| |
TILLIE FOLLOWED THE president and his entourage into the cafeteria. She wanted to get a better measure of the threat he might pose. Angus had ignored him, but she worried that her husband didn’t see the bad in people the way she did. Jackson was worse than her bureaucrats. He wanted more than just an easy life. He wanted power. The thought of what he might do to the thriving community that she and Angus were building made her blood boil. This was their hard work. Their dreams. With a conscious effort, she pushed down all her anger, so that she could think straight. This needed to be handled carefully.
The kitchen staff was gearing up for lunch. She couldn’t believe that so much had happened already this morning. The day was nearly half over, and all she’d done so far was react to one problem after another. And now this new problem was going to eat up more of her time.
The men inspected the serving line, the signs on the wall indicating what the new money could buy and the big urns of coffee and tea. She kept an eye on them, but they didn’t do anything but look. After they had settled at a table, she went over to explain their system.
“I think we’ll all start with coffee,” the president said when she arrived at their table.
“We all serve ourselves,” Tillie said with great patience.
“Oh.” Jackson glanced around the room. “Why don’t you send over a couple of young ladies.”
For a moment Tillie couldn’t see straight. She turned away from them before she started yelling. Mary came out of the kitchen to load a tray into the serving line. She started to smile, but her expression changed to query at the look on Tillie’s face.
“She’ll do.”
Biting her lip, Tillie turned back to him. He’d thought she was looking for someone to fulfill his request. She was forming a very bad opinion of this man. “That is our head baker. She doesn’t serve people.” She took a breath, feeling the heat of anger tightening in her chest. “I came over to let you know how this works.”
“It’s a cafeteria, woman, we can see how it works,” Jackson said condescendingly.
Tillie ignored his infuriating interruption. “You get two days to settle in. During those two days, you get free meals. After that you must earn money to pay for your meals.”
Jackson gave her a cold look. “You’ve said your piece, honey, you can go back to your knitting, or whatever.”
“Two days,” Tillie repeated. Her jaw hurt from clenching it. “After that you won’t get free food.”
“I don’t think you understand who this person is,” said one of his toadies. “He’s the president. And he’s not going to be playing your little games to get fake money.”
“In two days you must pay for your meals,” Tillie growled. “Either here or at the shops down by the train station. There’s a bakery and a butcher and a café. They will also expect to be paid for their products.”
“We’ll see,” Jackson said. He gave Tillie the sort of smile that made her think of a predator.
“Yes,” she snapped back. “We will see.” She marched across the room and out into the hall. Fury pounded in her head.
Lily, at the head of a herd of kids, skidded to halt at the entrance to the cafeteria. “Tillie! Are you okay? You look really mad. Did something bad happen?”
All of the children stopped to listen. Tillie looked at their intent faces. They might be young, but most of them were more capable than half the adults that Tillie knew. But they might still be susceptible to propaganda. She knew she’d better warn them. “There are some newcomers that aren’t doing their fair share.”
Lily peeked into the cafeteria and came back to whisper to the rest of the kids. “The suits.”
A grumble circulated through the children. “You know who they are?” Tillie asked.
“They’re mean.” Lily joined arms with another child. “Tried to trick us. Wanted us to do stuff and tell them stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” Tillie asked in alarm. It was obvious now that the school had not been the president’s first stop.
“We know better,” Lily said with a forest of nodding heads to back her up. “We won’t be doing anything for them.”
“Okay. But don’t forget to tell someone if you see something that seems wrong.”
Lily smiled, dimples and sweetness. “Of course, Tillie.” For a moment she looked like a child. It was hard to think of her lost and alone, seeking out Wisp to find her brother. But she had survived against the odds, and that was something Tillie needed to remember.
“Go get your lunch,” she said. The children ran into the cafeteria calling out to the servers on the food line in happy high voices to be answered in turn by doting adults. The sound soothed her. It sounded like a normal day. The anger leaked away until she could think more clearly. Those men did not belong in her domain. If there wasn’t already a crisis to deal with, she’d make it a priority to get rid of them.
The front doors clanged open. Four Rovers trotted down the hall bringing the scent of smoke with them. For now, the fire had to be their first concern.