Chapter 5 Chapter Four

For teenagers growing up in Glace Bay, there are plenty of sports to play: soccer, ice hockey, petanque, ice skating, and swimming and fishing in the summer.The Kars Pharmacy is a favorite after-school hangout for the kids, and there are two movie theaters next to it.If you want to dance, you can go to Verishen Gardens. Lala Lun can't enjoy these pleasures.She got up at 5 o'clock every morning and helped Bertha cook the lodger's breakfast.She can't go to school until she has folded the tenant's quilts.In the afternoon she would rush back to prepare supper and help Bertha put it on the table.After dinner she had to clear the table, wash and wipe the dishes.

The inn serves several favorite dishes of the Scots: chicken béchamel, broth, kale claws.Black Grape Thousand Sweet Bread is also a hometown food, and each loaf is battered with half a pound of flour and baked in short molds. The conversation of the Scottish tenants at the dinner table showed Lara vividly the appearance of the Scottish Highlands.Her ancestors came from that land, and their stories gave her a sense of belonging.The tenants talked about the Grand Canyon, about Loch Ness, Rocky and Lynch in that area, and about the strange rocky islands along the coast. In the living room of the inn, there is an old piano.Sometimes in the evening, the lodgers would gather together after supper and sing songs from their hometown.

※※※ One year there was a celebratory parade in the town.All the Scotsmen of Glace Bay donned kilts and tartan jackets and played their bagpipes noisily in the street. "Why do these men wear skirts?" Lara asked Mungo McSwain. He frowned. "It's not a skirt, dear girl, it's a skirt. Our ancestors invented it long ago. In the Highlands, men wear skirts to keep out the cold and to keep their legs flexible, when they walk in the heath and When avoiding the pursuit of the enemy on the peaty soil, you can run freely. At night, if you sleep in the wild, unfold the folds of the short skirt, which can be used as a pawn shop or as a cover.”

Every night at the dinner table a heated argument ensued.Scots argue about everything, and their ancestors belonged to that proud tribe that still fiercely defends their history. "The royal family produces cowards who fawn over the Britons like begging dogs." "Ian, you're at it again! You don't know what you're talking about. It was King Bruce who made Scotland independent. It's the Stuarts who are begging for mercy from the Britons." "Bah, you're an idiot, all eight generations of your ancestors have been." Thus, the debate became fueled.

"You know what Scotland needs? It needs a leader like that. This great man has 21 children." "Hey, half of them are bastards!" In this way, one wave of ups and downs, one wave after another. Lara couldn't believe how these people could rant about something that happened more than 600 years ago. McSwain said to Lara, "Leave them alone, dear girl. A Scot can fight even in a deserted house." There was a poem by Sir Walter Scott that deeply moved Lara's imagination. The tragic psalm then recounts how the warrior risked his life to rescue his lover who was forced to marry someone else.

One day, Lara thought, a dashing and handsome Rockinva will come to rescue me. ※※※ One day, Lara was working in the kitchen and happened to see an advertisement in a magazine, and her heart skipped a beat.The ad showed a handsome, blue-eyed, blond man in an elegant tuxedo and snow-white bow tie, smiling warmly and looking like a prince.My Lockinvar should look like this man, Lara thought.He's on his way to find me right now, and he'll get me out of here soon.I was washing the dishes at the sink when he quietly put his arm around my waist from behind and said softly, "Can I do something for you?" So I turned and looked into his eyes , replied: "Can you wipe the dishes?"

Bertha's words sounded, "What can I do?" Lara was so frightened that her soul almost went out of her body. She didn't even realize that Bertha was standing behind her, and she had just said aloud. "It's nothing." Lara said, blushing. For Lara, the most attractive topic at the dinner table was the story of the Scottish Highland enclosure.She heard the tenants talk about these topics time and time again, but couldn't get enough. "Tell me again," she begged.So Mungo McSwain happily obeyed and granted her wish. "Okay. The enclosure of Scotland began in 1792 and lasted for more than 20 shameful years. The common people called that year the 'Year of Sheep Cannibalism.' More profitable than renting to tenants, flocks of sheep were introduced to the highlands. When they found that the sheep could survive the harsh winters, enclosures began.

"That's when the tragedy happened, the sheep started eating people, at first hundreds of sheep came, then thousands, then tens of thousands ... it turned into a bloody invasion. "The landlords and nobles saw their dream fortune coming, but first they had to get rid of these tenant farmers. These tenant farmers rented a meager land, and God knows how they survived. They lived in small stone houses with neither chimneys nor windows. , now the owner wants to drive them out." The young girl opened her eyes wide. "and after?" “The government sent patrol teams to drive out the tenant farmers from village to village. Every time the soldiers arrived in a village, they ordered the tenants to take away their cattle, sheep and furniture within six hours. The tenant farmers had to abandon the crops in the field and watch the patrol team burn their huts. A quarter of a million Highlanders, men, women, and children were uprooted and driven to the sea."

"How can they drive other people off their land?" "Oh, those tenant farmers have no land of their own. They rent two hectares of land from the landlord, but the land does not belong to them. They have to pay a certain rent to the owner before they can use this land, grow some potatoes, and raise some cattle and sheep. .” "What if the sharecroppers don't move?" Lara asked nervously. "Those tenants who refused to move were burned to death in the huts. The government was very cruel. It was a terrible time. The people were starving, cholera was prevalent, and the plague spread like wildfire."

"It's terrible," said Lara. "Yes, dear girl. Our ancestors lived on potatoes, bread, and gruel, and sometimes even that. But there is one thing the government cannot take away, and that is the pride of the Highlanders. They pour Resisting with all their strength, after the fire was extinguished, these homeless people still insisted on staying in the canyon, trying their best to snatch some lucky items from the ashes. They set up tents above their heads to shelter from the heavy rain at night. I Great-grandfather's parents were there and went through it all. It's part of our national history and it's seared into our souls."

Lara seemed to see a crowd of thousands, stripped, desperate and helpless, stunned by what had happened.She seemed to be able to hear the wailing of loved ones and the terrified cries of children. "What happened to these people?" Lara asked. "They drifted away in ships, and what awaited them was a voyage of death. People who were overcrowded died of high fever and dysentery. Sometimes these ships were caught in a storm, and they were delayed for weeks. There was no food or water on board. .When the ships finally came to the shores of Canada, the only survivors were the able-bodied. But once they landed on the mainland, they had something they never had." "Their own land," said Lara. "Yes, dear girl." One day, Lara couldn't help thinking, I want a piece of land that is mine, and no one can take it away from me. ※※※ One night in early July, James Cameron was hanging out with a prostitute at the Kirstie Bowty brothel when he suffered a heart attack.He was so drunk that he collapsed on the bed, and the prostitute thought he was asleep. "Hey, come on! I've got other customers waiting! Wake up, James! Wake up!" He gasped desperately, clutching his chest tightly. "For God's sake," he moaned, "go to a doctor." An ambulance took him to a small hospital on Quarry Street.Dr. Duncan sent for Lara.She walked into the hospital with a beating heart, and Duncan was waiting for her. "What happened?" Lara asked eagerly. "Is my father dead?" "No, Lara, but I'm afraid he's got a heart attack." Lara froze there, "He...can he survive?" "I don't know. We're doing what we can." "Can I see him?" "You'd better come and see him in the morning, girl." She walked home numbly, filled with fear.God, please don't let him die, he is the only family I have. Bertha was waiting for Lara when she returned to the inn. "What happened?" Lara told her. "Oh, dear!" said Bertha, "it's still Friday." "what?" "Friday. It's rent collection day. If I'm not mistaken, Sean McAllister will use that as an excuse to throw us out on the street." At least a dozen times in the past, when James Cameron was very drunk, he sent Lara to collect rent at several other hotels.Lara handed over the collected money to her father, who delivered it himself to Sean McAllister the next day. "What shall we do?" said Bertha, weeping. Lara suddenly had an idea. "Take it easy," she said, "I'll take care of it." In the middle of dinner, Lara announced to the lodgers, "Gentlemen, can you hear me?" The lodgers stopped talking and stared at her. "My father . . . he felt a little dizzy. Now he is in the hospital, and the doctor wants to observe him. Therefore, until he leaves the hospital, I will collect the rent. After dinner, I will wait for you in the drawing room." "Will he get well?" asked one of the lodgers. "Oh, of course." Lara forced a smile, "The condition is not serious." After dinner, the tenants came to the living room one after another, and handed over this week's rent to Lara. "Hope your father recovers soon, son..." "If there's anything I can do for you, please just say..." "You are such a good girl, you can help your father share his worries..." "What about the rent of the other inns?" Bertha asked Lara. "Your father should charge the rent of four more inns." "I know," Lara said. "If you do the dishes for me, I'll go out and collect rent." Bertha looked at her dubiously. "I wish you luck." ※※※ Things went better than Lara expected.Most of the tenants were very sympathetic to her, and were happy to lend a helping hand to the young girl. Early the next morning, Lara went to see Sean McAllister with a letter bag full of rent.The bank boss was sitting behind his desk when Lara walked in. "My secretary said you wanted to see me?" "Yes, sir." McAllister looked at the scrawny, scruffy girl before him. "Are you James Cameron's daughter?" "Yes, sir." "Sara?" "Lara." "I'm sorry to learn of your father's illness," said McAllister, without a trace of sympathy in his voice, "of course, since your father is so ill, I'll have to make other arrangements for his share of the work. I……" "Oh, no, sir!" said Lara hastily, "he put me in his place." "you?" "Yes, sir." "I'm afraid it won't work..." Lara took out the envelope and put it on his desk, "This is the rent for this week." McAllister stared at her in surprise, "It's all collected?" She nodded. "You paid for it?" "Yes, sir. I'll collect it every week until my father recovers." "Let me think about it." He opened the envelope and counted the money carefully.Lara watched him enter the income in a large green ledger. McAllister has been considering firing James Cameron for some time because of his drinking and procrastination.At this moment, he saw the opportunity to get rid of this guy.He expected the young girl in front of him to be unable to do her father's work, but he realized that the public opinion of the town would be very bad for him if he immediately drove James Cameron and his daughter from the inn to the street.He made up his mind. "I'll let you try for a month," he said. "We'll talk about it when it expires." "Thank you, Mr. McAllister, thank you very much." "Wait," he handed Lara $25, "it's yours." Holding the 25 dollars, Lara seemed to have tasted the taste of freedom.This is the first time in her life that she has earned money from her own labor. After getting out of the bank, Lara went to the hospital.Dr. Duncan was just coming out of her father's ward.Lara felt a sudden panic. "He didn't... did he?" "No, no...he'll be fine, Lara," he said hesitantly. "And when I say 'well,' I mean he won't be in danger, at least not yet...but he needs Lying quietly for a few weeks, someone has to take care of him." "I'll take care of him," Lara said. He looked at her and whispered, "Your father doesn't know about it yet, dear, he's lucky." "May I go in and see him?" "Go." Lara walked into her father's ward, stopped and looked at him intently.James Cameron was lying on the bed, looking pale and weak, and he had aged a lot in an instant.A strong tenderness surged in Lara's heart, and she was finally able to do something for her father—something that would make him understand her and love her.She approached the edge of the bed. "dad……" He raised his face and muttered in his throat, "What the hell are you doing here? The inn is waiting for you to work." Lara felt icy cold, "I... I know, Dad. I just wanted to tell you that I went to see Mr. McAllister. I told him I'd collect the rent until you recovered from your illness. and also……" "You collect rent? Don't make me laugh out loud." A convulsion made him tremble suddenly.When he spoke again, his voice was weaker. "It's fate," he moaned, "and I'll be thrown into the street." He didn't even think about it for her, what would she do in the future?Lara stood there watching him for a long time, then turned around and walked out of the ward. ※※※ Three days later, James Cameron was returned to the inn and put on a bed. "You won't be out of bed for a few weeks from now," Dr. Duncan told him. "I'll check you up every day or two." "I can't stay in bed," protested James Cameron, "I'm a busy man with a lot to do." The doctor looked at him and said calmly: "It's up to you to choose, either stay in bed and live, or get up and die." McAllister's tenants were initially happy to see this innocent girl collecting rent, but when the novelty wore off, they began to shirk: "I'm sick this week and I have to pay medical bills..." "My son sends me money every week, but this week's mail was delayed by the post office..." "I had to buy some equipment..." "I promise to pay the money next week..." The young girl is fighting to survive.She listened politely, and then said: "I'm sympathetic, but Mr. McAllister has said that the money must be paid today, or you must move out today." These people had no choice but to hurry to get money, and Lara was very difficult to talk to. "It's better with your father," cried one of the lodgers harshly. "He always promises to give us a few days' reprieve." However, they had to admire the girl's determination in the end. ※※※ If Lara thought her father's illness would prompt him to be closer to her, she was very mistaken.Lara went out of her way to take care of him in every possible way.However, the more she worried about him, the more unreasonable he became. She brings him flowers and small presents every day. "For God's sake!" he cried, "don't hang around, don't you have business?" "I thought you'd like these..." "Hmph!" He turned his face to one side of the wall. I hate him, Lara thought, I hate him. ※※※ A month has passed.When Lara walked into Sean McAllister's office with a letter bag full of rent and watched him finish counting the money, he said, "I have to admit, young lady, you really ate me up." Surprised. You are much better than your father." This excited her. "thank you." "In fact, this is the first time that a full month's rent has been collected." "So, can my father and I continue to live in the inn?" Lara asked eagerly. McAllister studied her for a moment. "I suppose so. You must love your father very much, don't you?" "See you next Saturday, Mr. McAllister."

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