Little Hell
Chapter II
Work. Sleepless, the huckle bearers walked empty handed down the grave hill. Little Hell rolled out like mist before them and all roads led to the mine.
Under the eye of Mr. Felts and his men, the miners shuffled with heavy helmets down the muddy road past the company store. No sound but machines working. Exhaustion and hunger were reminders to keep the workers in line. Group by group, they disappeared down the shaft.
After changing their funerary clothes, the wayfarers donned their oil robes and kissed their loves before they went to the mine.
Down the same road they went. They were miners. It wasn’t long before they called on the cage. The foreman walked up.
“Y’all late.”
“You know what we were doin’,” said Soren.
“It don’t matter. Gonna dock your pay.”
“You were us once.”
“Yep, now I’m not. Looks like your ride’s here.”
The men stepped in the cage. The foreman grinned through the bars. “Be safe down there. Don’t wanna lose another one.”
Soren, Marsh, and John turned on their headlamps and stared at each other as they sunk into the darkness. Murky and Deep. The cadence of rattling metal thrummed down the layers of time. They were digging to hell, only to find the gangway.
The timber props were like the ribcage of an ancient whale in a ragging sea. Picks and machines chewed away at the mountain as the miners looked to bleed it dry. It smelled of coal dust, gas, and oil, and the only sign of life was the occasional word among the resting diggers.
Soren shouldered his pick and walked toward the back of the mine. There were some young drivers readying their pit ponies and talking about what happened in front of the company store.
“I can’t believe Bruno’s gone. I’m gonna miss him.” One boy said as he shored up the harnesses on the ponies.
Another boy said, “He was the best groom we’ve had. He was good with all them animals. I bet he coulda kept a rattlesnake healthy without gettin’ bit.”
The boys stopped talking as Soren walked by.
Soren neared the back. Everything faded. He could only see where his carbide lamp pointed, but it showed no more truth than the dark.
The white light shone on a boy’s face, filthy and beaten. The young hauler leaned on an empty tub.
The back of the mine smelled nothing like the damp clothes and sweat near the gangway. It was inhuman. Soren swung his pick. He forgot the pain he had gotten used to over the years and the more he picked the less he could forget. He shoveled the coal in the tub. “You alright?” He asked the boy. The boy lowered his head like an old broken mule and hauled the coal away. Work. Over and over again. The same. Soren shoveled and the boy hauled, never saying another word. This went on. There was no time. Only coal.
Soren turned. The boy and the tub were gone. He waited. Nothing. He walked down a way and saw empty tubs and no drivers. He went up to one of the ponies and pet it. He looked around. For the first time, panic set in. He could feel the mountain pushing on him. It was all black but a small speck of light. He took some deep breaths until he came to.
Finally, Soren made it to the gangway. The pit boss was shouting and pointing at the crowd. Tubs were piled up and derailed. There was a 2-to-3-foot section of track missing. The pit boss cursed and hit the drivers. Soren stepped in. “You think we should start clearing this up instead of hitin’ those boys?” The pit boss stopped. He knew challenging Soren meant something else. More miners started to pile in the gangway to see what was going on.
The voice from the other aside of the wall spoke. “Good to see you made it out.”
“I take it I have you to thank.”
“Don’t you remember? You dug yourself out and collapsed right before you got to the cage.”
Soren thought and decided it was best not to remember. He looked at the track, “Who do think did this?”
“What makes you think someone did?”
“A section of track just doesn’t disappear on its own.”
“Possibly.”
“What’s your name?”
“Name’s Cole. Yeah, I know.”
Marsh came up. “What now? There’s no way I’m gonna hit my quota with things goin’ on like this.”
“Track’s missin,” said Soren.
The pit boss announced, “Half pay for everyone today.”
A miner shouted. “We got debts. You can’t do this.”
Marsh shook his head. “Looks like we’re workin’ for free.”
Most of the miners took the lashing and waited for the tracks to be repaired. But there was a small group a bit more agitated than the others. Once the track got fixed, they started working slower, no matter how much the boss shouted.
Arch lamps lit the mouth of the mine with an unnatural glow. It was past nightfall the miners winced as they reached the surface with a larger debt than before they went down.
The miners gathered. Most were complaining. Some laughing and carrying on and others whispering rumors. One even mentioned the ghost of Mrs. Test. But there was a small group standing out of the light. It was as though they were communicating without saying a word.
Soren walked up. He saw Cole standing behind the group. “Y’all alright?” No one answered until a man raised his voice. He spoke like some unseen line had been crossed. “No, it ain’t alright. Nothin’ is.”
Soren looked up and that saw Mr. Felts was interested. Soren calmed the man. “We’re all tired. At the end of our rope. I know. But how about we get to our families tonight? They’re probably worried with all the things happenin’ as of late. If any of you ain’t got food, you can come by my place.”
Mr. Felts disappeared as the men walked away. Cole stayed. “So, this is why everyone calls you reverend.”
“I’m not that.”
Cole paused, “There’s a lot of us upset. Maybe we can change some things around here.”
“I’m not lookin’ to change nothin’. Just don’t want more people dyin’.”
“That may be so, but eventually something will need to be done. You’re welcome to join us. We talk about things by graveyard on Sunday nights.
“It’s not my business. Good night, Mr.”
“It’s Cole. Just Cole.”
Soren walked away. The night was dark. On his way home, he saw a little girl run out to her father. She took her father’s heavy helmet and put it on her head before she marched into the shack, assuming her wooden throne, waiting for the feast. And from under her crown, she watched her mother lead her hero into the light of home. It was Ithica welcoming their king.