Miss Madeira by Austin Gary

Author:Austin Gary [Austin Gary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780987782106
Google: MohMoAEACAAJ
Amazon: B005K75KMG
Barnesnoble: B005K75KMG
Goodreads: 12513189
Publisher: Deckle Press
Published: 2011-08-15T03:00:00+00:00

Part Two

There is a pain—so utter—It swallows substance up—Then covers the Abyss with Trance—So Memory can step

Around—across—upon it—As One within a Swoon—Goes safely—where an open eye—Would drop him—Bone by Bone—

~ Emily Dickinson

One

I had a little bird, Its name was Enza, I opened the window, And in-flew-enza.

In November of 1918, Ronald Jones, Jr., the 20-year-old brother of Madeline Jones, died from bacterial pneumonia; having served two years in the U.S. Army, Ronnie had just returned home from overseas duty. At first, Doc Simpson misdiagnosed his illness as cholera, due to watery diarrhea and occasional vomiting. When he developed a persistent nosebleed, Doc became deeply concerned; fortunately, he quarantined Ronnie, or he might have infected even more people.

It was three days before Madeline, attending the 3rd District Normal School in Cape Girardeau, learned that Ronnie, her mother and father and one of her two younger sisters were victims of the world’s largest pandemic—the Spanish flu—which, over the next 14 months, would claim between 50 and 100 million victims worldwide. Madeline’s sisters—including Esther, then in sixth grade—went to school in spite of Doc Simpson’s warning that Ronnie’s initial cholera diagnosis might, in fact, be something as serious as dengue fever. Since Esther and her younger sister, Virginia, showed no immediate signs, they convinced their mother to let them go—which proved fatal to Esther, five of her classmates and her teacher, Goldie Maddox. By lunchtime, Esther had developed a low-grade fever but said nothing; it wasn’t until her nose began to bleed that Miss Maddox was aware of her illness, though she failed to comprehend its seriousness.

It was one o’clock before Doc discovered the Jones girls were at school. He immediately called Johnston’s secretary, Mrs. Dean, who alerted the superintendent.

“W.O., there’s somethin’ goin’ around. May be a flu bug, but I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“What is it?”

“Damned if I know…but Ronnie Jones just died and his lungs were gushin’ blood. Ronald and Mary are showin’ signs. Now, don’t start a panic, but you better be sendin’ the girls home right away.”

Within three days of exposure to the virus, Miss Maddox awoke with a high fever, blanketed with dozens of bloody petechiae and gasping for air. Hysterical, she telephoned her sister, Marie Wallace, who rushed to her aid. When Mrs. Wallace arrived, she found Goldie hemorrhaging from her ears. Before the doctor could be summoned, she suffocated—her lungs, half-filled sacs of foamy blood. Ironically, the date was November 11th, 1918. Armistice Day, the end of the Great War. In all, eighty-nine of Prospect’s nearly 1500 residents died over the next three months—including Doc Simpson.

Two weeks later, Sarah Jamison arrived at the train depot in Prospect—met there by Karl Madeira, who had borrowed Herb Müller’s delivery truck. In anticipation of being hired to replace Miss Maddox, she brought along most of her clothing and personal possessions in a steamer trunk, which, with some difficulty, Karl loaded onto the flatbed truck.

“It’s so nice of you to meet me. I’m not sure what I would have done without your assistance.

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