A Lady's Choice (26 page)

Alex's fingers, white from gripping the brim of the hat he held, trembled at his surroundings. The stark walls and the sparse furniture of the Occoquan Workhouse receiving area, where he stood with Ellen and Edmund, offered a depressing entrance into the facility. Smells of cooking food, perspiration, and human waste mingled in the air to produce a pungent odor that burned his nose and throat.

A door opened and a middle-aged woman entered the room. The corners of her mouth drew down in a scowl, and her gaze darted over each of them. She stopped in front of them and crossed her arms. “I'm Matron Herndon. I understand you're here to see one of our inmates.”

Alex stepped forward and studied the woman's face. “Yes, we want to see Sarah Whittaker.”

The woman waved her hand in dismissal. “I'm afraid that's impossible. She's in solitary right now. Good day.”

She turned to leave, but Alex raised his voice. “Just a minute. I don't think you understand. We've come a great distance, and it's important we see her.”

The matron turned slowly and frowned. She glanced over her shoulder at two guards who entered from a door behind her. “I've told you it's not possible, and that's final.”

Alex took a step toward her. “We understand Sarah is very ill. If that's the case, we insist on seeing her.”

She pointed to the two officers who moved closer to her. “I'm telling you for the last time, you can't see her. Now get out of here before I have you thrown out.”

Alex moved closer to her and shook his finger in her face. “Have us thrown out, and we'll go straight to the newspapers and every judge in this city. If we find out you've harmed Sarah in any way, we'll press charges against you for assault. If she should die, it'll be murder.”

Matron Herndon's eyes flared, and she took a step backward. Alex pressed on, his finger wagging. “We know she's here, so you'd better take us to your infirmary. I want my brother-in-law to examine her, or I'm going to tear this place apart!”

“Matron, why don't you let them see her? It would be better than having newspaper reporters all over the place.”

Alex glanced in the direction of another guard who entered. Her voice was identical to the one on the telephone. She moved beside the matron and placed her hand on her superior's shaking shoulder.

“Let me take them to the infirmary, and you just go on with whatever you were doing. I won't let them stay long.”

Matron Herndon frowned. “I don't know. The warden doesn't want any visitors.”

The guard smiled. “I know. But you may be saving him more trouble than he needs right now. The newspapers are already questioning his administration of this place, and we don't want to give them anything else to hound him about.”

The matron hesitated for a few seconds and nodded her head. “Maybe you're right. I suppose it wouldn't hurt just to let them see the girl. All right, take them to the infirmary.” With that, she motioned for the guards behind her to follow, and they disappeared through one of the doors.

The woman who remained raised her fingers to her lips to signal silence. She walked to the door, placed her ear against it, and turned back to face Alex. “I'm Ruth Cochran. Follow me.”

Alex breathed a sigh of relief. “I'm so glad you came along. I don't know if I could have bluffed her much longer. Thanks for persuading her.”

Ruth nodded. “Matron Herndon's not very smart. She just follows orders. You're lucky the warden's not here right now, or you'd never have gotten inside.”

Alex, Ellen, and Edmund hurried behind Ruth down a long corridor and descended a narrow stairway into the basement. The smell of antiseptic drifted through the air of the hallway. Doors on either side opened into rooms filled with beds, and groans rose from the crowded quarters. Alex sensed the suffering humanity he passed, but he stared straight ahead. His thoughts today centered on Sarah and her nearness.

Ruth stopped before a closed door and turned to face them. “You don't have very long, so make it quick.”

Alex nodded. “We don't want to get you into any trouble, and we'll hurry.”

Ruth stepped aside for them to enter. “I told her you were coming, but I don't know if she understood. Please brace yourself before you see her. She's very ill.”

Alex reached for the doorknob, but his hand trembled so he couldn't turn it. He looked over his shoulder at Ellen and Edmund, swallowed, and tried again. The door creaked open, and they stepped into the room. Rays of light filtered through the tiny window over the bed and revealed a still figure lying there.

His legs buckled at the sight of Sarah's white face against the pillow, and he fell on his knees beside her. Ellen pressed a handkerchief to her nose, gasped, and walked to the other side of the bed. Edmund stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder.

Alex studied the still figure and looked for signs of his beloved Sarah in this pitiful creature before him. Her dry, white skin appeared thin, and bones protruded from her skeleton frame. Bald spots covered her head, and her chest rose slowly in shallow breaths. The inflamed area around her left nostril drew Alex's attention, and he looked up at Ruth. “What's the matter with her nose? It's crusted over with sores.”

“That's from the tubing they used when they force-fed her. Her nose would bleed for hours after each one.”

Edmund stepped around Ellen and leaned over to study Sarah. “Force-feeding? That's a form of torture. It has nothing to do with needed nutrition.”

Ruth's eyes teared. “I know.”

Alex glanced up at his brother-in-law. “Edmund, what do you think?”

Edmund felt Sarah's forehead before he took a stethoscope from his coat pocket. He placed the ends in his ears and the other against Sarah's chest. Concern shadowed his face as he lifted her emaciated wrist to check her pulse.

“It's not good, Alex. We've got to get her some decent care.”

Sarah stirred, and Alex grabbed her small hand. He leaned close to her. “Sarah, it's Alex. Can you hear me?” Her eyelids fluttered, and she stared upward. Alex pressed her hand tighter. “Look at me, Sarah. I'm here.”

Slowly she turned her head, looked into his eyes, and smiled. “Alex, I'm so glad you're here.” Her words were no more than a whisper, and he leaned closer to hear her.

Alex wiped at the tears filling his eyes. “I came as soon as I knew you needed me. I'm here to take care of you.”

Sarah turned her head and looked to the other side of the bed. “Ellen, you're with me too.”

Ellen leaned closer. “Yes, child, we're all here. Edmund too.”

Sarah reached for Ellen's hand and pulled it and Alex's across her chest. “I'm glad you'll both be here when I die.”

Terror ripped Alex's heart. “No! You're not going to die. We're going to get you out of here, and we're going home.”

Sarah smiled. “I've come home, Alex. I came home to Jesus.”

She closed her eyes, and her hands lay still. Alex jumped up from the floor. “Edmund, we've got to get her out of here so you can get her well. What should we do?”

Ruth had been quiet since they'd been in the room. She stepped up beside Alex. “I think you should go to Cameron House. Talk to the people there. You've seen what this place is like. Tell them they've got to get their friends out of here.”

“What's Cameron House?” Alex demanded.

“It's the headquarters for the pickets. It's near the White House. Any taxi can get you there. Tell them these women can't stand another night of terror like they suffered last week.”

“Night of terror?”

“The guards went on a rampage, beating and choking the inmates. Sarah had her arms shackled to bars above her head and hung there all night.”

Alex reached down and tucked a stray wisp of hair behind Sarah's ear. His finger trailed down her gaunt face that blurred in his vision because of the tears in his eyes. “I can't believe any human being would treat someone that way. Thank you, Ruth, for all your help.”

He started for the door with Ellen and Edmund right behind. Nothing mattered at the moment but getting Sarah away from this place before it killed her. “We'll get her released. Please don't let her die before we do.”

His mind raced as he rushed up the stairs from the infirmary and out the front door of the prison. They didn't have a moment to waste if they were to save Sarah's life. He hoped they hadn't arrived too late.

Sarah's head throbbed, and her body ached all over. She tried to find her way through the darkness around her, but it hurt to move. A weight crushed her chest, and she thought it might go away if she could just quit breathing.

She'd had a new dream while she was asleep, and she smiled at the memory of it. Alex and Ellen held her hands and told her they would take her home. She wanted to go home. Not back to Mrs. Simpson's school, but to the little house at Richland Creek where she and her mother had lived.

She wanted to sit under the willow tree with Alex and watch him skip stones across the pond. She wanted to go to baseball games and dinners after church on Sunday and run through the yard without wearing shoes. That's what she wanted, but she would only be going home to be buried next to her mother. Then they would both be with Jesus.

“Alex.” Her hand reached up, and someone clasped it. But it wasn't Alex.

“It's Ruth, Sarah. I'm here with you.”

Sarah smiled. “Thank you for being so kind to me, Ruth.”

She felt the darkness washing over her again, but she felt no fear, only peace. She was ready for whatever was to come.

Cameron House hummed with activity. Alex had never seen anything like it, and Ellen's wide-eyed stare told him she agreed. Typewriters clicked; women darted about displaying signs on poles; and voices chattered throughout the room. The energy of the workers contrasted with the lines of fatigue on their faces and the weariness in their sagging shoulders.

Alex shook his head in bewilderment. “It's hard to imagine Sarah being a part of this.”

Ellen nodded. “I know. When we saw those pickets at the White House before we came here, I wondered how she must have felt standing out there taking the insults like those women did today.”

Alex shuddered at the thought. “She tried to tell me how she felt about suffrage, but I wouldn't listen. I was too caught up in my own feelings. I thought I could make her change and be like I wanted.”

“You did what you thought best at the time. Now don't you go blaming yourself for any of this mess.” Ellen grabbed his arm and gave it a shake.

“But if I had offered to help her go after her dream, she might never have left with Roger Thorne.” Alex's pulse pounded at the mention of the man's name.

“But if, but if,” Ellen echoed. “You can't go back and undo the past. We gotta figure out what to do about the present.”

A young woman approached them from an office in the back. “Hello, my name is Marian Douglas. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I was on the phone when you got here. Please come with me.”

They wedged between the busy workers and followed her into a small room at the rear of the room. She motioned them to sit and closed the door behind her. “I understand you've been out to Occoquan. What were your impressions of the workhouse?”

“It's a disgrace and an abomination!” The words exploded from Alex's mouth. “Sarah looked like a skeleton. One of the guards told us she had been force-fed with a tube up her nose, and she hung shackled from her cell bars all one night last week.”

Marian's elbows rested on the desk in front of her, and she pressed the tips of her fingers together. “We've heard about the night of terror, as it's being called. We also know about the forced feedings, food with worms in it, and the filth of the place.”

Alex shook his head in surprise. “Then why haven't you done anything?”