Eddie Harmon's Arc

Chapter 4 of 4

Davis had given them the anvil for one night only. Eddie carried the rough chisel into the forgehouse, where the forge threw hot light across the walls. Alvin stood by the big bellows, bare-chested, pumping air until the coals glowed white. He was the smith's apprentice, the one who had forged the chisel with Eddie in the first place. Alvin did not think he had earned his place at the forge. Tonight he had to prove he could finish what he'd started, and dawn was coming. "Edge is close," Alvin said. He took the chisel and held it near his ear. He listened to the steel the way other men listened to talk. "But it's not true all the way down. There's a flat spot near the tip." "Can you fix it before dawn?" Eddie asked. Alvin set the chisel back in the coals. "I need the iron hammer. The one with no wood in the handle." He nodded at the wall. Eddie lifted it down. The whole tool was solid iron, head and haft in one piece. He passed it over. Alvin gripped it and went still. "This one I can hear," he said. "A wooden handle blocks the sound. This lets the iron speak straight through." The steel came out orange. Alvin laid it on the anvil and struck. The iron hammer rang clean. He struck again, watching the edge, listening between blows. Eddie worked the bellows now, keeping the fire hot. Sweat ran down both their backs. "Hold there," Alvin said. Eddie steadied the tongs. Alvin found the flat spot and drew it down with short, careful hits. He was not guessing. He was following something only he could hear. The first gray light showed at the door. Alvin plunged the chisel into the water trough. Steam hissed up. He drew it out, wiped it, and ran his thumb along the edge. "It's true now," he said. "Whole length. This will bite bridge stone." Eddie took the chisel. The edge caught the forge light in one straight line, no flat, no roll. He had come in with a rough tool. He was leaving with one that could cut the hardest stone the crew would set before him. Davis stepped in from the dark. He looked at the fire, then at the chisel in Eddie's hand. He took it, tested the edge, and gave a short nod. "Good work. Both of you." He handed it back. "The anvil's mine again come morning. But you're done. You've got your tool." Eddie thanked him and walked out into the cold dawn. The chisel was finished. Now nothing stood between him and the bridge crew but the crew itself. He had the tool. He still had to make them take him.