The man who seemed to be the boss, told Bert to wait five minutes after the Oldsmobile left before leaving. It was one of the longest five minutes he and Nell ever experienced. They hated to let Bruce and Chris out of their sight and wanted to follow right behind them. Bert knew that if the Oldsmobile had a five-minute head start there was no way he could catch up to them. Even if he didn’t wait the five minutes, they could never keep up to the more powerful car. Marion wanted to know why she couldn’t have a ride in the big black car too, and Nell, trying to keep the worry out of her voice said it was because there wasn’t room for both Bruce and her. “Anyway, darling, now we have a lot of room and you and Kenneth can lay down on the seat if you want.”
As usual, Marion never complained, and she told Kenneth to lay down and put his feet up on her knee while she sang him a song. Bert glanced over at Nell. He knew how upset she was and for some reason he felt responsible. “I’m sorry, Nell.”
“It’s not your fault. I know you would have done something if you could. I know one thing though—we are not going to stay in anymore out of the way campgrounds, I don’t care how much we have to pay.”
“I rather enjoy having electricity and water hook up anyway, don’t you?”
“I don’t care what we have as long as we are not alone. Oh, I’ve never felt so helpless! And I feel like such a bad mother. Ada was right—we had no right taking the kids on such a trip. I wish we had never come. If anything happens to Bruce, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“Nothing is going to happen to him. Chris will see to that.”
“What can he do? He doesn’t have a weapon.”
“You needn’t worry, he won’t let them harm him. Look, I think we are coming to the border now.”
“You go in and take these papers, Bert. If we are lucky, they might not come out to look through our things.”
Bert got out and went into the customs office while Nell sat in the car and prayed. She knew Bert had nerves of steel and would appear as calm and relaxed as though he didn’t have a car full of whisky. When she saw him coming back, she was relieved, but then she saw there was a guard with him and she was afraid. If they were caught it could mean jail for them both and then what would happen to the children? The guard asked Nell where they were going and some other questions. When her answers were the same as Bert’s, he just looked in the back of the car, saw both kids were asleep on the back seat and Champ was stretched out on the luggage and blankets piled on the floor, he just smiled and said have a safe trip.
If he would have looked under Champ, he would have found the cases of whisky instead of suitcases, but he didn’t. Nell gave a sigh of relief, was about to give God a thank you when she decided to wait until she had Bruce back safe and sound.
“Look for a barn with an eagle painted on it. It’s on your side and off the road a piece. Marion, you can help look for a picture of an eagle too,” Bert said. Marion had woken up when Bert started the car.
“When are we going to see Uncle Chrissy and Bruce, Mama?”
“When we come to the barn with the eagle, so keep looking,” Nell replied. She didn’t realize that Kenneth was awake too until she heard a little voice saying, “Me too?”
“Yes, dear, you too.” Surprisingly, it was Kenneth that saw it first.
“I see a eegull! See it Mama? Right there,” he cried out pointing to a barn.
“Yes, I see it, but I don’t see the car.”
The farm was enclosed by an inconspicuous pole fence and the gate wasn’t padlocked, so it looked like all the other farms and barns they had seen, which made it an ideal place to hide any contraband. Bert got out, opened the gate, then drove up to the barn and honked his horn.
A few seconds later, the door opened, and Bruce came running out waving and smiling, he was followed by Chris who looked just as pleased. Nell wasn’t sure how she expected them to look, but it certainly wasn’t so happy.
“Boy, you should see how fast that car can go, Dad,” was all Bruce had to say when he got to the car and Nell practically had to beg him for a hug.
“How did it go, Chris?” Bert asked. Chris just nodded his head affirmatively and then said they wanted Bert to drive in the barn so they could unload the whisky. Once they were inside, it took awhile to adjust to the darkness, but once they became accustomed to it, they were surprised to find that it was just like any other barn complete with stalls, hay loft and farm tools. An older man, dressed in bib-overalls and a straw hat, who Nell thought looked like a genuine farmer, approached them.
“Howdy there, young lady,” he said to Nell. “You have a mighty nice young feller there. He’s smart too. He was telling me that he’s going to be a machinist some day, an’ I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he’s right. Now, I reckon your little ones could do with some nice cold lemonade. I’ll just go up to the house and have Martha make some. Why don’t you come up and set on the porch while the boys unload the whisky?”
When he said unload the whisky as casually as though he was talking about unloading bales of hay, Nell was too amazed to reply. Then, when he noticed the two men standing in the corner of the barn smoking, he called out, “Here, what are you two idiots doing? You know I don’t allow smoking in the barn. Come and get the crates unloaded and you better put them all in the root cellar this time. Last time you left one out here. If someone had come along and seen it, I’d a been in trouble.”
The two went outside to put out their cigarettes and the farmer said, “Those two, they’re acting more and more like hoodlums every day—even dressing like them now.” He shook his head, then looking at Bert and Chris, he said, “Come on up to the house and I’ll have Martha make us a nice cup of tea.” When Chris said he’d stay with the car, the fellow remarked, “You needn’t worry, Mr. White, those two may look like thugs, but they would never steal.” Nell just wanted to get as far away from there as she could but, the children were thirsty, and she thought it would be better if they didn’t see the men unloading the whisky. So far, they hadn’t seen what was in the crates and she reasoned if they didn’t know, they couldn’t tell anyone.
As they approached the porch, they could see a young woman sitting in a wheel chair. She only had one leg and appeared quite pale. The farmer introduced her as his daughter, Ruby, and then he left to go into the house. Ruby said they didn’t have many visitors and asked a lot of questions to do with their adventures on the road. “I had plans to travel myself,” she said, “but then my diabetes became worse and so now I have to do my travelling out of books.” After the farmer and his wife came out with refreshment, the farmer’s wife talked to Nell while Ruby was asking Bruce and Marion what it was like to sleep in a tent. She told Nell that Ruby was an angel and never complained, but she was likely to lose her other leg.
“That’s why we had to start selling whisky,” the farmer’s wife said. “But we never intended to involve innocent people like you. It seems the route the boys usually take through a farmer’s pasture wasn’t safe and the only way they could bring the liquor across the border was with you. That won’t happen again. Ben has told them that he’s through selling whisky. It’s going to be hard to pay the doctor bills, but we’ll manage somehow. I just hope it hasn’t spoiled your trip.” Nell lied and said it hadn’t. The farmer offered Bert fifty dollars for his trouble and Nell was pleased when he refused to take it.
Once they were back on the road, Bert apologized and she surprised him when she said she would have done the same thing. Then when she told him why, he said, “Well, all’s well that ends well and now we are all safe and sound, without a worry in the world. And now, Nellie old girl, you shall have some adventuresome stories to write about!”
Nell didn’t laugh. “I told you, I don’t like being called old girl and I’m certainly not going to write to anyone about us smuggling liquor across the border. It would just give them all a chance to say I told you so. The sooner we forget about it the better. Now, our next stop is Bonners Ferry so I think we should have lunch there and then try to get to Newport tonight.” It felt so good to have everyone safely back together in the car that Nell began to relax and enjoy the scenery. They arrived in Bonners Ferry by eleven thirty and Nell did some grocery shopping before they found a place to have their lunch and let Champ have a run.
The road from Bonners Ferry to the Washington border and Newport wasn’t much better in places than the ones they had been on in Canada, but they were all accustomed to the bouncing over potholes and Chris convinced the children it was like riding on a roller coaster at a fair. Thereafter, the three of them kept a lookout and whenever they saw a big hole in the road, one of them would call out, “There’s one! Hang on, here we go,” and they would clap their hands and giggle. Bert was ready to ring their little necks by the time they arrived at their destination. He drove through the town looking for a sign advertising a campsite, but they didn’t see one. They did come to a motel on the outskirts of town though and Nell said they should stop and ask how much it cost for two units.
“After what we’ve been through, I think we deserve to have a treat, Bert, and this place has even got a diner. We could have a nice supper and then walk around the town. Go and ask how much they charge. If it’s more than two dollars, we’ll keep going until we find a campground, but I’m not staying out in the woods anymore.” They ended up renting two cabins and after they unpacked their suitcases, they left Champ in one cabin and went to the diner. The waitress was the cook’s wife and apparently his most ardent admirer, because when Nell asked for her recommendations, she said everything on the menu was excellent.
Then she suggested they try the hamburgers and potato fries. “Shaun used to cook in one of the White Castle Restaurants in New York and hamburgers were the most popular item on the menu.”
“I’ve never seen one,” Nell said, “Do you think the children would like them?”
“Yes ma’am, but I think a half of one for the two smaller ones would do.” They all decided to order the hamburgers and Nell also ordered a bowl of soup for Lloyd. She needn’t have bothered because once Bert gave him a taste of his hamburger, he wouldn’t eat anything else. They had strawberry ice cream for dessert, and everything was so tasty, they left the waitress a good tip.
When they got back to the cabins, Bert said that he was going to have to find a job soon if they were going to live high on the hog for the rest of the trip. “We won’t be staying in motels or eating in cafes many times,” Nell replied. “I just think we needed this tonight and it’s well worth the money. As soon as I get the kids into their pyjamas and read them a story, I’m going to crawl into that nice, big bed and go to sleep.” Noticing a look of disappointment on Bert’s face, she smiled and added, “It may take awhile to get to sleep though.” His frown disappeared.
They had just dropped off to sleep when Nell was wakened by what felt like a flea bite on her leg. She thought it was her imagination and was about to drop off again when she felt something crawling up her arm. “Bert,” she cried, “Turn on the light. Hurry!” Jumping out of bed, she threw back the blankets and jumping around from one foot to the other she screamed, “Get up, quick! There’s bugs in the bed! Oh, my heavens, the kids will be eaten alive. Check and see if you have any on you and then get dressed and go and see if Bruce and Chris are all right. Get them up and dressed while I get the kids up. I’ll put them in the car in their pyjamas. Bed bugs! Oh, my heavens, we have to make sure we haven’t any on us or in our clothing. Make sure you check Bruce over from head to toe and all his clothes too. And tell Chris to do the same.”
Inside of ten minutes they were all back in the car, but Nell wouldn’t leave. She went to the office and kept ringing the service bell until the owner, wearing nothing but his pants, came and opened the door. “My God, lady, do you know what time it is?” he growled.
“Of course I do!” she snapped back, “It is time you cleaned up your cabins. We had to get out of there or we would have been eaten alive with bed bugs.” The fellow declared that they never had any kind of bugs and that the cabins were thoroughly cleaned after every tenant left. “Well, that may be, but you had better try sleeping in one of them. I killed three while I was getting the children up, come on and I’ll show you.” He went to the cabin with her and saw the dead bugs, but having no bodies to warm up the beds, the rest had disappeared.
“Look lady, I didn’t know about this, honest. I think it must have been the last bunch that were in here. They were a rough looking lot now I come to think of it. I’ll have to get rid of all the bedding and fumigate the cabin. Was there any in the other one?” Nell said Bert couldn’t find any, but they weren’t about to stay and find out. “Look, I’m really sorry about this—I’ll give you your money back and there’s a good campground about six miles down the road. It doesn’t have any hook ups, but it’s well looked after. I’ll give you another fifty cents so you can stay there if that’s ok?” Nell could tell he was sincere so she went back to the office so he could give her the money. She normally would not have accepted the extra fifty cents, but just thinking about the bedbugs made her so angry, she almost asked for more.
First there were the Romas and Nell had been afraid that her children might be kidnapped or that they might all be robbed and murdered. Then she was just getting over that when Bruce and Chris were taken as hostages by two armed smugglers. And now, when she thought nothing else could possibly happen, they were attacked by bed bugs. For the second time since leaving Calgary, she wished she had never agreed to travel to Vancouver by car, but no one would know how she felt since she smiled at the children and said, “One good thing is, you will already be in your pyjamas when we set up the tent and you’ve already brushed your teeth so you can get right into your cots.”
Although the campsite didn’t have any modern conveniences, it was free and there were other campers there. They stayed one night and then travelled further south staying at a lovely campsite for three nights. There was a large playground near their campsite with a wading pool, so the children were very content. Nell had time to write letters instead of post cards and she was able to describe all the lovely scenery they had seen. She wrote a long one to Bert’s father and the family. Unfortunately, she mailed it before Bert made his biweekly phone call to Ernie and received the sad news that their mother had passed away. Chris took the news a little harder than Bert, but neither had been close to their mother. Bert told Nell that his mother was quite fond of gin and spent most of her time upstairs in her bedroom. He also said that even though it was their Aunt Dolly who nurtured them, it was their Grandmother Gladys they were fondest of.
They found a telegraph office and sent their condolences and later, as they sat around the fire, Bert and Chris reminisced about their mother. “She was a good old girl,” Bert recalled. “I remember how she had a fondness for sweets and how dad kept her supplied with chocolates and candy—and gin. We didn’t see much of her, but she always remembered our names whenever she joined us at mealtime.”
Chris nodded in agreement. “She would be sitting in the garden and if I walked by, she would say, “Come here, dearest Christopher, Mommy has a treat for you,” and she would give me one of her chocolates.”
“She did that with us all,” Bert said smiling. “Do you remember the picture of her hanging in the parlour? The one above the fireplace. She was very beautiful, Nell, and she had a tidy little figure, much like yours, but she put on a great deal of weight, poor soul. You know, I don’t recall ever hearing her utter a cross word. Dad loved her so, and he never complained about her drinking.”
“I imagine having thirteen babies might lead anyone to drink,” Nell remarked, “I’m sorry we don’t have enough money for you both to go home for the funeral.”
Bert told her not to be sorry, that there was nothing they could do if they did go. Nell had lost her mother when she was six. A few years later, her father remarried a widow with three daughters. She was a good stepmother and Nell was very fond of her, so listening to the things the men said about their mother was difficult to understand or imagine. She didn’t know if she would ever be able to afford to go to England, but the more she heard about Bert’s family, the less she wanted to. The letters she received from Bert’s dad assured her that she would be welcome, so she wasn’t worried about that, it was just that they were all so unconventional.
Mr. White Sr. shortened all his children’s names and added an ie—even Sidney, who he called Siddie. When Bert and his twin sister, Dot, were toddlers their father had a miniature coach built; a replica of the Queen’s Coronation coach and then bought a prize goat to pull it and hired a man to dress like a groom and walk beside it. And Sidney, the eldest son, a talented machinist, owned a horse and because he believed it was cruel to ride it, he took it for long walks. Then there was Dot, Bert’s twin sister.
Dot was a pretty young lady, but wasn’t the least bit interested in marriage. She decided to be a midwife during the war and was very successful at it although she had no training. After that, all she ever wore was a man’s white shirt with the sleeves cut short, a black tie, a black jumper and a man’s derby hat with a band around it saying ‘Nurse White.’ Dot smoked when it wasn’t considered ladylike and enjoyed a generous drink of whisky. She admitted all this in a letter to Nell one time and added, “I imagine when you read this you shall say “What a dirty old cow!” Nell couldn’t help but laugh and they corresponded regularly. What Nell didn’t realize was that the White’s abnormal behaviours was one of the things she loved the most about Bert.
After they left that campsite, they headed north again passing many nice little towns until they arrived at Coleville. Nell fell in love with the town the minute she saw it. It had clean wide streets and modern buildings, a good variety of stores and the houses were well kept with flower gardens and lovely shade trees. They found a nice camping ground close enough to the centre of town so they could walk to the stores to do their shopping. The camp attendant told Bert that Coleville’s population was around three thousand and quite a few had cars, so he could probably find work within walking distance. The campground was spacious and for fifty cents a night they could have a water tap, electricity and garbage pick-up. There was also a playground and a wading pool.
The second morning they were there, Bert went looking for work. He didn’t come home for lunch, and when it came time for dinner and he still wasn’t home, Nell and Chris began to worry. “I think you had better go and look for him, Chris,” Nell said, “If you can’t find him in half an hour, we’ll find a policeman and report him missing.”
Chris had only gone a block when he saw Bert coming toward him. He was wearing a pair of grease-stained coveralls and carrying his jacket. “Hello, Chris, dinner ready?” he said as casually as though he had just left camp a few minutes ago. Chris was too relieved and angry to bother answering. Bert had stopped at the first garage he came to and as soon as he said he was a mechanic, the owner handed him a pair of overalls and put him to work. “May as well make yourself at home, Nellie,” he said as they were eating. “There’s a good week’s work for me if I want it.”
The next day, he came home pushing a buggy. When his boss heard they had a baby he said he and his wife had a buggy they were going to sell so Nell could use it as long as they were in town. He even went home and brought it back to the garage for Bert.
Nell was delighted. The buggy was big enough to carry both Lloyd and Kenneth, so now she could go for walks around town and leave Chris to keep an eye on Marion and Bruce if they didn’t want to come with her. She loved going up and down the streets looking at the different homes and even stopped to talk to some women who were working in their gardens. Bert’s boss was so pleased with his work, he gave him a raise on the third day, thus they stayed in Coleville two weeks longer than they planned to.
“This means we shall have to limit our stays in other towns if we want to make it to Vancouver by September,” Bert warned Nell the night before they were to leave.
“I know, but now we have enough money to get us there. You know, Bert, I could live here. If this town was in Canada, I wouldn’t want to go any further. Would you like to live here?”
“It would be a good enough place to have a garage I suppose, but I long for the smell of the ocean and I’m certain we shall all like Vancouver.”
“I hope you’re right. Anyway, it will be nice to get back on the road. I wonder what the next stop will be like? I think we should be able to make it back to Canada by tomorrow evening if the roads aren’t too bad.” Bruce and Marion had made a few good friends and were sorry to leave them, but they were anxious to return to Canada. As much as they enjoyed the campground, they said they didn’t feel like they belonged there. Nell thought it may have been because the other kids kept asking them what it was like to be a Canadian.