Mrs. Ogden drew a deep breath. “Oh, it is lovely! What is this dial for?”
“That is the second hand. It actually shows the seconds passing, and it can be stopped for measuring times … in a race, for example.”
“I see. And this dial with the moons?”
“The phases of the moon accurately move as the month passes—a most modern development you won’t find in an ordinary pocket watch.”
There was a long pause. Then Mrs. Ogden spoke. “And the price? I hope it’s within my price range.”
Justin smothered a laugh. The Ogdens have so much money, they could buy out the entire state!
“For you, a special price. Twelve hundred dollars, Mrs. Ogden.”
“That’s exorbitant!”
“Well, of course it’s expensive,” Charlie agreed. “This is a work of art with an unmatched mechanism.”
There was a long silence.
Charlie finally spoke again. “If you think it’s too much, take a look in the showcases. Perhaps you’ll find something in your price range.” Justin could hear his brother putting the chronometer back in its container. “Besides, I believe I heard my father saying Mrs. Palmer is looking for a special gift. So it might be sold already. I probably shouldn’t have shown it.”
Justin put both hands over his mouth to keep from laughing. Mrs. Palmer was the richest and most powerful woman in Chicago. Mrs. Ogden will never let Mrs. Palmer get that pocket watch, he thought. He couldn’t help admiring Charlie’s salesmanship.
There was another long silence. Then Mrs. Ogden sighed. “Very well. I’ll give you a check for it right now. But I want it engraved with these initials.” Justin could hear the scratching of a pen and a rustling of paper. “There better not be a charge for engraving!”
“There’ll be no charge for you, Mrs. Ogden.”
“I would hope not.”
When Justin heard the bells on the front door jingle as Mrs. Ogden left, he ran into the sales room. “Wow! Charlie! Wait until Father hears you sold that chronometer!”
“I think he’ll be pleased. While I make out the sales slip and directions, why don’t you sweep the front entry before we head home.”
Another big day for Charlie, Justin thought enviously. Father will be making him vice president of the company before long. He moved into the entry and was about to begin sweeping when he saw the small figure of a girl.
“Hi, Justin,” she said.
It was Poppy.
TUESDAY EVENING,
OCTOBER 3, 1871
CHAPTER NINETEEN
- Sheep and Shepherds -
Poppy took a deep breath and walked boldly up to Justin. “I was just walking by. How’s Ticktock?”
“She’s fine. Why?”
“Just wondering.” Poppy stood near the front display window, shifting from foot to foot, not knowing what else to say. Ma Brennan had demanded that Poppy act like the poor little girl that everyone took pity on. But she couldn’t fool Justin. Justin knew she was a tough street girl from Conley’s Patch. He wouldn’t be taken in by any act she might put on.
She put her hands on her hips, cocked her head, and said to Justin, “So you’re still sweepin’ the sidewalks. Don’t you do anything else for your pa?”
“I just finished an important job in the back.”
“Doin’ what?”
“Tagging valuable jewelry with the retail prices.”
“Valuable jewelry? Your father really trusts you with valuable jewelry?”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
Their conversation was interrupted as Claire approached the entry. “Hello, Justin and Poppy.” She carried a bag in one hand and held her other hand in the deep pocket of her coat. “I thought I’d come downtown and pick up some fixings for our chicken dinner tonight.”
Poppy smiled timidly at Claire. Did either of them know she had spent the night in the goat house? She brushed her hands down her dress, trying to smooth down the wrinkles.
Claire didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she opened the top of her coat pocket. “Can you guess what I have in here?” she asked Poppy.
Poppy stepped closer to examine what was inside. “Mew! Mew!” Poppy jumped back, startled. “Mew!” came another squeak, and then a dozen wiggles as the kitten climbed up to the opening.
“Oh! It’s a tiny cat!” Poppy exclaimed as the little whiskered face peeked out at her.
Claire and Justin both laughed. “Her name is Mew. Here, you can hold her.” Claire gently lifted the kitten from her pocket and placed her in Poppy’s outstretched hands.
Poppy couldn’t speak. This was the adorable, soft, and lovable kitten she’d always wanted. The kitten purred loudly in her arms and then took a section of Poppy’s dress in her mouth and began to suck on it.
“She thinks you’re her mother,” Claire said softly.
“She’s so … beautiful,” Poppy finally said, finding her voice, which cracked with emotion. “I wish …” She was about to say, “I wish she were mine,” but of course, this was Claire’s kitten.
“I’m on my way home to make dinner. Forrest is coming tonight.” Claire turned to Poppy. “Forrest Belmont is the minister at the Methodist church on Wabash Avenue. We’re getting married soon.”
Poppy nodded without answering. She had heard Claire would be married, but she hadn’t known to whom. She didn’t know what a minister did and she knew nothing about the Methodist church, other than she passed it when she was on Wabash Avenue. In fact, she’d never been in a church. But she’d heard that people sang songs and talked about God there. Poppy was told there were real gold crosses and valuable things in churches.
Ma always spoke nastily about the one time she had taken her girls to a church. Ma said there’d been a plate that was passed around to collect money from everyone. When Ma and the girls grabbed handfuls of money from the plate, they were ushered out of the church and told never to come back. Ma hated churches ever since.
That was all Poppy knew about churches. Claire’s husband-to-be was a minister. “What’s a minister?” she asked Claire.
“He’s a servant of God who helps people—the shepherd who takes care of God’s flock,” Claire explained.
“A shepherd? Really? Do they keep sheep in the church?” Poppy asked.
Justin burst out laughing. Claire looked startled, but then she put her arm around Poppy. “Not real sheep, dear. They’re people who are sheeplike. They follow their shepherd and his commandments obediently.”
Poppy was confused. “Who’s the shepherd?”
“God is the shepherd.”
“I thought you said the shepherd was your minister friend Forrest?”
Justin laughed again. “He thinks he’s God.”
“That’s not nice, Justin. Forrest is a dedicated servant of God,” Claire snapped. Then, in a softer voice, she explained, “Forrest is a servant of the Good Shepherd, God. He acts as an earthly shepherd for God.”
Poppy was even more confused. “What’s in it for the sheep? What do they get out of it by following the shepherd?”
“Happiness, peace of mind, self-respect.” Claire answered. “And a clean conscience.”
There was the word that Ma Brennan had used: conscience. All this was too hard for Poppy to comprehend right now. The only word she understood a little was “happiness.”
Meanwhile, little Mew was sound asleep in Poppy’s arms. “We don’t want to wake up the kitty,” Claire said. “So I think you should carry Mew home for me. And then, maybe you’d like to help me make dinner. Would you like that?”
“Oh, yes!” Poppy replied quickly. To be with Claire and Ticktock and the kitten was the closest to happiness that she’d ever imagined.
TUESDAY EVENING,
OCTOBER 3, 1871
CHAPTER TWENTY
- Silver Versus Gold -
“I’ll go home with Charlie,” Justin said to Claire and Poppy as they headed down the sidewalk. He went back inside and to the workroom, where Charlie w
as examining a pearl.
“Mrs. Palmer is interested in pearls for her trip to Europe,” Charlie said thoughtfully. “She wants a whole set—pendant, rings … I’d love to design the pendant. I wonder if Father would let me try.” He looked up. “I heard Claire’s voice. Is she here?”
“No, she and Poppy went home.”
“She’s with Poppy? Why does that child hang around here so much?”
Justin shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. She likes Ticktock, I guess.” He wouldn’t tell Charlie that he and his sister suspected that Poppy had spent the night in the goat barn.
“Hmm. I think she likes you, not the goat,” Charlie said with a wise-guy grin.
“Cut it out, Charlie. Are you going home soon?”
“As soon as you finish putting those chains into the display cases. I hope the prices on the tags are correct.” They walked back to the sales room.
“Of course they are. And I’m already done.”
The doorbell jingled as a young man entered. “May I help you?” Charlie asked.
“Yes, I’m looking for a chain for my pocket watch.”
Charlie nodded and stroked his mustache. “Gold or silver?”
“Well, the watch is white gold.” The man pulled the watch from a small pocket on his trousers. “Here.” He laid the timepiece on the counter.
Charlie looked it over. “Hmm. Nice piece, but I don’t believe this is gold. I think it’s oxidized silver. I hope you didn’t pay a lot for this.”
The young man looked embarrassed. “It was a gift. I thought it was gold.”
“I have silver chains here that are more reasonable than gold.” He pointed to a few silver chains in the display cases. “Justin, pick out some silver chains and place them on the counter for this gentleman to see.”
Justin sighed and unlocked the backs of the cases, looking at the silver chains he had just put away. It was easy to separate the white-gold chains from the yellow-gold chains, but the silver and white gold looked alike to him. Oh … of course, he thought, the tags! The tags have the prices I marked, and white gold is more expensive than silver.
Since most of the chains were alike, Justin picked out two that were different.
“These are silver,” he said, checking the tags. “They’re both eight dollars.”
The young man examined each carefully, then picked up the chain that interested him the most. “This is the one I like,” he said. “The smaller links look more expensive, and there are engravings of flowers on the clips at each end.” He looked at the price tag. “Eight dollars is a fair price.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out some bills. “I’ll take this one and clip it to my watch right now.”
Charlie took the money and put it in the cash drawer, but then he asked hesitantly, “May I see that chain first?”
The customer handed the chain to Charlie, who turned it over and over in his hand. He stared at the tag that Justin had made and looked puzzled. “One minute, please,” Charlie said, and went into the back workroom, where Justin had tagged the items.
A gnawing worry cramped Justin’s stomach. Had he put the wrong price on that chain? He didn’t wonder for long, as Charlie returned to the sales room with the list of prices in his hand, his brow furrowed.
“I’m sorry,” Charlie said with an icy glare at Justin. “The price on this chain was marked incorrectly. This is fourteen-karat white gold, not silver, and the correct price is eighty dollars, not eight dollars.” He showed the list and item number to the customer, who looked it over gravely.
Justin felt as if he might throw up. He had marked the tag incorrectly! He’d never hear the end of it now, and … what would Father say when he found out?
The customer drew himself up tall. “You quoted me the price of eight dollars,” he stated. “And the tag distinctly says eight dollars. I paid you eight dollars.” He picked up the chain from the showcase counter and headed for the door. “So I will take my chain and leave.” The bells on the door jingled as he left.
“Wait, wait!” Charlie called, running out after him. “You can’t have that chain. Surely you know this is … highway robbery!”
Justin ran out right behind Charlie, but the man had already turned down another road and was out of sight.
“Well, you’ll have to answer to Father about this,” Charlie said. “Father checks profit and loss every week, and this will show a big red mark against Father’s proceeds.”
“Did you get the man’s name?” Justin asked hopefully. “Is he a regular customer? Maybe Father knows who he is and can talk with him … maybe make a deal.”
Charlie put his hands on his hips. “Well, aren’t you full of good ideas!” he said mockingly.
“This was partly your fault, Charlie,” Justin replied angrily. “You knew the watch was not gold. How come you didn’t know the difference with the chains?”
“I counted on you to tag the chains correctly,” Charlie answered back.
They went back into the store, and Charlie retrieved all the watch chains Justin has displayed in the showcases. He dumped all the chains back into the original box. “Now I have to go over everything you’ve done to see if there are any more mistakes.” He locked up the store, snuffed out the lanterns, and opened the front door. “Let’s go home.”
Neither boy spoke as they began to trudge the two-mile trek toward their house.
How I dread telling Father about the stupid mistake I made! Here I was, jealous of Charlie and trying to prove I can do everything just as well as he. Justin stopped in his tracks. “Charlie. Do we have to tell Father right away?”
Charlie seemed to think about this for a minute. “He’ll find out. I told you, he checks profits and inventory every week, Justin.”
“I’m sorry I flubbed everything up. I’m sorry I acted like such a know-it-all. I’ll make it up to you and Father. I promise. Just don’t tell him yet, Charlie. Give me a chance to make up for it. Please? After all, it’s easy to mistake eight dollars for eighty dollars.”
“It’ll take years to make up for this mistake, Justin,” Charlie muttered.
“I don’t care if it takes forever. I’m feeling bad, Charlie, so don’t be mean. ”
Charlie kept on walking. Then he paused and turned around. “Here’s what we’ll do. You come with me tomorrow and we’ll double-check the list. Maybe we can figure out a way to pay for that chain. But I can’t keep this a secret from Father forever. He’ll find out, Justin. And you better not blame me for any of this.”
“None of it is your fault. It’s all my fault,” Justin admitted. “Maybe I can find the man who bought the chain and get him to pay us for it.”
“Fat chance for that. We’ll never see him again.” Charlie started walking again. “Just how do you plan to pay Father back?”
“I don’t know. I need some time to figure it out.”
“Okay, but just for a few days. I won’t put this sale on the books for now. But Father knows every single piece of inventory in this shop. When he finds out the chain is gone, he’ll want to know the truth—that you made one huge mistake when you put the wrong price on that chain.”
TUESDAY EVENING,
OCTOBER 3, 1871
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
- Supper at the Butterworths’ -
Mew was wiggling and crying in Poppy’s arms, so she handed the kitten back to Claire. “I think she wants to go back into your pocket,” Poppy said.
“She’s warm and cozy and soon she’ll fall asleep,” Claire answered as she gently set the kitten back into her pocket. “I’ve been carrying her in here ever since Randy brought her over to our house. She feels safe when she’s close to me.”
Sure enough, by the time Poppy and Claire had walked one block, little Mew stopped crying. “Peek in here,” Claire whispered, opening up the pocket slightly. Poppy peeped into the pouch. The kitten was curled up inside with her fluffy white-tipped tail wrapped around her face.
“I swear, she’s the sweetest thing
I ever saw,” Poppy whispered.
“She’s my baby—at least for now,” Claire replied.
“Whatcha mean ‘for now’?” Poppy asked with a frown.
“I meant she’s my baby for now. Before you know it, she’ll be all grown up.”
“Will you love her when she’s all grown up?”
Claire stopped walking and looked at Poppy curiously. “I’ll love her always. I won’t stop loving her, Poppy.”
Poppy had to think about this. This lady would love her cat forever. But Poppy’s mother loved her only for a little while, and then she gave her away to Ma Brennan. Ma Brennan never hugged Poppy or held her close and safe, the way Miss Claire cared for the kitten.
The wind gusted, howling between the buildings and driving dust and dirt through the air. Poppy could smell the familiar stink of the stockyards when the wind came up from the river.
Poppy had several bouts of coughing. “Are you all right, Poppy? Do you cough like this often?” Claire asked.
“I do when I sleep in my bed at home. The mattress we sleep on is on a dirt floor and …”
“Oh, goodness, that’s unhealthy,” Claire said with a gasp. “No wonder you have a cough. Does your mother give you medicine?”
“No, she don’t give me medicine. She gets mad and slaps me real hard on the back. I get a-scared and it makes me cough more. So I put the pillow over my head so she can’t hear me.”
Claire stopped and put her arm around Poppy’s shoulder. Poppy shivered and put her head on Claire’s arm. “I wish she’d take better care of you, Poppy,” Claire said. “I worry about you. Living in Conley’s Patch is no place for a little girl. It’s no place for anyone. There are so many wicked thieves and robbers who live there.”
I live in Conley’s Patch, Poppy thought. I’m one of those wicked people.
“Poppy, do you have any other relatives that might take you in and give you a good home? Did the city of Chicago give that Brennan woman guardianship of you?”
Firestorm! Page 9
