Chapter 16 #2
The barrels were marked QUICKLIME and CHLORIDE OF LIME. Monty reached for a smaller keg, but the doc stopped him with a hand splayed across the top. “Not this one. It’s nitric acid. It goes to the commissary for disinfecting the communal plates, cups, and utensils.”
The man spoke as if he were reciting a passage from a medical book.
He wore a thin gold band on his left fourth finger.
Monty reached for one of the other barrels and carried it beside the church, relieved at that revelation.
Annamae showed him where to stack the barrels while the doctor carried a sack across his shoulders.
Metal clanked from inside with each step.
“Aside from rebuilding, this will be the most important thing you’ll do in this town.” The sack dropped at the doctor’s feet.
The orange tabby Monty had yet to name jumped from his lazy curl in the windowsill and bolted away in the direction Ernie had gone.
“Please heed Miss Worthington’s instructions while I deliver the remaining barrels to the commissary. Miss Worthington, I’ll be back shortly.”
“Yes, Doctor Hamilton.”
Annamae rested her basket on the ground and asked Robert to fetch a pail of water from the pump routed directly to the nearest stream. Robert obliged but with lackluster movements.
The clop of horse’s hooves joined the other sounds before the cart disappeared altogether. Annamae removed a small pry bar from the sack and loosened the lid on the nearest barrel. Monty helped her remove it the rest of the way.
“This, gentlemen, is chloride of lime. It is a highly potent disinfectant. You must use it cautiously.” Robert returned with the pail, and she thanked him.
“This works well to clean and disinfect hard surfaces and wood containing any mold or other harmful substances. It’s vital that you dilute it properly.
It will turn dyed cloth white, and it can cause chemical burn on the skin if the solution is too strong. ”
Using a piece of chalk she removed from her pocket, she wrote measurements on the barrel lid for dilution instructions.
Then she demonstrated how to mix the solution.
A pungent odor filled the air around them.
It smelled clean, but the sharpness of it also tickled Monty’s nose and stung his eyes.
After she finished mixing, she dipped a rag into the pail, squeezed out the excess liquid, and walked inside the church. The men followed.
Ernie peered around the back of the building, and Monty motioned for him to join them.
Craning her slender neck, Annamae gaped at the hole in the church where his house had crashed. Part of the home’s foundation remained on the lot next door, but any evidence beyond that was now ashes.
Annamae looked around at what remained until she found something that suited her. She inspected an upturned pew they’d decided earlier needed to be burned. White and black mold, along with dirt, clung to the legs. She scrubbed the rag over the mold, and, little by little, the offense disappeared.
“Would’ya look at that,” Jim said.
Monty covered his nose and sneezed.
She grinned at him. “It can do that too.”
When she finished cleaning the entire leg, wet, shiny wood was the result.
A few hairline cracks appeared, but they wouldn’t affect the pew’s stability.
Perhaps they could salvage more pews than they’d originally thought.
She held the filthy rag away from her apron.
“Chloride of lime is great to use on anything that’s still functional but needs to be cleaned. ”
Annamae returned to the outdoors, and the men followed. Ernie joined them as she replaced the lid on the chloride of lime barrel. Then she went through instructions with the barrel marked QUICKLIME.
“This powder is wonderful for sprinkling in yards or lots. It disinfects the ground without harming livestock or wildlife.”
Ernie concentrated on the earth beneath his shoes. “Excuse me, ma’am, but is it necessary to clean the dirt?”
She assessed Ernie in two blinks of an eye, the way Monty had witnessed her do many times at the Red Cross tents.
While judgment usually followed Ernie’s attempts to converse, compassion filled her answer.
“Absolutely. God only knows the things mixed in that water when it swept through town. This dirt is more contaminated than you can imagine. If it isn’t disinfected and folks build on top of it, it could make them very sick.
You’ll be doing a very noble thing by helping to disinfect it. ”
Ernie’s posture improved, and he nodded as if she’d bestowed a great honor on him.
She pulled a scoop from the bag, filled an empty pail with quicklime, and then used the scoop to spread an even amount of powder on the ground. “Do this three times a week or more often as you see the powder fade away. By mid-July, you can limit application to once a week.”
She handed Ernie the scoop then guided it with her own hand, demonstrating the sprinkle. “If you get any on you, wash the area with soap and water right away. Though it’s safe for animals, it can cause skin allergies in humans.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Ernie worked hard to control his shaking when Annamae left him on his own, Monty could tell. The old man lit up in a way Monty had never observed from him before.
She had a way of doing that to a man.
As she helped them prepare more chloride of lime, she answered questions, promised Monty she and Doctor Hamilton would deliver more barrels, and explained once again which areas would fall under his district.
“Thank you for doing this. Within a few weeks, the typhoid cases should drop significantly.”
“I’m willing to help in any way I can.”
She tipped her head to the side, surveying him for something he hoped he could give. “You could help with one more thing.”
He nodded for her to continue.
She made sure the others were far enough away not to overhear.
“The Italian man I told you about. The typhoid has weakened him, but he’s still alive.
He told me he was one of the workers installing new plumbing in the South Fork clubhouse the day the dam burst.” She whispered the last sentence.
“A man on the property named Colonel Unger knew the dam would break if they didn’t do something quickly.
He commanded the crew of plumbers to dig trenches to release excess water before the entire dam gave way.
Unger was told if they cut off the screens covering the spillway, it would help lower the water level. He refused.”
Monty inhaled deeply.
“The man claims this Colonel Unger was afraid of what the club’s shareholders would do when they discovered they had no prized fish. When their efforts to dig trenches failed, he allowed permission to remove the screens. But it was too late.”
Monty’s stomach roiled. “What is it you think I can do?”
“I want to report this, but I don’t know whom to trust.”
“Let the Italian tell his story.”
“He’s too weak to appear before the courts, and he may not make it through the night. This might very well be the information the judges need to hold the club accountable.”
“I told you the other day, these are not the kind of men to trifle with.”
“And that’s what makes them untouchable.” She pinched her lips to control her irritation. “If we don’t stand up and fight for ourselves, who will?”
No one. But fighting men like Uncle Henry was also a guaranteed defeat. After all, the upper-crust lawyers who defended such cases were also members of the club.
In order to keep Annamae safe and her information out of the wrong hands, he must convince her to let him lead. “Don’t say anything to anyone yet. I know a couple of men I can talk to. I’ll see what I can do.”
She touched his sleeve. “Thank you, Monty. One more thing?”
He was beginning to dread that phrase. “What am I, a genie?”
“This isn’t a request. It’s a gift.”
She reached inside her basket and pulled out a paper-wrapped square. He knew what it was without even removing the paper. The weight of it in his hand, the familiar thickness. A Bible.
“You mentioned yours got ruined in the flood, and your first service since the flood is nearing, so I’m loaning you mine until you find another. Keep it as long as you need.”
The paper slid off easily to reveal a cover worn in all the right spots. Monty opened to the first page, where she’d written her name in looping cursive. He ran his fingertips over the scrawl.
Horse hooves clomped, and he spotted Doctor Hamilton returning for her. “This is very thoughtful.”
She smiled. “Friends think about each other.”
The wagon jerked to a stop beside them. She allowed the doctor to help her up, settled in, and waved as they drove away.
He’d spend the rest of his day thinking about more than friendship.