Read Online Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold - Free Book Online Page B

Before they knew it, there was an inch of snow on Washington Street. James dashed back into eddies of powder, kicking it around with his boots.
    Charles was about to join, but held back. He needed to watch for just one moment—his brother, dancing a jig, scarf flying, in the white, as snow caught and stuck in the oak trees. There was no one else around. No children sharing in this miracle. Up and down Washington Street, all the families were gone for the holiday week, and servants were taking their leave. James was the only sign of life.
    By dusk, there was almost a foot of snow on the ground. Charles and James had spent the afternoon in the parlor, noses pressed to the window, mostly delighted. But every hour, when the clocks chimed, they fell quiet, and Charles suddenly felt the need to be brave.
    Patsy and Cook didn’t return that night. Nor did Mr. Carter. The boys silently ate cereal with milk for dinner, with more chocolate tablets for dessert.
    “The snow is keeping them from coming back, right?” James asked.
    Charles nodded. He had a better command of geography and transportation than James. “Daddy comes back from Sacramento on a train, and Cook and Patsy take the ferry, and it’s storming over the bay, so maybe they’re staying overnight in Oakland.”
    They decided everyone would return the next day, and their only problem was staying warm until then. Neither one of them was allowed to touch the gas or the fireplaces.
    “We could ask Mr. Jenks for help,” James said.
    “That’s not a good idea,” Charles replied, folding his arms tightly around himself. In his universe of things to fear, Jenks outranked thewolves, the mangler, and even Sullivan, whom Charles recognized as simply a bully. Jenks was something different, something unknowable.
    They looked in all the fireplaces, discovering that each had already been prepared with wood. The one in their father’s study seemed most inviting, as it also contained kindling and old pieces of mail. Charles sent James to fill a bucket with water, in case there was a mishap, and then, after making sure the vent was open, he touched a match to the paper in the fireplace. The wood caught easily. “We’re explorers,” Charles said. “We’re on an island and we’ve gathered all the wreckage from our boat.”
    “And we’re making a fire. So they can find us.”
    “Right.”
    Soon they had a splendid fire, which popped excitingly, and which they fed with extra wood stored in the benches that flanked the fireplace. James dashed to the windows of the study and waved his arms back and forth.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Signaling.”
    Charles let his brother signal to their rescuers while he laid out some blankets for them to sleep on.
    “It’s still snowing,” James announced.
    Charles joined him. Pellets of snow made a kind of lace curtain through which they could see a light coming from Jenks’s cabin window. There was a single slender wire running from their house to Jenks’s; all Charles had to do was ring for him, and Jenks would come. It was a terrible idea, and Charles imagined going to the kitchen, pushing the button, opening the door, and waiting. He had the sudden urge to draw the blinds. “The snow is beautiful,” he said woodenly.
    “When is everyone coming back?”
    “By daylight, for sure.”
    “But if it’s still snowing now, how will they get back?”
    “They just will. They know we’re alone, they’ll come back.”
    “Who knows we’re alone?” James looked at Charles, who normally would have smacked him for being so stubborn.
    Charles said, coolly, “Daddy knows—”
    “He thinks Cook and Patsy are here.”
    Charles shrugged. “Cook and Patsy know that we’re—”
    “No, Charlie, they think Daddy’s back now.”
    “Oh, be quiet!”
    “Does Mr. Jenks know we’re alone?” James drew a face on the window, right where his breath had made a spot. He tended to trust theworld and had never noticed, when they played