Richard glanced at Halpert who nodded and waved him away impatiently. “Very well,” he said. “I can show you the way.”
It was no more than ten minutes drive to where the workers had their homes. They were, for the most part, ramshackle and assembled with anything that the inhabitants could find to hand. The walls were wooden and most had either shutters or even blankets fixed to the windows for privacy. There was a pump for water but no other services.
The shacks lined the track on both sides, and at the end, a larger shack stood slightly apart. It was better maintained and one of the windows even had glass! A large crucifix was fixed to the wall adjacent to the door. Two men stood on the porch, watching warily as the car approached. The younger was muscled like an ox, tall and solidly built. The other was considerably shorter, almost spherical, with a shock of white hair like a man touching one of those electric machines down at count fair.
They had been in conversation when first spotted but now they stood and waited for their visitors to speak.
