Tully was grateful that Jemima was going to join them, not that she thought Lewis a threat, but she wasn't comfortable around strangers, and male ones at that, and Jemima was a steadying force...a safe and caring soul, even if a bit odd.
And when the woman left the room to get food and whatnot, Tully turned her attention back to Lewis, keeping her distance, although she did know that not all men were like the monster that had come after her and Frances. There was nothing evil, deceptive or hateful about the man, and Tully was a pretty good judge when it came to those sorts of things.
"I get the impression that you don't much like to be stuck in one place too long, Miss Nevada, but is there any way you could be induced to stay in this house for a couple of nights at least? Frances has been awfully worried about you being out there on your own after what happened: she's been having terrible nightmares about the whole thing." he shrugged "Had a couple myself to be honest. I think the only person who's come through it unscathed is Jemima. She's 'unperturbable' - if you go in for big words."
"Miss Frances asked about me?" Maybe she shouldn't be surprised, but at least she was genuinely happy that anyone really cared about her, and it was a good excuse to accept the offer, something that she wanted deep inside, but that she couldn't allow herself without good reason. "Yeah, I reckon I could stay a day or so?" And she was sure she was free to leave when she wanted to.
By the time Jemima returned, Tully was full of cocoa and goodies, and feeling much better about everything. She was anxious to see Frances, but not until she was presentable.
"Guess what? They buried that feller in an unmarked grave outside of town." she said "Just think: he'll be screaming in agony, burning in the fires of Hell this very minute!" she added cheerfully.
"Should'a just let th' crows peck his eyes out," Tully spit vehemently. "Men like him think they can do whatever that they want to another body an' no carin'. Me an' Miss Frances showed him different."
Looking up at Jemima, she muttered, "Ya won't tell, will ya?" Well, it had been in self-defense, but Tully still didn't need to be under scrutiny. "Sorry 'bout th' nice dress ya give me. I tried ta keep it clean, but..." She shrugged.
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
"Miss Frances asked about me?"
Mister Reeve smiled and frowned at the same time. "Of course she did, she's been worried about you. We all have, me, Jemima, even Doc Danforth asked after you. Don't be so surprised. You seem like a... well a lovely young woman and a brave one to boot."
"Yeah, I reckon I could stay a day or so?" And she was sure she was free to leave when she wanted to.
"Frances will be thrilled. I think it'll really help her having someone with her who... well, who understands what she's been through; what you both went through." he explained. He understood that Tully's suffering might be ignored or overshadowed by Miss Grimes' more severe injuries and the fact that she was, in being blind, the more vulnerable-seeming of the two. But in a way, the opposite might be true. Frances had a lifetimes experience of having to face up to almost insurmountable problems and somehow conquer them. Tully had more experience in running away: but could she run away from this?
Jemima came and Reeve went, and the two girl's talk inevitably drifted to the fate of the monster who had attacked the girls in the refuge.
"... Me an' Miss Frances showed him different. Ya won't tell, will ya?"
It took Jemima a second to divine what Tully was telling her. She shook her head. "I won't tell. But don't go telling everyone. That bastard's dead, but some folks like to cause trouble and sort of change history: wanna believe good things about bad people and bad things about good people. Before you know it, he'll be being held up as a saint and you'll be labelled a murderer. I know it sounds stupid, but it's true." she warned.
"Sorry 'bout th' nice dress ya give me. I tried ta keep it clean, but..." She shrugged.
Jemima sniffed and shrugged. "Nothing I can't get out with lime soap. Now, try this one on. Sorry, it's kinda 'little girly' but I think it should fit you. You've got a nice slim figure..." she said, politely, 'horribly malnourished' might have been a more truthful phrase. She actually recognised the frock as one that Anæsthesia had worn in their last year at school together.
She nearly added 'it's the dress Amnesia used to bully me in' but she didn't want to turn Tully against the snooty girl, who seemed to be a little better behaved than of old, though still not exactly Miss Personality of 1876!
Tolerantly, Tully allowed Jemima to do her thing. The food had been good, and a full stomach was a good reason to comply, especially since the meal had been tasty, and there was a promise of more to come, if she just stayed still and did as she was told. Besides, she did want to see Frances, and so far, nothing here was at all bad, so there was no reason to resist.
"Miss Frances is a strong girl," she observed, "I can't imagine what it must be like not ta see what's around ya, an' not just th' bad things, but th' good, too...like th' flowers an' clouds an' all."
She shifted a little, antsy, as Jemima slipped the new dress over her head. Mostly, the material was soft, but it actually fit, so was a bit tight to her liking, and the lace parts scratched a little. Next, the young woman was fussing with her hair.
"How's Miss Frances come ta be blind?" she asked, standing now that the ritual was over, then blinking and frowning as she saw her reflection in a mirror. "What'd ya do ta me?" Surely, that wasn't her!
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"Miss Frances is a strong girl," she observed, "I can't imagine what it must be like not ta see what's around ya, an' not just th' bad things, but th' good, too...like th' flowers an' clouds an' all."
"Most people don't see those things anyway" said Jemima, having a little philosophical moment.
She shifted a little, antsy, as Jemima slipped the new dress over her head. Mostly, the material was soft, but it actually fit, so was a bit tight to her liking, and the lace parts scratched a little. Next, the young woman was fussing with her hair.
Jemima was, indeed, tying a ribbon in Tully's unusually ringlet-ridden hair. It did look a little froo-froo, but, well, it came with the dress!
"How's Miss Frances come ta be blind?" she asked.
"Born that way, according to Arabella." replied Jemima. Boy, she was glad that the strange little actress with the odd taste in romantic interests wasn't here to see Tully's transformation: she have a fit of the vapours, and they were all out of smelling salts. "Spose that's the best way. Then you don't know what you've missed." She gave one of her little rare smiles "I wish she could see you now, though." The frowsy girl stood back, so that Miss Nevada could look at herself in the mirror without her plain looks messing up the picture.
... standing now that the ritual was over, then blinking and frowning as she saw her reflection in a mirror. "What'd ya do ta me?" Surely, that wasn't her!
"Come on, let's 'show' Frances!" said Jemima, taking Tully by the hand and leading her up the stairs for her second time that evening. They met Anæsthesia at the top of the stairs who looked a little surprised at the sight of the somewhat short girl's dress, which she recognised as one of her old ones, and resisted the urge to say 'Oh dear! Don't be late for school!' She also managed to convert a nascent guffaw into a sort of 'understanding smile'.
"Oh Miss Nevada, look at you! Don't you look nice!" she gushed "I'll just be downstairs..." she added excusing herself, and luckily the other two didn't hear her adding "...decorating your Happy Twelfth Birthday cake!"
Jemima pulled the waif into the room and announced her like a visiting dignitary.
"Miss Grimes, here is Miss Nevada to see you. She has a new dress on and looks beautiful!"
Frances hutched herself up in bed and was so excited she didn't even wince against the pain in her ribs that caused.
"Oh Tully!! I am SO pleased to see you!!" she cried, tears filling her wandering blind eyes as she thrust out a searching hand into the blackness.
Still a little stunned, but not willing to give up the chance to see Frances, Tully went along with Jemima, not that she really had much of a choice. Sure, she could have resisted, but the other girl was no lightweight, and Tully was sure she'd be a fair match!
Giving Anæsthesia a quick nod as Jemima towed her by, Tully shrugged. Had she known it was the beringletted blonde girl who had donated the gown, she would have thanked her, but as it was, there really wasn't an opportunity...she was on the move, whether she liked it or not!
"Frances..." At first, Tully hesitated, but there was certainly no doubt that she was welcome, and she rushed forward to take Frances' hand, holding it tightly. "I'm so happy ta see ya...ta see ya all right an' alive. I was worried 'bout ya, didn't know what become of ya."
Moving in, she gave the other girl a tight hug around her shoulders, mindful of her ribs. "I'm glad yer all right. I told 'em I'd stay here fer a day or so, ta help keep an eye on ya, but Miss Jemima's done a fine job'a that."
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"Frances..." At first, Tully hesitated, but there was certainly no doubt that she was welcome, and she rushed forward to take Frances' hand, holding it tightly. "I'm so happy ta see ya...ta see ya all right an' alive. I was worried 'bout ya, didn't know what become of ya."
"Don't I get a hug?" Frances asked. After all she had been through, that's what she needed. Those looking after her had been kind, but either weren't the hugging type, like Jemima and Anæsthesia, or would not do so out of a sense of propriety, like Mr Reeve, or wanted to hug her but didn't dare in case they shattered her like a delicate glass vessel. Mrs Orr fell into that last category: that particularly effusive bag-of-nerves could not have been kinder in welcoming Frances into her house, but was so overcome with emotion at what had happened to the blind girl and her friend, that she had taken to her bed and was in a worse emotional state than Frances herself.
She had been so scared to embrace the injured Frances, on meeting her, that she had taken the urge out on everybody else, much to Mr Reeve and Miss Wigfall's surprise and her daughter Anæsthesia's disgust. Tully had yet to meet her.
Jemima said "I'll leave you two alone." and discretely left the room.
Moving in, she gave the other girl a tight hug around her shoulders, mindful of her ribs. "I'm glad yer all right. I told 'em I'd stay here fer a day or so, ta help keep an eye on ya, but Miss Jemima's done a fine job'a that."
Frances chuckled, despite the sharp pain that always caused. "Oh, she's wonderful, but she's only here now and again, she has about sixty other jobs around town. I'm so glad you're staying a while: most times it's just myself and Anæsthesia, the poor thing: I'm not sure she is quite used to being nice to people, and the effort is half killing her. Mister Reeve visits often, but that's another tale! And poor Mrs Orr, she so wants to help but just dissolves into buckets of tears when she sees me."
There was a chair by the bed with a book and some issues of monthly journals piled on it.
"Sit down next to me and tell me what you've been up to, and if you've rescued anybody else from under any fallen trees, and how the Great Rain Badger of the Skies is doing. Just move the books and magazines... Anæsthesia started reading me Treasure Island, can you imagine anything so dreadful? Luckily she got embarrassed when it got to the part about Blind Pew and started reading me extracts from The Lady instead. And today Mr Reeve went over to the Refuge and fetched me my Five Point Bible so I can read to myself. Apparently things are still a bit of a mess over there."
Finally letting go of Frances, assured that she wasn't going to expire any time soon, Tully started to move the pile of literature sitting in the chair, but paused to look over some of the covers, intrigued by the pictures of ladies in pretty dresses and gents looking all dapper.
"Hasn't been much goin' on back there," Tully muttered with a shrug, "but I ain't been on that side'a town much...since." Carefully putting the magazines on the floor, she settled in the chair. "What's 'Treasure Island'?" And island of treasure sounded pretty nice, but then, she reckoned if you already were rich, it didn't much matter.
"What's a seven point Bible?" She knew what a Bible was, of course, not that she could read one, but 'seven point'? Maybe some sort of religion she'd not heard of? After all, there were plenty out there, some of them with different names that acted the same, and some that were radically different from those.
"How can ya read if ya can't see?"
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
They moved on quickly from any discussion of the 'Hell House' as Frances now thought of the refuge.
"What's a seven point Bible?"
Frances grinned, showing her funny peg-like teeth which, if they were odd in shape and spacing, were at least even and white. "New York Point is just a system of bumps on a page which a blind person can learn to read" the blind girl explained "There is also system called Braille which I am starting to read, it is chiefly used in England: I was learning to read that in San Francisco before my brother moved us to Virginia City: all my Braille and Five Point books were destroyed in the fire there last year."
One of the problems with being blind, of course, is that one cannot always tell when one might be boring or bamboozling one's audience. Frances carried on talking about the subject although she was, perhaps, the only person in Kalispell interested in it.
"And now there is a fellow in Boston who is trying to invent yet another system, an American version of Braille! Yet another one for me to learn."
"How can ya read if ya can't see?"
"Look" said Frances, groping around for Tully's hand and, once finding it, pulling it onto the still open bible. "They probably just feel like random lumps and bumps to you, but with a little practice you can get to distinguish the different letters and read quite quickly. The only problem is the capital letters, they made them too long, so most books omit them. Close your eyes and you'll get more of a feel for it."
Arabella had shown all of this to Tully on the waif's first visit to the refuge, Frances remembered, and Tully hadn't believed it possible. Perhaps she would believe it wasn't all just a trick now.
"Do you like to read?" Frances asked, still gently holding the other girl's small bony hand.
Tully allowed Frances to guide her fingers over the bumps, but they were just that, random bumps that didn't seem to have any rhyme nor reason. Of course, that she could only read a few words on her own didn't help to make the dots form anything coherent.
"Can't much read," she admitted, "just my name, an' few words, such as 'God' an' 'saloon' an' 'haberdasher', though I don't know what that is." There hadn't been much chance for schooling, nor anyone who cared if she learned anything, and there had been more important things to occupy her time.
"Ya said Virginia City? Where's that at?" She knew well enough, but wasn't sure she wanted to know for certain. How would it be if they were from the same place, and Miss Frances knew of the Tullys?
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"Can't much read," she admitted, "just my name, an' few words, such as 'God' an' 'saloon' an' 'haberdasher', though I don't know what that is." There hadn't been much chance for schooling, nor anyone who cared if she learned anything, and there had been more important things to occupy her time.
"'Haberdashery' is a very long word, how do you spell it? Answer: I.T.!" Frances grinned, then immediately apologized "Sorry, I'm not very good at telling jokes!"
Tully moved swiftly, and mercifully, on:
"Ya said Virginia City? Where's that at?" She knew well enough, but wasn't sure she wanted to know for certain. How would it be if they were from the same place, and Miss Frances knew of the Tullys?
"Well, there is a Virginia City in the State which bears your name, of course, and is famous for its silver mines, but we were living a little nearer to here, there's a Virginia City in the Territories, south of here. Well, there was, most of it burned down last year and took most of our possessions with it. Frank, that's my brother.... was my brother... moved us here after that happened." she explained, looking a little sad.
She changed the subject from this morose theme.
"Anæsthesia is teaching a local lady to read and write, you could ask her for some lessons!" Frances suggested, but then lowered her voice and giggled "Being taught by Anæsthesia, though: I'm not sure I'd fancy it myself!"