“It’s awfully warm in here,” Jem said, tugging at her tweed vest. “All these people.”
She loosened her grip, but Merinda made sure their shoulders brushed. If Jem toppled, she’d be able to catch her in time.
Finally, after a rumbling introduction peppered with several hyperbolic phrases that would put even the Hogtown Herald to shame, Goldman stood unceremoniously before hundreds of gaping, silent faces.
“The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of thought,” Goldman’s voice boomed. Her first words on Toronto and its repression of women (especially as evidenced by the presence of the “patriarchal and primitive brute force of the Morality Squad”) were received with eager ears and silent mouths. The more convicted and incendiary those words grew, the more sharply they were reflected by the crowd. Her voice wove through the crowd, and with each heightened decibel, Merinda was aware of the frenzied spell cast over them. Some sat on overturned crates and barrels; others stood at attention or leaned on poles, spilling out of the warehouse space, shoving shoulders, pressing to get a clearer view of the homely woman with the crooked spectacles, unmanageable brown hair, and uneven mouth.
Merinda watched the crowd as much as she watched Goldman. There was a smattering of women, many still wearing aprons or pressed shirtwaists, having stolen away from their work in hopes of hearing someone who spoke aloud what they would never find the courage to say.
Merinda stole a look at Jem under the murky light. Her friend’s face was paler than usual, and Merinda sensed that although they stood close enough for their shoulders to brush, her friend was miles away.
She took to searching the sea of faces again, this time wondering if she could make out Benny in the crowd. Jasper and his bluecoats were on hand, she noted. A few mounted policeman that she’d seen outside. Others were stationed nearby on the new motorbicycles, aware of the reputation of Goldman rallies.
Goldman’s words were shooting fast and true, championing the workers who were forced to slave under employers who failed to provide fair conditions or compensation. A few men with tongues lubricated by whiskey were loudly declaring their support.
Merinda finally recognized Benny, far in the opposite corner. She made eye contact and waved, knowing he would signal if he had seen Jonathan, but he shook his head. Goldman kept on, voice strong and movements clipped and emphatic. The gathering may have gone on as such for quite a bit longer had the Morality Squad so central to her convictive oration not shoved their way into the throng. Adamant of their commissioned presence, acting on behalf of the mayor himself, they parted the crowd.
Fistfights erupted with a wave of dust and cries as they moved forward. “Mr. Montague does not have the jurisdiction to interrupt a peaceful assembly,” Merinda overheard.
“How often are these assemblies peaceful?” a brawny man said ironically as Merinda held to Jem’s elbow and watched the commotion erupt around her. The floor rumbled with heavy footfalls and her ears rang. Merinda tried to stabilize herself, shielded her face with her arm. The air, the commotion—it was suffocating.
The same brawny man’s face lit in recognition when he saw her,? and he sidled his way through the crowd in her direction. Merinda looked beside her to warn Jem, realizing that the silence that had filled Jem’s spot had been on account of Jem’s not being there at all.
Merinda’s voice was raspy as she mouthed Jem’s name. A panicked sweat flushed her face and her hands shook. “Jemima!”
But there were too many people.
“Jemima!” Merinda shouted angrily. Jem had been right beside her, and now? Now? Where was she? Merinda shoved her way through the frightened mass of people. “Jem!”
“Merinda!”
Merinda looked up, startled. “Jasper!”
Jasper clutched her arms and looked her over, from tousled hair to torn vest and trousers. “Are you all right?” he said hoarsely.
“I can’t find Jem.” Merinda’s voice cracked.
A flash of fear lit Jasper’s eyes. “Get out of here, please, Merinda. It’s chaos in here. And it will get even worse when our mounted police arrive.”
“I won’t leave without Jem!” Merinda yelled over the din.
“I promise you I will find Jem. I just need you to be out of here.” He gripped her tightly and started forcefully pulling her in the direction of the side doorway where a blast of fresh night air could dispel some of the heat and chaos.
“Let me go!” Merinda cried for what seemed the hundredth time as Jasper deposited her at the edge of the commotion. Outside, noise seemed to come from every crevice of the warehouse, blemishing the clear night.