Rescuing the Heiress

by Valerie Hansen

  “Not yet. I’ve checked on all the stations. It’s bad. Don’t know what we’ll do without Sullivan.”

  “Is he still alive?”

  “Yes. They transferred him to the Presidio but it doesn’t look good.”

  Tess noted that the older fireman was eyeing their loaded wagon. “Looks like you found a way to make yourself useful. Keep it up for now. By tomorrow morning we should have a better idea about what we’ll need. If you can get to Union Square and it’s still open, report to me there at eight. If not, go down to the ferry terminal. We’ve got men and equipment coming over from Oakland and San Mateo then, too.”

  “Why wait till morning?” Michael asked.

  Walters’s shoulders sagged and he sighed. “Because they’ve got their own problems over there. It’s the same all up and down the coast. Only they don’t have nearly the fires we do.” He shook his head. “Never thought I’d see the likes of this day.”

  “How many men have we lost?” Michael asked. “The only one I know about is O’Neill, from my station.”

  “A couple of others, far as I know. And some police officers. I haven’t even tried to get an accurate count yet.”

  When he took out a handkerchief and blew his nose, Tess could tell it was mostly to mask his raw emotions.

  While Michael bid the chief goodbye, Tess spotted two barefoot children standing across the littered street. She hailed them. “Do you two want a ride to the park so you don’t hurt your feet on all this glass and trash? That’s where we’re going.”

  Their grimy faces brightened and they headed for the wagon as if they had just been offered a piece of cake.

  Tess scooted as close to Michael as she possibly could to make room for the slim, dark-haired girl and her little brother on the driver’s seat and greeted each of them with a hug. “Are your parents nearby? Might they need a lift, too?”

  Both children lowered their heads and stopped looking at her. The girl murmured, “No, ma’am,” and began to weep as she pointed to an immense pile of rubble.

  “I’m so sorry,” Tess said. “You can stay with me and my friends for now, if you want. We have a nice place saved in the park.” She paused and smiled. “My name is Tess. What’s yours?”

  The girl was the only one who looked up. “I’m Rachel and this is my brother, David.”

  “Pleased to meet you.” Tess turned to Michael. “I think it’s time we headed for the park and unloaded these folks so we can come back and start again, don’t you?”

  “Yes. I just hate to leave anyone behind.”

  She saw him eyeing the horizons and assumed he was sizing up the conflagrations that still threatened the heart of the city as well as some outlying areas. Every direction she looked there was more smoke, more ominous glow, more signs that the situation was growing worse.

  Distant explosions continued to startle her as well as the horses, and although Michael seemed as stalwart as ever, he had nevertheless armed himself with one of her father’s pistols, leaving the second one for her.

  Resting her hand lightly on the back of his, she sought to reassure him. “You’re doing all you can right now. The chief just said so.”

  “I know. But that doesn’t make it any easier to wait patiently when I’ve been trained to fight fires.”

  Pondering what else she could say that might ease Michael’s mind, Tess was distracted by a tiny movement beneath the edge of a broken board at the side of the road. It might be nothing, yet she was positive she’d spied something odd.

  An intense compulsion to investigate made her grasp Michael’s arm and shout, “Stop!”

  He tensed. “What’s wrong?”

  “Over there. I thought I saw something.”

  “What?”

  “I’m not sure.” She was already clambering past the youngsters and climbing down from the wagon on her own. “I’ll be right back.”

  Her initial loud exclamation had startled the horses and Michael was still having to work to control the team, so she knew he wouldn’t dare follow. That was just as well. With all the horrible things they’d come upon already, there was a fair chance her imagination was playing tricks on her. She almost hoped that was the case.

  Tess slowly, warily, approached the pile of wreckage that had drawn her attention. Whatever had originally caught her eye wasn’t visible from this angle. Pausing, she listened intently. A soft mewling was coming from beneath a nearby splintered board. A kitten, perhaps?

  Taking cautious steps, she bent to lift the slab of wood and was astonished to uncover a pudgy little blonde girl. The child looked barely old enough to walk. Her blue eyes blinked open. The moment she saw Tess hovering over her she puckered up and began to wail.

  Tess waved to the crowd at the wagon. “Over here! Somebody help me look.”

  She quickly scooped up the wailing toddler, held her close and stood back while several of the men from the wagon and a few hearty passersby began to throw aside heavier wreckage in that immediate vicinity.

  It took only seconds to uncover two bodies. One was a young woman who was clutching a baby blanket as if she had been trying to flee to safety with her child. Next to her lay a once-handsome man who had likely died assisting his wife and baby.

  Saddened, Tess carried the probable orphan back to the wagon where helping hands pulled them both aboard. Women crowded around to coo and sympathize and admire her newfound treasure. So did Rachel and little David.

  “Is the baby okay?” Michael asked.

  “I don’t see any injuries. I think she’s upset because I scared her, that’s all.”

  “Well, there’s sure nothing wrong with her lungs.”

  The men who had left the group of refugees to help Tess search were returning to their families. Someone in the rear of the wagon passed forward a small quilt and Tess wrapped the tiny girl in it, cradling and rocking her in spite of her loud lamenting.

  “Hush, baby, hush,” she cooed. “We’ll take good care of you. I promise.” She rocked more. “Hush, now. That’s a good girl.”

  When she finally raised her gaze from the child to look at Michael again, the expression on his face was so touching, so heartrending, it brought unshed tears to her eyes.

  She assumed he was thinking the same thing she was. If only they had driven through this particular area sooner, had thought to look here before the baby’s parents had succumbed, perhaps they could have saved the whole family. But they had not.

  Tess kept reminding herself that the waif she was cuddling and trying to comfort had survived the collapse of an entire apartment house. That alone was a wonderment. Finding her parents alive and well, amid all that horrible wreckage, would have been next to impossible no matter how soon they or anyone else had begun to search.

  She followed Michael’s line of sight past her shoulder and watched as other men continued to pull bodies from the rubble of the tenement and lay them out in the street. All over the city, piles of the dead were growing. How many there would be when the final tally was made was beyond imagining.

  Moved beyond words, Tess pressed the child closer and continued to rock her. The little girl’s sobbing lessened. She chanced a peek by lifting a corner of the coverlet and saw that the precious, exhausted little one had not only fallen asleep, her breathing had grown more natural.

  Closing her own eyes, Tess prayed wordlessly for the child’s lost parents and for all the others who had gone to glory already. How long would it be before rescuers like Michael and his comrades had the opportunity to rest, let alone sleep? The way things looked at present, it was going to be a long, long time.

  Michael halted the loaded wagon in an open area near where the Dugan women were camped. “Okay,” he announced to his passengers. “This is as far as I go. Be sure you take all your things with you when you leave.”

  He paused by the front wheel to lift the brother and sister down. He tousled the boy’s mop of hair, then pointed the children to the Dugan camp before helping Tess disembark.


  “I’m going to take this baby to Rose and Annie for temporary safekeeping,” she said. “They’ll know how best to care for her.” A slight smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “I’m afraid my education as a nurse for children is sadly lacking.”

  “Looks to me like you’re doing fine. Is she still asleep?”

  “Yes. I keep checking her because I can’t help but worry. I’ll feel better when Rose has had a good look at her, too.”

  “Okay. Hurry back. We’ll need to be heading out again as soon as possible.”

  “I will. Don’t leave without me.”

  The sight of Tess cradling the tiny tot as she turned and started to walk away reminded Michael of a Christmas crèche. She’d make a wonderful mother some day. Experienced or not, she was nurturing and loving the same way his mother was. Tess’s strong will and decisiveness, in addition to those other sterling qualities, would stand her in good stead no matter what trials life presented.

  Trials such as these, Michael concluded, taking in the multitude that had already begun to raise makeshift tents in the park and settle into a semblance of routine and order.

  There were myriad kettles warming over small fires or portable kerosene stoves and the like. Families were resting together on pallets composed of blankets and whatever other suitable materials they could assemble. If it hadn’t been for the foggy air, the smell of smoke and the booming of dynamite that shook the ground as badly as some of the aftershocks had, the encampment would have seemed like nothing more than a bunch of city folks enjoying leisurely afternoon picnics in the park.

  Frowning as he finished emptying the wagon of passengers and their household goods, Michael started to look around for Tess. Why hadn’t she returned? What was taking her so long?

  Concerned, he climbed aboard the wagon for added elevation and scanned the crowd, starting with the eucalyptus sapling which marked the Dugan encampment. There was Annie. And her mother was bending and talking to the two youngsters they’d just delivered.

  In the extra moments it took him to also locate Tess, Michael’s heart began to pound. Perspiration dotted his brow. Then, he spotted her reddish hair and his breath whooshed out audibly.

  Relief was short-lived. Tess wasn’t alone with Annie, Rose and the children. Someone else was with them. Even from that distance, the man’s bowler, cane, tailored suit and foppish mannerisms looked decidedly familiar. And most unwelcome.

  Rather than leave the wagon to approach on foot and chance actually losing their only means of transportation to thieves the way Tess had imagined, Michael maneuvered the team closer.

  He halted them directly behind the dandy in the black bowler hat and wrapped the driving lines around the brake handle.

  Judging by the man’s uneasy stance and the way Tess was facing him with her hands on her hips, Michael was fairly certain she was not pleased. Then he heard her order, “Go away, Phineas,” and was positive.

  Jumping down, fists clenched, Michael came at the other man from the rear. Tess’s glance and quick smile telegraphed his approach, however, and he lost the element of surprise.

  The banker whirled and raised his silver-handled cane defensively. Instant recognition registered in his narrowed eyes. “What do you want?”

  Michael stood his ground. “I should be asking you the same question.”

  “I’ve come to escort Miss Clark out of this disgusting muddle, not that it’s any of your business,” Phineas said with a jut of his chin that emphasized disdain.

  “I’m making it my business,” Michael countered. “Miss Clark has chosen to stay here with me, and I’ll thank you to stop bothering her.”

  If the situation hadn’t been so serious he would have laughed aloud at the air of dismay and astonishment on the banker’s weasel-like face.

  The man looked to Tess, apparently realized she was in full agreement and snapped his jaw shut.

  She began to grin. “There you have it, Mr. Edgerton. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have work to do. Please assure my father that I am in very good hands.”

  Circling Phineas while he stood there looking at her as if she had just fed him unsweetened lemonade and then punched him in the stomach besides, Tess offered her hand to Michael and let him help her climb back aboard the freight wagon.

  As Michael joined her, took up the lines and urged the team forward, she slipped her hand through the crook of his elbow and snuggled closer, much to his delight.

  Tess giggled softly, privately. “At least you didn’t have to threaten to shoot him, although a good scare like that might have served him right.”

  “Don’t tempt me.”

  He knew his grin was far too satisfied to be respectful but he couldn’t help himself. These trying circumstances were painful in many ways, yet they had also brought him closer to Tess than he’d ever hoped to be. Even after the danger was past and the city returned to normal, he’d remember these hours with both sadness and jubilation.

  Every person they rescued was one more sign that life went on; and every loss, like the tot’s parents, was a reminder of how precious each day should be.

  It wasn’t that Michael didn’t realize how desperate their overall situation was or how much worse it could still become before it was over. He was simply doing the only sensible thing by taking one minute, one hour, one day at a time.

  What the future might bring was more than unknown. It was almost too frightening to ponder.

  Casting a sidelong glance at his lovely companion as they drove out of the park, he prayed, No matter what becomes of me, Father, please look after Tess. She is the dearest thing in the world. I know I don’t deserve her. Please take care of her and help her find the kind of happiness she’s earned.

  The idea that he might not be a part of Tess’s future, might not be granted further blessings regarding the woman he loved so intensely, so completely, haunted Michael’s thoughts.

  Wisely, he refused to dwell on such a possibility. Right now they both had vitally important work to do. If Tess had not been with him on the last trip, that poor babe might not have been discovered, might not have been rescued in time. That alone was proof he should let her continue to accompany him, at least for as long as he deemed it safe to do so.

  The traffic in the damaged streets had lessened measurably, probably because many citizens had already fled. He imagined they didn’t much care where they went as long as they were far from the shaking, although as Chief Walters had said, the earthquake had caused severe damage many, many miles away as well.

  Thankfully, the electrical power plants had been shut down for safety’s sake. So had the gas. Night would soon be upon them, leaving little light other than that from an occasional lantern and from the fires still raging in the distance.

  “At dusk I’m going to take you back to the Dugans’ and leave you there,” he told Tess. When she stared at him and opened her mouth he quickly added, “Don’t argue. I plan to go check in with Chief Walters again, assuming I can locate him in all this chaos, and see if I can persuade him to give me an assignment right away instead of waiting for morning.”

  “Meaning, you don’t want me underfoot?”

  “I wouldn’t have put it quite that bluntly, but yes. It’s my job.”

  “And you need to do it. I know how badly you want to.”

  Michael nodded and smiled wryly as he looked down at the backs of the team. He and that big gray horse were a lot alike in their instincts, weren’t they? Every time they heard the clanging of an engine in the distance or saw flames, they both tensed, both acted as if they wanted to forget everything else and race to the fire, which, of course, was exactly how they did feel.

  It was Michael’s most fervent wish that he could make Tess understand that fact when he finally had to leave her. This brief time they’d managed to spend together had already lasted longer than he’d dared hope. Sooner or later, they were going to have to part.

  There was no other option.

  Chapter Fiftee
n

  Tess spent the bulk of that night dreaming she was still beside Michael, still thrilling to the sound of his voice, still safe and secure because of him and only him.

  As she began to stir she found herself picturing his handsome, rugged face and remembering his expression when he’d finally bid her goodbye.

  Tess could tell he hadn’t wanted to leave. When he’d put his arms around her she’d simply stood within his embrace and relished every moment. Then, she’d lifted her face and he’d kissed her.

  Seconds later, breathless, he had stepped back and apologized. “I’m sorry. I had no right to do that. Especially not in front of all these people.”

  Tess remembered smiling while also being afraid she might burst into tears. That was the last thing she wanted to do, particularly since an open expression of sorrow might have made their parting even harder on Michael.

  “I suppose we could have hidden away behind a bush or something to spoon, but don’t you think that would have raised even more eyebrows?”

  To her relief, he’d then began to give her the tilted, Irish grin that was his trademark. “Are you inviting me to misbehave, Miss Clark?”

  “Not yet,” she’d replied. “But don’t lose hope. I soon may.”

  Michael had grasped both her hands then and held them tightly, forming both a barrier and a bridge between them as he’d said, “I look forward to it.”

  That was the moment Tess now remembered with the most fondness. It wasn’t their actual parting that gave her shivers of nervous delight, it was the promise of a bright future. With Michael.

  She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Explosions in the distance continued to shake the ground. Around her, much of the camp was stirring and she could smell the pleasant aromas of coffee and frying bacon.

  Yawning, Tess saw Rose and Annie fussing over the baby while Rachel and David devoured enormous bowls of oatmeal as if they’d missed many meals and were trying to make up for it all at once.

  She joined the other women. “How is our baby this morning?”

  “Hungry,” Rose said. “I was worried that she might be a finicky eater but that’s not going to be a problem.”