The House of Closed Doors (44 page)

FIFTY-NINE

“H
aven’t you checked that list enough?” Martin dodged around the pile of trunks and cases that took up most of the hallway.

I looked up impatiently. It was really most trying of Martin to be pestering me when I was striving so hard to remember what items were in which case. I wished I had thought to mark my list better.

“Please make sure the door is tightly shut, Martin. Sarah keeps trying to get out into the street.”

He complied with my request and leaned on the largest trunk, grinning at me.

“Did you come here for a purpose?” My tone was not welcoming. “Or just to make fun of me for not wanting to forget anything?”

“I have news.” Martin carried a large, rolled sheet of paper, and he waved it in my direction. “I have bought my piece of land.”

“Really?” I was interested in that, despite my distracted state of mind. “Is it in a favorable position?”

Martin smiled even more broadly. “I have made a really excellent purchase, I think.” He grabbed me by the hand, pulling me toward the dining room. “Come and see.”

The dining room was dark and gloomy, but the light was sufficient. Martin spread the map out on the table, using any objects he could find as weights. The area destroyed by the fire was outlined in black ink; I marveled again at the extent of the damage.

“See, here it is.” Martin’s index finger hovered over a spot on the map.

“It does not mean much to me, Martin. I have only been to Chicago twice.”

“A corner location, Nell. Very close to Field & Leiter’s!”

“Won’t the competition from Field & Leiter’s be fierce?” I asked doubtfully.

“My store will be much smaller, of course. But the merchandise will be better.” He rolled up the map with a snap and waved it above his head. “I too will be saying goodbye to Victory, Nell, even before my property is sold. I need to be on the spot. I have taken lodgings‌—‌very modest ones, I will barely have room to turn around, and ridiculously expensive‌—‌and will be at the site every morning and hunting down the best suppliers every afternoon. You will have your adventure, Nell, and I will have mine.”

He still had not proposed, of course. Not a word or look of romance had ever passed between us, although he seemed to prefer me to any other companion. I was glad of it, of course. Of the lack of romance, I mean. It would have been unkind to have to turn him down.

“Nell.” Martin turned to me and grasped my arms. “I am leaving for Chicago this very afternoon, and I will not be here to see you off tomorrow. So, my dear‌—‌”

“Momma dododo baba BEY!”

The door had quietly opened, and Sarah toddled in, with Tess close behind. She was carrying her doll, to which the last five months had not been kind. Seeing Martin, she extended the chubby forefinger of her left hand toward him and asked, “Dey?”

“No, darling, he is not going with us.” I had taken a quick step backward at Sarah’s entrance and grinned at Martin ruefully. He smiled and scooped Sarah into his arms, so fast that she flew upward a little before landing safely in his grasp. She shrieked with joy, and he had to throw her four or five more times. She dampened his mood a little by thrusting the doll into his face, and I laughed to see his look of disgust.

“No, no Sary,” Tess reached up with her short arms and wagged a finger at her, “You must not push Dolly into people’s faces. Dolly must not give kisses.”

Sarah responded by flinging herself backward so that she could see me upside-down and showed all six of her teeth. Her brilliant red curls were now long enough to be tied with a ribbon into a becoming topknot, and her limbs had lost a little bit of the rolls of baby fat but were still very much on the plump side. Her fat cheeks were bright red; she was cutting some molars, I rather thought.

“You were saying, Martin?” I looked up at him demurely, giving him the full benefit of my blue eyes.

“I was saying goodbye.” Martin seemed poised between laughter and frustration but then settled for the former. “Or at least,
au revoir
. Nell, I must fly. I wish you Godspeed, and if you do not write to me soon‌—‌oh.” He extracted a piece of paper from his vest pocket and handed it to me. “Here is the address of my lodgings. You must write as soon as you are settled in Kansas.”

Martin cuddled Sarah to him briefly and gave her big kisses on both rosy cheeks. She squealed with delight and smashed her doll against his face. Grimacing, he put her down gently and held out his hand to Tess.

“Miss O’Dugan, it has been a pleasure making your acquaintance. I am glad that Nell has such a congenial companion.”

“I don’t know what congenial is, but I think you’re nice too. Can’t you marry Nell?”

Martin turned quite pink and coughed. I laughed. “Tess, it is not done to ask gentlemen to propose marriage to one’s friends. Not in public, anyway.” I held out my hand to Martin. “Mr. Rutherford, I also say
au revoir
. I look forward to hearing about your store.” I was rather glad that Tess was there and that we were not saying our goodbyes in private. I was afraid I would become sentimental.

Martin gently kissed the hand I had extended to him and then headed quickly for the door, turning once to wave his map in the air above his head. Then he was gone.

“I think it’s all right to ask a man to marry you, Nell.” Tess was following Sarah around the table, keeping an eye on the little hand that was clearly destined to grasp the tablecloth. “Especially when he likes you.”

I sighed, watching my daughter and my friend. This was going to be a very interesting journey.

SIXTY

I
could feel two solid lumps at my waist. One was Mama’s bag of coins; the other was a new bag, containing the money Martin had given me for Sarah. Together, they would provide our emergency funds in our new life.

I took no other money with me except the sum I had raised through Mr. Buchman to fund our trip to Kansas. He had sold for me a bracelet and necklace that Hiram had given to my mother; the rest of her small collection of jewelry was sewn safely into the pocket of my traveling dress. I felt like a walking bank vault.

It was so early in the morning that the light was gray, but we had been up for hours. Bet had had her “good cry” over our departure well before dawn and was now brisk and cheerful, though red-eyed. Tess was solemn and unusually quiet, which suited my own mood. She was holding on to Sarah who was also rather subdued, alarmed no doubt by the preparations for travel.

I had the strange, detached feeling that comes when you know that you are about to undertake a new venture. The familiar street, where even the carriage ruts on the road changed little from day to day, suddenly sprang out at me with a mass of details: the burgeoning buds on the young trees that lined it; the large ornate bell on the gate of the house opposite; the slight sag in the fence of the neighbor three doors up. I remembered noticing such things as a small child, but for years I had ignored them, wrapped in my own small, selfish concerns. Now they mattered to me again with a sharp pang of imminent rupture.

Bet shivered as she looked at the cart, which was laden with our trunks and bags.

“It’s enough you’re taking with you, Miss.”

“Madam,” I said faintly, but I didn’t begrudge Bet her refusal to pretend I was a married woman. I wasn’t, after all.

I looked down at the ring Hiram had given me. From that day forward I would pass as ‘Mrs. Lillington.’ That was how, at my request, Mrs. Lombardi had first introduced me on paper to Mrs. Drummond. It might have been easier to continue with Govender, but I had not wanted to lose my father’s name nor force a fictitious one on Sarah.

The driver of the cart returned from wherever he had been and, climbing into his seat, looked round at me inquiringly.

“You’d better go, Miss Nell.” Bet spoke gently, in the tone that she’d used when I was a little girl and needed reminding to wash my hands before meals. I grinned; back then, the gentle tone would quickly be followed up by a sharper one if I did not comply.

“Yes, Bet. Are you sure you’ll be all right with the house-clearing?”

“Oh, I have Marie coming, and three of her friends. We’ll have a fine old time.” She looked back at the yellow notice of sale on our door, one corner of which flapped gently in the freshening breeze, and then glanced at the sky. “It won’t rain today, I’m thinking. You have a good day for traveling.”

I hugged her hard for a couple of seconds, putting a world of feeling into that hug and then took Sarah from Tess. She submitted to Bet’s caresses a little crossly and rubbed her face into my coat. I knew she’d be asleep before we were a mile down the road and was glad of it.

Tess, not to be outdone, also hugged Bet‌—‌to the latter’s surprise‌—‌and then clambered with difficulty up into the cart. I handed Sarah to her and took my own place on the end of the bench.

As we swayed onto Victory’s main street to head westward, the first rays of the rising sun shone from behind us, lighting the gray street with streaks of fire. We passed Rutherford’s Drapery, which bore a large sign: New Premises in Chicago Opening Soon. Inquire Within for Closing Prices on All Merchandise.

I hugged Sarah tighter to me, trying to shield her from the worst jolts of the cart. Tess was pressed up against me. Her legs were much shorter than mine, and she could not place them on the board, so she was much more at the mercy of the cart’s movement than I was. I was glad she was with me.