Daughter of Grace

by Michael Phillips

  And it was fun! We stayed in that shop for an hour, Mrs. Parrish and the woman from the shop holding up dress after dress to me, draping them over my shoulders, having me look in the mirror and asking me what I thought. They made me feel so special that I might have cried if we hadn’t been laughing and talking and enjoying ourselves so much. I must have tried on six or seven different dresses in all colors. I forgot all about the cab driver waiting outside and the time passing.

  The dress we finally picked was the prettiest of all, mostly a light green. I wouldn’t have chosen pink as a color to go with green. A couple of the other ones I tried on mixed yellow with green. But this particular dress had such light colors that the two blended in a way I just loved. It was made mostly out of polished cotton, with a full skirt in green. The skirt was loose and soft, but not so full that I had to wear hoops and petticoats underneath. It felt comfortable, like I could walk around free and easy. Above the waist, the bodice was pink, and a wide collar folded down over the pink all the way around, with a green piping around its edge. They called the sleeves leg of mutton sleeves, the full part from my shoulders down to just below my elbows made of the green, with the tight forearms in plain white. Only the top in front and in back was pink, and little pink fabric-covered buttons stretched all the way down the back, matching those on the sleeves.

  Best of all was the satin and lace—dark green, with rows of satin stretching down from the shoulders over the pink and down to the waist where the green began. The wide waistband was dark green satin, with a bow tied in back. In between the satin stripes, which were three inches apart down the bodice, were sewn little delicate strips of lace, a lighter green than the satin, but darker than the dress. The same lace went down the wide part of the sleeves too, all the way to where the narrow white began.

  The bonnet must have been made at the same time, because the wide floppy brim was of the exact same light green as the dress. The crown was of the same pink, and around the base of the pink was a wide strip of the dark green satin that exactly matched the waistband of the dress. It was all so pretty, and made me feel so fine and grown-up!

  Walking out of that shop carrying that parcel, the smile on my face must’ve been six inches wide.

  When we went back to the hotel, Mrs. Parrish dismissed the cabman. We walked up to the second floor to our room and got ready for the evening. We put our dresses on—Mrs. Parrish had bought a new one for the occasion too. Then Mrs. Parrish fixed her hair up all nice and then helped me with mine, so it would look nice flowing out from under the pink and green bonnet. At last we left the room and walked back downstairs.

  As we walked through the hotel lobby, I saw several men’s heads turn in our direction. I could feel the red coming up my neck and into my cheeks, but Mrs. Parrish just kept straight for the door without even flinching at some of the calls at her.

  I guess that’s one of the things I always liked about her, that she could be such a lady, so tender and nice, and could cry with you and talk about girl things. But she could be strong in a man’s world like San Francisco too. I’d never yet seen her cowed by anyone, man or woman. And walking through that hotel lobby beside her, I felt as safe as if I’d been with Pa and Uncle Nick and Captain Grant—all three of them!

  Mrs. Parrish took me to dinner that night at a fancy restaurant. It was close enough that we could have walked, but she said this was our “night out in San Francisco,” and that we were going to “go first class all the way.” So she ordered another cab—a covered one, this time, with fringe hanging down all the way around—and we rode down Montgomery Street, lit up with the brand-new gas street lights, to the International House restaurant.

  On the way I asked her why we didn’t eat at the dining room of the hotel. “The Oriental is one of the city’s nicest hotels,” she answered, “but there is an element present there which I would rather avoid. Sam Brannan and other of the city’s leaders may have suites there, but I do not choose to dine with them, and I do not think most respectable women would care to do so either.”

  I felt like such a lady that night, sitting there in my new dress in that expensive restaurant, with well-dressed people all about—businessmen, Mrs. Parrish said, from all around the world. I didn’t even know what half the food was that Mrs. Parrish ordered, but she explained it all to me, and everything was delicious! There was music playing as we ate too—real music—and a lady who sang. It was like being part of a world I never even dreamed of seeing but had only read about once or twice in books.

  By the time we got back to the hotel I was tired—but happy, too! What a wonderful day it had been! As I lay down in my bed, all the things that I’d seen and heard that evening ran back and forth through my mind.

  But not for long, because I was asleep before I knew it.

  Chapter 9

  Brush with the Past

  The next day Mrs. Parrish had to go to her meetings. She asked me if I wanted to go with her, but I said I’d rather stay at the hotel and either try to read in the book I’d brought or else write in my journal. There was already so much to tell, and I wanted to remember every minute of my visit to San Francisco! She said she had to meet some people in the morning, would be back for lunch, and then would be gone for three or four hours in the afternoon.

  The morning passed quietly. I read some, but mostly wrote in my journal. Mrs. Parrish was back almost before I realized she had left. We talked a while and had lunch, and then she left again for her afternoon meetings.

  About an hour later, I started to get restless. I’d been in that room most of the day, and I wanted to get a little bit of fresh air. Mrs. Parrish said everything would be fine, but that I ought to stay in the room or maybe go into the hall or down to the lobby to stretch my legs.

  But I had too much of the outdoors and the country in me for my own good. I just had to get outside where I could feel the sun and wind on my face and breathe air that had been mixed with the clouds and the trees and the wind, instead of just sitting in a stale room for hours on end.

  Finally, I got up and walked downstairs and into the lobby.

  I had hardly set foot off the stairs when I heard a familiar voice: “Well, if it isn’t the country girl who wants to be a newspaper reporter.”

  I glanced up and there was young O’Flaridy, again with a bundle of the day’s papers.

  “Having a pleasant visit in the city?” he added.

  “Real nice,” I answered, smiling but feeling a little cautious after what Mr. Barnes had said the day before.

  “Even without my services as a guide, eh?” he said, with kind of a sly smile as he approached me.

  Unconsciously I backed up a step, while I answered, “We saw all kinds of things. Mrs. Parrish knows the city pretty well.”

  “And where is your lady friend this fine day?”

  “She had some meetings to go to.”

  “What kind of business she in?”

  “Freighting and the like.”

  “Mighty peculiar field for a lady to be in. Say, who is she, anyway? She can’t be your mother. She your aunt—your older sister?”

  “She’s a friend.”

  “Sort of took you under her wing, did she?”

  I wasn’t sure I liked his being so nosy about our affairs, but luckily he spotted Mr. Barnes eyeing him, so he made a beeline for the counter to dump off his papers. Then he sauntered back in my direction.

  “Say,” he said, “maybe with the lady gone to her meetings and you all alone like you are, you’d like me to show you around some.”

  “No, thank you.” I tried to sound confident. “I’ve got plans of my own.”

  “Aw, what could—”

  “Hey, O’Flaridy!” interrupted a man’s deep voice from the other side of the hotel lobby. We both looked around, and the instant he saw who the speaker was, Robin left me and hurried over to him.

  “I thought you was gonna run them papers down to McCready’s for me,” said the man, his voice quieter now, but
still so I could hear. I didn’t like the sound of the man, and he looked like a rough sort, though he was dressed in a black suit. They spoke a minute in quieter tones and I decided it was time for me to make my exit. I didn’t want to have any more to do with Robin O’Flaridy or anyone he knew. I turned and walked through the lobby, past the desk, and toward the exit doors.

  “Hey, you’re not going out alone, are you?” came the persistent O’Flaridy voice yet again from behind me, just as my hand touched the door.

  I hesitated. I still didn’t know whether to be frightened or flattered by the attentions of this seemingly worldly-wise San Francisco lad. He hurried up to me again.

  “I’ve got to make a delivery down by the waterfront,” he said. “How about joining me?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “I really have to be going.”

  “This is a big city, you know. No place for young girls to be roaming the streets without someone to watch out for them. Why—” His voice got real low and he came up close, like he was letting me in on a secret. “Why, I could tell you stories of that fella there I was just talking to, stories that you’d never believe! It’s rough out there, and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “I can take care of myself,” I retorted before I knew what I was saying, with more courage than good sense. I wanted to get away from him. He was too pushy! I shoved the door open and walked out onto the street. He’d likely keep after me, so I turned and walked quickly away, without looking back.

  It was a little chilly. The fog was just starting to blow away, and there were patches of bright showing through all around, but there was still enough fog to give me one of the best memories I had of San Francisco: breathing in that fresh-feeling fog that made my lungs feel so full and alive. I breathed in a few times when I got outside, then I started to walk down the street.

  I went down the sloping hill of California Street toward the center of town. I figured if I walked straight down and then straight back up to Hyde I’d be able to remember where I was, and I’d been that way in the cab a couple of times already. I had walked for maybe ten minutes, then all of a sudden I felt a strong hand close around my arm just above the elbow.

  “I thought it was you, missy,” growled a deep, raspy voice. “I knew if I followed you an’ that lady an’ watched this fancy place, I’d find my chance t’ git even!”

  I didn’t even need to turn around. His was a voice I could never forget! And besides the voice, I could smell him too. In an instant I knew I’d been right in what I thought I’d seen the day before.

  It was Buck Krebbs!

  “Come with me, missy,” he was saying, shoving me forward and toward the side of the walkway where there weren’t so many people. “You an’ me’s got some talkin’ to do!” Only later, when my arm got a big purple bruise, did I realize how hard he was pinching me. But at the moment I was much too scared to feel anything. “I wanna know where yer pa hid my loot! An’ ye’re gonna tell me!”

  Not more than five or ten seconds had passed since he first grabbed me, but when you’re scared, time seems to freeze as if it’s happening to somebody else in slow motion. I’ve had dreams like that where I couldn’t move even though something bad was about to happen if I didn’t run away or jump to safety. Those first few seconds I was that way. Like a frog that a snake had just grabbed, I was so paralyzed I couldn’t move or scream or even think.

  But the second Buck said the word pa, something unfroze inside me, and all of a sudden woke up.

  I don’t exactly know what happened next. I read somewhere that fear makes you stronger than you really are. I guess I must’ve twisted my arm hard. Maybe that’s when I got the bruise, or maybe I was stronger than Buck thought I’d be. I started screaming too. I remember being shocked at the loudness of my own voice! Everything all at once took Buck by surprise. I could feel the pain in my arm stop, and then I was running as fast as my legs would move. I didn’t even know where I was going, I just ran as fast as I could, and I could feel my hair flying all about my face. Behind me I could hear the pounding of Buck’s boots on the wood walk, and him yelling after me, “I’ll git ’im, ya hear me, missy! I’ll git that pa o’ yours! I’ll git the loot! I’ll git ya all! I’ll git it if I have t’ kill ya all first!”

  I kept running along the street, then turning, still hearing Buck chasing behind me. I ran past the Armory Hall and turned up Sacramento. I didn’t know what I was doing at the time or where I was, or I’d have stopped right there and got one of the Guard men to help me.

  A couple of blocks later I was in front of the Eldorado. People were staring at me, and some of the men hanging around called out rude things to me. I must have looked like a mess, a young kid of a girl running along the street, all alone in front of San Francisco’s most famous gambling house.

  I turned again, down the hill this time. I found out later it was Washington Street.

  I stopped for a spell, caught my breath, and looked back for the first time.

  I couldn’t see or hear anything of Buck, and I didn’t figure with his heavy boots and the whiskey I could smell on him that he’d be able to run too far. But all I could think of was getting back to the hotel before he did, and safely into my room again. I’d never leave that room alone now, because I was sure he’d be waiting for me if I ever came out of the lobby again!

  A few minutes later I found myself back on Montgomery Street, which I recognized. I ran toward where the work was going on for the big new Montgomery Block building.

  I went up to a man, dressed real fancy, who was just walking inside. I figured he was probably on his way to one of the lawyers’ or mine owners’ offices that was already open up on the second floor, and was a safe enough man to talk to. He didn’t look too pleased at being accosted on the street by what must have looked like a tramp. But when, all out of breath, I asked him where the Oriental Hotel was, he didn’t give me more than a hmmp or two as he looked me over, then pointed out the way with a half-scowl on his face. Somehow I got back onto California Street, and then ran all the rest of the way back, not even slowing down as I went through the lobby and up to the desk to ask for the key to our room, panting and sweating like a runout horse all lathered up.

  When I’d been running through the streets trying to get away from Buck Krebbs, I’d have probably welcomed the sight of his face, but at the moment I was grateful Robin O’Flaridy wasn’t anywhere around to see the fix I’d gotten myself in by not taking his advice! I took the stairs two at a time up to our room, hurriedly locked the door behind me with my fingers shaking, and then threw myself down on the bed and tried to catch my breath.

  I didn’t get much more reading or writing done that afternoon!

  But I didn’t start crying till Mrs. Parrish got back and I told her all about it. Having her take me in her arms and say comforting things to me made me feel safe again, and that’s what made the tears start to come. She said her meetings were all done and that she wouldn’t leave me alone for another minute of our time in San Francisco, and she said that Buck Krebbs would never dare come into the hotel and try to harm us, so we were safe enough.

  We were to start home the next morning. The man in the red jacket brought our luggage down to the lobby and Mrs. Parrish took care of her last business at the desk.

  I could hardly believe it when I heard a familiar voice once again, “Leaving town so soon?”

  I turned around and found myself again staring straight at none other than Robin O’Flaridy! This time he had no newspapers. If I didn’t know better I’d think he was waiting for us.

  “Yes, we are,” I said, silently thinking to myself, Not him again!

  “Well, I wish you safe travels all the way back to—what’s that town out there in the sticks you say you’re from?”

  “Miracle Springs.”

  “Oh yeah, that place. Well, I wish you and your lady friend safe travels back to Miracle Springs. Say, how’re you getting back there?”

  His v
oice actually was starting to sound nice for a change.

  “We’ll take the boat up to Sacramento,” I said.

  “Hmm,” he said with a serious expression, “I hear the bay’s been pretty rough these days.”

  Outside I could see that the sky was blue and it didn’t look any more windy than usual, so I decided to pay no attention to his remark. And the more I looked at him the more I realized that he took nothing he said very seriously himself!

  “You still hankering to be a newspaper reporter?” he asked.

  “Some day perhaps.”

  “Well, the next time you come to the city, you stay right here and be sure to look me up. I’ll give you a few tips that helped me get started in the business. What do you say?”

  To my relief, Mrs. Parrish had just finished at the desk and came up to us.

  “Our cab is waiting outside,” she said. “Good bye, Mr. O’Flaridy.”

  He quickly hastened to the front door and opened it for us with a flourish, annoying the man in the red jacket.

  When we were finally on the steamer heading back across the bay toward Richmond and Sacramento—on perfectly calm waters!—Robin O’Flaridy quickly left my mind. Once again my thoughts filled with what had happened the previous afternoon. I couldn’t wait to get back home to tell Pa what Buck Krebbs had yelled after me as I ran away from him. His words were mighty frightening to think about!

  Probably because I was so worried about him and talking about it, on the way home Mrs. Parrish asked me lots of questions about Pa. I was glad for the chance to tell her what a fine man he was, though something in her tone made me think she didn’t need to be told.

  We laughed together about those first few weeks after we’d gotten to Miracle last year and how awkward it had been for everybody right at first. A faraway look came into her eye after I told her why he had left New York years ago, and I think she felt truly sorry for how she had misjudged Pa.