Disclaimers: These characters and this story originated in the deep dark recesses of my mind, and thus belong to no one but me. Copyright © 2002 by Blayne Cooper (Advocate).All Rights Reserved. Certain recognizable locations, events, and/or organizations were used to lend a sense of authenticity to the story and not intended to depict reality. Others are wholly fictional.

Sexual Content/Violence/Language:This is alternative fiction involving a romantic/sexual relationship between two adult women. It is intended for mature audiences only.If you're under 18, please move along. contains scenes moderate, though vividly described violence and some profanity.

Emotional Distress: This story is little different from what you might be expecting if you've read my other writings. It's a bit darker, a bit more serious, and in places, downright angsty.If you can hang in there through the tough parts, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.I promise.

Acknowledgements: Ali, Barbara, Judith, and Nancy-your beta reading assistance was invaluable. To my pals reading on the side-your feedback helped make this a better story.Thank you Cindy Brown, M.D. for your expert medical advice.Any inaccuracies on the medical front are a reflection of my use of artistic license rather than her expertise. A special thanks goes out to T. Novan for her research assistance on several matters. Finally, Bob helped me in so many ways I won't even try to list them all.Instead, I'll just say thank you and I love you.

Author's note: Most of the information concerning the facilities on Blackwell's Island is attributable to the below source.In the name of artistic license some liberties were taken.Follow the link below for more information on Blackwell's Island and the institutions housed there.

The Last Train Home
by
Blayne Cooper (Advocate)

Chapter One

It began to snow, tiny flakes shimmering in the lamplight until they collided with Virginia's worn, woolen scarf and stuck, creating a thin layer of silvery crystals on the black fabric.The scarf covered her head and she absently reached up to make certain its ends were tucked securely into her coat.She left her hand there as she walked, holding together the scratchy, woolen lapels of the coat with chilled fingers.

At the corner of Essex and Delancey streets she stopped at the curb to allowed a slow-moving wagon to pass in front her.

"Whoa." The husky driver reined the single brown nag that was pulling his wagon. The back of the wagon was full of beer barrels. "Needing a ride, miss?"He stripped off his small, round hat and squinted as he looked into the night's sky, irritated when small flakes dotted the lenses of his spectacles."Winter is finally here on this New Year's Eve," he pronounced, stuffing his hat back atop a mass of unruly dark hair and wiping his glasses.

Virginia smiled and shook her head.Six months ago she wouldn't have understood a word he'd said.Then, the varied accents of Manhattan's Lower East Side immigrants had caused her to blink stupidly at nearly anyone who spoke to her.On this night, however, she understood the man perfectly and thanked him for his kind offer before continuing her trek to Orchard Street and home, which consisted of a tiny apartment on the sixth floor of a brown brick tenement house.

A laughing couple staggered past her shouting their wishes for a happy New Year and addressing her by name.She dredged up another smile and waved her goodbyes as she continued to walk, her mind occupied more with getting off her aching feet than imbibing along with the rest of New York.

She had worked late tonight, stripping the feathers from stinking chicken carcasses along with two dozen other men, women, and children, all for the promise of an extra dollar in her $4.00 a week paycheck.Despite the holiday, it was an offer Virginia Chisholm could ill afford to refuse.

Passing through a cloud of foul-smelling steam rising from the sewer vent, she opened the door to her building and was instantly greeted by several more partying tenants.She lowered her scarf and shook it out, sending a scattering of icy crystals to the wooden floor and revealing a head of red hair with golden highlights, now in full disarray.

A pock-faced man poked his head out of his apartment door, and Virginia could hear the jaunty chords of an out-of-tune piano and a burst of laughter from behind him. "Evening, Ginny!" he slurred.

"Happy New Year, Mr. Belawitz," she dutifully answered, secretly hoping that he wouldn't want to chat.But he quickly ducked back inside his apartment, much to Ginny's relief.

A chorus of"Happy New Year, Ginny!" rang out through the narrow hallway as Ginny climbed the steep steps.She laughed, happy to see her usually grumpy neighbors enjoying the season.

It was already past ten and her family's apartment was dark and quiet, except for a single candle that sat on a small table near the stove, illuminating the weary faces of Ginny's mother and sister. She sat down alongside her mother with a weary thump.

Ginny's older sister, Alice, rose to hang up Ginny's wet coat, and her mother reached over to the stove for a pot that still held hot tea.

"I was beginning to get worried, child."She hated it when Ginny walked the ten blocks from her work to home in the dark alone.

Ginny tucked chilled, red fingers under her arms for warmth. "I'm sorry, mama, I had to work late."Then she smiled, remembering why she'd missed supper."There's an extra dollar in my pocket this week because of it."

"No need."Her mother waved her off, filling a chipped cup with steaming tea and sending the scent of mint wafting between them."You can give it to me tomorrow when I go to the market. It'll be nice to have some meat for dinner." She looked gratefully at both her daughters and rose to her feet.As she stood, she brushed her lips against the top of her Ginny's cold head."Happy New Year, babies.I hope it's the best one ever," she said softly."For both of you."

"Same to you, Mama," the young women answered in concert, as their mother disappeared into one of the apartment's two small bedrooms.They smiled at the sound of their stepfather's deep snores, which disappeared when their mother closed the bedroom door.

When the apartment was silent once again, Alice scooted her chair next to her sister's and they began to chatter quietly about the day's events. Before long Ginny's eyelids were drooping and Alice chuckled.Ginny was too tired.They were all too tired.Her sister's heart-shaped face had begun to take on the lines and planes of adulthood, though in fairness the skin around her eyes had always crinkled when she smiled, belying her true age.Right now, however, those same eyes were fluttering closed at irregular intervals as Ginny fought uselessly against an overwhelming wave of fatigue.

"C'mon, luscious," Alice teased."Let me help you into bed." She pushed off from the table, then carefully set Ginny's empty cup in a wash basin.

"Hush," Ginny shot back testily, more than a little sensitive about her curvaceous figure. She was average height, but only in the past year, since she'd turned 17, had her hips widened and her breasts taken on a full roundness not shared by either her mother or older sibling.

"Oh, all right," Alice laughed, guiding her bone-weary sister towards their darkened room.Once inside they both carefully checked to make certain the blankets were tightly tucked around their young twin brothers, James and Lewis. Next they checked on the baby, Helen, and 3-year-old Jane, who both slept in a crib at the foot of the girls' bed. Satisfied that everyone was warm, Alice climbed into bed.

Ginny stripped down to her underclothes and as quickly as she could snuggled under the covers of the twin bed she shared with her sister. Her contented sigh at the wonderful feeling of their shared body heat was lost amidst the loud creaking of the bedsprings.

"This is the year, Alice," Ginny whispered fervently after a long moment.She pulled the quilt up to her chin."1889 was the last year I'm spending in this place.I know Mama needs our help, but-"

"Me too, Ginny." A pause."John from the fish market came calling for me earlier tonight."

Ginny could hear the smile in her sister's voice."About time.You two have been mooning over each other for months. And sparking for almost that long," she added mischievously," knowing that Alice wasn't aware she'd inadvertently caught them kissing more than once.She squirmed out of the way of pinching fingers, causing Lewis to stir in the bed only two feet away.

"Sorry."But she wasn't really.She'd been waiting weeks for the perfect opportunity to torture Alice about that.

"Now, about tonight," Alice continued undaunted, "Arthur told him to come back next week after his visit had been properly announced."

Unseen in the darkness both sisters rolled their eyes at their stepfather's old-fashioned notions.

"But John said he'd be back.He wants to move out West next summer, you know. His uncle owns a farm in Tennessee."

"Oh, Al," Ginny's voice was soft and wistful.She'd seen photographs of rolling hills and imagined miles and miles of fresh, green grass."That's wonderful." She squeezed her sister's hand, trying to ignore the pang in her chest that the news brought.She would miss her fiercely, but refused to begrudge Alice an opportunity for a better life.After all, she intended on having one herself.There has to be more than this place.Endless work.The stink. The crime.There just has to.

"He has a brother, Ginny. If you can get past those mutton chops and that long mustache he's not such a bad looking fellow."

Ginny snorted. "No thanks."She absently glanced out the window, her eyes following the constant stream of glittering snow."I'll get out of here without having to resort to him, thank you very much."

And for a moment Alice believed her willful younger sister.If anyone could do it, it was Ginny.

Then only the muffled sounds of snoring filled the tiny apartment on Orchard Street.

"So long, String Bean."With a single shove between the narrow shoulder blades, Lindsay Killian went flying out of the slow moving boxcar and into the night.She hit the ground, cursing as she slid down an embankment made up of rocks and chunks of coal covered by a thin layer of snow. She winced as she felt her trousers and then the skin of her knees and hands tear.It was eerily silent out, except for the fading chugging of the freight train.

"Bastard," she spat, seeing her hat fly out of the boxcar, which was already several hundred feet down the track in front of her.She could swear she could still hear his self-satisfied laughter. It was, in Lindsay's mind, the ultimate humiliation."Rolled by someone I know." She snorted derisively."What next?My own father coming back from the grave to slap me in the face?"

With a shake of the head, she pushed wearily to her knees and wobbled there for several seconds before falling bonelessly backwards. She sighed, sending a puff of steam into the cold air, and gazed up into the sky, its blackness overtaken by the muted glow of lights and smoke from the nearby city. Snowflakes rained down on her and she wished briefly that she could see the stars instead of the endless sea of dingy gray-gold above.Like New York City, the stars made her feel small and insignificant-dwarfed.But unlike this place, they also made Lindsay feel freeÉ as if the universe was stretched out invitingly before her and anything was possible.

With another dramatic sigh she rolled over onto her side and paused a moment to remove a small rock that had embedded itself in her hand.She winced and rose to her feet, brushing off her shabby coat.Despite her sudden fit of melancholy and her outright embarrassment over being robbed of her flint, pocketknife, and life savings, which consisted of a total of .87¢, she decided that she could do better than freezing to death in the ditch.The City might be a cesspool but there were plenty of pockets to pick, charity shelters that offered hot, if watery, soup, and places where she could go and warm her hands by the fire.

Her eyes narrowed.After she found some food, she would head down to Rat Face's favorite railway station and reclaim her stolen property along with her pride.Lindsay's booted feet made a crunching noise as she walked.

"String Bean, my dear," she muttered to herself, as she bent to retrieve her battered hat, "How about a different resolution this new year?Instead of getting rich, why not settle on keeping better company?"She tucked her shoulder-length hair deep into her coat and out of sight.Yeah.She nodded a little, satisfied with her decision.Better company, it is.

She climbed back up the embankment."But that better company's gonna have to come after I find Rat Face and KICK HIS ASS."

Feeling much better, she tucked her hands into her sleeves and whistled a happy tune as she began a solitary walk down the wooden tracks and towards New York City.

The words tugged at the edge of her consciousness.But they weren't enough to completely rouse her.

She felt a small hand shaking her shoulder."What is it, Lewis?" she mumbled, keeping her eyes firmly closed.I just lay down.Tell me it's not time to wake up yet.

This time her brother's high-pitched voice was filled with panic, and her eyes fluttered open to find their room filled withÉ she blinkedÉ smoke?

"Oh, my God."Alice sat up and pushed her hair from her face."Oh, God. Oh, God. Something's burning," she said needlessly."There's a fire."

Ginny threw off their covers and scrambled out of bed, not noticing that the floor beneath her bare feet was unusually warm."I'll get Mama."She looked at Alice for confirmation, pushing down a wave of fear and dread.

"Go!I'll get the kids dressed."Alice was already hastily wiggling on Lewis' shoes.

Ginny nodded quickly and covered her mouth with her hand.Now that she was on her feet, the acrid smell and taste made the back of her throat burn and her head was well into the hazy layer of smoke that covered the top half of the room."I'll be right back to help, Alice."She spared a glance into the crib, then stopped dead in her tracks. "Helen?" Her eyes darted around wildly."Helen?"Ginny's normally rich voice cracked on the last word as she looked at Jane, who was alone in the crib.

The sound of wagons, nervous horses, and raised, panicky voices floated up from the street below.

Alice grabbed Lewis' coat from the closet and began to wake James, who was still oblivious in his peaceful sleep."Mama took Helen out of the crib about an hour ago.She never brought her back."She didn't have to look up to know that Ginny hadn't moved." Hurry, Ginny. Go!"

Ginny snapped out of her shock and jerked open their bedroom door.For the first time in her life she ran into her parents' room without knocking."Mama!Arthur, wake up.There's a fire."

"What?Oh, no."Her mother shot up out of bed, her eyes wide with disbelief, all traces of sleep gone in an instant.She had Helen in her arms and awkwardly shifted her nightgown so that her breast would no longer be exposed.

The baby let out a loud unhappy shriek as her comforting suckling was abruptly ended.

Arthur Robson, Ginny's stepfather, lay stock-still except for the even rise and fall of his chest.Ginny shook his shoulder vigorously but he only slapped her hand away and mumbled something unintelligible.

She turned questioning eyes on her mother, who was rummaging through her dresser for something more suitable than a nightgown and trying to calm Helen's cries. "What's wrong with him, Mama?"

"He drank too much celebrating the New Year is all.He'll be fine.IÉ I can wake him.Go help your sister with the other children."She fanned her hand in front of her in a useless attempt to clear away the smoke. "You need to get out now, Ginny, all of you." She stifled a cough."Put on your shoes and coat."The older woman wrapped a blanket around Helen and sat her back on the bed as she dressed."We'll meet you in front of the building."

The older woman suddenly stopped talking and cocked her head towards the window.Short, quick steps took her across the small room and she grunted as she threw open the window.A blast of cold air and the sound of distant screams filled the room.Despite the January air, sweat began to bead on Mrs. Robson's upper lip.Peering out, she could see flames shooting out of the window from the apartment directly below theirs and a gathering of men, women, children and fire brigade on the street below."Sweet Jesus."Wild brown eyes snapped sideways, pinning Ginny, but she spoke with remarkable calmness."Go and don't stop, Ginny.Get your brothers and sisters and run."

Ginny hesitated for only a second, but seeing that Arthur was beginning to wake up on his own she reluctantly made her way back to her room.The entire apartment was filled with smoke now, and the short distance between the two doors somehow seemed longer in the pungent haze."Ouch."She stubbed her toe on the edge of small table.

Lewis and James were standing nervously at the door in their nightshirts, coats, hats, and shoes.Both 8-year-old boys wrapped themselves around Ginny as soon as she entered the room.

"Awww, it's gonna be okay, boys."But the smoke was making it hard to see and harder to breathe."You'll see."She cupped both their chins and gently lifted."Are you ready?"

Alice was busy wrapping a blanket around Jane with one hand while she buttoned her coat with the other.She glanced up at Ginny and their eyes locked.

Ginny swallowed hard and her heart began to pound, realizing for the first time that this was more than a dangerous situation.It was deadly.

Alice opened her mouth to speak but could only cough."WhereÉ" she finally choked out, shaking her head as if to clear her throat."Where are they?"Smoke filled the entire room now and boys began to gasp and cough as well.

Ginny spoke without taking a breath so she could get the words out all at once. "They're not ready, Al.Arthur drank too much.Mama's trying to get him up."She squeezed her watery, stinging eyes shut as the room began to blur.

Alice nodded and handed Jane to Ginny, who instantly wrapped the squirming toddler in a comforting embrace.Another second and Alice was on her knees fitting Ginny's feet into her shoes."Get them outÉ" A cough."É of here."She began to cough again and this time she couldn't stop for several long seconds.

When Ginny's shoes were securely in place, Alice grasped her sister's biceps and pulled Ginny and Jane tightly against her in a hug to so tight it was painful.She pressed her lips directly to Ginny's ear."Mama can't get Arthur and the baby alone.I'll help."She extended her arms and held her sister's gaze once again."Never leave them, Ginny. They need you.Promise?"

"PrÉ Promise."Ginny drew in an uneven breath and her eyes filled with tears of a different kind.

"ShhÉ" Alice quickly but gently wiped her cheeks, knowing her own were just as wet. "I'll meet you outside, luscious. Go," she whispered a split second before bolting towards her parents' room, drawing her fingers lightly across the top of her brothers' heads on her way out.

Ginny didn't bother sniffing or wiping her eyes.She let the tears come, allowing them to momentarily clear her vision and burn a path down her already flushed cheeks.Then she reached down and took one of James' small hands, instructing him to hold onto Lewis'."Let's go."

Several blind paces later and they were at the apartment's front door, where Ginny awkwardly shrugged into her charcoal gray, woolen coat.She repositioned Jane against her shoulder and reached for the knob, only to yank her hand back and scream when her skin stuck to the searing metal.She stumbled backwards, only just maintaining her hold on her sister.

Lewis began to cry in earnest and James abandoned his normal approach of telling his brother he was acting like a sissy when he wanted him to be brave.Instead he remained mute, glancing around the room with round frightened eyes.

Ginny's mind raced.If the metal was that hot, surely the fire was in the hallway.The window?No.They were on the sixth floor.She drew in a ragged breath.They had no choice."Hold on, Jane."She screwed blue eyes tightly shut and kicked the door.

On the third kick, much to Ginny's surprise, the rickety door flew open and a wave of hot air slammed against them all, forcing them to take a step backwards and gasp in shock.Momentarily the smoke seemed to clear and Ginny could see that flames had engulfed the apartments farthest from the stairs.The fire was working its way towards the other end of the hall, its deadly tendrils already licking at her apartment door.She glanced over her shoulder, desperately hoping to see the rest of her family.But the view was once again obscured by smoke.

"Run!" Gripping Lewis' sweaty hand, she ignored the pain in her own as they burst through the flames that shot across their doorway.They began a dead run down the narrow hallway.Ginny tried to call out to her neighbors, on the chance that they were still sleeping unaware in their beds, but most of her yells were swallowed up by the coughing she could no longer hold at bay, and the roar of the fire, which seemed to grow with every passing second.

Screams and the sound of breaking wood and glass echoed up from the floors below her and several of the apartments around her, the sound nearly enough to drive all rational thought from her mind.The flames painted eerie, hateful shadows on the walls around them as they stepped over several pieces of smoldering paneling that had peeled away due to the blazing heat.

Just as they were about to reach the stairs, Mr. Gelfand, the tenant from the apartment directly behind them, burst out of his front door and ran past them in his bare feet.Smoke was coming from the tails of his nightshirt, but he didn't seem to notice them as he barreled over James on his way to down the steps.

At the top step, Ginny looked back at their apartment door, which was nothing more than a blossoming ball of red-and-gold flames. I can't leave them! her mind screamed, even though she knew she had to get her brothers and Jane out of the building. She screwed her eyes tightly shut and added to the chaos by screaming, "Damn!"It was the first time in her life she'd sworn and James looked up at her from his position on the floor in shock.

"GetÉ" A coughing fit interrupted her."Get up, James!" Ginny cried, frustrated that she didn't have a free hand to yank him up with."Go!Run!"She gestured down the stairs with her chin, deciding at the last second to let go Lewis' hand and go back for the rest of her family.She had to.She couldn't leave them.The boys could run like the wind.They'd be fine.Unconsciously, she tightened her grip on Jane, who had stopped crying and was now burrowed against Ginny's shoulder, her head tucked under the blanket she was wrapped in.

Responding to his sister's urgent command, James flew down the steps, his arms pumping wildly, his little legs a blur as he ran.

Ginny froze and the silence between them stretched out for what seemed like an eternity, though it was no more than a handful of seconds. Her heart in her throat, she nodded, and they began making their way down the stairs.The steps creaked under her weight and she watched in amazement as several stairs near the bottom buckled from heat or pressure.She didn't know which.But she could feel the heat radiating from them, seeping through the soles of her worn shoes.

Behind her there was more crashing and screaming and she ruthlessly ignored it, telling herself that it couldn't be her family.

Jagged flames shot up the walls and streaked across the ceiling, the blazing heat making every breath painful, the stench of burning wood and paper and hair making her nose wrinkle.Ginny reached up with her scalded hand to adjust Jane's blanket and when she pulled it away dark splotches of crimson in the broken shape of a hand stained the cloth.

"Take offÉ" Ginny swallowed painfully."Take of your hats and pressÉ press them against- Like this."She snatched off James' hat and pressed it to his face, forcing him to breathe through it.Lewis immediately mimicked his brother's actions.

Behind her, the wallpaper on both sides of the staircase had caught fire, making the staircase to the sixth floor a tunnel of flames.

Ginny looked back again and squinted.There wasÉ somethingÉ someone at the top of the stairs.She could only just make out the outline of a woman with something in her arms.The woman took one step then retreated.Oh, god, is she on fire?"Alice?Ma...Mama!" she screamed desperately. But there was no answer to her cries and the figure moved away from the steps at the precise second a loud boom shook the entire building.

Ginny wasn't sure she could take another step without throwing up, but she moved anyway, turning to the top of the fifth floor staircase.They traveled faster now, blindly through the smoke, kicking debris from their path.There was no turning back now. And there was no one on the way down the steps behind them.

The wall to the left of her was on fire and she turned away from the flames as she moved, feeling a painfully stinging on the back of her neck.Then, with a sudden poof, James' coat caught fire and he began to scream, breaking into a run down the steps.

Lewis took off after his brother, tackling him a few steps from the bottom of the third floor landing.They landed in a tangled heap of arms and legs, and Ginny took several steps at a time through the thick smoke until she caught sight of James' feet.She grabbed Lewis by the collar and pushed Jane into his arms."Take her!"

The toddler was far too heavy for him and the girl's dangling legs reached well past his knees.He nearly crumbled under her weight but fought valiantly to stay upright, bracing his back against the stair railing until he thought his spine would snap.

Ginny dropped to her knees and roughly yanked James' burning coat from his body as he screamed, trying to roll away from her.She felt the skin of both hands searing and she bared her teeth as she fought with her panicked brother. "Stay still.Stop it!I have toÉ Ugh!"The old coat ripped at the seams and the scratchy material stuck to her palm and fingers like glue.In a frenzy, she ripped it from her damaged skin.

Her hands felt like they were on fire and she had to look at them for a second to assure herself that they weren't.The skin was angry and blistered raw, but James was all right.The fire hadn't burned through to his skin.

The young woman stumbled to her feet and took Jane from Lewis, just before the slender boy buckled.

"We're almost down, boys."Perspiration streaked her face and neck and she could feel it trickling down her spine and between her breasts."C'mon."

Lewis helped James to his feet, tears carving narrow trails down their soot-covered faces as they moved in front of their sister.

The smoke on the second floor wasn't nearly as thick as on the other floors and Ginny drew in a deep breath, still gagging when her lungs rejected the foul air. Whereas the rest of the building appeared deserted, this floor was a study in chaos.Members of the fire brigade were breaking in doors as they searched for tenants.It was a cacophony of babies crying and screams of panic and pain and anguish.People in all states of dress, speaking several languages, were running through the hall as their lives and futures went up in flames.

"Help!" Ginny coughed weakly."We need help here." Her voice had dropped to a whisper, but a man standing nearby began moving towards her.He was wearing a uniform."People are upstairs.They're still upstairs!"

"All right." He tried to calm her."We're getting there, miss.You and your children need to get outside."He pointed down the final set of stairs, then had to move out of the way as several men rushed past him.

Ginny blinked.He wasn't moving up the stairs."But my sister and mother and step-"

"Look-" He paused and consciously softened his tone as he stared into glistening, pale eyes, illuminated by the flames from the stairwell and accentuated by Ginny's ash-darkened face."My men are going there now.They'll do the best they can, but now you're in their way."

Ginny sniffed and nodded, and with one arm she herded her brothers down the final set of stairs and outside into the night.Their shoes hissed loudly when they stepped onto the snow-covered street and tiny wisps of steam escaped from the smoldering soles.

Snowflakes were still falling and it hurt to breathe. She couldn't think straight and her throat felt thick and her chest heavy, as if someone was standing on it. Men were rushing past her, too fast to stop or question, and she stepped around a wagon, leading the boys across the street.

They stepped up the curb and onto the sidewalk, where all turned around to see where they'd just come from, what they'd just survived.With her heart in her throat, Ginny's gaze drifted upward.

Everything above the fourth floor was burning. Flames shot from the windows and great plumes of black smoke spiraled up into the night, disappearing into the hazy sky.In a small, rational corner of her mind she realized that the fire had probably started on the fifth floor and spread from there.Her eyes fixed on her bedroom window, then her parents' bedroom window.She saw nothing but flames shooting from them, lashing against the building's dirty brown surface.

The pressure on Ginny's chest increased and a wave of nausea swept over her, threatening to send her to her knees.She bent at the waist and swallowed convulsively, the action managing to slip the blanket from Jane's head.

Jane poked her head out from the rumpled cloth.Her fair, sweaty hair was plastered to her head and rings of black soot circled her dripping nostrils.She was facing away from the building and her arm snuck up between her and Ginny as she held out a delicate, open hand.

"Yes, baby, it's snow."She straightened, her back and neck already growing stiff.So fast she wasn't prepared for it, her teeth began to chatter."AreÉ are you cold?"

"Not cold," Jane answered confidently, trying her level best to catch a snowflake.

Ginny hugged the girl tightly; her hands were numb and she fumbled with the blanket, ignoring the blood stains before turning her attention to her brothers, who were standing a few feet away, their eyes glued to the burning building.Refusing to look up again, she took a step towards her brothers and spoke as calmly as she could."Are you boys hurt?"

Lewis had his arms wrapped around himself in mute comfort.The snow was beginning to accumulate on his hat.Lewis shook his head at his sister's question and James didn't bother to answer at all.But neither boy tore their eyes from the flames to focus on Ginny.

"No."Ginny interrupted him."We just have to wait.The fire brigade is here now.See?"She pointed a shaking finger towards the steam-powered engines with their local brigade's emblem emblazoned proudly on the side.The large machines were pulled by a team three enormous, snorting horses.

"They're dead," James mumbled, his voice dull and flat."It's all burning. Every bit of it."

Despite herself, Ginny looked up again.The horrific scene twisted her stomach and she couldn't find it in herself to disagree with her brother.

"But we can still hope, right, Ginny?"Lewis' lower lip quivered as he spoke and Ginny wrapped her arms around his small shoulders as she hugged him and Jane.

Not wanting to be left out, James joined in, slipping his arms as far around Ginny and James as they would go.

More people shouldered past, and curious onlookers began to jam the street.Another wagon stopped right in front of them to join in the effort to keep the fire from spreading to the neighboring buildings. Volunteers jumped out onto the street, their hands full of axes and empty buckets.

Ginny pressed her cheek against the top of Jane's head and gazed up into the dusky sky.Snowflakes collected on red lashes."Yeah."Her throat worked for several seconds before she whispered, "We can still hope."

Lindsay moved quietly in the pre-dawn hours, inching her way in and out of the shadows as she tucked her collar up to ward off the icy breeze.Her legs ached from hours of walking, but, finally, she had been able to hitch a ride on a boxcar heading in the right direction. She winced a little at the tightness in her calves. This Street-Arab-turned -young-woman was used to riding not walking. And while she could run a fifty-yard dash with the best of them, when it came to endurance she found herself seriously lacking.And she didn't like it.

Lindsay made a note to do something about that.Self: Avoid long, dreary walks in the snow at all costs.She paused mentally. Exception to note to self: Ignore the first note when you've got to find the peckerwood that stole your stuff.

The sound of muffled cheers and cursing drew her attention from her woes.She continued a few feet farther, then planted her palms firmly on the cement deck of the railway platform and jumped up, still managing to remain completely silent.

The station was deserted at this time of night, but several hundred feet beyond the end of the platform, underneath a bridge over another set of tracks, she could see several men gathered in a circle.She peered through the darkness at them, unconsciously holding her breath. To the left of the men was a large steel drum, and occasionally one of them would step away from the circle and warm his hands over the fire burning brightly inside it.

Lindsay moved closer and closer, alert eyes no more than slits as she tried to glean the men's identities.A short, stout man lumbered over to the drum.AhhÉ there you are, Rat Face.Did you really think I wouldn't come and find you?

Her mind suddenly put names to the two unidentified figures, and she raised an eyebrow as she considered Rat Face's companions.Not good.These men were cousins, or so they claimed, and were among a small minority of vile rail riders who preyed on their own kind.They were rough and ruthless-Lindsay swallowed-and very large.But they wouldn't matter at all if she could get Rat Face alone.Which was exactly what she intended to do.After thatÉ well, she could take care of herself. And this time she wouldn't be sucker-punched, or pushed, as the case had been.It never even entered Lindsay's mind to cut her losses and stay away from trouble.If it got around the tracks that she'd been easily robbed, any sense of safety or measure of respect she'd earned over the years would evaporate as easily as the morning fog.In her mind, she simply had no choice.

It wasn't until she was about thirty feet away, her presence hidden by darkness, that she ventured a guess at what the men were hooting and hollering about.They were standing around several crates and staring down at the ground.Shooting craps?But another two paces and she could tell the stacks of wooden crates had been placed in a rough circle.Her face twisted in disgust when she heard the low panting then growling of a dog.

"Forget it," Jean, the tallest of the three men shot back. "Do I look stupid, you loser wop?"

"Yes.And by the wayÉ go to hell, Frenchie."Rat Face, otherwise known as Albert Mineo, though that was only to his grandmother, and only before he'd turned seven and the old woman gave up the fight and called him Rat Face like everyone else, turned to the third man."What about you, shit for brains?That's ten rats."

Jacque grabbed his crotch and gave it a little jiggle, indicating his displeasure at Albert's offered bet.

Albert sneered, showing off stained teeth as he stared at the man's groin."You wish, pee wee."

Bored with their banter, Albert sighed and turned his mind back to the game.More action was what he wanted.And he had a pocket full of someone else's change.Life, he decided, was very good."All right thenÉ" he paused as he considered the dog's sorry state.

The beast was part French bulldog, part hellhound.While only half the size of his English cousins, his thirty-pound body was rock solid and teeth razor sharp.His nose was swollen and bleeding as were his pointy ears and dirty paws, though how much was his blood and how much was rat blood, Albert couldn't be sure.His thick throat was rubbed raw from the rusty chain that prevented his escape from the circle of crates, and he was covered in a fine layer of snow.A rat, who had latched onto the dog's haunches with its razor teeth, swung lifelessly from the mutt's body, refusing, even in death, to let go.The dog shifted sideways as Albert stared.His glistening black eyes were wild and reflected the light of the fire as he stared at Albert with the icy gaze of madness.

Albert shivered, then with fingertips that poked out of the holes in his gloves, he scratched his short beard speculatively."Ten seconds, ten rats."

"Done!" both men shouted, throwing their change onto the ground just outside the circle of crates.Their coins made tiny indentations in the snow.

The next sound Lindsay heard was the growling and snarling of the dog, followed rapidly by the hooting and cheering of the men.She picked up a broken glass bottle from the ground and carefully got a firm grip on the neck, its icy surface stinging the nicks in her palm."Time to go, boys," she whispered."Now all I need is a little luck." With that she drew in a deep breath and concentrated on lowering the pitch of her voice.At the last second she threw in a thick Irish brogue for a touch of authenticity. "This is the police!Stay where ye' are!"

All three of the men's heads snapped sideways towards her, but she was pressed up against the fence and safely out of view.Before they could react, Lindsay launched the bottle into the darkness and over their heads and over the bridge, sending it crashing against the side of a building.

"Cops!" Jean pushed Jacque with fumbling hands."Run!"The cousins spun around in circles, bumping into each other for a few seconds as they decided which way to run. They chose to head back towards the station, and the young woman's eyes widened as they approached her with surprising speed.

She pressed herself as tightly against the fence as she could, her face against the cold metal as she held her breath and prayed.

The men sped past her, so close she could feel the cold whoosh of air against her back as they flew by.They climbed onto to the railway platform and ran through the station, their shoes clomping loudly in the quiet night.

Albert, who had stayed behind to scoop the coins out of the snow, cursed roundly as a nickel slipped between his pudgy fingers. "Cops. Cops. Shit."Finally, giving up on the nickel, he began lumbering towards Lindsay.But just as the woman was ready to jump him from the shadows, he changed his mind and turned back towards the crates and the steel drum.

"Oh, crap."Lindsay bolted from her hiding place and caught up to Albert when he was even with the barrel.She dove forward and clipped his heels with her hands, sending him crashing to the ground and sliding through the snow.

Albert rolled onto his back, automatically kicking out with a booted foot and connecting with the top of Lindsay's head."What the---?"

"Ugh."Lindsay felt the blow all the way to down her back but managed to twist sideways and avoid Albert's other foot.For a second she was dazed, seeing tiny stars instead of Albert as she tried to force her eyes to refocus.

"Shut up!" Lindsay shouted, launching herself at the man once more."I want my," she drew back her fist and punched Albert squarely in the jaw, wincing when she heard a sickening crunch in her own hand, "stuff."

Albert squealed in pain as his skin split and blood began dripping down his neck."I'm gonna," they began to wrestle, "kill you, bitch."

They rolled over several times, until Lindsay ended up beneath Albert and they both crashed into the crates that were stacked two high and formed the edge of the rat pit.Lindsay's elbow went right through one of the crates and the cracking sound sent the remaining caged rats and the dog into a barking and squealing frenzy.

"Gimme my money and my knife and flint!" She brought her knee up into Albert's groin.Hard.

He tumbled off her, gasping.His hands flew to his crotch and his wild flailing toppled one of the crates onto Lindsay, scattering mutilated rat carcasses all over her."Ahh!Jesus!"She knocked the crate from her chest and frantically began yanking the smelly, bloody bodies off her face and chest.

Lindsay's stomach roiled but she managed to get to her feet, a little dizzy from all that spinning and the blow to her head."Yeah, well, I never said I wasn't a bitch."She kicked the prone man in the guts as he tried to get up.He went sprawling."My money and my knife, Rat Face.Right now, God dammit, you fat fucker!Before I feed you to that dog!Though I'm sure your greasy blubber will taste worse that those sewer rats."

"Okay, okay," he grumbled."Hang on.StupidÉ" A cough."RottenÉ" Another cough."It wasn't even a dollar and the knife's dull besides."He wiped his dirty, bleeding cheek with the back of his hand then pushed to his knees.Then he sighed and shoved aside the tail of his tattered coat so he could dig into his trouser pocket.

Lindsay took a step closer and glared down at him warily.She was breathing heavily and the sound of the barking dog was frightening her, though she didn't want him to know it.She glanced sideways at the dog and swallowed hard."Hurry up, idiot."

"Here, String Bean." Albert offered her a closed fist, then with his other hand threw a large clump of snow at her face.

"Uh."The snow felt like grains of sand, stinging her eyes and cheeks, and Lindsay stumbled backwards.

Albert made the most of her temporary blindness and pounced.He toppled her with a blow to her ribs, then kneeled on her heaving chest, his weight pressing her hard into the cold ground."WellÉ well."He leaned forward and pinned both her arms with his meaty hands.

Albert growled and backhanded her viciously.Then did it again for good measure."Uppity for a street gypsy, ain't ya?Didn't anybody ever teach you not to mess with somebody bigger than you?That's the law of jungle, String Bean.I'm a lion and you're aÉ well, you're aÉ a smaller lion."

She coughed as blood filled her mouth and slid down her windpipe."IÉ I must have missed that lesson when I wasn't in school."

He cracked a tiny smile and roughly pulled her to her feet by the front of her coat.Albert could tell she was barely capable of standing on her own; he quickly rifled her pockets.Finding them empty, he decided he had better things to do, like trying to sell the dog he'd swiped from another ratter.Brutal beauties like him didn't come cheap and he could buy two lesser dogs to use quickly and discard. "Now get the hell out of here, String Bean, beforeÉ"

The disembodied voice came from behind Albert, and Lindsay closed her eyes when its owner registered. Oh, shit.This is bad.Bad.So bad.

Albert cruelly shoved Lindsay up against one of bridge's wooden support posts hard enough to send a shower of powdery snow down on them.Her head cracked against the frozen surface and once again she saw stars.

Rat Face's voice sounded very far away as he kept her from crumbling to the ground with his firm grip."Don't you recognize String Bean?" he grumbled as he decided what to do next.He'd been content in smacking her around and letting her goÉ it wasn't like she had any more money to steal.But he didn't want to look soft in front of Jacque and Jean.They were fairly new to the tracks and Albert was sure they would be important people to know.Besides, he had a reputation to uphold."What are you guys doing back here?"

Jacque brushed a thin layer of snow off his sleeves and tapped the brim of his hat to dislodge even more."We didn't see no cops.And we figured this was just some scheme of yours so that you could steal our bets."

"No," Albert protested indignantly."I would never do a thing like that."Damn, why didn't I think of that?

Jean looked down at Lindsay.Then he grabbed the hat off her head and exchanged it with his own, carelessly tossing his old hat into the steel drum's dancing flames.

"Hey!" Jacque, who had been staring at Lindsay's face, suddenly grabbed the front of her much abused coat and wrenched her away from Albert.

"He's a girl." Jacque's surprise showed in his voice."A woman," he clarified as he looked a little harder.He smiled.

"So?" Albert shot back a little confused.Everybody knows String Bean's a girl, don't they? "She's a bitch," he added for clarity's sake.His jaw was starting to hurt even more and he wondered briefly if she'd cracked the bone.

Jacque's smile twisted into a leer and Lindsay could feel her heart beating out of her chest.She'd seen that look a dozen times before, even had to jump off moving trains if it was coming from somebody especially dangerous.This man, she felt deep in bones, was very dangerous.

"Don't know any woman who'd hang around on the tracks Ôcept for a few whores me and Jean know from Queens.They sometimes get real hard up and have to go lookin' for customers.You a whore?"His eyes glittered with the promise of danger and he darkly intoned, "not like I'd have to pay."

"Do I look like a whore?" Lindsay asked through gritted teeth as her mind scrambled for a way out.

"No," Jacque allowed, shaking his head slowly."Not like no whore I've ever met. On the other-"

"She's not a whore," Albert interrupted, impatiently.There was a perfectly good dog and at least a half a crate of rats waiting for them and they were wasting their time on String Bean?"She's an annoying bitch rail rider just like the rest of us."

"Ow!"Grimacing, Albert rubbed the back of his head."That's not what I meant and you know it." He spun around and glared at Jean."Are all whoring Frenchies as stupid as you?"

"STOP IT!" Jacque roared."I don't want to watch you two losers fight." He jerked his chin towards Lindsay."I wanna know what we're going to do with her."

The seductive quality to Lindsay's voice snared Jacque's attention and he leaned in closer to her, pressing his body against hers and gulping when Lindsay licked her lips with excruciating slowness.He gulped, his eyes riveted on those pink lips."What, baby?"

"This." With all the force she could muster, Lindsay slammed her forehead into the bridge of Jacque's prominent nose.

Jacque screamed and covered his face with his hands as hot blood pooled in his palms and light wisps of steam rose from the thick liquid and vanished into the night sky.

Lindsay made a break for it, but in three more strides she felt herself hitting the ground.Her chin struck snow-covered rocks hard, leaving a dark trail on them when she moved her head.Jean was on her back, pummeling her with large fists.His third strike was to her left kidney and she shrieked in pain, her body jerking away from the violent blow.

Jacque dragged a stumbling Lindsay back towards the rat pit and kicked several of the crates out of his way.The dog began to bark again, pulling on the chain and baring bloodstained teeth in anticipation of another fight."String Bean, that's your name, right?"

Lindsay didn't acknowledge the question.She couldn't even hear it over the ringing in her ears.Jacque shook her to gather her attention and a searing pain shot through her side, making it hard to breathe, much less think.

"Hey."Albert's heavy brow furrowed as his gaze traveled first to the dog, then to Lindsay. "What are you gonna do?"

"He's gonna feed her to the dog, moron," Jean advised Albert coldly.He tucked his chilled hands under his arm pits.

"There are no cops!" Jacque yelled, punching Lindsay in the stomach. Next, he punched her in the nose, smiling at the satisfying crunch of cartilage and the stream of hot blood that went pouring down her chin and splattering onto the ground.Steam rose from it.

Lindsay felt like her entire head had exploded in pain, and she doubled over, feeling sick and dizzy all at once. For an instant she wished she'd hurry up and pass out, but her heart was still pounding furiously, sending a surge of adrenaline singing through her blood.She swung an ineffective fist at Jacque, who merely laughed and slapped it away.

Jean moved over to help Jacque hold her upright as he continued to rain down blows on her. "Do you see any cops?" Jacque asked Albert condescendingly.

Albert glanced around again."Guess not." A look of uncertainty chased across his face."But stillÉ"

Jacque didn't wait for Albert's next words.He simply lifted Lindsay off her feet and tossed her, back first, into the rat pit.

She landed on a pile of rat bodies, and the force of her fall squashed them beneath her.The air was forced out of her lungs but before she could manage to draw in another breath, Jacque casually reached over and picked up the rat crate.

He tore the lid off and, without so much as blinking, dumped the dozen or so remaining rodents directly onto Lindsay's screaming, writhing body.He turned to Albert and Jean and in an eerily calm voice said,"One woman, one minute, one dollar?"

With deadly intent, the snarling dog surged forward towards the rats and Lindsay's pale, exposed throat.She could smell his foul breath the instant before he was upon her and his filthy teeth began tearing into her flesh, sending white-hot bolts of agony through her already damaged frame."Noooo!" she howled out, clawing wildly at the insane dog's face and eyes.

Albert looked on in horror as Jean cried, "Done!" and threw his bet onto the snow at his cousin's feet.

Lindsay's ear-splitting screams could be heard for blocks as the New Year's sun started to rise over Queens, New York.

It was nearly time for the first morning train to arrive at the station and the locomotive's whistle wailed as it sped towards its destination.Because of the holiday, only a few passengers waited impatiently for their morning commute.They stood shifting from one foot to the other, hands stuffed in pockets, scarves tucked neatly around their throats to ward off the chill as they read their newspapers and glanced worriedly at their pocket watches.Their bosses never seemed to understand that sometimes the train was just late.

A thick layer of snow-laden clouds hid the newly risen sun, and so, despite the hour, the City was still cast in an ethereal silvery glow and its shadows still held the secrets of the night.Out of one of those shadows emerged a slowly traveling figure that stopped and covertly watched as Albert unhooked a blood-stained dog and turned him loose.Albert was scared witless by what had just happened and couldn't bear remaining even another second with the beast he was sure would now haunt his dreams.

The dog snapped at Albert's hand, and then tiredly limped away.In a matter of seconds the mutt found a hole in the fence that lined the tracks and disappeared into an alleyway.

Jacque and Jean kicked at the rough circle of crates, scattering the evidence of their game before heading towards the railway station and the plate of steaming eggs and hot coffee they intended to purchase with their winnings.

Albert had been elected to do Ôsomething' with Lindsay and he grabbed her limp body by her arms and dragged it well out of view of anyone who might happen by.Carelessly, he kicked snow over her and laid a few sheets of old, torn newsprint across her face.

He let Jean and Jacque get well ahead of him before he pulled his cap further down onto his head and scratched at his chin.He knew a soup kitchen about three blocks from here where the line for lunch didn't really queue up until around 9am.Maybe he could find someplace to curl up and go to sleep for a few hours.After that he could snatch a purse or two and then track down Jean and Jacque.They seemed like the sort who would always be up for some sort of betting game.

Albert kicked several rat carcasses out of his way as stepped onto the tracks and followed Jean and Jacque's footprints in the snow.

As soon as the coast was clear, a figure bolted from the shadows and frantically began brushing the newspapers and clumps of snow from Lindsay's face and body.

The young woman was a ghostly white, splashed liberally with red.She looked dead.

There was a thankful sigh as the fingertip stilled for a split second then moved from Lindsay's neck to her battered face, where they tenderly traced her cheekbones.

"Still alive.But gotta hurryÉ" A shifting of weight. "God, you're heavy.I don't thinkÉ I canÉ yeah.Okay. MaybeÉ Yeah, okay."Lindsay was settled over a strong shoulder, and she let out a something between a wheeze and gasp of pain as her world was turned upside down.One eyeball opened and stared out at the fuzzy world before rolling back.She gratefully sank into the safe haven of oblivion.

"It'll be all right." A hand grasped one of Lindsay's dangling ones and squeezed gently."Whoa!"A misstep nearly had them both tumbling to the ground.

Lines formed on Lindsay's normally smooth forehead.She began to whimper every time she was jostled, which turned out to be nearly every step. And a steady stream of blood dripped from her face, soaking through the black coat beneath her cheek.

"Sorry.I couldn't help it.ShortcutÉ Up ahead.Damn.This isÉ hard."Breathing that had started out slow and deep was now labored."I have to takeÉ the tracks though.If you just hang on."Their pace increased."Just hang on."

A cold wind whistled through the station just as the chugging train came to a halt. Not a single passenger debarked and the few men and women who were waiting to board settled into their seats in a matter of seconds.A skinny Negro footman exited the lead car and ran along the length the train, slamming shut each door with a practiced hand. The train's shrill whistle sounded three times in quick succession before there was a loud hiss and a black, noxious cloud exploded upwards from the smoke stack.

Lindsay couldn't hear the sound of panting or the rapid footsteps that pounded along the tracks beneath her.

The rails on either side of them began to vibrate and worried eyes glanced backwards towards the station then widened."Shit."

The train lurched forward and began to gain speed quickly.Soon, it was eating up twenty feet for every one of theirs.The whistle blared again, warning anyone foolish enough to be on the tracks, especially in the wan light of early morning, to move or be run down.

Faster and faster they went.The sound of leather boots furiously striking wooden tracks with greater force than before and the loud panting of her rescuer was nearly enough to drown out the deafening monster on their heels.But they couldn't move off the tracks.They had to keep going. This particular stretch of rail was lined not only by a rickety fence but also by buildings set so close to the tracks that even a worn out, rat-killing dog had to squirm to fit between them and the fence to enter the alleyway.

The train's shadow loomed over them and the roar grew louder and louder as the tracks shook.

A ferry worked sluggishly across the East River from Manhattan to Blackwell's Island.A mile and three-quarters in length, and just under 200-square acres, the narrow strip of land was located directly in the middle of the East River, which separated Queens and Manhattan.A layer of clean snow covered the flat terrain in a blanket of pristine white and the ice-laden tree branches swayed in the frigid wind, causing intermittent cracking sounds as wood struck wood.But for many of the island's inhabitants, the simple beauty of a frosty January day was lost.

Blackwell's was home to the solid stone, four-story, 750-cell New York State Penitentiary, which held both men and women and whose reputation as a secure, well-built facility was known throughout the state.To the north of the prison, two side-by-side gray, stone buildings housed over 1400 souls who had been sent to the Work House as punishment for their misdeeds, typically public drunkenness. The brick Lunatic Asylum, established in 1839, and New York's only hospital dedicated solely to the treatment of those with Small Pox both resided on Blackwell's Island, serving as models of modern architecture and civic-mindedness.

Virginia Chisholm, however, was on her way to the island's Charity Hospital, a proud granite structure surrounded by several majestic oak trees and well-maintained shrubbery, that was cared for by workers made up of inmates and patients from the island's other facilities.The waters of the East River were choppy and dark, and as the ferry moved closer to its destination, Ginny began to dream.

It seemed as though Ginny and her siblings had been sitting out in the snow on Orchard Street for days.Though it had been several hours.Her hands were numb but her lungs, stomach, and throat felt as though she were continually being force-fed searing-hot coals. Every breath required more effort than the last as the band around her chest continued to tighten.

Jane lay sleeping on Ginny's shoulder, her fair hair mixing with Ginny's darker locks with every gust of wind.The excitement of the night was finally too much for the 3-year-old to withstand, though it had still taken three renditions of her favorite lullaby to coax her into a fitful sleep.

Lewis' eyes were riveted to every fireman that entered or exited the smoking building.Ginny had long since given her little brother her coat and the dark woolen covering dwarfed the short boy, making him look like one of New York's thousands of street urchins.

His brother, James, stared straight ahead with unseeing eyes, knowing he should be sad or feel something.Instead, he just felt tired and empty and craved a bed where he could pull a blanket over his head and shut out the world completely.

"Look, Ginny," Lewis said glumly as he pointed to doorway of the tenement building.Two pairs of firemen carried two full litters draped with dull gray cloths and placed them at the end of a line that had grown steadily longer through the early and mid-morning hours.

Ginny's stomach churned and she coughed weakly."No more please," she mumbled, not realizing that her brothers could hear her, that they were hanging on her every word, every gesture.She'd already fought her way across the crowded street three times to identify the bodies that lay under the cloths next to the hospital wagon.

Ginny had seen Sophie, the bright-eyed girl whose mother worked in a quilting factory as Alice did.The Frederick family who'd only arrived from Hamburg two months before.All six of them lay cold and lifeless, growing stiff as the snow accumulated atop them.Vincent and Joan from the fifth floor, who had sang Happy Birthday to James and Lewis just last month when they'd passed the boys in the hallway, were gone too.Vincent had been so badly burned that Ginny had calmly replaced the cloth that had covered him and turned her head to throw up.If she lived to be a hundred, the young redhead was sure she'd never forget the smell.

But every time she lifted a cloth and didn't find her mother, or sister, or stepfather, she thanked God.And she felt bad about that too, knowing that the people she was seeing were kin to someone too.Someone just like her only they didn't know it yet.

"Lew-" Ginny swallowed painfully; her voice was nearly gone.Something was terribly wrong but she couldn't worry about that now."Lewis, canÉ can you hold Jane?"

The little boy nodded and unbuttoned his coat.He opened his arms to his chubby baby sister and she snuggled happily into his warm embrace, falling back asleep before she even realized she'd woken up.

"I'll go, Ginny," James offered manfully as he began to push to his feet.His expression was grim but resolved, and wholly unbefitting a boy of his age.

"I said no!" she snapped, instantly regretting it when a look of hurt flashed across her brother's face."Oh, James, I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice cracking. She gave the boy a watery but heartfelt smile of apology."I didn't mean to do that, James."

James trained his eyes on his legs and picked at a loose thread on the seam of his trousers.He and Lewis were the men of the family now.And they should be strong.Men didn't cry like sniveling babies no matter what. A single tear snaked down his flushed cheek and he angrily wiped it away with dirty fingers."S'okay."

"No." Ginny shook her head.She wanted to tell him that it wasn't okay, that she shouldn't have been so harsh and that she loved himÉ and so much more than that.But she felt as though a heavy weight was pressing against her breastbone and it just wouldn't stop and let her catch her breath.She would, she decided, see to her own injuries later.After she'd crossed to the street and found the rest of her family one way or the other.I need to get the kids someplace warm and dry.And they'll need to eat and use an outhouse. She shivered as goosebumps erupted on her arms, missing her coat for the first time.

"Ginny." Lewis' voice was suddenly panicky and Ginny followed his wide-eyed gaze.Men in dark pants and white coats were loading the stretchers that had just come from inside the building onto a wagon.

"I'll be back," Ginny called scratchily over her shoulder, already making her way through the throngs of emergency workers and neighborhood residents.She was panting now and felt a little faint.

Her mind had raced.What now?Where do we go if I find them? No.I can't think like that.Not while there's still a chance.But no matter how Ginny tried, she couldn't make herself believe it.Not a living occupant of 88 Orchard Street had come out of the building after her and the siblings she led out of the building. God.She'd closed her eyes at the feeling of her heart tearing in two.How do you give up on your family? How will I tell the boysÉand Jane?

Halfway to her destination she had the sudden urge to stop.So she did, turning back to see what she knew in her heart that her remaining living relatives were sitting patiently on the curb, waiting for her return.She lifted her hand to wave and both boys waved back, causing a tiny, affectionate smile to twitch at her lips despite the situation."I love you.Be good," she mouthed silently

Lewis mouthed back ÔYes' and James just rolled his eyes, pulling his cap down over his face.

When Ginny turned back to the fire she felt dizzy and she grasped onto the side of one of the fire wagons to keep her balance, but for some reason her fingers wouldn't work and she slid to the ground.The sound of the people rushing around her, the spraying of fire hoses and the crackling of burning wood all seemed to fade as tiny dots danced before her eyes.She caught a glimpse of the wagon carrying the stretchers starting to move a split second before her world went black.

The ferry butted gently against the dock and several bulky men from the New York Penitentiary, clad in striped prison attire, plain brown caps, and shabby coats, loaded the injured and ill from the boat onto wagons.A nurse quickly picked through the coughing, crying or simply unconscious bodies, separating the critical patients from the rest and loading them onto a blue wagon that would be allowed to leave for the hospital first.

Ginny's stretcher was placed alongside an elderly vagrant who'd been stabbed in a robbery the night before and who'd waited in the receiving area of Manhattan's finest hospitals as the hospital administrators argued over where he should receive treatment.Ginny had been much more fortunate and was routed directly to the docks where the Charity Hospital Ferry was just about to cast off.

With a quick snap of the reins, the blue wagon began to move and Ginny gazed up into the winter sky.She was confused and she blinked several times, trying to gather her scattered thoughts.Am I dead? she wondered dazedly.Where are the boys and Alice?Why can't I breathe?She rolled her eyes sideways in time to see a nurse, who was riding in the wagon along with her patients, scowl as she checked an old man's pulse.Ginny closed her eyes again, welcoming the darkness.She didn't want to see the blanket that was covering him pulled over his head.No more, she told herself.No more death today.

On the other side of Blackwell's Island, a second ferry carrying patients bound for the Charity Hospital docked with a muted thud, sending a small wave of dark, dirty water sloshing over the wooden landing.This transport was nearly empty and its few injured passengers were unloaded quickly.A single stretcher holding Lindsay Killian was placed in a blue wagon and rushed towards the hospital emergency room.

On this day, two young women's fates were about to collide and each would be changed forever.

It was full dark before Lindsay was moved from the surgery to a bed at the far end of the women's fourth floor east wing.Two prisoners lifted her from the gurney she was riding in and gently placed her on a bed clad only in dingy white sheets and topped by a thin pillow inside a pale pink pillowcase.

Her head sank into the pillow and the sheet was draped over her. Lindsay let out a little moan and licked dry lips as the Ôorderlies' disappeared.She cracked open one eye and the room spun a little as she tried to gain her bearings.

She had awoken to a world of hurt that reeked of bleach mixed with the metallic scent of blood.Where am I?

Most of the ward's lights had been turned off, casting the unfamiliar, institutional setting in haunting shadows.Gone were the bridge and the railroad tracks, which were the last places Lindsay could truly remember being, though she had a vague recollection of being carried down the tracks, the cavernous but warm interior of a church, and a frantic wagon ride.

She blinked with exaggerated slowness, realizing that she was only seeing out of one eye.Her entire body ached and felt impossibly heavy and the room appeared to be draped in a dense haze.

Lindsay tried to open her other eye and, when she couldn't open it at all, a surge of panic tore through her.What if she'd lost it in the fight?Her heart began to pound.What if the dogÉ?God.The room swam as she tried to sit up. "Damn," she cried out brokenly as a bolt of searing pain halted her movement instantly.Her abdomen felt as though someone was twisting a knife in it and her head throbbed.Where the dog had torn into her shoulder she could the tight, burning sensation of new stitches holding together tender skin.

"Now then," a nurse, whose accent clearly indicated she was from Queens, startled Lindsay. But despite the woman's somewhat grating tone, Lindsay was relieved to hear a voice, any voice, being directed at her. That means I'm not dead, doesn't it?

"You shouldn't move," the nurse chastised mildly.The woman was middle-aged and plump, her dress protected by a white apron that stretched to the floor. A crisp white hat sat atop her head of dull brown hair.

Cool air tickled Lindsay's legs as her sheet was pulled back.She fought the urge to cover herself."Clothes?"

"Those rags are long gone.But your soiled coat and shoes are under your bed." The nurse made a face."I'll see if we can't clean up the coat tomorrow so they won't be forced to give you a new one."

"They?"Lindsay's voice was weak.She thought she remembered several nuns hovering over her. Or was that years ago?"The church?"

"Hardly," the nurse snorted."I mean the State of New York."She tapped a syringe in her hand, removing the air bubbles."No one's told you anything, have they?"

"No."The nurse gently coaxed her back down with a practiced hand."The hospital isn't part of the prisonÉ or the lunatic asylum," she assured before Lindsay could ask.Then her voice took on a slightly impatient edge."Now hold still."

Lindsay felt a prick on her thigh as a needle pierced her skin, then a stronger, burning sensation as a liberal dose of drugs, whose primary ingredient was morphine, was administered.

"What's your name?"The nurse lifted the chart from its holder at the end of Lindsay's bed and annotated the time and dosage of the medication."This says Ôunknown'" She quirked a grin. "You'd be surprised how many women in the State of New York decided to name their babies that.I swear sometimes it seems as though we're overrun with them. But somehow I doubt that's your real name."

A deep crease appeared on Lindsay's forehead as she thought.I know thisÉ I thinkÉ "IÉIÉ"

The young woman's fear must have shown on her face because the nurse laid a comforting hand on her leg.

Lindsay tried not to jerk away from the unexpected contact, but her reaction was instinctive. She didn't like people touching her.That was dangerous.

"It's all right," the nurse said calmly.She lifted her hand from Lindsay's calf then continued to thumb through the chart. "Ahh. That explains it.You have a concussion among other things. I'm sure that tomorrow things will seem much clearer."She replaced the chart and tucked her pencil behind her ear.

"You need to rest now.You've only recently come out of surgery."The older woman tugged Lindsay's sheet up to her chin and tucked its sides tightly into the thin metal bed frame.Then she pulled a threadbare blanket from the cart she'd left parked in the aisle and laid it over her patient."Hush now, or you'll wake up the others.Someone will be back around to check on you later.My shift is finally over."The Ôthank God' was left implied.

Surgery? Damn. I don't have the faintest idea of how I got here. I can't think about that now.They cut me open? Lindsay licked her lips to speak and caught a glimpse of a moving shadow."Wait," she rasped.So thirsty."My eye?"

She whimpered a little, wondering how long until the drugs would take effect.Unwilling to follow orders without question, Lindsay refused to try to sleep.Instead, she took in her surroundings as best she could, pushing the pain into a manageable corner in the back of her mind.

To one side of her bed was a plain white wall.At least that's all I seeÉ I hope that's all that's really there.She was, she finally discerned, at the very end of a long, dark ward filled with single beds.She couldn't muster the strength to turn completely over but she could shift just enough to see that in the bed next to hers, so close that she could reach out and touch her if she wanted to, was a fitfully sleeping woman. Lindsay took a moment to study her neighbor to determine whether her coat and shoes would be safe under the bed or ifshe'd have to sleep with them.

Moonlight spilled over the stranger's drawn face, highlighting her slightly upturned nose and a small, delicate mouth and making her appear a ghoulish gray. Her breathing was harsh and thick and Lindsay idly wondered what tragedy had befallen her, causing her to end up hereÉ all alone.

She's younger than me, I think. But with the same piss poor luck or she wouldn't be here at all.But the passing interest faded as the drug began to seep into Lindsay's bloodstream.Her chest and neck began to itch and she lifted a shaky hand to try and scratch them.Her brow furrowed when she fuzzily realized that her hand was wrapped in a thick bandage and her fingers splinted.How did that happen?Then she moved her hand upward to her face, still worried about her eye, which she could feel was completely swollen shut.She poked the tender flesh gently until she was more or less convinced that her eyeball itself was still there.Higher still, and she could feel that her head was wrapped in gauze.

The constant thudding in her temples and the sharper pain below her breast were beginning to fade, and her eyelid began to grow heavy.But she continued on, her fingertips tracing her nose, which was splinted and bandaged. Now that she wasn't surprised about.In a blinding flash, she could see Jacque's heavy fist coming straight at her and hear the sickening crunch of cartilage all over again.An unexpected wave of nausea swept over her and she swallowed hard against it.She grimaced, causing her to feel the sting of two deep scratches that ran from just below her eye to her chin.

A soft groan drew Lindsay's attention sideways to the next bed.The woman had turned from her back onto her side and was now facing Lindsay.String Bean frowned at the sound of the redhead's shallow gurgles.The breaths were wet and shallow, something that Lindsay could easily place now that her mind wasn't so preoccupied by her own misery.She'd heard it many times before, especially in the winter.Pneumonia.But then why are her hands bandaged? She blearily noted the covered appendages that were now sticking out from under the sheet.

Finding it hard to concentrate as the sense of dislocation within her own body grew, Lindsay felt sleep's irresistible tug.She was about to give into it when she caught a glimpse of moonlight shimmering off the eyes of the women who had been sleeping.She blinked in surprise but held the stranger's pale, frightened gaze for several seconds before the woman's eyes fluttered helplessly shut once more.

Lindsay had a sinking suspicion that she would wake up and the bed next to her would be empty. Maybe I should call for a nurse.But wasn't a nurse just here?Everyone can't be saved, String Bean, the grim thought came unbidden, and she resolutely turned her mind elsewhere.Which wasn't hard, considering she now felt as though she was floating atop a wispy cloud, high above the earth and all its petty troubles.

"String Bean," she blurted out suddenly.A soft giggle bubbled up inside her.That's my name. She smiled to herself as the last bit of discomfort she'd been feeling floated away as if on a gentle breeze.Drugs, Lindsay decided as the mental fog she was drowning in finally reached out and claimed her, could be a very good thing.

Sunshine streamed through the windows of the women's fourth floor east wing at Charity Hospital.Lindsay awoke to the sound of a commotion coming from the bed next to her.Before she even opened her eyes she knew what it was.The girl who couldn't breathe is dead.There was no particular emotion tied to the thought.Save for the fact that Lindsay thought it was a waste and felt sorry for the soul who died all alone.Like I will someday.Like we all do. But then she heard a raspy, strained voice above what she assumed was the clamoring of medical staff.She made it.Whaddya know.

"You don'tÉ you don't understand." Virginia Chisholm's normally warm, somewhat husky voice was barely audible."I can't stay.My parents, the kidsÉ they-"

"Listen, young lady."The nurse straightened her back and crossed her arms over her chest as two other nurses threw their hands in the air and stalked away."You're still running a high fever and we almost lost you twice last night." She lifted an eyebrow. "Aren't you glad the doctor said you could have a small sip of water?"

Lindsay rolled her eyes at the nurse's condescending tone. Apparently she'd missed a lot during her drug-induced stupor.Good.Her eye drifted to the clock above the door, which she could barely make out.It read four o'clock.Did I sleep an entire day?

"If we hadn't given you enough painkillers to fell a horse not an hour ago, I don't think you'd be so sassy now," the nurse informed Ginny tartly."Don't move and be quiet. Girl, you are staying here until a doctor says you're not."

A grin twitched at Lindsay's lips and she turned her head to see who was giving the nurse such a hard time.She couldn't quite swallow the groan of pain the movement caused."Oh, nuuuuuuurse?I'd appreciate enough pain killers to fell a horse right about now," Lindsay called out.It came out more smart-ass than she intended it, but it was the God's truth.

The nurse spun around.It was the same heavy-set woman who'd given Lindsay a shot the night before."You're awake.Good.Now it'll be easier to change your bedpan."

"Who can pay for my stay here at the Ritz," Lindsay finished wryly, groaning a little as her body shook with silent laughter.What did they do to my side? And my ribs? "Ugh."

"I don't understand what's funny about that," the nurse said crisply."Medical treatment is not free, you know." The nurse narrowed her eyes. "You and Ms. Chisholm here are going to be nothing but trouble.I can see that.NowÉ" She lifted an expectant eyebrow at Lindsay. "Family?"

"Nope.No family." Lindsay ground her jaw together to keep from cursing as a wave of fresh pain washed over her."My head is killing me and it's just little ole me in the great big wicked City."

"Am I supposed to write that here?" The nurse tapped Lindsay's chart, which was still in its holder at the foot of Lindsay's bed, with her pencil."Little ole me?I'll tell you my name if you like?" She hesitated, as though she was waiting for an answer, so Lindsay nodded."I'm Miriam Goletz.But you can call me Nurse Goletz."She smiled."See how easy that was? Now it's your turn."

"If it will help me to get my pain killers faster, I'll be anyone you like.President Cleveland even.But I really need something."Lindsay's voice dropped to a rarely used pleading tone.

Oops."UmmÉI meanÉmy name is String Bean," Lindsay smiled triumphantly then quickly added as an after thought, "ma'am."Amazing how quickly pain has me kissing arse like there's no tomorrow.She hadn't even considered giving her birth name.It had been so long since she'd heard it spoken it didn't even seem like hers anymore.Has it really been so long?Six, nearly seven years?

The older woman shot Lindsay a self-satisfied smile before turning back to Ginny. It wasn't an actual name, but it was better than President Cleveland.

Ginny had quieted during the nurse's brief exchange with String Bean, which worried the hefty woman, especially considering how the girl had been kicking up a fuss about her family and a fire ever since she'd awoken."I'm going to ask the doctor if there's anything we can do about your fever, Ginny."The nurse laid a cool palm on Ginny's forehead, then she shook her own head ruefully."MmmÉ Still too high."

Ginny nodded as her eyes began to fill.She didn't feel hot; she was shivering.I'll bet the kids are cold.And scared."Hurry, please?I need to leave.I Émy family."

"Honey," the nurse gave Ginny a sad, sympathetic smile and her voice took on a kindly edge, despite her earlier gruffness."Your handsÉ they-"

Ginny lifted her hands and studied the white bandages with an almost disinterested air."Were burned," she finished simply.They didn't hurt really.There was only a slight bit of discomfort between her heavily wrapped fingers and she wondered briefly if the lack of serious pain was because of the drugs or the nature of the injury itself.The drugs, she figured.Her burns hadn't been that bad, had they?But then again, she couldn't be sure of anything at the moment. Everything felt fuzzy.

Ginny thought hard, forcing herself to concentrate.There was a fireÉ And I tore Lewis' coatÉThe baby was with Mama.Oh, Mama.Why didn't you come downstairs?And who is that annoying woman in the next bed who doesn't even know Cleveland isn't President anymore? What did she say her name was? She snorted to herself as her mind flittered out of her control. A vegetable, she said. Beetroot? Lima Bean?That can't be right.God, I'm so confused. I need to get out of here.I'll bet no one knows I'm here at all.Alice would be here if she knew.

"Yes," the nurse confirmed, breaking into Ginny's mental ramblings, "your hands were burned and the inside of your throat.The back of your neck is blistered too.I'm afraid we had to cut your hair.You won't be going anyplace for quite sometime. Your injuries need to heal."

Ginny reached for her hair, but couldn't grasp it with her bandaged hands.She scowled.

Lindsay winced, imagining how it would feel to burn your hands and throat. Even worse than having the shit beaten out of you and being attacked by a rat dog, she guessed."Oh, nurse?"

The older woman whirled around again and shot Lindsay a disapproving look. "Can't you see that I'm dealing with another patient?"

Lindsay was glad she hadn't said Ôhelping' another patient.She might have had to take exception to that since, as close as she could tell, the nurse was merely nagging the sick girl. "Someone said surgery?" At least I think they did. Her headache was back and so was the splitting pain in her side with a vengeance. "What happened to me?"

"What didn't happen to you is a better question. You have animal bites and scratches on neck and shoulder. And I'm afraid a chunk of your ear is missing."

The nurse turned back and started to take Ginny's pulse. She spoke to Lindsay without turning around."Your doctor will be around shortly to explain your condition."

"They'll be no blasphemy in this hospital, young lady," the nurse scolded before marching away.

Ginny coughed."Did you-" Her throat worked a few times before she could continue."Did you have to do say that?"

Lindsay awkwardly rolled over until she was at least partially facing Ginny."Ugh. That hurts." She jerked a thumb towards her own chest. "Are you talking to me?"She knew, of course, that Ginny was.But she didn't want to appear interested in talking to a stranger.Even though, given the circumstances, she didn't really mind now.

Ginny's pale, still disoriented eyes flashed with sudden anger."Yes," she ground out harshly. "If the nurse isÉ if she's mad at me, she won't help me get out of this place so I can find the kids."

"What did I do?" Lindsay queried honestly, feeling spurned and sorry she'd even bothered to acknowledge the girl."I just want some God damned medicine, that's all," she lashed back.

"I wasn't!" But Lindsay's voice was contrite.Maybe I've been in the company of assholes for so long that I don't remember how to talk to a regular person anymore.Especially a woman.Females were something that String Bean rarely encountered on the rails.And the few that she had met had been just as vulgar and twice as mean as the men.

"Okay, then."Then Ginny's brows furrowed and she all but growled in frustration."I don't know what you did," she admitted frankly."I can't remember anymore." Her eyes fluttered shut. "I'm all messed up.But I know it was something, Cabbage Head," she whispered as the sounds of the rolling hospital carts and squeaky beds and muffled voices all faded away into nothing.

"Cabbage Head?Who would have a stupid name like that?"String Bean exhaled long and slow, mentally willing the nurse to return with a shotÉpainkiller or whiskey, at the moment she didn't care which.She stared at the ceiling, knowing that Ginny wouldn't hear her answer."Considering I always seem to be in some sort of trouble, I must be doing something wrong."

It was 3 a.m. and the ward was dark the next time that Lindsay awoke to the sound of a different nurse's voice, coming from the narrow space between her and Ginny's bed.This time when Lindsay tried, both her eyes opened.Though the vision in her right one was still a little fuzzy.

The nurse was in a pale blue dress and a crisp, white apron. She appeared to be barely out of her teens and her starched hat sat slightly askew on her head.Even with Lindsay's damaged nose she could smell the scent of medicine wafting from the nurse's apron.The woman dipped a small washcloth in a basin of cool water and draped the dripping rag across Ginny's forehead.Carefully, she lifted one of Ginny's hands and pressed it lightly against the cloth, holding it in place.

The nurse told Ginny, "I'm sorry, I can't stay." The distress in her voice was palpable."A building collapsed on Mulberry Bend Street and nearly a hundred emergency patients are on their way here now."A frustrated exhale."Can you hold this?"

Ginny gasped as the cool water soaked through her bandage and hit her raw fingertips.I least I can feel something, she thought grimly.Her eyes were closed and she was trembling, but at her insistence they'd switched her medication to a straight, lighter dosage painkiller and something for the fever.Nothing more.She could focus now, and Ginny wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Lindsay sat up a little, biting her lip as the stitches on her side were pulled taut."What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Oh, good.Can you move?"The nurse searched Lindsay's eyes and Lindsay licked her lips nervously, sensing something was seriously wrong.

"Yes."She took a brief inventory of her body.Her head no longer felt as though it was going to explode and, even sitting down, she could tell that most of her sense of balance had been restored.She still hurt, but not as badly as she had earlier that day.

"All right." The nurse nodded firmly."Hang on."She quickly moved around to the other side of Lindsay's bed and pushed it up against Ginny's.

"Miss Chisholm's fever is worse.Someone needs to cool her down with this cloth and I can't stay. No prisoners are allowed in the women's wards after dark or I'd use one here."She gestured towards Ginny."If her fever doesn't break soon we'll have to resort to an ice bath for her.After all she's been through I hate-"

The nurse quickly passed Lindsay the basin of water and a towel in case she spilled any. "Dab her forehead and neck.Like this." She demonstrated.

Ginny shook her head Ôno' but didn't open her eyes.Now the vegetable woman is going to play nursemaid to me? She's hurt herself.She can barely move."She doesn't need to," Ginny whispered hoarsely."I can-"

"Fine," Lindsay snapped back abruptly.She pushed the basin away, sloshing a small amount of water onto the towel that lay next to it."Do it yourself." She turned away from Ginny. "I'm still tired anyway. You-"

"No," the nurse interrupted firmly."She can't do it herself.I don't know what I was thinking, but her bandage needs to stay dry.You can use your good hand and you'll be fine."She didn't wait for Ginny to argue with her.She simply pinned Lindsay with a withering glare."I can count on you, right?"

"Right?" the nurse repeated a little more forcefully.She didn't have time for this.

Lindsay stuck out her jaw, preparing to refuse when, out of the corner of her eye, she sawGinny shiver.Her heart clenched at the sight and she found herself wanting to help, despite Ginny's apparent rejection.Stubborn girl needs somebody. "You can count on me."

"Good.I knew that when I heard you two were troublemakers it was probably an exaggeration."The nurse told Lindsay, "If her fever gets any higher, you yell. There's a nurse on the other end bay with a woman who is critical.She'll hear you if you call loudly enough."With that, she lifted her skirts and hurried to the exit.

"I'm not trouble," Ginny insisted quietly, gulping back tears.God, what is wrong with me? I need to get hold of myself and stop blubbering.

"Well, don't tell it to me.I never said you were trouble."Lindsay dunked the washcloth and squeezed out the excess water."I know you don't want my help."She paused with her hand hovering over Ginny's face."I won't touch you if it really bothers you."I don't give a shit what I told the nurse.I won't force my help on you.

After a moment's hesitation Lindsay wiped the cool cloth gently across Ginny's forehead.

Ginny sighed at the contact but her shivers increased.Time to apologize.She probably thinksÉ "ThankÉthank you."She felt the cloth trail down her sweaty neck.

Ginny's mind scrambled for something to say."Does your nose hurt?"Even in the dim light she could see that Lindsay had two black eyes and a spectacular bruise that covered most of her face.

Unconsciously, Lindsay wiggled her nose."Ouch." Her hand shot to the splint and she slapped herself in the face with the washcloth, stinging her scratches. "Shit!"

Lindsay lifted an eyebrow at the young woman, inwardly pleased that Ginny was holding back what could actually be a smile."Yes.It does a little," Lindsay admitted sheepishly.
"Not so bad if I don't touch it though."Casually, she shrugged one shoulder. "I'll heal soon and be out of this place."

Ginny swallowed hard as a rush of raw emotion swelled up inside her so quickly that she couldn't stop it."I need to heal soon, too."She blinked several times in rapid succession, sending a cascade of glistening tears down her cheeks."I can't stay here.God, the boys.Jane.I have to find them.Nobody will tell me where they are." She hiccupped and her face contorted in pain.

Lindsay's eyes went round and her hand with the washcloth in it froze, causing it to drip onto her thigh.She's crying?Not just a few tears, butreally crying.Oh, God. Oh, God."Don't cry.Please."I don't know what to do.She looked around desperately for someone to help, but only saw sleeping patients.

"IÉ I can't," a sob interrupted her, "I can't help it."Ginny lifted her hands to her face, forgetting about the bandages until she realized she couldn't wipe her tears without getting them wet.Before she could think of what else to do, Lindsay was running the cloth down her cheeks, cooling them with a gentle almost reverent touch that was at odds with the young woman's rough speech and demeanor.The tenderness was Ginny's undoing and with her next breath she broke down in earnest, crying freely and not even trying to stop herself.

Lindsay looked on in horror.Her own hands were shaking and she felt a little dizzy as her heart rate skyrocketed."Please," she begged."It's going to be okay.You'll see.You'll get well and go back to your family."

"No." Ginny shook her head frantically."There was a fire. And-" She swallowed thickly. Then the words spilled out in a panicky rush."My parents and two sisters.The nurse came and told me today.You were sleeping.They didn'tÉ I mean Mama and Alice andÉ" The redhead began to cry harder and the rest of what she said was lost amidst a haze of salty tears and broken sobs.

Lindsay didn't know what to do with her hands. It didn't seem right to continue to wipe Ginny's face, so she dropped the rag and hesitantly laid her hand on her companion's shoulder."I am so sorry," she whispered, truly meaning it.

Ginny closed her eyes as her chest heaved and when she opened them again, for the first time, Lindsay truly paid attention to what she was seeing.She took a long look into Ginny's heartbroken, sky-blue eyes as their gazes locked and when she did, a pang of sympathy touched her in a spot so deep, so surprising, that she nearly gasped at its intensity.

The comfort Ginny felt from the slender, almost timid hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently, was all out of proportion to the act.Her heart greedily soaked it up like a dry sponge being tossed into a sea of compassion and, without thinking, she sat up and wrapped her arms around Lindsay, her body craving another's contact as two days of grief, frustration, and raw fear poured out.

Lindsay bit her tongue, first in surprise, then in pain, as Ginny's body collided with hers.It took every ounce of her willpower not to jerk away.She took a deep breath and did what she'd never done before, never had done to her.She carefully wrapped a lean arm around Ginny's shoulders and allowed the redhead to cry against her unabated.She needs this.She has no one.I can do this.

Heat was pouring off Ginny and her sweat soaked through Lindsay's thin hospital gown. God, she's burning up.Probably delirious.

"No." Her voice was unyielding and Lindsay fought against the irrational urge to shake this young woman, this stranger who was plastered to her, for even thinking such a thing. "Don't say that," she told her emphatically."It's not true.You survived.They wouldn't want that."

Ginny sniffed and closed her eyes.She couldn't keep her teeth from chattering and, between that and her low, scratchy voice, Lindsay could barely make out what she was saying."But I'm É so so tired."A pause."My heart hurts."

And that, put simply, was something Lindsay had a bone-deep understanding of.Sometimes, when things were so dark and you were utterly lost and hurting, it seemed as though life wasn't worth the enormous effort it took just to live."Tomorrow you'll feel less tired." She felt her way cautiously."If not then, the next day or the next."

"I don't know where to find them."Ginny turned her head and Lindsay could feel small puffs of hot air as labored breaths brushed against her neck.

"You'll find them," Lindsay reassured, knowing full well that might not be possible. Orphans had a tendency to disappear into the system or worse, onto the streets, never to be heard from again. Wasn't that what I did?"You can't look from here.You need to heal first."Her arm was feeling more comfortable around Ginny's soft body and without meaning to, she began to relax a little into the foreign touch.

"But I don't know where to start! They don't have anyone but me." Ginny's voice cracked and a fresh wave of tears came along with her next revelation."I broke my promise to Alice."

Lindsay had no idea what the promise was but knew it had to be important from the self-loathing that rang in Ginny voice.

Ginny felt as though she might be sick.Abruptly, she pulled away from Lindsay, but she leaned back too fast and automatically reached out to brace herself with her hands.She cried out as soon they touched the bed, and a fat woman several beds down groaned in her sleep, mumbling for everyone to Ôshudda up'.

"Hey.I've gotcha."Lindsay's good hand shot out and she wrapped strong fingers around Ginny's upper arm, allowing Ginny to take the weight off her hands and lie down more carefully.A fine sheen of sweat glistened on the redhead's brow and Lindsay uncurled her fingers so she could pick up the washcloth again.Most of the basin's water had spilled onto the towel, but there was still plenty to dampen the washcloth.

Ginny sighed as the cool rag brushed over her eyebrows and cheeks and chin, wiping away her perspiration and tears.

Lindsay debated with herself, then asked what she was wondering."What promise did you break?" she asked curiously.This girl didn't seem the sort to lie. Ginny's jaw worked and Lindsay instantly regretted bringing it up.Who cares?You don't even know her. It's none of your business.

Ginny sniffed a little."I promised not to leave my younger brothers and sister.They're just kids."

"I'm almost eighteen."She looked at Lindsay carefully, wishing she could truly tell what she looked like.Behind the bandages and bruises and splints was someone that Ginny suspected was just aboutÉ."How old are you?"

"Old enough.Older than you," Lindsay answered seriously, trailing the cloth down Ginny's neck and wiping away a smudge of soot that had been missed by the nurses.

Another small grin twitched at Lindsay's lips at the younger woman's pushiness."Not much.I'm eighteenÉ no, nineteen last October."

Ginny blinked, a little surprised that her guess had actually proven to be right. "If I'm a kid then so are you. You're just like me."

"What happened to you?"Ginny lifted her bandaged hands to trace the outside of the dressing that circled Lindsay's head, but let it fall back to the bed when Lindsay subtly shifted away."I'm sorry," she whispered, suddenly very self-conscious."I wasn't thinking.IÉI-"

"No.It's okay." Lindsay's eyes conveyed her regret.She hadn't meant to do that."I just wasn't expecting that, okay?I'm not mad."

"Well what?"Lindsay dipped the cloth into the water again and squeezed out the excess into the basin.

"Speaking of thatÉ" Lindsay groaned a little for effect."I could really use some more painkillers.My side is killing me."

Ginny just waited, an eyebrow lifting when Lindsay not-so-skillfully changed the subject.

When Lindsay glanced up from her task she noticed Ginny's expression. "Oh.I ummÉ I was run over by a wagon," she lied.This girl doesn't need to know my business.

Ginny's second eyebrow lifted, joining its reddish-gold twin. "A wagon with claws and teeth?"

Ginny was tempted to press for information but could see by the guarded look in Lindsay's eyes that the subject was closed.A tremor passed through her and she suddenly felt very tired.

As she continued to apply the cool cloth to Ginny's face, Lindsay could see the younger woman growing more and more lethargic under her care. A handful of heartbeats later and they stopped talking altogether.A comfortable silence grew between them, until all that could be heard was the white noise of coughing and snoring women, the winter wind rattling the windows, and the low buzz of the dimmed lights that lit the opposite end of the long, narrow hospital ward.

Several quiet hours passed and Lindsay's thoughts naturally turned inward to the place they were most accustomed-the hushed recesses of her own mind.Her head was throbbing and she didn't have to guess where she'd had her surgery.The area not far below her breast felt as if it was on fire.When she could no longer hold the cloth without her own hand shaking, she awkwardly shifted onto her side so that she could watch over Ginny, only occasionally pressing the cloth against a sweat-slicked forehead.If I can make it till morning they'll give me something for the pain.They can't ignore us forever.I know it.

Ginny slept restlessly, her body warring with itself as her fever raged.Finally, just before dawn, she awoke feeling cool and listless.Her shivering had stopped and her thoughts were once again clear, if grim.Her fever had broken.

Ginny studied the woman who had so tenderly cared for her.The washcloth was still clutched in Lindsay's hand and her features were slack with sleep.Dawn's first rays of sun hit ice-covered windows and fractured, casting random patterns of golden light across the walls and beds.

Shoulder-length, chestnut brown hair peeked at odd angles from beneath the white gauze dressing that circled Lindsay's head.And lurid purple bruises started at Lindsay's jaw and blended into one another as they worked their way up to closed eyes, fringed with dark, long lashes.

"Who are you?" Ginny whispered, wanting to know more about this person and wishing she could see the woman behind the bandages and pain.Lindsay's eyes opened at the words and Ginny met her confused gaze easily.

"I umÉ" Lindsay wiped the sleep from her eyes with her good hand."I thought you heard me answer the nurse yesterday. My name is String-"

"No."That answer wasn't good enough.Not when there was a real one lurking behind the bewildered eyes looking directly into hers.Ginny felt as though she had shared a very personal piece of herself with this sometimes kind, sometimes annoying person, and she couldn't help but crave some of that openness in return."Who are you really?"

They stared at each other for several charged seconds until Lindsay said in a voice thick with sleep, "My name is Lindsay Killian."Ginny smiled and Lindsay couldn't help but smile in return.She has dimples, her mind laughed.

"Hello, Lindsay." Blue eyes conveyed warmth and strength that wasn't there only hours before and Lindsay was drawn to their sincerity. "I'm Ginny and I wanted to thank you."

Lindsay's brow furrowed, she could hear the strain in Ginny's voice and knew every word was painful."Don'tÉWellÉ" She looked away."It was nothing."

"You're wrong.It was something," Ginny corrected softly."I umÉ I need to find my family when I get out of this place." Her eyes twinkled."And something tells me that you're a very good person to ask for help."

"I am?" The words tumbled out without permission, and Lindsay held her breath, half-expecting Ginny to laugh at her genuine surprise. "You really think so?"

"Yeah," Lindsay whispered back, there was nothing wrong with her throat but she found herself unconsciously matching Ginny's hushed tone."I'll help."

They smiled at each other, both feeling a little less alone than they had before coming to Blackwell's Island.

Lindsay clenched her fist as she watched Nurse Goletz feed Ginny a bowl of lukewarm porridge."That's too fast for her to eat," she murmured under her breath. "Can't you see that?"

In all fairness, the heavy-set women looked as though she was dead on her feet.Even her starched white hat sat askew on her head and the top button of her dress, which was so high that it nearly brushed her jaw, was undone.She had been working non-stop since the building collapsed. And because they were short-handed, she was now starting another shift, in addition to the two she'd just worked.

There were several women on the ward who couldn't feed themselves because of various injuries to their hands or arms.And the nurse always started at the end, with Ginny, before working her way down the bay.It was a kindness to her young patient because at least the food would still be warm.

Ginny was swallowing as fast as she could but her throat was still tender and she always had been a slow eater anyway.In truth she was starving and mortally grateful for anything she could put in her belly.Unfortunately, during these speed-feeding sessions she ended up wearing more than she ate. Ginny was, however, bound and determined not to utter a single word of complaint.I'm not a troublemaker, she thought petulantly, ignoring a dribble of porridge that trailed down her chin and plopped onto the bib Nurse Goletz had fashioned out of a wash rag.

Two sets of surprised eyes swung towards Lindsay, whose head had been unwrapped. A small bandage had been taped over the lump and gash in her skin just behind her right ear.After cleaning her wound the day before, a nurse had allowed her to have a sponge bath and to wash her hair, which was now hanging loose about her shoulders, the morning sun reflecting off mahogany highlights.

Ginny eyed her jealously, feeling ten times grungier because she was looking at someone freshly scrubbed. She could still smell the faint echo of smoke on her skin and could feel the barest hint of grime on her belly and back, and it turned her stomach.She hoped it would be her turn for a bath today.Though she wasn't exactly comfortable with the thought of another person washing her, she knew it had to be done.Lindsay, on the other hand, had pitched such a holy hell-fit over another person touching her that the nurse allowed her to bath herself-one-handed.

"What is it now, String Bean?" Nurse Goletz asked tiredly."And be quick about it.I'm in a hurry."

"I can see that," Lindsay informed her bluntly.She stopped when she saw Nurse Goletz's hackles begin to rise and her lips thin. Taking a calming breath, she tried for diplomacy."How about you let me feed Ginny," so I don't have to watch that disgusting oatmeal concoction pouring down her chin, "and then you can tend to your other patients?"

The nurse blinked.She hasn't expected that offer from String Bean, who barely said a word to any of the medical staff except for the occasional request for pain medication.She'd been switched to laudanum today."I don't knowÉ" The nurse rubbed her jaw in contemplation.She'd scolded that new nurse up one side and down the other when she'd found String Bean and Ginny's beds pushed together the day before.Not only was it wholly indecent in its appearance, but, even if it was an emergency, a patient shouldn't be asked to assist with another patient's care.That was improper.

Ginny's eyes lit up at Lindsay's suggestion. I might get to eat like a human being instead of a starving wolf."Please, Nurse Goletz," she begged, her voice stronger than the day before."I know thatÉ umÉ String Bean would do a good job. And that you have far more important duties to attend to than feeding me."

Lindsay smiled at Ginny's use of her nickname.She knew the younger woman hated it for some reason but was inordinately pleased that she hadn't shared her real name with the nurse. It wasn't as though it was a secret.It just wasn't any of the hospital's business who the hell she was. If ÔString Bean' was good enough for her, it would have to be good enough for them.Besides, she liked the way her real name sounded when Ginny said it, and she didn't have the slightest interest in hearing it otherwise.

"Well," the nurse paused as she looked into Ginny's pleading eyes.She sighed."I suppose since it's a non-medical task it would be all right.We are busy."

"You truly are," Ginny intoned seriously, biting back an enormous grin."Thank you."

Lindsay began to sit up as the nurse eased herself off her perch on Ginny's bed.

The redhead watched silently as Lindsay bit her lip to keep from crying out as she shifted until she could swing her feet around to the side of the bed and stand.Ginny instantly felt a pang of guilt.How can I be so selfish?

The nurse handed Lindsay the bowl of porridge and spoon and a cloth."The doctor will be by to see you soon, String Bean."

"Is it my turn yet?" a woman eight beds down called out to the nurse.Both her arms were in casts and she had a pitiful look plastered across her face.

Nurse Goletz bit back a nasty retort and began to push her cart filled with bowls of breakfast down the aisle."Yes, yes.It's your turn, Mrs. Adolf."

Lindsay sat down on Ginny's bed and Ginny instantly reached out and laid her bandaged hand on Lindsay's arm."You're hurting this morning," she whispered, her voice full of concern."I should have told the nurse that she could keep feeding me."

Lindsay's eyes softened."My side is just tender and the stitches are starting to itch," she assured.A smirk began pulling at the edges of her mouth.

"What's so funny?"Ginny questioned suspiciously, sitting up a little straighter and preparing to open her mouth like a hungry baby bird if necessary.

"Well, scoop it up and feed it to me, for God's sake." She opened her mouth so wide Lindsay could see her tonsils."I'm starving."

Lindsay chuckled but ignored the request and took a moment to clean Ginny's face and throw away her food-covered bib.Only then did she give Ginny a fresh bite of porridge from the bowl. "Open wide for the choo choo."

Lindsay's face twisted in revulsion."You actually like this?" She lifted a big spoonful of the gray mixture up to the light and made a loud gagging noise.

Ginny swallowed slowly, sighing at how much better that felt on her throat than rushing it down."No, this is the most vile porridge I've ever tasted, but I'm hungry so I'm not picky.If you think I'm a messy eater you wouldn't believe Jane.She-" Ginny abruptly stopped as she realized what she was going to say.Jane.James and Lewis.Where are you?She closed her eyes to stop the leaking of the tears she could feel welling up.

Ginny nodded.I will not cry.I've already cried enough.She could hear Lindsay holding her breath, waiting to see if she would be blubbering again, and that was enough to help her firm her resolve.She opened her eyes."Yes. I will."With your help.

The rest of the bowl was emptied in silence, and when Lindsay was done she wiped Ginny's face once more and set the bowl on the floor between their beds, groaning when she straightened."Now that that's over I won't lose my breakfast watching you trying to eat your breakfast."

"IÉ ummÉ" Lindsay looked around self-consciously."I have a favor to ask you, Ginny."She licked her lips nervously.

"No!No.You've been so kind to me," she explained in a rush."I'll do anything I can." She lifted her hands and looked at them ruefully."But I can't do much without these."

"You don't need hands for this.I can hold it."Lindsay swallowed and looked down."It's okay if you laugh. I-"

"Okay."Lindsay reached out with her good hand and pulled her hospital chart from the holder at the foot of her bed, presenting it to Ginny."Can you tell me what they did to me?They said surgery but nobody will come and tell me what."

Lindsay shook her head, sending her hair scattering across her shoulders.With an annoyed hand she pushed a stray lock out of her eyes, wishing for her long gone cap. "My eyes are fine."She held the medical chart closer."Please?"

"That's okay." Lindsay smiled self-consciously.She knew that Ginny understood now and felt confident the girl wouldn't laugh."I won't understand any of it unless it's my name, a railway map, or a city name."

Lindsay laid it on her lap and opened the thin metal lid, exposing the lined papers covered in scribbles beneath."Hey," she pointed to the top line. "That says Ôwoman'." She knew that from the signs on outhouses.

Lindsay burst out laughing, causing several women to look up from their breakfasts."No, Ginny.I wouldn't say that exactly.What else does it say?" she asked anxiously.

Ginny's face went very serious as she read.Several times she visibly flinched."Here it says puncture wounds and multiple lacerations, most likely canine in origin."

"Dog bites," Ginny clarified, not looking too happy."And cuts and scratches, I think."

Ginny looked around the room as though the "curse word police" would jump out and arrest them at any second."Don't say that!"

"Two fractured ribs, one broken rib.Ouch.And fractures of the third and fourth...metaÉmeta." She sighed."If I had a dictionaryÉ"

"Never mind," Lindsay dismissed."Gotta be my fingers.They're the other thing broken that I know of."She held up her hand, showing off scratches that ran from her wrist to elbow that were still red and raw.

"MmmÉ true," Ginny acknowledged."This says a shifting of your broken rib after you arrived at the hospital resulted in ruptured spleen and then after it-" She looked up from the chart."Can you turn the page?"

Ginny read a few more lines before going very still.Her voice took on a solemn note and she looked up again at Lindsay before saying, "After ruptured spleen it says you required a sple.. spleÉ splenectomy."

"Shhh." Ginny looked around again, wincing at the disapproving frowns thrown their way by several women."Are you crazy?"

"I dunno. Does having a splenectomy cause that?Because if so, then I probably am!" I'm feeding strangers for Christ's sake.Isn't that proof enough?

"Calm down, will you?"She carefully laid both hands over the chart, closing it. "I think it means they removed your spleen."

"You mean cut out my spleen, don't you?" Lindsay corrected angrily."Then again, if it was something critical I guess I'd be dead by now."

"We'll ask the doctor when he comes." She held up a hand to forestall Lindsay's words."He will come.Eventually."He has to, doesn't he?

Ginny didn't want her to go but didn't feel as though she could ask her to stay either.She shifted onto her side and looked at her friend."It can't be too bad, Lindsay." Her heart clenched at the thought of something being seriously wrong with the young woman whom she'd come to think of as a friend."You're getting better, not worse, right?" There was a hint of pleading in Ginny's voice that Lindsay couldn't help but respond to.

Lindsay carefully rolled onto her side so that they were facing each other, the two feet between the beds all that separated them.She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Right.I can move around a little today."

Neither woman could think of anything to say and Ginny cast around desperately for a change of subject."What made you think I could read your chart?" Ginny asked finally, fully aware that over half the population, including her parents, couldn't have.

Lindsay thought about that for a moment.Why did she?Ginny was in a charity hospital just as she was, which meant she probably hadn't had the luxury of much schooling. "I dunno." She shrugged."You just seemed smart, I guess."

Ginny smiled weakly at the compliment but wasn't willing to let it go yet."It has nothing to do with being smart, Lindsay.I didn't have to start work until after the eleventh grade.It's just a matter of being taught.Anyone can learn," she hinted.

"I know," Lindsay said amiably, tossing her chart to the foot of her bed."Maybe I will someday."

Ginny didn't even stop to think as the words tumbled out."Because I'm scared out of my ever-lovin' mind.You helped me when there was no one else who could."

"You seemed smart to me too, in every way.Not just street smart.Though I'm guessing you're experienced in things that I'll need to know, seeing as how I'm sure I'm jobless and I know I'm homeless." Ginny's eyes twinkled."I believe deep in my heart that I can trust you."

"UmmmÉ" Lindsay's jaw sagged.She thinks I'm smart? How does she know she can trust me?Maybe I'm only being nice so that I can steal her coat!

Ginny flushed at the dumbfounded, but pleased look on her companion's face."Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah."Lindsay could scarcely believe the kind words and she felt her own skin heat."That answers my question."

Ginny slowly slipped on her coat and leaned against the small slab of wall between her and Lindsay's beds.She was wearing a donated, plain gray dress that was a little too small and a pair of brown leather shoes that were a little too big.The heavy bandages had been removed from her hands two days ago and though they still hurt, they were mostly healed and functional.Now only a light layer of gauze covered them.

The doctor had matter-of-factly explained that some scar tissue would remain, but that since she would likely end up working in a factory, squeezing out a dozen children before she was thirty, or washing clothes for a living, the beauty of her hands would be short-lived anyway.He didn't see any reason for her to fret.Ginny smiled a little, recalling how Lindsay had sprung out of bed and berated the doctor for being an insensitive asshole who should be shot. It wasn't until later that night, long after her doctor had gone, that Ginny found out her stubborn, hot-tempered friend had torn several stitches during her spectacular leap from the bed.

She felt worse this morning than she had since she'd first arrived at the Charity hospital. But this time it wasn't because of her injuries or even the loss of her family that caused it.It was Lindsay, and the fact that Ginny was being discharged today while her friend was not.

"Buck up, Ginny," Lindsay encouraged mildly, feeling self-conscious in her hospital gown while the other woman was fully dressed.

"I'll see you day after tomorrow on the late ferry."Ginny shot an evil glare towards the nurse's station where she could see Lindsay's doctor talking to Nurse Goletz.She privately wondered if, once the man found out Lindsay was anxious to leave the hospital, he'd decided to extend her stay by a day or two out of spite. Of course, her own discharge date had just been

The Last Train Home by Blayne Cooper (Advocate)

The Last Train Home
by
Blayne Cooper (Advocate)