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TED PASSED MARTIN IN the hall on the way to the cafeteria. He looked burdened. Ted didn’t want to bother him with any questions, but he wondered if they had made any effort to look for the man who had hurt Greenie. There was a lot going on right now, so he couldn’t fault him for not getting it done. He gave Martin a nod, but avoided his eyes. Then Martin spun around to look at him.
“Can I help?” Ted asked a little nervously.
“Every man and woman in the Watch is keeping an eye out for the attacker.”
“Thank you,” Ted said sincerely. “I know you’re very busy.”
“Short-handed all the way around,” Martin said with a frown. “I could use a couple of runners. Smart, quick and willing to obey orders.”
“I have plenty that would fit the bill. How many and where?” Ted said. Martin smiled, making Ted think of sharks and wolves and things with very sharp teeth. Then he forcibly changed that image from predator to guardian. Seeing Martin that way made him feel much better.
“Please send four kids to my office in fifteen minutes.”
“Certainly.” Although Wisp had told him that Martin was a good person, Ted had only seen him as a soldier, always armed and hyper alert. He had worried that someday one of the children would get shot by accident. Now he envisioned Martin stepping in front of the kids to protect them. It made him want to apologize for his misconceptions, but had a feeling that would only make Martin uncomfortable.
Ted found one of the boys he had in mind and sent him to round up the two girls and one other boy. They would work out well. He had complete faith in them. Then he went to the cafeteria to indulge in a cup of coffee.
It was between meals, and the room was almost empty. He and Nixie had spent the morning trying to figure out how to deploy the children to everyone’s advantage. They were to go in bunches of three or more. Jean had given him a box of whistles and all of the kids got one. A few of the older kids went to the infirmary, a group to the train stations, and some to help Tillie and Eunice. His kids were very protective of those two women. After Nixie and him, they were the ones that took care of the children.
A woman at the coffee urn slammed something down on the counter with a grunt of exasperation. “Sugar! Where’s the damn sugar?”
Ted hurried over to help. “We have sorghum,” he said. But then he saw the broken jar. Thick syrup oozed across the counter. “Oh dear.”
“That is not honey,” she snapped.
“No. Sorghum is from a plant. It’s a little like molasses.”
“Molasses? That’s ridiculous. No one is going to put molasses in their coffee!”
Ted wanted to say that they would if that was all they had, but this woman was obviously not going to be content with it. “I’m sorry, there isn’t any sugar.” He walked to the kitchen door to alert them to the broken jar. The waste of food upset him.
“They have coffee and milk but not sugar? What is the point?”
It seemed she wasn’t going to give up. Ted slipped into the kitchen to get away from her. Eunice frowned at him.
“Problem?”
“I’m sorry. The sorghum jar broke.” He wasn’t sure why he was apologizing for something that wasn’t his fault.
Eunice patted his arm. “Accidents happen. Don’t worry. Let me get a cloth.”
“I didn’t,” Ted sputtered. “It was that woman.”
Eunice pushed the door open a crack to peek into the cafeteria. “Her. She’s been complaining since she arrived. Doesn’t like anything. Nothing is up to her standards.”
“I hate to see food go to waste,” Ted said. “She slammed it down, and it just cracked.”
“If I could fine her, I would,” Eunice said sharply. “There is no excuse for that kind of behavior.” She marched into the other room.
It was Ted’s turn to peek through the door.
“Did you break this jar?” Eunice demanded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What kind of food service is this? You don’t have sugar. You don’t have ketchup or mayonnaise.”
“It’s the kind of place where you earn you meals,” Eunice said. She pointed to the gooey puddle on the counter. “You’ve wasted that. I’m going to take that off your rations.”
“You don’t have that authority,” the woman snapped back as she sidled away. “You can’t treat me like that!”
Ted swung the door open for Eunice. “Do we have rations now?” he asked.
“No. But she doesn’t know that.” She grabbed a clean cloth and filled a small bucket with hot water. “Could you take care of that? I’ve got a dozen other things to tend to.”
“Yes. I can do that.” Ted took the cloth and bucket to sop up the spilled sorghum. It surprised him that anyone felt entitled anymore. Everyone that he’d met had struggled so badly in the past few years that they were grateful for anything that they didn’t have to find or make on their own.
When he came to High Meadow, the possibility of fresh food had been a delight. He and the kids had been living on train food wherever they could find it. Then the trains shut down, and the food was no longer available. It was terrifying to be left in the lurch like that. Without High Meadow, he would have had no resources for his kids. The thought sent a shiver through him. There was no way he could build the kind of network Angus had. Anyone who was not completely self sufficient now would be in trouble this winter without train food to rely on.
He squeezed out the sticky cloth in the hot water and ran it across the counter again. How could anyone be so foolish as to destroy food?