by Jim Wetton
“Can’t find the matches.”
There was no response.
“Mother?” Nothing.
“Lizzy!?”
The explosion directly across from the Fairmont rocked the entire building. Caroline was thrust up against the wall, her head banged on the lamp that hung next to their door. Her ears rang, a sound of a high-pitched whistle reverberated deep into her head. She tried to shake her head to clear it, but it was too painful. The office building across the street was now completely engulfed in flames, eerily illuminating their room. Caroline frantically searched the room for Lizzy. Nothing. She looked at the shattered glass, some pieces still falling from the window. She side-stepped a fallen chair to get to the other side of the bed, closer to where the window was. She looked down to the floor and saw Lizzy in a clump. Pillows and bed sheets were piled on top of her but as Caroline reached to touch her, she found that she was still alive.
“Oh, thank God!” Caroline’s voice rang out. “Mother!”
Lizzy began to move. Her hand went instinctively to her head. Caroline leaned over to help her sit up. The next explosion was loud and rocked their room, causing Caroline to fall onto Lizzy. They both now sprawled on the center rug, their heads ringing with pain and confusion. They could hear shouting, screaming and inconsolable wailing. The smoke was getting thick in the room as it poured in through the shattered windows.
Lizzy watched as Caroline ransacked the drawers and found whatever she could to change into. “Don’t worry too much about it. I’m sure everyone else will look just the same.”
Caroline didn’t respond. She looked out the window. The city was ablaze and it sent a shiver of panic down her spine. She felt sick; vomit began to rise in her throat. She began to shake uncontrollably. Lizzy saw her from across the room and tried to rush to her but found that the pain in her head slowed her down.
“My, my family, what’s happened to my family?” Caroline’s voice choked with emotion.
“We’re going to find them!” Lizzy’s voice was weak but determined. “William is with the boys and they’re at home, close to water. They’re going to be just fine.”
Lizzy stood using a nearby nightstand to get upright. She looked out their window, trying to see if she could see down Hyde Street. “I’m sure they’re more worried about us right now, looking up this hill, so how about us getting out of this hotel, down Hyde and find that family of ours, OK?”
Lizzy’s face was close to Caroline’s, her two hands holding firm to both sides of her daughter-in-law’s cheeks, forcing Caroline to look at her. Without blinking or flinching, Lizzy repeated, “Are you ready to go find your family, Caroline? Or are you going to stay here and let this building swallow you up!?”
Caroline shook her head violently. She wiped her eyes and nodded, slowly at first then emphatically.
They quickly dressed, not caring what they looked like. Their hair tied in the back, make up left sprawled on the floor along with the rest of their belongings. Shoes on their feet and grit in their faces, they proceeded to the door. Before opening it, they looked at each other one more time.
“We’re going to find them, OK?” Lizzy repeated firmly.
“Yes, we are!” Caroline agreed with resolve before reaching for the knob and opening the door.
* * * *
The scene on Hyde was as if Hell itself had broken loose. Destruction and rubble strewn everywhere the eye could see. Though the rumble of the ground continued to ease, the pounding of explosions was unrelenting. Fire erupted. Doors crumbled. Windows shattered. The mayhem around them was unforgiving. Buildings that just a day before had welcomed visitors were now engulfed in flames. Lizzy and Caroline stood in the middle of Hyde Street and looked down towards the bay.
“How are we ever going to make it all the way down there?” Caroline cried out.
Lizzy calculated the situation, measured her options, then replied, “We’re going to walk. Run if we have to, but Caroline, we are going to make it to your home!”
They clutched hands and took one more look at each other. An explosion behind them broke them from their bonding moment.
“Time to go!” Lizzy yelled.
As they headed down Hyde, they kept the view of the bay as their landmark. Buildings exploded around them, smoke billowed in front of them, but they did their best to keep the bay in sight.
The sun began to rise, but it was an eerie sight. It was but a dim glow through the smoke, but just as the sun rose, so did the resolve of these two women to make it back to North Park and Taylor and to the home that Caroline prayed would still be standing.
* * * *
Halfway down Hyde Street they stopped. Caroline bent over and placed both hands on her knees. Catching her breath was difficult with the amount of smoke in the air. Lizzy looked back up Hyde; her eyes widened at the sight.
The Fairmont Hotel stood tall amongst the burning buildings around it. Smoke bellowed from its roof, but no flames could be seen coming from it. They’d passed several other hotels, the Hopkins, Stanford, Huntington, all in flames. The church bells that had started during the earlier quake continued to clang, loud and with no rhythm as if someone were banging steel against steel.
Through the smoke, Lizzy looked down Hyde Street. She wiped the grime from her eyes to clear them from what she thought she’d seen. Her heart sank at the sight. Water from the edge of the bay had risen and was engulfing the Wharf area in a devastating torrent of water. She tried to see just how far up it had come and hoped it hadn’t made it to North Point, where William and Caroline’s home was.
“Let’s go!” Lizzy’s encouragement helped Caroline; she hadn’t seen the rising water. “Focus on the ground in front of you and nothing else. We’re almost there!”
They stopped briefly at Lombard and looked back up Nob Hill at the inferno. With each passing minute the sounds of explosions bombarded their ears. Bells from the fire engines now surpassed the sounds of the church bells. Mobs of people filled the streets. Mothers screamed for their children. Families cried out for each other. Many, in a state of frozen shock, just sat in the street, wide-eyed and motionless. Many were bleeding and calling out for help. It was hard to walk past, but they were desperate to find the rest of their own family.
“Come on, Caroline, we can’t help them!” Lizzy squinted in the smoke at a family of five sitting in the middle of Hyde, all with blank stares on their faces. “Caroline, let’s go!”
“Oh, dear God, look at the water!” Caroline froze in shock.
Lizzy turned around from looking at the family just in time to see a six-foot wall of water coming off the bay.
“Go, go, go!” Lizzy screamed.
They ran down Hyde and looked to their left at the Ghirardelli Square. The only letters still in place on the chocolate factory were the G and the D. They watched the water coming up. It appeared to be at Beach Street, but still rising. One more block and the water would overtake North Point.
“Run!” Lizzy continued to scream.
An explosion at the corner of North Point and Hyde knocked Lizzy off her feet. Caroline had been several feet in front of her and didn’t see her fall. Caroline continued to run and soon had turned right onto North Point and out of Lizzy’s sight.
Lizzy reached up and squeezed with both hands. Her head ached beyond anything she’d ever experienced. Blood flowed down from a gash near her left temple. Her clothing had torn and was now filthy with grime and blood. Her hair had come undone and was a snarled clump. She tried to get on her knees. She looked down at her hands and they were shaking. An explosion behind her made her whip around to see how close it was. She could feel the heat from the flames. In front of her, just a few blocks away, the waves from the bay continued to pound water into the Wharf region. She looked down Hyde and could see the intersection of North Point. Still on all fours, she shook her head, took in as deep a breath as she could muster then forced herself up. She took one more look up Hyde and frown
ed at the infernal tunnel that was in front of her. She squinted at the sight of the Fairmont Hotel. She marveled at the sight of the building still standing though everything else around it, in front of it and all the way down Hyde was engulfed in flames.
“Caroline . . . ,” she whispered.
“Caroline!” Her throat hurt as she tried to yell out. She looked down at the intersection of North Point and Hyde. Caroline was nowhere in sight. Lizzy felt a knot in her stomach at what she couldn’t see and what she imagined Caroline could. She began to run again.
Turning the corner at North Point, Lizzy stopped and gasped. To her left, Beach and Jefferson Street were both flooded. Gas explosions were engulfing house after house from Hyde down to Jones Street.
Lizzy frantically looked for Caroline. She yelled her name, but between the massive explosions she could barely hear her own voice. She began to walk slowly at first, looking left then right. Each step closer to William and Caroline’s house became a walk of nerves. She prayed. She called out again, but still no Caroline.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she came across the first sight of their home. She could see the water rising in the street to the left of the home, but from what she could see, no water had risen to them.
From a block and a half away, Lizzy spotted Caroline. She was sitting in the middle of the street. Lizzy slowly walked up to her, knelt down and placed her hand on her shoulders. Caroline looked up at her. Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked back at Lizzy.
“See, we made it,” Lizzy said between breaths. “And I see you’ve found an interesting place to rest, dear woman.”
They chuckled as Caroline reached out for Lizzy’s hand and clutched it tight. “Just had to sit and let it all sink in that my house is still standing.”
“And your family is safe!” Lizzy yelled victoriously.
An explosion behind them brought them out of their moment of relief. Lizzy helped Caroline up. Between the explosions, Lizzy thought she heard children screaming. Her heart pounded at the thought. She looked towards their house through the smoke and could see movement on the balcony. The screams of children echoed in her head. Lizzy tilted to one side and focused. She thought she heard her name. Then she heard the word, Momma!
“Hear that?” Lizzy laughed. “That’s your beacon calling you home, Caroline. Your sweet, loving family is calling you home. Come on, girl; let’s go get them!”
Caroline turned towards Lizzy. She wiped her tears away and laughed. She could now see John and Andrew on the balcony waving their arms and calling out her name. Soon, William came out and pointed to them and waved. Caroline didn’t know if she wanted to cry or laugh. The relief she felt was overwhelming.
“We made it, didn’t we?” Caroline proclaimed. “They’re safe! We’re safe!”
“Did you have any doubt, girl?” Lizzy said through choked tears. “That’s my son up there and my two grandsons.”
Lizzy watched her son pull John and Andrew into him and the three of them waved from on top of the balcony of their home. “Never doubt a McKeever, Caroline. Never doubt a McKeever!”
Caroline and Lizzy stood and frantically waved back. Their smiles were radiant and their hearts could now finally slow down.
“Let’s go get them, what do you say?” Lizzy suggested with a grin. “Plus, we need to find out how we’re going to get all our belongings back from the Fairmont. I’m desperately in need of my make-up bag, if you hadn’t noticed.”
Caroline looked at Lizzy. Her smile widened as she inspected her mother-in-law. “Oh, come on, you look absolutely amazing, Mother. I wouldn’t change a thing about the way you look, not a thing.”
They clutched each other’s hands. Their smiles quickly turned to laughter as they began to turn towards their home.
The blast from the explosion threw them backwards onto the street. Pieces of splintered wood and shattered glass landed all around them. Lizzy shook her head to clear it and then turned towards Caroline, who was face down on the pavement. Before they could turn around, another blast pushed them back down. The heat was paralyzing. The roar of the flames was satanic. They shielded their eyes as they turned around.
Caroline screamed first as she fell to her knees, then they looked with abandoned disbelief at the site where her family home once stood.
III
STAY THE COURSE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
An Era of Surprises
1909
“Would you like to go with me to see the president?” Lizzy called out from the kitchen. “You know it could be the last time we get a free pass to visit the Oval Office now that he’s leaving.”
Lizzy frowned at the lack of response coming from the other room. It had been three years since the San Francisco earthquake and worse, the loss of William, John and Andrew. Caroline couldn’t bear to stay in San Francisco and had agreed to come east with Lizzy. The first few weeks after they returned to Washington, D.C. were horrific. Caroline rarely ate, slept all day, never bathed and at times considered taking her own life. It was only through the intervention from Nellie that eventually brought her around to begin taking care of herself.
When Nellie first brought her children over, Caroline shut herself in her room and cried all night. It was Mary Elizabeth’s room that Lizzy opened up for Caroline. Lizzy experienced a bittersweet moment moving one daughter out while giving emotional shelter to another. Lizzy’s prayer convinced her that she’d done the right thing and that Mary Elizabeth’s memory would always remain locked in her heart even though her sacred room was now occupied by someone new. Now, secured in her own room, Caroline built a wall around her that began to cause grave concerns to all.
It was little Teddy, at the time just seven, who broke down the wall that imprisoned Caroline. He never cared that his Aunt Caroline called him Andrew at times, nor did he mind that she’d squeeze him tight and then start crying. Even at his tender age, he knew how much she hurt.
* * * *
The end of ’06 came and went, so did ’07 and ’08. Caroline’s depression came and went just as the seasons changed. Lizzy had suggested they set up a makeshift gravesite for the three, but Caroline declined. Finally, in the early morning of March ’09, Caroline knocked on Lizzy’s bedroom door.
They stayed up all night, talking, crying, hugging and crying some more. Lizzy hadn’t realized how much she too needed to grieve. At first, she acted nonchalantly. In her mind, William had left the nest years before. Soon, she realized just how much of a loss it actually was. That night, after the endless tears, she realized just how much she missed not only her son, but the grandsons who she’d never see grow up, marry or have children of their own.
She had told Caroline on one long night that she thought she’d miss Andrew the most. When Caroline asked why, Lizzy said it was because he needed her the most. It was his stuttering problem that drew Lizzy towards him and even through his speech impediment, she could see how much the child loved her.
They talked about William and how he despised the women’s movement. They’d even find themselves laughing at his expense. Caroline knew that her husband, though very much against her views, would have come around eventually, just as she believed the country would.
* * * *
“So, hey there, you sure you don’t want to join me in the Oval? Could be our last chance. Taft isn’t Teddy, you know.” Lizzy waited for a response.
A knock on the front door startled them. Lizzy peeked through the window and laughed. “That girl would forget her key even if I tied it to her neck.”
Caroline tilted her head to see who it was that Lizzy was referring to. The door opened wide and in raced Teddy straight across the room into Caroline’s open arms. Nellie followed with a large bag of fruit and a sheepish look.
“Forgot my spare key again, Momma.”
“Uh-huh.” Lizzy glanced at Caroline with a knowing smile.
With the commotion of Nellie and Teddy’s visit,
Lizzy was unaware of another woman standing in the parlor.
“Momma, Caroline, I’d like to introduce you to a new but already dear friend of mine.”
The woman first looked at the ground and then over to Lizzy before turning her head towards Caroline.
“This is Mrs. Edith Galt. Edith, this is my mother, Mrs. Millie Elizabeth McKeever and my sister-in-law, Mrs. Caroline McKeever.”
“Whoa there, Nellie; you’re going to scare the poor woman with such formality.” Lizzy laughed as she walked towards Edith. “Please, Mrs. Galt, just call me Lizzy.”
Edith’s smile was warm and cordial. To Lizzy’s best judgment, she was about the same age as both Nellie and Caroline. She kept her hair cut short, a style becoming ever more popular. Lizzy noticed fine jewelry around her neck, her wrists and one very large, glistening diamond wedding ring.”
“Mrs. Galt, it is a pleasure to meet you and I’m sorry for being so forward, but I couldn’t help but notice your very beautiful wedding ring, it’s, well, it’s. . . .”
“My husband, or I should say, my late husband built himself a fine line of work in the jewelry field, Mrs. McKeever. I’m very proud of him.”
Lizzy felt a twinge of guilt for admiring something given to her new guest by a late husband.
“I’m so very sorry to hear of your loss,” Lizzy began. “Was it recent? I’m just saying because you’re not wearing mourning clothing. In fact, to be quite honest, I’m quite impressed with your attire; it’s very—what do they call it these days?”
“Yes, Momma, we get your meaning,” Nellie interrupted with a genuine smile.
Edith looked to the ground again; a small, bashful smile crossed her lips. She was wearing a lovely outfit, which included a long black skirt. She accessorized her outfit with a striking grey hat trimmed with goura feathers. Her blouse was black with red stripes and her sleeves were cut to three-quarter length down her arm which enhanced the diamond-laced bracelet she wore on her right wrist. On her left wrist she wore a gold and silver wristwatch with a small glass oval and two small, gold hands to indicate the time.