Blood Stained Wood

[2]

"You!" Tony narrowed his eyes at Evangeline as he continued to harness the horses.

    "Me?" Evangeline raised her eyebrows while helping him.

    "You were an absolute idiot yesterday, it was bad enough he was going to fire me, but us both? You need to think harder about your decisions."

    "But it worked. He left both of us alone, left the shanty like nothing happened. If I hadn't stepped up, you would be on your way home right now," Evangeline defended herself, "But I still don't know why he didn't just get rid of us both."

    "I told you yesterday, you fascinate him," Tony rolled his eyes.

    "I don't think that's it, though. He said he was doing it for the boss, so wouldn't he have taken this more seriously?" Evangeline's head swarmed with these thoughts.

    "I think we should let this go and be thankful we weren't laid off, Eve." He made his way around the two horses to grab an axe. Splitting firewood was their next job.

    "Yeah, I guess. I wish the union would have succeeded all those years ago, it would make our life easier," Evangeline complained.

    "Careful."

    Evangeline knew Tony had the same opinion as her, he wasn't disagreeing with her, he was warning her about daring to say this out loud. Taylor wasn't around, but that didn't mean speaking against the company men was a wise decision. She swung down her axe onto a piece of wood, satisfied with the rewarding sound of steel bashing wood.

    "I think this is one of my favourite chores," Tony admitted, grabbing another piece of firewood.

    "I prefer shackling the horses up. They're such beautiful creatures, I almost like them as much as I do cats," Evangeline chimed in.

    "It's a safe chore, something you can take comfort in. We won't be able to be comfortable for much longer, they'll be sending us off to do dangerous jobs soon," Tony went on, "At least, they'll be sending me off to the dangerous jobs."

    "What's that supposed to mean?" Evangeline snapped, bringing her axe down hard onto the wood.

    "It means," Tony huffed, holding the axe above his head, mimicking Evangeline's passive-aggressive chopping, "They still see you as a girl. You'll never leave the kitchen soon enough."

    "Excuse me?" She scoffed, putting down the axe before she swung it at his big head, "You seriously don't think that they won't send me to the chute just because I'm a girl?"

    "Don't be angry with me, I know you work harder than half of the grown men in the shanty. I'm just voicing what the company men think."

    "Right, of course, you are. The sexist, ignorant, company men!" Evangeline laughed sarcastically.

    "I know I said we should just be thankful about yesterday and forget about it, but take that as an example," Tony sighed.

    "You really think that because I'm a girl, the both of us didn't get fired?"

    "Well, it's the only explanation I can come up with. This is bugging me as much as it is you, and I know it's bugging you a lot. I mean, I almost lost my job. We both did."

    Evangeline knew deep down that part of what he was saying was the truth, but she didn't want to accept it. She was tired of everything that had to do with the company men, she wished they could just see reason. But if they did only see her as a cook, then why didn't they go ahead and fire her? They already had Will, and she couldn't be that big of a help to him.