eerie shadows on the worn velvet settees and faded paintings of girls dancing and bathing. To the left stood a closed door and to the right a rickety-looking staircase that wound up to a second-floor balcony. The scents of cheap perfume, sweet powder, unwashed linens, and stale beer permeated the air.
Grabbing the lantern from the table, the madam motioned them upward. “This way.”
Kat brushed the damp hair covering Barrett’s eyes. “Can you make it up the stairs?”
He nodded with a shiver. She needed to bring his fever down and fast. “Just don’t let me tip backward.”
The madam waited impatiently at the top of the stairs as Kat and Ellie aimed Barrett upward. By the time they got to the top, all three of them huffed and puffed from the exertion. They followed the large woman to the end of the landing, and she unlocked the last room and stepped in. A kerosene lantern sprang to life from a small vanity table next to the door. A bed on a metal frame took up most of the room while a lace curtain and blackout sheet covered the window next to the bed. A large trunk in the corner made up the entirety of the room’s contents.
“Girl in this room died last week, so you can have it for the night. Maybe tomorrow if I can’t find a new girl by then. Sheets are in that trunk. Make the bed yourself. A little worse for wear, but I boiled ’em in lye soap, so they’re clean.” The woman cast an eye around the room as if daring them to find fault in her offered accommodations.
Ellie touched the foot of the bed. “What did she die of?”
“The clap, same as every other girl here who’s gone on before. A returning sentiment from the last war.” The madam’s eyes cut over to Barrett.
Barrett sagged against Kat. His weight buckled her knees. “Ellie, help me get him on the bed before he collapses.”
The madam made no move to help as Kat and Ellie struggled to get Barrett onto the mattress. With his head all the way at the top, his feet still hung over the end.
“Bring that lantern over here so I can see.” Kat peeled back the shirt to reveal bright-red blood seeping through the bandages. Not good. She clamped her teeth together to keep her heart from leaping out as she unwound the bandage to see the gaping wound. She turned back to the woman standing silently in the doorway, eyes never blinking from Barrett’s face. “May we have some strips of linen and fresh water to cleanse the wound?”
“You’ll need to close that wound before you wrap it up again.” Turning, the woman disappeared.
Kat bit her lip as she looked to Ellie. Was the woman coming back? Barrett groaned as his arms and legs twitched. Kat brushed back the hair from his forehead. “It’s all right. We’re going to get you cleaned up. Bring this fever down.”
He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his lips, then let it fall limp at his side.
As one minute turned into two, Kat turned to the door. If the woman had no intention of returning, then she was going to knock on every door until she found the supplies needed.
Footsteps in the hall stopped her. The woman came back in, her arms loaded with supplies.
“Get that area cleaned off so you can see what the real damage is. Here’s sulfa powder to sprinkle over it.” The woman tossed her a small package, then held out a handful of linen to Ellie. “Tear these into long strips.” Pulling out a round cord and needle, she held them to the light next to Kat. “Know how to sew?”
Kat swiped a damp cloth across the dried blood at Barrett’s side. “Needlework and embroidery on hankies. It wasn’t very good.”
The woman grunted. “I’ll do it.”
The dirty cloth dangled from Kat’s fingers as she eyed the unrolling catgut and long needle. “Shouldn’t we call a doctor?”
The woman’s eyes drove into her like nails. “There is no doctor. My girls get beaten up often enough. You don’t think I know how to take care of them?”
“Of course, I’m sorry. It’s just that . . .” Kat bit her lip to keep it from trembling. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
The first rays of morning peeked around the corners of the blackout curtain by the time they had Barrett cleaned, sewed up, bandaged, and sleeping. Kat stood at the foot