Chapter Two: Good Advice About Mr. Clancy
"Bump, bounce, jerk, splat."
"What, darling?" his mother murmured wearily.
"Nothing," Benny grumbled. "Bump, bounce, jerk, splat." He just formed the words with his lips and made sure no one would hear them this time. They were back on a barge, making their way up the Conemaugh River canal toward Pittsburgh in day after day of rain. His mother looked more tired every day. It was very hard to sleep on the barge. They had only short stops when they could get off and walk a little way to loosen their stiff muscles. Benny had worn a hole in his old right shoe from scuffing it so often, and the rain came in freely. It got very late. He finally managed to fall asleep with his head on his mother's shoulder.
It seemed like only a minute later before the barge jerked to a stop. Benny looked out from under the piece of canvas stretched out over the bales and boxes as a shelter from the rain. In the barge's lamplight he could see a man carrying a saddle. He talked to the pilot. Benny strained to hear what was said, glad of any distraction, but he couldn't make out any of the conversation. At last the stranger jumped aboard. He climbed up to drop his saddle onto the top of a pile of baggage. Benny saw that under his saddle he carried a big black bag. "Top o' th' evening t' everybody," the man said briskly as he sat down across from Benny under their makeshift tent. "Had a bit o' bad luck with m'horse. Broke his leg."
Two men grunted and huddled closer into themselves as if to protect their valuables from this suspicious stranger. He didn't seem dangerous to Benny. A flannel shirt and faded pants peeked out from under his flapping overcoat. A floppy brown hat half-covered his red hair and freckles.
"How do you do?" Benny's mother said politely. "I'm so sorry for your trouble."
"I appreciate yer good breedin', ma'am," the stranger said with a big smile. "It's bad enough to get bumped from Johnstown to Pittsburgh without bein' grumpy. Name's John Clancy. And what might I have the honor o' callin' you?"
"I'm Abigail Richardson," Benny's mother replied, "and this is my son Benjamin."
"That's a mighty fine boat you're totin' there, Ben me lad," John Clancy said to Benny, reaching out a hand as if to touch the model ship he still clutched to his chest. The scent of peppermint hit his nose as the man's hand brushed his own. Benny drew back sharply.
"It's not a boat, it's a ship," Benny said. "The frigate USS Constitution – "Old Ironsides." My father helped me make it. It has all forty-four guns, just like the real one."
"Well, it's a fine one, indeed," Mr. Clancy said. "Be yer father a sailor, lad?"
"My father was a teacher, but he's dead." Benny wanted the man to stop talking and let him go back to sleep.
"Beggin' yer pardon," muttered Mr. Clancy. Benny's mother spoke to him sharply and he apologized. He was still glad that the man didn't say anything more to him. Benny fell asleep again at last. He awoke to the barge rocking madly, shouts of fear and his mother crying.
"Mudslide!" someone shouted. Benny could hear rumbling and crashing. The rain was falling so heavily he could see nothing. He didn't respond at first when someone began pushing him across the barge. Both Benny and his mother were being shoved from behind. She slipped on the deck, falling hard onto the towpath. Someone pushed Benny off as well. Hands pulled them up the hillside under the shelter of an overhanging ledge.
Benny saw a shadowy figure trying to climb on top of the pile of baggage. Big rocks and mud splashed into the water. The things on the barge began to fall into the river as it tipped farther and farther over with the weight on top of it. The horses tried to break free of their harness. They screamed horribly. Men ran around. Some tried to cut the horses loose. Some tried to get away.
The shadowy figure jumped off the barge. All the cargo dumped off into the river and the barge sank out of sight. A long time passed. Benny couldn't make his mother wake up. He shouted for help. By the time the rocks and mud stopped falling, no one else seemed to be around. It was too dark to see if anyone else was alive. Benny's mother moaned and twisted around.
"I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Benny realized that his mother had been right. You couldn't always have a family conference. But this was a problem if he had ever had one.
"Please, God, Thy will be done. Take care of my mother and me ... please."
John Clancy had gotten Benny and his mother off the barge and gone for help. No one else who had been on the barge had even been seen since the terrible accident. The doctor was in the hotel room in the town of Saltsburg with Benny's mother a long time.
Benny sat out in the hall and looked at the floor, scuffing his shoe and watching the water squeeze out of the hole onto the hall carpet. Benny looked up at the red-haired man pacing around in front of the door. A big grandfather clock down at the end of the hall chimed quarter-hours, half hours, three-quarter hours. Each time the clock chimed Mr. Clancy started and it seemed to Benny that Mr. Clancy had a wrestling match with himself. He'd walk a little ways down the hall toward the stairs, then come back, then look at the clock, then walk toward the stairs again, and then come back.
Suddenly the daze Benny had been in since his father had died seemed to lift off of him. God had helped them. God had saved his mother and himself from dying in the barge accident like everyone else. He had used this stranger, this Mr. Clancy, to protect them and help them.
"Thank you, Mr. Clancy," he said. "You've been very good to us." Clancy stopped pacing and looked at him. Benny couldn't tell if he was just embarrassed, but he had a strange look on his face.
"Ten thousand ... " he started to say, but he stopped very quickly. "You take it easy, Sonny," he said, smiling. "Everything's going to be okay."
The doctor came out of the room then. He was large and seemed almost round, with a thick, bushy moustache and a bald head that he rubbed and rubbed when he was uneasy. Benny stood up quickly. The doctor looked him up and down but didn't say anything. Benny saw Mr. Clancy get very stiff and play with his floppy hat. The doctor turned very suddenly away from Benny and toward Mr. Clancy.
"I'm Josiah Marsh. Are you Mr. Clancy?" the doctor asked him. Mr. Clancy glanced at Benny, then at the doctor, as if he didn't know why he was being spoken to. Benny thought it was strange too. Wasn't the doctor going to tell him how his mother was?
"Mrs. Richardson asked to speak to you," the doctor said to Mr. Clancy. Benny stared at both of them.
"Can't I see my mother?" he asked.
"Why … why … yes, son, of course you can," Dr. Marsh said quickly, rubbing his head. "She's very … tired right now, so you need to be very quiet and patient with her. She might not be … able to speak right up like you're used to. Both of you come on in."
Even against the white sheets and coverlet Benny's mother looked pale. Her long golden hair was spread out very untidily over the pillow, hairpins sticking out here and there. Benny had never seen her look like this. He wanted to help her fix her hair. She would be very upset if she knew what it looked like. He and Mr. Clancy came slowly up to the bed and stood on one side, Mr. Clancy seeming to want to hide behind Benny.
Dr. Marsh went around to the other and rubbed his head some more. Benny reached out and pulled loose a few of the hairpins and tried to arrange his mother's hair better. It just looked worse.
"Mrs. Richardson," the doctor said quietly, patting her hand as it lay on top of the blanket, "your boy's here, and Mr. Clancy."
Benny's mother took a long time to open her eyes. They wandered from the doctor around the room and finally came to rest on Benny.
"Benny, darling," she said, her voice so soft Benny could hardly hear her. "Darling ... I've been hurt ... very badly. Dr. Marsh says ... I need an operation. It will be a ... long time ... before I can go on to Uncle Tom's. You'd be terribly bored ... just waiting around for me to ... get better." She paused and looked up at Mr. Clancy.
"I know I have no right to ... impose on you, Mr. Clancy, but you helped us so much. You saved our lives, and got us help, and you're still here, wat
ching out for Benny ... I have no one else I can ask ... I think you were ... going on across the Mississippi ... Please ... please can you ... take care of my poor boy? The doctor has ... directions to my brother in Osage, Missouri. Thomas Laughlin ... Please …"
John Clancy started to stammer. Benny's mother's eyes closed. Her face changed, grew even whiter. Benny felt hands on his shoulders that quickly pushed him out of the room. The doctor followed them out. He led Mr. Clancy a little way down the hall. Dr. Marsh rubbed his head a good deal and tried to whisper. Benny could see that Mr. Clancy was growing more and more upset, and his voice was becoming a loud hiss. He edged closer to find out what they were talking about.
"Yes, there's a good chance she won't live through the surgery," Dr. Marsh said. He seemed angry, but sad and tired too. "Of course the boy's not your business. But you did say you were headed west of the Mississippi, didn't you? This is almost the same thing as the poor woman's last wish."
The doctor dug in his pocket. "Look here, she gave me some money – for the boy's expenses – I know it isn't enough – don't know how she reckoned on the two of them getting to Missouri on that – But here, I'll put some with it. Just drop him off at his kinfolks' place."
"I can't take care of that boy!" Mr. Clancy hissed. "I gotta look after my own affairs. I lost practically everything I had on that barge."
"Well they did lose everything!" Dr. Marsh snapped. "The father's dead, everything of value they had was apparently sold off before they started out on this trip. Nobody's going to pay me to do this surgery. If Mrs. Richardson lives, it'll be months before she can travel. The boy can't stay here. He's got kinfolk waiting to look after him. All you have to do is to get him there."
Dr. Marsh rubbed his head one more time. "She said something about God bringing you their way when they needed help. I can't see why He'd pick a fellow like you, but maybe He did. I've got to get back in there. That room across the hall's for you and the boy. It's paid for. The hotel'll give you both breakfast in the morning."
Both men turned around and saw Benny standing right next to them. Dr. Marsh and Mr. Clancy stared at each other for a few moments. Then Mr. Clancy turned to Benny. He patted him clumsily on the shoulder.
"Come on, Sonny, we'll be seeing the sunrise before we get into bed at this rate," Mr. Clancy said as the doctor disappeared into his mother's room. Benny kept standing where he was until Mr. Clancy pushed him to get him moving. They went into the room Dr. Marsh had pointed out.
Mr. Clancy poked around the room, picking up objects and turning them over as if studying them. Benny stood in the middle of the carpet. Mr. Clancy took several minutes to study a silver inkwell on the little writing desk. He lifted the tail of his coat and made a motion as if to put the inkwell into his pocket. Then he remembered Benny was in the room and set it down hastily.
"Is my mother going to die?" Benny asked finally. Mr. Clancy walked over to the washbasin. He splashed some water on his face. He dried himself off before he looked around.
"The doctor said she might, but we don't know for sure," Mr. Clancy replied. "She'll probably pull through fine. But the doctor said it'll be a long time before she gets better. She was right about there being no reason for you to hang around. Might as well get yourself off to Uncle Tom's and help feed the chickens."
"I hate farming," Benny said sharply. To his surprise, Mr. Clancy laughed.
"City boy, are you?" he asked. "Guess this'll be a big change for you. You'll like sloppin' hogs, shovelin'..."
"Can't you take me back to Philadelphia? There are friends of my father's who'd take me in. I know they would."
"Look, kid, we're not going to Philadelphia. I got one little side trip to make, and then I'm heading west. If you don't want me to drop you off in a gully somewhere, don't give me any trouble."
"Why don't you talk funny anymore?" Benny asked suddenly. Mr. Clancy got very stiff and looked at him without saying anything for a minute.
"Now, what might ye be meanin' about me talkin' funny, me lad?" Mr. Clancy asked with a nervous laugh.
"You're faking that," Benny scowled. "Besides, you washed off all your freckles. Why are you pretending to be somebody you're not?"
Mr. Clancy looked as if he were going to take off running straight out of the hotel. He even went to the door and put his hand on the knob. Then he turned back around and smiled broadly a t Benny.
"Oh, well, it's just a little game I like to play," Clancy chuckled. He showed Benny a flat bag he carried on a belt under his shirt that had some false moustaches, wigs, and makeup in it. "I used to be an actor. I just do this every once in a while for fun, and to keep in practice. Come on, now, you need to get to bed. We don't want to keep the cows waiting down on the farm."
Benny glared at him. Mr. Clancy laughed and crawled into the big double bed. Benny stood looking at him. Finally Clancy sat up and threw a pillow at him.
"There's an extra blanket on the settee," he growled. "Go sleep there if you don't feel like bunking down with me. But quit staring like a broken-hearted vulture."
Benny woke up early. He wondered at first where he was. He blinked in the dim light and stumbled off the settee, lighting a candle on the mantle from a spill by the fireplace and looking dazedly around. Seeing Mr. Clancy in the bed sleeping made him remember. Benny wondered why it seemed like he'd seen Mr. Clancy before. He liked the way he looked without those funny freckles and the red wig, which lay like a big hairy red spider on the bedside table. When the friendly moods came over him Mr. Clancy reminded Benny a little of his father. Mr. Clancy acted friendly enough sometimes. But he wasn't good like Jonathan Richardson.
"He doesn't know God," Benny said to himself. "That makes all the difference in the world. I can't go away with him. How can God take care of me? Mr. Clancy won't know what God wants us to do."
Benny went quietly out of the room into the hotel hall. He saw Dr. Marsh come up the stairs.
"You're up early," the doctor said.
"I need to talk to my mother," Benny said.
"She needs her rest, son," Dr. Marsh answered. "So do you. Best crawl back in bed for another hour or two."
"I can't go to Missouri with that man," Benny said. "My father always said God would take care of us, but Mr. Clancy doesn't even know God. He won't do what God wants."
The doctor looked uncomfortable. "I guess you're real religious folks," he said. "Haven't been to church in years myself. It's all right for women and children …."
"My father always went to church with us," Benny interrupted. "He loved God and he prayed and read the Bible all the time. Father said religion means practicing what you believe. We believe Jesus Christ died for our sins and wants us to live for Him."
"Well … well, that's good, son. But your father, he's gone now, and your mama can't be with you right now. This Clancy fellow, he's promised to look after you. I reckon the good Lord will keep on bein' with you just like He always has. Doesn't the Good Book say He cares for widows and orphans and all that?"
"Well ... Yes... it does," Benny said thoughtfully. "You think God can make things go right even with people who don't believe in Him?"
"Look here, boy," said Dr. Marsh, kneeling down and putting a hand on Benny's shoulder, "you're a fine young fellow. You make me ashamed, talking about how important God is to you. I'll tell you what I think. Suppose I don't believe there's a floor here under me. Does that mean it'll stop holding me up?"
"Of course not. It doesn't make any difference whether you believe in it or not. It just does what it's supposed to do."
"Well, then, I think God's the same way," Dr. Marsh replied. "He'll be there whether that Mr. Clancy believes in him or not. And maybe there'll come a time when Mr. Clancy'll have to believe in Him. Maybe you can help him along. Maybe that's why God's hitched you up with him. Maybe he needs someone to preach at him and get him converted."
The doctor rose stiffly and patted Benny's shoulder. "Maybe I needed it too," he said, half to himself.
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"I lost my Bible when the barge sank," Benny said. "Could I just go in to my mother's room? She had hers in her bag, and I think it's still there. I just need to borrow it."
"Certainly," Dr. Marsh said. He let Benny in. His mother's Bible was on the stand beside the bed. The doctor chased out the old woman sleeping in a chair on the other side of the bed and checked Benny's mother.
"Stay in here and do your reading, if you like," the doctor said gruffly. "There's enough light from the window. I'll be doing the surgery a little later. Maybe you'll say a prayer for your mother ... and for me, eh?"
"Yes, sir, I sure will," Benny smiled.
Dr. Marsh left, and Benny started reading in the book of Psalms. His father had said that the Psalms were good for people who were sad or sick or in trouble. Benny read for a long time, then suddenly felt someone looking at him. He saw his mother smiling at him.
"I haven't seen you read the Bible since your father died, darling," she said softly. "These are such hard...times, aren't they? But hard times...should bring us closer to the Lord, not...make us bitter or angry. That's why...they come. We have to be faithful. We have...to be.…"
"Mother, there's something strange about Mr. Clancy," Benny said uneasily. "He's …."
Benny stopped. His mother had gone back to sleep. Benny wondered if he should tell the doctor about Mr. Clancy's disguises. But maybe it was just something he did for fun. Dr. Marsh returned with some other people and lots of boxes and bags. Benny kissed his mother and said a quick good-bye.
"I wish you well, young man," the doctor said.