Shaken to the Core

by Jae

  Quickly, she reached into the pouch around her waist and took out the four dollars she still had.

  He put one of his bandaged hands on top of hers. “No.”

  “No?” Giuliana averted her gaze so he wouldn’t see the tears that came to her eyes. They had been so close to finding the solution Kate longed for.

  “No,” he repeated. “I don’t want your money. If your friend needs to use my equipment, I’ll lend it to her for free.”

  She stared at him. “You will let her do this?”

  “Sure, why not? One photographer should always help another, especially in times like these. Bring your friend over, and I’ll introduce her to my brother.”

  Giuliana gave him a careful hug and pressed a kiss to his graying beard. “Thank you.”

  Blinking, he pressed a bandaged palm to his cheek and then chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Haverstock Portrait Studio

  Western Addition

  San Francisco, California

  April 23, 1906

  Giuliana tried hard not to fidget while she stared at the closed door of the darkroom and then over to the golden clock on the mantle. Kate had been in there for close to an hour. She hoped that meant that all the glass plates were in good condition, so Kate had to develop a lot of photographs, and not that something had gone wrong.

  Leaning back against the brocade chair, she tried to relax her shoulders, but the tension returned immediately. Even the luxurious surroundings didn’t help—quite the opposite. After sleeping outside or in a tent for four nights, being surrounded by walls felt strange, as did sitting at a linen-covered table. It made her a little uneasy to be in a building, surrounded by brick walls that could crash down on her, trap her, if another earthquake came.

  “So,” Mr. Haverstock poured her another cup of tea and pushed sweets on a silver tray toward Giuliana, “are you a photographer too?”

  Giuliana looked up from the fine porcelain on the table. “Oh no. I am only…a friend.”

  A few weeks ago, she would have hesitated to call herself that, simply because she wouldn’t have dared to call herself a friend to someone like Kate. But the ordeals of the last few days had proved that a friendship between them was possible…and that even more might grow out of it in the future.

  A mental image of Kate’s half-naked body as she washed herself accompanied the thought. A tingle coursed through Giuliana. She hid her glowing cheeks behind the tea cup. Up until recently, she’d always assumed that only men thought about carnal matters with any frequency, but in the last few days, she had caught herself thinking about such things repeatedly.

  “Oh.” Mr. Haverstock took a sip of tea. “I thought…You look so much like an expectant father waiting for his child to be born that I thought some of the photographs might be yours.”

  Giuliana chuckled. An expectant father. Yes, that was exactly how she felt. “I was with Kate when she made most of the pictures. Sometimes it was really dangerous. That is why the pictures mean much to me also.”

  That wasn’t all. Their future depended on these photographs. If Kate couldn’t sell them to a newspaper, they would be completely without means. Kate would have to return to her family, and Giuliana would be forced to seek employment in another city.

  Her hands started to shake so badly that she had to put down the tea cup.

  “I understand.” He patted one of her trembling hands. “Here. Take a piece of marzipan. It’ll soothe your nerves.”

  After a quick inspection of her fingernails to make sure they weren’t too dirty, Giuliana reached for one of the square pieces and popped it into her mouth. The Miricani used too much sugar, but the almond taste reminded her of the frutta Marturana she had gotten every fall and on Easter as a child. They had been shaped like tiny apples, oranges, peaches, and pears and painted to make them look like real fruit. They were almost too pretty to be eaten—almost.

  She eyed the tray. Could she take another piece without appearing rude? Or maybe take one for Kate?

  Mr. Haverstock smiled as if guessing her thoughts. “Eat them all. I know it must be quite the treat after the food in the camp.”

  “Thank you.” She reached for another piece. After eating nothing but beans and stew for days, it was a treat indeed. Strange that it didn’t make her wish to be home, where she could eat the real thing. Your home is here now.

  The door to the darkroom creaked open.

  Giuliana quickly swallowed the marzipan and looked up.

  Kate stood in the doorway, backlit by the reddish light in the darkroom.

  For a moment, Giuliana couldn’t breathe. How beautiful Kate was. Her hair gleamed like gold in that light, making Giuliana long to run her fingers through it. She shook herself out of those thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to admire Kate’s beauty. She jumped up as fast as politeness allowed and crossed the room. “The pictures…are they…?”

  A smile spread over Kate’s face. “They look great, if I do say so myself.” She looked over at Mr. Haversack. “Thank you so much for allowing me to use your equipment.”

  “I was glad to be able to repay the favor. Doctor Sharpe saved my brother’s hands.”

  “Can I see the pictures?” Giuliana asked, unable to contain herself.

  Kate shook her head. “They still need to dry. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow. Giuliana’s shoulders slumped. That sounded like forever.

  Mr. Haverstock laughed. “I’ll bring them with me when I visit my brother in the hospital tomorrow.”

  * * *

  Giuliana had just finished handing out stew to the patients who could eat by themselves when Mr. Haverstock entered the hospital tent. She put the empty tray down and ran to get Kate.

  The sight of Kate, sitting on a stool at the food station and peeling potatoes like a kitchen maid, made her chuckle. If Mrs. Winthrop could see her daughter, she would need her smelling salts. A giggle escaped her.

  Kate looked up. “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing,” Giuliana said quickly.

  “I know I’m not the fastest. I’m still learning, all right? This isn’t as easy as it looked when Mrs. Tretow was doing it.”

  Giuliana took the knife from her and grabbed her hand. “Come. Mr. Haverstock is in the hospital with your pictures.”

  The stool toppled over as Kate jumped up.

  Together, they rushed to the hospital tent.

  Mr. Haverstock waited patiently while Kate looked through the stack of photographs he handed her.

  Giuliana craned her neck so she could see them too. A shudder went through her as the images brought back the terror of the last days, but also the quieter moments with Kate in the park.

  “Not a bad one in the bunch,” Mr. Haverstock said with an appreciative nod. He looked at the last photograph in Kate’s hands. His gaze flicked from Kate to Giuliana and back. “You have a wonderful eye for detail.”

  Kate looked down at the picture. Her cheeks held a tinge of red. “With the right subject, it’s easy to take a good photograph.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short,” Mr. Haverstock said. “You’re quite talented.”

  Giuliana beamed along with Kate. She was so proud of Kate that she felt as if she might burst. Then she directed her attention toward the last image.

  It was the picture Kate had taken of her that afternoon in North Beach. She remembered Kate’s embarrassment when she’d discovered the chipped glass plate in Kate’s carrying case. Did that mean Kate had already been a little smitten with her when they had strolled through North Beach? Flushing, she admitted to herself that Kate hadn’t been the only one. Giuliana remembered the way Kate’s long fingers had looked handling the camera with startling clarity. She just hadn’t recognized what she was feeling.

  Kate put the photographs back into the envelope Mr. Haverstock had provided and shook his hand. “Thank you so much for letting me use your equipment and for bringing me the photographs.”r />
  When Mr. Haverstock walked away to visit his brother, Kate turned toward Giuliana. “I think I’ll take the next ferry to Oakland right away. If I wait, another photographer might get there first.”

  “We,” Giuliana said firmly.

  Kate sent her a questioning gaze.

  “We take the next ferry to Oakland.”

  “You don’t have to come with me.”

  “I want to.” Giuliana hesitated. “Or do you not want me to come?”

  Kate looked left and right before taking Giuliana’s hand and giving it a quick squeeze. “Of course I want you to come.”

  Their gazes held for several seconds.

  “Go cut the rest of the potatoes.” Giuliana gently pushed her toward the tent’s exit. “I tell Lucy I need to leave, and then we go to Oakland.”

  * * *

  Wisps of smoke still hung over the city, and steam rose from the ruins on Market Street, but soldiers and civilians were already hard at work clearing away the rubble and tearing down tottering walls. Wet ash covered the area, making the cobblestones slick.

  When Kate moved the steering wheel to the right to avoid a twisted piece of cable car tracks sticking up from the street, the automobile swerved. They missed the pile of debris lining the street by mere inches. At the last moment, Kate managed to regain control over the vehicle.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled and glanced over at Giuliana, who was gripping the seat with her unbandaged hand.

  “It is all right.” Giuliana lightly placed her hand on Kate’s knee before withdrawing.

  Kate took a deep breath and tried to focus on driving, not on worrying about what lay ahead. The closer they came to the ferry building, the more the tension inside her increased. She was glad they had gotten the automobile back and could drive. With her knees trembling, she wasn’t sure she could have made it all the way to the ferry building on foot.

  Repeatedly, she took one hand off the steering wheel for a moment to make sure the special permit was still in the pocket of the coat she had gotten from the tent where clothing was handed out. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to take the carrying case onto the ferry, nor would they be allowed to return to San Francisco. Gosh, she really owed Lucy for getting them that permit. If all worked out, she would have to find a way to repay her.

  If all works out…She swallowed and tried not to think of the alternative. Having her photographs printed in a newspaper and becoming a professional photographer had been her goal since she’d first held a camera. In the past, it had been for strictly selfish reasons. Now it was her only chance to build a life with Giuliana.

  Everything she wanted—independence, the profession of her dreams, and a woman to love—was within reach. It was almost too good to be true. But that dream could burst like a bubble if the Call’s editor rejected her again.

  Lord, I don’t know what I’ll do if he sends me away.

  “Do not break your hands,” Giuliana said with a small smile. “You need them.”

  Kate relaxed her white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.

  “Eh, I mean…for making pictures for the newspaper,” Giuliana added.

  Of course. What else would she need them f—? Oh. Kate gulped against her dry throat. She peeked over into Giuliana’s flushed face and bit back a nervous chuckle.

  Two soldiers blocking the way distracted her.

  Kate brought the automobile to a halt and reached for the permit. No way would she let them take the motorcar.

  “I’m sorry, miss,” one of the soldiers said. “You can’t pass.”

  “I have a permit.” She unfolded the piece of paper and held it out to him.

  He didn’t even glance at it. “Doesn’t matter. It’s not safe to continue. We’re dynamiting an unsafe building farther down the street.”

  “But I need to get to the ferry building. Now.” Every hour…every minute that she waited increased the risk of another photographer getting his pictures to the Call. If she could manage to get a special pass, so could others.

  The soldier studied her as if gauging her seriousness. Finally, he nodded. “All right. Go up Sansome Street and then take Pine to detour around the area we’re dynamiting.”

  “Thank you.” Kate stepped on the gas pedal so quickly that the soldiers had to jump out of the way. “Sorry,” she called over her shoulder but didn’t slow down as she took a left into Sansome Street.

  When they finally reached the ferry building and climbed out of the automobile, Kate released the breath she’d been holding. So far, so good. Now they only needed to make it onto the ferry to Oakland…and hope that the Call was still there, as the last edition of the newspaper had said, and hadn’t found another place to print their newspapers.

  They crossed through the ferry building and stepped outside onto the pier.

  The huge crowd at the ferry landings had thinned out since they’d last been here on Friday, but there were still plenty of people attempting to leave the city.

  Several held printed proclamations and stood together in groups, heatedly discussing them.

  Oh no. Please don’t let that be notices that the ferries aren’t running. On trembling legs, Kate walked over to the closest group. “Excuse me, gentlemen. Could I see that for a moment?”

  One of the men handed over the sheet of paper.

  With Giuliana at her elbow, Kate darted her gaze over the notice. No mention of the ferries. The tension fled her shoulders, and she started breathing again.

  Giuliana tugged on her coat sleeve. “What does it say?”

  “The city is planning on building thousands of small cabins for the refugees.”

  Giuliana gave a little hop. “Oh, that is wonderful. I do not mind to sleep in the tent, but…”

  Kate knew what she meant. It had rained all day on Sunday, and the canvas had started to leak, drenching their blankets and making them miserable. Living in a tent also meant that they had no privacy. Kate had to restrain herself from touching Giuliana in little ways at least a dozen times each day. “Yes, but they won’t let anyone stay in a cabin for free. The rent for a one-room cottage will be two dollars each month. It says the rent will go toward buying the cabin, so after a year or so, you would own it and be allowed to relocate it to anywhere you wanted.”

  They exchanged glances.

  Kate handed back the notice and pulled Giuliana a few steps away from the group so they could talk without being overheard. “If I get a position with the newspaper…” Her heart pounded so loudly that she had to raise her voice just a little to be able to hear herself. “Would you…would you want to rent a cabin and live with me?”

  The clouds above them parted, and the sun—now golden and no longer blood-red—shone down on them.

  Kate hoped it was a good omen.

  A pleased murmur went through the crowd. Everyone stared up at the sky, but Kate kept her attention on Giuliana. “Would you?”

  Giuliana threw her arms around Kate and squeezed so hard that Kate nearly dropped the carrying case. “Yes!”

  The people next to them started sending them curious glances, but before Kate could let go, a piercing whistle drew the crowd’s attention away.

  The ferry! If the murmurs rising in the crowd were correct, it had to be the one to Oakland.

  Kate gripped the carrying case with one hand and Giuliana’s fingers with the other and squeezed past two ladies with large hats to get closer to the edge of the pier.

  As the side paddle wheels carried the ferry closer, Kate spied the lettering on its side. Southern Pacific, it said, and beneath it, Oakland. It was indeed the ferry they needed to take.

  Soon, the gate crashed down and the gangplank was pushed onto the pier. People rushed forward.

  “No luggage! Passengers only,” a deckhand shouted.

  Kate pulled the permit from her pocket and held it up like a protective talisman. “Urgent Red Cross business. I have permission to carry this.” She held up the carrying case. With any luck, the deckhands would as
sume she was a nurse and the little suitcase held medical equipment.

  The ferryman hesitated and squinted at the piece of paper.

  The people behind them pressed forward, shoving Kate and nearly making her fall at the feet of the deckhand.

  Giuliana’s grip on her elbow held her upright. Instead of glaring over her shoulder, Kate kept her attention on the deckhand. “This is important.” She imitated the tone she’d heard her father use when he spoke on the telephone with business partners or city officials. “If you delay us, you could get into trouble.”

  “Get on, then. But keep that thing out of the way.” The deckhand waved them through.

  Not waiting for him to change his mind, Kate hurried across the gangplank, tightly holding on to Giuliana and the carrying case.

  * * *

  For some reason, Kate had expected Oakland to have escaped the earthquake completely unharmed. But as they stepped off the train that had taken them into town from the ferry dock, the first thing she saw were fallen chimneys and piles of bricks on the sidewalks.

  At least no fires had ravaged this city, so Kate suspected that the tents that had been set up in every park housed refugees from San Francisco. In front of every church they passed, long lines of people waited for a piece of bread or a bowl of soup.

  How could a city the size of Oakland house and feed thousands of refugees?

  But Kate didn’t intend to stay around to find out. She marched straight to Eighth Street, where the joint newspaper had been printed last Thursday.

  “There!” Kate pointed to a building at the corner of Franklin Street. “That’s the Oakland Tribune.”

  At the front door, they paused and faced each other.

  “Do you want me to wait or go with you?” Giuliana asked.

  Kate hesitated. She would have loved for Giuliana to come in with her and support her all the way to Mr. Fulton’s desk, but that would only confirm the editor’s preconceived notion that women weren’t tough enough to be out on the streets and take photographs of more than fashion and baking contests. “I think I’ll have to do this alone.”