Chapter 25
San Francisco, California
We’d had a long talk the night before at home, and Papa had laid out the truth—no matter how well Little Women did at the box office, with a financial panic and possible recession or depression on the way, Bennett Studios might never recover.
I wasn’t sure if I even had days.
Sam was already in the dim kitchen warming the stove and setting the coffee to boil when I entered.
We’d lost everything in the fire except the clothes on our backs, and the things we’d left at Bess’s Place.
Sam had asked if I wanted a second dress, but if I didn’t stay, there was no reason to purchase expensive fabric and sew another.
“Good morning,” I whispered, shaking from the cold.
He turned at the sound of my voice, his eyes filling with affection even as the lines of his face were drawn with worry.
I walked across the room and entered his warm embrace.
Sam held me tight, as he often did, whenever we greeted one another. I had never felt such peace or known such certainty than when I was with him. It had started in camp on the Yuba River and had only grown more intense as the days and weeks passed.
“Your birthday is in three days, Ally.”
“It’s constantly on my mind.”
“And you haven’t learned anything new about November 3rd?”
“No.” I pulled back just enough to look up at him.
“I’m going to San Francisco tomorrow in 1929 to see if I can find a death record for you or me, or if I can locate another copy of The Annals of San Francisco.
I’ve looked through every book I can find about the history of San Francisco, and they all claim the fire is supposed to happen on November 3rd, but none of them mention our names. ”
“Why do you think The Annals of San Francisco will help you?”
“Sometimes historians get their information mixed up. I want to see if the book still records our deaths on the 3rd. Perhaps history changed again without me knowing.”
“Have you tried to find the person who borrowed the copy from the Hollywood Library?”
“The librarian won’t give me the information.”
“Why don’t you try to get it without her help?”
I pulled back farther. “What do you mean?”
“Distract the librarian and then look up the information yourself. Wouldn’t that be easier than making the trip?”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” Nerves tightened my stomach just thinking about breaking the library’s rules, but it would be so much easier than going to San Francisco.
With a nod I said, “I’ll try that tomorrow.
Perhaps I can take someone with me to distract Miss Clampett while I look.
” I hugged him again. “I wish we would have thought of this sooner.”
He was quiet for a moment and then asked, “What if I’m still supposed to die?”
The thought filled me with dread. “Then I will have no choice but to save you and lose this path.”
“How?”
“What do you mean?”
“How will you save me, Ally?”
I looked up at him. “I’ll stop the fire from happening.”
“We don’t know why or where it will start. And it’s supposed to start the day after your birthday. How will you prevent it from happening two days early? What if you can’t change it and you go back to 1929 and realize it happened anyway?”
Panic filled my chest as I shook my head. “What is my alternative, Sam? Stay here and change history, then forfeit this path, too?”
“I thought you were going to find someone who could tell you if you forfeit the second path once you’ve lost the first.”
“We have been looking, but we can’t find anyone who knows. I hate feeling helpless.”
“We’re not helpless. God has gone before us.”
“Am I playing God by trying to change history?” The thought had occurred to me several times, but I tried to push it away. He had allowed me to learn about Sam’s death. Wasn’t it my responsibility to do the right thing, even if it cost me the life I wanted to live?
“I don’t even know how to answer that.” Sam sighed as he hugged me close again. “I just know that we made vows to one another, and I want to honor them.”
“What God has brought together—”
“Let no man put asunder.”
“I believe God brought us together. He led me here and allowed love to grow between us.”
“Then we must not let anyone harm our marriage.”
“Whoever starts the fire on November 3rd has the intention to harm us.”
“I think that’s the answer, then, Ally. You’re not playing God. You’re protecting the man you love.”
“I do love you, Sam.”
He kissed me then, and I wasn’t sure how he did it, but each kiss felt more incredible than the last, and my longing for him increased. The closeness and bond I felt with him was unlike anything I’d ever experienced with another person. And I wanted more. A lifetime more.
Sam deepened the kiss and stole my breath. His body pressed against mine as the kiss became more passionate—
A slight knock at the door interrupted the moment.
I was closest to the door, so I walked over and opened it.
My eyes widened as I found one of the prostitutes standing on our doorstep, so badly beaten that her right eye was swollen shut and her torn clothes were hanging off her body. Blood streaked from her split lip down her chin, and bruises darkened around her neck.
“Lulu,” Sam said as he opened the door a little wider.
What little strength had brought her to our door was now gone, and she crumpled to the floor in an unconscious heap.
I reached for her but was unable to stop her from falling.
“Jim did this to her,” Sam said as he scooped her off the ground effortlessly. “There’s practically nothing left of her. She’s skin and bones.”
“Did he starve her? Why would he do that?”
“To punish her, most likely.” Sam glanced out the back door. “She might have been followed. I need to get her out of here before Jim shows up.”
“It’s getting lighter out.”
“That’s why we need to move fast.” He shook his head in anger. “I don’t want to get you messed up in this, but I need your help. Grab a couple of quilts and meet me in the shed. And try not to wake the children.”
I did as Sam asked and grabbed two quilts from a trunk in our room, then went outside.
The morning was dawning, and the noise in the adjoining gambling hall had quieted as I made my way across the dusty yard. Even though I saw no one, I felt like a dozen pairs of eyes were on me as I stepped into the shed.
Lulu was lying on the ground as Sam tossed firewood out of a handcart and onto a pile in the corner.
“What will you do?” I asked.
“The only thing I can. Get her out of Sydney Town.” He finished tossing the wood out and reached for one of the quilts. After he laid it in the bottom of the cart, he lifted Lulu and put her inside.
“Is she still alive?”
“Barely. She needs a doctor.”
“Who will you bring her to?”
“There is a network of people who work together to save women like Rose and Lulu. I’ll get her to the next stop, and they’ll take her from there.”
“Is that what you did with Rose?”
He nodded as he took the second quilt and laid it over Lulu before piling hay on top. “We don’t have much time. Jim might be looking for her already, and people will be out and about soon. If they see me with this cart, they’ll report back to him.”
“Other people know you do this?”
“They suspect.”
“How long have you been doing it?”
He took the pistol out of his holster to make sure it was loaded. “I’ll answer all your questions later. Right now, I need to get her up the hill. Can you open the door?”
I did as he asked, fear and uncertainty making sweat bead on my brow. I didn’t want Sam to get in trouble, but I admired him more than ever for doing the right thing.
“Go back into the kitchen and start your day,” he said as he lifted the handles of the cart.
“If Jim or anyone else comes looking for me or Lulu, you need to tell them you haven’t seen me since last night.
Pretend to be upset at me. Do anything you can to convince them that you don’t know anything about this. ”
I nodded, though the thought terrified me.
“And make sure Paddy is with you constantly. Don’t let him go to Portsmouth Square to work. Tell him I’ve gone to make a delivery, and he’ll know what he needs to do.”
“I will. Be careful, Sam.”
He gave me a quick kiss and then left the shed.
I stood there for a moment, trying to catch my breath, praying he would not get caught.
The hours ticked by slowly as we went about our daily activities. When I told Paddy that Sam was making a delivery, he nodded, his face grave, and he didn’t leave Bess’s Place to go to Portsmouth Square that day.
After breakfast, we finished the dishes, and still Sam did not return. My nerves were on edge, dreading the moment Jim showed up, wondering how I would pretend that I knew nothing.
“Would you like to help me with the children’s schooling today?” Father asked as I hung up the dish bin. “It would do you good to get your mind off whatever is troubling you.”
It would do me some good.
“I spoke to Reverend and Mrs. Green at church on Sunday,” Father said as he pulled out two slates he’d purchased for the children at the mercantile.
“They said that they are getting a good response from businessmen and community members about the school. Someone has taken up a subscription, and they would like to know when we can start teaching.”
I’d been so focused on my own troubles, I hadn’t thought about Father’s school in a long time.
“When do they want to get it started?” I asked.
“They think there will be enough interest after the first of the year.”
Disappointment hit me like another wave when I realized I might not be here to see it.
“I will need another teacher,” he said with a smile. “That is, unless you plan to work at your husband’s hotel or start a family soon.”
The thought of starting a family with Sam filled me with such joy, I couldn’t help but smile, though it was tempered by the constant threat of leaving.
I put my hand on Father’s shoulder and said, “People don’t talk about such things.”