Chapter 9 – Town Growth
As Peeta limped back to the bakeshop with Lavinia and Katniss, he wondered what had happened to the man who'd shot Gale. There had been no customers at Effie's house, only women who were crying in the parlor.
He had his suspicions, though, as they passed the saloon. Loud curses and the sounds of men arguing were emanating from it.
District 12 was a town without any official law enforcement. Cray acted as sheriff, but it wasn't an appointed position. He was simply the biggest bully in the area and was able to sway the majority of men to his way of thinking. But at present, Cray was out of town.
However, Peeta knew there were those who would eagerly take his place to influence the debauched mob. Justice in the gold fields was swift and harsh. There were no jails to hold criminals. If a man wasn't let go, the punishment was usually death by hanging.
Peeta kept his thoughts to himself. Katniss had enough concerns; he didn't want to frighten her anymore.
Once they undressed and climbed back into bed, neither of them could fall sleep. Peeta held Katniss as she wept. After an hour, she fell into a light sleep. He lay awake, listening to the noise outside and fearing what the morning would bring.
He got up at first light before Katniss woke, and snuck out of the bakeshop to check on Gale. When he knocked on the door of the brothel, Rory opened it. The boy looked exhausted.
"How is he?" Peeta asked.
"Better. The doc got the bullet out. He said it didn't touch any vital areas; but it tore up his ribs something awful. But he should heal up."
Peeta sighed in relief at the news. "Do you know what happened to the shooter?"
"They strung him up. Served him right."
Peeta wasn't surprised. But his jaw dropped at the callous tone in the fifteen-year-old's voice. He had to remind himself that the boy's brother had been nearly killed so of course he'd feel that way.
Peeta wasn't sure how to feel. But he was glad that Gale would recover. He left to tell Katniss the good news.
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When Effie returned ten days later, she was surprised to learn that a shooting had occurred in her establishment and Gale Hawthorne had taken up residence in Peeta's and Katniss' old room. Jo hadn't worked since it had happened; she'd taken over as Gale's nurse.
Effie brought back a tall, angular woman named Venia to work at the brothel. She had planned for Venia to do business out of the room Gale was occupying. After a brief discussion with Dr. Beetee, who had been visiting Gale every day, Effie decided that Gale was stable enough to move. She ordered him to leave her residence immediately and relocate elsewhere.
Jo became angry about what she viewed as her employer's lack of concern. She quit and moved into the new boarding house with Gale to tend to him. Venia was installed in Jo's old room ready to provide services to the men of District 12.
Peeta wasn't surprised that Effie had asked Gale to leave. She wasn't running a hospital, but the speed of her actions and the lack of compassion she showed were likely an indication of the fury she was feeling. It probably didn't help that Gale was a relation to Rye through Katniss' and Peeta's marriage, albeit a distant one. Effie was furious with Peeta's brother.
Effie had returned without Delly. She never spoke with anyone as to what had occurred, but gossip trickled back to the Peeta and Katniss via customers in the bakeshop. Either Cray or Cato had a loose tongue and talked about the real reason for the trip Effie had taken.
Of course, like all the other tales told in District 12, the story had taken a fantastical turn. Peeta heard many versions of it, in some Delly had married his brother, in others Delly was pregnant and unwed, the worst was that Delly had opened a brothel in Sacramento City and Rye had left for San Francisco to recruit women to work in it.
Peeta suspected his brother had left for San Francisco, as he'd written he would, but that Delly had stayed behind in Sacramento City. As for the rest, Peeta didn't want to speculate, he just hoped Rye hadn't done anything he's regret later.
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While Gale had been recovering from his wound at Effie's house, Peeta had begun organizing the merchants to form a town government. Thom, Haymitch, Annie, Leevy, Sae and her husband Ephraim, and the owners of the town's two boarding houses were willing to get involved. Effie joined in as soon as she got back.
The mob of men that had hung the man who'd shot Gale had frightened all of the business owners. While many agreed that the man had deserved his fate, they didn't like the idea of justice being dealt out at the hands of drunks in the middle of the night while most of them were asleep.
A quick election was held and Thom was voted mayor of the town of District 12. Peeta and the other merchants as well as influential citizens, like Reverend Undersee and Dr. Beetee, formed a council that would help the mayor in any decisions to be made regarding the growth of the town and the punishment inflicted on lawbreakers.
The council grudgingly permitted Cray to continue to act as sheriff, but it was an unpaid position. He did not have the authority to punish lawbreakers at whim, but had to bring them before the council who would decide on their fate.
The merchants chipped in to build a tiny jail, just big enough to contain two men. It would house the offender until the council had made a decision as to their fate.
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Peeta offered to let Rory stay in the bakeshop while Gale healed. The room in the boardinghouse was too small to house Gale, Jo and Rory; and Peeta didn't think it was a good idea for the fifteen-year-old to continue living at the mining camp alone, surrounded by men who spent their free time gambling and drinking. He'd gone to the camp with Rory and taken down the tent the two brothers had been living in. Fortunately Rory had been able to store the rocker that he used daily with another miner.
Rory continued to pan for gold every day, walking the two miles to the river with Finnick each morning and returning with him each evening. The two of them worked together using the rocker.
Afterwards Rory would join Peeta, Katniss and Lavinia for dinner. He visited Gale daily, but didn't stay long.
"Jo doesn't like me," he complained to Peeta and Katniss.
"She doesn't like anyone," Katniss replied.
"She likes my brother."
Peeta wondered at the woman's devotion to Gale and what would happen when the man recovered.
With Rory sleeping on the floor of the bakeshop, Peeta and Katniss had no privacy. At first it didn't bother him. They were both tired at the end of the day, Katniss especially as she grew rounder with child
But after a week, he missed their private moments. He began locking the door of the bakeshop every afternoon while Lavinia napped. The afternoons were generally slow; he doubted he lost much business.
But it was the only time he had to reconnect with his wife. Afterwards, he would leave their bed refreshed and return to work as Katniss slept.
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June brought gloom and fog every morning that burned off to leave warm afternoons. Gale was able to leave the boardinghouse. Every morning he and Jo would walk around the town and visit at the general store, the bakery, and Sae's restaurant, before stopping at the saloon for a whiskey. He used a cane to help him balance, as he seemed to favor the left side.
"Dr. Beetee says I need to get some fresh air," he explained to Peeta and Katniss.
Instead of welcoming her cousin's visits to the bakeshop, Katniss seemed to get very nervous when he and Jo appeared. Peeta wondered if she feared that her cousin would take Lavinia back. But although Gale asked about the child at every visit, he made no request to even hold her. And Jo acted as if she didn't care at all.
One day in late June, Gale told them that he would be returning to the mining camp soon.
"Will you be able to do the work?" Peeta questioned. Panning for gold in the river or digging it out of the side of the mountain was tedious and tiring physical labor.
"I have to give it a try."
Peeta loaned Rory and Gale his cart to haul their tent and other belongings out to the mining camp. The brothers borrowed a horse from Thom to hitch to the cart because neither they nor Peeta had horses anymore. Gale and Rory had sold the horses they'd had when they arrived to help pay for Gale's stay in the boardinghouse. And Peeta had never replaced his horse that Delly had taken.
Jo moved out to the camp with them. Peeta wondered at how that situation would work. It didn't take long to find out. Within a day, Rory showed up and asked if he could continue to sleep on the floor of the bakeshop.
"Jo?" Katniss questioned.
Rory nodded. "She doesn't like me."
Katniss snorted.
Begrudgingly Peeta agreed. But his irritation with Gale was growing. He had already taken on the care of the man's daughter. Now he was housing his brother as well.
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But there were other things to distract Peeta from his frustration. Business was booming in District 12. More miners than ever were flocking to the area. With the bakery door propped open, the noise of hammers and handsaws was heard continuously throughout the day as new buildings were added to the town.
Dr. Beetee opened a medical practice in a tiny storefront.
Reverend Undersee was taking up a collection to build a church for the town. He'd come to the merchants first, and although Peeta had reservations about the reverend, he contributed to it. He agreed that a permanent church would be a good thing for the town, a moral force to stand against corruption.
Every few days Peeta would close the bakeshop for the morning and he and Katniss would go hunting. They were no longer responsible for providing meat for Sae's restaurant anymore, so the game they caught was for their own dinner table. Annie would watch Lavinia for them as they hunted; in return they provided fresh meat for the Odair's as well.
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Gale lasted a month at the mining camp before giving up. The work proved to be too strenuous. Rory told Peeta and Katniss that Jo had even been panning for gold at the river's edge.
"She put on a pair of men's pants and an old shirt," he said.
Peeta was surprised at her actions. He hadn't known any women who'd done that. It wasn't considered socially acceptable employment for decent women. But he guessed that Jo was past caring what other people thought of her.
Gale and Jo returned to District 12 and set up their tent at the edge of the town at the semi-permanent campground. Gale went around to all the businesses seeking employment.
It broke Peeta's heart to see the man reduced to begging for work. Peeta hired Gale to build a chicken coop, but he had no other work for him. Fortunately, Gale was able to pick up other construction jobs.
Effie also hired him to tend to her cows. She didn't have much choice, as no one wanted the job. Peeta had quit that work within weeks of opening the bakeshop. Dalton, who worked for Sae, had taken it over. But even Dalton grew tired of waking so early. The man was happy to pass along the job to someone else.
Jo, meanwhile, had set herself up as a laundress, doing the same job that Gale's mother Hazelle had performed in the Dirty District 12 mining camp. Within a short time, she'd gathered business from most of the single men in town. On those days when Gale had no work, he would help her out, carrying buckets of water from the river that they would heat over a campfire.
As Peeta watched the trajectory of events that had befallen Gale, his irritation lessened and his sympathy grew. Life had treated both he and Gale harshly. A person had no control over fate; the only thing he could control was his reaction to it.
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In the middle of July, on probably the hottest day of the year, Thom and Leevy got married. The wedding was a big event for the residents of the town. The ceremony was held in the center of the main street in front of Sae's restaurant so that everyone could watch. The merchants locked up their shops to attend. All of Effie's girls were there, wearing their most colorful dresses, their faces painted. Reverend Undersee officiated.
Afterwards, Thom and Leevy stood behind a table that had been dragged out from the restaurant and handed out slices of frosted cake to the guests. Peeta and Katniss had spent two days baking and icing the wedding cake, which was filled with raisins and nuts.
The party ended in the saloon, where Leevy eventually convinced Thom, who was drunk, to return to their living quarters behind the general store to begin their honeymoon.
Peeta and Katniss skipped the party to re-open the bakeshop. With this many people in town, they would be sure to do good business.
Toward evening while Katniss was in their living quarters getting Lavinia ready for bed, Gale walked into the bakeshop. Peeta could tell the man had been drinking. His gait was unsteady and his speech slurred.
"How are you my friend?" Gale greeted Peeta.
"Why don't you sit down and eat something," Peeta suggested. He wondered where Jo was. Was she drunk too?
Peeta grabbed two biscuits and set them on a plate for the man, motioning for him to sit at the table in the baking area. Awkwardly Gale sat. He picked up a biscuit and took a bite.
"You're a lucky man," Gale said, his eyes glancing around the shop. "All this and a wife and a baby on the way."
Peeta sat down across from Gale. "It hasn't been easy Gale," he said. "You know that." Peeta thought back to the fire that destroyed his first bakeshop, to Katniss' miscarriage and melancholia, to his job at Effie's house and all the problems that his brother and Delly had created. He could even add Gale to his list of burdens since he was now responsible for the man's daughter and brother.
Gale nodded. "I know." He paused for a moment. "Hell, nothing's easy. But there's one difference between you and me."
"What's that?"
"You have a heart of gold," Gale said. "Despite what losses you've encountered you always spring back. And you help everyone along the way, too. Taking on Lavinia, dealing with her god-awful grandfather, letting Rory bunk here…" his voice trailed off.
Peeta didn't know how to respond to Gale's compliment, although he was glad to see that the man recognized the help he'd provided. Peeta didn't think he'd done anything special though, anything that any other decent man wouldn't have done under similar circumstances. And he had been plenty peeved about it too, but he'd taken action anyway despite his resentment.
"I'd say your heart was golden too," Peeta replied, remembering that the man had married Madge when she was expecting another man's child, that he'd been shot trying to protect Clove.
"Yeah, everything I touch turns to gold." Gale laughed bitterly. "Jo is pregnant."
Peeta's jaw dropped, but he wasn't surprised. The couple had been living together for three months now.
"So I guess there'll be another wedding soon."
Gale snorted. "That's what's so ironic," he said, rubbing his temples. "The woman who wasn't having my child wanted to marry me. The one who's having my child won't."
"What are you going to do?"
"Oh, we're together all right. Just won't be getting married. He looked down at his hands. "At least not anytime soon."
Gale ate another biscuit and then stood up to go. "Please don't say anything about it to the reverend. He already thinks I'm the devil himself because of this." He pointed to his side where the bullet had struck him.
Peeta laughed. "I won't."
Much later, when Katniss and Peeta had retired to their living quarters and Rory was snoring in his bedroll in the bakeshop, Katniss asked him about his conversation with Gale.
"I heard him say that Jo was expecting," Katniss said. "I don't know what Gale sees in that woman. She's awful."
Peeta nodded, understanding his wife's concerns. He didn't know Jo well, but she had been rude to Katniss on several occasions.
Peeta knew it was not his place to judge another man's feelings. He remembered back to a conversation with Rye when he'd heard that Gale and Madge were engaged. Rye had said that Gale had chosen Madge because he wanted to escape from under his mother Hazelle's thumb. It had seemed a reasonable assumption at the time, but Peeta learned the truth much later. Gale had been helping to save Madge's reputation, as the woman had been pregnant with another man's child.
Peeta wondered if Gale's interest in Jo was partly based on his rescuing her from a life as a prostitute.
"Well, we better be nice to her," Peeta finally said. "Whether they marry or not, with a child on the way she's going to be family to you now."
Katniss scrunched up her face and shut her eyes.
Peeta grinned. "You look like you ate something sour."
She laughed at his comment and then changed the subject completely. "Do you think Rory is fully asleep by now?" Her voice was low. Her eyes held a mischievous look.
Peeta nodded. He scooted across the bed and bent forward to capture his wife's lips. He'd spent far too much time thinking about Gale Hawthorne today. It was time to think on other things.
Fortunately the sounds of pots and pans clanging from the chivaree that had started up for Thom and Leevy masked the sounds of their passion.
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The summer heat continued and Peeta watched Katniss' mid-section grow larger every day. She didn't complain, but she looked so uncomfortable and physically awkward. He commissioned Gale to build her a stool to sit on while she kneaded the dough. Peeta insisted she take a nap every afternoon, although he was no longer shutting up the shop for them both to spend time together.
Despite her changed appearance, he'd never seen his wife look lovelier. Her normally slender body had developed shapely curves that made him yearn to reach out and run his hands over her when he was supposed to be making bread. Her cheeks were rosy, her grey eyes glowing, and her long brown hair especially shiny. Every night he held her in his arms, resting his hands on her belly. Their child was kicking more now. Some nights, he wondered how Katniss slept with the babe being so active.
As he lay in bed on those nights, after she'd fallen asleep, fresh worries flooded his mind. How would he run the bakery while Katniss recovered from the baby's birth? How would he care for Lavinia while Katniss was caring for the newborn?
And the worst worry of all, the nightmare that caused his throat to tighten and made him gasp for air. What if Katniss died in childbirth? One night after a particularly horrific dream about it he came to paralyzed in terror. Instinctively he reached out for her, his hands grabbing at her rounded hips pulling her closer. Immediately he calmed down, he was okay when he realized she was there.
He knew Katniss wished for her mother and Prim to be present for the birth. She had written letters that they hoped had been passed along to her family in Sacramento City, but the couple couldn't be sure of it.
They had already talked to Dr. Beetee, though, about delivering the child. Annie had offered to assist as well, and Peeta was comforted to know that their friend would be by her side.
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Rory arrived to dinner excited about the news. "A troupe of actors is making the rounds of the mining camps," he said. "They're doing a show in Dirty District 12 in a few days."
Traveling theater groups commonly made their way through the different camps and small towns to entertain the men. The miners eagerly received them because other than playing cards and drinking, there was little in the way of amusement. Besides, the shows always starred one or two beautiful young women. Other than the women who worked as prostitutes and the married woman, the population of California was still mostly male.
News about the traveling show was all over town the next day. Many of the townspeople talked of traveling out to the camp to watch. Even Katniss showed interest, but she reluctantly agreed with Peeta that she was probably too far along in her pregnancy to be walking to the camp and home again. What if she went into labor during the show?
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They were making pies, when they heard a voice call out.
"Landsakes, you finally opened a bakeshop in town."
Peeta looked up in astonishment and glanced at Katniss.
In the doorway of the bakery was a woman dressed in a bright pink gown. Her hair was in hanging in blond ringlets around her painted face. At her side stood a man wearing a striped suit, a top hat, and fancy white gloves.
Delly and Rye had returned to District 12.
Author's Note: California territory was overseen by the United States military after the Mexican War ended in May 1848. Local government continued to be run by alcades (mayors) following the same structure Mexico had in place prior to the war. However, most gold mining towns, which formed after the war ended, lacked these formal laws and traditions. Their government was a hodgepodge of whatever the townspeople decided would serve them best, often a changing mixture of Mexican rules, American principles, and personal dictates.
