LIZZY

by Jim Wetton

  Lizzy and Caroline shared a quick, reassuring glance at each other.

  “H . . . how old were you when you lost your mother?”

  “Nine,” Lizzy replied, remembering as if it was yesterday. “I was a nine-year-old girl and my father had just been torn apart with the loss of his wife and the task of tending to one nine-year-old girl and four boys, one being a newborn. As much as I cried for what happened, I cried more for what my father was going through. My prayers were all about how I could help him and it was at that time that I decided to give up whatever I might think I needed. It was at that moment in my life that I grew up and became the ‘woman of the house.’ The neat thing about the whole ordeal was that my older brothers agreed wholeheartedly to help with what we all had in front of us. They all immediately gave me whatever I needed and supported me with everything I did. It was a special, yet despairing time in our lives, but it seemed to bring us all together, especially me and Johnny Russell.”

  Lizzy reached over and grabbed the newspaper. A horn honked outside which was followed by the now-accustomed-to sound of a car backfiring. Laughter and loud voices could be heard growing closer.

  “I do believe by the sounds outside that we are about to have some visitors,” Lizzy declared with a laugh.

  Caroline knelt down next to Lizzy and placed her hand on hers as she looked over at her. “In some way, I wish our day could continue as it was. There’s so much I wanted to tell you, to ask you; we really don’t get much time to just, you know, to just talk anymore.”

  Lizzy patted Caroline’s hand and smiled up at her.

  “I do want you to know how much I’m grateful for all that you’ve done for me since, well, you know, since I lost the boys.”

  “Oh, now don’t be. . . .”

  “No, Mother, I need to say this before the entire house explodes with people. I really never knew my parents, never really had a mother-daughter relationship. You have given me that and much, much more and for that I want to thank you and to let you know just how much I love you.”

  Lizzy’s eyes welled with tears. She tried to speak but couldn’t. She held Caroline’s hands firmly and nodded repeatedly, trying to portray her reciprocation of the very same feelings.

  “I’m very lucky to be able to call myself your daughter-in-law; I hope you know that.”

  “Not my daughter-in-law, Caroline. You’re my daughter.”

  *  *  *  *

  The mood quickly changed as the front door was flung open. The door knob on the back of the door banged against the wall causing the grandfather clock to chime and rattle.

  First in was Teddy, followed by Nancy Lee, both plopping down on the couch across from where Lizzy and Caroline had just finished talking.

  Soon the others walked in; Nellie and Henry engaged in some debate over family values and global responsibilities. Molly and Spencer walked in with Adeline bashfully looking to see where Teddy was sitting.

  “Now don’t any of you get too comfortable, you hear?” bellowed Henry. “Mrs. M., uh, I mean, Mother?”

  Henry still had a hard time calling Lizzy Mother. By now, it had become a family joke. He did his best, but rarely succeeded. To him, he still felt more comfortable calling her Mrs. M.

  “Mother, got a call from Edith, and she shared that there’s a woman she’d like you to meet. Says that you’ll get a real kick out of who her mother was and all.” Henry turned to peek out the front door. “In fact, she’s coming up the walk right now, her and Edith, I mean.”

  “Is he always this jittery or does your mother just make him nervous?” Molly turned towards Nellie and whispered.

  Nellie just smiled as she too waited to see who Edith was bringing in to meet them all.

  As Edith entered the doorway, she helped escort a woman who, in her late fifties, needed little of the assistance offered by Edith. As the two women stood at the doorway, Edith gazed around the room. When she spotted Lizzy, she began her introductions.

  “Everyone, especially you, Lizzy, it’s my honor to introduce you all to Ms. Alice Blackwell. Alice, this is the McKeever/Monroe family.”

  An awkward silence permeated the room. Teddy motioned towards Nancy Lee and Adeline to go outside with him, which both girls did as ordered. Henry looked over at Nellie with raised eyebrows and a shrug.

  Lizzy rose slowly and extended her hand which was graciously accepted by Alice, who looked nervous at this awkward introduction.

  “I’m sorry for being so rude, but we were told that we would know you, or I mean to say, your mother; but forgive me, the name Blackwell just doesn’t ring a bell.”

  Alice laughed softly, covering her mouth with her white gloves. She wore a simple hat, with half the brim shadowing her face. Her dress was also simple with its cotton fabric neatly tailored to fit her shape.

  “Ms. McKeever, my mother used to speak of you and your family quite often; in fact, we knew of your brother, Willie. He was just beginning to join my mother’s causes and then somehow disappeared, much to my mother’s dismay.”

  Lizzy was startled to hear her older brother’s name. Still trying to decipher the name Blackwell, she had to plead her ignorance to the guest. “I’m still sorry, Alice, but I’m just not registering the name Blackwell.”

  “Would the name Stone help out?” Alice said with hopeful eyes. “Blackwell is my married name, the name of my husband. My mother’s name was Lucy Stone.”

  Lizzy’s eyes widened as she placed her hand to her chest. She leaned back and reached for the arm of the couch to ease herself down. Once seated, she looked back up to the woman and studied her hard.

  “Lucy Stone! My God, oh my God, Alice, you’re Lucy Stone’s daughter; of course I know of her. My brother talked non-stop of what your mother and others were trying to do. Please join us!”

  *  *  *  *

  After a few hours of reliving the past and catching up on the whereabouts of both families, it was Alice who first acknowledged the loss of Willie. “I just know if my mother would have known of Willie’s death that she would have called on your family. She just never knew.”

  “Oh, it’s a long time ago, Alice. We all move on, but my Willie and your mother should be very pleased and proud to know how much of their efforts are still quite alive today. Although Willie was passionate about the freeing of the slaves, he was against any form of oppression. That’s why your mother and Willie got along so well and why he was adamant in joining her that night.”

  Ever in thought, Lizzy shook her head slowly as she smiled wide. “I can still hear him arguing with my other brother before he left. You see, my other brother, Daniel, wanted to join Willie and help him with his cause. Daniel worshipped Willie. So, Daniel smuggled himself onboard our family’s wagon and off he went, with me as his only confidante.”

  Lizzy paused in reflection. “Oh, now listen to me carrying on so! Please, I’ve heard of your work and we do have so many mutual acquaintances: Anna Dickinson, Alva Belmont and I’m sure so many others. Are you here in D.C. to speak or are the other reasons that you’ve wandered into this swamp of a town unrelated to the cause?” Lizzy caught herself and felt the need to explain. “Please forgive me for my language; it is that ugly time of year when I really do feel like we live in a swamp.”

  The welcoming introductions were soon interrupted by loud voices from the street. At first, Lizzy dismissed it, thinking it was Teddy, Nancy Lee and Adeline, but as the voices grew louder, it was quite obvious that these were coming from very angry men.

  Henry and Spencer were the first out the door. They called for the three adolescents to go back inside before they located where the vulgar outbursts were coming from and what could possibly cause such a ruckus. Soon it became crystal clear.

  “You sluts are only meant for cooking, so get off your high horses and get out of our town or we’ll get you out!”

  The men were in two parked cars three doors down and across the street from Lizzy’s house. Their windows were down
and the men were leaning half out of the opening as they spat out their vulgarities.

  Once the three kids were inside, Henry and Spencer began to walk towards the cars.

  “Don’t think you can get your menfolk to do your dirty work for you! They’re sissy cowards hiding under your slutty skirts! Why don’t you break your kiddies away from your nipples and come on out yourself? Yeah, come on out and fight like men! That’s what you want, isn’t it, to be like men, well!?”

  Henry yelled out to the men in the cars, but as he did, another car drove by and backfired loudly, causing his voice to go unheard. As he began to repeat himself, another backfire came from the parked car and then another.

  Now frustrated beyond belief, Henry took off his jacket and threw it behind him on the ground as he crossed the street. A man in the passenger seat flipped him off as the driver revved up the engine, which backfired twice more then took off. Henry looked back to see Spencer right behind him as the second car revved up his engine to a high-pitched whine and once he let off the pedal, several backfires erupted all at once. The repetition of backfires startled Henry enough to stop him in the middle of the street.

  He looked into the second car’s windshield and saw a driver, a passenger and two men in the back seat. They all wore derby hats pulled down tight over the faces and each one was yelling something that Henry couldn’t comprehend. As he got within a few yards of the car, it revved up again and took off down the street, this time, much to Henry’s surprise, with no backfire.

  Henry tried to memorize the license plate, but some of the letters looked like an “L” or they could have been an “I,” so in a panic of frustration, he gave up. He stood staring as the cars vanished up the street and out of sight.

  “I don’t know, Spence, it just makes no sense. No sense at all. And in this neighborhood of all places. Who would do something like that in this neighborhood and who would know that Mrs. M. lives here? Just makes no sense, does it?”

  While Henry’s questions were rhetorical, he wondered why Spencer had remained so quiet. Still looking up the now-empty street, Henry remarked back to Spencer, “Kind of quiet back there, Spence. Nothing like saving others on the Titanic, but it does raise the blood pressure now, doesn’t it? Spence? Hey Spencer, cat got your tongue?”

  Henry turned around. Vomit rose in his throat at the sight before him. He froze in the middle of the street, unable to move or think.

  “Sp . . . Spen . . . Spencer!”

  “Henry?!” Nellie’s voice cried out from the front porch. “Are they gone?”

  Henry swallowed hard and wiped his face with his hands.

  “Henry, OK to come out?”

  “No!” Henry yelled. “Stay put! All of you stay put!”

  “What’s the matter? They’re gone, right?”

  Henry didn’t answer. He instinctively lunged forward and got on his knees. He put his hand under Spencer’s head to lift it. His hands became wet with the man’s blood.

  Spencer’s eyes were wide with panic while blood flowed out of his mouth as he tried to speak. The only sounds he could make were raw and desperate gurgles. He coughed up more blood, splattering it across the front of Henry’s shirt. He moaned, closed his eyes then opened them. He lifted his hand and yanked on Henry’s shirt sleeve, his voice desperately making an effort to speak. Henry bent down as close as he could to Spencer’s mouth. Only a whisper could be heard. A faint and dying whisper.

  “W-Wa . . . Watch . . . Ov-ver . . . my . . . ba . . . by . . . girl.”

  Henry jerked his head up towards Nellie’s oncoming voice.

  “You know, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to those darn backfires; someone’s going to definitely have to do something about it before it makes us all go bonkers. So, what was it that those men were all fired up about, Henry?”

  She looked down and froze. In that instant, she quickly turned to look behind her at the sound of Adeline’s scream.

  “Daddy!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Heavy Cost of Recruitment

  1915

  DEFEAT FOR ALL WOMEN

  CONGRESS VOTES AGAINST WOMEN’S RIGHT TO VOTE:

  204-174

  WOMEN STILL CALL IT A VICTORY, THOUGH. FIRST TIME IN 46 YEARS THAT CONGRESS BROUGHT IT TO A VOTE. MANY ARE SAYING THAT THE NEXT TIME WILL BE THE WINNING VOTE.

  EVER SINCE ABIGAIL ADAMS INTRODUCED THE CONCEPT TO HER HUSBAND, JOHN ADAMS, THAT WOMEN SHOULD HAVE A VOICE, WOMEN SUCH AS LUCY STONE, SUSAN B. ANTHONY, AMELIA BLOOMER, MARGARET FULLER, ELIZABETH STANTON, SOJOURNER TRUTH AND HARRIET TUBMAN HAVE CARRIED THE TORCH AND LIVED AND DIED WITH THAT TORCH. TO MANY, THESE WOMEN WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED FOR HANDING OFF THAT TORCH TO THE MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF WOMEN TODAY, WOMEN WHO CAN TASTE THAT THE TIME IS COMING WHEN THEY WILL BE ABLE TO WALK UP TO A BALLOT BOX AND DROP IN THEIR OWN VOTE. THEIR VOTE, THEIR OWN SPLINTER OF A VOICE, A VOICE THAT GOD ALONE GAVE THEM AND THEY HAVE WORKED SO HARD TO CLAIM.

  RUMORS ABOUND OF A NATIONAL MARCH ON A SELECTED CITY SOMETIME WITHIN THE YEAR. WHERE AND WHEN WILL BE ANYONE’S GUESS. THE VOICE OF CONGRESS HAS BEEN HEARD AND IT NOW IS UP TO THE PEOPLE TO BE HEARD. DO WOMEN DESERVE THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD OR WHEN WE SAY “THE PEOPLE” DO WE MEAN MEN ONLY?

  WHERE WILL THIS MARCH BE HELD? WHO WILL ATTEND? DO THE WOMEN HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES AND LEADERSHIP TO PREVAIL? WILL WE GO ANOTHER 46 YEARS UNTIL CONGRESS VOTES ON IT AGAIN?

  CAN THE FOUNDING MOTHERS KEEP UP THEIR STRENGTH OR WILL TIME ROLL OVER THEM? WHO ARE THE NEXT GENERATION THAT MUST TAKE OVER AS THE LUCY STONES AND SUSAN ANTHONYS OF THEIR CAUSE?

  IT IS THIS REPORTER’S OPINION THAT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. WAR IS ON THE HORIZON AND WE NEED TO GET BEHIND OUR PRESIDENT AND PROTECT WHAT IS OURS. LET THE WOMEN RETURN TO THEIR GOD-GIVEN PLACE: BIRTHING BABIES AND CARING FOR US MEN. THE BOOK OF GENESIS HAD IT RIGHT WHEN THE GOOD LORD SAID THAT A WOMAN’S PLACE IS TO OBEY HER MASTER, THE MAN. THAT’S JUST THIS REPORTER’S OPINION, BUT SINCE YOU PAID GOOD MONEY TO BUY THIS PAPER, THEN I GUESS MY OPINION MATTERS.

  CONGRESS . . . MISTER PRESIDENT . . . DON’T, AND I MEAN DON’T, GIVE IN TO THESE WOMEN’S RANTS. THEY ARE TO BE SUBMISSIVE AND ORDERLY TO THE LAWS OF THE LAND. LET THE MEN OF SOCIETY DO THE DECISION MAKING.

  IT’S ALL PART OF GOD’S LAWS AND WE AS A CIVILIZED SOCIETY MUST ADHERE TO THOSE LAWS.

  MEN . . . DON’T GIVE IN!!

  MEN . . . DON’T LET THEM TELL YOU THAT YOU WON’T GET CORNBREAD AND FRITTERS FOR A WEEK!

  MEN . . . DON’T LET THEM TELL YOU THE BED WILL BE EMPTY

  MEN . . . WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER AND PRESSURE CONGRESS TO CONTINUE TO VOTE DOWN THIS ABSURD IDEA THAT WOMEN CAN BE AS INTELLIGENT AS MEN.

  NONSENSE!!!!!

  MEN . . . ADAM WAS FIRST AND OUT OF ADAM CAME EVE

  ENOUGH SAID!!

  Lizzy ‘s hands ached by the time she’d uncrumpled the morning’s newspaper. She flung her hands as hard as she could and let the paper fly.

  “Dammit all to hell! Lord forgive me if you will, but I have to say it like it is!”

  “Are you OK over there, Mrs. McKeever?” Adeline Foster asked in a tired tone as she rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up from her place on the couch.

  Sheepishly, Lizzy looked over at Adeline. In her fit of rage, she’d forgotten that what once was her living room was now where Adeline laid her head at night. She was filled with a sense of guilt for waking the young lady. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Adeline. Sometimes I just forget that you’re down here; please forgive me for waking you.”

  “Oh, that’s all right,” Adeline yawned. “Whatever it was surely got you in a tizzy, that’s for sure. Never seen you so mad. Those ignorant menfolk causing us problems again?” Adeline arched her back and raised her arms in the air and gave out a refreshing sigh once she felt her back crack.

  Lizzy tilted her head and studied the young woman. “You are an amazing young woman, dear Adeline, an amazing young woman.”

  Lizzy had become a steward for Adeline ever since her father had been shot and killed. She�
�d offered Adeline any one of her rooms, but Adeline insisted on the couch and in the living room. To her, it was the one room that was closest to the front door in case she ever had to leave unexpectedly. Adeline’s reasoning saddened Lizzy, but she surely understood after what she’d witnessed.

  It had been nearly a year since that late afternoon and Adeline was still reeling from the effects it had caused. Loud noises startled her. Arguments disturbed her. Most of all, she jumped at every backfire, never knowing if it was just a backfire or the sound from a smoking muzzle, just like the one she heard when she lost her father.

  The investigation to find Spencer’s murderers continued to lead nowhere. After months of interviewing witnesses, which unfortunately included Adeline herself, the case was filed as a cold case. It was the interview from Henry that was the most damaging for the District Attorney. He’d sworn that he’d seen the men flashing handguns around in their car, but when it came to actually swearing that he saw them aim and shoot at Spencer Foster, that he could not do. He knew, though. He knew it when he first felt the warm blood oozing from Spencer’s head. His head that was half shot off. He knew it from the laughing coming from the men in the back seat. He knew by the look on Adeline’s eyes once she came around the back side of that green Packard Cruiser. He knew that Spencer Foster was killed by a bunch of thugs determined to make sure women would never get the right to vote. Accident or deliberate, no one would ever know.

  Henry knew.

  Sadly, Spencer Foster was dead and his little daughter of fourteen became an orphan.

  “Yes Adeline, I’m just fine.” Lizzy turned to console her. “I was just reading some horrible words coming from the paper, that’s all. You sleep all right, dear?”

  “Oh yes, it was just fine, thank you.”

  “You know you can always share a room with Caroline. It’s a big room, plenty big enough to put another bed in. I’m sure Mary Elizabeth would be proud to have you use it. Plus, it’s a might closer to the bathroom than all the way out from here in the living room, if you know what I mean.”

  “Think Caroline would mind?” Adeline asked modestly.