Chapter Nine The stage pulled to a stop and as the driver climbed down, Louise was already out the door.
“I guess you’re in a rush, Miss.” He couldn’t help but wonder about the petite, quiet girl with the bruised and battered face.
“Sure am. I’m meeting my Aunt and Uncle.”
“Are they here?” He didn’t see anyone who looked to be greeting the stage.
“No, not exactly. I’m to meet them at their toy shop. I’d best be going, don’t want ‘em worrying.” She ran off without really knowing where she was going just to get away from the curious stares.
Louise knew she looked bad. When she wasn’t willing to give Wicks what he wanted, he took his fists to her face and body to change her mind. A couple of days on the stage had given the swelling a chance to go down a little, but the bruises changed color everyday and only got darker. Wearing her hair loose, she tried to cover the bruises as much as she could. She didn’t know how she would explain them to Flynn and the Malones, but she would never tell them the truth.
Pulling out the address Flynn had given her more than a year ago, she started looking for the toy shop. St. Louis was the biggest city she had ever been in and all the commotion and people made her nervous. She thought they could all tell what Wicks had done to her and she felt dirty and scared. Eventually she found herself lost and near tears.
Sitting on the closest bench, Louise hung her head and tried to steady herself. She knew getting worked up was not going to make her search any easier. Of course, it didn’t help that after the first few letters, she left the orphanage and never wrote Flynn to tell him. She couldn’t imagine what he thought of her. She wondered how long he kept writing to the orphanage and what became of the letters. Shaking her head it amazed her to think how much her life had changed in only a little over a year. How she longed for the days before their last Christmas together. She and Stacy and Flynn and Joey had spent hours in the kitchen making pies for the holiday meal, wearing more of the ingredients than made it in the pies. It had all seemed so simple then. Now here she was battered and bruised, a different girl completely, about to show up on the doorstep of her dearest friend after disappearing for over a year.
Louise felt rather than saw someone sit on the bench beside her. Afraid to look up she only turned her head and peered through her veil of hair after a large female hand stuck a handkerchief in front of her. The hand was attached to a very large, middle-aged woman. Louise wouldn’t call her fat, she was more like impressive. She was taller than she was wide, and it just seemed that everything about her was large - from her giant hat to the bow on her dress to the parasol she carried. Louise was stunned by the kindness and after cleaning up her face as gently as she could, she offered the woman back her fine handkerchief.
“Oh no, you keep it. It looks like you may need it more than I do. Are you lost, sweetie?”
Reluctant to trust the strange woman, Louise just nodded her head. She stuck out the paper with Flynn’s address and prayed the woman would know where it was.
“You need to get here, to this address? That’s not so hard to find. Why don’t I walk you there, sweetie? You look a little unsteady.”
“That’s okay, really. If you could just point me in the right direction I’ll be alright.” Louise never looked the woman in the eye.
Never one to take no for an answer, Pauline Deveraux pulled Louise to her feet and practically dragged her down the street towards Flynn’s address. She continued to chatter the whole way, undeterred by the young woman’s silence. She assumed it was fatigue or just relief to have found an escort in the big city.
Still watching the ground to avoid eye contact, Louise didn’t see Pauline stop and smacked right into her, bumping her already sore face into the woman’s broad back. With a shake of her head, Louise returned to the present and stepped from behind the colorful ensemble to find a horrific site.
‘What is this! I don’t understand! Are you sure you have the address right?”
“Yes, see.” Pauline pointed at the worn piece of paper. “Fleming’s Handmade Toys, Main Street. This is it or was it. Are you sure you were supposed to meet who ever you’re meeting here?”
This time, Louise’s tears did fall. The sight caught her so off guard there was no stopping herself this time. She stepped closer to the burnt out storefront and peered through the charred doorway for any clue as to Flynn’s whereabouts. How could this have happened? Where had the family gone? Or worse! The mere notion that they had perished in the fire made her crying intensify.
“Oh Lord! Now stop your crying. We’ll find your people.” Pauline took the dainty white square from Louise’s hand and went to dry her tears. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph! What happened to you child? Who did this to you?” Pauline had never seen a child with so many bruises before in her entire life. She wouldn’t let Louise turn away. “Let’s dry those tears and get you over to the Doc. You need tendin’ to.”
The mere thought of letting a doctor see her bruised body or having to tell him what Wicks had done to her, and made her do, terrified her. She tried to pull away, but Pauline was stronger.
“Child, I’m not doing this to hurt you, but you look awful. When was the last time you looked in a mirror? Now who ever did this to you may have broken your bones or something. Doc Schmidt is a nice man. He’ll take real good care of you.”
Louise decided it was best to allow Pauline to take her to the doctor. Maybe he would know what had become of the Malones. “I can’t afford to pay.” She had precious little money left from the bills Charlotte had pushed at her and a place to stay was her foremost concern.
“Don’t you worry about that. The Doc, well, he’s kind of my fella, so he’ll help us out. I’ll tempt him with my roast and apple pie.”
Doctor Arnold Schmidt was a short, wiry man with almost no hair and Louise couldn’t help but grin at the image of him with this wild woman, whose name she still didn’t know. He led her into his private examining room and suddenly she felt too weary to resist. Dropping her defenses, she let him do his examination. When he looked at her with kind eyes after seeing the bruises shaped like handprints on her thighs, she just nodded her head. When he was done, he left her to rest and she drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.
From the front room, Pauline and Arnie peered behind the curtains at the sleeping girl and then let them fall closed.
“Pauline, what are you doing with this girl? She’s not the same as the stray animals you bring home to help.”
Pauline hated the idea of Arnie mad at her and rushed out an explanation of her day. “Arnie, I was just helping her out. She was lost and then when we got to the store and she saw it was burned out, she began to cry. Once I saw her face, what could I do? I brought her to you.”
“Which store, Fleming’s? Does she know Fleming?”
“I don’t know, sugarbear. I don’t even know her name. I just know she had a scrap of paper with that address and when she saw the store, she cried. Will she be okay? She looks just like a broken bird.”
“I don’t know, my pet. She is a broken bird right now, but time will heal her wounds. I just don’t know if it will heal her mind. Let’s let her sleep and then we’ll all talk. You mustn’t say anything to anyone about taking her to Fleming’s, you understand?”
Pauline understood the seriousness of the situation. “I won’t. Maybe she wasn’t looking for him.”
With a shake of the head, Arnie Schmidt parted the heavy curtains to go check on the sleeping patient. Calling back over his shoulders, he stated, “Let’s hope not.”
Louise awoke with a start and it took her several minutes to orient herself. Focusing on the charts and pictures on the walls, she realized she was still at Dr. Schmidt’s Surgery. Someone had covered her with a blanket and drawn the curtains. Sitting up slowly, all of her senses more awake, she realized what woke her. From beyond the curtain, someone was singing in a beautiful, melodic voice and she recognized the tune. It was a lullaby her mother used to sing them to sleep with. Standing up, she felt herself drawn to it.
Parting the curtain, Louise expected to see another patient, but was shocked to see the same loud, colorful woman who had brought her to the doctor’s. She held a puppy cradled in her arms like a baby and was singing to it.
Pauline looked up when she heard the curtains rustle. A huge grin split her face nearly in two and made her eyes almost disappear into her face. “Hello there, sugar. Did my singing wake you? I tend to forget where I am sometimes. The pup was fussin’ so I wanted to quiet him.”
“No, you didn’t wake me.” Louise kept her eyes on the squirming black dog. “I recognize the song though. My mama used to sing it to me. You sing it very pretty.”
“Is your mama here with you, sugar?” Pauline knew the answer would be no. She could spot a lonely traveler a mile away and Arnie had filled her in on the girls situation with very few words.
“No, ma’am. She passed about four years ago.”
“I’m sorry. Is it just you?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Louise thought it better to lie for the safety of her siblings.
“Now there’s no need for that ma’am stuff. You just call me Pauline. And the doc, you just call him Arnie. He said you’re gonna be fine. All you need is a little rest.” Standing to her full height, Pauline reached Louise in two quick steps. “Now, you know my name, what is yours?
She thought carefully and considered lying, but she felt as if she could trust this strange woman. “Louise.”
“Well Louise, nice to meet you.” Pauline tried to reach out and shake Louise’s hand, but the puppy had other ideas. He leaned towards the young girl and practically jumped into her arms. “Seems like the little fellow likes you. You must be hungry. Care for some supper?”
The mere mention of food made Louise’s mouth water. Her last meal was at the stage stop in Columbia. “I’m starvin’, but…”
“You can’t pay, I know. We’ll figure that out. Arnie’s gone to check on Mrs. Robinson. Her baby’s due any day now. He’ll be late, but there’s plenty of roast and pie for three. What do you say?”
Laughing as the pup licked at her face and tickled her skin, she nodded her head. “Sounds delicious.”
“The we’re off, my place is not too far. You can stay with me while you look for your friend.”
“I don’t know how I can repay you?” Louise was amazed that this woman would go out of her way to be so kind to a stranger.
“Don’t you worry sugar, we’ll figure something out.”
Pauline’s house was on the edge of town. The neat, white house had a vegetable patch in the yard, a swing on the porch and a white picket fence. It was the closest Louise had seen to a real home in quite some time. As they opened the front door a menagerie of animals greeted them. Pauline knew all of them by name. Squeezing into the door so as not to let any escape, Louise was astounded by the collection of mostly dogs. Only when she spotted the bear cub did she actually show her surprise.
“Oh don’t you worry about him, Louise. Blackie is such a sweetie, he’s harmless.” Bending to scoop up the cub, she stroked his fur and held him out for Louise to touch. “See, nothing to it. He’s been here for a while and now he even thinks he’s a dog.”
“Are all these yours?” “Yes, I have a penchant for picking up hurt and wounded animals and fixing them up. I try to give them away to good homes or turn them loose once they’re better, but it’s so hard. They’re like my children. Arnie thinks it’s gotten to be a little too much.”
Louise digested Pauline’s last statement and realized she was just like one of the wounded pups. For now she was like one of Pauline’s children and for some unknown reason, it felt okay.
Pauline kept up the chatter as she headed to the kitchen to warm the roast. She was really dying to ask Louise who she was looking for earlier today, but she promised Arnie she would wait. The child looked too innocent to be mixed up with Fleming, but it would be best to keep her close enough to keep an eye on, just in case.
Arnie arrived just as Pauline and Louise sat down at the table. It had taken Louise almost half an hour to chase all of the animals out of the dining room and into the parlor so they could eat in peace.
“I see you’re feeling better, Louise.”
“Yes, sir. I mean yes, Arnie.” She gave him a small smile and nodded her head just slightly. It was her way of thanking him for being so gentle with her and not asking any questions she wasn’t prepared to answer.
Catching her eye, he gave Louise a wink of acknowledgement and the matter was never discussed again. “And you’ve met Pauline’s family?”
“Every last one. None of them wanted to leave this room so, I had to chase ‘em all.”
Thinking of the nights when it had been his job alone, made him smile. “I’m glad you’re here to help, Louise. I’m getting to old to chase them.”
They ate their meal quietly. Slyly looking up from her plate, Louise tried to sneak looks at Arnie and Pauline. She wasn’t sure of the relationship between the strange couple. They were exact opposites in physical build, but seemed to share a kind spirit. She knew they weren’t married, but Arnie seemed very comfortable in the house, almost like he lived there. She figured it best not to question her host’s arrangements and continued working her way towards a clean plate.
Once dessert was on the table, Arnie and Pauline exchanged quick glances. Each trying to make the other ask the question that was nagging on their minds, neither could stomach the thought of upsetting the child. Finally Arnie caved in.
“Louise, may I ask you a question?”
She didn’t know where this was leading, but felt it best to let him proceed. Maybe if she answered his questions, she could ask him about the Malone’s whereabouts. “Anything, Arnie.”
“Who were you looking for today, at the toy shop?”
Looking him straight in the eye, she answered honestly. “My friends, the Malones. Liam Malone was to be a toy maker there and one of his children is my best friend.” Both Arnie and Pauline let out visible sighs of relief. “Did something happen to them?”
“Who?”, asked Pauline.
“The Malones, my friends. The whole store was burned down.”
Pauline reached across the table and took Louise’s hand in hers. “When was the last time you heard from your friend, sweetie?”
Pauline was scaring her. Reaching with her other hand, she held onto Flynn’s cross. “Last year, before I left the school. Did they get hurt? Where are they?”
Pauline was convinced the child had no knowledge of her friends’ predicament and urged Arnie to tell the story with her eyes.
“Well, I never met your friend Liam Malone, but I heard he was a nice man. I heard he made beautiful toys. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong man to work for. Richard Fleming was a hustler, a gambler and a thief. He set up stores all over town and brought in innocent tradesmen and crafts people to work them. He was very clever and with the knowledge of the lawyer he was, he set up the all the paperwork so it looked as if the workers owned the stores without their even knowing it. He made a quick profit by rushing them to work hard and make lots of items from toys to dresses to shoes to other goods.”
Louise felt her stomach turn when she pictured Liam Malone slaving away to make toys for this evil man. She closed her eyes against the image and let Arnie continue.
“It seems that once Fleming had money in his pocket, he was quick to hit the big card games in the area, not just in St. Louis. He was a notoriously bad card player and lost a lot of money and lost it often. When his money ran out, he would bet the deeds on the stores. Apparently he hit quite a losing streak in Kansas City about six months ago and ran out of town without paying up. Hoping to collect, the men traced him here, to St. Louis, through the deeds. They tried to claim the stores and went about taking everything, even personal stuff from the workers because their names were on the deeds. Apparently, the men tried to take the toy store and Mr. Malone fought back. The next night they came back and burned it down.”
Louise pleaded with the doctor through her tear filled eyes. Her voice was quiet. “Did they get hurt? I must know. Please tell me.”
Arnie looked at Pauline and let her continue the story.
“Well sweetie, I heard the fire was very bad. The family, they lived up top and the fire got to their house too. I was told the family got out, but unfortunately, they lost a child.”
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Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five
Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven Chapter TwelveChapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen Epilogue
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