-drawn cart rumbled by. Behind the driver, the wooden cart was piled high with a mound of canvas-covered cargo. The cart hit a bump and a waxy arm suddenly dangled out over its wooden side. Jamie turned away, bent over, and took several slow, deep breaths, fighting with all his might not to be sick.

“Ryan is still alive,” he whispered, fighting for control.

He slowly straightened himself, took the final steps toward the office, and opened the door. At the far end of the office, a bespectacled bookkeeper was scribbling notes into a thick-bound book. A ring of stubbly grey hair crowned his intense face. He glanced up from his paperwork.

“May I help you, son?”

“I truly hope so,” replied Jamie. “I’ve just arrived from Ireland and I’m trying to track down my brother. He arrived in Montreal about two weeks ago.”

The administrator stared at him over his spectacles. “And you believe he is here in quarantine?”

“Actually, I’m not sure. All I know is that he arrived two weeks ago, and I thought quarantine would be as good a place as any to start looking for him.”

“Well, let’s see what I can do. His name, please?”

“Ryan Galway.”

“And any other tidbits of information that might help me narrow down the search?”

“I know he was on board the Carpathia.”

The clerk’s eyebrows rose. “The Carpathia?”

Something in his voice sent a shiver down Jamie’s spine. “Do you know of the ship?”

“It ran into quite a severe storm during the crossing. I heard it’s being repaired here in Montreal before it can return to service.”

“And the passengers?” asked Jamie, anxiously.

The administrator removed his glasses and tiredly rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You should brace yourself for some disturbing news, Mr. Galway. It was not a good scene on board the Carpathia when it arrived in the port of Montreal. A quarter of the passengers had died at sea. Some were washed overboard by the storm. Many who did survive the crossing were placed in quarantine while in very poor condition. I’m afraid some of those people have already passed away. But let me check the records. Certainly there must have been a few passengers who were able to walk away from the crossing.”

Jamie had to force himself to breathe as the old man shuffled through the files beside his desk.

“Ryan Galway … that name seems familiar. There was an older man, an uncle, in here a couple of days ago looking for the same last name.”

Jamie shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t have an uncle here in Montreal. In fact, I don’t have any family in Canada, except for my brother.”

“Strange. I could have sworn that was the name he enquired about. Galway, Galway.… Ah, here it is.”

Finding the proper file, he flicked through the papers until his eyes came to rest on two attached sheets. He looked them over several times and then walked the file over to Jamie. He held it out for Jamie to inspect. The first was a death certificate with his brother’s name on it. The second was a letter that Ryan had in his possession from a priest at Limerick Abbey. Jamie felt his blood turn to ice. The old man placed a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, son.”