Oy. She was going to kill me. After all the serious drama, this of all things? Don't get me wrong. I know how serious this could be. We've lost guys to drowning in the river and to cold from exposure. But after surviving all she had, Katja had to go and suffer a dunking as well?
Roller and I had run back to the lodging house, and I found a dripping Red pulling a blanket over a semi-conscious Katja. Damn.
"What happened?" I asked, hoping Red could give me more information than Roller had.
"We found her in the water holding on to a piling," Red said. "Don't know how long she was in there, but she's shivering pretty bad." Okay, not much more, but enough.
"I'm fine," came a weak protest from Katja, who was indeed shivering violently. Her skin was almost blue with cold.
"The hell you are," I said, moving into action mode. I turned to Red, who was still wet. He wasn't cold yet, but I couldn't have him getting sick. "Go get changed, then fill every pot in the kitchen with hot water. Roller, you can help him. And go get one of the girls." I heard the two other boys leave.
"Cat, we need to get you out of those wet clothes. Can you do that? Sit up for me."
She sat up and started to unbotton her blouse, but her shaking fingers made the task beyond her ability. I took over. Believe it or not, there was absolutely nothing other than getting her warm that ran through my head at that moment. The impropriety of undressing her never occurred to me as I got the heavier, wetter clothes off and wrapped her back in the blanket. Where was that warm water?
"When did you fall in?" I asked, curious, but mostly trying to keep her talking.
"Just after lunch," she said. Damn. That was hours ago. No wonder she was showing signs of being too cold. "Can you pull off the chemise?" I asked. The more wet clothing she could shed, the better. She managed to pull off the camisole from under the blanket, and it joined the pile of wet clothing at my feet. The effort seemed to exhaust her, and she leaned against me, her eyes drifting shut.
"Sorry, Sweetheart, I need you to stay awake," he said, giving me a small shake. Roller appeared in the doorway.
"Spot?" he asked.
"Fill the tub with the hot water. We need to warm her up. Then heat up more water," I ordered. The upstairs washroom was great, but there was no hot water like there was in the main washroom. It was a problem I needed to address in the long term if Katja was to stay with us and one that was particularly difficult now. The boys that were around carted up pots of hot water, and I heard them filling the tub.
"Goldie's here," I heard Roller say, and I nodded to him. I pulled Katja to her feet. She swayed and was on the verge of falling, so I picked her up and carried her into the little washroom. That had me really worried. I have seen what extreme cold can do to people-hey, we're street kids, right?-and I realized she was dangerously cold if she was physically this impaired.
"Can you sit in here and soak? You need to get warm," I said, worried she would fall unconscious and drown.
"Yeah," she said. Her voice sounded a bit steadier than her feet. Okay. That was enough to let me feel okay leaving the room with
"I'm sending Goldie in. She is going to keep you awake, okay? No sleeping," I ordered.
"Okay," she murmured, and I left the room.
"Go in there and make sure she stays awake and gets warm," I said to Goldie, and she nodded, saying nothing as she entered the washroom."I didn't think he noticed," she said.
I headed over to get Katja's bed ready and realized that it was soaked-the sheet, the mattress, and probably the blanket that she'd been wrapped in that was on the washroom floor. I looked around the room for a moment, saw the connecting door, and decided to put her in my room for the night.
Red and Roller came back up, Red carrying a big pot of steaming water. Roller knocked on the washroom door, and they handed the pot through to Goldie.
"Roller, have one of the big boys put on some tea," I said, sending the boy away and leaving Red and me alone in the hallway.
"You okay?" I asked Red. I didn't need anyone getting sick on me now.
"Fine. I was only in for a few minutes. Less time than we usually spend swimming," he answered, and I nodded. Summer was nearly here. It had been a nice day, so a few minutes was nothing.
"So what happened?" I asked, wanting a bit more detail than what I'd gotten earlier.
"Roller came running over to me, saying that the dog had come up to him and was barking. I figured if the dog wasn't with Katja, that was bad. So we followed the dog to the pier and saw her clinging to a piling."
"She couldn't get out?" I asked, mildly surprised. There were tons of ladders.
"She can't swim," he explained. I was flabbergasted, but I really shouldn't have been. I mean, I make sure all the boys can swim-why hadn't I thought to ask Katja? It made sense. When would she have learned?
"So you jumped in?" I prompted.
"Yep. Just grabbed her and pulled her over to the ladder. She hauled herself out, but she was pretty much spent at that point. I carried her back here, and you got here about then," he filled in.
"Thanks, Red. I mean it. Thank you," I said. Who knows how bad this could have been without Red and Roller? We were interrupted that moment by Goldie, carrying Katja's wet clothes.
"Getting her clothes," Goldie murmured as she walked through, looking past me. She seemed a bit lost in thought, but I didn't want to distract her-Katja shouldn't be alone long. It was only moments before Goldie slipped back into the washroom. Roller came up with the tea at the same time. I moved to take it into Katja's room but realized that her bed was soaked. That wouldn't work. As the girls came out of the washroom, I guided Katja into my bed. After seeing her drink some tea and making sure she had adequate blankets, I moved to leave the room. I spotted the dog and motioned for him to join Katja on the bed-his body heat would only serve to keep her warm. She was already asleep and didn't stir as Jimmy curled up beside her. I smiled and headed downstairs. I nearly tripped over Roller, who was waiting for me on the stairs.
"Is Katja okay?" he asked.
"She is thanks to you," I said. "You were so smart to get Red and follow Jimmy. I'm really proud of you. You were a hero today." I meant it-the kid had come through big time.
"I'm supposed to take care of her, and she's supposed to take care of me," he explained. I grinned.
"You did a good job today," I said, nodding.
"Like you!" he said.
"Better."
"Red did better. He's the one who jumped in," Roller said, blushing.
"He did a good job, too," I acknowledged.
"Does that mean I don't have to do lessons today?" he asked, his expression hopeful. I nearly laughed aloud, but I controlled the urge and gave him a mock glare.
"Sister Margaret would get mad at me if you didn't have them done," I said. "Besides, you don't want to fall behind the other kids, do you?"
"No," he said, sighing. "But heroes shouldn't have to do lessons."
"Even heroes need to be smart," I said, controlling my laughter with difficulty. Sighing dramatically, Roller rose to his feet and headed into the lounge to gather his school books from the shelf in the corner. I followed him, spotting Goldie still in the lounge. I motioned her over.
"Thanks for your help today," I said. She looked surprised, then embarrassed. Squaring her shoulders, she looked up at me.
"You're welcome," she said, and I detected a note of something-contrition?-in her voice. "I should have gotten to know Katja sooner. She's a nice girl."
"Yes, she is," I said simply. After a moment I added, "I'm sure she'd love it if you and maybe some of the other girls were around more. I think she misses being around girls. You should stop by more often."
"Maybe we will," she said, that strange sound I couldn't place still in her voice. Hey, I am good at reading people, but sometimes girls still mystify me.
"While I have you here, I have a favor to ask," I said, and she looked at me with a bit of surprise again.
"Sure," she said.
"I'm not selling tomorrow's headline," I said, and Goldie nodded understandingly.
"I figured," she said simply.
"I do, however, want to read the pape." I handed her a penny. "Bring me one tomorrow? Maybe around 9?"
"No problem," she said. "See ya then."
"See ya tomorrow, Goldie. And thanks," I answered as she walked off.
That evening I checked in with the boys, letting them know that I would not be selling tomorrow and that Katja wanted them all to sell well. I took night watch around the neighborhood, returning to the lodging house fairly late. I climbed in Katja's recently repaired window and noted the still-wet bed. Guess I was bunking with Cat tonight. Exhausted, I removed my shoes and tumbled into the bed beside her, displacing the dog and feeling Katja's forehead to check her temperature. Satisfied that she was warm enough, I fell asleep almost instantly.