Love and Other Wicked Games (A Wicked Game Novel) (28 page)

“Security from what?”

“Anything and everything. Most of the people are good at heart, you know, you’ve met some of them, but desperation can make people do things they would never do otherwise… which is why, like I said, it would not be safe for us to get out of the carriage.”

From this point on Ellie could not do anything but sit silently and listen to Cal.

By the time he was done explaining everything he wanted her to know, the burden she felt was so heavy that she no longer even noticed the smells or the darkness that surrounded her. All she could feel was the sadness and despair. All she wanted to do was cry. But she could not cry and give up. She wanted to cry and wipe her eyes and do something. It didn’t feel right to go home to her warm bed and family and plentiful meals while these people lived here like this. But it wasn’t as if she could wave her hands and immediately make everything better for these people. It was going to take years of hard work and Ellie had no idea where to even start.

It was for this reason that she couldn’t stop herself, and after Cal bid the carriage driver to move along she moved closer to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. As the carriage swayed along towards an unknown destination she braided her fingers into his, and to her surprise he put his arm around her, pulling her close. She tried to choke back the tears but she wasn’t able to. Her body shook painfully as the tears ran down her face.

“
Shhh… Shhh…
” He smoothed her hair, holding her against him, and everything changed. If only for a moment, she felt the tension of the entire night break and release them both.

“Tell me, Cal,” she began later, as the carriage continued to rock them back and forth and her tears finally subsided. “What would you do? We’ve been working at this together for weeks now and I know you’ve been working on this even longer. With what you’ve learned now, what would you do? If you had the power to do anything at all, what would it be?”

He didn’t answer right away, patting her side instead. She looked up to him, curious, and for the first time tonight, she saw him smile. A real genuine, heartwarming smile. “It seems you have spoiled my surprise.”

“You have a surprise for me?”

“Didn’t I say that already?”

“Oh. Yes. I suppose you did.” She chewed her lip. “What is it?”

“I can’t tell you. That would spoil it.”

“Please?” she asked with a smile, playfully nuzzling her head against him.

“No. Not yet. This is worth the wait.”

Ellie could think of several things that were supposed to be worth the wait, none of which she agreed with. “But maybe—”

“No,” Cal said. And he continued to stroke her head and pat her side in silence as the carriage made a path through the city. After some time, Ellie looked out the window only to realize that they were on the edge of the city and would soon be passing through the villages on the outskirts.

“Are you running off with me?” she teased, only half joking.

“No, my dear. I shall have you safe in your bed again by morning.”

Ellie didn’t like this answer at all. “What if I don’t want to be safe in my bed by morning? What if I want to be in your—”

She felt Cal shudder and then stiffen against her. “No,” he said once more. “No.”

Measured amounts of the earlier tension were returning to his body and so Ellie held her tongue, afraid that he would become cold again and push her away. Instead she did everything she could to take in all of him and this moment. She concentrated on the way he felt so warm and safe against her, and the way he always smelled spicy, but most importantly she concentrated on the way he made her feel about herself. Confident, safe, and secure. An hour must have passed by in silence—even still it was not nearly long enough for Ellie—before Cal tapped the top of the carriage and called to the driver.

Cal sat up abruptly as the carriage jerked to a stop. He looked around, with a new energy apparent on his face. “We’re here,” he told her. “We’re here.”

He jumped out of his seat and rounded the carriage. Ellie rubbed her eyes and looked out the window but she wasn’t able to see much through the darkness of the night. Her door opened quickly and before she even had a chance to exit on her own, Cal grabbed her arm and removed her from the carriage. Ellie stumbled slightly before she was able to right herself and take in her surroundings.

She stood in place for a moment and then, when nothing about the situation became clear she turned around in a circle. First to her right and then her left. There was no light out here save for the stars and the small sliver of moon but there was one thing that was apparently clear.

“We’re—we’re in a field! An empty field.”

“Exactly!”

Ellie cocked her head to the left and lifted her eyebrow. “Why?”

“Oh,” he waved his hand dismissively. “Look around! Haven’t you any imagination?”

“Of course I do! But it would be helpful to at least know a category!”

“Oh. Oh yes. I suppose the excitement has caused me to get ahead of myself.”

Ellie just looked at him.

“You asked what I would do if it was up to me. Now that I know what I know, if I could do anything at all to the help the people what would it be. What would I change.”

“Yes…”

“Well, the answer is simple: nothing. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“What?” Ellie tapped her hand against her ear unable to believe what she was hearing. “What do you mean you wouldn’t change a thing? Then—then what was the point? What was all of this? What—what—”

“Wait, wait, wait Ellie. Let me finish.”

She crossed her arms. “Alright then.”

“Do you trust me, Ellie?”

“Of course I do,” she answered slumping her shoulders.

“Alright then.” Cal rubbed his hands together rapidly. “If there is one thing I have learned from all of the information you’ve helped me gather, it’s that the condition of the workers’ neighborhoods and the mills are too far gone to change anything. The neighborhoods are in such a state of disrepair over such a large area and their current state is perpetuated by the rest of the city…” Cal began to pace and talk more rapidly. It was becoming apparent that he’d been thinking about this for a while and had much to say about it.

“I mean, I’m sure it could be done if someone spent massive amounts of money to clean up the river or rebuild the homes or clean up the streets. But there are many problems with that idea. For one, it’s not as if they could use the existing structures. They’d have to all be torn down which would be more money, and then rebuilt from the ground up which would be more money. And as far as cleaning things up, that will only work for so long, because unless someone has enough money to clean up the entire city of Manchester and somehow maintain the cleanliness everywhere, which again would take massive amounts of money—more than anyone I know has at their disposal—then eventually the filth and the grime and the state of disrepair would return…”

“So what are you proposing?”

“Have you ever heard of a man named Robert Owen?”

“No.” Ellie shook her head. “I haven’t.”

“What about New Lanark?”

“Haven’t heard of that name either. Sorry.”

Cal nodded. “Alright, so. New Lanark is a small cotton mill town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland that was founded by David Dale in the late 1700s. He had a fairly philanthropic approach to his business practices which inspired his son-in-law…”

“Robert Owen?” Ellie asked.

“Yes. Exactly. So, in the early 1800s Dale sold the town to Owen, who continued to improve upon his father-in-law’s work. When Owen took ownership, both the town and its mills were already in a fairly decent condition, especially when compared to other mill towns. But Owen wanted to do better. He knew he could do better. But—and here’s the key—” Cal said stopping for a moment to hold up a finger, “—he didn’t presume to know everything they wanted and needed: he asked them, working side by side with them in some cases to improve their lot. Especially the children. He was particularity moved by their plight.”

“So, what did he do for them?”

“Oh… oh so much!” Cal threw his hands in the arm and spun around. “He set up schools for the children and charities to help the towns-people who were in need. He severely limited the sale of alcohol to cut down on drunkenness, he refused to participate in the truck system—”

“Truck system?”

“Where employers don’t pay their workers with real money. Instead they pay them in company money that can only be used in the company store. It was a way to keep the workers subservient and prevent them from raising their position or leaving to go work elsewhere.”

“Oh, that’s awful.”

“Exactly, which is exactly why Owen refused to participate. Instead he set up cooperative shops where he bought goods in bulk so the workers could buy high quality goods at lower prices. And instead of pocketing the savings he passed them along to the workers. But he didn’t stop there. Remember what I was telling you earlier about the layout of the buildings and the irregular alleyways and courtyards?”

“Yes.” Ellie wrinkled her nose, remembering.

“That’s all due to improper city planning as the city grew. So, Owen also made sure that the growth and structure of the city were extensively planned, that everything from schools to mills and housing were all laid out in the most effective manner. Eventually he even bought out his partners so that they couldn’t restrict him in his plans. And then he did even more. He did
so much more,
” Cal’s eyes glazed over for a moment and Ellie could see just how in awe he was. “But the point of all of this is that before long—and much to everyone’s surprise—the workers, the mills, and the town were vibrant and prosperous. People came from all over to observe his practices.”

“That’s incredible,” Ellie said as a smile set in on her face. “It’s proof that conditions can be improved, even in the face of opposition. But what does this have to do with you, or this field? Owen was able to make changes to an existing town but you said most areas of Manchester are too far gone for that.”

“Exactly. So, I do what Owen did. Buy a small town with good bones, or better yet… start from scratch!” Cal held his arms out at his sides and spun around once. “Well, if I had the ability to do absolutely anything, which is what you asked, after all…”

“Do you think it could ever really happen?” Ellie mused lost in thought.

A small smile crept across Cal’s face and he tilted his head, almost nonchalantly. “Perhaps…”

“Oh, dear God. I—really? I—” Ellie clutched her chest. “So, you’ve finally figured it out then?”

“Figured out what?”

“How to prove that reforms won’t destroy the mill companies! You said it was all about the money for them and that you needed to come up with a plan of implementing changes that would protect the companies’ investments. That you needed to prove it. But—” Ellie held her hands out in front of her and looked from side to side. “But buying a town, or starting from scratch in an empty field will cost more than just pocket change… So how…”

“It won’t cost
them
anything…” Cal said in a low voice as he chuckled softly.

“What?” Ellie wasn’t sure she had heard him correctly, but the way he was looking at her now said he hadn’t meant for her to hear him at all. It was too late for that though. “What do you mean? Then who
will
it cost?”

Cal stiffened for a moment and she could tell that he was choosing his next words very carefully. An array of emotions ran across his face before he finally said, “Not them. And that’s all that matters for the time being.”

“But—”

“But Ellie, look at me.” He went to her and put his hands on her shoulders, and she didn’t protest that or his obvious change of topic. “I need you to remember something: that even if this does happen someday, even if reforms are made, they won’t help everyone. There are so many factories and mills and so many owners and so many workers…”

“Oh yes. Of course I know that, but it has to start somewhere, doesn’t it? Just like with Robert Owen. He made a difference and now his work is inspiring you… Maybe someday your work will inspire someone else.” She wiped her nose and put her hands on her hips, smiling. “Thank you for this. This was a lovely surprise.”

“This isn’t why I brought you out here.”

“It’s not?”

“No, of course not. I could have easily told you that story anywhere and at any time.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No. I did not.

“So… why are we here?”

“I took you to see the mills and the workers’ neighborhoods so you would always remember why we’re fighting. But we’re not just fighting against the bad; we’re fighting for the good. And I wanted you to remember the good as well. I wanted you to see with your own eyes the possibilities that now exist because of the work you’ve done, to see what you helped achieve.… Always. No matter what happens, I want you to remember this.” He put his hands on Ellie’s cheeks now. They were warm but she felt a sudden chill. “Now do you want to know what ideas I have for a productive and thriving mill community, or not?”

Ellie closed her eyes and breathed deeply, willing away the sense of foreboding that she felt in his words.
Always. No matter what happens.
What was he referring to? The unknowns of their work, or the unknowns of them? She couldn’t bear to think about either at this moment so she forced herself to shut it out. To forget. At least for now. She refused to spend what precious time she had with him feeling sorry for herself or worrying, especially when she no longer knew if these precious moments would come around again.

She placed her hands in his and clasped them tightly before giving him a large toothy grin. “Well, come on then!” she said, taking his hands from her face and pulling him along, pointing to random locations as they walked. “Tell me: what would you do here? Oh, and here? Where would the houses be, what would they look like?”

A warm smile spread across Cal’s face as well, and for the next several hours they walked around the field excitedly discussing the possibilities until their voices were hoarse and their legs felt like jelly. Even then, they took their leave reluctantly. They sat in complete silence as the carriage made its way back towards the city.