Olivia's Mine (31 page)

When the walls caved in around them, Harry
had been hit in the head by falling rock, knocking him unconscious.
Yan had applied pressure to the wound, as Harry had begrudgingly
taught him, cleansing it and wrapping his head in gauze he had
found in the first-aid kit. He was concerned that Harry may have
suffered a concussion, so he kept waking him up every little while
for what he believed was the first day they had spent down there.
It had been so hard to keep any sense of time. While Yan didn’t get
much sleep himself, taking care of Harry gave him a focus, shutting
the predicament they were in from his mind.

Harry’s eyes fluttered awake.

“What’s happening?” he asked weakly.

“They’re coming,” Yan said. “They will be
through soon.”

Harry tried to sit up.

“No,” Yan said. “Lie down, save your
strength.”

“I want to tell you something,” Harry said,
undeterred. He reached up and felt the bandage on his head. “I want
to thank you, for saving my life.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I think it is Yan. You know, I did not want
to teach you first aid. I did not want to teach you anything.”

Yan remembered how Harry had patiently taught
others the basic skills, but grunted his way through it with him.
His grandfather had told him that Harry held some funny beliefs
about his fellow Orientals. He explained it was a lot like sibling
rivalry, the more alike they were, the more they wished things were
different, each one trying to find their own identity.

“I did not like you,” Harry admitted.

“I think that was obvious. What did I ever do
to you?”

“Nothing,” Harry said. “I like you now.”

Yan smiled.

“Jimmy kept telling me, you’re a good guy. I
didn’t listen. He likes your family. Perhaps that was part of it.
He spends more time with your grandfather than he does with
me.”

“Well, we are twins now, yes? Like brothers.
You pushed me into the safety room. A little too hard maybe. See, I
have a gash on my leg where I hit the ground. I wasn’t paying
attention. That wall almost crushed me when it came down. Look, you
can’t see the place where I was standing before you gave me the
shove.”

Harry saw the bandage underneath Yan’s ripped
open pant leg. He then glanced at the pile of rubble that had once
formed the wall of the tunnel. It was as if an earthquake had
ripped through it.

“This mountain is awake,” Harry thought to
himself.

“You saved my life by doing that,” Yan
continued, “and then the rocks came tumbling down and that big one
over there hit you on the head. You passed out. I took care of you,
just like you trained me. I wonder, if that had been me,
unconscious, would you have saved me?”

Harry looked into Yan’s eyes and saw his
own.

“I believe so,” he answered honestly.

“I believe so too,” Yan answered, “so now we
are twins like I said. We were not born at the same time but we
escaped death at the same time. We owe each other our lives.”

“Humph,” Harry grunted. He would have to
think about that.

“You need more training,” Harry said, placing
two fingers under the gauze and stretching it a bit. “The bandage
is too tight on my head. It’s giving me a headache.”

“You must be feeling better,” Yan answered.
He passed him some water.

“Here, sip slowly.”

Harry suddenly realized how thirsty he really
was. He eagerly took a few gulps.

“Do you not listen to anything I say?” Yan
said smiling, passing him a wet rag. “If you start to feel sick,
don’t blame me.”

“What’s this?” Harry asked.

“The rest of my pant leg. I have soaked it in
the water leaking through the walls. Use it as a cold compress. It
will help that bump on your head go down.”

Yan thought for a moment he almost saw Harry
smile.

“Very good, thank you.”

“Where did you learn English?” Yan asked
him.

“I learned it as a boy. How about you?”

“Me too. We have that in common. My
grandfather, he also speaks English, but he doesn’t like to do it
in public. He thinks people will laugh at him.”

“Jimmy understands him,” Harry offered.
“Jimmy doesn’t always understand his mother, but he understands
your grandfather.”

Harry paused for a moment.

“It was difficult for my wife to learn
English,” he admitted. “Perhaps I was not patient enough with her
when she was first trying. It was hard to see her struggle. But she
was determined. She is learning more and more words every day. But
we have to work on her pronunciation.”

“I think perhaps Jimmy understands more of
your wife’s English than he admits.”

“True,” Harry said. “He is a teenager. He
understands what is convenient for him. In English, one word can
have many meanings. That confuses my wife. When Jimmy is mad at his
mother he will try to confuse her. And what is that saying? The
apple does not fall far from the tree as they say. Maybe I do a
little of that myself.”

“So when we get out of here, are you going to
tell your wife how proud of her you are?” Yan asked.

“No,” Harry laughed. “The yin and the yang,
yes? I am the boss of the Yada household. It would upset the
delicate balance of the home if I said something like that.”

“Harry Yada, you are full of it,” Yan said.
“I know you are proud of Akiko. She does not have to work long
nights anymore. She educated herself in a new language and got a
good job with daytime hours. My daughter Diane, she looks at your
wife and knows her future will be full of more hope. She does not
have to be a cleaner. She wants to be a teacher. She knows it is
possible. I am proud of your wife.”

He took a sip of water.

“And your son...Jimmy has a friendship with
an old man. Do you know how unusual that is? Particularly for a
teenager? He never misses lunch with him on Saturdays. They sit on
the back porch having soup whether the weather is hot or cold. I
think it’s what’s keeping my grandfather alive. Even I do not see
him that much. I am proud of your son.”

The drills above them suddenly stopped,
sending an eerie silence into the space inhabited by the two men.
The men held the silence for a few moments, each of them deep in
thought in his own private world.

A shiver of dread passed down Harry’s spine
as he considered the fact that after all this time in the mine; the
rescue may have been called off.

“If we get out,” Harry whispered, following
the quiet, “I will tell them both how proud of them I am, I
promise.”

“When we get out,” Yan insisted, “I will have
lunch with my grandfather. Maybe even every other week. I
promise.”

The two men shook hands.

As if on cue, the silence suddenly was broken
by the sound of more activity.

“Listen,” Yan began, “the voices, they’re
close.”

The two men started to yell.

On the other side of the pile of rubble, the
same conversation began to play out.

“Listen,” Frank said. “Can you hear them?
They’re alive! Just on the other side of this pile of rock. Jason,
go back up and tell the others. I need all hands down here. We’ve
found them, and they’re alive! Billy, bring Bertha over here!”

“Hearn should take a look at this wall of
rock before we start her up,” Billy said.

“Good man,” Frank said. “You’re absolutely
right. I wouldn’t want to kill them this close to getting them out
of there!”

Jason headed back up the tunnel as fast as
his feet would take him.

Outside the shaft, the solemn crowd prepared
for the worst. Sarah had come by bringing some breakfast for Jimmy.
He had continued to refuse to go home, preferring to try to sleep
on the ground outside the shaft with only a few blankets and
pillow. He was only sleeping for a few hours at a time, she
noticed, and now she could see that he was getting a cold.

“Jimmy, please,” she began, “go home and get
some rest. I’ll call you the minute I hear anything, I promise. You
need to change out of your wet clothes. You’ll catch pneumonia. Go
on, off you go.”

Before Jimmy had a chance to protest, he
could hear Jason calling to everyone from within the tunnel.

“We heard them,” Jason said excitedly as he
stepped outside the mine.

“Them?” Sarah asked.

“My father?” Jimmy hoped.

“Yes, them. Two voices. They’re both
alive!”

“Sarah, quickly, go get Akiko!” Jason
said.

“Did you see them?” Jimmy asked.

“Jimmy, listen to me. We did hear two voices,
but we don’t know what kind of shape they are in. They’re behind a
thick pile of rocks. They may be injured. I need you to go get the
doctors and bring them here. In the meantime, I need to find Hearn
so he can take a look at the rock wall and tell us how to best
clear it with the new drill.”

“The drill from the boat?” Jimmy asked.

“She’s a beauty Jimmy; she’ll have them out
of there in no time.”

I’ll go get the doctors,“ Jimmy said, running
off towards the hospital. “And I’ll go tell Mr. McMichael. It’s my
job.”

Sarah thought that just for a moment, she saw
Jimmy start to cry.

“This is good news, no?” she asked Jason.

“It sure is a lot better than silence.”

Frank emerged from the tunnel, completely
covered in mud.

“That Bertha,” he stated, “she’s one hell of
a drill. She got us through twice the rock today. We should have
them out by morning.”

Sarah clapped excitedly.

“In time for the wedding,” she sighed. “It’s
going to be a glorious day after all.”

As the dawn broke over the majestic
mountains, Britannia was waking up with a new found hope.

The Beachcomber opened a little earlier than
usual. Lucy carried over some cheese scones that Maggie had baked
the night before.

“You take these up to the store,” she said,
“and make sure those wonderful Bower women get some. I met Grace at
the café last night and we chatted for hours like old friends. I
said I’d look after the lad for them during the reception. Let the
family have a good night to remember. They’ve been a Godsend.”

Olivia already had the tea brewed. She
expected her mother and Emily to arrive any minute. Sister Anne had
gone to Akiko’s with Daniel. Akiko had been so touched by Anne’s
kindness that she invited them over for some origami lessons.

“The infamous Beachcomber,” her mother said,
the door chimes announcing her arrival. “It certainly caused quite
a stir when it opened, didn’t it? There were so many people here
during the rescue, I didn’t have a chance to properly look around.
It’s quite wonderful darling!”

“I am quite proud of it,” Olivia beamed.

“And so you should be. Emily, look at all
these spices!”

“We bring them in from Chinatown in
Vancouver. We’ve got quite a selection of teas as well. We’re
drinking chamomile today, it’s Jimmy Yada’s favourite.”

“It’s really wonderful Olivia,” Emily chimed
in. “It makes me wish I had a head for figures so I could do
something like this myself.”

“Well I couldn’t have done it without Lucy
here, and of course Akiko.”

“I still haven’t met Akiko,” Grace said.
“Maybe after the wedding, when she’s had a chance to catch her
breath, we can have a little chat. Anne says she’s delightful.
Goodness we’ve all been so busy here; we haven’t had a decent
chance to talk ourselves. How are you, Olivia?”

“You know, tea is fine and dandy, but I could
murder a cup of coffee. Lucy, could you take me to this café I keep
hearing about? I’m not very good at directions, I’m afraid. But do
save me a scone for later mother.”

Sensing that Emily was trying to give her
mother some time alone with Olivia, Lucy took the hint. “I suppose
I could sneak away from work this once. I think Olivia and Grace
can manage.” The two women left the store.

“Your sister does not know the meaning of the
word discretion,” Grace announced. “Still, it gives us a few
moments together. How are you feeling Olivia? I understand you’re
expecting.”

“Do I show that much?” Olivia asked.

“No, but your father found out. He finds out
everything.”

“I’m fine thank you. I haven’t had much
morning sickness.”

“Is Frank happy about the baby?”

“Of course.”

“And are you?”

“Yes of course, why do you ask?”

“Olivia, I would have to be blind and stupid
not to have noticed the change in your husband over the past few
years. I am neither. I worry about you.”

“I know that we were going through a tough
time, but things are...well things are just a lot easier now that
I’m not working for Aaron at the mine.”

“I told your Uncle that was a bad idea. He
should have had more sense. Are you planning on staying on here at
the store after the baby is born?”

“Yes. Lucy and Akiko have agreed to be
flexible with their work hours, so everything should work out
fine.”

“Well my darling, your life is certainly
going to change. I hope it turns out to be everything you ever
hoped and dreamed. We’re always just a phone call away, you know
that. If Frank gives you any trouble, you just holler, and I’ll be
on the next boat up. At least with Jason living here, you’ll have
some family support.”

“Mother, really, everything will be fine. Can
we please change the subject?”

“That John McMichael is a nice man.”

Olivia laughed aloud.

“What?” her mother exclaimed. “He’s polite,
he’s thoughtful...”

“Maybe to you.”

“Well, he certainly can keep his wits about
him in a crisis. And he’s quite handsome too. If your sister
weren’t a Sister, I’d be doing a little matchmaking!”

Olivia laughed some more.

“Have another scone mother. I do think you’re
beginning to lose your mind.”

Grace laughed.