Fifty
JANOS
BEAVER CREEK, DECEMBER 19, 1917
Janos scolded himself as he trudged home in the dark, wishing he had worn more layers. The snow was falling steadily now and quickly accumulating on the ground. He suspected there were already six inches of fluffy white powder on the sidewalk in front of him. The wind had picked up dramatically over the course of the afternoon, its powerful gusts blowing and drifting snow throughout the neighborhood. Janos pulled the collar of his coat up around his face, hoping to shield his stinging cheeks from the bitter cold. He looked forward to the warm meal and hot cup of tea that would surely be waiting for him on the dining room table.
As he entered the house, Janos was surprised to find no sign of life in the parlor, kitchen, or dining room. There was nothing on the stove or in the oven, and the table had not been set. Where was everyone? He turned around and headed toward the staircase when he heard loud moaning coming from above.
Had Karina’s labor begun?
Janos froze, unsure of what to do. Unlike her previous births, he had no place by his wife’s side. Her wellbeing was of no concern to him, her child of no relation. He did not wish Karina ill, but had no want of updates from the doctor or midwife. He was not worried about the intensity of her pain, nor did he feel compelled to enter her room to provide comfort. Janos simply wanted to be anywhere but under that roof. He stepped toward the front door, wondering how long it would take him to return to the store in the growing blizzard. Perhaps Concetta and Mrs. Rossi would not mind if he joined them for dinner.
“Papa! Where are you going?” Sofie shouted, quickly descending the staircase.
His daughter had caught him in the act of escaping. Janos turned around slowly, his head hung low. “I’m not needed here. I’ll spend the night at the store.”
“You can’t do that. Aunt Anna can’t deliver the baby on her own.”
“You think I’m going to help?” he asked, stunned by the ridiculous assumption Sofie had made. He hadn’t assisted in the birthing of his own two children. Was he to help bring a stranger’s baby into the world?
“Dr. Adler’s not here yet, and the blizzard is getting worse. What if he doesn’t make it?”
“Your aunt has helped deliver many babies. She’ll show you what to do.”
“You don’t understand, Papa.” Sofie’s voice began to crack. “I can’t go in there. I won’t.”
The panic in his daughter’s voice was palpable. Janos reached out and patted her arm. Suddenly, more moans came from above. Only this time, they were lengthier and more anguished. The labor was progressing.
Sofie looked up at the ceiling, her face growing paler by the second.
“What would you have me do? Enter that room and witness my wife—who abandoned me—give birth to another man’s child? Have I not been punished enough?”
Sofie’s face fell. Janos feared his tone had been too rough.
“I need a hand up here!” Anna appeared at the top of the stairs, her face drenched in sweat. Her gray hair was unkempt and falling out of the bun at the back of her head. “Will neither of you help me?”
Karina’s moans evolved into screams. Janos shuddered when he thought he heard her calling his name. “Are none of the neighbor ladies available to help? Aren’t there any midwives around?” he asked desperately.
“Aunt Anna is afraid they will gossip. Karina keeps asking for you—she wants to see her baby’s father,” Sofie said.
Janos grabbed the newel post for support. “Dear God. Who can we trust? What about Mrs. Walker?”
“She’s feeding our boarders,” Anna replied, wincing at another of Karina’s screams. “I sent Vilium and Marek over there for dinner. She’s also got to feed Lily—and Pole if he ever makes it home from work in this storm.”
Janos and Sofie exchanged hopeful looks, seeming to read the other’s mind. “Lily!” they both shouted.
“I’ll get her. I know we can trust her.” Sofie ran to the closet and quickly put on her coat and hat.
“Be careful. It’s treacherous out there,” Janos warned his daughter.
“I’ll be back before you know it. I’m only going halfway down the block.”
Suddenly, Karina’s wailing rose to a crescendo. Janos cringed at the sound.
“I’ve got to get back in there. If that baby comes in the next five minutes, Janos, you’ll have no choice but to help me,” Anna said sternly. “If something goes wrong, I’ll need an extra pair of hands—assuming I can even figure out what to do. Goddamn this miserable storm! And goddamn that slow-moving Dr. Adler!”
Goddamn Karina. Janos cursed her for the millionth time that month. As his sister returned to his wife’s side, he grabbed the half empty bottle of whiskey from the sideboard. He held it up to his face, wondering who had drunk it. He’d bought it less than a week ago. He shrugged and took it to the basement along with a dusty, unopened bottle of Scotch he had found at the back of the cabinet.
Hoping to find refuge from the sound of Karina’s relentless screaming, Janos closed the basement door and descended the steps. The boiler would surely drown out the commotion coming from two floors above him. As he neared the nook below the staircase, he grabbed a blanket from a mountainous pile of dirty laundry Anna must have forgotten about and placed it between himself and the dirt floor covered in coal dust. As Janos sipped his whiskey, the sound of the hissing boiler filling his ears, he closed his eyes and imagined he was somewhere else. He tried to conjure a happy memory to distract himself from his aching heart.
He thought of Sofie and Lukas. He saw the chubby, sweet faces of a seven-year-old and a five-year-old wandering the banks of the Monongahela River on a warm summer’s day. They were chasing a swarm of butterflies, laughing and giggling as they flapped their arms, trying to mimic the colorfully winged creatures. Janos’s heart had filled with joy that day, watching his children, so full of innocence and curiosity. He held tight to that image as he finished the bottle of whiskey and opened the scotch.
“Papa. Wake up.”
Someone was shaking him. He opened his eyes to a spinning room. Sofie’s face was a blur.
“Did you drink all this?” she asked, holding up two bottles of liquor. “You reek.”
Janos tried to focus on his daughter. His head was throbbing, and his stomach felt like it was about to rebel. He stared at the bottles Sofie held in her hands. The whiskey was gone, but thankfully, it looked like he had only drunk a quarter of the Scotch.
“We were worried sick about you. We thought you went out into the blizzard. I only came down here to put more coal in the boiler.”
“Sorry. I wanted a quiet place to rest. What time is it?”
“Almost eleven.”
“And Karina?” Janos asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
“She gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Lily helped Aunt Anna with the delivery, and Dr. Adler got here twenty minutes after.”
Janos sighed. “That’s a relief.”
Sofie looked down at the floor. She made swirls in the dirt with the tip of her shoe. “What will you do now that the baby’s here?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. I have no more answers than the day your mother arrived.”
Sofie sighed. “Lukas will be home for Christmas in a few days. I’m worried about how he’s going to react to the situation.”
“Me, too,” Janos said, rising to his feet. As he felt the full weight of his body upon his wobbly legs, a sense of dread washed over him. His time to come up with a plan to deal with Karina was running out. Her baby had arrived healthy—his and Anna’s goal had been achieved. There was now little reason for his wife to remain under his roof. The longer she stayed, the greater the chance that she would never leave.
Reluctant to abandon his refuge beside the hissing boiler, Janos forced himself to climb the stairs with his daughter. He tried to weigh his options, but his mind was still too foggy with drink. Perhaps a solution would appear to him in the
morning light, once the storm had cleared. All he knew in that moment of drunkenness was that he would not allow Karina to ruin his happiness with Concetta. She would not destroy his life a second time.
Fifty-One
EDITH
SHADYSIDE, DECEMBER 20, 1917
Edith woke to the sensation of something warm running down her leg. She had slept so soundly through the night, she wondered if she’d lost control of her bladder. That happened to pregnant women sometimes, didn’t it? She slid her hand under the sheets and felt the dampness between her legs. She stiffened. She quickly withdrew her hand from under the bedding and examined the sticky liquid. It trickled down her fingers. Trembling, she prayed to God and all of his angels as she pulled back the heavy eiderdown quilt and peered beneath it.
It was everywhere. On the sheets, on the blanket, all over her nightgown. Blood. It was the same crimson hue of the quilt she so cherished.
“No!” Edith shouted. “No! Not again!” she screamed so loud that her throat burned. She beat the mattress ferociously until she was nearly out of breath. She then ripped the quilt and sheets from the bed and threw them onto the floor. “Burn it! Burn all of it!” she yelled, tearing at her nightgown. The blood-soaked garment clung to her body, deepening her fury.
Suddenly, James was in the doorway, his face white with fear. “Edith!” he cried, rushing toward her. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
Edith collapsed into her husband’s arms, allowing him to scoop her up and carry her into the bathroom. As he gently placed her in the bathtub, she seized his wrist. “Get it all. Get every last bit of it out of this house.”
“Get what, darling? What?” James asked in desperation.
“Red. The color red,” she growled as her head rolled to the side, darkness consuming her.
Fifty-Two
SOFIE
BEAVER CREEK, DECEMBER 22, 1917
“Where’s Lily? I thought she was helping you with dinner,” Sofie asked as she entered the kitchen.
“She was, but she went upstairs to check on your mother and the baby. She can’t seem to keep her hands off that child,” Aunt Anna said, stirring a pot of stew.
Sofie nodded. She had never been particularly interested in babies—at least not in the way Lily was. She felt guilty that she still hadn’t held her baby sister, but feared her acceptance of Karina’s baby might be viewed by her father as a betrayal. When Aunt Anna had brought the baby downstairs the morning after the blizzard, only Pole and Lily had fussed over her. Sofie and her father had simply glanced at little Mary, thankful she had been born healthy and not at all surprised that she’d inherited her mother’s blue eyes.
Pole had a keen interest in the baby, and it had caught Sofie off guard. He seemed to be in awe of Mary, constantly competing with his sister for time to rock her and gaze at her tiny face. He had even snatched the baby from Lily’s arms on one occasion when he thought his sister wasn’t holding her correctly. Sofie never imagined a burly coal miner would be so enamored with an infant. She had also not expected to be so jealous of the attention Pole gave it.
“Will it ever end?” Papa muttered from the dining room, interrupting Sofie’s thoughts.
She glanced through the doorway at her father, who seemed to be talking to a pile of invoices. The entire dining room table was covered with stacks of paperwork.
“What are you doin’ here?” Sofie suddenly heard Pole say from the parlor. Had someone knocked on the front door? Curious, she left the kitchen and rushed down the hall.
“Sofie!” Lukas said happily as he embraced his sister. “I see you and Pole found each other.” He winked at her.
“We did. Thanks to you,” Pole said, shaking his hand.
“Are you staying here at the house?”
“No. Me and Lily are staying with Mrs. Walker.”
“You’re early.” Papa said nervously as he entered the room and hugged his son. “We weren’t expecting you until Christmas Eve.”
“Aren’t you happy to see me? I haven’t been home since the end of summer.” Lukas chuckled as he slapped his father playfully on the back.
“Of course, I am.” Papa forced a smile. “But I thought you were going to see your aunt Edith for a few days.”
Lukas’s smile disappeared. “I got a telegram yesterday. She’s ill and not feeling up to visitors.”
“Is it serious? Edith always has time for you,” Papa said.
Lukas shook his head and went silent for a moment. “She’s had a difficult week … but the doctor expects her to make a full recovery.”
“We’ll have to send her a card or some flowers,” Sofie suggested. She had always resented Mrs. Harford for stealing her brother from them, but she could not deny that the heiress had been good to him.
“You look different, Lukas. Did you change your hair? Or maybe you gained some weight. You look chubby,” Sofie said as she poked her brother in the stomach.
“You’re one to talk. Looks like you spent more than five minutes on your hair and outfit for a change. Who are you trying to impress?” Lukas laughed, looking at Pole.
Sofie resisted the urge to punch her brother and quickly turned toward the kitchen to hide her reddening face. “I’ll get you some hot tea, dear brother,” she said in her most sarcastic tone.
“I’ve already got it.” Aunt Anna entered the parlor with a pot of tea and a tray of walnut and poppyseed koláče she had baked in preparation for Christmas. “It’s almost dinner time, but a few sweets won’t hurt.” Aunt Anna handed Sofie the tray so she could hug Lukas. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too,” he replied, kissing his aunt on the cheek.
“We’re going to take turns holding the baby. Do you understand now, Pole?”
Horrified, Sofie turned around to see Lily coming down the stairs with Mary in her arms.
“Her tummy’s nice and full, and she’s sleeping peacefully. It might be a good time for you to finally hold her, Sofie.” Lily stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of Lukas.
“Hi, Lily. Do you remember me from the five-and-dime?” he asked. “Are you babysitting?”
The color drained from Lily’s face. “Sort of.”
Sofie’s eyes darted around the room. Papa, Aunt Anna, and Pole looked even paler than Lily. She stared at her father questioningly, wondering if this was the moment he would break the news to Lukas. She had hoped for more time to enjoy her brother’s homecoming before things got unpleasant.
Papa cleared his throat. “Lily has quite a way with babies. She told me the other day that she’s thinking of becoming a midwife.”
“Let’s all sit and have some tea,” Aunt Anna said. “Pole, can you bring in one of the chairs from the dining room?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Pole gently caressed the small of Sofie’s back as he slid by her. When he returned to the room, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Try to look calm.” He then grabbed her hand and led her over to the empty armchair next to her father. He placed the dining room chair next to hers and sat on it, never letting go of her hand.
Lukas, Aunt Anna, and Lily had all settled on the sofa and were already sipping tea and selecting cookies from the tray. Sofie tried to relax as her father and aunt interrogated Lukas about school and his grades in particular. He replied pleasantly, pausing occasionally to stroke the cheek of the baby Lily held in her arms. He, too, seemed enchanted by little Mary. As Lukas began the story of a Halloween prank gone terribly awry, Sofie finally felt herself relax. The sound of her brother’s voice was comforting, his animated gestures heartening. The people she loved most in the world were finally together in the same room, and Sofie was grateful. She turned to smile at Pole, but was startled by the tension in his jaw. His gaze was fixed on the staircase. From Sofie’s vantage point, she could not see what was troubling him.
It only took seconds. She saw the pair of feet descending the staircase.
Pole sprang out of his chair and rushed up the stairs to cut
Karina off. Sofie looked over at her brother, who hadn’t seemed to notice the movement. He was bent over the baby, tickling her chin.
“Get away from me, John!” Karina shouted. “Get out of my way!”
Everyone looked up. Sofie felt her heart pounding in her ears. There was no hiding the truth now.
“Janos! Why is John Stofanik lurking around our house? And why haven’t the children come to meet their baby sister?” Karina marched down the stairs past Pole and stomped into the parlor. “Who are these people?” she asked, pointing at Sofie and Lukas.
Sofie could not believe her eyes. It was the first glimpse she’d had of her mother since she invaded their home over a month ago. Karina looked like a woman possessed. Her grizzled hair lay in tangles, the shadows under her eyes so dark, they looked like bruises. The gauntness of her face accentuated its deep lines, making her look haggard. The sight of Karina made Sofie’s eyes burn. What had happened to the unforgettable beauty who was once her mother?
Sofie slowly moved her head in the direction of her brother, not certain she wanted to witness his reaction. He sat paralyzed, his jaw practically on the floor, his eyes narrowing.
“Mama?” he whispered.
Karina tilted her head as she eyed Lukas. She bit her lip in concentration, seeming to work out a riddle. “What did you call me?”
Lukas looked sideways at Papa, then at Sofie, his brows deeply furrowed. “What’s she doing here? What happened to her?” he stammered. “Is this her baby?” He pointed at Mary, quickly sliding away in revulsion.
Papa stood and squared his shoulders. “This is not the way we wanted you to find out, Lukas. I’m terribly sorry. It’s a long, sad story.”
Lukas leapt to his feet. “I have a sad story, too, don’t I, Papa? Don’t we all?” His eyes bored into Sofie’s and then Aunt Anna’s. His wild gaze came to rest on his father. “How could you let her into this house? What’s she doing here after all this time?” he shouted. “Seven years!” He shook his head furiously. Lukas lunged toward Karina and pulled up his right pant leg. “Look at what you did. Look at my sad story!” he screamed just inches from her face. “I lost my leg because of you. Because you left us.” His face burned red with rage.
Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash Page 29
