Refining Fire (22 page)

Priam Welby hadn't expected to be so long at his meeting. As he emerged from the Third Street offices, he could finally see what all the commotion was about. A runner had come to tell them that there was a large fire near Front Street, but there were always fires, and usually no one seemed overly concerned.

He stopped a policeman who seemed to be in a rush to join the fracas. “How bad is it?”

The man shook his head. “Everything is going up from Marion to Union. It's coming this way, thanks to the winds. I fear we're all doomed.” He said nothing more and ran off in the direction of the fire.

Welby looked in the direction of the Madison Building. A moment of panic washed over him. He had thousands of dollars of merchandise housed in the basement. Would his men have taken the time to get that stuff out and to safety? Then there were the girls. Pity that. There would be no way to get them out and keep them from being seen. Carl would no doubt try, but most likely they would have to remain where they were.

He thought for a moment, wondering if he should attempt to lend his assistance. If the fire was as bad as the officer claimed, it would spread fast and out of control. There was probably nothing any of them could do. He gave a shrug. Perhaps it would be best to go back to his home on Denny Hill. The fire would never spread that far, and from that vantage point he could watch the affair in comfort.

Abrianna gripped the reins tighter. Her hands ached and pain shot up her forearms. She gasped for breath but found little
air in the black smoke. Getting the girls out of the basement and moving them this far had taken a toll on her energy. Fear ran through her like the flames that rushed from building to building. Everything around them was now burning, and the intense heat made it impossible to move away from the bay. At least the tide was starting to come back in. That would give the firemen some much needed water.

“We're going to set off some dynamite,” a man told them, coming to where Wade stood. “You're going to have to stay right where you are for the moment. Hopefully this will stop the fire's spread. It shouldn't take long and then you should be able to move on up and past the worst of it.”

Abrianna couldn't imagine that dynamite would help. It seemed foolish to start another fire to put out a fire. She looked to her left and watched as frantic men scurried up and down the gangplanks of a ship called the
Alameda
. A man was fighting to pull a pump organ up the gangplank even as the ship was leaving the dock. He quickly lost control and the organ plunged into the bay, while the man barely managed to jump back to the dock. People were losing their minds in this madness.

Time seemed to stand still. There was no way of telling whether an hour had passed or if it had been two. She looked around for something to give her an idea, but even the sun overhead was darkened out by the thick billows of smoke.

An explosion shook the ground around them. “They've dynamited the White Building across from the Reinig Building,” Wade told her. “They're hoping it will slow things down, if not stop it all together.”

The girls behind her were growing hysterical. “Wade, we have to do something. I don't know what, but we have to get these girls out. Wait, what about Thane's shop? Might there be a boat there? There are usually several tied off around there and even some in storage. We could load everyone up and push off into
the bay. That way at least we won't catch fire.” She didn't want to tell him, but the scorching air and flying embers terrified her to the bone. It wouldn't take much to set the wagon on fire.

“That's worth a shot. I think I can maneuver the wagon down that far. Let off the brake.” He went back to the horse and took hold. “Come on, horse.” He pulled the straps, and the horse danced a bit but turned.

It seemed to take forever to reach Thane's, and even there, Abrianna could see they weren't much better off. Flames reached as high as the tallest buildings. Walls of orange, yellow, and red devoured everything in their path. The roar intensified, like a horrible hungry beast. She handed the reins to Militine and jumped to the ground.

“Wait with the girls, Militine. I'm going to help Wade find us a boat—or something.” She ran to catch up with him, but her legs felt like heavy weights, and it was a struggle just to move.

“I think other folks had the same idea.” Wade looked over the rail of the high dock. “There's not a single boat tied up below.”

She looked around, assessing the situation. “There's a small rower over here,” Abrianna declared. They both went to inspect. “It looks seaworthy.” But she could immediately tell that it wasn't big enough for all of them.

Wade nodded. “I'll lower it down to the water. Make sure the oars are inside.”

She did as he instructed and waited while he cranked the craft inch by inch to the water. Next they went back for the girls. One by one they managed to get them down the weathered steps to the water's edge. Wade helped each of them into the boat. Thankfully they were small. To Abrianna's amazement he managed to fit all ten of the girls into the vessel, with two of them sitting on Militine's lap. Abrianna was waiting for him to say what she already knew. There wasn't room for another three people. They'd be lucky if they could squeeze in one.

“Matt, you're going to have to row. Between you and Militine you should be able to at least get out far enough to be safe.” Wade's voice was calm and strong.

“What are you and Miss Abrianna going to do?” the brave young man asked, his voice cracking.

“Don't worry about us. We'll swim for it, if we have to. Just get going.”

The teen was in no way put off. “I don't want to leave her here. You neither. We can just squeeze you in.”

“Look at the boat. You're already overloaded and may start taking on water if you're not careful. Now go.” He untied the vessel and gave it a push. “When you are able to get to safety, arrange to get everyone back to the school.”

Matt nodded and began to work the oars. Abrianna saw the concern in his expression, but it was certainly no more than her own. For all her bravery over the years, she had never faced a moment quite like this. Exhaustion and the feeling of being trapped didn't suit her well at all.

“What are we going to do, Wade?”

He shook his head. “I'm not exactly sure. We can take up some of the planks off the dock and use them for keeping us afloat. The fire brigade did that down by my place to make fire breaks.”

“It's getting closer, so we'll have to do something soon.” She tried hard not to let her emotions get the best of her. Goodness, but a woman had to keep her head at times like this, even if she was scared down to her stockings. She wasn't going to let Wade see her as a weak little mouse.

They climbed back up to the wharf only to realize that while they'd been below, the fire had spread to their location. Wade pushed her back toward the stairs. “Go. We're not getting out this way.”

All of the ships, schooners, sailboats, rowers, and liners had
pulled far out into the bay. For a moment Abrianna could make out the bigger vessels through the smoke, and then they too were swallowed up. She and Wade were completely alone.

“Good thing I taught you to swim,” Wade said, pulling off his boots.

“We're really going to try to swim to safety?” She tried to show her bravery by untying her own high-top boots. Even that took a colossal effort.

“It appears to be our only choice.”

She paused and looked at him. Gone was all of her bravado. “Wade, I'm scared.”

He stopped unbuttoning his shirt and pulled her into his arms. “I know, but we're gonna be all right. I already promised you I wouldn't let harm come to you. Do you trust me?”

She pulled back and nodded. “I do, but I don't trust these circumstances.”

The roar of the fire seemed to grow, and Wade released her. “Get rid of that skirt.”

Abrianna looked at him and then to the serge skirt blackened by the coal and soot. She supposed there was nothing else to do. She unfastened the button at the waist and let it drop. Her single petticoat left her feeling bare to his gaze.

“You'll have to take off the petticoat, too. It'll just get tangled around your legs in the water.”

“That would be highly inappropriate. I'm already in a state of undress, and to lose my petticoat would leave only my . . . drawers. Goodness, but my aunts would faint dead away from shame if they or anyone else found out. I'd be forever known as a . . . foolish ninny.”

“Better than being known as dead. I think even the old ladies will allow for it, since it's probably going to save your life.” He threw his shirt aside and turned his back. “Hurry up. I won't pay a lick of attention.”

Feeling completely ill at ease, Abrianna slowly untied the string that held her petticoat in place. Just then something crashed up above, sending a rain of sparks and embers down upon them. She kicked out of the petticoat and, without waiting for Wade's instructions, jumped into the water.

He followed into the bay and motioned to move further out. “That's all going to collapse behind us, and we need to be well away from it before it does.”

The water was cold, much colder than she'd figured, what with the warm days they'd been having. It wasn't worth worrying about. She prided herself on being able to swim. Wade had taught her when she'd been a young girl. If only her muscles weren't already so overstressed.

Behind her, Abrianna could hear the fire and destruction of the pier. She tried not to think of what might have happened to the horse or to Wade's wagon. She hadn't reset the brake and didn't know if Militine had thought to do so. Maybe the animal would manage to get to safety. It was doubtful, but she prayed it might be so. And what was one horse compared to hundreds of people who might perish.

Oh, Father, please save the people of Seattle from death
. The prayer gave her marginal comfort as she continued to stretch out her arms and stroke the water. Her feet felt like lead weights as the cold permeated her legs. She was grateful Wade had forced her to disrobe, knowing she'd have been pulled under by now from the weight of her skirt and petticoat.

She couldn't feel her hands, and her arms were growing heavier by the minute. Apparently one needed to practice swimming a great deal to be very good at it for very long. She felt herself slowing, her strength giving out. She stopped and rolled onto her back to let her body float for a moment. Wade had taught her this, as well, as a way to rest should she get a stitch in her side.

“Abrianna, come on. I see a schooner not far.”

She shook her head, gasping as a wave of water washed over her. “Ca . . . can't.”

Wade swam back to where she was floating and treaded water. “I'm not going to let you give up, you little hoyden. You're always pushing everyone else to their limits, and now I'm demanding the same of you.”

“I . . . can't. My arms wo . . . won't move. I'm t-too cold.”

“Quitter.”

She gave a weak laugh. “Yes.”

“I won't let you.” He grabbed hold of her arm. “I suppose I shall have to drag you to safety, like usual.”

She tried to think of something witty to say but was unable to think of anything. She opened her eyes, and Wade began to pull her through the icy water.

Behind them, Seattle burned.

A
hoy there!” came a voice. It was like being in a dream. Who was it? Captain Jack? Hairless Mike? Maybe old Charlie. No, he was dead. Murdered last year and they never discovered his killer. Abrianna tried to speak, but only a moan escaped from her mouth.

“Permission to come aboard,” Wade said in a jovial tone. “Look, Abrianna, the navy has come to rescue us.”

She could hardly make sense of his words. With no strength left to her, Abrianna allowed herself to be dragged and pulled out of the water. She heard one of the men order another to get a blanket. The next thing she knew she was wrapped into a scratchy wool blanket and nestled down between Wade and Hairless Mike.

“Where are we?”

“Captain Jack took . . . borrowed this here boat,” Hairless Mike told her. “We thought to do our part and help them what couldn't escape the fire.”

“Like us,” Wade declared. “We were trapped and had to swim for it. God was looking down on us when he sent you boys.”

“Ain't nothin' we wouldn't do for Miss Abrianna. She's cared
for us like nobody else. She was never uppity to us, always offered us her kindness.”

Abrianna smiled. Her eyelids felt so heavy. She had once read an account of someone freezing and how they started to fall asleep. Was that happening now? Could someone freeze when a fire was burning down the town on a warm June day?

“Don't go to sleep,” Wade ordered. He reached over and shook her hard. “You have caused me far too much trouble to let you get off scot-free.” He began to rub her arms. “I've spent a lifetime getting you out of one predicament and then another. The least you can do is be grateful and obedient.”

“You're . . . so . . . bossy.” Despite the pain of his massage, Abrianna wanted nothing more than to sleep.

“Give her this,” Captain Jack said.

Wade put something to her lips. “Drink.”

She nodded in obedience. At least she could do that much. White-hot fire burned down her throat, and her eyes snapped open as if she'd been slapped. She coughed and gasped to get her wind, but the harsh liquor very nearly choked her.

Wade pounded her on the back until she could regain her breath. “What was that?”

“Whiskey.” Captain Jack held up a flask.

“You told me you would never take another drink,” Abrianna accused, her head beginning to clear.

“It was merely with me for medicinal purposes.”

“And it helped to rally you around,” Wade declared. “Now stay awake and try to keep warm.” He looked to the sailors. “I think she'll be all right. Can you get us up the coast a bit closer to her home?”

“Certainly,” Captain Jack said, tucking the flask into his pocket. He barked out several orders, and the men went to work.

Abrianna shook her head. “You are a bad influence on me, Wade Ackerman. Why, today I've done things that I've never
done before and hope never to do again. You've quite compromised my good name by having me strip down to almost nothing and giving me whiskey.”

“You weren't down to almost nothing.”

“I was close enough, and I'll be surprised if my aunts don't faint dead away. Especially once they smell liquor on my breath.” She could see the worry in his expression begin to fade. She smiled and continued. “However, I'm sure that once they realize how the rest of Seattle has fared, they won't be giving me much thought, so I suppose I should thank you, instead of being upset with you.”

“Yes, you should, as well as all your old sailor friends.”

She pulled the blanket close. How would she ever be able to face those men at the food house again? The food house! It was probably burned to the ground. The thought sent her spirits spiraling downward.

“Oh, Wade, it's all gone, isn't it? Your shop. The food house. Thane's apartment, and the boat shop.” She heaved a sigh.

“Yes.”

The single word drove her sorrow deeper. “I've been so selfish.”

“You saved those girls.” He shook his head. “Honestly, Abrianna, I don't know how you found them or got them out. It's a sure bet Welby didn't try to save them.”

She shrugged. “I don't know if he even knew they were down there. He said he was seldom at the building, and his man, Carl, seemed awfully suspect to me. He was the one who didn't want us to go down in the basement.”

“Welby's too much in charge not to know what was going on.”

“You're being awfully judgmental, Wade. We haven't even asked him about it yet. You should reserve your judgment until then. I agree that it would be normal for a man to know what's
going on at his place of business, but Mr. Welby has many places of business, and I feel we should give him a chance to explain.”

“Because he's courting you?” Wade asked. “I didn't think you even liked him.”

She stiffened. “It's not a matter of liking him or courting him, Wade Ackerman. I'm trying to be a good Christian and not judge him falsely.” She pushed away his hold. “I just want the truth.”

Wade's expression grew rigid. He crossed his arms against his still damp chest and leaned back against a wooden crate. “Sometimes you can't see the truth of what's right in front of you, Abrianna.”

The fire proved impossible to stop no matter how hard Thane and the others worked to contain it. They first planned to keep it from moving farther than Front Street and the docks. They failed. The wind and weather offered no help, and the water-main pressure was very nearly exhausted. Thane couldn't see how anything would stop this blaze but the grace of God.

He prayed, but the words seemed hollow in his ears. He'd spent so long refusing to seek God that now he felt hypocritical. He'd barely gotten himself right with his heavenly Father and already he was pleading for divine intervention. Suddenly he felt helpless again. Helpless like when his father bullied him. Helpless like when he witnessed his mother's murder.

God, you know I'm no good, but some of these folks are.
He thought of Militine and the school, of Abrianna and Wade. Would they ever come out of this alive?

Around five o'clock Thane felt the wind shift. He looked up from where he'd been ripping up planks of sidewalk in hopes of creating a firebreak. “Look, the wind. It's blowing the fire back onto itself,” he told the man working at his side.

All of the men around him were strangers. He'd not been
able to find his company, so he'd set to work with those nearby who needed him. Everyone stopped what they were doing to assess the situation.

“God be praised,” one of the men murmured. “Maybe this will be our salvation.”

They continued their work, ever hopeful, until the wind again shifted and began blowing from the northwest. It gave the flames new momentum, and the earlier encouragement faded. Thane saw how the fight had gone out of the men. He felt the same.

By six-thirty one of the company chiefs came to tell them they were needed at Third and James Streets. “Third?” Thane asked, thinking surely the man was mistaken. Had the fire really spread that far?

“Third,” the man replied. “It's moving fast up James. We're going to tear down all those shanties along the street and hope the fire won't jump the gap and set fire to Skid Road. Places along there are nothing but kindling, even on a good day.”

The men gathered all of their tools and hurried in the direction of the newest concern. Along the way Thane could see the extensive destruction. Buildings were ablaze from Front Street to Third. The heat was such that many of the firemen had been burned without ever coming in contact with the flames. Explosions sounded from the numerous hardware stores as ammunition and dynamite were ignited by the fire. Debris flew through the air, and brick facades collapsed as buildings gave way to the intense heat. It felt as if they were in the middle of a great war with death flying at them from every angle.

At Third Street they turned on James and crossed over to lend aid to the workers already there. The smoke was thicker there, with intense fire at their backs. The Occidental Hotel, the finest in all of Seattle, suddenly exploded and roared into flames just a short way behind them. The temperature became unbearable, and the firemen were forced back.

“It's melted the fire hose,” someone announced. “There's no hope for us now.”

Men pulling one of the pumps hurried past them toward the fire. Even so, by the looks on the faces of the weary men, Thane knew they didn't think it would do any good.

“We've been at this for almost four hours,” the man at Thane's right said, shaking his head. “Ain't saved much of anything.”

“The way I see it,” another man said, stopping long enough to wipe a sooty handkerchief across his sweaty neck, “we might as well let the fire have it.”

Thane couldn't give up that easily. He was just as worried and just as tired as everyone else, but some things were worth dying for, and this was one of them. Militine came to mind. He found himself praying again that she was safe and well away from the fire. They were to have been married tomorrow night. Now that would be impossible. Who knew if they would even survive this night?

“I think it's God's punishment,” the man at Thane's right added. “Just last week it was Johnstown, Pennsylvania, getting wiped out in a flood, and now Seattle is burnin ' to the ground. Seems like maybe it's the end of all time and God's takin' back the earth a piece at a time.”

No one challenged the man's thinking. Thane had no way of knowing if there was any truth to what he said. He hadn't read the Bible, and short of listening to sermons in church and Wade's occasional teaching, he hadn't even known about God's return. What if the man was right and God was taking back the earth a piece at a time? What would happen to the people? It was thought that over two thousand had died in the Johnstown flood. Had God taken those folks back, as well? Would He take some from Seattle? Maybe take them all?

“Oh dear. Oh dear.” Miss Poisie was flitting about like a little bird. “Oh, Wade, what are we to do? We've packed as much as possible, but there's only so much a person can take with them.”

Wade tried to appear a pillar of strength for them, but in truth he was exhausted. The worry and fears he'd had for himself and Abrianna had taken their toll, just as the waters had.

“Sister, calm down,” Mrs. Madison ordered. “Right now we must see to it that Abrianna is dry and comfortable.”

“Oh, dear Abrianna, forgive me. This is all quite beyond me. I would take a bit of Dr. Dremer's Syrup for calming nerves, but I'm afraid I might be of no use to anyone then.”

“Well, do try to make yourself calm, Sister. There is nothing to be gained by fretting. We are all very worried about the fire and what we should do, but we must be strong. The ladies are counting on us to offer leadership.”

Wade glanced over to see the older woman towel drying Abrianna's curls. He tried not to worry about whether her time in the water would take some further toll. She looked very pale and small. He was so used to Abrianna being full of energy and life, willing and able to battle all kinds of giants who threatened to tear apart her perfectly ordered kingdom. In so many ways she was still such an innocent. At least she was, until today.