Chapter 25
Boston-1853
MaryLouise lay still on her side of the bed, waiting for the moment when the sleeping powder she had added to Ivan's last glass of whiskey had taken effect and she could risk moving. She knew she was taking a risk in drugging her husband, but she had no choice. Life with Ivan had become so unbearable. The exciting, debonair man who had first set her heart aflame had turned into a man she didn't recognize anymore. He spent most days in the local taverns, playing poker, drinking, having sordid affairs, and planning any number of underhanded, deceitful schemes.
No longer did they live in the fine suite, but a small home on the seedier side of town. Gone were all of the lavish clothes, furs, and jewelry he had bought her, and she had been ordered to go to work to earn money for him to blow. Barely enough was kept for the essential things that she and the children needed to survive.
Her folks had always taught her, Lucinda, and J.J. about the dangers that could befall someone if they allowed themselves to fall into a bottle. She had learned how right they truly were. Ivan had become the man her Pa had warned her about: a drinker, womanizer, cheat, and abuser.
She wasn't going to stay one moment longer. When Ivan had raised his hand to their eldest daughter Louise earlier that day, MaryLouise's decision had been made. She and the children were leaving that very night and they weren't ever going to come back. She could make a better life for herself and the children somewhere else, and they would be much happier.
When she thought enough time had passed, MaryLouise eased off of the bed and quietly dressed. She pulled the packed carpetbag out from under the bed and moved toward the bedroom door. She reached to open it, but her hand froze in mid-air. She set the carpetbag down and crept along the bed on Ivan's side, her heart hammering her chest as she reached out and plucked Ivan's wallet off his bedside table.
She did not bother to open it inside the bedroom. She moved back to the door, grabbed her carpetbag, opened the door, and slipped out into the hallway. Once outside in the hallway, she quickly opened it and saw to her astonishment a large stack of folded bills. She quickly estimated there to be several hundred dollars worth and wondered momentarily where Ivan had gotten it all. Then she shook her head. It didn't matter where he had gotten it from; it only mattered that now she had the means of getting herself and the children far enough away from Boston that Ivan wouldn't be able to find them, and that she would have money to rent them a place to live and keep them fed for several months. She almost all of the bills, and stuffed them into her reticule before tossing the wallet onto the floor and moving across the hallway into the children's room.
She moved quietly over to the bed where her two daughters lay curled up together. MaryLouise crouched down beside the side that Louise slept on and reached out a hand and gently shook her.
"Lulu. Louise, darling, wake up," MaryLouise crooned lightly.
Louise's eyes opened almost immediately. "Ma?"
"Ssh, Lulu. It's time for us to go now. You need to help me with your brother, while I tend to Theresa." MaryLouise whispered.
"Okay." Louise whispered back, her eyes wide as she slipped out of bed.
MaryLouise instructed her to dress quickly and stuff clothes into a carpetbag for herself, Jeremiah, and Theresa, while she took care of waking her son. One year-old Theresa she would wrap in a quilt from the bed, not wanting to risk the baby crying and possibly waking Ivan up. Jeremiah gave her a bit of a problem waking him up and getting him dressed, and MaryLouise panicked when he let out a loud cry. She was quick to 'Ssh' him, but spent the next few moments in quiet alarm for the sounds of movement arising from the other bedroom. When nothing but silence ensued for several long, agonizing moments, MaryLouise scooped Theresa up in her arms.
"You must be very quiet 'Miah and Lulu if we are going to escape without your Pa waking up." MaryLouise told her children as they moved out into the kitchen. Hurriedly, she grabbed a basket of food she had packed earlier that day, and the four of them disappeared into the night.