The Escort

by Gina Robinson

  "This is craziness, Tonio. Those woods out back of there are as dense as they come. You lose your way and you're sunk."

  "I won't, May. Now help us out. We don't have much time. I don't suppose you have anything racy for Angelina to wear?"

  They set out at promptly at eight o'clock. The days were long in early May in North Idaho. There was still daylight. Angelina painted her face with rouge and lipstick so that she took on the hard appearance of one of the ladies who worked at the Lux. Her shirtwaist was unbuttoned and pulled apart to show a good deal of cleavage. She was conscious of the spring breeze across her bosom as they stepped out the door.

  She padded her skirt with the money she'd withdrawn the day before. She tried to appear saucy and confident as she hung on Tonio's arm flirting animatedly. Her heart pounded with fear.

  Tonio held her coat draped across his arm to conceal his revolver. He walked along calmly with a confidence Angelina hoped he felt. The daylight was nearly completely faded as they walked the last block to the Lux.

  As expected the streets were heavily patrolled. Angelina picked up many admiring stares as they walked along. Just before they reached the Lux, a tall African American soldier stopped them. He and Tonio looked eye to eye.

  "There's a curfew imposed." The soldier's voice was stern.

  "So I've heard and that's why I'm escorting the lady home. We've just been out for a bite of dinner."

  "I'll bet," the trooper said. "I hope you're prepared to spend the night in that place. By my reckoning dark has fallen."

  "It won't be a hardship, I assure you." Tonio winked.

  The soldier motioned him on. Angelina took a deep breath and squeezed Tonio's hand in victory. They walked up the entrance to the building just as the door opened before them and Nokes stepped out more than slightly drunk.

  "Domani!" he called out in a too loud voice. Before Tonio could warn him off Nokes slugged him playfully in the left shoulder. Tonio winced in pain while struggling to appear normal. It was all over in a moment. Two troopers stepped up beside him and wrestled him to the ground. Nokes was flung back. The revolver went flying across the boardwalk as Angelina screamed.

  "Is that Antonio Domani?" a white soldier wearing officer insignia appeared and questioned Nokes.

  "Yes." Stupid Nokes—too drunk to cover for Tonio.

  The officer motioned to his fellow soldiers. "Lock him up in the local jail tonight. We'll transport him tomorrow. We got ourselves a big one, fellows!" He kicked Tonio with his boot. Then the other two men pulled the struggling Tonio to his feet. "Get a good look at our famous bomber, men. Take him away." He turned to the stunned Angelina and opened the door to the Lux Building courteously. "You'd better go inside, ma'am."

  She looked back at Tonio and mouthed, "I'm sorry." He nodded toward the building, motioning for her to continue the scam. She watched them haul him away.

  "Ma'am," the officer said.

  She stormed haughtily through the door. He grabbed her arm as she entered. "I'm off duty soon; perhaps I'll come back and give you a little business."

  "I'm closed for business tonight." She shrugged off his hand and with head high marched up the stairs to the second floor without a thought as to where she was going. When she reached the top, she shivered and burying her head in hands, began to cry.

  "You spent the night at the whorehouse?" May asked, incredulous.

  "Yes, and they were very nice to me. They gave me a bed to sleep in and breakfast this morning."

  "I hope you slept on the floor. Who knows what a woman might pick up just looking at one of those filthy beds."

  "At that point I didn't care."

  "You're a brave girl, Angelina."

  "Yes." She smiled for the first time. "I am. Now how are we going to get Al and Tonio out of jail?"

  "That's a good question," May said. "They could use a lawyer. Not that those cursed blue coats are offering anyone due process."

  Angelina's eyes lit up. "John, John Lawlor. He's a prominent Spokane attorney. He surely has friends who can help us. Why didn't we think of him before?

  May didn't look encouraged. "Right now we can use all the help we can get."

  "I'll telegraph him immediately. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner." Angelina leapt to her feet and out the door before May could warn her to be careful. She didn't need another warning to add to her worries. The streets were full of desperate people and rowdy, power-swelled troops.

  Angelina returned to the house less than an hour later looking disheveled and disgruntled. May had one basket loaded with food for the prisoners and was loading a second when Angelina came in, the porch door slamming behind her. "How'd it go? Your lawyer friend going to help us?"

  "I don't know! They're porco canes, May, every last one of them. The troops have taken over the telegraph office and closed the post office. There's no way to get a message out. They're holding us hostage. We're out of communication."

  She plopped heavily into a chair. "I've been manhandled, fondled, propositioned, and a few things I don't even care to name. The troops treat every woman like a lady from the Lux and act as if it's their right."

  May shook her head. "It appears you'd better stay put for a bit. So we can't get through to John."

  "I didn't say that." She smiled mysteriously.

  "Well? Are you going to keep me in suspense?"

  "They're letting some folks leave town, those they've deemed innocent. Nokes evidently decided it was time for him to return to help in his father's banking business. He threw his name around and they let him leave, but not before I begged him to take a message to John."

  "Good work, Angelina. We'll see; we'll have to wait and see."

  Though she went every day, May would not let Angelina near the bullpen, no matter how much Angelina pleaded.

  "The men, the guards and military folk, are a rough crew, Angelina. They're hostile and obscene, even to a plain woman like me. I hate to think what they'd do to a pretty woman like you. The prisoners aren't so much better themselves, but they like me." She winked. "After all, I bring them food and supply them with blankets."

  "They'd like you anyway, May."

  "The bullpen is no place for a lady, Angelina. I've seen life at its worst. It doesn't shock me. But you've led a sheltered life. It'd be too much."

  "How can you still believe in my naiveté and innocence, May? I was nearly raped in an abandoned rail car less than a week ago. I spent an entire night in a whorehouse. I'm no longer a cloistered Italian girl."

  May remained resolute. "That captain that arrested Tonio still thinks you're a whore. Heard that he's been to the Lux several times asking for you."

  "How would you know a thing like that?"

  "I have my sources. The captain was quite taken by you. It only adds to your mystery and reputation that it's rumored you were at the mine at the time of the explosion. On Tonio's arm."

  Since Tonio's arrest Angelina had waited for the warrant to be issued for her own arrest. After nearly four days of waiting, she'd concluded that no one had mentioned her presence there that day. "Where did you hear that?" She was alarmed.

  "Some of the miners at the pen. They say that Clell identified you, but the Feds aren't interested in what a lady might have been doing there."

  "Clell!" She could barely say his name. It tasted like venom on her lips. "I'm sure he turned Tonio in. Who else would have? May, if there's any justice—"

  "I know, honey, I know. After what he did to you he ought to be the one put away for good. The Feds don't quite trust him, but they're depending on his testimony against Tonio."

  "Tonio didn't ignite the charge, May. I was with him! If I went to the General and told him, they'd have to let him go."

  "It wouldn't matter. It'd be your word against Clell's. They have plenty of witnesses that claim they saw a man wearing a black leather fringed jacket set off the charge."

  "That doesn't make any sense. Why would Tonio be wearing his jacket on such a warm d
ay? I haven't seen him in it for weeks. And I know I didn't see it on him that day. They must be mistaken. I'll tell my story anyway."

  May grabbed her arm. "No, you won't. Next time you encounter the captain he won't be put off so easily. Besides, they have other evidence against Tonio. They found his black jacket at the site, Angelina, and they have record of his meetings with Ed Baker. I don't believe it for a minute, but the Feds think Tonio planned the whole operation and set the charges. It won't matter to them that he didn't light the fuse. In their opinion, he's still responsible for the rest of it."

  "You don't believe he did it?"

  "No."

  Angelina looked away, not wanting May to see her doubt. She wished she had May's faith in him. May noticed her reaction but didn't comment on it.

  "The captain is not a problem. He has nothing he can prove against me," Angelina said.

  "What about helping a fugitive escape?"

  "He has no proof Tonio was trying to escape. We were out for a walk. He was escorting me home. If we were near the Lux building and the captain assumed I worked there, it is his misconception. What's the real reason you won't let me go to the pen?" Angelina stared at May.

  "Tonio doesn't want you there," May said.

  "Since when have I lived and breathed on what Tonio wanted!"

  For ten days Angelina didn't mention the bullpen. She worked side by side with the rest of the women of the community arranging aid for the families of the imprisoned miners. These women and children depended on the daily wages their providers brought home; without it many were destitute.

  A few miners began to trickle out of the pen. The governor issued an order requiring any miner seeking employment in the Valley be required to obtain a red card work permit. The card could only be obtained by swearing an anti-union plea before the county coroner. But even for those who were able to obtain a card, work was scarce. The Bunker and several other mines would not be operational until power could be restored and the concentrator rebuilt. The reconstruction could take months. Families packed and left the Valley. Grim described the general mood around town.

  On the fourteenth day following his arrest, they released Al. May had finally convinced his fellow Masons to help and he was let out. It was common men, and not her fancy attorney that secured his release. Angelina hadn't heard a word from John. She feared that Nokes had gone back on his word and not contacted him. She waited hours in line on the first day the telegraph office was reopened to send him a message, but she received no response. The General had reopened the railways and limited, carefully scrutinized routes ran. Families of imprisoned miners were finally able to make the journey between Wallace and Wardner by rail.

  Conditions for the Halls remained grim despite Al's release. The railroad refused to reinstate Al, claiming that he was "a willing tool of the rioters." With no job to go to, Al resorted to working the Hole full time. Tonio remained in prison.

  On the day of Al's release May was happily distracted. Angelina saw her opportunity and after stopping by the hotel to fill a basket with baked goods, she headed for the depot to catch a train to Wardner and the bullpen.

  Bullpen was an apt name, Angelina thought as she approached the compound where the miners were being held. A hastily constructed fence of chicken and barbed wire surrounded a sea of tents and several weathered board buildings. Blue-coated troops swarmed throughout the compound yard, supervising their weary prisoners in a variety of tasks, most of them aimed at keeping the area clean and the prisoners occupied and dispirited.

  Angelina stepped carefully around the recently formed puddles in the dirt road that led to the post gates. The spring sky was as gray as the camp and its sullen prisoners, but patches of blue were beginning to appear, lifting Angelina's spirits and adding to her optimism. The day would soon turn warm and humid. She was stopped at the bullpen entrance by a short, solid African American man.

  "I am here to see a prisoner." She was not accustomed to African American people. Italy and Idaho had so very few. She smiled tentatively.

  "Which one?"

  "Antonio Domani."

  The man laughed. "The demolitioner?"

  "The accused demolitioner."

  "You'll need to see the captain to get clearance to see that one."

  "Where is the captain's office?"

  The man pointed to a large building in the center of the compound. He grabbed her arm as she started through the gate toward the building. "We're under orders to search anyone coming in."

  Angelina stood indignantly still as the man ran his hands familiarly over her bodice and skirt. He took liberty and pleasure with his assignment.

  "The basket."

  She lifted the lid. The guard smiled at the sight of the goodies inside. "These are too good for a demolitioner." He reached in and pulled out a plate of cookies.

  "Help yourself." She didn't bother hiding her sarcasm.

  The guard laughed as he motioned her through.

  The captain's secretary showed her into his office, which was as small and stale as the man who occupied it. The set of his face as he looked up from his paperwork turned quickly from disinterested irritation to surprised recognition. Her heart sank. Surely a company of soldiers as large as the one stationed here had more than one captain, but it had to be her lot to meet up with the very one she was hoping to avoid.

  "Sir," she said formally.

  He rose and quickly closed the door to his office. "This is a wonderful surprise. I've been to the Lux looking for you ever since the first night of our occupation."

  "How unflattering, signor."

  "I'd hoped that you would take it as a compliment."

  "You seem to be under the misconception that I am associated with the Lux. Of course a woman of my upstanding reputation and purity would be insulted at such insinuation. I am here to see Signor Domani. If you will give your permission—"

  "Mr. Domani is hardly the kind of man a woman of innocence would be seeking to visit. What relationship do you claim with him?"

  Her eyes snapped. "Claim? I state the truth. He is my cousin and appointed chaperone here in Idaho. Don't tell me you don't see the family resemblance?"

  The captain laughed. "Perhaps your family should be more discriminating in their choice of chaperones for such a beautiful young woman. He seemed friendly for a man tasked with protecting your honor, and then there's this matter of the explosion."

  "I came also to make a statement about the day of the violence. He was with me when the explosion occurred."

  The captain listened patiently and took notes as she recounted her story. "So you see, Clell has a, what is the word?"

  "Vendetta?"

  "Si, such a nice Italian word, that."

  The captain smiled. "You would be willing to swear to this statement?"

  She nodded.

  "It's your word against our witness. And pardon me, ma'am, but it would seem that you're biased where the defendant is concerned, him being a relative. Besides which, it doesn't mean he didn't plant the charges. You need someone to corroborate your version of the facts. That will at least help your case."

  "I don't understand 'corroborate.'"

  "Verify. You need someone who saw you with Domani and would be willing to testify. Ideally this should be someone impartial. Do you understand?"

  She nodded.

  The captain was silent for a moment. "I'd be willing to discuss this further, over dinner tonight. You choose the location."

  Angelina considered for a moment. "The Fuller House in Wallace. But not tonight, tomorrow night. And of course, I must have Signor Domani's approval before I can commit to such an invitation."

  "Private Wilson!" the captain called out. His secretary appeared at the door. "Take the lady to visit the Italian." He turned to her. "Fifteen minutes, no more. And I like to know the names of the women I call on."

  "Angel."

  "That's all?"

  "That's enough." She intended to keep her date only if necessa
ry. He spoke again as she turned to leave.

  "What's in the basket?"

  "Italian sweets."

  "Leave them. I have a sweet tooth."

  "Lucky for you. These are but an outward extension of my sweet nature." She set the basket down on his desk and followed Wilson from the room.

  Chapter 17

  The maximum-security area was located in a small building next to the captain's office. A single dim corridor ran the length of the narrow building. Occupied cells lined either side. Her quick glimpses of the occupants stunned her. These couldn't be the same vibrant men that had frightened her with their mob mentality and violent thirst for power only weeks before. These were ordinary men, the kind she saw every day on the streets of Wallace. Individually, locked alone without the support of their peers, they looked defeated and tired and powerless.

  Private Wilson stopped before a door with a small barred window. He spoke to her as he unlocked it. "Captain gave orders. No more than fifteen minutes. If you wish to leave before that call for the guard and he'll let you out."

  The door swung open. She hesitated on the jamb.

  "Domani, you have a visitor!" Private Wilson called out roughly. 4F

  She stepped inside

  "Good day, ma'am." Wilson locked the door behind her.

  It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the cell. Tonio sat on a cot next to the wall, one leg bent on the bed, the other on the floor. He stared straight ahead at the wall in front of him, not looking at his visitor even when the door clanged shut and the private departed.

  "Tonio, you might at least acknowledge me after all the trouble I've gone to, to get here."

  "Angelina?"

  Her heart leapt at the sound of his voice, but she thought he stiffened.

  "I told May I didn't want to see you."

  "I don't live by what you want."