Spindle(65)

“The other girls dared me to do it. Said they all had, when we weren’t looking. I didn’t ’cause I didn’t want you to be angry, but today, I couldn’t help it. It’s all I’ve been thinking about and I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted to know what the syrup tasted like. They all said it was the best thing they’d ever tried.”

Even though she knew the answer, Briar had to ask. “What other girls?”

“The spinner girls. It’s a game they play when you’re gone or not looking and the overseer’s in his office.”

Briar immediately shut down all her frames and dragged Maribelle to the drinking bucket. “Rinse out your mouth now. Keep rinsing till I tell you to stop.”

That had to be the connection. Sadie, foolish girl, was the first to lick the sticky residue and the first to come down with symptoms of polio. But it wasn’t polio at all. At least not for the girls in the spinning room. It probably was polio in the outside cases, like the farm boy, but for the girls who’d taken the dare to sneak past Briar to her spindle, well, those girls were reaping the curse from Sleeping Beauty. Her spindle was poisoning everyone. There was no doubt now. She had to get it out of the mill immediately.

“I’m sorry, Briar. Truly I am.”

“Rinse. Don’t you dare swallow.”

The overseer saw them and marched down the row. “Why are your frames off?” he yelled. “We can’t afford any shutdowns. There are enough still frames as it is with all you weak girls falling sick.”

“They’ll be back on in a minute, sir. Just taking care of the wee one here.”

“Another one? Is she ill?” The overseer peered at them with interest.

“Not yet,” Briar said. She hoped she’d gotten the poison out quickly enough.

Briar guided Maribelle back to the frames and threw the shipper handle. “I’ll doff for you the rest of the day,” she told the girl. “You go see Miss Olive—do you know which house is hers?”

Maribelle nodded.

“Tell her Briar sent you for some of her special tea. And you let her know if you start to feel feverish.”

Briar stood, hands on hips, staring at the bobbin covering the wooden spindle. Threads whirred up and down, up and down, so smoothly it was mesmerizing to watch. After finally solving her frame’s problem, she’d have to get it out. The spindle was too much of a menace. If the operatives had turned it into a game, it was only a matter of time before it turned deadly.

While Briar watched over her frames, she waited for the opportunity to remove the wooden spindle. Since it was firmly attached to the frame, she’d have to knock it out. And if she couldn’t knock it out, she’d sneak back in somehow and light it on fire to burn it out.

There’d be no good way to explain her broken frame to the overseer, and with his temper, she’d likely be fired, and then labeled a troublemaker. She’d never find work in a mill again.

Even knowing she was doing the right thing, her heart weighed heavy. She’d worked so hard only to have her plans unravel on her. Perhaps she could get a job as a domestic servant, but that wouldn’t make her enough money to support both her and the children. Pansy would have to get a job as a doffer to help. It was everything she didn’t want to happen, but it was the way it had to be. She couldn’t risk sacrificing the operatives’ lives for her family’s happiness.

When the overseer went to the farthest corner of the room, Briar found the discarded metal spindle and used it as a wedge against the other spindles. She might damage the machine, but she planned to pop the wooden spindle out, or break it, or… She pulled and grunted with all her might but it would. Not. Budge.

She adjusted her grip and tried pushing the metal wedge to snap it off. Not one splinter. Briar hit the spindle with all her might to no avail.

She wiggled it at the base, but it held fast. Even after all that pounding, it wasn’t a bit loose. The bell rang and the girls shut down their frames. Briar dawdled until the room had cleared out. She bent down close to examine the spindle. How am I going to remove it? She pushed then pulled, trying to see if it had a weak spot.

“Hey, what are you doing there?” called the overseer.

Briar jumped, pricking her finger on the tip of the spindle.

She whirled around, automatically putting her finger in her mouth and sucking the pinprick of blood. She turned back around and replaced the bobbin. “I was just leaving.” She scurried out of the room and ran down the stairs. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

As soon as she was outside, she spat and spat until there was no moisture left in her mouth. Her fingertip was red from her sucking and a dark red pinprick revealed the spot where she’d accidentally touched the tip of the spindle.

The others had ingested the poison, but she had sent it right into her bloodstream. She hadn’t immediately fallen asleep, though, like Aurora in the fairy tale. Or dead. Fanny was right, the curse was weak. Maybe she wouldn’t die. Maybe the tea and liniment would help her, too.

She ran for the boardinghouse, the pain in her head growing with each step.

A crowd had already gathered outside in the shade of the porch. Seemed it was still too hot to be inside.

“You look flushed, feeling okay?” asked Mim, taking a step back.

Miss Olive felt Briar’s forehead. “You are a bit warm. Any other symptoms? Mim, go get Miss Fanny.”