A Coal Miner's Son Read online

  Oh sure, some of it was simply because Old Man Callahan was grooming his son to take over the company someday and wouldn’t allow his son to skip a visit to any of the mines the Callahans owned. Some of it, though, seemed like James enjoyed spending time with the townsfolk and hiking the trails in the hills around the mine. Cai knew Owain had gone with him on occasions when his brother had the day off, which wasn’t very often.

  “I need to get to the mine,” Cai said, ignoring his brother as he approached. “I’m on second shift this week.”

  “All right. Are you going to Ma’s tonight for dinner?”

  He nodded. Ma had called a mandatory dinner, which meant everyone showed up or they’d get their asses switched. Their ma was a petite woman barely weighing a hundred pounds, but she ruled their family with an iron fist. His pa was a hard man and he was even afraid of Ma when she got on a tear.

  “Do you know why she called it?” After checking his watch, he realized he had to leave right then or he’d be late. “Never mind. I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Be safe.”

  He nodded. “Be safe” was Rees family code for “love you.” No one knew exactly when it started being used. They’d been saying it ever since Cai could remember his ma sending his pa out the door for his shift at the mine. Probably handed down from when the first Rees went to work in the mines in Wales, he thought.

  “You too.”

  He climbed into his truck, then backed out of the driveway. He looked at the house one last time before he drove away. The Callahan place wasn’t really a house. It was a three-room cabin, built from native pine. It wasn’t very ostentatious compared to the other homes in the Hollow. The outside was plain, but well taken care of. Callahan paid some of the miners to keep an eye on it during the winter.

  From what Cai could remember of the first and only time he’d been inside, the cabin had a bathroom with indoor plumbing, a small bedroom, and the living/dining room/kitchen was one large open area. It had satellite and Internet, which had cost Callahan a pretty penny to get laid from the mine headquarters, but the old man didn’t spare any cost. Other than those few luxuries, it was furnished sparsely. More like a well-off man’s hunting lodge than someone’s house.

  “Who fucking cares?” he muttered as he headed to the mine. “It’s not like I’m going to be invited to hang out there anyway. I’m not Golden Boy’s friend.”

  And if there was a hint of jealousy in his voice, there wasn’t anyone to hear it. He was man enough to admit that some of the problem he had with Owain’s friendship with James was the fact that Cai couldn’t have the same easygoing relationship with the man. Too many years had marched on and a few too many hostile words had been said for there to be a thawing of the coldness between them.

  Sighing, Cai shook his head. No point in whining about things he couldn’t change. Pulling onto mine property, he parked his truck next to Roscoe’s, then climbed out. He grabbed his hard hat before strolling to the main building. He’d been promoted to shift foreman two months ago, meaning more responsibility on top of the work he put in down in the tunnels every day.

  Complaining was pointless and likely to get his head smacked by his ma if she ever found out he was doing it, even mentally. More responsibility meant more money and his family could use that, so he kept his mouth shut and did his job.

  “Hey, Rees, I heard Callahan Junior will be around tomorrow to look over all the improvements the company’s forced down our throats,” Roscoe yelled from where he waited for their shift to start with some of the other men.

  “Really? I hadn’t heard,” he shouted back, then waved as he went into the building and made his way to the foreman’s office.

  His pa sat behind the desk, glowering down at the sheets in front of him. “I can’t make heads nor tails of these fucking numbers. I thought that was what we had number guys for. It’s not like I went to school for this.”

  Cai took them out of his pa’s hands. “I’ll look them over and tell you what you need to know before Callahan comes in tomorrow morning. The number guys do go over this stuff, but as the mine’s foreman, you should know all of it too. You need to keep on top of things, just in case there’s a problem so it won’t catch you off guard.”

  “Just another fucking improvement that young idiot thinks will make the mining more profitable,” his pa grumbled. “Got a note from the supervisor saying we need to put in three more ventilation shafts. Why? There’s no such thing as clean air when you’re a thousand feet underground.”

  He wasn’t going to argue with his pa, not about things he knew were good for the miners but that the old guard didn’t think were necessary. These improvements James was making at all the Callahan-owned mines were the only things Cai could remember his pa agreeing with Old Man Callahan about. They both thought the new equipment was a wasted expense, and Cai had agreed at first.

  Then he’d seen what it could do and how it helped the miners do their jobs safer and quicker. They were digging more coal out of the ground with fewer injuries. Something that thrilled Cai and made a lot of the women in the Hollow happier.

  “Do we have the materials for the shafts?” He directed his pa’s attention to the matter at hand. If he didn’t, his pa would rage for hours about the Callahans and the state of coal mining in general. His pa’s monologues made for some very interesting holiday dinners.

  “It’ll be delivered tomorrow and Callahan will tell us where he wants them put. Getting orders from a jackass that’s never been down there rubs me the wrong way, Cai. How does he know where the best place for those shafts are?” Pa scratched at his sparse salt-and-pepper hair and frowned.

  Cai mentally rolled his eyes. “You know he has geologists who look at all the information and underground maps. Also, he talks to us, Pa. James asks us about what we see when we’re down there and which tunnels we think need more ventilation. It’s not like he throws a dart at the map to make his decision.” He hated having to defend James, but no matter what his own opinion of the man was, James Callahan was his employer and he wouldn’t risk losing his job by talking shit about him. Not at the mine where any of the office staff could overhear and tell on him.

  Pa grunted, then waved at him. “Get out of here. Where are you working this afternoon?”

  After wandering over to the huge map on the wall, Cai studied it for a moment. It diagrammed the main tunnel leading down to the lowest level they’d dug at so far. Also, all the tunnels that branched off from it. The ones where the coal had played out were marked in red. The ones where the coal was still being removed were marked in black. There were notes and pins stuck everywhere, telling of potential problems that needed to be checked out or the possibility of more coal being found in a different direction from a tunnel.

  “I’m sending Roscoe and his crew to Branch F, while me and my guys will be working Branch D.” Cai moved two pushpins to the aforementioned branches. He settled his hard hat on his head, then nodded to his pa. “I’ll see you tonight for dinner. I’ll only have an hour. Roscoe said he’d cover for me if something comes up here.”

  “Right. Your ma picked the night the most people could come,” Pa told him.

  “I know and I’m coming. If I can’t make it, I’ll call and let you know. Be safe.” He left before his pa could answer and went outside, where the men on his shift were waiting for him.

  After checking to make sure they all had their carbon monoxide monitors, he gave them their assignments.

  “Did you double check your equipment? Radios, lights, and monitors working?”

  “Yes, sir,” everyone chimed.

  He grinned. “Okay. Adamson from the morning shift said some of his guys reported some structural issues going on in a shoot branch off of Branch B12. The engineers will be taking a look at it, but remember, be careful down there and let me know immediately if you see, smell, or hear anything.”

  “Yes, sir,” they all said again.

  “Assholes,” he mutter
ed, then waved Roscoe forward. “Get your asses down there. We’ve got coal to dig.”

  The men joked and laughed as they got in the elevators to take them down. Cai took a deep breath and joined them. He’d been working in the mine since he was sixteen, but he never got used to the darkened tunnels and closed-in feeling to them. Oh, they weren’t the shoulder-width-across narrow shafts his great-grandfather had worked in. No, there had to be room for the mining equipment, which helped widen the tunnels significantly. It was just Cai never forgot there was about a thousand feet of rock between him and sunshine once he was in the mine.

  Huge fans helped circulate fresh air throughout the tunnels, and while it had created more work in the beginning for the crews, Cai was grateful that James had insisted on putting more in. Not only did they provide air, they helped to vent the methane gas and carbon monoxide that could build up in the mines. As far as he was concerned, there couldn’t be enough of those things.

  Once everyone got to their spots, Cai signaled the machinists to get the conveyor belts going. The noise was almost overwhelming and he could feel the vibrations through the soles of his boots. There were times when it felt like his body trembled to the rhythm of the belts.

  Occasionally there were moments when he’d sneak off into one of the abandoned tunnels to get a minute of quiet. Yet even in the out-of-use areas, there was noise, just not that of modern machinery and progress. There was the drip of water seeping from the dirt. Dings as small rocks came loose from the walls and fell to the floor. Groans as the very earth around him shifted and settled.

  Those times served to remind him there was a bigger force at work. At any moment, nature could exert its power and prove it still held all the cards, no matter what humans thought.

  The mines were no place for daydreaming. One little lapse of attention—or judgment—could result in a catastrophe. No miner wanted that to happen. Cai got to work, pushing away his flight of fancy.

  A couple of hours later, Roscoe buzzed him. “Hey, boss, you heading out for your ma’s?”

  He held his watch up to his lamp and swore when he saw the time. Clicking his radio, he said, “Yeah. Thanks for reminding me.”

  “No problem. Take off. I’ve got this. If something happens, I’ll call you.” Roscoe was a good assistant foreman and Cai had no problem leaving him in charge for the hour he would be gone.

  He let the rest of his crew know he was going to take his dinner, then took the elevator up to the surface. Dashing to his truck, he tossed his hard hat into the backseat and climbed behind the steering wheel.

  On the way to his ma’s, he had to pass the Callahan house, and he spotted the beat-up Ford truck James Callahan drove every time he came to Willow Hollow. At least he was smart enough to know that a car wouldn’t make it around on some of the back roads. He also spotted Callahan’s giant red dog. It was dashing from one tree to another, sniffing and barking its fool head off at something.

  Cai smiled. It might not be a hunting dog, but having it with him gave James an icebreaker with the townsfolk. They loved dogs of any kind and most families had at least one. Cai had two bluetick hound dogs he took coon hunting when he needed to get away from everything.

  James was standing on the front porch watching the dog, and when he saw Cai drive past, he lifted his hand. Cai waved back in acknowledgment. Hell, he could be polite as long as he wasn’t talking to the guy. Whenever they met at the mine, he managed to have other guys there with more seniority, so he didn’t have to speak.

  His parents’ driveway was filled with trucks of all sizes and brands. Some newer than others and some with primer instead of actual paint. Looks like Ma called a meeting for the whole town. He parked on the grass close to the road so he didn’t have to worry about anyone blocking him in.

  After taking the porch steps two at a time, he shoved open the screen door and yelled, “I have to wash up, then I’ll be there.”

  “Take a breath or two, son.” Ma glanced at him from where she stood in the kitchen. “I just took the roast outta the oven. You have time.”

  He washed his hands and splashed water on his face before returning to where everyone gathered in the dining/living room area. While it wasn’t everyone in town, it did seem to be a meeting of the ones who were in charge of things.

  Cai wondered what he was doing here. He was still considered a kid by most of the people in his ma’s house. Then he noticed Owain standing in the corner. He shot him a questioning look, but Owain shrugged.

  “Food’s ready. Grab a plate and fill it up. We’ll talk once everyone’s got something to eat,” Ma ordered.

  After filling his plate, Cai took a spot in the corner out of the way from everyone. His clothes were covered in dust from the mine and he didn’t want to get it in anyone else’s food. He snorted. Silly idea, considering a majority of the people dealt with the coal dust all the time themselves.

  Owain joined him and Cai glanced at his brother. “I didn’t know Ma had a beef roast. I know there’s some venison in the freezer, but no beef.”

  “Guess she had something hidden away for a special occasion,” Owain replied, avoiding his gaze.

  “After the meeting, there are groceries for you all to pick from and take home,” Ma announced. “It’ll be out in the garage when you leave.”

  “Groceries? Where did Ma get the money for extra supplies? This month’s going to be tight for everyone, since we have to send Bronwen money,” Cai said under his breath to Owain.

  Owain set his beer down and shrugged. “Found money.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Cai glared.

  His brother rolled his eyes. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, brother. No one will have to go without this month.” The look he gave Cai basically said to quit harping on it.

  “All right, but you’re going to tell me at some point,” he warned.

  “I know.” Owain went back to eating.

  Ma made sure everyone had something to eat before she started giving an update on Bronwen. “She’s doing well. Her residency is wearing her out, but she’s loving it. I asked her a while ago if she had an idea of what she would need for her clinic when she’s ready to come home. I got a beginning list from her today.”

  Cai narrowed his eyes as he thought about how expensive building and stocking a medical clinic would be. Could the town afford to do it? Yet he knew it wasn’t a matter of if they could afford it, but how much each family would be able to give toward it. Because every one of them would donate what they could so there would be a doctor in the Hollow and they wouldn’t have to drive two hours to the closest hospital.

  They all talked about what was needed. Whether building a new structure or renovating an older one was the best plan. Where it should be located, and if they would be able to convince other medical personnel to come out there with Bronwen.

  “I have to get back,” Cai said, standing and taking his plate and glass into the kitchen. He gave his ma a hug and kiss. “Let me know when you need my labor for the clinic. And you know whatever money I can give, I will.”

  “I know.” She patted his cheek. “You’re a good boy. Now get back to work. Can’t leave those boys on their own for too long.”

  “Roscoe’s not too bad,” he protested halfheartedly.

  She raised an eyebrow and he chuckled at her skepticism. As he headed toward the front door, he stopped to talk to a few people, then said good-bye to his pa. Owain was on the porch smoking when Cai finally made it there.

  “You’re going to tell me where Ma gets all these extra groceries she gives away from time to time. I know you’re in the middle of this.” He poked his brother in the side.

  Owain exhaled a puff of smoke and shot him a sideways glance. “I’ll tell you if you want to know, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be happy to know the truth. Hell, most of the people in there wouldn’t be happy if I told them how Ma got the groceries.”

  There were few reasons why Cai wouldn’t be happy about t
he windfall. “You didn’t steal them, did you?”

  “Come on. Seriously?” Owain huffed. “Do you really think I’d steal that shit? And Ma would give it away?”

  “Not if she didn’t know,” he muttered, feeling a little stupid at thinking his brother would steal.

  Owain put his cigarette out, then tossed the butt into the can next to the door. “Why is it so important? Can’t you just be happy that it’s showing up without costing you anything?” His phone buzzed and he checked the screen. “I have to answer this. Don’t you have to get back to work?”

  “I do.” He watched his brother stroll across the lawn while talking on the phone. “Hey, be safe.”

  He smiled when Owain waved at him, then he went to his truck. It was time to get back to work. He had a few minutes left. He’d have to talk to Ma and see why she’d thought he needed to be there.

  Chapter Three

  JAMES STOOD when Pharaoh barked at the front door. He went to the refrigerator and grabbed two beers as he heard Owain greet his dog. After popping the caps, he wandered back to hold out one of the bottles.

  “Here. How’d dinner go?”

  Owain took a swig as he flopped onto the couch. “Great. Cai grilled me about where the extra groceries came from. I don’t understand why he’s so curious. He knows we’re not doing anything illegal to get them. I’m not robbing stores and trucks to get bags for people.”

  “Probably just worried it’ll come back to bite you in the ass,” James commented, sitting in the chair across from Owain.

  “You’re not my type, so I won’t be baring my ass for you to bite it,” Owain joked. “Ma talked to Bronwen. Said she got a list of basic items she’s going to need for the clinic when she comes home.”

  James nodded. “I’ll talk to your sister. I’m pretty sure I can help with money for the clinic and medical supplies.”

  His friend shook his head. “You don’t have to do that. We can get the stuff we need. It might take a little while, but we have time. Bronwen still has a year on her schooling. I’m thinking that empty general store could be converted to a clinic. We’d just need to figure out what kind of changes need to be done.”