Took another thirty minutes to get to the coast. Waves crashed against the cliffs separating us from the ocean, splashing water into the air. It hailed down on us, having turned to ice in the cold air. A bridge stretched out like an arm into the white mist over the ocean. The train passed through a gate in the big wall made of tree trunks with pointy tips surrounding the bridge.

“That’s to keep the mad ones out,” Larry explained.

The horn whistled as the locomotive slowed down, passing a group of men pulling a cart of lumber by its ropes. Others came in and out of tents scattered alongside the tracks.

“Here we are,” Larry said, “The Bridge Up North.”

The train came to a stop. We got off, and I followed Larry to the base of the bridge. Multiple men carried a rail past Larry, who was scanning the area.

“The overseer should probably know when the bridge is complete,” Larry pointed at the largest tent.

We walked to it, Larry cleared his throat.

“Sir, may we enter?” he asked the tent.

“Yes, come in, but make it quick,” a voice inside said.

Larry pushed away the fur hanging down over the tent’s entrance. A man dressed as if he was about to meet the president sat smoking a cigar in an armchair by the stove in the middle of the tent.

“What do you want?” Cigar smoke came out of the man’s mouth as he spoke.

“We were just wondering, when do you think this bridge will be finished?” Larry said.

“At this pace? A month, maybe more. We’re way behind schedule, so I suggest you get back to work!”

“I was more thinking of when I’d be able to use the bridge, I don’t actually work here.”

“Well you do now, every helping hand counts. I pay well, better than those poor bastards in the valley.”

“I suppose I need some extra coins for the winter market. What do you want me to do?”

“Just get the bridge done, please? In any way you can. You,” the man looked at me, “I haven’t seen you around before, what’s your name?”

“Leah. I’m just passing through,” I told him.

“Margaret could use some help in the kitchen. Serving three meals a day to one hundred twenty men isn’t an easy task. I’m sure your pretty face would boost the workers’ morale.”

“Uh, sure… I can help.”

“Phenomenal! Of course you will also be compensated for your labor, though not as much as Larry. It’s women’s work after all.”

I wouldn’t let it get to me. Most men seemed to be that way.

Outside, the workers had almost finished unloading the first railcar. A woman stirred an oversized pot in one of the open tents.

“I guess I’ll see you at lunchtime then, Leah,” Larry gave me a pat on the back.

I headed over to what seemed to be the only other woman around.

“Margaret?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s me,” she replied.

“I heard you needed some help with the cooking.”

“I’ve got the cooking under control, throw some vegetables and meat into the pot, heat it up and stir. Serving is more of a problem, these fellas need to stand in line for half an hour before they all get a bowl. Two people serving would allow lunch breaks to be shortened to twenty minutes, so they can get back to work quicker. Can you collect the bowls from the dining tables, and then rinse the spoons in that bucket over there?”

“I can do that.”

“Thank you.”

I walked around the side of the tent to the many tables. Flies buzzed around, trying to feed off of the small ring of broth in the bottom of each bowl. Waved the flies away, took the spoons out, then began stacking the bowls. Made four stacks of thirty bowls, and carried two of them back to Margaret.

“Don’t we need to rinse the broth out?” I asked.

“No, no, then the bucket would’ve become soup by now. That water hasn’t been replaced since construction began,” Margaret laughed.

I brought the two remaining stacks into the tent, then collected all the spoons. I rinsed each one thoroughly in the bucket’s murky water. The spoons ended up looking almost more unclean than before.

“Only a few minutes until lunchtime now. Get ready to fill the bowls,” Margaret handed me a ladle.

I began filling bowls immediately, and placed them on the counter separating me from the outside.

“If we have bowls ready before they get here, they can get back to work even faster,” I told Margaret.

“I never thought of that!” Margaret seemed pleasantly surprised.

Filled ten bowls before Margaret rung the food bell. Workers came lining up, not that different from Unionsville. I placed spoons in the ready bowls and began handing them out. Used the ladle to fill more bowls after I had served the first ten workers. It all seemed to be going okay until a worker came back with his empty bowl, cutting in line.

“My soup was cold,” he said, “I want a refill.”

“I’m sorry, there’s just enough in this pot for one bowl per person,” Margaret told him.

“Then make another pot!”

“Soup is soup. You ate it, didn’t you?” I jumped into the conversation. The ants would’ve taken their bowls and been happy, but that wasn’t the case with this worker.

“I was promised three hot meals a day, this isn’t hot!”

“Got a problem with your hearing? Did you not listen to what Margaret said? There won’t be enough for everybody if we give you more. Come back for dinner and we’ll have a warm bowl ready.”

He reached over the counter and grabbed me by the coat with his left hand, bringing me to his face: “Are you talking back to me, little girl?!” Rotten, jagged teeth, and a breath that stank.

“Come on, knock it off, we want our food!” someone yelled at the back of the line.

“Let me go,” I demanded.

“Not until you give me some WARM soup!” the worker holding my coat barked.

I slid my arms out of the coat, then stepped away from the worker. Took the rifle off of my shoulder, and aimed at him.

“You got your soup, now get back to work!” I ordered.

His right elbow raised, I caught a glimpse of the revolver he was holding behind the counter. Didn’t hesitate, bang. He twitched, firing his revolver into the dirt next to him. Margaret screamed and covered her eyes, the other workers in line ducked.

“Holy shit, she shot Henry!” one of them said in shock.

“Anybody else got complaints about this goddamn soup?!” I shouted.

Nobody spoke.

“Good.” I put the rifle on my shoulder once again, and filled another bowl with soup.

The next worker in line held his shaking hands out, I gave him his bowl.

“Rawr!” I snapped my jaw.

He jumped, spilling half the bowl’s content over himself. I felt a little bad, but giggled. The overseer came out from his tent, and caught sight of Henry’s corpse.

“What the hell happened here?!” he burst out.

“Henry complained about the soup being cold,” I explained.

“So you shot him??”

“It was self defense, look at the revolver he’s holding.”

“You could’ve talked it out, goddamnit! That’s one less worker to finish this project!”

“You have Larry now, so really it’s as if nothing ever happened, and I doubt anyone will complain about the food again.”

“Jesus Christ, I don’t have time for this! Consider this your first and final warning. Serve the food, and be a good lady. If you stir up any more trouble, I’ll have you kicked out of here!”

“Fine.”

The overseer shook his head as he returned into his tent. Next in line was Larry, he looked at me in pity: “That was a bit harsh, don’t make me regret saving you from the mad ones.”

“As long as you’re on my good side, you won’t regret a thing,” I assured him.

He took his bowl and left. Margaret and I finished serving the rest of the workers. She didn’t make any eye contact with me.

“How could you.. Just take a life like that?” Margaret asked, staring at Henry’s dead body.

“Taking down bad men is what I do. I’m no longer an innocent little girl, doesn’t matter how many I kill after the first one. Once a murderer, always a murderer. I’ve seen enough death and suffering that it doesn’t get to me anymore,” I said.

“I could never…”

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, but then it just happened, and now it can’t be undone. I truly hope you never have to.”

“Henry was my husband…”

Awkward.

“Oh.. I’m, uh, sorry..?”

“No.. He really was a bad man. We had a daughter last spring, she survived birth and was extraordinarily healthy, but Henry had prayed for a son. Beat me black and blue, saying I had been unfaithful to him. He refused to believe the child was his, and-” she hesitated, “and he left her in the woods near a bear’s dwelling…”

“No…”

“I feel relieved that he’s dead, but I hate myself for it.”

“Don’t hate yourself. See this as an opportunity to find someone better, someone who actually cares for you.”

“I’ll try…”

I was shivering again. Walked around the counter and snatched my coat from Henry’s cold, dead hand. Put it on, and went to collect the bowls from the tables. After rinsing the spoons and having everything ready for dinner, I decided to go explore. The second railcar had been unloaded. I wanted to see how long the bridge was. It had no fence, I stayed in the middle of the tracks, away from the edge, and entered the mist. A worker hammering a rail in place watched me closely as I walked past. Had probably ruined any chances of making more friends. I heard a lot of activity coming from further out on the bridge. The mist was so thick I couldn’t see what was in front of me, but I knew I passed someone sawing lumber. The tracks ended, and only the wooden floor of the bridge remained. My corset was grabbed from behind, keeping me from taking another step.

“Careful,” Larry pulled me back from the edge of the bridge floor, preventing me from falling into the ocean.

“Thanks for saving me, again. So this is as far as they’ve gotten.” I said.

“No problem. The bridge is more than halfway to the middle, where we’ll connect it with the valley workers’ side.”

“Great.”

I walked back to the base of the bridge. Couldn’t wait to get back to Sandfort, to Mike.