"Are you sure you feel well enough, Miss Rose?"
Rose tried to smile at Elizabeth, who sat opposite her in the car. "I have to get out," she said, although in the week since Walter Sullivan's visit she hadn't had much energy. It was like she had used up all her strength watching Cal do the things that Cal did. "I've been caged up in that house too long."
Downtown Pittsburgh hosted an open market every Saturday. Rose had gone before—not any time recently, but it seemed like a good excuse to go somewhere.
Perhaps something to take her mind off recent events.
She felt sick when she thought about it. Her moment of weakness on the night of Cal's birthday had been a mistake, and she regretted wondering whether she ought to blame herself for their failed relationship. Cal was a bastard, and whatever her faults, his would always be tenfold.
*****
The open market didn't lend itself to class distinction. Rich and poor alike strolled along either side of the wide paved street, examining the goods under each tent. There were fresh fruits and vegetables, fabric and jewelry, toys, art, books.
It was a breath of air for Rose, a place she could go to break out for a moment from her lonely, detached existence.
Rose led the way, dodging around clusters of people ahead of Elizabeth. She'd rather have come by herself, but Cal insisted she take a maid if she went out and she didn't think it was worth arguing about.
She stopped at a tent to look at scarves. They were pinned up on a line, scarves of every color and pattern, imports from Russia or Poland.
As she was running her fingers over folds of fabric, a little girl shot out of nowhere and ran in front of her so that she had to take a step back. A boy chased after the girl. They were laughing and shrieking.
"William! Caroline! Come back here, you two!" Flashing Rose a beleaguered smile, their harried-looking mother went after them. "I'm sorry, miss. They're all over if I turn my back for even a moment!"
Rose returned the smile and watched as the woman caught up to her children. She knelt and used her apron to wipe a smudge of dirt off the boy's face. A man with a beard joined them, ruffled the girl's hair, picked her up and swung her over his shoulder as she giggled.
"I want a ride too, Daddy!" cried the little boy, tugging on the man's arm.
Her heart lurching, Rose turned away from the family.
I'm never going to have that, she realized.
She would love Jack's child and heap as much affection on it as she had inside her in the hopes that it wouldn't have to grow up feeling cold and forgotten as she had, but it wasn't the same. Cal had agreed to take responsibility for the child; he had not agreed to be its father. Rose imagined that he would be a distant and intimidating figure, someone that her child looked at with fear and awe rather than love.
Jack would have made a wonderful dad.
"Miss Rose? Are you all right?"
She felt Elizabeth tap her cautiously on the shoulder.
"Fine," she said, brushing aside her thoughts.
*****
The loud chatter of the crowd was everywhere, and she almost missed hearing any mewls of pain.
"What's that?" she said to no one in particular, moving closer to the sound. It sounded like an animal—maybe a raccoon or a cat—although its cries were muffled.
Rose followed the sound until it grew louder. Elizabeth seemed to hang back, not wanting to wander off the street, but Rose refused to slow down.
As she got closer she could hear laughter.
She stepped in front of an alleyway.
Two lower-class boys in matching gray outfits were huddled over an animal. They each held a rock in one hand. They were smashing the animal with their rocks, laughing as they beat it to death.
"What do you think you're doing?" Rose demanded. "Stop it!"
The boys took one look at her, dropped their rocks and scurried off.
She fell to her knees in front of the animal, not caring if she got her dress dirty. It was barely recognizable as a cat. Its orange-striped fur was matted with blood.
"How awful," she said to Elizabeth. "Why would anyone do something like this? I'd smack some common sense into those boys if I were their mother…"
She prodded the cat with her index finger. Its paw moved. It was alive.
"Come over here and help me," she said, gathering the top layer of her skirt.
"Miss—"
Rose looked at Elizabeth. "Come on! I need your help!"
Elizabeth looked squeamish and uncomfortable, but she did as she was told. Rose wrapped her skirt around the cat's body. Blood stained the mint green fabric.
When she got back into the car she ordered the chauffeur to drive slowly. She didn't want the poor thing getting bumped and shaken.
*****
She laid the cat on the kitchen table after pushing aside the tablecloth and asked Elizabeth to bring her a wet rag. She knew she couldn't help much. The cat was almost dead.
Rose dabbed at its bloody fur with the rag. It gave a pained, feeble squeak and twitched an ear.
"What in God's name, Rose—"
She glanced up at the sound of Cal's voice. He walked up behind her and looked down over her shoulder at the cat. His face contorted in disgust. "For Christ's sake! What is this doing in my kitchen? Get rid of it, Elizabeth."
Elizabeth reached for the cat but Rose stopped her. "Wait," she said. "I ran across a couple of boys stoning it to death."
"Thought you'd bring it back here and perform a life-saving operation on the table?" asked Cal.
Normally his words would have made her angry, but for some reason just then they stung. "I couldn't just leave it there to die," she said. "I…"
She trailed off. She realized that she'd had no real purpose in bringing the cat home with her and that any explanation she could give would bounce right off Cal.
"I felt sorry for it," she said.
She looked down at the cat. It had stopped moving. Was it dead?
"Surely you can't have imagined that there was anything you could do to help this animal," said Cal tonelessly.
Rose opened her mouth to object.
"It needs medical attention. Elizabeth," he said as he turned to leave, "call the veterinarian, won't you?"
He was gone.
Rose stared at the spot where he had been standing a moment earlier, confused.
She looked at Elizabeth, who tried and failed to offer a sympathetic smile, and then back to the cat.
"Well," she said. "Cal's right. It needs medical attention."
A veterinarian arrived within the hour, and Rose watched him breathe life back into the cat. Although she wasn't entirely conscious of it, Jack's voice was ringing in her ears.
They've got you trapped, Rose.