An excerpt from Chapter 4 of Peril at Hell’s Gate
It was getting dark when they heard a bell ringing over and over again. Lee stood up. There were shouts. “Explosion! Accident!”
Lee suddenly set off at a run for town. Robbie knew something terrible had happened. He ran after Lee. Kate was close behind. On the main street, a crowd of people milled about, and more shouting. They tried to find out what happened.
A horse-drawn wagon arrived at a gallop. It stopped and people surged in to see. Two badly injured men were lying in the back of the wagon, their bodies bloodied. One had a huge gash on his face, the other a broken leg and blood pulsing out of his arm. They were alive in agony.
“Take them to the infirmary!” someone ordered.
Four men came forward. Two took one of the injured men, and two handled the other. The injured men screamed in pain as they were pulled out of the wagon and carried away.
Another wagon arrived, the horse sweating from the hard gallop bringing the injured into town. It carried four more injured men in the wagon bed. Only then did Robbie realize that all of the injured were Chinese.
Now a woman was directing the operation. She wore a long dress that fell to her ankles; her dark hair was held in a tight bun at the back of her head. “Quickly! Careful now!” she shouted.
Robbie heard someone call her Delia Onderdonk and understood she was the wife or sister of Andrew Onderdonk, the chief engineer and contractor.
Men pressed forward, Robbie among them. Working with another he helped carry an injured man as best they could across the dusty road and into a rough wooden structure that had the word “Infirmary” written over the door. Inside a lantern flickered, showing eight men lying on rudimentary cots. Some were unconscious. Others moaned in pain. Many were bleeding.
The woman bent over the injured men, ignoring the finery of her dress, trying to assess the injuries of each man and give what help she could. Bandages were applied and tightened to try and stop the flow of blood. Some were patched up, others needed serious help, and still other were left for nature to take its course.
The infirmary milled with men trying to help. Then the woman shouted again. “Leave! I need space to work.”
Robbie was on the street again. There he found Lee. Kate joined them. They stood looking about, but there didn’t seem anything more they could do. The crowd dissipated. The three walked slowly back to their camp by the river.
