Page 27 of Charlotte's Reckoning
“Can you hear me?”she asked, her voice raspy from the acrid smoke stinging her eyes and filling her lungs. With aroar, ceiling boards caught fire toward the back of the room, and sparks rained down. Soon, the entire attic would be engulfed.
She searched for signs of life by prodding him again, this time with both hands. As his eyelids fluttered and he emitted a groan, Rowie sprang into action, gripping his feet and pulling him toward the staircase. Even if the despicable man withstood the blow to the head, broken bones, and burns, he would still need to endure being dragged down four flights because she sure as heck couldn’t carry him. It would have been easy to leave him, but if she survived and didn’t at least attempt to save him, even as despicable as he was, his death would be forever on her conscience.
***
Sitting on the edge of the bed, his gaze fixed on his brother, who was growing paler and weaker by the second, Seth had never felt more helpless in his life. The journey to St. Louis had been arduous for Judd, prolonged by two additional stops to re-bandage his seeping wound. The only positive in the ordeal was that he had been unconscious for most of it, sparing him additional pain.
When they reached the notorious Pleasure Palace, in a run-down area just two blocks from the river, the giant sent to greet them demanded an exorbitant fee for a single night before showing them to a room. It contained nothing more than a bed, a washstand, and a single candle, which provided the only source of light. It was nothing short ofhighway robbery, but Seth had no other options.
The doctor took an eternity to show up. When he finally did, he dug around for the bullet in Judd’s gut without providing laudanum or ether but found nothing. Then, even though his brother had already lost what seemed to Seth like an alarming amount of blood, the quack wanted to bleed him further.
“To remove the toxins,”he’d explained as he picked up his scalpel.
The old fool should consider himself lucky he didn’t end up gutshot, too. Instead, Seth kicked him out.
Now, as he gripped Judd’s hand and listened to his ragged breathing, he knew he had to find help.
“I’ll be back with someone who knows what they’re doing as quick as I can.”
“It’s too late,”his brother whispered, coughing so hard blood appeared on his lips.
Although the situation looked grim, Judd’s words of defeat cut through him like a knife. “Don’t talk that way. You’re going to get better so we can do that job at First National right here in St. Louis that you’ve been yammering about for years.”
“I’ve done my last job, kid. And so have you.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. Stop talking and save your strength.”
Judd gripped his shirt and pulled him close. “I’m saying Pa was right. This isn’t the life for you. Take my share of the money and get out.”
“And go where? This is all I know.”
“Not true,”he wheezed. “Find Ike and go back to the ranch in Texas. Then get yourself a pretty gal who likes horses and cows and have lots of babies.”Judd’s voice trailed off, and his eyes closed. Seth thought he slept, but then he whispered something barely audible. “Do it, Brother. Before you end up dead before your time, like me and Pa.”
Those were the last words Judd ever spoke as his labored breathing grew shallow and, within minutes, stopped altogether.
Seth didn’t know how long he sat there, tears in his eyes, not only grief-stricken but feeling lost and alone. He needed to find an undertaker and bury his only brother then decide what came next in his life, but he couldn’t leave him just yet.
Running footsteps and shouts in the hall broke into his sorrow. When he opened the door, he immediately smelled something burning. The air was hazy with smoke. He stepped into the path of a terrified woman rushing by. She was barefoot and naked beneath her hastily tied robe.
“What’s going on?”
“The Palace is on fire,”she replied, skirting around him. “I don’t know how it started or where, but I’m not sticking around to find out.”
The hallway filled with more people in various stages of undress. Urged by what they saw and smelled, they rushed to the stairs. He trailed behind, watching as coughing, crying people descended from the upper floor.
“Is everyone out?”he asked.
“I don’t know, but the smoke is thick, and it’s not safe to go up,”an out-of-breath older man replied without stopping.
Between coughs, one of the ladies informed him, “The fire must have started in the attic. I checked the door, but it’s locked, and only Heloise has the key.”
Seth started up the steps, unwilling to allow anyone the unthinkable fate of burning alive. The third floor was much worse, with black smoke filling the corridor and flames visible at the far end. He covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve and quickly checked the rooms for anyone left behind. There was a loudcrackfrom above as he approached the midway point. Ahead of him, plaster fell from the ceiling in a shower of burning embers, several landing on his shirt. Hastily, he stripped off the burning fabric, rolling it to smother the remaining sparks before using the less damaged sections to shield his nose and mouth from the smoke. However, there was little he could do about his burning, watering eyes.
He tested the knob of the closed door, and, just as the woman stated, it was locked. He stepped back then raised his boot and kicked it. The door opened outward, so it took him several tries to break through the wood. After tossing the broken pieces aside, he discovered a sharply angled narrow staircase. The thick smoke made it tough to see, but orange glowed above.
Seth started up cautiously. If the door was locked, maybe the attic was empty.
“Is anyone up here?”he called.
