Chapter 13

My heart was soaring as I rode back to camp. The girls came running out when they saw me. "Did you do it?" Sam asked.

I got down from Hawk and gave them both a big hug. Then, I showed them the certificate of deposit and the bag of gold coins. All three of us were laughing like idiots.

"So, do you want to go on into town and get some lunch and maybe stay in a tavern tonight?" I asked.

"Could we stay here tonight?" Sam asked. "I have an idea of what to do with the gold coins and I'd like to see if we can do it before we go into town."

"That'd be fine," I said. "What's your idea?"

"Money belts. We probably have a little over five hundred gold coins. If Cassie and I each had a money belt that would hold a hundred and fifty coins and you had one that would hold two hundred. That'd leave Cassie and me carrying around five pounds and you'd be carrying around seven."

"What would you make them out of?"

"I was thinking of cutting up one of the backpacks, or maybe one of the canvass bags."

"The canvass bag might be better. They're long enough that one strip would go around even my waist."

"Ed, my love, I'll bet you don't have more than a 32" waist now. I'll bet you've lost twenty or twenty-five pounds since I first met you."

"Yeah, you are officially a hunk, Ed," Cassie giggled.

We ended up deciding to go into town after all. The needle and thread we had was not strong enough for sewing the canvass for a money belt. We ate some lunch, then packed up our camping gear onto the mules. I'm sure they were happier with their lighter load.

We ended up getting a room at the Green Dragon Tavern. This tavern had been around since the 1600s and had been a meeting place for the "Sons of Liberty" according to the proprietor. He only had one room open, but he said the bed was big and that all three of us could sleep in it with no problem.

The bed was a double if anything. I knew we were going to be a little crowded, but I really didn't mind. The girls didn't either. We moved our stuff into the room, all except the gold, which I had in my backpack.

We took the horses and mules to a livery stable and arranged to board them there for a few days. The livery man agreed to keep our saddles and camping gear and only charged us a dollar for making sure they were secure.

We found a general store and bought a large needle and some heavy thread. We thought about looking around for a while, but decided the backpack was attracting too much attention, so we went back to the room and Sam and Cassie spent a couple of hours making us some money belts.

They made a simple sleeve, just larger than a coin. They turned it inside out, then sewed across one end around eight inches from the end so no coins would go in that area. We counted out 150 coins and stuffed them into one of the belts. There was still about a foot of sleeve left over on the open end. Sam put the belt around her waist and tied the ends together. It worked just fine.

We decided I'd keep 20 coins in my pocket, so when Cassie's and my belts were finished, we loaded all but twenty of the gold coins into them and we put on our belts as well. Our clothes were baggy anyway, so the belts couldn't be seen at all.

Since it was approaching dinner time, we went downstairs to see what the Green Dragon had to offer. The serving girl carved large slabs of roast beef for us and served them with new potatoes and early peas. When you added the home baked bread, it was a meal fit for a king.

We were all tired, emotionally and physically, so we retired to our room not long after dinner. Even though the bed was small and even though it was a corn shuck mattress on a rope bed, we slept better than we had in a long time.

Day 57 - Saturday, June 26, 1847

This morning, we were up early, as had become our habit. We went down to see what the tavern offered for breakfast. We ended up having fried potatoes, bacon, biscuits, and gravy made from the bacon fat.

As we were eating, Sam said, "Anyone in the twenty-first century would have a heart attack from just looking at this breakfast. Why didn't it bother people of this era?"

"I think it's because people in this era worked harder. Also, this isn't everyday fare. Usually, people in this time eat a lot of game. Most of it is very low in fat."

"Whatever the reason, this is great."

After we finished eating, we decided to go out and walk around for a while. For the time period, Boston was an impressive city. There were more stores than in almost any other American city. There were also the docks and almost endless wharves where shipping to and from Europe, the Carribean, and South America took place.

We were like most latter day tourists that visited Boston and wanted to see the North Church where the lanterns were raised signaling which way the British were coming; Breeds Hill; and other revolutionary attractions. We spent most of the day looking at the sights. We had New England Clam Chowder for lunch at a public house and went back to the Green Dragon for dinner, or as most people in this age called it, supper.

We retired early and were at least a little thankful to take off our money belts when we got in our room. "Did you notice all of the street kids?" Sam asked after we were cuddled in bed.

"Yes," I said. "From what I've read, there were quite a few orphaned during this time period. Usually another family member or even a neighbor took them in, but there were still many of them that had no one to take care of them. They even had what they called Orphan Trains where they'd ship orphans out of the city. They sent them out west where they became farm labor for the families that took them in. These kids still had it better than the ones left in the city."

"What happened to the ones left in the city?" Cassie asked.

"They usually ended up like you and Sam were, living on the streets. Most tried to get work, or tried to sell things to buy food. Some were apprenticed to blacksmiths and printers and the like. I read an account of one girl in the 1830s who worked for a woolen mill. She made a dollar a week and managed to survive on it."

"Jeez. I thought we had it bad," Sam said.

"Actually, being apprenticed wasn't so bad. They didn't get any money for the work they did, but they were fed and clothed and had medical care if they needed it."

"I guess things don't change much over time, do they?"

Day 58 - Sunday, June 27, 1847

Breakfast this morning included eggs along with everything else we had yesterday. Sam had joked about the cholesterol, but she didn't let it slow her down any. After we had eaten, I asked the girls what they wanted to do today.

Cassie said she'd just like to laze around. "I'd like to go to Boston Commons and soak up some sun," Sam said.

Cassie and I agreed that sounded good, so we asked directions and took off the way they told us to go. We took a blanket with us and when we got to the commons, we spread it out so we could lay in the sun.

After we had lain there a few minutes, Sam said, "Damn, I wish I had a bikini."

"Honey, you'd be arrested for indecent exposure and put in the stocks," I said with a laugh.

"Then, I suppose making love out here under the sun is out of the question too?"

Cassie took a giggling fit. "It'd almost be worth having to spend time in the stocks to get to make love to you here in the sun," Sam said.

We had been laying there for almost an hour when two dirty little girls came up and stood at my feet. I looked up into the eyes of one of them and asked if I could help her.

"My sister and I were wondering if you'd like to buy a newspaper?" the other girl asked. She held a Boston Globe toward me and I could see that it was over a week old.

"Sure, honey," I said and started to reach into my pocket for some change.

"Would you rather we bought the paper from you with money, or would you rather go over to that tavern with us and let us buy you both the biggest meal you ever had?" Sam asked as she pushed herself up on one elbow.

The little girl's eyes got big as she looked at Sam. "Do you really mean that about buying us a meal?"

"Yes, anything you want, honey," Sam assured her.

"We'll take the meal."

"Good. Let's go then," Sam said as she got up. Cassie and I followed her and folded the blanket as Sam took each girl by the hand. The second girl still hadn't said anything.

When we got to the tavern, the girls hesitated at the door. Come on, honey," Sam said.

"The guy in here ran us off the other day," the girl said. "He said he never wanted to see us around here again."

"Don't worry about it, love," I said. "I'm sure I can make him see the light."

We went inside and I escorted the girls to a table. The one girl was smiling from ear to ear as she took a seat, but the other one still looked a little scared.

A big burly man came walking over and said, "I thought I told you girls not to come back in here again."

"Excuse me," I said. "Do you want to sell five meals or do you want us to go someplace else?"

He looked quickly at me and said, "I'm sorry governor. I didn't know they was with you."

"What do you have to eat this fine day," I asked.

"We have a very good beef and mutton stew," he said. "The biscuits were baked just a few minutes ago."

"Does beef and mutton stew sound good to you girls?"

The one girl nodded enthusiastically. "What about your sister?" I asked.

"That'll be fine with her too. She hasn't said anything since mom and dad died."

"Okay," I said, turning to the man. "Beef and mutton stew for five, along with those fresh biscuits you mentioned and some butter and a big glass of milk for each of the girls and coffee for the rest of us."

The tavern keeper brought stew for all of us and a big plate of biscuits. The two little girls dug in like they hadn't eaten in months.

"I'm Sam and this is Cassie and Ed," Sam said between bites.

"I'm Mindy Masters and this is my twin sister Mandy," the talkative one said.

"Why are you living on the street, Mindy?"

"We don't have anyplace else to go. Our mom and dad died from the smallpox. A man came and told us he was going to sell us to work for a farmer. We didn't know them so we ran away."

"Don't you have any other relatives, honey?" Sam asked.