Whispers in the Wind (16 page)

Dr. Harris nodded. “That’s true.”

“Well, I’m going to offer to let Tharyn join my orphan colony in the alley so I can look after her. I’m sure when I tell my friends her story, they will agree to let her become a part of the colony.”

Dr. Harris smiled. “I commend you for this, son.”

“Yes,” said Maude. “I wish we could take her into our home, but you already know why we can’t do that. Given the circumstances in Tharyn’s life, your plan to take her into your colony is the right thing to do.”

“Well, it’s the very least I can do,” said Dane. “I know how hard it was for me after my family was killed. The streets and alleys of this city are not friendly places for children … especially for a girl. I feel an obligation to take care of Tharyn. Since I guess I pretty
much saved her life, it’s up to me to be responsible for her, since she has no one else to do it.”

Dr. Harris smiled. “You are quite the boy. I’m sure Tharyn will be grateful to have you looking after her. And don’t forget that Maude and I are here to help you in any way we can.”

“I appreciate that, more than I could ever tell you. Well, I’d better get to the alley.”

Dr. Harris reconfirmed that he would pick him up at the alley at seven o’clock, and thanking both of them once more for being such good friends to him, Dane left the Harris home and hurried to his “home.”

The other nine children in the alley were very glad to see Dane when he arrived. When they asked where he had been, he told them the story. Their hearts went out to the thirteen-year-old girl, who had been suddenly orphaned.

Knowing that the street colonies had an unwritten code of their own, Dane explained his desire to take Tharyn into their colony. He made sure they knew he was taking full responsibility for her.

“Hey, we’ll help her, Dane,” piped up Russell Mims. “Any friend of yours is a friend of ours. She’s welcome here.”

“She certainly is,” spoke up Bessie Evans. “Right, everybody?”

The rest of the group spoke up in unison, rallying around Dane.

“I want to thank all of you,” said Dane, running his appreciative gaze around the ragtag group. “I’m not sure right now just when they’ll let her out of the hospital, but it’s important that she has a ‘home’ to come to. Tharyn is full of raw heartache and pain right now, and we all know what that feels like.”

They all spoke their agreement. Dane thanked them for being willing to take in his new friend, Tharyn Myers.

A
t Mercy Hospital, Tharyn Myers awakened from the effect of the sedative to find a nurse in white dress and cap sitting in a chair beside the bed. She was reading Tharyn’s medical chart and did not notice that her patient’s eyes were open.

Totally disoriented, Tharyn blinked and ran her gaze around the room, then turned her head to face the nurse. The movement caught the nurse’s attention. She laid the chart down, rose to her feet, and moved up beside the bed. “Hello, Tharyn,” she said softly, smiling down at her. “I’m Donna Yetter. I’m your nurse for this shift.”

Tharyn blinked again and frowned. “Wh-where am I?”

“You’re at Mercy Hospital. Don’t you remember?”

“No. What happened to me?”

“Well, honey, you were brought in here to—”

“To see my mother!” she gasped as her mind suddenly cleared. A fresh wave of grief overwhelmed her. “Oh-h-h! Mommy’s dead. I remember. Why—why am I in this bed?”

“The ordeal of losing your parents and your aunt this morning was too much for you, Tharyn. You passed out.”

Her hand went to her forehead. “I—I was in the waiting room, and a doctor came and told me Mommy had died.” She burst into tears. Miss Yetter took hold of both her hands, and
talked to her in a soothing manner, but Tharyn wailed, “Mommy is dead! Daddy is dead! Aunt Althea is dead! I’m all alo—Wait! Where’s Dane?”

Nurse Yetter was confused. “Who’s Dane? Is he a relative?”

“No. He’s not a relative. I have no relatives. Dane’s the best friend I ever had. He saved my life—ah—did you say this is still the same day?”

“Yes.”

Tharyn bit her lower lip. “Dane saved my life when the horses and the wagon were charging at us. He … he moved me out of the way. If he hadn’t, I would have been killed like the rest of my family was.”

“I see. What’s Dane’s last name?”

Tharyn closed her eyes and concentrated. “Ah … Weston. His name’s Dane Weston.”

“How can he be contacted?”

“Well, he’s an orphan. He’s fifteen years old. He lives in an alley—ah … I’m trying to remember where.”

At that moment Dr. Walter Lynch entered the room. A smile broke across his face as he drew up to the bed beside the nurse. “Well, Tharyn, you’re awake! Do you remember me?”

She studied his face. “No, sir.”

“Well, no surprise. I’m Dr. Walter Lynch.”

“He’s the doctor who came into the waiting room to tell you that your mother had died, Tharyn.”

Tharyn fixed her gaze on him. “Oh yes. Now I remember you.

“You were in the waiting room with Dane Weston, and I’m the one who took care of you after you passed out.”

“Dane?”

“Yes.”

Tharyn looked toward the door. “Is Dane somewhere in the hospital?”

Dr. Lynch shook his head. “Not now. He left after I went back to the waiting room and told him about you.”

Tharyn’s body stiffened and her brow furrowed. A cold ball formed in her stomach. A note of concern seeped into her voice as she raised her head from the pillow. “He’s gone?”

The doctor smiled and patted her arm. “He said he would be back this evening to see you.”

Relief showed in her eyes. She relaxed and eased her head back on the pillow. “Oh, thank you, Doctor, for telling me that. I was afraid maybe he had left for good.” She closed her eyes, swallowed hard, and opened them again. “How silly of me. He did promise that he would see me through this. Without him I would be all alone.”

“Tharyn, don’t be tough on yourself. You’ve been through a horrible ordeal. But that young man impressed me. I’m sure he meant it when he said he would see you through this. He’ll be back this evening.”

Tharyn made a tiny smile. “Of course he will. I can’t wait to see him again.”

Nurse Yetter turned to the doctor. “How soon do you want her to have another sedative?”

He looked down at his patient. “Wait a couple of hours.”

“All right.”

Tharyn frowned again. “Doctor, could we wait till after Dane has come to see me? I want to be fully awake when he’s here.”

Lynch looked at the nurse, then at Tharyn. “All right. I won’t order another sedative between now and then as long as you can remain in a quiet state.”

“I will, Doctor. Promise.”

“All right. Well, I have other patients to tend to. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

Nurse Yetter said, “I have some things to do, Tharyn. You lie here and rest. I’ll be back in a little while.”

Tharyn nodded.

The nurse picked up a small bell from the table beside the bed. “See this?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“If you need anything while I’m gone, just ring it. Someone will be here in a hurry.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Tharyn watched doctor and nurse leave the room, then laid her head back and closed her eyes. Suddenly a huge wave of grief and loneliness engulfed her as she faced the fact that her parents and aunt were dead. Tears coursed down her cheeks as she gave in to her anguish.

After giving free rein to her sorrow for several minutes, she slowly began to feel some healing from the tears. She sat up in the bed, and using a corner of the sheet, she mopped her face and dried her tears while looking out the window at the buggies and carriages moving past the hospital down on the street.

A cold chill came over her when she spied a team of horses pulling a wagon similar to the one that had killed her parents and her aunt. She buried her face in the pillow, closed her red-rimmed eyes, and wept once more. When the weeping subsided, she laid her head back on the pillow, closed her eyes again, and pictured her mother and father.

She let her wounded mind drift back over her brief thirteen years as their daughter. “Oh, Mommy, Daddy, how will I ever live without you? Why did you have to die?”

Tears once again threatened to overwhelm her, and she forced her mind away from the death of her parents, trying to think of something else. Instantly Dane Weston came to mind. She thought of the impact of his body against hers when he came on the run and removed her from harm’s way, and how they rolled on the sidewalk and slammed into the stairs of the tenement.

Her hand went to the bruises on her cheek. “Because of you,
Dane,” she said in a whisper, “all I have are these bruises. If you hadn’t been willing to risk your life to save mine, my body would also be lying in the morgue.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “Dane, you are the best friend I’e ever had. You’re the nicest boy I’ve ever met. If I had a brother, I’d want him to be just like you.”

That evening, Tharyn was sitting up in her bed with another nurse at her side when they heard footsteps in the hall, and Dane entered the room with Dr. Lee Harris at his side.

A smile spread over Dane’s face when he saw Tharyn awake and sitting up. The nurse looked on with pleasure when she saw tears mist Tharyn’s blue eyes as she opened her arms and reached for him, speaking his name.

Dane wrapped his arms around her as she clung to him, then for a moment, they just held on to each other.

When they eased back in each other’s arms, Dane looked into her eyes. “Are you all right, Tharyn?”

She managed a sweet smile. “Much better, now that you’re here.”

He held her gaze briefly. “Tharyn, I want you to meet Dr. Lee Harris. He’s a friend of mine. He takes care of the children in the alleys in our neighborhood. That’s how I met him. He and his wife have been very good to me. They take me to church with them.”

Tharyn extended her hand to the doctor. He took it gently in his own. “I’m very glad to meet you, little lady. Dane has told me all about what happened today. I’m so sorry about your loss, but I’m glad that you are still alive.”

Tharyn managed another smile. “Thank you, sir. If it weren’t for Dane, I would have been killed, too.” She turned her eyes on Dane. “He risked his own life to save mine.”

Dane’s features tinted. “I only did what anybody would have done.”

“I disagree,” said Dr. Harris. “Not everyone has that much courage.”

“Tharyn told me the story, Dane,” said the nurse. “I agree with Dr. Harris.”

Dane’s face tinted deeper.

“Oh!” said Tharyn. “Where are my manners? Dane, Dr. Harris, this is my nurse for this shift. Her name is Betty Thaxter.”

Betty shook hands with Dane, then the doctor. “Dr. Harris, we have never met, but I have heard about you. I can say that you are well-respected for the work you do in your part of the city, helping poor families who would not otherwise be able to afford medical care and helping those poor little waifs who live on the streets. You are to be commended.”

It was Dr. Harris’s turn to have a tinted face. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Dane had discussed Tharyn’s plight with Dr. Harris on their way to the hospital, saying he hoped she would accept his offer to come live in the alley with his colony. Not quite sure how to broach the subject, he prayed in his heart, asking the Lord to help him.

Dr. Harris knew the boy was about to talk to her about it. He nodded as if to say,
“It’ll be all right, son. Go ahead.”

Dane took in a small gulp of air and said softly, “Tharyn, Dr. Harris came with me at my request. I wanted him to check on you and see if all is well. We’ll talk about that in a moment, but there’s something else I need to talk to you about.”

She looked into his dark brown eyes and found another smile to give him. “Yes, Dane?”

“Well, I know you haven’t had much time to think about all that is involved in what has happened, and I’m sure you are still in shock to some degree. But some decisions must be made right away.”

She looked at him with a puzzled frown creasing her flawless
brow. “What are you talking about, Dane?”

“Tharyn, your family has been taken from you, and you told me that you have no other relatives.”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any friends or neighbors who might take you into their home?”

The puzzled look altered into one of confused despair. In a tiny voice, she said, “No, Dane. There are some friends and neighbors, but there aren’t any who would want to take me into their home and finish raising me. There are none who would want that expense or that responsibility. I have no one. I’m as alone in this world as you are. If Aunt Althea had lived, I know she would have taken me, but she’s gone, and there’s no one.”

Silent tears pooled in Tharyn’s eyes and slowly slid down her cheeks. The pain of her grief and the weight of the world reflected in her eyes as they sought Dane’s.

Wanting to calm her fears the best he could, Dane took her hand in his. Tears splashed on their joined hands as Tharyn tried to stem their flow.

Dane squeezed her hand. “Tharyn, don’t you worry. I’ve got it all worked out.”

She sniffed. “You do?”

“Well, it’s not the Ritz Hotel, nor anything near what you’re used to, but I’ve talked to the kids in my colony, and they are willing to take you in. I … I wish I could offer you more, but as you know, my situation is much the same as yours. How about it? Would you like to join our colony?”

Tharyn’s eyes took on a distant look as her mind flashed back to the humble tenement where she had lived with her parents.
We didn’t have much, but Mommy kept it shiny clean and it always smelled of pine soap and delicious aromas. We were happy there. Oh, Daddy, Mommy … I miss you so!

A sigh escaped her lips, then she lifted her gaze up to meet Dane’s.

He smiled. “Well, how about it?”

She smiled back. “I’d love to join your colony, Dane.”

Their tear-stained hands were still joined. “Good! As soon as they let you out of here, I’ll take you home.”

Dr. Harris smiled and winked at Dane.

Tharyn’s eyes misted. “Thank you so much, Dane. I don’t know what would have become of me if it weren’t for you.”