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NO MORE TRAINS? AN epidemic? Nothing was the way it was supposed to be.
Her bicycle bounced in and out of dips in the road, swerving around the occasional rock. Normally she would take her time, enjoy the mild afternoon, but her day was turning out anything but normal. She was supposed to be walking home, pushing her bicycle on one side and holding Harry’s hand on the other. He would tell her all about France, and she would tell him over and over how happy she was to have him home.
She knew he’d be concerned about his injuries. Harry was fastidious with his appearance. It was one of the things she loved about him, but she would assure him it meant nothing to her. All she wanted was to be his wife. Then he’d kiss her, and they’d plan their wedding for the day after the influenza threat was over.
A rabbit dashed from the tall field grass and across her path. “Oh!” Alice slammed on her brakes, narrowly missing it before it hopped away. Unfortunately, she caught her skirt in the chain. “Bother.” She tugged at her hem with one hand, while trying to keep her bicycle balanced upright with the other.
“Good day, Miss Armstrong.” Reverend Lamb tipped his hat with a smile.
“Hello, Reverend. I didn’t see you. I was too busy trying to free myself from the teeth of my bicycle chain.”
The Reverend set down his satchel. “Here, let me give you a hand. If you hold the bicycle still, I will attempt to free your skirt.” He knelt and tugged gently at her hem. “If I jiggle it a little, I should be able to do so without compromising the material.” He carefully slid the snag back and forth until it worked free. “A little grease, I’m afraid, but there does not appear to be any tears.”
Alice helped him to his feet, and he brushed the dust from the knees of his trousers. Mrs. Lamb would not be pleased if she saw her husband down on the ground. He wasn’t what most would consider old, but he wasn’t young, either, and his knees had been bothering him for the last year. Alice often saw him limping about town, sitting on a park bench rubbing one or the other.
“Thank you, Reverend, but I’m certain I could have managed myself.”
“I’m certain you could, too, given time. Only, don’t tell my wife. She worries so.”
“Of course.” Alice picked up his satchel and handed it to him. “I don’t normally have a problem, but I was in such a hurry I failed to see the rabbit . . . or, it failed to see me. Either way, here I am.” She shrugged.
“I saw you were in a bit of a rush. Is something wrong? Your parents are well?”
“My parents are quite well, thank you. It’s the town. First the train doesn’t stop then we’re told there will be no others until further notice. Fin and Harry were to be on that train. We left Lizzie with her mother. She’s in quite a state.”
“Yes . . . well . . . it can’t be helped.”
“You knew about this?”
He sighed. “I’m afraid the trains are only the beginning.”
“What else is there? You might as well tell me. I’m going to find out soon anyway. Jack’s at the mayor’s office right now. He promised to tell me everything.”
“The entire town’s been put under quarantine. No movies, no school, all businesses to close, no church services.” The Reverend’s voice caught when he said the last one. “There are to be no public gatherings until the epidemic has ended. I shouldn’t even be standing here talking to you right now.”
“But no one is sick.”
“I was just at the Webster farm. They received word Addie Webster’s sister died last week.”
“Doris? But they live only one town to the south.”
He paused. “Go home. Tell your parents. Stay out of town, and may God keep you.” He walked away, his shoulders slumped and his head hung low.
“And may God keep you and your wife, Reverend,” Alice called after him.
She pushed her bicycle the rest of the way home, giving herself time to think about everything he told her and what she’d learned at the train station. A complete quarantine of the town? She had never heard of such a thing before. For how long? How many of the people she knew and loved would die before it was over?
Tommy Hemeuer ran along the road toward her, piano book tucked under his arm. He stopped to catch his breath. In all the excitement of Harry and Fin’s return, she’d forgotten it was his lesson day.
“Hello, Miss Armstrong.”
“Hello, Tommy. How was your lesson?”
“Good.” He kicked at the dirt with the toe of his boot.
“Really?” She waited for his inevitable confession.
He sighed. “No. Your mother said I have to repeat it next week.”
“Then, might I suggest you go straight home and start practicing?”
“Yes, Miss Armstrong.” He took off at a run. “Goodbye, Miss Armstrong.”
Alice laughed and shook her head. Why did Tommy’s mother insist on paying for his lessons when the money would be better spent elsewhere? The boy was polite and kind, a good kid, but he was all thumbs when it came to the piano. There were better ways for a ten-year-old boy to spend his time.
* * *
THE QUIET OF THEIR farmyard held a sense of foreboding Alice had never felt before. The livestock grazed contentedly in their pens, tails flicking away the flies. Pigs, Pinky and Clover, slept in the cool mud, a look of complete joy on their face. Pinky’s piglets nursed at her side. Alice wished for the naive innocence of the animals. She wished they could return to a time before war, and now influenza, made their lives fearful and ugly.
Her mother was using her apron to shoo the chickens from her flower beds. She bent to replant the ones they’d uprooted with their scratching. Straightening, she pressed her hands to her lower back. She waved when she saw Alice leaning her bicycle against the side of the barn. Abandoning what she was doing, she hurried over for news.
“How’s Harry? And Fin? Your father and I wanted to come with to greet them, but there’s so much to do here we couldn’t get away. Will Harry be stopping by later to say hello? I’m surprised you’re home so soon. I didn’t expect to see you again for hours.” She stopped, breathless.
Alice looked around. “Where’s Dad?”
“He’s helping Heinrich Schmidt fix a fence. He should be home anytime now.”
Alice hesitated. She hoped to talk to both of them together, but she knew by her mother’s growing frown, she wouldn’t wait for news.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, Mom.” Everything building and bubbling inside her released in a choking sob and she fell into her mother’s arms. In gasps and spurts Alice told her mother everything, including her talk with Reverend Lamb about Addie Webster’s sister Doris, and how they wouldn’t be able to attend church.
Her mother wiped away Alice’s tears with her apron. “Well, we’ll just have to make the best of it. We have each other, and Jack. I’m sure this influenza will play itself out in no time.” She gave Alice a hug and kissed her on the forehead, the way she did when Alice was little and scraped her knee or fought with a girlfriend. It still made Alice feel safe. She smiled, blowing her nose in the handkerchief she kept tucked in her sleeve.
“People will die, Mom. Some of our friends will die before this is over. I don’t know how I can bear it if Harry dies after I waited so long for his return. Or if it was Betty, or Lizzie, or you and Dad, or Jack, or . . .”
“We can’t worry about that. We can only pray Pine Lake is spared and, if not, that we have the strength to face whatever lies ahead.” She put an arm around Alice’s shoulders. “Now, come help me take in the wash. After, we can start dinner. Jack and your father should be home by then and we can get the full story.”