LATE SUNDAY NIGHT,
OCTOBER 8, 1871
- Stampede of the Prisoners -
“Your dress is on fire!” Charlie dropped the wheelbarrow and, with his bare hands, began beating the tongues of flame that licked his mother’s full dress.
“Be careful, Charlie!” Father tugged off his jacket and wrapped it around Mother, finally smothering the flames.
“Are you burned?” Father asked anxiously. “Are you hurt?”
“No, just singed a little. I’ll be all right,” Mother said in a trembling voice. “Did you burn your hands, Charlie?”
“Not badly.” But Justin saw that he cringed when he took hold of the wheelbarrow again.
“Even though the fire is still behind us, the sparks and flames are blowing in the wind,” Father said. “So watch out for sparks on your clothing.”
“More fires are starting everywhere with this gale.” Claire pointed to a building where dark smoke had suddenly burst into flames.
“We’ve got to get to the lake,” Charlie suggested. “The fire will have to stop once it reaches the shoreline.”
“Sure, it’ll stop when it gets to the water—but we could be driven into the lake,” Father said. “We’d be safer heading across the river.”
As they continued their flight, hundreds of people crowded the streets.
“Where are my children?” a woman screamed. “I can’t find them!”
When they approached the Methodist church, Claire heaved a sigh of relief. It was still unharmed, although the roof of the parish house was smoldering.
“I’m going for Ticktock!” Justin yelled over the chaos as he raced to the barn in the rear of the parish house. “Charlie! Help me open the door,” he called to his brother.
Charlie set the wheelbarrow down and followed Justin to the barn.
“Help me lift the board that’s holding it closed,” Justin hollered.
Charlie looked at his hands and shook his head. “My hands are blistering,” he said. But he took one end of the board and lifted it.
Once the door fell open, Ticktock came running out. “Here, here, Ticktock,” Justin said, grabbing her. “She’s frightened of the fire and the noise.”
Charlie found the broken clothesline and tied it to the goat’s collar. “Where’s the family?”
Claire was clinging to Forrest, who had appeared from the side of the church. “Please come away with us,” she begged. “Down to the river or the lake.”
“No, I can’t leave. One of my parishioners, Mr. Haskell over there, says he can save the church if he can keep the roof and steeple wet. He’s going to climb up, and we’ll have a pulley of water from the well. Those men are helping.” He pointed to a group of men who were pumping water into pails. “Darling, you must get away now,” he said to Claire. “Get to the water where you’ll be safe.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“You must leave now.” Forrest’s voice was commanding. “Please, before it’s too late.”
“The fire’s still roaring,” Mother said as she looked up at the smoldering garnet sky. “Why haven’t they put it out?”
“There aren’t enough men or horses in the world that could put this fire out. Look at the skyline!” Charlie said. “This isn’t a fire. It’s an inferno!”
Forrest kissed Claire and then pushed her away. “Go, now! I’ll find you once it’s over. I promise.” He turned and rushed to the men who were waiting with water buckets. Mr. Haskell was already climbing up to the roof.
“Come on, Claire!” Mother begged, pulling her daughter by the sleeve. “We’ve got to keep ahead of the fire.”
“State Street’s on the way to the bridge, and if the fire hasn’t hit yet, I can remove the jewels,” Father said.
Mother’s voice rose to a scream. “For the last time, forget the jewels!”
“Those jewels are—”
“I know! Irreplaceable!” Mother stomped furiously out to the street, ahead of everyone.
Claire said nothing but followed her mother. Justin, with Ticktock on the rope leash, ran after them.
“Wait! We need to stick together … ,” Father called.
Charlie shoved his father out onto the sidewalk. “For God’s sake, get going!”
For a moment, even in the midst of the terror, Charlie’s words to his father shocked Justin. But this was no time to think about good manners.
“Where are you, Mother?” Justin called as they became swallowed up in the streets that were overrun with shoving, screaming people. Wild-eyed horses reared and their wagons tipped over. Furniture, pets, paintings, musical instruments, and other prized belongings spilled onto the ground, cluttering the pathway of the frightened crowds, who trampled over them.
Ticktock was clearly terrified and tried to run and jump away. Justin lifted her up and carried her until the trembling stopped and the goat nestled in his arms.
The family was now close enough to State Street to hear the fire signals from the courthouse building. “Listen!” Father exclaimed. “The fire alarms are sounding one after another.”
Suddenly the whistles were silent. “What happened?” Claire asked.
“There’s smoke coming from the courthouse roof! I thought that building was fireproof,” Charlie declared as they approached State Street.
“Nothing in this stinking town is fireproof,” Father hollered. “It’s all wood, with fake stone facades and brick.”
“That’s where the fire alarms sound,” Mother said. “And now that the courthouse is on fire, the alarms are burned out.”
“What about the prisoners?” Claire asked. “The jail is in the courthouse. They’ll burn to death in there.”
“There’s your answer!” Mother pointed to a stream of men in striped prison suits who raced out of the building, then broke into different directions, darting down the street, laughing and cheering.
“We’re free!” they yelled.
“Break into the saloons and we’ll celebrate!”
One man grabbed a chair that had been left behind on the street and smashed it. Grabbing a broken chair leg, he ran to the department store in a nearby building, broke the front display windows, then climbed through the broken glass.
Outside a music store, a piano stood where someone had tried to save it. A prisoner jumped on the keyboard, then leaped to the top of the expensive instrument and waved his arms. “This fire is a blessing from heaven for the poor among us. Grab whatever you want.” He jumped off the piano, kicked down the door of a nearby store, and disappeared inside. In a moment he emerged with his arms full of clothing.
A woman whom Justin had seen in the crowd suddenly broke away and headed to an expensive fabric store across the road. Others followed her.
Two men who were hiding inside blocked their way. “You can’t come in here like thieves!”
The woman pushed them aside, and the others behind her punched and clobbered the men who were trying to protect their property.
Within a few seconds, the woman came out carrying a huge bolt of costly silk. Others raced out of the smoldering building lugging sewing machines, bolts of cloth, and furniture.
Smoke streamed from the broken front window of a shoe store. One of the released prisoners rolled up a newspaper, lit a match to it, and tossed it through the window. Instantly the smoke inside burst into flame.
“They’re lighting more fires,” Mother said in disbelief.
“I’m going to our store. Mrs. Palmer’s emerald is in the safe. It’s priceless. You come along, Charlie and Justin. We’ve got to protect what we own.”
Mother stomped her foot. “Absolutely not! Let those thugs and rowdies take what they want.”
“It’s our livelihood, woman, and we’re going to the shop!” Father took hold of Charlie’s arm and pulled him toward the street.
“Go ahead, then,” Mother snapped, “but you’re not taking my sons into that danger. And if you do, don’t come looking for me after this is over. I won’t forgive you. Ever.”
Justin looked at his mother in astonishment. Never had he heard her speak that way. The fire seemed to have brought out an inferno that was smoldering within her.
Father was stunned, too, as he stood there with his mouth open, at a loss for words.
After a moment, Claire put her hand on her father’s shoulder. “Father, dear, what Mother said is right. I know it’s hard to leave everything behind. It hurt me to leave Forrest. But surely you wouldn’t take Justin and Charlie into that conflagration.” She kissed his cheek. “And Father, you mustn’t go either. What would we do without you?”
Father was silent, his face illuminated by the flickering of the fiery sky. Then he nodded and motioned for the family to move on.
Justin set Ticktock on the ground again and they continued their trek toward the water, dragged along by the massive crowd that surged around them. He wondered about Poppy. Where are you, Poppy? Are you safe? He wished more than ever that he could ask her for her forgiveness.
But he now believed in his heart that he’d never see her again.