Frederick had come to trust Niall's judgment. Every day, he was earning money, but he didn't dare store it in the bank. He had no good way of safeguarding it. Niall's plan struck a chord with him.
After sending off Wilkie, the two of them took a rest for the night before leaving Chicago together. Wilkie was heading back to New York, while they were returning to Brook. Without a reliable way to safeguard the money, Frederick thought it would be safer to hide it at his own house.
On the journey, they discussed how tough the times were. Both luxury and ruin coexisted; the skyscrapers of America towered into the sky, but their foundations were rotting. Looking at the trend, it seemed that decay could not be stopped anytime soon, and everyone would have to find a way to protect their assets.
As they switched to a coal car to head to Brook, Niall could clearly feel the bleakness in the air. Due to severe droughts, most of the Midwest had failed to yield crops. Fortunately, the economic crisis had caused food prices to plummet, and American agricultural production was severely oversupplied. Otherwise, a drought of this scale might have led to an uprising capable of toppling a dynasty in ancient China.
Everything seemed barren, with even the forests appearing grey and lifeless. Occasionally, Niall could spot a sheep or two in the woods, but they were covered in coal dust, looking as grey and lifeless as the surroundings.
Brook looked the same as always: quiet, small, and ordinary, as though it was unaffected by the outside world. A horse-drawn cart slowly made its way along the railway, the old horse snorting.
When they disembarked, Niall could see many pairs of feet, large and small, beneath the tarpaulin covering the cart. Although the weather was turning colder, there was still a faint smell of decay in the air.
Two corpse collectors in white masks lifted the tarpaulin to reveal bodies of various ages and genders. Most of these people had lived along the railway, begging in every town they passed through. If the weather hadn't turned cold, they might not have died, but now, with the north wind blowing, the weak couldn't withstand the harsh conditions and had collapsed along the tracks.
"Don't look," Frederick said, pulling Niall away.
"Let's go," Niall responded helplessly.
The federal government's relief efforts were inadequate. Almost forty percent of the population had no income and needed aid. Even if someone wanted to help, it was unlikely they could save everyone. The lives of the poor and weak were left to fate.
"Is this happening every day?" Niall asked a priest supervising the corpse collectors.
"Not every day, but it's been happening more recently with the cold weather," the priest said, not wearing a mask, as he muttered prayers over the bodies being loaded onto the truck.
Niall felt that perhaps, in such a year, religion wasn't entirely a bad thing. In times like these, some people were still willing to send the nameless dead on their final journey. What could be wrong with that?
"Could you lend me twenty dollars?" Niall turned to Frederick for money.
Frederick didn't hesitate. He took out a roll of bills from his coat pocket, picked out a twenty, and handed it to Niall. Niall didn't keep it for himself but instead gave it to the priest.
"I hope you can help them rest in peace," Niall said.
"Thank you, child!" The priest came over and patted Niall's head.
The government's efforts for these dead souls were limited to gathering the bodies for ten cents each along the railways and highways. There was no cremation or proper burial. Niall's twenty dollars wouldn't even be enough for a coffin for all of them, but at least it would buy a burial shroud for each, ensuring their faces were covered before being laid to rest.
"There are too many of these cases in Chicago," Frederick remarked, not expecting Niall to ask for the twenty dollars back. He was simply lamenting the state of the world, though he didn't recognize the victims personally.
"I can't help it if I see it, though. If I didn't see it, I'd have no choice," Niall said, shaking his head and tightening his coat as he followed Frederick back home.
It was getting late, and walking back wasn't practical. Frederick handed over the money to his father for safekeeping before driving Niall home. The golden hues of the setting sun, with a few thin clouds, still showed some signs of life in Niall's familiar village.
Patrick, who was driving cattle into the barn along the roadside, noticed the Ford car approaching and knew that Frederick and Niall had returned. The cattle, unfazed by the car, continued to move slowly, much more calmly than Patrick.
After dropping Niall off, Frederick didn't linger and turned away to go home, where someone was waiting for him for dinner.
"Why did you stay so long in Chicago?" Patrick asked as he stood by the roadside, watching the Ford car drive away.
"Some things came up," Niall replied, not wanting to mention the casino venture. If his family knew about it, they'd be upset.
Aunt Gigi, a devout Catholic, would surely be furious if she found out Niall had been involved with a casino.
"How's the outside world?" Patrick asked. Having been running the farm back in Detroit, he wasn't very updated on the news outside.
"Not good. I heard that in New York alone, there are hundreds of thousands of homeless people," Niall said, picking up his suitcase and heading inside.
"It's better to stay at home," Patrick whistled as he herded the cattle into the barn.
Once inside, Aunt Gigi, who had been busy in the kitchen, immediately put down her work and gave Niall a big hug. She then patted him to check if he was missing any parts.
"I was thinking, it's getting cold, and you didn't bring your coat..." Aunt Gigi said as she took Niall's suitcase.
Campbell, his sister-in-law, and Debbie, his younger sister, came out of the kitchen to greet Niall. Niall had no gifts for them this time. He had been too busy in Carson.
The family sat down at the dinner table, and for once, it wasn't just porridge. There were potatoes and meat stew. It wasn't because Niall had returned that they were eating meat, but simply because it was cold, and the pigs had been slaughtered, so they could enjoy fresh meat for a few days.
"By the way, since you're home, there's something I need to ask you," Patrick suddenly put down his potatoes.
"What is it?" Niall asked.
"The town says they're going to establish a branch of the Farmers' Association and are calling on all the farmers in the county to join."