I dreamed it all before it happened, only I dreamed it was Albion. Even though that part was wrong, I knew it was coming. I wasn’t surprised when C.J. Marcum came to our office, his face white and drawn, and said, “Davidson Number Six is gone.”

My stomach griped and I sat down.

“They heard the explosion all the way to Felco,” C.J. said. “They’re gone.”

“Clabe and Kerwin?” Doctor Booker asked.

C.J. sank into a chair and looked away. “And Froggy Lester and Joe Tibbs.”

“We better go down there,” Doctor Booker said to me.

“I want to see my husband first. I want to set eyes on him.”

“He’s all right, Carrie. But go on. Meet me at the Davidson train depot at three.”

Albion was in the kitchen when I arrived.

“They sent us home,” he said.

I was suddenly angry at him. “Did they? That was kind of them. Too bad they didnt send Number Six home. Tell me, what does God say about this here?”

“Hit aint God’s doing. All God done was give Mr. Davidson the freedom.”

“Somebody better take that freedom away,” I said bitterly. “And somebody ought to burn in Hell for this.”

“I got to go help fetch the bodies.”

I answered him coldly, for his gentleness was an affront to me. “Go on then. And dont forgit to tote that Bible of yourn.”

He came to me, wanted to touch me, but he was still black from the mine.

“You’ll dirty my uniform,” I said. I waited for him to leave and caught the train after his.

The train I rode carried hundreds of wooden caskets. I watched them unloaded while I waited for Doctor Booker. A crowd of silent women stood near the depot; the faded cotton dresses hung limp on their heavy bodies. An Italian woman approached me. She was dressed all in white like a bride, except for a red vest, and bore an armful of red roses.

“You a nurse?” she said. She gripped my arm. “Are my babies back from the doctor? Is my Francesco very sick?”

Later Doctor Booker pointed out Rondal’s mother, a slump-shouldered woman like all the others. She wandered among the rows of coffins, most of which were still empty.

I knew Rondal would come back.

Fourteen

ROSA ANGELELLI

MY BABIES HURT THEIR EARS. THAT IS WHAT SENORE DAVIDSON says. The ears, they are gone first. They pop, they hurt, a little. But that is all.

Never mind, I say. We go to the doctor. The doctor fix.

Senore cries. He presses his face against my belly. The baseball, he says. My pitcher, my first base. Carmello will be in the American League.

Never mind, I say again. The doctor, he fix the ear.

I wait for the doctor. Everyone wears white. This place is very clean. Mama is here too. Her bed is beside mine. At night we whisper together.