I didn’t know Paddy any better than I knew the other men in the building, but he had been kind, and I had little other choice. “May I check on my father first?”
“Go ahead. I’ll feed the girl.”
I nudged Hazel toward the table, and then I put the pallet and blankets in the bedroom just off the kitchen before I ran my hands over my disheveled hair. Our trunks and bags had been brought in the afternoon before and were stacked in the corner of the kitchen, but I had chosen to sleep in my dirty traveling dress, ready to go at a moment’s notice if need be.
I tried to smooth down the wrinkles as I entered the front room—and paused. Every table was full, and there were men standing along the edges.
And each one was watching me.
“I said she was a pretty one,” a man in a flannel shirt said. “Look at that blond hair and blue eyes.”
“Good morning,” said a chorus of men.
“I—” I pointed toward the stairs. “I need to check on my father.”
Without waiting, I hiked up the stairs, praying none of them would follow me.
The room was wide open, with bunk beds filling the space like a maze. There was only about a foot between each set of beds, offering very little room to move.
A few of the bunks were still occupied, and more than one man was stirring as I entered. In Massachusetts, if I was caught in a dormitory like this with men, my reputation would be ruined. But here, I doubted anyone would care.
They had placed my father between two of the bunks near the farthest wall, where there was a little more space. He was on a pallet, much like the one Hazel and I had slept on.
My heart pounded hard as I moved toward him, worried he hadn’t made it through the night. “Father?”
“Aye,” he said, his voice weak. “I’m still in the land of the living, though barely.”
Relief washed over me as I knelt beside him. His gray hair needed a cut, and his face needed a shave. Deep wrinkles lined his forehead, and his skin was a sickly white. “The doctor was here—do you remember?”
“Hardly a thing since the ship docked in the harbor.” He reached for my hand. “When I woke up, I didn’t know where I was or where you and Hazel had gone. Thankfully, the Good Lord provided a gentleman in the next bunk who told me what happened.”
“I’m sorry, Father.”
“Don’t be, Ally. You did your best, and God has been faithful.”
“But we’re in Sydney Town,” I whispered as I glanced over my shoulder.
Father frowned. “What is Sydney Town?”
Of course he wouldn’t know. He wasn’t a time-crosser and didn’t know I was one. If I didn’t live in 1929, I wouldn’t know what Sydney Town was, either. “Never mind. I am going to look for a better place for us to live today, and hopefully we can get you more comfortable.”
He sighed, his eyes shining from the fever, but didn’t respond.
“Do you think you could walk on your own?” I asked. “If I found a place for us to live?”
“I’d try.”
His weak voice didn’t instill confidence in me.
“I’ll bring something for you to eat and drink in a little while.”
He offered a feeble smile and nodded as his eyes shuttered closed again. “No need to hurry. I’m so tired, I don’t think I could eat right now anyway.”
I pressed my free hand to his forehead. He was burning up and would need someone to take care of him. How would I leave his side to find somewhere else to live and work?
But how could we stay? According to the movieGold Rush!,the fire would start sometime before midnight, which meant I had eighteen hours to get Father and Hazel out of Bess’s Place. Could I leave him for several hours this morning, after breakfast was served? Perhaps Bess would see to his needs while I was gone. Yet, why would she if I wasn’t able to pay her?
I went down the stairs again and passed through the front room.
