Enza

by Kristy K. James

  She was already making his life miserable because of the influenza. In her opinion, as soon as it had reached Michigan, he should have closed the doors to the church and holed up in the house until she felt sure the danger had passed. That was before it had even reached Battle Creek. Just the thought made him shudder.

  He hadn’t told her yet, but if the influenza did become a problem, he still had no intention of hiding out. Chances were good that at least some members of the church would need him and he intended to do his job. God willing, that wouldn’t include having to perform any funerals.

  “Hello, Reverend Thornton.” Colby saw that Elliot Owens was standing next to him as they neared the courthouse steps.

  “Elliot.” He wasn’t sure what to say, how to reassure someone as afraid as this man obviously was.

  “I can’t believe they’re telling us to call on veterinarians,” Elliot murmured tonelessly.

  “I know. It’s hard to think about, but if it came down to a choice between no care at all and a veterinarian, they’re better than nothing.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “They do have some medical knowledge.”

  “I’m scared,” he whispered. Colby clasped his shoulder and nodded. “It’s in Potterville. That’s only six miles away. Maybe it’s already here and we just don’t know it yet.”

  “I hope not, Elliot. I truly hope not.”

  ~~~

  “If it gets too bad,” Gerald McKimmon said quietly, “I’m not going to take a chance on catching it. I have a family.”

  “But if we don’t deal with the bodies,” Paul Brighton argued, “who will?”

  “I don’t really care. Those bodies are going to be in homes with other people who may be sick.”

  “I have a friend in Philadelphia,” Marcus said reluctantly. “He said some of them are insisting that the families wrap the bodies in a sheet and lay them outside. They have to hang a flag to alert the funeral directors.”

  “Alert them how?” Paul asked.

  “I guess they’re just going around with wagons and picking them up from porches and lawns.”

  “Does anyone know that we won’t catch anything just from touching them?” Gerald demanded? “Or from touching the sheets they’re wrapped in?” Marcus shook his head slowly. He hadn’t thought of that.

  “I guess we just need to make sure we’re wearing our masks and a heavy pair of gloves. And then make sure we boil all of them every night.”

  “I don’t know,” Gerald muttered, glancing around at the quickly dispersing crowd. Everyone who had gotten their masks seemed in a hurry to get home instead of milling around talking as they usually did after other town meetings. “If it comes here, I think I’m done. People can just go out to the shed and get a casket if they need one, but they can stay far away from me and my family.”

  “I think I might do that, too,” Sam decided. He, too, had a wife and a couple of children and Marcus really didn’t blame either one of them for being scared.

  He couldn’t remember ever having been this scared in his life.

  ~~~

  It was in Potterville.

  Six miles northeast of Charlotte. Battle Creek was to the southwest so how was it possible, he wondered, that it had it passed them by? He didn’t think it was possible. In fact, Daniel was sure it was already here, they just didn’t know it yet.

  He felt himself break out in a cold sweat and, lightheaded, he had to stop and lean against a tree until it passed.

  It hadn’t been easy losing both of his parents, but he hadn’t been terrified when he knew their deaths were imminent. Just unbearably sad. Now, for a woman he’d known less than a year, fear was choking him, making it hurt to breathe. What would he do if his wife was struck down by the Spanish influenza? Would she die like so many others had?

  No.

  He pushed off the tree and started walking as fast as his leg would allow, grateful that the splint had come off the week before so he didn’t have to deal with the crutches.

  Nina must have been watching out the window because she met him at the door, wringing her hands. Daniel pulled her close and held her tightly for several long moments before raising her face to his.

  “What is it?” she whispered, her eyes wide with fear. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s in Potterville. Nina, you’re not going to the sanatorium until the threat is over.”

  “But-“

  “No. No arguments. I’ve waited my whole life for you,” he said, gently cupping her face in both of his hands. She was so beautiful! “You’re going to stay here where it’s safe. Tomorrow I’ll stop after work and pick up enough food to last us awhile and, if it gets really bad here, I won’t go to work until it’s over. I’m not going to take a chance on losing you. I won’t.”

  “All right, Daniel,” she murmured, turning her head slightly so she could kiss his palm. “I’ll stay home.”

  “Thank you,” he whispered, pulling her close again.

  “Do you want some coffee and pie now?” she asked, when it must have seemed to her like he intended to hold her in the hall for the rest of the night. “I’d like to know what the mayor said.”

  “That sounds good. But you’re not going to like what he had to say.” He hadn’t liked a single word he’d heard. Because the danger was right in their backyard now. It wouldn’t be long before it was knocking at the door.

  ~~~

  “Well that’s it then,” Anna huffed, pacing the kitchen like a caged animal. Colby was sorry he’d told her about the meeting now. Wished he’d stopped by the church and stayed until long after she’d fallen asleep. But he hadn’t, and she’d nagged like a fishwife, demanding to know what happened, and he’d finally given in. “You’re not leaving the house until it’s passed us by.”

  “I have a duty to my congregation, Anna. It’s my job to be there for them when they need me. I can’t just lock myself in our house while they’re sick and possibly dying.”

  “You certainly can because you’re not going to go out there if the influenza is here. Do you really think I’ll allow you to be out there around people who have it and then come back here? Because I won’t have you bringing it home to me, Colby Thornton!”

  “You won’t allow me, Anna?” he asked so softly he wasn’t sure she even heard him.

  “I’ll make your life hell on earth if you take so much as one step out that door.” He almost laughed aloud at that. Her threat didn’t mean a whole lot given that she’d been making his life hell on earth for nineteen years. What else could she do to him that she hadn’t already done?

  “I’ll wear my mask,” he sighed. He was so weary of her incessant selfishness he just wanted to shake her sometimes. He’d never known another soul who cared so little for others.

  “What if it doesn’t help? People are wearing them everywhere else and they’re still getting sick and dying.” She did have a valid point, he admitted reluctantly. No matter how many precautions were taken, nothing seemed to stop the spread of this awful plague.

  “I’ll stay at the church until it’s over then.”

  “You will not! You know I’m afraid to stay here alone at night.”

  “Anna-“

  “What if you get sick, Colby?” She seemed to realize she was getting nowhere with her viscous demands and apparently decided to change her tactics. She curved her lips in what she probably hoped would pass as a smile, walked slowly to him and began rubbing his shoulders. When she spoke again, her voice sounded much like he remembered it from their courting days. Soft and sweet. “What would I do if something happened to you, my darling husband? You could stay here with me. And – and come to my room every night until the influenza is gone.”

  “That might be weeks, Anna.” He sighed, closing his eyes during the long pause that followed.

  “I- I know. That’s all right. I – don’t mind.”

  But he could tell from the tone of her voice that she minded very much. Even if she didn�
�t, he would still fulfill his duties as minister to his flock. He hadn’t chosen to enter the ministry lightly, ready to hide out in fear when the going got rough.

  “I’m sorry, Anna. I know what the offer to share your bed cost you.” And he knew it had cost her dearly as she couldn’t bear his touch. “But I made a commitment to God and these people, and I’m going to keep my word.”

  Something between a scream and a growl sounded behind him as she began to pummel his back with her fists. He shot up out of the chair, catching her hands in his, but she continued to try and hit him.

  “You made a commitment to me, too, Colby! What if you die, you fool? Who will take care of me then?”

  ~~~

  “Elliot!” Meg breathed, hurrying from the kitchen when she heard him enter the house. Elliot pulled her close and didn’t want to let go. Especially when he felt the baby kick against his stomach.

  “We need to get everyone in the parlor, Meg. Now.”

  “What did they say?” she asked, her voice trembling. He could see the fear in her eyes and reached up to stroke her cheek.

  “It’s in Potterville. Go sit down, I’ll get the children.”

  “Charles is sleeping.”

  “That’s all right. He’s too young to understand this anyway.” He walked to the foot of the stairs and called the other four down, then went to sit by his wife on the settee.

  One by one they made their way down the stairs, looking at him curiously when he held out his hand to indicate that they, too, needed to sit.

  “What’s up, Pop?” Jonathon asked, flopping on the floor. He tried to give the impression that this was a normal family discussion but Elliot could see the fear in his eyes, too. Something he’d seen in too many faces over the past few days.

  “The mayor told us that there are people in Potterville with the Spanish influenza.” Richard leaned forward, his hands on the arms of the chair, his face pale. Elizabeth gasped, her face the same shade as her brother’s. Jonathon glared at the floor, his hands curled into fists, and poor Kathleen just looked confused.

  “It’s coming here,” Richard said tonelessly. “It’s coming to Charlotte.”

  “It appears that way,” Elliot said quietly, clasping Meg’s hand tightly. “That means there are going to be some changes around here. Everything is going to close, effective tomorrow, so you will all be staying home until this is over. You can still play in the backyard if you want, but as soon as I hear that it’s reached Charlotte, we’re all staying in the house.”

  “But, Pop! That’s not fair!” Jonathon cried out, looking at his father in indignation.

  “That’s too bad,” Elliot sighed, wishing he didn’t have to impose such strict rules, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

  “But-”

  “No exceptions, Jonathon. No one is to leave this house, except in an emergency, until it’s safe.”

  “But that could be weeks.”

  “Yes it very well could be. Again, that’s too bad.” He looked at his middle son hard. “And if I so much as suspect that you’re disobeying me, young man, I will spank you. I may, in fact, beat you. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” Jonathon muttered, scowling at him.

  “Now you may all go play or read. I want to talk to your mother alone.”

  He held out a hand and Margaret took it, rising to her feet, and they walked quickly up to their bedroom where he closed the door, just in case someone took it into his curious little head to eavesdrop. Meg had wrapped her arms around her middle, her eyes filled with terror. Elliot truly wished he could reassure her as he took her in his arms, but he couldn’t. If he tried, it would be nothing but lies because no one knew what would happen, how they might be affected by this deadly killer.

  “Do you think it will be enough?” she asked. “Locking ourselves in the house?”

  “I don’t know. Nothing seems able to stop it, but this seems to be the most reasonable course. I don’t know what else to do, Meg.”

  “Do you think we’re at greater risk living across street from the sanatorium?”

  “I’ve wondered about that, too. Maybe not. The mayor acted very fast when he heard about the cases in Potterville. He issued the order to close everything immediately. Even the roads coming into town at dusk. Hopefully it hadn’t had much of a chance to spread before that. Everyone has been staying home more so it might not be as bad here as it has been in other places.”

  But there was no way to know if an infected person had already been in town. From everything he’d learned about this influenza, and that was only what he read about in the newspaper, symptoms might show up within hours of being infected – or it could be longer, only no one knew for sure how much longer. In fact, no one knew much about it at all. Why some people could be sick with it for days and recover, while others could contract it and be dead in a matter of hours.

  “I don’t know what else to do,” he repeated helplessly.

  He’d made two stops on his way home. The first at the druggists for aspirin and any other medicine he thought they might need, and then at one of the other grocers where he placed an order for a delivery in the morning for foods in cans and boxes. There was only so much he could carry, and his was a large family. The butcher had decided days ago that should the need arise, he would close up shop, though he would make deliveries early each morning and so Elliot had arranged to have meat brought to the porch twice each week until the danger had passed.

  “I suppose there isn’t much else that we can do,” Meg said, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to calm down. Elliot had to smile. His wife had the ability to rise to any occasion, good, bad or otherwise. She would be a tremendous help over the next days or, God forbid, weeks should it come to that.

  “No. I hope our biggest problem is five bored children.”

  “And two bored parents?” she suggested, smiling up at him.

  “Will we be bored, Meg? I foresee arguments, bad tempers, and a whole lot of complaining. Boredom may come as a pleasant change of pace, I think,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Jonathon will be the worst,” she guessed, stepping away and going to look out the window. “At least he can see Mr. Mertz’s house from our room. I expect he’ll be spending most of his days in here.”

  “Whatever it takes to get through this.” Because they would get through this, he vowed, unwilling to accept any other outcome. He’d always taken care of his family and that’s what he planned to do for many years to come.

  “Do you think we’ve given them enough time to feel sorry for themselves?” Meg wanted to know. “It might be a good night to pop some corn and play charades, or read Charles Dickens. Start it off the way we mean to continue?”

  “You’re a good wife,” Elliot told her, kissing her tenderly. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

  “Not since you got home, but you’re welcome to tell me as often as you like.”

  “I love you very, very much,” he whispered as he kissed her again.

  Chapter 13

  Derek had begun to sob and Marcus felt his stomach begin to churn. It was happening, just as his friend had predicted.

  “There are so many,” Derek wept. “More every day. It’s getting worse.”

  “I-” He couldn’t think of anything to say, could hardly breathe. Fear was pressing down upon his chest like a boulder.

  “They’re putting the bodies on the porch. The families can’t come out because the men picking them up won’t stop if they do. They just stack them in the wagons, Marcus.”

  Marcus could feel himself begin to panic. He’d never known his friend to be this upset over anything. Not even his father’s illness and that had shaken him pretty badly.

  “We’re running out of caskets. People are stealing them. Stealing caskets, Marcus. We have to hire guards to protect what’s left and- Oh God I still can’t believe this. One man was shot and killed trying to take one for his son. He’d already paid for two when hi
s daughters died and he couldn’t afford another. His wife is alone now. How can this be happening?”

  “I don’t know.” Marcus felt faint. Dying because you needed a casket for your son? He’d taken a loss for destitute families in the past. But to be so desperate that someone would try to steal one? What sickened him even more was the fact that someone actually took a man’s life over a casket.

  “They’re talking about mass graves, Marcus.” He could almost hear Derek shudder as he said the words. “They don’t know if the bodies can still be contagious or not. And they’re worried about new diseases if they pile up.” By ‘they’re’ Marcus assumed he meant city and health officials. Of course they would worry about those things. How could they not?

  “What about you? Your family? Are you all well?”

  “We’re not sick, if that’s what you mean. Scared? Terrified? Yes. People are dying all around us, Marcus. They can be healthy in the morning and dead by nightfall. It’s so quick with some of them.”

  “Everyone who gets it dies?” It was a question he hadn’t wanted to ask but supposed he needed to know.

  “No. Not everyone. At least not yet. I hear that east of us, a lot of people who got it are recovering, but that’s a slow process. Many who get the influenza wind up with pneumonia. It’s just that so many are getting it. I don’t even want to open my eyes in the morning, Marcus. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “God, please don’t let it come to Charlotte,” Marcus prayed. He hadn’t realized he’d said it aloud until Derek snorted.

  “Keep praying, my friend. It’s the only thing that might save you. But I’m not sure even God is powerful enough to stop this from spreading.”

  ~~~