“Father, what’s happened? Is there a problem?”
“I must perform an emergency appendectomy, and we were trying to figure out where to do it.”
“The school room would be perfect.” Evie remembered the tarps they’d used to cover the back of one of the wagons. “We can take the waxed canvas from the wagon and put it over one of the tables. I can disinfect it and then put a clean sheet down on that. There’s good lighting in the school room, andwe have several lamps if we need more. I’ll go grab my apron and help you.”
“Are you sure you want to help with this, Evie?” He eyed her with a doubtful expression.
Evie held up a vial that she’d had in her pocket. “I have my peppermint oil, and you need an assistant for such a surgery. God will give me the ability to face the challenge.”
The tenderness in her father’s face was all the encouragement she needed. “I’ll be right back.”
“Evie,” he called after her.
She turned. “Yes?”
“I’ve never been prouder of you.”
Max saw the scarred man standing by the water pump near the chicken house. He decided it couldn’t hurt to make conversation. The man gave him a nod and motioned toward Max’s arm. “I heard you were injured in the fire.”
Max nodded. “I see you know something of fire and burns.”
“Yes, sir. Got this several years ago in Chicago.” The man lifted his brown felt hat. “Hair won’t even grow here where it burned me to the skull.”
“I’m sure the recovery was long and hard. I’m not that badly burned, but the pain has been fierce.”
“Yeah, it was somethin’ of a nightmare. I would just as soon have died. Several of my neighbors did. I think they had it better that way.”
Max felt compassion for the man. “The Nicollet fire was certainly a bad one. I’m impressed that nobody died, especially over on Boom Island. That’s where I was. Fire just engulfed us before I even knew what was happening.”
“I watched part of it from the bridge. Brought back terrible thoughts, and all for boys being careless.”
“Some think the fire was intentionally set. Especially the one on Boom Island.”
He looked at Max for a long moment. “A man would have to be a fool to do such a thing. I heard it said that some folks were of a mind to burn down the mills and collect the insurance money, but it was just desperate talk. Folks are always running off at the mouth when they feel threatened.”
“So you don’t think anyone deliberately set the fire to collect insurance money? I mean, if they were speaking about it, it’s quite possible they might act upon those thoughts.”
“I suppose, but they would have hired it done, and the kind of folks who would do such a thing are the very men I live amongst. I would have heard about it. Men like that are braggarts with their friends. They’d want their work admired. No, I don’t think the fire was set. Just a misfortune of timing and errors.” The man paused and fixed Max with a look that suggested concern. “Are you thinking it was done on purpose?”
Max didn’t know why, but the man’s comments made a strange sort of sense. “I don’t know, but I’d like to. I wonder,” Max said, reaching for his wallet, “if you would like to earn ten dollars?”
“Always,” the man replied. “I don’t do anything illegal, though.”
“Good, I wouldn’t want you to.” Max handed him a ten-dollar bill. “Nose around and see if anyone did set the fire on Boom Island. I was nearly killed there, and if someone set it on purpose, I want to know why. Were they hired to do the job? Were they after revenge? Whatever the reason, I’d like to know.”
“And if I can’t find anyone who did it, do I have to give the money back?”
“No. It’s yours to keep. Just check in with me and let me know as soon as you know something.”
The man nodded. “By the way, the name is Stubbs.”
“I’m Max Garrison, the temporary schoolteacher here.”
Later after the uncomplicated surgery, Evie cleaned up as her father directed the transport of the young man back to his family’s tent. She felt good that she could work at her father’s side, but her stomach was churning. She grabbed the bucket of rinse water just as she lost the contents of her stomach.
To her surprise and horror, she heard someone come up from behind her.
“I heard about the surgery and wanted to check on you. Looks like I got here just in time.”
