Sadie and the others stopped at Bess’s side and paid their respects, then passed by without looking in my direction.
Hazel’s wide eyes followed their every movement. “Ally,” she whispered in a loud voice, pulling my arm. “Who—”
“Shh.” I put my finger on her lips, afraid she’d say something to embarrass everyone.
She was too young to understand who they were, but she would be curious, especially because she had seen precious few women since we arrived.
The canvas walls shifted like they were breathing as hundreds of men passed through the front room. At noon, I took Hazel and Johnnie into the kitchen to scramble more eggs.
The children stood next to me, cracking eggs into a bowl. “My mama died, too,” Hazel said. “Are you sad, Johnnie?”
Johnnie didn’t respond.
“I’m sad about my mama. But I know she lives with Jesus now, and Ally is like my mama. She can be your new mama, too. Right, Ally?”
They looked up at me.
What could I say? Johnnie had so much pain in his life. I couldn’t reject the question, but I also couldn’t promise to stay with him and care for him forever. That would ultimately hurt him, too.
“No one can ever replace your mama,” I said, putting my hand on his soft cheek. “But I will take care of you and keep you safe as long as I can.”
A gentleness filled his eyes, and though he didn’t smile, it was as close to a smile as I’d ever seen on his sweet face.
After we ate, I took the children back to the front room and let them sit on two chairs while the funeral continued.
Paddy stood silently in the corner, acute grief and pain on his face as he stared at Bess’s still figure. A single tear rolled down his cheek from time to time, and he wiped it away, never taking his eyes off her, as if he was trying to memorize her face.
There was a commotion outside the building, and Sam straightened as English Jim appeared in the doorway. I hadn’t seen him since we’d arrived at the dock that first day. He was surrounded by several men who looked tougher and meaner than all the others. Scars, missing teeth, and weathered faces glared at those who had come for the funeral.
These men walked with a peculiar gait, like several men in Sydney Town, and a few of them had the same branding that Sam did, except theirs were on their faces. I sawMs,Fs,Ts, andBs, though I wasn’t sure what they meant. All of them carried weapons in holsters around their waists.
Cole was among them, though he stood out because he didn’t look as fierce or menacing as the rest. Nor did he walk with that strange gait.
Jim stepped into the room and faced Sam. “There was a time when I would have heard about Bess’s death from you.”
The muscles in Sam’s jaw worked as he stared at the newcomer. “I told you. Those days have passed.”
“I come to pay my respect.”
“I won’t stop you or your men, but I will stop Cole.”
“He’s one of my men now.”
“Since when?”
“Since today.”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s not welcome here, and he knows it.”
The air crackled with tension, and I held my breath. Now more than ever, I wanted to know how the original history was supposed to play out between all these men. If the fire had happened andSam was in jail right now, would Cole have joined Jim’s gang? The movie had portrayed Cole as a victim of circumstances, and if I remembered correctly, he had left San Francisco after the fire and made his way to Sacramento to start over. The movie ended with him riding off into the sunset. But that had been the version he’d told.
“Stay outside, Cole,” Jim said. “Wouldn’t want there to be any more trouble today.”
I had a good view of Cole from where I stood, and despite everything, I saw the grief on his face. I wasn’t sure what had come between him, Bess, and Sam, but he had cared for her.
Paddy took his eyes off Bess and glared at Jim and his cronies.
Not for the first time, I wondered how all these men knew each other. I wanted to find out, but who could I ask? Paddy struggled to communicate, and I hadn’t befriended anyone else, so that only left Sam. Though he appeared intimidating, his tenderness toward Bess and Johnnie, and his kindness toward Paddy, told me that I might have been wrong about him. He was a criminal. I knew that much from the movie. But was Cole’s account of the story true? Could I trust anything I thought I had known?
