“Well?” Mim joined them in the hallway. “I could hear the party down the street.” She narrowed her eyes as if trying to examine Briar in the dim light. “Didn’t I tell you not to cry?”
Briar’s lower lip started to tremble.
Mim pulled her into the parlor where they could sit down. “What happened?” Mim’s voice was soft, sympathetic.
Briar rested her head on Ethel’s shoulder and took a deep breath. “The feeling was different. But how can I walk away from keeping the children together?”
“Listen, honey.” Mim grasped her hand. “You’ve got three siblings counting on you and you almost had a home secured for them. That’s why I’m so willing to help you find out if you two can work it out. Don’t feel guilty about wanting to be happy, too. Wheeler isn’t the only eligible bachelor out there.”
Ethel stroked Briar’s back. “If you both still care for each other, it’ll take some time. You can’t go back to where you were overnight.” She stilled her hand. “But don’t force something that’s not there. You’ll only regret it.”
The other girls of the boardinghouse were restoring order to the parlor when the front door banged open. A grisly young man burst through and staggered into the house. “Lola? Lola! Show yourself.”
All the mill girls looked at one another with wide eyes. There was no one named Lola living there.
Miss Olive came from nowhere and blocked his passage into the parlor. “Sir, you must leave now.” When he took a step closer she wrinkled her nose. “You’ve been drinking. Out you go.”
Ethel leaned back and hid behind Briar.
“Don’t worry,” Briar reassured her. “Miss Olive won’t let him in.” She’d never seen Ethel afraid before.
By now, Miss Olive had managed to maneuver the stranger back to the front door, but he wedged himself in the door frame so that she couldn’t close it.
“I’m not leaving until I’ve seen her. Lola! I know you’re here. I found you. You can’t hide from me.” The commotion he made was so loud it had to be echoing out onto the streets.
Ethel began to tremble and Mim looked at Briar with raised eyebrows. Wheeler and two other men returned to the house to assist Miss Olive.
Meanwhile, one of Ethel’s temperance friends addressed the girls. “This is a prime example of what we are talking about. This man is obviously under the influence of the drink and can’t be reasoned with. This poor Lola would be glad to be away from him in this state. Heaven help her if he finds her. For her sake we should double our efforts. If you haven’t signed a pledge yet, come forward now and add your name to the cause.” She waved the petition in the air.
There was a bang as the man pounded the wall. Several of the girls jumped to their feet as one and lined up to sign their names to pledge temperance.
Ethel continued to shrink from the noise. Her eyes were fixed on the parlor entrance.
“Wheeler’s out there now. He’ll get him away,” Briar said.
Ethel nodded.
The disturbance moved out to the porch. Ethel darted from the room and ran up the staircase. Briar and Mim looked at each other in bewilderment before running after her. The man at the door saw Ethel and broke away from Wheeler to follow her, almost knocking Briar over.
“Lola! Pack your things. You’re coming home with me,” he yelled up the stairs.
Wheeler tackled him, smacking the man’s face into the stairs with a thwack. Assured Wheeler had the man pinned down, Briar stepped over them and ran after Ethel.
“Is he still breathing?” Miss Olive asked.
“Yes,” Wheeler said. “He’ll wake up with a big headache, though. Help me get him to the porch and I’ll get some of the other fellows to help me deal with him.”
Briar found Ethel packing her carpetbag.
“You can’t go with him,” Briar said.
“No. Never again,” Ethel said with fire in her voice. “I need to run farther away.”
“Who is he?” Briar asked.
“My husband.”
Mim stood in the doorway. “Your husband! You never said anything about being married.” Mim sat down on her bed. “You must have thought I was so silly with my imaginings of what married life was like.”
Briar turned back to Ethel. Leave it to Mim to focus on herself at a time like this. “You can’t leave, not now anyway. He’s still downstairs. Wheeler knocked him out cold on the stairs.”
Ethel stopped packing and faced her room-mates. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything.”
Briar reached for Ethel’s trembling hands and pulled her to sit on the bed. “I can see why you didn’t.” They sat for a minute, Briar and Mim watching Ethel stare at the floor.
“Your name is Lola?” Briar asked.
“My husband is a mean drunk and if I try to divorce him he’ll get custody of our baby. I have no rights to her.”
“You have a baby?” Mim said.
Ethel took a shaky breath. “That’s why I’m so interested in both temperance and getting the vote. If we can stop our men from spending everything we earn on drink, we’d have our husbands back. And if we can’t do that, at least if we get the vote we’ll have options. We’ll be able to change the laws so women like me can legally leave with our children.”
“Where is your baby?” Briar asked softly. She thought of her siblings and how hard it was to be away from them, and she saw them every weekend.
“With my mother-in-law. She’s a good woman and promised to keep Addie until I was able to find a way to make a living for the two of us. I didn’t tell anyone where I was going, and I changed my name. If he shows up at the mill he’ll either cause trouble or take my wages. Either way, I can’t stay here.” She rose again and stuffed more clothes into her bag.
“How do you think he found you?” asked Mim.
“That payday when Briar and I went to the bank, remember, Briar? A man on the wagon called out to us. I knew him. I hoped he’d think he’d been mistaken if I pretended I didn’t know him. He must have told my husband.” She started breathing in great gasps, clutching her shirtwaist at the neck. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Her voice rose in pitch.
Mim sat on Ethel’s old carpetbag. “For starters, you’re not leaving us. You need to stay here so we can help you. It’ll cost you time and money to move and set yourself up again. It’ll be a step backward. Wait and see how this works itself out before you make any decisions. You’re not going to get a better house than this one. Miss Olive will know what to do.”
Ethel fell to the floor, rocking back and forth as the tears streamed, keening in a way Briar had never seen before.
Briar and Mim looked at each other in shock before falling to their knees with Ethel. Their strong, practical, logical room-mate was unraveling.
Chapter Thirty-One
“I’m not going,” mumbled Ethel, her face buried in her pillow.
“It’s the WCTU. You need to go. You have the white ribbons.” Briar turned to Mim. “See? She’s really not going.”
Ethel continued talking into her pillow. “You take them. You’re better poised to change the world than me, Briar. I’m not strong enough.”
“It’s a crisis of faith,” said Mim. “That’s all. Your drunk husband came ’round and now you’re back in his grasp. Snap out of it. You’ve been preaching this stuff to me since we met. Don’t make me go alone.”
Ethel lifted her face. It was puffy and wet with tears. “You? You’d go to the meeting?”
Mim crossed her arms and huffed. “If it’ll make you go, yes. Otherwise you’ll keep moping forever. You’re hard enough to live with when you’re happy.”
Ethel looked at Briar. “And you?”
Briar nodded. “Of course I’ll go.” She pointed to her shirtwaist where she had already pinned a white ribbon.
“‘Do Everything,’” Ethel said, pushing herself up. “That’s what Miss Willard says.” She wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” asked Bria
r.
“Not telling you. It was my deepest secret, and the one I wanted to talk about every day. At least, regarding my baby. Briar, you don’t know how many times I was tempted to go take her and bring her to your cottage to be raised by Nanny so I’d have her close by me.” She swung her feet over the side of the bed. “And you, Mim. With your ideals of marriage. I didn’t know what advice to give you. My experience has not been ideal in the least.”
“Well, didn’t you know what he was like before you married?”
“A little, I suppose, if I’m being honest. But I didn’t think he’d get worse, I thought he’d settle in once we married.” She splashed water on her face. “Let’s check on Sadie before we go. I feel like we ought to include her on this room-mate outing.”
Miss Olive let them poke their heads in the door but enter no farther. Sadie was sitting up but had the look of misery about her.
“Glad to see you up,” said Ethel, her voice attempting to be cheery but coming out strained.
“Ethel is dragging us to the WCTU meeting tonight. Be glad you’re stuck in bed,” said Mim.
“You’re looking much better,” added Briar.
Sadie gave them a slight smile in return, pointing to her right leg, bent slightly at the knee. “It’s froze that way. Can’t straighten it, but the doctor thinks I might be able to eventually.” She cleared her throat and forced a brighter smile. “Looks like you’ll have another new room-mate. Sorry we didn’t have time to know one another. You three always look like you get on well. I was looking forward to being part of your group.” She paused before addressing Briar directly. “I hope everything works out for you.”
She’s talking about Wheeler.
The three room-mates exchanged wondering glances before giving a wave and backing out of the room.
“Do we really get on so well?” asked Mim.
Briar laughed. “Miss Olive said she put us together for a reason. She seems to think we need each other.”
The community hall above the mayor’s office was starting to fill up by the time they arrived. The room-mates split up with bundles of ribbons each to pass around. Once they were empty-handed, they met up again, and found seats to the right of the lectern.
“If this is such an important meeting, why can’t Frances Willard herself show up?” whispered Mim.
“Shhh! Just listen. The woman can’t be everywhere at once.”
A woman in her thirties stepped out onto the stage. “Welcome, ladies. It’s exciting to see such a good turnout tonight for our guest speaker.” She went on to introduce Miss Nan Whitaker, a representative of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. The topic of the night was to give a global perspective on the movement, including suffrage in other countries.
“Good evening, ladies!”
A resounding applause lit the room.
“I bring greetings from our president, Frances Willard, who is at this time at Eastnor Castle in England, working tirelessly with our British sisters as they seek the vote. Temperance is at the heart of what we do. Prohibition, Women’s Liberation, and Labor’s Uplift are the three major avenues, all undergirded by temperance.
“Not everything is in temperance reform, but temperance reform should be in everything we do. We have unequal laws in marriage, in property rights, and add to that the risk of intemperance at home, which makes these inequalities unbearable. Money that is spent on drink is not available for other pursuits, and women and children get the worst end of it, drowning in poverty.”
Briar stole a glance at Ethel. She was completely engrossed in the lecture. Her face upturned and her focus keen. Mim, sitting on Briar’s other side, reached over and squeezed her hand. Briar nodded. They were going to help Ethel get through this.
When they left the lecture hall, the sun was down and the lamplighter was working his way along the street, turning on the gas lights. There were several men waiting outside, and as soon as the women exited, the men began hurling insults.
“Just walk on by, ladies,” said Ethel, her strength and resolve clearly having been restored. She pulled back her shoulders and lifted her head high. “We’ve made them nervous tonight is all.”
On the edge of the crowd, a familiar form stuck out from the rest.
“Wheeler?” said Briar. He was standing in the shadows of the mercantile, with his hat pulled low, but she could make out his tall, lanky form anywhere.
“You didn’t come here to listen to that speech, did you?” He stepped forward, closer to the streetlight.
“I-I came for Ethel’s sake,” she said, self-consciously touching her white ribbon.
“You know you girls are only biding your time until you get husbands. You don’t need the vote. Your husband will make the decisions on how the family votes, same as it’s been done for years. Besides, I’ll never sign a temperance pledge. None of the fellas I know will.”
“It’s about home protection,” said Briar, reiterating what she had learned that night. “Women need the vote to help make laws suitable for women and children, not just the men.”
“Home protection? You don’t need that, Bri. I’ll protect you.”
He looked deep into her eyes, and the others on the street seemed to fade away. Is he making a declaration? Now? She let her hand fall from the ribbon.
Before she could properly react, he smiled like he knew the reaction he had caused, doffed his hat, and was off. He thought she was pleased. No. She wasn’t. That was the problem. What was she going to do?
Chapter Thirty-Two
By Saturday morning, the excitement of the WCTU meeting had worn off and Ethel had resumed her murmurings about leaving town again. Fortunately, Mim was doing a good job of keeping her talked out of it.
Briar had even considered staying in town for the night in case Ethel decided to leave while she was gone. Perhaps it was best if the two older girls were given time to speak privately. Ethel’s problems were so much more than Briar could imagine. Miss Olive would have her hands full this weekend between Sadie’s physical needs and Ethel’s emotional ones.
After work, Briar reluctantly pulled the bicycle out of the shed for her trip home. She’d never been so torn about leaving. She wanted to stay, but if she did the children would worry about her. Besides, she had to find out if Fanny had managed to devise a plan about the spindle.
Since Briar’s frames were working so well, the overseer had given her two of Annie’s old frames to run, and even they ran without mishap now. No one was running as many frames as she was. It seemed the curse might be too old to cause any problems, so if there was a way to safely keep the spindle, Briar would be all for it.
She swung her leg over the bar and got ready to push off when she heard her name.
“Briar!”
Wheeler grinned at her and made his way over to her side of the street. “Walk you to the cottage today?” he asked.
Her stomach knotted. Should she try one last time to see if they could connect again? So many pressures were weighing in on her that she questioned her judgment on everything.
In reply she hopped off the bicycle, and he fell comfortably in step with her. He took one of the handlebars.
“Thanks for helping Ethel the other night,” she said.
“No problem. I meant what I said earlier. If you ever need me, I’m here for you.” He gave her the look that used to make the butterflies in her stomach explode.
She smiled tentatively back. No butterflies. Just a general feeling of unease.
“What happened to that man after you boys took him away?” Briar had a hard time saying the word husband in relation to someone married to her room-mate.
“He left town. We saw to that. He had a friend here who he was staying with and that fellow said he’d make sure he was on the train today. If it was running. With these rail-worker strikes going on, you never can know.”
“What if the train didn’t run today?” If Ethel were to catch sight of him still in town, that would be it. She’d pac
k her bags and be gone before Mim could talk her into staying.
Wheeler shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s not your problem.”
Of course it was her problem. How could she not worry about her friend?
“You know, the other day Mr. Smith came in to observe how I handled a conflict in the bailing room. He wanted to see if I was up for the challenge, and if two older men would listen to me.”
“And?”
He stood tall, a big grin spread across his face.
“Well done,” Briar said, knowing he was fishing for praise.
“You know,” Wheeler said, dipping his mouth close to hers. “You’re the prettiest girl at the factory again.”
“Oh.” Oh. Briar’s face grew hot. That was a clumsy compliment. Her mam’s saying came to mind: where the tongue slips it speaks the truth.
He produced a flower and handed it to her. When she didn’t immediately reach for it, he plucked off the bloom and tucked it into her hair above her ear. His finger traced the line of her cheek and, for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. She turned her head away. He took a step back and crooked out his arm for her to hold.
Instead of taking his arm, she took over pushing the bicycle.
“How is your family?” he asked, letting his arm drop to his side.
“The boys are causing trouble as usual, and Pansy is ever the little mother over them, and Nanny has gone—”
“That’s great! I forgot to add that Mr. Smith must have told Mr. Albans, because then he stopped by my area and congratulated me on the move to Burlington. I leave Monday after next. They’ve also been impressed with you lately. We could both be moving to Burlington and then, who knows?” Then he smiled the smile that used to make her weak in the knees. But not this time.
She tried to smile but suspected it came out like a smirk. He was leaving on her birthday and he didn’t even realize it. The date held such importance for Briar, since she was afraid she’d have to give up the children then, and here he was, so nonchalant. Did he even see her? Know who she was? Had he forgotten everything that was important to her?
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