Calico Brides (26 page)

“But most people won’t want to have a saloon girl helping them, will they?”

“We won’t know if we don’t ask. Pastor Fairfield is preaching about being salt and light in the world, so God is already preparing our hearts.” Gladys bounced up and down in her excitement. “And Haydn would like to write articles about each girl.”

Birdie shook her head sharply.

“Listen to her before you say no.” Ned heard the pleading note in his voice. When she wouldn’t accept his help, he had hoped she would accept a suggestion from one of the other circle members.

“Haydn will use aliases. He’d love to tell their stories, but that is up to each lady. And he won’t describe them either, so no one will be able guess who is who.”

“I don’t understand. How does this help them find jobs?” Birdie hadn’t run away yet. Ned took comfort in that.

“The focus of each article will be the life story of each woman, with perhaps a mention of the work they would like to do.”

Birdie shook her head thoughtfully. “A lot of the girls are in that place because they don’t think they have anything to offer. But maybe I could match the services needed and the girls’ skills, since I know them.”

“Yes!” Gladys clapped her hands.

“What if they don’t want to speak with Mr. Keller?”

Birdie was weakening! Ned cheered internally.

“He would tell you what questions to ask, and you could tell him the girls’ answers. We don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Mrs. Fairfield will speak with the people needing help to make sure none of the women encounters another Nigel Owen.”

Birdie shivered, and Ned touched her shoulder. When she didn’t shrug his hand away, he left it there as he breathed a prayer.
Please say yes
.

“I’ll ask them.” Her smile highlighted light pink dimples in her cheeks. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this. Thank you.”

Birdie splashed cold water on her face to wake herself up and pulled her hair back in a simple bun. Michal had already donned her new dress and was running a brush through her hair.

They heard a knock, and Miss Kate spoke through the door. “May I come in?”

“Yes,” Birdie said.

The doorknob turned, and savory aromas accompanied Miss Kate into the bedroom. She set a steaming bag on the bed. “Ham biscuits and sausage rolls. I made extra, so you can take them for the other girls to eat.”

For her landlady’s sake, Birdie would try to eat. If everyone in Calico had Miss Kate’s kind heart, Birdie wouldn’t have any doubts about their plans for helping the girls.

But then, if everyone in Calico had Miss Kate’s kind heart, the Betwixt ’n’ Between would have gone out of business years ago. A piece of advice Mrs. Fairfield gave Birdie jumped into her head: look at others with God’s eyes. That was the only way she could find her way to forgive men like Owen, men who had used and abused her.

“God sure has His hand on you,” Miss Kate said. “The way Shannon came to church on Sunday, after the night she must have had. And then you could ask her to invite everyone who wanted to, to come to the meeting this morning.”

The very hour of the meeting—four in the morning—spoke to the desperate circumstances of the women. It was late enough for the saloon to have closed down and its employees to be settled in their beds. And it was early enough that the girls hoped to leave without attracting Owen’s attention.

Michal was already eating a biscuit. “This is delicious, Miss Kate. The girls will enjoy your home-cooked food.” She ate every bite as if she didn’t know when she would receive another meal. Meals were a haphazard affair at the Betwixt ’n’ Between, cold leftovers snatched whenever they had a moment. Some girls turned to drinking their meals. Ones with an alcohol problem, like Michal’s best friend, Susanna, would face even greater challenges than Birdie had if they were able to escape their present circumstances.

“Your three friends are all waiting in the kitchen. I gave them a bite to eat. Come on down when you’re ready.” The door shut behind Miss Kate as she left. For a woman of ample proportions, she was able to move quickly and quietly.

Birdie tied her blue sunbonnet over her hair and helped Michal into her cloak. Michal was still fearful to leave the safety of the boardinghouse. She hugged the bag of sandwiches and rolls close to her chest under the cover of her cloak.

Birdie’s bag held only one item: the dress she had been able to finish. Only a single dress. Two more dresses were done except for the finishing touches—buttons and lace, matching thread for some invisible seam work. So little to show for so much work. Since she was now paying double for room and board—even though Miss Kate protested against it—she needed longer than she’d hoped to finish paying Ned back.

Candles cast a soft light on Birdie’s friends’ faces. Ruth hugged Michal as if they were longtime friends and introduced her to Annie and Gladys. Michal glanced up briefly from underneath the cover of her hood. “Glad to meet you.”

“We are honored that you let us come.” Annie’s smile invited the world to join in. “Between the four of us, we hope we can address any concerns the ladies have.”

Ruth gathered their dishes and put them in the sink. “Let’s leave so we can be there when the others arrive. My mother is already at the church, ready to greet any early comers.”

Her friends’ kindness brought warmth to Birdie’s heart but did little to ward off the chill of the early morning. She was grateful for the shawl draped around her shoulders. They walked in silence, Ruth, Gladys, and Annie surrounding Birdie and Michal, until they turned in the direction of the church side of the town square. A small light testified that someone in the parsonage was awake. “Papa said he would pray for us during our meeting,” Ruth said.

So many people had helped to make this happen. Besides the sewing circle, Miss Kate, Pastor and Mrs. Fairfield, and Lieutenant Arnold had participated.

Ned
. Birdie refused to think about him right now. One by one the women slipped into the side door of the church. Mrs. Fairfield rose from her seat on the front pew, embraced Birdie, and turned to Michal. “And you must be Michal. A shiny new jewel in the crown of our Lord. Please know how welcome you are here in our midst.”

Michal colored, and Birdie remembered how uncomfortable Mrs. Fairfield’s outspokenness had made her at first.

“And what is that I smell? Breakfast from Aunt Kate?”

“Ham biscuits and sausage rolls.” Michal handed them to the pastor’s wife.

“Excellent! I brought over a pot of coffee and some biscuits, but Aunt Kate’s food is such a delight. Now, come this way. The room will be slightly crowded, but no one can see us in there.” Mrs. Fairfield opened the door to the same room where Birdie and Michal had first taken refuge. “I’ll stay out here in case anyone comes along later.”

Birdie took the lead, entering the room first. One step inside transported her back to the Betwixt ’n’ Between. Unwashed bodies, cloying floral scents, whiskey, cigar smoke—all of those smells and more, with girls in varying degrees of undress. She shut her eyes and stopped just short of pinching her nose, long enough for the unpleasant memories to diminish. Once again she repeated those beautiful words about God’s love to herself.
For I am persuaded, that neither…things present, nor things to come…shall be able to separate us from the love of God
,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord
. Mrs. Fairfield had added “nor things in the past.” God wouldn’t hold her past against her after she asked Him to forgive her. Something about her sins being buried in the deepest seas. She lifted her head high in the love of her Savior and prepared to meet the women He had called her to help.

A
handful of women crowded next to each other on the far bench. Naomi. Orpah. Both names, Ruth had told her, came from the book of Ruth in the Bible. Shannon, who was ready to leave today. Susanna, a Southern belle pushed west by the Civil War and its aftermath. She had taken Birdie under her wing, protected her as much as she could, and comforted her after customers got too rough. Michal had told Birdie that Susanna had also taken the blows dished out by Owen when Birdie ran away. Tears at the memories burned Birdie’s eyes, and all her earlier fears fled, replaced by a courage unknown to her.

She glanced at the second bench, left free for the church ladies. She turned her back on the empty bench and laid a gentle hand on Susanna’s shoulder. “Do you mind if I sit here?”

Eyes blurry from a night of excess peered at the sunbonnet on Birdie’s head. “Birdie, ’sthat you?”

Here, in this room, Birdie had no need to hide herself. She removed the bonnet and shook her hair around her shoulders. “It’s me, Susanna.”

“I always did say your hair was like the sunrise.” Susanna lifted a tentative hand, and Birdie leaned forward, letting her friend run fingers through her hair. “All that color without help from the henna bottle. You’se a lady now.”

With those words, the women around Birdie shrank back. She reached as far as she could in both directions, until she touched each woman. “I’m no more or less a lady than ever I was. What has changed is that God has made me new. I’m a new creation. Nothing from the past can hold me back.”

“That’s all good and fine for you, Birdie. But nothing’s gonna change for a gal like me.” Naomi shook her head, even though a hopeful light beamed from almost black eyes, her dusky coloring and dark features suggesting Indian blood.

Love flooded Birdie’s heart, mixed with a desire for these women to accept the good news of Jesus as shown by the people of Calico. “God’s love is for anyone, anytime, anywhere. The Good Book says we were still Jesus’ enemies when He died for us. One of His best ladies was a prostitute once upon a time. He loves us, all of us.”

Michal handed out Miss Kate’s breakfast. Before long, a knock at the door interrupted her, and Mrs. Fairfield came in. Birdie introduced her two sets of friends to one another.

Shannon sank against the wall. It was almost time to go back.

Another time Birdie would tell more of the old, old story. Right now these women needed an escape plan. “This is what we have in mind. Miss Fairfield and Miss Polson came up with a plan to help you find work if you decide you’re ready to leave the Betwixt ’n’ Between. I’ll let Miss Polson explain.”

The women listened with interest until Gladys mentioned the interviews that Haydn wanted to conduct. “A man interviewing me? How do I know he’s not fixing to run and tell Owen all about our plans?” Orpah’s lips made a thin line.

Birdie met Orpah’s glare. “If you don’t want to speak with Mr. Keller, you can talk with me. We won’t give out your names or anything else you want to keep personal.”

Orpah frowned but didn’t say anything further. Naomi voiced her objections. “I don’t have any clothes I can wear in normal society. I can’t wear something like this.” She gestured to the dress she had arrived at the saloon in, only a couple of months after Birdie. The hem rose higher on her ankle than was considered proper, and the cloth strained across her chest. The clothes the others wore were in even worse condition.

Birdie hastened to reassure her. “I’m working on dresses for you so you have something decent to wear about town.” The single dress in her bag seemed so small in comparison to the need. “I only have one ready now, but I hope to have more ready soon.” As soon as she could buy buttons, bric-a-brac, all those finishing details.

“You always wuz right handy with a needle and thread,” Susanna said.

“So can we all leave right now?” Naomi asked. “Or do we have to leave one at a time? Owen might take it out on whoever’s left behind.” Her voice wobbled, but her gaze remained focused on Birdie.

Fear and joy fought within Birdie’s racing heart. This was what she wanted—wasn’t it?—but whatever would they do with four women all at once? Five, if they counted Michal.

Be not afraid
. Birdie took in God’s promise along with Mrs. Fairfield’s nod. “Anyone who is ready to leave right now can stay here at the church until we find places for you all to go.” Miss Kate had said to bring anybody along to the boardinghouse who wanted to come, but she didn’t know if even that indomitable lady could handle four strangers all at once. “You can stay here in privacy, and there’s plenty of good food to eat.”

Orpah stopped chewing on her sausage roll and nodded in appreciation.

“It will be one of us who brings your food and helps you get away to a safe place.” Annie handed the bag of rolls around again.

“We’ll get some menfolk to keep watch. The sheriff ’s a good man, and so is my fiancé, Haydn Keller.” A smile of unbridled joy shone in Gladys’s eyes. “And Annie’s lieutenant and Pastor Fairfield. And Ned Finnegan.”

“I’ll introduce them to you so you won’t get scared when they come around.” Mrs. Fairfield crossed the room in a few steps and stood in front of Susanna and took her hand. “I’m the pastor’s wife, Hannah Fairfield. I’m pleased to meet you, Susanna.” Mrs. Fairfield didn’t seem to notice the torn fingernails or the reek of whiskey coming from Susanna’s clothes. She went down the line, greeting each woman by name. “The parsonage is right next door, straight out the side door. If something happens that worries you, day or night, come right over and tell us about it.” She offered a cloak and bonnet she had draped across her arm to Naomi. “This is yours if you’d feel better about wearing it when it’s time for you to come. I know it’s hot in here, but you should be out of here in a day or two.”