Big Stone Gap Read Online Free PDF Page A

Maria had a beautiful cabin. Servants laid our clothes out. The food was plentiful, even with the war on; I felt you healthy and happy inside of me. Four weeks passed and we arrived in New York City. Ave Maria’s relatives greeted us at the port. We took the train to Hoboken, New Jersey. Ave Maria bought the
Italia Oggi
, the newspaper. We read the want ads. In those days, immigrants were cheap labor and would work in exchange for room and board. “What is Virginia?” I asked the Albriccis. They laughed. I responded to the ad: “SEAMSTRESS WANTED: MINING TOWN: BIG STONE GAP, VIRGINIA. GOOD PAY.”
    Mama had taped the actual ad to the back of the letter to verify her story.
    I knew this job was a good opportunity. I wrote a letter. The gentleman that placed the ad owned a dress shop in the town. He hired me immediately based upon my letter. By chance, his friend, a merchant from Big Stone Gap, was in New York City on a buying trip. His name was Fred Mulligan, of the Mutual Pharmacy. Would I like an escort on the trip to Virginia? I was so happy. Fred Mulligan took the train to meet me. I was surprised. He was young, like me. He understood Italian, having studied it at the University of Virginia. I liked him. He told me later that for him it was love at first sight. In truth, he suspected my condition and knew it would be easier on me if I was married. I agreed to marry him. It was an arranged marriage; I arranged it.
    I never heard from Ave Maria Albricci again. I sent many letters to her family in Hoboken through the years; all were returned. I prayed for her every day of my life, though, never forgetting her kindness. Whenever I spoke your name, I thought of her and how she helped me. She was an angel.
    I felt you should know the truth. I hope I made the right decision in telling you this. I asked Mr. Eisenberg to be present with you. I love you, my darling girl.
    Mama
    I turn the envelope upside down and shake it to make sure I haven’t missed anything. A small, square lace-edged black-and-white photograph falls into my lap. In gold letters it says, “Ti Amo, Mario.” On the back, in my mother’s handwriting, “Mario da Schilpario Italia 1942.” The picture fits in my palm. The man in the picture looks to be about seventeen. He has black hair and a trim physique. He is laughing. This is my father.
    Inez stands in the doorway. “Ave, they need you up to the school. There’s been an incident.” The floorboards creak as Inez ambles toward me.
    “Ave, you need to get up to the school. Principal called.” Lew’s voice brings me back to earth. “They need the Rescue Squad.”
    Besides being a pharmacist, I am chief of the Rescue Squad. Doc Daugherty roped me into the job a couple of years back. We’re a volunteer emergency-response team—the team is the fire chief, Spec Broadwater, and me. We handle everything from car wrecks to removing buttons from kids’ noses, and once we even resuscitated Faith Cox’s cat.
    “Spec’s outside waiting fer you,” Inez says, a touch too impatiently.
    Spec is wedged into the driver’s seat of Rescue Squad Unit One, a white station wagon with bright orange trim. I don’t know why he’s called Spec; he is the opposite of a speck, he’s a giant, the tallest man in the Gap, at six feet seven. I climb into the car. Fleeta runs out of the Pharmacy and hands me my emergency kit through the window. Spec steps on the gas so fast, Fleeta practically loses her hand. I hear her curse at Spec in the distance as we pull away. Spec shoves a blue siren onto the roof of the car through the driver’s-side window.
    “Problem up to the school.” Spec offers me a cigarette. I must look like I need one. My face is puffy from crying.
    “It’s bad for you, Spec.”
    “Self-medication. When they come up with a healthy way for me to calm my nerves, I’ll quit.”
    Powell Valley High School is a stylish, brand-new redbrick structure that sits back off the main road, in a wide field. It is