"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
It was well that Frances, by dint of her blindness, was in no manner scared of the dark; for by the time she left the saloon that Monday night, she was walking into a black, post midnight world where the only light was cast by the odd dull yellow glow of oil lamp behind a curtain. The sky above offered no moon, nor even starlight, for a fierce gale was howling down from the Mountains: and the blind girl literally rocked on her feet as she walked out onto the boardwalk and tugged her shawl around her.
At first she found it bracing: to feel the force of nature battering at her: feeling so strongly a power that not only she but no-one else in the world could see: Ventus, the Wind. But soon, as she pushed against the cold air, she began to get a more than a little scared. It literally blew her about; pushed her sideways and backwards, sliding along the boardwalk slick with rain; she could not use her stick to navigate her way home and there was suddenly, above the howl of the wind, the crash of shutters banging and then a tremendous CRACK! as something massive and wooden snapped in two!
Tully hadn't intended to be in town this late, but a fast moving storm had blown in, bringing a deluge of rain so that the streets had turned muddy and slick, making it foolhardy to try to make it 'home', so she was just going to have to wait it out, and hopefully, toward dawn, it would be a little less weather-y.
Then the winds picked up, whipping around shop signs and tree branches, forcing Tully to take refuge beneath the stairs of the mercantile, where she had relative protection from the elements, and could see some of the movement on the streets. Of course, with this weather, the streets were pretty well deserted, even from horses, so she was a little startled when she noticed a young woman trying to negotiate the winds, but not doing a very good job of it. At least she seemed to be staying close to the buildings, so Tully was content to watch her.
But then there was a loud CRACK! heard even over the din of the storm, and the small figure was engulfed in a tree that had toppled into the building across the way. Taking a breath, Tully hesitated, but she couldn't just leave the poor girl buried there, all alone, so she scrambled from hiding and darted across the street, just as another deluge started.
Blinking water out of her eyes, Tully started climbing through the tree, sideways, trying to get to where she'd last seen the girl. "Hey! Ya in there?" she shouted, although she wasn't sure she'd be heard over the wind. "Are ya there?"
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
Frances loved trees, the rough yet welcoming feel of their bark on the palms of her hands, the nutty, sappy smell of their trunks which, perhaps, she was the only person in town to notice, the shade their leafy branches cast, the autumnal cascade of their falling leaves which sometimes fluttered in her face, making her jump, then the laugh when she realized exactly what had just stroked her features.
I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree
She could not see a tree, but she could know these enormous ancient, silent, watching souls of the plant kingdom and the fact that there was one left still standing just of the high street near the church was a miracle and a wonder to her; and even the sometimes impatient Arabella was always content to wander over with her after worship and watch her touch the great, friendly giant. "Miss Frances Grimes" the Virginian girl would coo "You surely do love that big old Red Cedar!"
Yes, Frances Grimes did love that big old Red Cedar.
But she didn't really want it lying on top of her, pressing her face into the mud and drowning her .
That's what was happening right now in dark, cold, howling wind and rain. If the main trunk had hit her, she would already be dead, but even the relatively smaller branches were enough to daze her when they crashed down on her and now she was only vaguely aware of choking on the filth of the street, muddy, cut, and half consciously reaching for her stick. Force of habit. She would die groping uselessly for a stick of wood while drowning in a sea of the stuff.
But then there was a voice: half carried away by the persistent, unforgiving gale, but definitely a voice.
Blinking water out of her eyes, Tully started climbing through the tree, sideways, trying to get to where she'd last seen the girl. "Hey! Ya in there?" she shouted, although she wasn't sure she'd be heard over the wind. "Are ya there?"
Frances squirmed to raise her head and spat mud out of her mouth before she could holler a weak "Help!" "Here!"
"I'm here, I gotcha." Well, sort of. Tully could hear the girl, barely, but getting to her was going to be a task! "Gonna be a minnet. Ya hurt none?"
On her hands and knees in the stream that had been a street, Tully started breaking away fluffy branches, having to work with her eyes closed so she didn't get poked. Not that it mattered, it was so dark now, save for occasional lightening flashes, that she couldn't see anyway. At least the branches above her provided some sort of shelter from the pounding rain.
"Keep talkin' so I can find ya!" she shouted, slowly scooting farther under the tree. "Are ya hurt? I'm gonna find ya." Reaching as far as she could, she thought she could feel something squishy. "That you?" Tully sure hoped so, since she didn't want to imagine what else it might be!
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"Keep talkin' so I can find ya!" she shouted, slowly scooting farther under the tree.
Trapped, wet, cold, frightened: Frances didn't know what to say, so she sang. The first song she ever learned.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are
Up above...
"Are ya hurt? I'm gonna find ya."
"I'm not hurt, that's just the way I sing!" she called. You didn't get through the mid nineteenth century as a blind orphan without developing a strong spirit and, in Frances' case, a wry sense of humour.
Reaching as far as she could, she thought she could feel something squishy. "That you?" Tully sure hoped so, since she didn't want to imagine what else it might be!
"Yes!" Frances reached a hand toward where she could feel Tully prodding her.
"You're the girl from the... ow... diner! Thank you for helping me!" the sightless girl called out. Even in the driving wind and rain and the rustling of the fallen branches around them, she recognised the waif's voice. As Tully helped her through the branches, she kept on talking to her rescuer: she couldn't see her, and she wanted to keep up verbal contact even though her saviour was touching her, pulling her, dragging her, directing her, breaking off only now and again to break off branches that were too sturdy to just brush past.
"I'm Frances.... oooh... you're Tully? aren't you?... ow... I'm sorry about the other day.... hold on... oh, ow,... Arabella means well, she just.... sometimes she's a little.... hold, something's caught... that's it... she's a little too... Arabellery."
She was out, her stick was lost, as was her hat and her dark spectacles, and she was scratched and bruised and she was wet in places she didn't even know she had... but she was out.
"Please can you help me get home?" she shouted, as the wind tried to carry her words away.
While she was relieved that she had found the girl in all the branches, but it was a chore trying to clear a way out. Even stretched out on her belly in the mud, she had to strain at first to keep contact with the girl, but after some digging, tugging and breaking away twigs, they were making some progress, and Tully was able to get a better grip on the girl.
"Yer singin' just fine!" she shouted, chuckling, then spitting out a mouthful of mud. "Just push this way." A little more...then..!
"You're the girl from the... ow... diner! Thank you for helping me!"
Oh, good god, this wasn't that...what was it? Abarella? Something like that? Tully had half a mind to push her back then swim for safety! Wasn't it just her luck to do a good deed, and this was her reward!
"I'm Frances.... oooh... you're Tully? aren't you?... ow... I'm sorry about the other day.... hold on... oh, ow,... Arabella means well, she just.... sometimes she's a little.... hold, something's caught... that's it... she's a little too... Arabellery."
Thank god! While she didn't remember who Frances was, or that there was even someone else there -- Arabella had occupied quite a space with her small frame -- Tully would have been happy for Beelzebub hisself, so long as it wasn't Arabella!
"C'mon!" One last tug and they were free of the debris, laying next to each other in the river of mud, pelted by wind-driven rain. Occasional flashes of lightening silhouetted buildings and swaying trees that were threatening to fall on them at any moment.
"Please can you help me get home?" she shouted, as the wind tried to carry her words away.
"Where at?" Tully had no idea where the girl lived, but standing would be a challenge, much the less walking. "Come this way!" Grasping the girl's wrist, Tully scooted under the steps of the closest building, going under until they were out of the mud and it was relatively dry.
"Ya sure yer all right?" Tully asked again, no longer needing to shout. "We best might stay here a time, 'til it's more safe."
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"Please can you help me get home?" she shouted, as the wind tried to carry her words away.
"Where at?" Tully had no idea where the girl lived, but standing would be a challenge, much the less walking.
"It's.. ohhh!" Frances gasped as another massive gust of wind sent them both staggering and bits of wood and debris ripped from the houses flew through the air around them. She pushed her fingers out. "Please take my hand, I can't see yours, I'm blind." the sightless girl shouted.
"Come this way!" Grasping the girl's wrist, Tully scooted under the steps of the closest building, going under until they were out of the mud and it was relatively dry.
"Oh, this is good!" Frances gasped, for the first time since she left the saloon, she felt relatively safe. Tully still had hold of her, which was a comfort.
"Ya sure yer all right?" Tully asked again, no longer needing to shout. "We best might stay here a time, 'til it's more safe."
"I think so. I must look a mess." she had no conception that in these conditions and at this time of night, Tully could see little more than herself.
"I live at the old Funeral Parlour at the end of the street... I mean, The Shelter for Christian Girls and Women" she missed out the bit about 'Jews, Blacks and Irish welcome', even though they were. It was a bit of a mouthful. "Oh, I hope Arabella's sign hasn't blown away, she was so proud of it!" Funny how the little things of life loomed large when death had just been so near.
She reached over with her other hand and put it on Tully's.
"Do you have a home to try and get back to?" she asked simply.
"I got a place." The answer was almost snapped and defensive, but then Tully realized that there was no way that the young woman would know one way or the other, and she was only trying to be kind, in a much more compassionate way then Arabelly had. "Yeah, ain't too far, but don't seem like neither of us is goin' far until niniaba huna is happy again."
The girls were close together by necessity, there was nothing intimate in the comfort they were giving each other. "Niniaba huna is Thunder Badger...he gets mad sometimes when th' earth gets too dry, so he digs through th' clouds an' opens 'em up." It was an old Paiute legend she'd heard somewhere, and she liked the images it conjured, of a huge badger in the sky, digging to send rains.
There was a might roar of thunder, and Tully chuckled. "That's him growlin'. Maybe he'll get tired an' be done soon. Is that Arabella yer sister?"
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"I got a place." The answer was almost snapped and defensive, but then Tully realized that there was no way that the young woman would know one way or the other, and she was only trying to be kind, in a much more compassionate way then Arabelly had.
"I'm glad" said Frances, patting her saviour's hand. It was small and bony, like maybe she didn't get enough to eat always. "Is it near? We might be better trying to get there." suggested the blind girl.
"Yeah, ain't too far, but don't seem like neither of us is goin' far until niniaba huna is happy again."
"Oh dear! Who is Nini Abahu-nah? And how do we make him happy?!!" queried Frances, she had never heard the outlandish name before.
"Niniaba huna is Thunder Badger...he gets mad sometimes when th' earth gets too dry, so he digs through th' clouds an' opens 'em up." It was an old Paiute legend she'd heard somewhere, and she liked the images it conjured, of a huge badger in the sky, digging to send rains.
"Well, I think he's overdone it a little this time!" sighed Frances as another gust of wind made its terrifying assault on the town, sending a bucket tumbling down the street nearby with a terrible clanking racket.
There was a mighty roar of thunder, and Tully chuckled. "That's him growlin'. Maybe he'll get tired an' be done soon."
"Him and me both, I'm cold and wet, I bet you are, too." Frances said, moving her hand up and feeling Tully's sleeve. "When we can get back to the Shelter we can both get dried out and Arabella can make us a nice cup of hot cocoa. We don't want to catch cold!"
"Is that Arabella yer sister?"
The question made her think. She had no idea that, actually, she and Arabella looked similar enough to be mistaken for sisters, so the question struck her as absurd and she gave a little chuckle. "We're only sisters in Christ, apart from that and playing the piano, we couldn't be much more different. Except, I suppose, we both like helping people; especially girls like ourselves, orphans." She reached for and gripped Tully's hand again, almost like she was worried that talking about her fellow Shelter proprietress might make the strange girl who had rescued her run away.
"When you are blind, you learn to take every step slowly, one by one. Sometimes, Arabella is so keen to help people that she runs forward too quickly and trips over her own feet. I think that's what she did with you..." there was a moment's silence as the wind paused where they were crouching, it's whistling seeming far away all of a sudden, building up for another good blow.
"Tully, I owe you a great debt of thanks for saving me and pulling me out from under that tree. I could have died under there. I can't begin to pay you back but... I want to ask you another favour..."
"Yer an orphan? An' Arabella?" That gave Tully a new perspective, although she didn't bother to mention that she was an orphan as well. She'd never really seen herself as an orphan, maybe because she had never really thought that she had parents. And maybe that was why Arabella was so...Arabella-y?
"When you are blind, you learn to take every step slowly, one by one. Sometimes, Arabella is so keen to help people that she runs forward too quickly and trips over her own feet. I think that's what she did with you..."
"So, ya mean Arabella's...oh..." It dawned on her, finally, that Frances was blind, and that made Tully feel all the more protective, and it made her wonder what it must be like. She had to admire that Frances was out on her own, Tully thought that she'd like as not just want to huddle in one place and hope for the best.
"Tully, I owe you a great debt of thanks for saving me and pulling me out from under that tree. I could have died under there. I can't begin to pay you back but... I want to ask you another favour..."
"Nah, someone would'a found ya," Tully insisted, not wanting to take credit for anything. "Although I reckon th' Good Lord had me out where I could see that tree fallin' on ya." She was relieved and grateful that she'd been there, so that Frances hadn't had to lay under that tree, in the flowing mud, until morning.
"Ya don't gotta pay me back, just doin' what's right." She shrugged in the darkness. "But sure, I reckon I can do ya a favor." Not that she had much to give in way of any sort of favors...