A FATHER'S RESCUE
Chapter Seven

Rose woke well after dawn the next day, feeling disoriented, and soon she realized breakfast had passed, it had to have. Nonetheless, Rose headed for the kitchen, where to her surprise she found Mrs. Wallace, who put something in the oven upon seeing Rose.

Still, she spoke roughly, as usual, trying to hide concern. "Well, it's about time you were up and about! All the others have been gone at least two hours. And all of us having missed some sleep, thanks to you."

"I'm fine, thank you," Rose snapped at her.

Why must this dreadful woman keep poking and prying into my personal life? she thought to herself. But she wasn't fine at all. She was actually quite exhausted from all the lost sleep, and there was a persistent scratchy feeling in the back of her throat.

As Rose started upstairs, the piano playing began. Goodness me, she remembered, I'm to go looking for a job with David this morning! She took the rest of the steps at a near gallop and knocked urgently on the musician's door. When he didn't answer right away, she pounded harder. Upon opening the door, his expression was one of annoyance at the interruption, but at the sight of Rose the frown changed to a welcoming smile.

"Well, miss, I see you're finally awake. Were you able to get anything to eat?"

"I was, thank you." Rose took a deep breath. "I came to see you because...well, you said you'd go with me when I'm ready to start my search for employment."

David slapped his forehead. "I knew there was something I'd forgotten! Meet me downstairs in five minutes."

Rose nodded and returned to her room to retrieve her new coat. Suddenly an unpleasant thought surfaced, one that had been swimming around in the back of her mind since the previous night. How could Mrs. Wallace, whose apartment was on the ground floor, hear her moaning in her sleep? Someone had to have told her. Someone who lived on the same floor, probably next door.

When David came out of his room, Rose was waiting at the head of the stairs. "All ready to go?" he asked cheerfully.

Rose only nodded. She was trying to decide how best to begin discussing what was on her mind. At last, as they were heading to the buggy, she asked, "David, was I terribly loud last night, in my sleep? Mrs. Wallace came knocking...I hate to think I made that much noise."

"You didn't. I woke up, and went to get her. I thought she might be more help...but I heard what she said to you. I'm sorry about that. I guess she doesn't take to her tenants at all. I was just worried about you...but I thought it might be awkward if I..."

"It's all right, I understand. Thank you, David, for trying. Besides, just now she was very nice, as compared to her usual ways. We'll get along all right."

"Then maybe there is hope of her warming up. It would be nice for you to have a lady to talk to--" Here he paused, and grinned. "--because Fran certainly is no lady."

Rose smiled in response, and at the sight of it David's heart gave a little jump. She'd seemed anxious at the idea of him hearing her cries in the night, and still he wondered if he did the right thing by bringing it to their nosy landlady's attention. But something tragic had happened to her, he was certain of it, and he also knew that if she continued to keep it to herself, her fears, and the night terrors that went along with them, would only worsen.

"So, where would you like to go first?" he asked.

Rose looked startled at the question. It was as if she'd expected him to choose a destination for her. "Well...I'm not sure," she said, and she turned to face him, confused. "I don't know my way around, I don't know where to look for a job. Oh, David, I don't have any skills even! What made me think I could do this?"

She climbed down to the sidewalk and ran back toward the boarding house. Bemused, David sat in the buggy for a minute. He'd met some confusing women in his life, some who were troubled--and even a few who could be considered truly disturbed--but this one took the prize. Now she didn't want to look for employment, after all. But how was she to find the means to pay her rent?

He supposed he would have to talk her back into this. Sighing, he lowered himself to the sidewalk and followed her, all the way upstairs and to her door, which of course was locked. When she didn't respond to his knock at first, he started to turn away, but then determination and exasperation overcame his better judgment. He called her name.

"Rose, please open up. What happened? I thought you wanted to go looking today."

Rose slowly opened the door, and David immediately saw her eyes were rimmed with tears. She took a moment to speak. "I did...I do," she whispered. "But David, I can't do anything. There are so many things I don't know. How can I possibly find a job?"

"You're good at speaking up, that's for sure. You seem to be good with people, and you have a definite presence about you, not to mention a strong will. There is something out there, Rose. You just have to find it. But being afraid and running away won't get you anywhere."

Rose's feistiness returned. "Don't you think I know that? It's not like I planned to run away from you like that. Perhaps I do usually seem self-assured, David, but that is not how I feel right now. I'm in this big city all by myself, I know I don't have the proper skills to find a good job. On top of that, every single night I..."

Rose was just able to stop herself. David knew she had almost revealed something...and he wanted to know what it was. "You what? What is it, Rose?"

She looked away, refusing to let him see the terror in her eyes. She couldn't trust this man. She'd only known him for a few short days...and then she realized that she'd known him for as long as she'd known Jack.

It only took her a minute to make her decision. She'd let her guard down, just a little. Then she'd see how much she could trust him.

She stepped back from the door. "Come inside. Quickly now, before Mrs. Wallace sees you here." He obeyed, and she shut the door hurriedly.

"Sit." Rose motioned to the bed, that being the only piece of furniture in the room where he could do so. He seemed embarrassed by her forward behavior, but he did what he was told. He needed to hear what she had to say.

Rose began to pace the floor, wringing her hands, and finally she blurted, "David, I need your help. I think my father may be in New York, and I want to find him."

David was confused. This was not at all what he had expected to hear. "Your father? Do you have any kind of definite clue he's here somewhere?"

"Well...no. It's just a feeling. But ever since I got here I've felt it. If there is any chance he is here, I have to try to find him. I haven't seen him in a long time. I've missed him so much, and I'm sure he didn't just run off and leave us like Mother said. He loved me. And if he's here somewhere, he's probably all alone, too. We should be together. We're still family."

"Wait a minute," David said. "Are you saying your father abandoned you?"

Rose looked at him sharply, hearing the pity for her in his voice. She suddenly wished she hadn't said a word. She didn't even tell Jack what really happened with her father, leading him to believe the man was dead. To her mother, he really was. But Rose would never accept the lie.

"He didn't just run off for no reason," she argued, sitting beside David and avoiding his eyes as she did so. "Something happened to him, something terrible, and that's why he left."

"But how do you know that?" David persisted, as if she were a little girl. "How do you know he didn't just choose to go? If that's the case, he may not want to be found."

Rose leaped to her feet. "He did not just choose to leave me! He was a kind and decent man and he wouldn't leave me alone with her..." She burst into tears.

David didn't want to push her, but felt compelled to know more. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. "Leave you alone with who?" he asked gently.

"My mother. She was never really a mother to me at all. I only had one parent."

"Do you even know where she is?"

"I have some idea, but I have no interest in seeing her. She is one person I'm glad to be rid of."

"You say that now. We'll see how you feel after more time has passed."

Rose flushed with anger at his flippancy. "She wasn't your mother! You never had to be in a situation where, if you showed too much emotion to suit her, she worried more about your embarrassing her than your emotional state!"

"Well, don't you think she might be worried about your whereabouts right now?" David shot back.

Rose fell silent. A sense of guilt, a feeling that she was somehow to blame for her predicament, washed over her. But she fiercely fought it back. She was determined to never play the dutiful daughter again, and she wasn't about to let David browbeat her into giving up her independence and returning home to beg forgiveness from her mother. The expression on her face hardened.

"No, in fact, I'm certain she's given me up for dead," she stated coolly.

David frowned, but Rose would say no more on the subject of her mother. "Now, either you can help me locate my father or I'll find someone else who'd be more willing. But I will find him."

She opened her door, a signal that he should leave; however, as David reluctantly stepped into the hallway, she added, "Whomever locates him will be paid handsomely."

David paused and turned to face her. "Paid?" he said, obviously surprised.

Rose nodded silently. She knew that David, like everyone else in the building, did not make much money.

"Well, I can't imagine where you got money from, since you don't have a job, but if you're willing to pay it, I'll take it. How much?"

"We can discuss that, of course. Does this mean you'll help me?"

"Yes, Rose. You obviously really want to find him; if it will make you happy, I want to help."

Rose smiled slightly. "Thank you, David. I appreciate it, really. I'm hesitant to do it, but I'm really tired, I do need a nap. And I think it's best I take it now, when most of the tenants aren't here, in case I..."

"Yes, I understand. If you'd like, I'll stay in my room across the hall. I could wake you up if I hear you start having a dream."

"All right." Rose's eyelids had begun to feel heavy. She'd seldom been this tired before. The exhaustion seeped through to her bones. "And David?"

He turned expectantly.

"Thank you."

He smiled. "Get some rest."

Rose shut her door and crawled under the covers. Almost immediately the sunlight faded to black...

Chapter Eight
Stories