A steam whistle blew day's end. A thousand workmen climbed out of the pit and hurried home into the city. When they had gone, Bell climbed in, down ladders and temporary wooden stairs, past the severed ends of gas mains, cast-iron water mains, electrical conduits, and brick sewers. Twenty-four feet down, he encountered a steel viaduct partially constructed-underpinning, he had been told, for Ninth Avenue and the buildings around it. He descended through it into darkness lighted by pinpricks of electric work lamps.
Sixty feet below the surface, he found the floor of the pit. It was a field of stone rubble, dynamited granite, crisscrossed by narrow-gauge rails for the cars that hauled debris out and material in and forested with wide columns that carried the viaduct. Through its frame he could see blue electrical sparks arcing as the El trains thundered across the sky.
Bell explored for an hour, keeping an eye peeled for night watchmen. He tripped repeatedly on the uneven ground. The third time he fell, he smelled something sweet and discovered a gnawed apple core. Poking around, he found a man's den-a crumpled blanket, more apple cores, and chicken bones. He settled down to wait, sitting on the ground, still as ice, moving only when he had to stretch his limbs to stay agile and then only when the Els clattering overhead masked his movements.
He was not alone. Rats scuttled, a dog barked, and from hundreds of feet away in the dark he heard an argument between two hobos, which ended with a heavy thump and a groan drowned out by a passing El. It got quieter as the night wore on and the El trains ran less frequently. Someone lit a bonfire on the edge of the hole at 33rd Street, which sent flickers and shadows dancing on pillars, girders, and rough-hewn stone walls.
A voice whispered in Bell's ear.
It's like church in here.
Chapter 47
ISAAC BELL MOVED ONLY HIS EYES.
By the flickering firelight, he saw a long, bony face with a vacant smile. The man was dressed in rags. His hands were empty, his eyes were puffy as if he had just woken, and Bell surmised that he had been nearby all along sleeping soundlessly. Now he was staring with wondering eyes up at the steel skeleton of the viaduct, and Bell saw what he meant by church. The interlocking girders, the dark sky speckled with stars, and the bonfire light conspired to form the image of a medieval cathedral lit by candles.
Hello, Billy.
Huh?
You are Billy Collins?
Yeah. How'd you know?
You used to run with Eyes O'Shay.
Yeah . . . Poor Eyes . . . How'd you know?
Tommy told me.
Fat bastard. You a friend of his?
No.
Me neither.
Though he was about Bell's age, Billy Collins looked ancient. His hair was gray, his nose was dripping, and now his puffy eyes began leaking tears.
You Tommy's friend? he asked again angrily.
What did Tommy do to Eyes? Bell asked.
Tommy do to Eyes? Are you kidding? That fat bastard? Couldn't do Eyes on his best day. You a friend of Tommy?
No. What happened to Eyes?
I don't know.
They said you were with him.
Yeah. So?
So what happened?
Billy closed his eyes, and murmured, One of these days, I'm going to get back to doing trains.
What do you mean, Billy? Bell asked.
There's good money doing trains, you get the right freight. Good money. I used to be rich doing trains. Then they got my little girl, and all of a sudden I couldn't do 'em anymore. He looked at Bell, the firelight making his eyes look as mad as the tone of his voice. Got jobs once. You know that?
No, I didn't know that, Billy. What sort of jobs?
Got jobs. Sceneshifter in a theater. Once I was a stableman. I even worked as a dummy boy.
What is a dummy boy? Bell asked.
Railroad signalman. Eleventh Avenue. I rode a horse ahead of the train. It's the law in New York. You can't run a train on Eleventh Avenue without a guy on a horse. Only time the law ever gave me a job. I didn't stick it.
He started coughing. Consumption, Bell thought. The man is dying.
Are you hungry, Billy?
Naw. I don't get hungry.
Try this. Bell handed him a sandwich. Billy Collins sniffed, held it near his mouth, and said, You a friend of Tommy?
What did Tommy do to Eyes?
Nothing. Told you. Tommy couldn't do Eyes. Nobody could do Eyes. Except that old man.
Old man?
Hard old man.
You mean his father?
Father? Eyes didn't have no father. The old man. He's what got us. Got us good.
What old man?
On Clarkson.
Clarkson Street? Bell asked. Downtown?
The Umbria was sailing for Liverpool.
The Cunard liner. One of the old ones. When?
That night.
When Eyes disappeared?
When we was kids, Billy answered dreamily. He lay back and gazed up at the frame for the viaduct.
The Umbria? Bell prompted. The steamship? The Cunard liner?
We seen this old man. He was rushing to Pier 40 like he's late. Not even looking where he was going. We couldn't believe our luck. We was down on Clarkson Street looking for drunk sailors to roll. Instead, here comes a rich old man in a rich green coat and sparkling rings on his fingers who could pay one hundred fifty dollars for his steamship ticket. It was dark and pouring down rain, not a soul on Clarkson. Eyes clipped on his thumb gouge in case he gave us trouble. We pounced like cats on our rich rat. Brian went to tear his rings from his fingers. I figured to find a wallet bulging with money in his fancy coat . . .
What happened?
He pulled a sword out of his cane.
Billy Collins turned his gaze on Bell, his eyes wide with wonder. A sword. We were so drunk, we couldn't hardly get out of our own way. The old man swings his sword. I dodged it. He floored me with the cane. Tough old man, knew his business. Set me up. I dodged right into his cane.
