Janet Barton - A Place of Refuge

Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Gretchen and another woman, whom he recognized as one who came to some of the benevolent committee meetings Mrs. Heaton often hosted, entered the room. She was probably a member of the Ladies’ Aide Society as was Mrs. Heaton, but he wasn’t certain.

“Clara! What brings you—”

“Kathleen’s sister contacted me and let me know she’d sent her to you. I’ve been afraid something like this might happen.”

“Kathleen? Is that her name? How do you know her?” Mrs. Heaton asked.

In what Luke thought was an effort not to disturb the injured woman, his landlady led Clara over to the windows. But in the quiet of the night, he could still hear what was being said.

The woman Mrs. Heaton had introduced as Clara Driscoll lowered her voice. “She works in my department at Tiffany Glass Company and yes, her name is Kathleen O’Bryan. Evidently her brother-in-law lost his job again and came home drunk today. When Kathleen got there, she found them in the middle of a fight and she tried to stop him from hitting her sister. That’s when he came at her, hit her and knocked her down and hit her again. He left saying she’d better be gone when he came back.”

White-hot anger surged through Luke as the young woman moaned. How dare the man touch her! He—

The doctor arrived just then and Mrs. Heaton turned to Luke. “Why don’t you wait downstairs, Luke? I’ll let you know what the doctor says and how Miss O’Bryan is doing in a little while. Thank you for helping me get her upstairs.”

“You’re welcome.” Luke tried to slip his hand out of the young woman’s, but she held on tighter. Her eyes fluttered open and she hoarsely whispered, “Thank you.”

He leaned close and whispered, “You’re welcome. And you’re safe here. Doc and Mrs. Heaton are going to take care of you now.”

Only then did she let go of his hand. He watched her eyelashes drift downward and turned to leave as the doctor took his place.

Luke cringed as he heard a louder moan this time and he fought the urge to rush back to her side. But the doc was the one who could make her feel better now. He’d only be in the way.

“Please do let me know how she is, Mrs. Heaton.”

She gave a short nod. “I will.”

Luke’s heart twisted in his chest as he hurried down the stairs to the main floor and then down the next flight to the first floor where he and the other male boarders’ rooms were. He’d try to get some work done—at least a scene or two on the book he was writing. Otherwise he’d only pace the floor waiting for Mrs. Heaton to let him know how Miss O’Bryan was.

He flipped through a few typewritten pages to get back into his writing, but in only moments Luke realized he wouldn’t get any work done this far away from what was going on upstairs.

He gathered a tablet and pencil and went back upstairs and settled at Mrs. Heaton’s desk. He knew she wouldn’t mind; she’d offered to let him work in here before. Maybe he could at least make a few notes about his next chapter. Luke tried to concentrate on what he was writing but the connection to it and the woman upstairs was so apparent he couldn’t concentrate on anything but her.

If not for meeting Miss O’Bryan that day in the park, he might not even be writing this book. Her name fit her well, or at least the woman he remembered from that day in the park last summer, when her brother-in-law was threatening both her and her sister.

She’d shown such dignity that day, but the look in her eyes told him how vulnerable she really was. Ever since that encounter, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind and every time he caught a glimpse of hair the color of hers, he took a second look—at the park, on a trolley, in the tenements, when he’d gone on an assignment from his boss, Michael Heaton. Michael was Mrs. Heaton’s son and owned his own detective agency. Until his marriage this past December, he’d lived here, too.

Michael felt he had reason to believe that his sister who’d been missing for several years might have wound up living in the tenements. He didn’t want his mother to know of his fears, but he’d confided in Luke that he’d almost given up hope of finding her at all.

It was the traveling in and out of the tenements that had precipitated the change in his writing career. He liked writing the lighter dime novels that made him a living, along with occasional investigative work for Michael, but over the past few months, his goal had changed. He wanted to make a difference in people’s lives with his writing. What he was working on now was a book that depicted life for those less fortunate in the city, and Luke hoped it would continue to call attention to their plight as Jacob Riis had done with his book, How the Other Half Lives.

Tonight he realized the woman upstairs had everything to do with the direction his writing had gone in—because of the way she and her sister had been treated that day in the park. The conditions he was afraid they lived in. And seeing her tonight—

“Luke?” Mrs. Heaton broke into his thoughts.

He jumped to his feet and came around the desk. “Yes, ma’am? How is she?”

“The doctor says Kathleen is going to be all right. But he said she’s going to be in some pain for the next few days. He thinks she may have cracked a rib, too. Clara is giving her this week off and we’re going to try to find out how best to help her. She’ll be staying with us for now.”

“That’s good, I’m glad.” Relief washed over him, knowing she’d be here. He couldn’t explain the strange connection he felt for the young woman, but it was there and it was strong.

“Evidently her sister’s husband has beaten Kathleen several times, probably because she comes to her sister’s defense and keeps her from taking the beating,” Mrs. Heaton continued. “Clara says Kathleen’s sister, Colleen, is expecting a child. However, after tonight, she realized she had to get Kathleen out of there. Colleen was afraid that if she didn’t, her husband might hurt Kathleen even worse.”

Luke felt his lip curl in disdain for the man. “Kathleen will be safe here. I’ll see that she is.”

“I know you will. She’s awake now and trying to remember what happened and why she’s here. Things are slowly coming back to her. I’m going to take a food tray up to her and see if we can get her to eat something. I’ll let her know you were asking about her and helped to get her upstairs.”

“If you need me for anything at all—”

“Thank you, Luke. I know where to find you and I’m thankful you are here. We’re going to take care of her.”

Luke watched his landlady leave the room, thankful that she’d given Kathleen her card last summer. The pretty redhead might not know it, but she was in the best place she could be right now.

The vision of Kathleen’s face, so lovely under all the swelling and bruising, came to him. He clenched his fist once more and went to look out of the window. He didn’t know how long it would take, but he was going to find that no-good brother-in-law of hers. If the man were lucky, the cops would get to him before Luke did.

* * *

Kathleen opened one eye and then the other. A sliver of sunlight creeping through the slit in the draperies told her it was morning. The last thing she remembered from the night before was the nice lady... Kathleen closed her eyes and concentrated. Mrs. Heaton. Yes, the woman who’d given her a card last summer and who owned the home she’d been sent to...last night?

She took a deep breath. Why was she having such a hard time putting her thoughts together? Her face, her temple, her whole head ached, but nowhere near as bad as the night before—until she reached up to touch the bandage on her temple. The light contact was enough to make the throb feel like a pounding hammer.