Children of the Fire by Harriette Gillem Robinet

Author:Harriette Gillem Robinet
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 1991-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

HALLELUJAH COULD HARDLY WAIT TO REACH home and lie down on her own soft straw bed. The girls left Mary Jane who insisted on going to her job, and they continued on their way to the house.

“I’m not even hungry,” Hallelujah told Elizabeth. “I’m just so tired, I want to lie down!”

“Are you sure your mother won’t mind?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes. That’s one thing Pm sure of.” And as she said it, Hallelujah’s heart seemed to leap in her throat. Miss Tilly and Mr. Joseph were such good people. They were always generous to others, and she had never appreciated what that meant.

As she pulled a hesitant Elizabeth up the front porch steps, she smelled bread baking. “Smell that,” she said. “Maybe I’m hungry after all.”

“Miss Tilly,” she called, “I’m home!”

She opened the front door. To her surprise the hall was full of people lying down. Men and boys were sprawled under blankets sleeping. An infant began to cry in the parlor. She jerked the parlor door open, and the room was full of women. A newborn infant lay naked on bloody sheets. Hallelujah shut the door quickly.

They stepped over sleeping bodies and reached the kitchen. Miss Tilly was coming to meet them.

“Honey child!” called Miss Tilly, raising her arms to heaven. “Thank the good Lord!”

Hallelujah began crying. Gratitude and love flooded her. She felt choked with sorrow for all the times she had been mean to Miss Tilly. She could hardly catch her breath. Dirty dress and all, she hugged Miss Tilly, and Miss Tilly buried her in her apron. Finally Hallelujah raised her face and said, “Chicago’s burning! Armour’s is destroyed, burned down. Elizabeth watched it burn.”

She pulled Elizabeth forward. “This is Elizabeth. She’s lost from her family, and her house burned down.”

Mr. Joseph came in with firewood. “Armour’s burned?”

“And your building, Mr. Joseph.” She waved her arm dramatically. “All burned down. And our courthouse where President Lincoln lay in state. It burned in twenty minutes.” Her back pained, but she couldn’t tell Miss Tilly that right now.

“What do you mean, burned?” Mr. Joseph stared at his wife.

Miss Tilly stared back. “One thing the child don’t do is tell lies. She might be tricky, but she don’t lie outright.”

Elizabeth spoke up. “I watched the courthouse burn down.” She turned to Hallelujah. “We were together.”

Miss Tilly pointed to the sink. “Why don’t we have water? Or gaslight? Are the firemen using all the water?”

“Gasworks exploded,” said Elizabeth.

“And the waterworks were destroyed,” Hallelujah said. “A man said there was a wooden roof over the four pumping engines, and it all burned down.” She remembered her brother. “Is Edward Joseph all right?”

Miss Tilly pointed to a corner. The kitchen was warm from the oven and fragrant with the smell of bread baking.

She said, “He just came in. Said he was looking for you in the West Division, and the bridges opened. He couldn’t get across to come home. He’s plumb tuckered out.”

The girls walked into the kitchen to see Edward Joseph sprawled on his back fast asleep on the wooden floor.

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