His average build blended in with the other men, but Luis’s glossy, dark hair, chiseled, dimpled chin, and bright blue eyes made him stick out from the crowd as usual. She waved, hoping to catch his attention, but resorted to shouting when that didn’t work.
“Luis! Luis!”
Either he’s gone deaf, or he’s ignoring me.
Irritated, Lily walked on ahead, shouldering into the fray when she reached the men. He was talking to some man in a uniform.
Instantly, Lily halted. A military uniform meant one thing. The brass are fishing for new recruits.
Lily choked down her fear and moved forward until she stood elbow to elbow with Luis.
Her stepbrother turned and eyed her with a look that said, “Keep quiet.” He continued, with a set jaw, finishing up the details with the armed forces captain, whose chest bulged, laden with medals pinned on his fatigue-green, wool uniform.
The man handed Luis a packet of information. “Meet in this spot in one week, and you’ll board a ship with other enlistees that’ll take you to Valcartier, Quebec, where military training will commence.” The enlistment officer saluted and held his hand out to Luis. “Canada and the British Empire thank you for your service.”
Luis awkwardly saluted back and shook his hand, then turned and grabbed Lily’s arm.
“Hold your lips tight before you spew forth your opinions. Your temper’s rising, I can tell,” he whispered fiercely.
Lily let Luis lead her away.
She faced him squarely when they were far enough out of ear shot, a hot fire in her blue eyes. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Exactly what it looks like.” His jaw tipped up, and he visibly stiffened. “It’s done now, anyway, and there’s no undoing it.”
“But you’re needed here. We’ve iron ore to get to the port.” Lily sucked in a breath and tried to calm herself. “What prompted this . . .” Lily motioned to the packet tucked under Luis’s arm, “enlistment? You’ve never mentioned doing this.”
Lily listened to her tone get whinier with each word. She just could not fathom how sensitive, artistic Luis would take such a step. The idea shocked her, but she couldn’t imagine what this would do to his mother. Poor Vanessa.
“Things change, Lil. You and Michael can handle things at the rail office. You never needed me anyway.”
His honest eyes turned to Lily. His tender, brotherly look tempered her angst some.
“But Luis . . .” Lily didn’t know what else to say. She could see the determined set of his eyes. No argument would sway him. Her head dropped, and so did her gaze.
What is that? A white feather?
Lily reached down and picked it off the ground. She held it up between them.
“Don’t tell me this instigated your decision.” Lily’s eyes narrowed. She stuck her chin out and pinched her lips together in frustration, her anger reborn.
Luis visibly wilted under her interrogative stance. He flicked his eyes to hers and looked down.
His downward glance was all she needed for affirmation. She silently cursed and said, “You’ve let some girl tell you who you are. Well, let me tell you, Luis Peter Wilson, you are not a coward, and you don’t need to prove anything to anybody.”
Lily bent the feather in half, threw it to the ground, and trod upon it several times with the heel of her boot.
Out the corner of her eye, she spotted a gaggle of women leaving The Eatery. She wasted no time in marching towards them, fully intending to give them a piece of her mind. She recognized none of them.
They must be the ones responsible for this travesty.
Luis caught up to her and pulled her back by her shoulder. “Whoa there, Betsy.”
“Leave me be!” Lily brushed him off and continued on her mission.
Luis rolled his eyes, held up his hands, and stayed put.
He hollered after her, “Fair enough. I don’t want to get in the middle of a tangle of antagonistic women.”
Luis could call her antagonistic if he chose, but Lily was determined to mete out a measure of justice to those instigators for shaming men into war.
She reached the woman in the navy jacket, who straightened her fur hat and peered at her with beady eyes. “Who do you think you are? What right do you have to peg men you do not know cowards?”
The woman stood straight as a poker against Lily’s assault. “We, ma’am, do our duty, encouraging men to fight for their country.”
“Ha! Is pinning a cowardly feather on a poor man’s jacket what ya call encouragement?” Lily wound up to pop the woman in the jaw. Her face flamed red, and her fist held ready.
Natalie Herman raised her voice at the group of women gathered on the steps of Webaashi Bay’s local café. “Now, now, ladies. I think it’s time you best move on.”
Lily tried to cool down and gain her friend’s calm exterior.
Natalie had managed The Eatery for some years. Lily had watched how hard she’d saved to buy it outright from the aging Bergeron sisters who previously owned the café.
She breathed in and thought back to the days when Natalie had worked for her family as a cook. They’d been the best fed folks in Webaashi Bay.
Strange how we became friends, Lily mused.
There’d always been a connection between her and Natalie. And as they had aged, the years had put a distance between their differences. Their friendship had blossomed when Natalie had started working at The Eatery, Lily had finished up with school, and they had both had more time on their hands.
Natalie smiled congenially at the flock of women, who held hostility and shock on their faces. “Good day, ladies. Please excuse us. I think Miss Parsons was just coming in to get some lunch.”
Miss Herman steered Lily forcefully by the elbow up the steps and into the café, closing the door quickly behind them.
Lily pushed a few stray hairs back into her blonde bun, her blue eyes alight with a hot flame. “What did you do that for?”
“To save your skin, that’s why. Those women are determined and bent on the destruction of the poor men of the town. You don’t need to be another casualty added to their list.” Natalie smoothed a motherly hand down Lily’s arm. “Come, sit down, and I’ll fetch some tea and sponge cake for us. The noon lunch crowd has dissipated.”
Natalie knew Lily’s weakness. Lily had loved tea parties since childhood, and she couldn’t say no to a tea party with cake.
She sighed. “No, better not.”
She looked out the curtained front window of the café to see if the ladies had indeed moved on. They had. The group walked back towards the dock. A few turned, giving the café a backward glance. Lily’s eyes scanned for Luis, but he’d gone too.
“I need to get home. I’ve something to tell Vanessa.” Lily acknowledged Natalie’s intervention. “Thanks for simmering me down.”
Natalie smiled, but with worry in her expression. “Very well . . . give my regards to Vanessa.”
Lily nodded, gave a slight upturn of her lips, opened the café door with a jingle of the bell, and headed for home. She had some news to spill.
Rose Greenwood turned and looked at the café the outspoken, blonde woman had entered. She steadied herself and took courage from the other ladies in arms. At heart, Rose was no outspoken leader like Mrs. Taylor, but she had determination. She did her duty, calling men to fight. Rose thought of the man she loved. She wanted to make sure he had plenty of help so he would come home to her.
She had heard about the white feather campaign one day from a friend and found an article in the paper about it. She had gained more information and got up the courage to ask matron for several weeks off from the hospital to take part in the campaign and travel around the ports to encourage Canadian men to rally to the cause. Matron had been grim and stern, but she’d conceded . . .
Weeks prior
Victoria General Hospital, Halifax
“Heavens! Speak up, Greenwood. No one likes a mumbler.”
Marg
aret Hastings, the duty matron at Victoria General, looked tired. She stood next to Rose while she acquired bedding in the laundry room. “Come, it is late, and I wish for nothing better than a warm sweater, a hot cup of tea, a good book, and a cozy fire by which to read it.”
Rose heard the matron’s words come out longingly but with distinct impatience. She gulped and laid the stack of fresh sheets back down on her pile. She tried not to be waylaid by the matron’s tone.
“I . . . would like to request some . . . time off, Matron.”
“Time off? You just started, my girl.” Matron narrowed her eyes and pinched her lips into a stern expression.
“I know, but it’s for the war effort.” Rose held her hands cupped around her middle. Her fingers toyed with a stray thread on her white apron.
Matron sighed. “And what exactly does this war effort entail?” She paused and eyed Rose with what looked like a tinge of compassion. “I suppose there are plenty of staff with the new graduates, and I could . . . rework the schedule a bit to account for your absence.”
Rose turned full, hopeful eyes towards her overseer. “Have you heard of the white feather campaign, mum?”
“Can’t say as I have.” Matron checked the watch hanging at the junction of her white apron and uniform.
“Well, I’ve read about it in the papers and all. Admiral Charles Fitzgerald from England and a lady author, Mrs. Humphrey, have charged young ladies with the handing out of white feathers to encourage men to sign up to do their duty.” Rose worked to inform the matron without displaying a warble in her tone.
“That is there, not here in Canada,” Margaret pointed out.
Rose was not deterred. “A local chapter has started here. I read about it, and I went to a meeting. A local suffragette leads the effort—Amelia Stowe.” She gained more strength in her voice the more she spoke. “I think it important for women to do their part in the war effort.”
“Yes, well, working here at Victoria General will be ‘your part,’ but . . . I suppose I can hold your spot for you. Just a few weeks is all, you hear?” Matron shook her finger in Rose’s face.
“Thank you, Matron, this means so much to me.” Rose lit up with a smile. Her green eyes sparkled.
“Yes, well. Just mind what I said. When does this campaign begin?”
“Next week.”
“Very well. Go about your duties and finish up your shift; it is almost done.”
Rose lessened the intensity of her smile, nodded demurely to the matron, and headed out with the fresh sheets to finish up changing a few of the patient’s linens. She was excited to be doing something so worthwhile.
Rose had met the other ladies at the docks the next week in Halifax and sailed on down the water systems, stopping and transferring vessels as need be. Webaashi Bay had been the most outlying port and their most westward stop. After this, it would be homeward bound. It gladdened her heart. She longed to be home and, to be truthful, to be done with this job. Her expectations had differed from the end results. She’d taken the light out of one too many sets of eyes.
She now dreaded the look on the men’s faces when she pinned a feather to their coat. A vision of the man by the dock this morning, who had been drawing with artist’s coal, came to her. His blue eyes had flashed kind, sad, and so . . . hurt. Her conscience bit at the fact that she used shame as a motivation, but she set it aside. The thought of Henry motivated her, and she would not let him die alone on the battlefield.
Dominique Cota, whom everyone knew as Oshki, got up from his desk at Follett Shipping. He needed to stretch his legs. His tall appendages had a hard time being cramped under a desk all the morning long. He stood up and moved his body in various ways to ease out the kinks. After he poured a glass of water at a side table, he took a stroll to the window.
The afternoon blazed beautiful. Oshki gazed out at Lake Superior. The blue waters rolled in the distance, but the protected bay sheltered its ships and boats securely. He loved the lake, this town, his home, and his family. He couldn’t ever imagine leaving. He gulped the rest of the water down and turned to go back to his desk, but something caught his eye.
Sure enough. There sat Luis down by the docks. Though Luis Wilson was ten years his senior, the two men had formed a friendship. Their mothers were the best of friends, so they had seen each other more than even a small town would account for. Oshki had been the tag along on Luis and Lily’s excursions at first, but when Luis had come back from university and his job in the big city, they had grown closer. They had forged a friendship on their own, separate from their families’ influence.
Oshki appreciated Luis’s kind, inquisitive, and sensitive ways. He saw himself structured much the same, minus the artistic side. Oshki’s skills rested more in the mathematical arena. Their mutual love of nature solidified their friendship. How many times had they trekked off into the interior together?
More times than I can count, Oshki reckoned.
He studied his friend through the glass. Luis had some art supplies with him. Not unusual, but it hit Oshki as strange that they simply sat by Luis’s side as he stared out over the lake.
Something’s wrong. Oshki could tell.
After setting the glass down back where it belonged, Oshki left the office and decided his legs needed a bit more of a stretch. He made his way outside to where Luis sat meditatively looking out over Lake Superior. Oshki’s shoes crunched on the crushed rock on the pier. Luis sat on a wooden bench with cracking, green paint, his supplies next to him.
“Fine day for sketching.” Oshki rolled his eyes over the big ships before them and the business of men at work and waited for a reply from his friend. However, Luis’s only response was an imperceptible nod. He sat down uninvited. “Seems to be bustling today down here with passengers and such. Seen anyone interesting?”
Luis finally looked up at him. “You could say so.”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you see the flock of women disembark from the schooner?”
“Can’t say as I did. I’ve had my head focused on numbers.” Oshki turned to Luis with a glint in his eye. “Find anyone suitable yet?”
The question was a joke between them. Oshki had wondered through the years why Luis never held much interest in pursuing any young women. Luis’s response had always been that he hadn’t found anyone suitable.
“Someone found me, it seems.”
“Good lookin’, was she? You seem enamored with something.”
“Pretty enough, and she set out to catch me.”
Oshki’s eyes opened a little more in surprise. He waited for Luis to fill in the gaps. Finally, he resorted to saying, “Well, tell me, man.”
“She bewitched me with her green eyes,” Luis confessed and looked at Oshki. “How have you been so oblivious to all the activity of the day? Didn’t you see the group of men gathered at the start of the docks? Some of your employees were there too.” He pointed towards town and the main road.
Oshki spied a few army men clustered together.
“They’re cleaning up now. Probably getting ready to board ship and head for some other port to ply for more young men to join the cause.” An uncharacteristic, bitter tone clung to Luis’s words.
Oshki shrugged. “Like I said, had my head in the ledgers.” His brow creased in a worried crinkle. “Some of our workers, you say?”
“Women with . . . white feathers preceded the army recruiters. A young woman pinned one on my coat.” Luis’s eyes fell down to his jacket.
Oshki narrowed his eyes and noticed the tiny plume of a white feather clinging to his empty buttonhole. “Recruiters? White feathers?” He tried to understand. “But what has this to do with you?”
Then he got it. Luis must have enlisted.
“No one would think you a coward, Luis,” he tried to remind his friend. “You’re the bravest man I know.”
“I don’t feel very brave at the moment. Foolish is the word coming to mind.”
“Well
, we’ve all been a fool where a woman is concerned.” Oshki tried to lighten the mood and jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. He hated the idea of his friend going off to war. Since Luis had come back, they’d become like brothers.
What if I sign up too?
Oshki surprised himself with the sudden inspiration. Did he want to, just so he wouldn’t be left behind? He looked at Luis again, who met his gaze with a resigned expression. Oshki slapped him on the shoulder and walked towards the army officers.
Luis won’t go alone. We will fight together as brothers ought to, but . . . Mauve is going to kill me.
The thought flashed through him and almost made him stop. But with every step towards the recruiters, he became more convinced—he was making the right decision.
Luis needs me. My country needs me. Mauve will be fine. My father will manage.
These and more thoughts of assurance reverberated in his brain to encourage him in his choice. He didn’t even look back at Luis but marched straight ahead to do his duty.
Alone we can do so little;
Together we can do so much.
Hellen Keller
Chapter Two
April 9th, 1917
Daybreak Vimy Ridge
We pour like sweat out of every crack and crevice of the hillside. The men form a steady stream of assault over the top. The sleet and snow add another element of driving force. The wet suction of the chalky mud deters every step.
I hold back and watch and wait. I have played one part, but I have yet another performance to live through. My reconnaissance has given Major Lefebvre a better picture of where our division can hit the enemy the hardest, and my espionage an inner ear to German activities and plans . . .
Hours earlier
Silver Moon Page 2