“Yes, her speech encouraged me to fight harder, and not let myself get swept away.” But Briar pushed back a little. “The laws are already in place for our vote. When we marry, we are supposed to work as a unit. My vote will be cast through my husband.”
Ethel scoffed. “Weren’t you listening the other night? Where are all these good husbands we keep hearing about?” She opened her arms wide, indicating all the single women in the house. “You’re the youngest here, Briar. The rest of us are over eighteen. And even if we do marry, what of the bad husbands? What recourse do we have when the one we marry turns out not to be a good man?”
Mim came up the stairs in time to catch the end of the conversation. “I plan to marry a good man. I’m very thorough with my process. That’s why I haven’t settled down yet.”
“You have to be asked, first,” Ethel said, irritated.
“Maybe I have been asked, but I turned him down.” Mim leaned against the wall.
This is news. “Who asked you?”
Mim waved her hand like it was of little consequence. “There was this boy back home. It was a setup really between our parents, but I didn’t like him. He wasn’t the sort for me, so that’s when I left and came here.”
“You ran away from home?” asked Briar.
Mim chortled. “I suppose I did. And I’m not going back in defeat. Not until I’ve found a man on my own.” She scooped up a bunch of white ribbons and piled them into the box. “What about you, Briar? I heard you were outside with Wheeler, on the courting bench no less.”
Briar gasped. “Is that what they’re saying? I had to tell him about Sadie, that’s all. I-I’m the one who knows him best.”
“Tut-tut. Don’t you worry what those gossips say. Once you leave this mill, you won’t care one hoot what they think. Concentrate on your future. Do what you need to survive. Even you have to agree with that advice, don’t you, Ethel?”
Ethel shrugged. “I suppose. We’ve got to be smart. Children are orphaned,” she said and looked at Briar. “Or they try to force you into a match you don’t want.” She pointed to Mim. “You can’t always control what happens to you, but you can choose how you respond.”
“And what about you, Ethel?” asked Briar. “Has anything happened to you?”
“You know why I’m here. The mill is a stepping-stone to earn money for college and a better life.”
“Yes, but we don’t know what brought you here.”
Ethel picked up the box and led the way to their room.
Mim looped her arm through Briar’s. “Better give up, Briar. She’s keeping it to herself. That’s why she’s so annoyed with me. I poked her too hard about it when she first moved in. I suppose she’s entitled to her secrets.”
Ethel stuck out her tongue before putting the box on their bed. “Mark my words. One day we’ll have the vote and you’ll see what a difference it will make. We could use your help, though.” She held out stacks of leaflets. “You can come with me tonight to hand these out.”
Mim picked a leaflet from the box. “WCTU? Aren’t they for prohibition? I’m not sure I want to push for that.”
Ethel frowned. “What, it’s not like you go out to the saloons every weekend.”
“No, but I like to think I could if I wanted to.”
Ethel snatched the leaflet away. “You wouldn’t be caught dead in a saloon and you know it.” She turned to Briar. “And you? Do you think the cause is more important than keeping open the option to do something you don’t do anyway?”
Briar sighed. “I don’t know what I think anymore. Sure, I’ll come with you to hand out leaflets.” She would consider it penance in case it really was her fault the mill girls were getting sick.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ethel marched purposefully down the street with Briar double-timing it, trying to keep up. “We’re going to be late,” said Ethel. “Hurry up.”
“How many are we meeting?” Briar asked.
“Only a handful tonight. It’s the factory girls taking this side of town. Some ladies’ auxiliaries are canvassing other districts. Sunrise keeps growing and growing. We want to make sure it grows in the right way. Fewer saloons, more schools.”
The gathering was held outside another boardinghouse. Briar didn’t know the other operatives, as they were mostly older, and Ethel said they worked in the weaving rooms or in the new shirtwaist factory.
“A new recruit,” said a woman in a crisp shirtwaist and long cotton skirt. “I’m Miss Ellison. Welcome to our group.” She shook Briar’s hand.
“Now that we’re all here, let’s divide up the leaflets. We’ll start with our own street then work our way into town. Give them to whoever makes eye contact but focus on the women. Remind them we have strength in numbers.”
Briar and Ethel took their allotment and started on the boardinghouses on the right-hand side of the street. At this time of night, most of the operatives not on the town would be in their parlors.
The first house they entered was Annie’s. About a dozen girls sat around, playing various parlor games or reading.