Maggie felt his gaze settled on her. Did he disapprove of her helping another just because of her past?
Franz hissed a curse. “He apparently thought you were needed, though I don’t intend to lose her.”
“Then I’ll pray God will strengthen your efforts,” Kris soothed, not the least put off by Franz’s anger.
“I’ll kill whoever did this,” Franz muttered, at length. “Whoever forced her to such measures. As soon as she can tell me a name, I will personally string him from the nearest tree.”
Maggie ignored the rest of his diatribe, studying the wounds around the woman’s head and neck. When Daisy handed a half-empty bottle into the room, Maggie poured a little into a cup and added some water and crushed in an herb to help with the pain. “Petunia, can you hear me?”
Eyelashes of burnished gold fluttered slightly, but didn’t lift.
“I need you to look at me, sweeting. Please try. This will make you feel better, I’m thinking.”
This time, not even her lashes stirred. When a soft sigh left her, everyone in the room froze in place, waiting for her to inhale. Franz grabbed her wrist then laid his ear on her chest. His sudden curse shattered the tense silence.
“Verdammt!” He wadded up the towel he held and pitched it toward the wall. “It’s too late. I am too late.”
Maggie leaned close to the woman’s face, praying for a sign she still lived. No breath feathered Maggie’s cheek, her lace-covered chest didn’t rise. Maggie straightened, blinking back tears. “Such a waste of life,” she whispered.
Kris stepped to the bedside, laid a gentle hand on Pet and bowed his head to pray. Franz headed for a chipped porcelain basin to wash the gore from his hands and arms just as Daisy slipped back into the room. “I have the hot water and—” When she spotted Kris standing beside her friend, the bucket slipped from her hand and landed hard on the floor, splashing some of the contents. “Pet?” Tears welled from soft blue eyes as she ran to her friend. “Don’t go!” she wailed. “You can’t leave me. We’re going to go away. Together. You promised!”
When the girl’s voice rose toward hysterical, Maggie wrapped her in a hug. “Hush now,” she soothed. “Your friend has gone to God.”
“God?” The girl’s laugh was coarse, empty. “There is no God for the likes of us.”
“There is,” Maggie soothed. “For me, and for you…and for Petunia.”
“Dora,” Daisy whispered. “Her name was Dora.”
Maggie smoothed the girl’s hair away from her heavily painted face. “Do you know if Dora has family who should be told of her passing?”
“None that would care. It was just her and me.” The girl sagged a little in Maggie’s arms. “That’s why we were going to get out together. We’ve paid off our debt to Mr. Carmine. Two years above stairs, he said, and we’d be free. It’s two years t-tonight.”
But she didn’t sound very convinced. Maggie brushed her hair back from her tear-streaked face. “We’ll worry about Mr. Carmine later.”
Kris slipped his prayer book into a coat pocket and turned to them. “For now, we will see to Miss Dora.”
“And to you,” Maggie added. “You’ll not stay here tonight.”
“I can’t leave, miss.” The hopelessness was back tenfold. “I have to work tonight if I’m to finish my time and…”
“We understand,” Kris interrupted. “Do you want me to tell Mr. Carmine about Miss Dora?”
Daisy shook her head slowly, tears dripping from her cheeks. “He’ll be up in a while to find out why she ain’t come down yet. He can find her—”
“No!” Maggie was horrified. “We can’t just leave her—”
Daisy looked panicked. “He can’t find you in here, or me either. If he does, it’ll be me needing your help next. Please, you have to go.”
Kris laid a gentle hand on Maggie’s shoulder, silencing her protests. Blinking away tears, Maggie wrapped Daisy tightly in her arms. “I’ll leave because I don’t want anything to happen to you, but if you need anything, you will come and find me. I’m staying with Doctor and Mrs. Bittner. Promise?”
The girl nodded. “I’ll clean up so they can’t tell you were here.” Daisy’s gaze slid over to her friend, lying so still—almost peaceful—on the stained bedding. “It’s only Dora’s and my things used, so no one’ll know different.” Wiping the tears from her face, she glanced up at Franz, then Maggie. “Thank you both for trying.”
Kris opened the door and glanced into the corridor, which remained blessedly empty, though Maggie could hear chairs being slid around on the first floor. Franz went first, but when Maggie turned to follow, Daisy grabbed her arm.
“Wait!” She rushed across the room and pried up a small floorboard. Tugging a small bag free, she pressed it into Maggie’s hands. “Take this. I want you to—”