to her sister prevailed. “It’s the least you could do,” was all she managed.
“The very least,” Owen agreed.
Hattie went on her way without so much as a goodbye.
* * *
The Tom Thumb piano, Owen thought, as he headed toward Burke’s. That she would sell it had never entered his mind.
It had been Good Friday, one month before their wedding. Owen remembered because Grace had asked permission of the landlord to plant morning glory seeds along the front porch of the coal company house on Spring Street, where they’d live once they were married. According to Grace, most of the other flowers could wait until May, but morning glory seeds had to be planted on Good Friday in recognition of the Lord’s sacrifice, and in order for the seeds to sprout in a timely manner.
She was still working for the colonel but intended to give up her position once she started keeping house with Owen.
One night, about a week after their engagement, Owen had asked Grace if she’d miss her work.
“Only the lessons. If I’m ever fortunate enough to come by a piano, I’ll teach the neighbors’ children.”
Unsettled by the thought of Grace missing anything, Owen decided to find a piano in time for their wedding. It was the evening before Good Friday that Graham told Owen about a little Tom Thumb down at the horse track along the Lackawanna River. A trainer by the name of Carl had won it from a barkeep up the line in a game of chance. According to Graham, the barkeep had it on good authority that Carl’s dice were loaded. After asking around some, Graham found others eager to make the same accusation.
“He’s a mean little son of a bitch,” one of the men said. “Deny his own mother if there was money to be made.”
Along the way, Graham also discovered that the trainer ran cockfights out of the feed barn at the track the second Friday of every month—high stakes, serious gamblers only.
On the morning of Good Friday, Owen had gone down to the track to see about the piano. Carl kept it in his room off the stables. He used it as a shaving stand, propping his mirror on the music desk, setting his aluminum shaving mug and brush on the covered keys. An unopened cake of barber’s soap lay next to them, and a horsehide razor strop straddled the top of the instrument. He made due with an overturned apple crate for a seat.
“Come on in and set down,” Carl said, sitting on the edge of the bed as he offered the crate to Owen. “What can I do you for?”
“Come about your piano,” Owen said, “to see what you might take for it.”
“So you wants to get a piano. Don’t play myself.” Carl held up his hands and wiggled his fingers, five on the right hand, four on the left. “I’d end up missing a few keys.” He laughed.
“It’s for my bride-to-be.”
“Ah, love.” Carl reached for the strop and started sharpening a razor. “How much?”
“Thought we might barter.”
“Then you’re wasting my time,” Carl said as he put down his razor, stood up, and gestured toward the door.
“Heard you run cockfights here.”
Carl dropped his hand and sat down again.
“Might be I have a bird that could win a man some money,” Owen continued.
“You raise fighting cocks?”
“Got me a beaut.”
“That so?”
“Yep.” Chester—a bird too ugly to let live. “He’s yours for the piano. Won a total of fifty dollars with him in three counties.” Owen hoped the Lord might turn a blind eye when it came to swindling a swindler.
“Then you won’t have no problem paying for that instrument outright.” Carl got up again, and this time Owen stood as well. After a sizable pause, Carl said, “I’ll tell you what. You bring that bird of yours tonight, and if he wins you enough money, I’ll let you buy the piano.”
The men shook hands, and Owen started up the road, wondering what he’d tell Hattie about her rooster.
That afternoon, Owen lied to Grace for the first time. “Graham got himself into a peck of trouble.” He looked at the ground, afraid she’d see deception in his eyes. “I need to help him out tonight.”
No matter how many times Grace asked, “What kind of trouble?” Owen refused to elaborate.
“You won’t even miss me. Morning glories sure’ll look pretty come summer.”
Grace turned on her heel, into the servants’ entrance at the colonel’s house, and let the door slam behind her.
In the end, Owen decided not to tell Hattie about her rooster. He’d already told one too many lies and couldn’t stomach another. If Chester survived the night, and Owen thought he might just be mean enough to, Owen would return him to the yard in time for his sunrise duties. And if Chester didn’t make it, Owen would have enough time to think about what to tell Hattie on his way home.
Graham scooped up the bird while Owen tied string around his beak and feet. Chester managed to inflict wounds on both men before they could secure him.
When they got to the track, they found Carl standing outside the feed barn, checking the crowd—a little light this particular night, even for a holy day. “Who’s this?” he asked, pointing toward Graham with a thumb.
“Raises fighting cocks with me,” Owen said. Chester reared up, as if to expose the lie.
“Shoulda mentioned him before,” Carl said, but he pointed both men toward the door. “You’re third up.”
Inside, about fifty men sat on makeshift bleachers surrounding a pit fifteen feet around. Owen noticed some of the men down on the barn floor, poking at the birds, pulling at their wings, getting them riled up.
Carl strutted in and announced the rules: “All wagers before the bell. Cocks fight till they’re dead or crippled. I’ll call it.”
The crowd started to settle in.
“First up, a fighter out of Chinchilla. Hold that bird high.”
A barrel-chested man waved a rooster in the air. Its feet scrambled frantically above the man’s head.
“And a cock out of Bull’s Head, another one of Harry’s.”
Harry held the bird in one hand and waved to the crowd with the other.
“Place your bets.”
Various sums of money changed hands while two boys, no more than sixteen, grabbed up the birds and strapped razors to their spurs. Each boy held his charge aloft.
“Are we ready?” Carl asked, poised to strike a nearby bell. The boys nodded. “Begin!”
At the sound of the bell, the cocks were thrown
