Dark as Coal, Part Two

Mary Jones stood huddled with a small group of women near the entrance to the Number 23 mine. They were each holding signs prompting people to “Pray to Jesus” and “Hope for Miracle.” But Mary knew in her heart that there was not going to be a miracle for any of them. It was hopeless. Everyone knew it. It was just that when you love someone as much as she and the other wives loved their husbands, it was hard to give up hope.

It had been one week since she had seen the vision in her mirror. Walter had been standing behind her, staring at her….holding out his arms toward her. It had frightened her at the time. Then the phone call from Jenny Smith had made everything crystal clear in her head. It had been a ghost….Walter’s ghost. He had come to say goodbye.

According to the news, which had been covering the story everyday for the past week, the mine had collapsed due to bad mining conditions and poor management. Of course, then the news had to bring up every old story about mine citations and other disasters in mining history…as if people wanted to hear that stuff anyway! About three days into the disaster, the news stopped calling it a search and rescue mission. Now it was a search and find mission…as in finding the dead bodies of all the miners.

Mary wiped a tear from her face. She had thought that they were all cried out, but she surprised herself. She just hoped that Walter had gone quickly. She didn’t like to think that he might have suffered.

“Pray with me Mary,” Jenny Smith trod up beside her and grabbed her by the hand, pulling her down onto the rocks.

Mary didn’t particularly feel like praying. It was hot…and the sharp gravels were digging into her knees. She didn’t want to upset Jenny though. Jenny was taking it harder than most of them. She had just married Bill Smith two months ago…and she was already expecting a child. It was going to be hard raising a baby without a husband…especially at 16. So, Mary bowed her head as Jenny began to weep and wail out to God for a miracle. She wasn’t totally cold-hearted. And besides, she could put up with a lot of things. A little physical discomfort wasn’t going to kill her.

Just then there was a sound of loud shouting coming from the direction of the mine. Several men in yellow coats and hard hats came running out of the mine, waving their arms and motioning for help. Mary froze. Her heart dropped down into her stomach which was sour anyway from lack of a proper diet and sleep. Had they found the bodies? Was this the end? She found that she was clutching Jenny Smith a little too tightly…but she couldn’t help it.

One of the miners who was standing vigil near the entrance of the mine came running toward the group of wives. He shouted out, “They found them. They found the bodies. Oh dear God…they found all the bodies.”

Mary heard the wailing start up around her as the women began screaming out their pain and anguish. She had started to tear up again also. But she couldn’t figure out if it was out of sadness for the loss of her husband or relief that his body had been found. She guessed a little of both. At least there would be closure. She wondered how much insurance money she would get from the mine….and how long it would last her.

Another miner came storming up to them. His words made her heart stop. “One of them is still alive. It’s a miracle! One of the trapped miners is still alive! Praise God!”

Her breath caught in her throat. She looked over at Jenny Smith. They were still holding each other. Their eyes locked. Instantly they pushed apart from each other. They knew….they both knew…that in a moment, one of them might hear the wonderful news that her husband was still alive. And they both in that moment knew that they were wishing that it was true…that their husband was still alive. But by doing so….Mary was, in a sense, wishing that Jenny’s husband was dead. And she knew that Jenny was doing the same thing about Walter. And you just can’t hold onto someone who is wishing death upon your family, now can you?

Mary got to her feet. She didn’t offer to help Jenny up. Let her stay down on the ground and pray some more. Mary was going to start walking toward the mine. She just had to see…who was still alive? Some more of the wives started walking with her.

“Who is it?” someone yelled out, “Who survived?”

And then, another man in a yellow coat and hard hat appeared. He was carrying one end of a stretcher. Another man, similarly dressed, was carrying the other end. And on the stretcher was…

“WALTER!” Mary screamed!

And it was Walter. She could recognize that long, crooked nose from anywhere. She ran toward him, but someone was holding her back.

“No Mary,” a voice was saying, “Don’t look at him. He’s alive…but something’s wrong with him. Don’t look at him Mary. We’ve got to get him to the hospital.”

But she did look at him. She looked at his face….as dark as coal. She looked at his hair…matted and clumped with dirt…mud…and something else. And his mouth….it looked red and raw. Like he had been punched in the mouth.

And as she was looking at him…trying to get to him…he opened his eyes. And it was almost like it was in her kitchen that day...right before the accident. One eye was white….and it was Walter…she could see it! But the other eye….the other eye….was as black as midnight. And it was shining. And Walter started to scream and scream and scream. And he was reaching out toward her, his hands drawn into claws. But Mary didn’t care. Walter was still alive.

Until next week….class dismissed.