PERILS
Chapter Seventeen
When the Doctor saw the Avery motor truck he stopped dead in his tracks. How had the Klansmen found them? He even started to back away from it, bumping into Lena. "It's all right," she reassured him. "Everyone's got one of those. Ours is just like it, too. Hey, Izzy!" The short, bald driver hopped out of the truck and, smiling, approached the two of them. "Izzy, this is the Doctor. Doctor, this is William's uncle, Isaiah."
"Pleased to meet you, sir," said Isaiah, without extending his hand, nodding slightly.
"Pleased to meet you too, sir," said the Doctor, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Izzy and a chuckle from Lena. He extended his hand and Izzy took it.
"Call me Izzy."
"Call me Doctor, Izzy."
Lena handed the Doctor the sack she'd folded up and put in a saddle bag; it was now full of neatly wrapped sandwiches, muffins and other provisions. "I'm going to miss you, Doctor. I promise you, Denny and I will never forget you." She kissed him lightly on the cheek. The Doctor blushed and forgot what he'd been about to say. "You need anything, Izzy?"
"No, I've got to get going. Catch you on the way back. Love to William and tell Sara I'm gonna bring her back something fine. Come on, Doc. Let's get on the road."
*0*0*0*
"I hope I don't lose this," murmured the Doctor, peering into the sack. The truck was rumbling northward and creating a welcome breeze. "People keep giving me food and clothing and I keep losing it."
"How do you manage to lose food and clothing?"
The Doctor laughed. "Most recently, by being abducted. It's starting to be a pattern."
"I promise not to abduct you. How far are you wanting to go?"
"As far north as you can stand my company."
"Well," said Izzy, "I'm going to Rome." He hesitated, noting the Doctor's confusion, biting his lip to keep from laughing. "That's Rome, Georgia. There's all sorts of mills there. Best with no middle man, you know? I sell general goods in Eatonville, but I'm starting to specialize in textiles. Rome is the place to get lots of textiles I can sell back home, from hosiery to sheets, menswear – I could spend a week up there. Sometimes I do. I know folks. Everything I need is up there. And I can be competitive; I get a discount."
"It sounds ideal," said the Doctor. He was wondering how to get from Rome to Hoboken. One step at a time, he decided. All roads may not lead to Rome, but apparently mine does.
*0*0*0*
The Doctor thought it might be interesting to see how various types of textile mills operated but his interest soon turned to dismay. Children as young as eight years old were working long hours (he asked about that) in dimly lit, dangerous conditions. The floors were slippery; the Doctor wandered in among the workers and nearly fell against the machinery before some adults in charge told him not to disturb their employees – but not before he had noted the extreme heat and humidity, the closed windows, the choking lint in the air and how close some busy little fingers were coming to being sliced off. He was sternly escorted outside, then, and stayed there while Izzy conducted business. Business took a long time, because, said Izzy, he had to wait for the one white guy who would deal with him. The Doctor was torn between asking if he might join Izzy on all his rounds instead of just this one, so he could witness how prevalent these horrors were or (he fervently hoped) were not, and begging off seeing even a single mill more, instead heading north without delay.
"I think I need to get moving," apologized the Doctor, and Izzy, unoffended, agreed. The Doctor then impulsively added, "How can you bear it?"
"Bear what?"
"Seeing… seeing the children working like that, seeing the conditions…."
"I've seen worse. I've done worse. You can't change a thing like that. People do what people do."
"I don't believe that," the stubborn Doctor insisted. "But I wish you luck."
"Thanks. Um, I might have found someone willing to take you farther north. Wait here." He disappeared, then came back with a large white man with a long, friendly face, longish brown hair, dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt despite the heat, and sweating accordingly. A set of keys dangled prominently from his frayed belt.
"How do you do," said the Doctor, and the other man took his extended hand in a firm grip and shook it. "I'm the Doctor."
"Pleased to meet you," said the man. "I'm Henry. You need a ride, eh? How far?"
"As far north as you can get me," replied the Doctor. "I'm trying to get to New Jersey."
The other man whistled. "That far! Well, I can get you as far as Chincoteague, Virginia. I'm in the market for some ponies. There may be a few left for sale even this late in the year."
"I'd like to see the ponies too," admitted the Doctor. "Izzy, I can't thank you enough for taking me up this far. I'll be off now, with Henry. My love to everyone back down in Florida when you get home." He got his things from the truck and hopped into the passenger seat of Henry's horse van.