Ruth

Ruth

1896 - Eight Miles Outside of Silt

Ruth heard some women in town whispering about feeling the Earth move when they had consummated their marriages, so she isn't surprised when the whole house shakes the first time she and Elmer consummate theirs. She is somewhat disappointed to find out later that it wasn't Elmer who had caused the disturbance but an explosion in the coal mine some miles away, although it does explain some things.

The official report from the mining company states the explosion was caused by the flame from a miner's helmet light hitting a pocket of gas. The rumors circulating around town say that it wasn't a pocket of gas at all but an intentional detonation to close off one of the tunnels. To Ruth it doesn't matter which it is, either way, Elmer is out of work until they reopen the mine. 

The government has been poking around the mine and surrounding patches and towns since then taking samples and being nosy. They're asking all kinds of questions about how everyone's feeling and if they have noticed any health problems since the explosion. No one in their right mind would say they're sick unless the government is offering a payout, people are afraid of losing their jobs, and the coal companies can easily hire replacements for anyone unwilling or unable to work. There is a shortage of jobs, and no one wants to give up theirs.

Ruth notices that she and Elmer have had a little bit of a cough since then but nothing she can't write off to the change in the seasons and spending time around the Harris' kids, one of them always seems sick. Elmer has tried to go down to the site a few times to see if there is any work of any kind to be done but each time he's turned away before he gets there by some official-looking man in a suit. Elmer said they all looked like some sort of monsters with masks over their faces, they said the army developed them and that they keep the air they are breathing clean, but he has his doubts. He tells Ruth that a bandanna around the face can do just as much and looks half as stupid. That makes her laugh. He says he doesn't wear one of those when he goes down toward Silt either, you only need that in the mine, never outside like the suits were doing and certainly not so far away from the mine. He makes an offhand comment about them being city folk who wouldn't last a single day in the mines.

He tries to take on odd jobs helping some local farmers harvest their fields, but they seem to be having a tough year too. Sometimes it's just like that, Ruth figures. Their meager garden hadn't done so well either, even though it looked promising a few weeks ago. People in town are starting to get nervous, the mines very rarely shut down and when they do it's never this long. One of the owners of the mines was seen arguing with the suits but no one knows what was said, just that he seemed mighty angry and stormed off. There's gossip that they're trying to force him to shut down his mine permanently, and other rumors that people are coming and going long into the hours of the night, some of the wilder rumors say they aren't people at all. Ruth thinks people don't have enough work to do if they have time to tell stories or maybe they need more time at church.

She hears that some of the families have started to pull up roots and head north to find work, no one has seen anyone going but little bit by little bit the patches closest to the mine seem to empty out. Ruth is starting to get nervous. No one will tell anyone anything, there is no work for Elmer and all their family is here, they don't have relations anywhere that can take them in, she also suspects she's in a family way. She needs Elmer to get back to work or they'll likely starve this winter. She begs him to sneak off to Silt to see what the holdup is, find one of the owners of the mine, and see when they'll be opening back up. She thinks it's ridiculous to keep the mine shut down for so long over nothing. If it had been anything serious it would have been all over the newspapers, they always like reporting on the hardships of families who lose their men to the mine. She had hoped to be settled into one of the company houses by now and is worried that it may no longer be an option.

Elmer says he doesn't like his being out of work anymore than she does and agrees that going to Silt to talk to the boss himself is the best thing to do. They figure any boss would be mighty excited to have a man so willing to work he'll risk breaking the law to get there. Ruth hands him his handkerchief and says not to forget his mask. They both laugh, he kisses her and gets ready to head out. There's no time like the present to get out there and get to work.

Elmer still isn't home by supper the following day and Ruth is worried out of her mind. One of the neighbors said they saw him heading off in the woods towards Silt, but no one has seen him since then. When Elmer hasn't returned for lunch the second day, Ruth gets herself ready to look for him. She thinks about waiting until morning but won't be able to rest until she knows what's happened to him. He has never stayed away so long without at least having one of the local boys come to let her know. She isn't sure which way he would have headed through the woods, but she guesses it's the path they used to take when they were courting. Silt is a long ways away if you follow the roads, following the creek is faster but much harder to navigate. Fortunately, she and Elmer had spent plenty of time around those parts and she feels confident she can get to Silt and back before it is too dark to see.

She follows the creek through the base of the hollow. She thinks it seems very still for this time of day but writes it off as nerves. She looks around for signs of Elmer without knowing what she's looking for other than the man himself. She prays as she continues to follow the creek. She notices that the trees up ahead seem scorched and the air feels thick, she wishes she had one of Elmer's bandannas on her. She pulls the collar of her sweater over her mouth to protect her lungs. She's about to turn around when she sees what she's sure is Elmer on the path up ahead. She wants to call out to him but can't seem to draw enough fresh air into her lungs, she keeps moving towards him. She can see by the clothes he's wearing that it's him, she'd recognize that coat anywhere and she thinks she can even make out the knot from the red bandanna poking out from his mop of pitch-black hair.

She's within a few yards of him now and sucks in as much air as she can through her sweater. She shouts his name once and when he doesn't respond she shouts again. The second time grabs his attention. She's glad, she wants to get home and away from this forest. Elmer's coming towards her, his movements seem jerky and awkward. She wonders if he's injured and that's why he never came home. Before she can gather her thoughts, he's somehow very close to her, she wonders how she missed his approach. Maybe the bad air is getting to her. She reaches out to him but recoils. His face looks wrong somehow like it isn't his face, but a mask made to look like him. She sees the bandanna and the skin that makes up his face above it, sliding off him as he moves. Ruth wants to scream but when she inhales, she is overcome by fumes that burn her from the inside out. The last thing she sees is a pair of glowing eyes and a body that looks like it's made of hardened soot before the monster is upon her.

Sources for Context:

• The earliest forms of gas masks were truly horrifying.

• Soot and Creosote are bad news but fascinating to look at.

Bad for your chimney, worse as a replacement for skin.