BOOTLEG LOVE

Ottwell Ontario, 1910...               Payton Kingston shimmied up the apple tree. It was a large tree, probably older than his grandfather. He was a good eighteen feet off the ground. Reaching the limb he was aiming for, Payton inched across the thick branch. That damned cat was way out on the farthest highest branch as usual. He must have climbed this tree a million times to retrieve that cat.             His mother didn’t like it when he climbed up here, but she wasn’t around to protest at the moment, and the worried look on little Evangeline Canyon’s face compelled him to risk his life and limb to get her furry friend. “Here, kitty-kitty.” He called to the orange tabby, and he scooted farther out on the limb to reach it, but the damn thing moved out of reach and began to bathe itself, ignoring him completely.             “Be careful,” Evangeline called up from the ground below. She was two years his junior. A tiny little thing with long golden ringlets tied up in little pink bows. Her blue eyes were filled with fear. “Don’t hurt, Chester.”             “I’m not going to hurt the damned cat.” He barked. The branch was starting to bend; it was too thin to support his weight.             “Don’t snap at me.” She growled back at him, her little hands planted on her hips. Evangeline was not like him; she came from money. Her father was his parents’ employer. His father worked in her father’s sawmills, and his mother was a maid in their house. They lived just south of the town of Ottwell, and his two brothers followed their father to work, and Payton, being the youngest, would tag along with his mother and play, so long as he went unseen.             Since he was often on the Canyon property, he developed relationships with the Canyon children. Especially their only daughter Evangeline. She had two older brothers Winston Canyon who was Payton’s age but acted as though he was too good to associate with the help, and James Canyon, who was three years older than Payton but spent a lot of his time with his father being groomed to one day take over his booming business. Evangeline being the only other child around, Payton and she became fast friends. He had known the girl since before she could walk. They had essentially grown up together.             Payton stretched to reach Chester but couldn’t. He brushed his dark hair out of his eyes and inched along a little farther; he could almost reach Chester’s tail. “Here, kitty-kitty.”             “The branch is bending,” Evangeline called up with some alarm.             “I’m almost there.” He said, scooting farther out on the branch. “Gotcha!” He said with pride as he grabbed hold of the cat. Suddenly he heard a snapping sound, and the smile was washed off his face. “Oh, damn!” The branch broke, and Payton fell eighteen feet with Chester in his arms. He landed on his back hard, his head bouncing off the ground. Payton released the cat, and Chester ran away.             “Oh my God, Payton!” Evangeline was at his side on her knees, leaning over him. Things had gone black for a moment, but then she came into focus. His body hurt, and a great pain shot from his wrist to his shoulder. “Are you ok?” She asked, looking down at him with those bright worried eyes.             “I think I broke my arm.” He groaned, trying to sit up. Oh God, how it hurt.             “I will get your mom.” She said, coming to her feet.             “No!” He yelped, standing up in great agony. “She will whoop me good for climbing that tree after she told me not to.”             “But you are hurt badly; you need a doctor.”             “I’m fine.” He lied.             “Oh, really?” She said and punched him in the arm. Payton almost screamed and had a great desire to hit her back. But, “See, you are hurt. I’m finding your mom.”             He hated to admit it, but he was hurt, and it wasn’t just going to heal. He needed a doctor. There was no way to hide this from his folks. He would need a splint. “Ok.”             “Mrs. Kingston!” Evangeline cried as she ran back to the house ahead of him.             By the time Payton reached the house, his mother was coming out of the servants’ entrance wiping her wet hands on her apron. Her dark hair was pinned up off her shoulders and out of her face. Evangeline was right at her side, explaining what happened. “He was just getting Chester for me.” She said as she walked quickly to his mother’s side. “The branch broke, and he fell.”             “Payton, you are going to be the death of me.” His mother growled as she reached for his arm to examine it. When she touched him, he flinched and gritted his teeth in pain. “Does that hurt?”             “Yes.”             She sighed and shook her head. “Yeah, it is broken, alright.” His mom looked back at the house and sighed again. “I can’t leave, I’m not done, and Mrs. Canyon will have a tizzy if I leave now. You are just going to have to go see the doctor on your own.” She said, searching her pocket for money. She didn’t have much, but she gave him all she had. “This should cover his fee.”             Payton felt bad, that was all the money she had made this week, and it was meant to put food on the table while his father’s wage paid for the tiny house they lived in. With great regret, Payton took the money. He would have to make this up to her; one day, he would take care of her and give his mother all the things she couldn’t give him. Payton took the money and headed for the doctor’s office.             The doctor’s office was a twenty-minute walk from the Canyon estate to downtown Ottwell. When he arrived, Doc Anderson was with a wealthy woman who had been complaining about headaches. Payton stood by the door while the doctor dealt with his more important patient. When the woman finally left, the doctor turned his attention to Payton as he put the money she had paid him with into an iron lockbox on the shelf. “What is the problem, young Mr. Kingston?”             “I fell out of a tree, and I think I broke my arm.”             Doc Anderson pushed his thick glasses up; they were always sliding down his long, beaklike nose. “Well, come here and let’s have a look at you.” He reached for Payton’s arm and tried to move it. Payton yelped in pain. He gritted his teeth as the doctor felt around, trying to judge where the break was. “Oh yeah, there it is. It is definitely broken. You will need a splint, and I will have to set the bone.” The doctor putted around his office, finding the tools he needed to do the job. “Ok, come here, boy, let’s get it done.” He then paused and looked at Payton questioningly. “You can pay, can’t you?”             Payton took the money his mother had given him and handed it to the doctor. The old man placed the money on the patient table and then took hold of Payton’s arm and forced the bone back as it should have been. Payton cried out in pain. It was a blinding terrible pain, but it was over quickly, and the doctor was bandaging his broken arm into a tight splint.             “There you go, Boy. Now, no more climbing trees. Your arm will take a few weeks to heal, so try not to use it if possible.” The old man said, taking up his fee and placing it in the lockbox. “Now, run along.”   ***   Ottwell Ontario, 1914...               Evangeline peeked around the corner. She was supposed to be up in her room reading. Her folks were entertaining, and she was not to be around. She took her dinner in her room, but after a few hours, she had grown bored. She knew Payton was in the kitchen since his mother was working, cooking and serving the fine meal her parents and their guests were enjoying. He usually came with his mother and helped out by tending the grounds.             “This war will never last.” She heard her father saying as he smoked his cigar.             “It is not even our war. Why should our boys go to Europe to fight?” One of his guests said.             “It is no longer a choice; the draft is already out.” Another said, puffing his cigar.             “Let the poor die in Europe.” Her father scoffed. “Personally, I have enough pull to buy my way out of this war. Perhaps with the rift raft overseas, the social standing of this province will better.”             She was glad to hear that her father would not be fighting. She knew little about the war, but it was big, big enough that even in her sheltered world, she had heard of the struggle. She didn’t know much, but it was no longer a war far away. It had engulfed the whole world, but she was a child, and if it didn’t affect her family directly, she had little interest in it.             Evangeline snuck past the entrance to the parlour and crept down the stairs to the kitchen in the basement. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw Mrs. Kingston sobbing while Payton tried desperately to console her. She cried on her twelve-year-old son’s shoulder, her tears soaking his shirt.             Evangeline came to the table and saw the sorrow in Payton’s eyes that he was trying hard to hide. “What is wrong?” Evangeline asked.             Mrs. Kingston only sobbed harder. “My Father has been drafted. He is shipping out in the morning.” Payton said sadly. Evangeline felt terrible. She never dreamt this war would affect anyone she knew. She rubbed Mrs. Kingston’s back sympathetically. Evangeline sat in silence; she didn’t know what to stay. She wished there was something she could do, but she was only ten. She was as helpless to prevent this as they were.             She supposed she could ask her father, but he could barely remember their names. He wouldn’t lift a finger to help the staff. So unable to help, Evangeline held Payton’s hand while he consoled his mother.             After a long time, Mrs. Kingston pulled herself together and went upstairs to clean up after the guests left, leaving Evangeline alone with Payton. “Are you ok?” She asked.             He just looked away and took a seat at the table. “He may never come back,” Payton said quietly.             Evangeline came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him. Wishing she could take away his pain. “I am so sorry.” He said nothing, but his hand closed over hers as he hung his head. She couldn’t imagine the sense of loss he must be feeling, but she would stay with him for as long as he needed her.   ***   Toronto, Ontario, 1916...               “Liquor is the devil’s tool. It is the source of all that is wrong in our society!” Preached the woman on the platform. Evangeline had been in the city with her mother searching seamstress shops for some new dresses when they came across a Temperance Activist Rally. There were nearly eighty women of various ages gathered around to hear the woman speak. “Liquor incited violence and criminal activity. Our society, our very lives would be so much better if liquor were banned.”             The women cheered, and a muttered agreement filled the rally. Evangeline could not help but notice how enthralled her mother was by the speaker. The woman went on and on about the evils of spirits and how they should be outlawed. About what the average woman could do to pressure the provincial government into passing legislation.             Women in Ontario had just been granted the right to vote in provincial elections. It was a right her feminist mother had helped campaign for. “One day, women of this nation will be equals to the men in their lives.” Her mother had often told her. Muriel Canyon was at the forefront of the woman’s liberation movement. Independence and equality was an idea she relentlessly beat into Evangeline’s head. “Let no man hold you down. You are as intelligent and as useful as any man.”             It was a matter her mother and father often fought on. Her mother thought women should have more rights, and her father felt a woman’s place was in the home, rearing children. Although the reality of the situation was that her father worked all the time, and her mother was always off following her political idealism. So, Evangeline was often left in the care of the staff. A governess, a gentleman’s gentleman, a crotchety old head maid, three maids, including Mrs. Kingston and Payton, who kept the grounds beautiful. They were more like family to her than her own family.             Evangeline watched as the speaker got her mother riled up. Soon she was cheering and yelling out words of agreement. Her mother had a new cause… prohibition.   ***               “No!” His mother cried, hugging her son tightly as the other draftees boarded the train. His eldest brother had just turned eighteen, and for his birthday, he was drafted. He was in uniform and shipping out despite the fact that neither he nor his family wanted him to leave.                              If this war did not end soon, she would lose all the men she loved. Her husband had been gone for two years, and even though she had not received a telegram saying he was dead, Payton’s father had stopped writing. Which, in turn, only made his mother worry more, and now she was losing a son to this blasted war.              “I will write,” Colton promised, kissing her cheek, trying his best to console her. Colton had the same dark hair as his parents and the same dark eyes. He was tall but a little thin. He had yet to really grow into his body, but when he did, if he lived that long, he would be a big guy.             Colton stepped back and shook their brother Trenton’s hand. Trenton was only sixteen, but he was sure to be drafted when he turned seventeen in January with the way things were going. Trenton was tall and gangly; his dark hair was worn just a bit longer than what was the popular style for the time. He was trying to be strong, but Payton could see the sorrow in his dark eyes.             “You are the man of the house now. Take care of Mom.” Colton said, shaking Trenton’s hand.             “You come back, you hear me,” Trenton said, trying not to let his emotions rule him.             Colton then placed his hand on Payton’s shoulder. “You are going to be all grown when I get back. Try not to get into any trouble.” Payton just shook his head; if he opened his mouth, it would be to sob. He was too old to cry.             “You be safe.” His mother said, dabbing her tears with the hanky in her hand. Colton kissed his mother once more, and then he tossed his army green duffel bag over his shoulder and stepped onto the train. Payton watched as the train pulled out and took his brother from their lives. His mother was in Trenton’s arms crying. His family unit was quickly decreasing.   ***               There was a rap at the window, and Evangeline rolled over in her bed, looking at the window. Had she really heard what she thought she heard? She could see nothing past the curtains. There was another rap on the glass, and Evangeline pushed back her blanket and took her robe from the closet. Wrapping the silk around her, she tied the belt tight and crossed the room to the window.             Evangeline pushed open the curtains and saw Payton on the other side of the glass. She quickly opened the window and stepped back. Payton crawled through the window into her bedroom. “How did you get up here?” She whispered.             “I climbed the tree.” He said, standing up straight. For fourteen, Payton was very tall, almost as tall as a grown man, but he was thin, skin and bones really. He didn’t eat well, she knew, and he worked too hard to put on any weight.             “You know how your mother feels about you climbing trees.” She scolded.             “I don’t care. I needed to see you.”             “So, use the door.” She realized just how ridiculous that sounded as she said it. Her father would never let Payton use the door even if it were daylight out. He didn’t like that his daughter associated with the help. He had been trying to quash their friendship since she was little, but it never worked. They were too close now; she would never end their friendship just because her father was a stickler for social division. “Why are you here so late?”             “He is gone, Colton is gone, he was drafted, and he shipped out this evening.”             She couldn’t believe what he was saying. “He is gone?”             “Mom is a wreck, Colton is gone, and my Father has stopped writing. He is probably dead.” He said, sitting down on her bed, his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees.             Evangeline sat down beside him and put her arms around his shoulders. She hugged him close, feeling his warmth. Payton shifted and held Evangeline in his arms, his chin on the top of her head as he hugged her tight like he never wanted to let her go.             “You are the only thing in my life; I can trust you will always be there.”             “I will always be your friend.” She promised.