Briar was past the wooden spindle and she hadn’t touched it. Elated, she joined in the circle of girls nearest her as they spun in a circle, singing, “I’m half crazy, all for the love of you.”
She thought about how crazy Wheeler had made her. Even though the future was uncertain, she had no lingering regrets. As she continued to dance with the girls on the spinning room floor, her thoughts naturally drifted to Henry, who made her crazy whether he was here fixing her frame with a wink and a smile, or walking her home, showing surprising sensitivity for her feelings. The song seemed made for him. It wouldn’t be a stylish marriage, but a life with him would be fun and filled with love.
Briar stopped dancing as she realized the great distance her thoughts had just traveled. She stepped out of the circle watching the operatives play. Was she only feeling this way because he wasn’t there? More importantly, would she still feel this way if he came home?
The overseer stepped out of his office to see the commotion. “Inspection!”
The operatives immediately stopped their dancing and scurried to their frames. He started with the frames on Briar’s side of the room. He was inspecting every single spindle.
When he got to Briar’s wooden spindle, he barely looked at it when he said, “This one is dirty. Do it again.” He stood, waiting for Briar to clean it right then.
She took out her hook and rag and, with trembling fingers, pushed the hook in and around the base of the spindle, pulling out a tiny bit of cotton fluff. She wiped it on her rag, hoping that was all the overseer wanted.
“Wipe off the entire spindle. Especially near the tip. It looks like it’s not been touched.”
Briar swallowed.
“The tip?” she whispered.
A girl named Grace who worked the far side of the room stepped in. She took her rag and wiped the spindle and put on a fresh bobbin. “There you go. A clean spindle.” She stood with her arms crossed between Briar and the overseer. “Maybe now you can go pick on someone else. Briar is your best worker, and I can’t take it anymore how you single her out.”
“Impertinence. This is the last day you’ll work here or in any mill. You’re fired.” The overseer marched into his office, presumably to fill out the paper work.
Stunned, the operatives gathered around Grace.
“Thank you, but you shouldn’t have,” said Briar. “Now you’re out of work.”
Grace smiled. “Don’t worry about me. Today was my last day anyway; I was quitting and moving to New York. Now I can say I did it with style.” She twirled a little pirouette. “Stick together, ladies!” she said before following the overseer to pick up her final paycheck.
The spinning room was now cleaner than the day it had been built. The operatives were eager to return to the usual routine, and their spirits were high, convinced that they had gotten rid of whatever germs were lurking.
But they were wrong.
During the rest of the week, one by one, more girls in the spinning room started to complain of headaches. Then their faces turned flush. And then, finally, they collapsed in sickness and were carried home to their boardinghouses.
Grace was the first one to collapse that night at her going-away party.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The knot that had been forming in Briar’s stomach twisted tighter. How could the spindle be making the girls sick? They were all over seventeen and none had pricked a finger. It made no sense for these other girls if Briar was the targeted one, and she didn’t have so much as a runny nose.
The doctor was convinced it was polio, but Briar didn’t think so anymore. There were so many girls ill now that Miss Olive turned the whole first floor into an infirmary. The healthy ones sat around in the parlor, postulating about who would be next. The parlor game players had met during the beginning of the week, but as the number of sick girls climbed, the games weren’t as much fun, and they spent more time talking about illness and worries than laughing over who was cheating at Tiddledy Winks.
Friday morning, Briar found George and sent him into the country with a message for Mrs. Prince: We need help.
When Briar arrived at the boardinghouse for dinner, she found Fanny and Miss Olive conspiring in the parlor, Fanny looking guilty and Miss Olive frustrated.
“The children?”
Fanny stood, straw hat in hand. “They’re fine, dearie. With the Princes. The Mrs. sent me with the remedies.” She indicated the pile of baskets gathered on the floor of the parlor.
Miss Olive stood and took two baskets with her. “I’d better get started. Girls?” she called to the returning operatives. “Hurry up and eat.”
“Are you staying the night in town?” Briar asked Fanny.
“Oh no, I’ll stay long enough to help Miss Olive with the ministrations, but I’ll be back to the children by nightfall. Don’t want them to worry. Although, I’m sure they are having fun at the farm. I’m afraid they’ll try to talk the Princes out of more animals if I leave them too long.”
“How do you travel so quickly from place to place?” Briar asked.