The Wall Lake Mystery

Chapter 30: The Blizzard

"Brought this fellow to help," said the porter to the man with the shovel.

He nodded, and the porter stepped back out of the car.

The man with the shovel paused to shake my hand.

"Name's Staton," he said.

"Watson," I returned.

He handed me a shovel.

I hesitated, uncertain what I was supposed to do.

"You been a fireman before?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"Then I'll take care of the water, you just worry about shovelling coal. Go as quickly as you can, but mind Clark here." He pointed his thumb to the engineer in the chair. "He'll stop us before we melt the firebox or set ourselves ablaze."

"Right," I said. I quickly removed my overcoat and jacket, now feeling quite warm indeed, and the fireman Staton pointed to a hook on the wall. I hung them there, took up my shovel and nodded.

Staton turned to Clark.

"Conductor gave me the okay," said the engineer. "Whenever you're ready, shovel like a madman till I say otherwise."

Staton opened another crate of coal and we set to work. I only knocked my shovel into his once or twice before we found a rhythm. I scooped from the crate while he threw into the furnace and vice versa. I could feel the train beginning to move forward and coal dust settling all over my skin and clothing and in my lungs. Soon my arms were burning with the efforts, but I could see the needle on a dial over Staton's shoulder creeping from zero up to twenty-five and soon over a hundred. The gauge only measured to two hundred, but Clark said nothing when we reached that mark. We emptied two crates, and I shovelled furiously as Staton cracked open a third. The needle crept ever higher, the train moved ever faster, and the muscles in my arms ached ever more keenly. My chest, still recovering from a kick from Wright's boot, felt tight and my breaths were increasingly strained.

Moments before I thought I would drop the shovel from sheer exhaustion, Clark said, "Slow it down now, boys."

I gasped and stumbled backward, catching myself on a thin railing.

"I can take it from here," said Staton.

I nodded, too little breath in my lungs for words, and set the shovel down with another in the corner. I grabbed my jacket and coat from the hook. "Let me...know if...you need—"

"No, we can handle it from here," said Clark. "Thank you, sir," he added with a smile.

"No trouble," I replied.

I made my way to the passenger car. It did not occur to me how dust-covered and exhausted I must look until nearly everyone in the car was staring at me. I sat quickly down next to Holmes, who handed back my doctor's bag.

"You look like you spent fifteen minutes shovelling coal," Holmes commented.

"I feel like I spent fifteen hours shovelling coal," I replied.

"I'll be careful not to strike any matches near you," said Holmes with a chuckle, "lest I inadvertently burn us both alive."

The train moved swiftly through the white landscape without incident, and within half an hour, we were pulling into the station at Wall Lake.

————

The snow did not let up.

It took some time that evening to evict the coal dust from my skin and hair, and I did my best to remove it from my clothes, but met with little success. Dinner I ate alone, for Holmes had fallen into a black mood. Night came swiftly afterward, and the view outside turned from white to a dull grey to pitch, and still the snowflakes fell and wind howled through the night.

When I awoke the next morning, I was surprised to see light streaming into my little room. Rising and peering out the window, I saw a clear blue sky and drifts of snow as far as the eye could see.

I dressed quickly and made my way to the dining room. Holmes sat sullenly drinking what I later learned was his third coffee of the morning.

"Weather's finally cleared up," I said as I sat across from him.

"But the railroad between here and Sac City has not," he replied. "I intend to return Miss Hallstrom's things as soon as possible."

"And find Brogden?" I asked.

Holmes nodded. "With luck, something he says or does will incriminate him enough the Sheriff would not object to my questioning him further."

The morning passed slowly, but the railroad was cleared enough for travel by eleven. The journey still took longer than usual, but we were soon in Sac City. To my surprise, Reagan was outside the station when we arrived.

"Good afternoon, Marshall," I greeted him.

"Afternoon, gentlemen," he replied. "What brings you to Sac City?"

"A potential lead," Holmes replied. "If something comes of it, you'll be the first to know."

"I appreciate it, Mr. Holmes," said Reagan, "and the same goes for you."

He was headed toward the station and we were leaving it, so it was there we parted ways.

I turned to Holmes. "Why did you not tell him of our errand?" I asked. "The second one, at least."

"I saw no need to do so, at present," Holmes replied, but something in his expression told me that was not all.

We made our way to the Hallstrom home.

"When the hell are you going to leave my daughter alone?" Mr. Hallstrom growled before either of us could speak.

"After today," Holmes replied.

"I do not know what your game is, Mr. Fancy Accent, but leave Lena out of it!"

"Father!" Lena appeared behind Mr. Hallstrom in the doorway. "Don't worry. I can talk to Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson; I'm certain they don't mean any harm."

The father sighed and passed a hand over his brow. "Fine, sweetheart. But will anyone tell me what is going on?"

Miss Hallstrom laid a hand on his arm. "Someday I will."

He shook his head and turned away. "Well, come on in and make it quick."

We accompanied Miss Hallstrom to the sitting room. Holmes offered no preamble, but removed Miss Meyer's envelope and letter from his breast pocket and passed it to our young friend.

"Thank God!" she whispered when she saw the letter. With trembling hands, she thumbed through the American bills therein and burst into tears. "Thank you so much. I hardly know what to do with all of this money, having been without for so long!"

"Put it in a mattress," I advised with a smile.

She dashed away her tears with the heel of her hand and nodded. "I ought to be able to do a lot of nice things with it, when the opportunities arise."

"Indeed," replied Holmes. "Barring unforeseen circumstance, this will be our last meeting. I thank you once again for your cooperation."

"I could not be happier to help," replied Miss Hallstrom. "I can never thank you gentlemen enough. Here, take a couple of these, at least." She tried to hand us her money, but Holmes and I both held up our palms to stop her.

"It is yours once more," I said. "Do some good in the world with it."

She smiled. "I will, Doctor."

With that, we took our leave, but that was not the last we would see of Miss Lena Hallstrom.