Daughter of the Loom (Bells of Lowell Book #1) (26 page)

Lilly pulled her arm away from his grasp and began walking. “What is it you’re after, Lewis? Why have you returned to Massachusetts?” A million thoughts raced through her head. If he was here for money, he’d be out of luck. She wasn’t about to part with any of her hard-earned wages to support his lifestyle. Christian charity only extended so far.

“I could tell you I was concerned for your welfare, but we both know that isn’t true. Tell me, dear sister, how does it feel to be working for the Corporation you hold in such contempt? Do you ever revel in the thought of somehow usurping their power?” He emitted a callous laugh. “No, that would never happen to my little sister, would it? She’s the perfect child who never does wrong. Dear Lilly would never consider doing anything unchristian—she doesn’t have wicked thoughts.”

His words stung her conscience. If he knew how many people had been the victims of her unkind thoughts and deeds in recent months, he would certainly question her Christianity. The idea was frightening. “I’m not perfect, and we both know that, Lewis. I dislike working for the Corporation, but you left me penniless; I had no choice. Quit avoiding my question. It’s cold out here. Tell me what it is you want so I can go home and you can go back to wherever it is you came from.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Lilly. I plan to be in Lowell for quite some time. As a matter of fact, that’s one of the reasons I’ve come to see you. I understand that most of the mill girls are quite frugal with their money and some of them have accumulated rather large sums. If you’re one of those girls, I could use your help. I’m broke and need money, and you are the only family I have.”

“I have no intention of helping you, Lewis. I can’t believe you have the audacity to come to me for money.”

He shrugged. “If you aren’t one of those girls who has plenty of money, then introduce me to one. I’m not interested in the ones who are sending their wages back home to their poverty-stricken families. My inheritance is gone, and I can’t be wasting time.”

Lilly gaped at him, astonished at his request. “I’ll do no such thing. I’m not going to assist you in duping any of these girls out of their hard-earned wages. Surely you can find some other more profitable scheme.”

“Poor Lilly. You don’t understand much, do you? These girls are vulnerable, unscathed little flowers waiting to be plucked. I can move from one to the other, permitting them the pleasure of keeping company with an educated, handsome man as well as assisting them with the proper investment of their wages.”

Lilly was aghast at his proposal. “Investment of their wages into your pocket! So this is how you now intend to support yourself?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Those girls don’t have enough money to support my needs, but their funds would be a nice addition to my income. You need not concern yourself with my welfare. I’ve entered into a business venture with a gentleman of considerable means. However, I’m sure your little friends would be thrilled to purchase an expensive gift or two for a handsome beau,” he said with a smirk. “I find that for the right amount of affection, propriety is often overlooked.”

Lilly turned and briskly headed back toward the boardinghouse. “You sicken me, Lewis. Do you stay awake at night thinking of vile ways to hurt people?” She gave him a look of disgust. “I will not be a part of your schemes.”

“As you choose, but I’ll succeed with or without your help. It will merely take a bit longer to weed out the girls who are penniless. Incidentally, did I mention the fact that I saw Matthew and Kirk Boott today? Matthew has certainly managed to endear himself to the Corporation, hasn’t he?”

She knew Lewis; his words were intended to cause pain. “If you’re interested in Matthew’s position in the Corporation, you’ll need to talk to him.”

“I believe I hit a sore spot. I’m so sorry, Lilly. You know I would never want to open old wounds,” he said, sarcasm dripping from each word. “Well, here we are, back to your humble dwelling. Tell me, is it true? Do you really sleep four girls to a bed?”

Lilly turned, fixing him with what she hoped was a scathing expression. “Get away from me, Lewis. Go away and don’t ever return. I have no desire to be associated with you or your scheming.”

Without saying a word, Lewis leaned around her, opened the door, and made his way inside the house before she could object. Lilly watched in amazement as Lewis boldly strode into the parlor and immediately took command of the group. “Ladies, I wanted to once again tell you what a pleasure it was spending time with you earlier this evening. I will be returning tomorrow evening if any of you happen to be available for a visit.” He smiled broadly. “One more thing,” he added, “don’t believe a thing my sister has to say about me. She’s a teeny bit jealous—fearful of losing my attention. In fact, she sometimes tells horrid tales regarding my behavior, hoping to dissuade young ladies from keeping company with me. Don’t you let her convince you with those exaggerated stories. We must join forces and conspire against her if I’m to have the pleasure of calling upon you fair maidens.” Lewis directed an exaggerated wink at the group, then bowed and bade them good-night. The girls giggled in delight.

Lilly couldn’t believe her ears. Her brother had completely outmaneuvered her.

Chapter 20

Lilly had given Matthew ample time. It was now blatantly obvious the Associates were not going to hold Thaddeus Arnold accountable for his barbaric behavior. Having weighed the merits of the company’s indecisiveness, Lilly prayed with fervor and then decided the Corporation must suffer the consequences of God’s disapproval—using her, of course, as the instrument of His displeasure. Arnold’s behavior was merely the catalyst God was using to move her forward. She was ashamed she had wavered in her earlier beliefs, but it was now abundantly clear she must move forward and bring the Corporation to ruin before further expansion could be completed.

Developing a plan, however, was much more difficult. Quick, decisive action was needed. However, the feat must be destructive enough to bring business to a halt—damaging enough to insure the Associates would rethink their earlier decision to blemish the Massachusetts countryside with brick and mortar factories. Yet her plan must remain safe enough to keep the operatives from harm. She had learned from her earlier plots that stopping one machine, or even several, was not detrimental to the Corporation. Those incidents had merely succeeded in reprisals being meted out to the operatives by Thaddeus Arnold.

“No, I must figure a way to bring production completely to a halt,” Lilly murmured as she strolled through the small but growing town. When the plan first began to grow in her mind, she had never figured it would be so difficult to sabotage the Corporation and their mills.

The wind whipped at her thin cloak, causing Lilly to pull it tight. No one would ever suspect that a worthless mill girl could have such an agenda against the Associates, and that was just as Lilly would have it. As God would have it, too. After all, Lilly felt quite confident that her mission had come from the Almighty himself. God had given her the desire to see the land returned to its original beauty—to see the Associates refund the monies and farms they had so greedily consumed. True, it would be difficult at this stage to see the mills destroyed and the land returned to pastures and farms, but Lilly knew that with God all things were possible.

Days passed as she attempted to devise her method. Finally, in the middle of the night an idea wove itself in and out of her sleep-induced haze. When Lilly awakened, the plan was clear.

“You seem a million miles away,” Nadene said as the two finished making their bed.

“Hmm?” Lilly heard the words but scarcely registered them.

“Did you have a romantic dream?” Pru teased. “I did, and it was about that brother of yours.”

Those words snapped Lilly to attention. “Lewis is bad news. He lives only for himself. Mark my words, you’ll rue the day you met him.”

Pru danced away toward the door. “He said you’d be like this, but honestly, Lilly, you don’t have to worry about losing a brother.” She winked and added, “Maybe instead, you’ll gain a sister.” She didn’t wait for Lilly’s reply but instead glided out the door as though she were skating on a pond of ice.

“Silly girl,” Nadene remarked.

“More than silly. She’s truly daft if she thinks Lewis can bring her anything but pain.”

Pulling a brush through her crown of curls, Lilly returned to thoughts of her scheme. She made every attempt to find fault with the plan. She found none. Picking up Pru’s tortoiseshell mirror, Lilly momentarily stared at her reflection. Her hair, she decided, was acceptable and so was her idea.

Nadene and Lilly rushed down the stairs, grabbed their cloaks from the row of pegs near the entrance, and rushed out the front door toward the Appleton. By the time the breakfast bell rang two hours later, Lilly’s anticipation was rising to new heights. Feigning a problem with her machine, she urged Nadene to return home without her. Lagging behind until the room had emptied, Lilly picked up a piece of roving and held it to the flame of a whale-oil lamp hanging on the wall, then quickly threw the burning rope into a cart of roving that stood near the center of the room. Casting a glance over her shoulder as she left the room, Lilly nodded in satisfaction. The roving was beginning to smolder, and random flames were starting to lick along the edge of the cart.

Lilly hurried from the mill yard and down Jackson Street, finding herself out of breath when she finally arrived at the boardinghouse. The familiar smells of fried ham and biscuits greeted her as she pushed open the front door.

“Hurry, Lilly. I filled a plate for you,” Nadene called out.

Lilly seated herself and slowly began cutting the piece of ham. Chewing slowly, she broke apart one of the thick biscuits and began to slather it with butter. “Would you pass the jam, please?”

Nadene stared open-mouthed at her friend. “You don’t have time for jam. We need to leave in less than a minute, Lilly.”

A tiny smile played at the corner of Lilly’s lips. “If you insist,” she replied, rising from the chair as she continued nibbling at the biscuit. “I think I’ll finish this as we walk.”

Nadene scurried out of the room and was waiting at the front door, holding Lilly’s cloak. They were nearing the mill when they heard men and women screaming. Suddenly the tower bell began ringing. Nadene and Lilly glanced at each other, then began running toward the mill.

“Fire on an upper floor,” one of the men yelled.

Nadene seized the man’s arm. “Which floor?”

“Third—spinning room,” he replied without hesitation.

“N-o-o-o!” Nadene cried as she began running toward the mill.

Lilly stared after her friend in disbelief. “Nadene, where are you going?” she screamed. “Come back here!” Lilly broke into a run. Why was Nadene rushing toward the building? What could she be thinking? Nadene had already made her way through the crowd of operatives who had gathered closer to the mill. Lilly glanced up. Flames were evident through the glass windows. As she grew closer to the building, Lilly saw Nadene arguing with one of the men. He was shaking his head and had grasped her friend’s arm. Lilly watched in horror as Nadene broke loose from the man’s grip and raced into the stairwell. With wooden legs she moved onward until she reached the man. “Where is she? Why didn’t you stop her?” Lilly screamed.

The man looked at her, his face etched in disbelief. “I tried to stop her. I couldn’t follow her—I was ordered to stay here and prevent anyone else from entering the building.”

“Well, you didn’t do your job very well, did you?” Lilly condemned as she attempted to push past him.

He pulled her back. “Maybe not with your friend, but I won’t fail again. Now get back,” he ordered.

“She’ll die. I have to go after her,” Lilly argued, pushing at his arm as she attempted to go around him.

He grasped her shoulder and turned her away from the building. “No! Now get back.”

“Lilly! What are you doing? Get back from the building.”

Lilly turned to see Matthew running in her direction. “Nadene’s up there—she’s gone to the third floor. I must get her out. Please help me!” Lilly pleaded.

Matthew placed his arms around her. “If you’ll move away from the building, I’ll see what I can do. Give me your word that you won’t attempt to follow me.”

“I promise. Just please hurry,” she begged, moving away from the entryway.

She watched until Matthew was out of sight. What if he found Nadene . . . dead? What if he couldn’t find her at all? “Matthew will find her—he must. Surely the fire hasn’t spread enough to cause Nadene immense harm,” she murmured. The hollow words did little to calm the growing uneasiness that was seeping into her consciousness.

She strained forward, watching the stairwell. Two men exited the building and issued orders before rushing off toward some unknown destination. Lilly paced back and forth while maintaining a steadfast gaze toward the entryway. Would Matthew never return? Perhaps she should break through the guards and go search for Nadene herself. Head raised high and shoulders straight, Lilly approached the Appleton.

One of the men stood resolutely, with elbows bent as he rested his beefy hands on his hips. His lips tightened into a straight, determined line as she grew closer. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, moving directly in front of her.

Lilly attempted to ignore the man’s question and push her way through. Too soon she found it impossible to break his grasp. Shaking her arm, she gave him a frosty glare. “Turn me loose!”

“Not a chance,” he replied. “I was ordered to keep spectators out—you, in particular,” he added with a grin.

Lilly stomped her foot. “You turn me loose or you’ll answer to Matthew Cheever!”

“Really? Well, he’s the one who told me to keep you out of there,” the man replied while turning toward the burning building. “Besides, there’s Mr. Cheever now.”

Lilly swung her head toward the stairwell. Matthew was carrying Nadene’s lifeless body in his arms. “Lilly, come quickly,” he called out, never breaking his stride.

Lilly pushed past the men and ran at breakneck speed, her cape billowing open in the crisp breeze until she was finally alongside Matthew. “Is she . . .” The words stuck in her throat.