But she had to do something with the plans. She couldn’t face fixing them; she didn’t want to look at them. An idea began nibbling at her mind. After thinking about it for several weeks, she made a phone call. Then, on a conveniently windy day in November, with her head covered beneath her cloak, she walked alone through the streets, clutching a satchel, until she reached a Catholic church. This was a dangerous plan. But she could think of nothing else.
Inside, she paused and gazed at the elaborate beauty surrounding her. It really did evoke a sense of mystery or worship. A priest was coming her way and she stepped to meet him. “Good morning,” she said, wondering if he expected a ritual greeting of some kind. “I have an appointment with Father McCarrey.”
“Aye, welcome. I’ll take ye to his office.” The priest was young and polite, gesturing with a hand to have Casey follow him down a side aisle and through a door in the back. Father McCarrey’s office was in a building connected to the main church by a long corridor, windowless, but with large overarching beams every twenty feet or so. He greeted her with that kind, dignified air she associated with clergy of all types, and she let him take her cloak and usher her to a comfortable chair in his office. He took the chair’s mate, instructing his secretary to bring tea, then looked at her, fingers together and eyes twinkling.
“It’s not often I get a Protestant visitor, Mrs. Andrews. Not planning on converting, are ye?”
She laughed in surprise. “No sir, I’m not. I don’t have much interest in religion at all. I’m afraid I’m the bane of my husband’s family.”
“Well then,” he leaned back in his chair, “Ye said on the phone ye wanted to discuss a gardening plan for the Catholic areas.”
She nodded, licking her lips nervously. “You see, I’m in a bit of exile because of it.” He raised his eyebrows and she tried to explain what had happened at the meeting, without getting into the history she had with Sloan. At the end, she picked up her satchel and pulled out the ripped pieces of the plan, looking up to catch the blink of surprise from Father McCarrey when he saw the pages. His expression was sad.
“Ach, lass. What a dreadful thing to do.” He reached for the plans and moved to his desk, spreading the pages out and reassembling them. Casey sipped her tea and waited.
“What is it you’re hoping for, Mrs. Andrews?” He spoke respectfully, looking at her from his spot behind his desk.
She went to stand in front of his desk, gazing at the pages, before touching a finger to the largest section. “I want to give them to you.” Her gaze went to his face. “I want you to start your own horticultural society among the Catholics and engage them in this work.”
He sighed. “Lass, the Catholic people are poor and struggling. Building gardens is for the rich.”
Her brows lowered in puzzlement. “I know they’re poor, Father. Yet, they’re able to pay for grand church buildings. Gardens are an act of worship just as great. Better in fact, because they nurture the land and provide food, if you plant the right things.”
He stared at her a moment, pursing his lips. Then he nodded, once. “All right. I’ll see what I can do. I think you’re right about it.” He looked back down at the plans. “This is very generous of you. These plans are a work of art.”
She nodded. “Thank you. I’ll be happy to help any way that I can.”
“I’ll be in touch,” he told her.
Chapter 32
June—November 1910
The workforce had more than doubled at the shipyard. Tom found it increasingly difficult to be as personally involved with them. He liked the men who built his ships, but he missed the easy camaraderie they used to have. Now there were thousands of workers he didn’t even know.
Still, he had friends, and after lunch with George Cummings, he walked with him to the engine works. George was giving him a step-by-step report on North Down’s latest cricket match, which Tom had missed, and they paused beside the foundation for one of Olympic’s huge boilers. “Taylor smashed it over, but I was out for a duck!” George shook his head as he retold the story. “We really needed you, Tommy. The whole season will be shot if you don’t make it.”
“Can’t let that happen,” Tom agreed, removing a report from a pocket and scanning it. “Jamie’s walking well now, and he’ll need to start learning right away how to play the game.” He held up a finger in mock seriousness. “I promise he’ll only observe for the first few years. Too short for the team, I s’pose.”
They both laughed, continuing on to George’s office, going over the report Tom held. “We’ll need to have that new hydraulic machinery installed by the end of the year. It’s going to help immensely with the riveting; I want to have it available once Olympic is launched.”
“It’s on order,” George started to explain, when a shout interrupted him. They peered over the catwalk, looking down on the boiler room floor. Two men were arguing and it was turning violent. The smaller man was a foreman; they could hear him explaining about an infraction and what it had cost the company. The bigger man kept shouting about his pay being docked, and he began shoving the foreman with quick, short jabs, pushing him against a spare boiler. By the time Tom and George reached the floor, the bigger man was swinging, a blow landing severely on the foreman’s stomach.
Tom threw his coat into George’s arms, reached for the fellow and landed an upper cut right on his jaw. The guy fell against a boiler and Tom stepped back, raising his fists in readiness as the man struggled to his feet. But George and a few others grabbed him just as he began a roaring lunge at Tom. His glare remained fixed on Tom, but he gave in to the men holding him, his jaw the only thing moving. Tom dropped his fists. “See him to the gate. We don’t need troublemakers.”
Tom turned away, as the workers dragged the man through the building, following directions from George. The foreman was still leaning against the boiler, barely recovered from the hit to his stomach. Tom joined him and together they sank to the floor, each catching his breath.
“Thank you, Mr. Andrews,” the man said, shaking his head in shame. “I couldn’t have done that.”
“Aye, well.” Tom rested his head against the boiler and gingerly rubbed his knuckles. “We don’t usually hire supervisors on their ability to fight.” He gestured toward the Administration Office. “Can you go let ’em know what that was about? You’ll have to file a report.”
“Aye,” was the answer. “I got it all written down. He’s a careless sort. Broke some expensive equipment just because he didn’t want to follow the procedures. He was pretty blatant about it, too.”
Tom nodded and stood, reaching down to help the smaller man to his feet. “See to it, then. And thank you for pursuing the matter. We’ve got too much to do to let a lazy worker get away with trouble.” He watched as the man headed over to George’s office and reflected that this kind of thing was happening more often. He was afraid they were losing control.
He had just returned to his office when the emergency klaxon went off, with the signal that a man was down. Tom’s shouted “Dear God, not again!” blended with cries of dismay from the drawing office. Other shouts or groans could be heard from outside the office, as thousands of men reacted to what was the third emergency of the month, on the heels of one in May. All had ended in death.
Tom wondered, for a moment, if the angry worker had done more violence. He would almost prefer that, but as he raced through the drawing office, he knew it would make no difference. They had to get this workforce under control. He glanced toward George’s office, but no. Men were looking outside, toward the ships.