Two Countries, Two Women by Irene Cote Single

Author:Irene Cote Single [Single, Irene Cote]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781462410255
Publisher: Inspiring Voices
Published: 2014-08-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

ALICE’S ILLNESS

Poli was hired on a construction job and had to be away for several days. Times were difficult for many families, especially those who didn’t plant gardens and have homemade canned foods to get through the cold winters.

The brutally cold winter dampened the spirits worse than the summer months as fewer jobs were available and it was difficult to keep warm. Poli had wood to sell, but his neighbors had little money to pay for it. He decided he would join some of the men and travel out of town. He was rugged and could handle the long days required to get the work completed.

At times Alice was left alone with the young children five days a week until Poli returned on Friday night. During one of those departures, Alice became ill. They did not yet have a telephone, so she could not call anyone to help. Her children were too little to send off to get help. As the days wore on, Alice became increasingly weak and was unable to place wood in the stove to keep their home warm.

Alice lay on her bed with a high fever, and her young children snuggled in bed with her under the quilts to try and keep warm. She thought to herself, I am going to die here in my bed. What will happen to the children? I am so weak I can’t even feed them and they keep crying. They are cold, too. Dear Lord, please send someone to help us. Hours turned into days, and Poli was still away and no one had come.

Odile and Pierre lived only about a mile away and didn’t get out much during the winter, and they had young children of their own. They decided they would go pay a visit to Alice since they had not seen her in quite some time. The storm had settled and the sun shone brightly, so they put on their heavy boots and coats and trudged the mile down High Street.

As they were approaching the dark green house, Odile nudged her husband and said, “Look, there’s no smoke coming out of Alice’s chimney. That’s very odd on such a cold day. I wonder what’s wrong.”

They quickened their steps as much as they were able, holding on to each other’s arms as they trudged through the snow up the driveway to the back door. The door was unlocked so they knocked and walked in. The frigid air hit them square in their faces, and they called out, “Alice, are you home?” There was no answer from their daughter so they called out again, louder than the time before. “Alice, Poli, anybody home?”

A moment later they heard a slight murmur from the first-floor bedroom that sounded like one of the children. Pierre Laprise hurried behind his wife as they moved quickly to the bedroom. Alice laid still and the children stirred as they heard their grandparents approach. Little Pete spoke up and said, “Memere, Mama is real sick.”

Odile rushed to the side of the bed and touched Alice’s brow, feeling the heat.

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