Girl in Falling Snow Read online

  GIRL IN FALLING SNOW

  by F. M. PARKER

  Alice Childs, a strikingly beautiful fourteen year old girl, immigrates with her mother to America from London. During a black night in the voyage across the sea, Alice’s mother is murdered. Now an orphan and penniless, Alice arrives in New York where she must survive on the dangerous streets by her wits and courage. She is arrested for stealing food to feed her starving little friend Gracie. Released into the custody of the nuns of the Catholic Church Children’s Aid Society she is transported to Minnesota on the last of their Orphan Trains. There she falls into the hands of people brutal and vile and she must kill one of the two men who attack her. Frightened, hungry, freezing, she flees into the snow covered wilderness of northern Minnesota and trying to reach sanctuary in Canada. She is pursued by the sadistic rapist Taggert.

  During her journey, Alice encounters the half crazy Will also fleeing north to Canada, the black faced wolf that is drawn to follow her because of her unique scent, and the young fur trapper Paul and his mighty wolf hound Brutus. Exhausted and freezing, Alice reaches the frozen Rainy River where she and Will, the black face wolf, Paul and Brutus and the killer Taggert meet in a final battle of survival.

  From 1854 to 1929 an estimated 150,000 homeless children, orphans and abandoned children, were shipped by train from New York City to farms in mid-west America. There are an estimated 1,500,000 descendants, most of them alive today, who trace their roots to the boys and girls who rode the Catholic Church’s Orphan Trains.

  About the Author

  F. M. PARKER has worked as a sheepherder, lumberman, sailor, geologist, and as a manager of wild horses, buffalo, and livestock grazing. For several years he was the manager of five million acres of public domain land in eastern Oregon.

  His highly acclaimed novels include Skinner, Coldiron, The Searcher, Shadow of the Wolf, The Shanghaiers, The Highbinders, The Far Battleground, The Shadow Man, and The Slavers.

  “SUPERBLY WRITTEN AND DETAILED... PARKER BRINGS THE WEST TO LIFE.”

  Publishers Weekly

  “ABSORBING...SWIFTLY PACED, FILLED WITH ACTION!”

  Library Journal

  “PARKER ALWAYS PRESENTS A LIVELY, CLOSELY PLOTTED STORY.”

  Bookmarks

  “REFRESHING, COMBINES A GOOD STORY WITH FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE.”

  University of Arizona Library

  “RICH, REWARDING... DESERVES A WIDE GENERAL READERSHIP.”

  Booklist

  Also by F.M. Parker

  Novels

  The Highwayman

  Wife Stealer

  Winter Woman

  The Assassins

  Girl in Falling Snow

  The Predators

  The Far Battleground

  Coldiron – Judge and Executioner

  Coldiron - Shadow of the Wolf

  Coldiron - The Shanghaiers

  Coldiron - To Kill an Enemy

  The Searcher

  The Seeker

  The Highbinders

  The Shadow Man

  The Slavers

  Nighthawk

  Skinner

  Soldiers of Conquest

  Screenplays

  Women for Zion

  Firefly Catcher

  Chapter One

  Street of Waifs

  Alice awoke in the cold darkness filling the attic of the abandoned house. She lay silently and motionlessly wrapped in her blanket on the wooden floor. Her eyes probed the blackness and her ears reached out to catch any sound that might signal that danger had stolen into the attic while she slept.

  She could make out nothing in the night filled room and the sounds were but the creaking of the decaying old house. Tossing aside the blanket, she rose to her knees. She felt about on the floor and found a match and lit the stub of a candle. In the frail light, she scanned the small attic with its bare rafters and the roof close overhead and saw that she was alone. From a coat pocket, she pulled out a man’s watch, cocked its face toward the candle flame and read the time. She had almost overslept and must hurry.

  Alice was fourteen years old. Her body was slender, the face finely chiseled with green eyes set far apart and a mouth of a generous size. Her hair, now tangled from sleep, was a silvery gold. She wore a much worn gray coat, with a rip on the right sleeve, over a faded blue dress. Every piece of clothing was soiled and needed washing. A badly worn pair of shoes encased her feet.

  She straightened her rumpled clothing as best she could and combed her hair with a broken toothed comb. She wished there was some way she could bathe. Even more important, she must find a way to earn money to buy food for she was very, very hungry. To have little money was a bad thing; to have no money was terrible and frightening

  Her scant belongings, treasured items that she never left out of her possession; the man’s watch, a notebook with hand written poems and a picture tucked inside, and a cobbler’s knife with a sharp three inch blade in its sheath, were placed in her pockets.

  The blanket was speedily rolled and bound with cords and wedged in the rafters up high as she could reach. The candle was snuffed out and shoved in under the blanket. She hoped nobody found and stole her possessions before her return.

  She scurried down the rickety stairs and out the sagging doorway and into the night. With hurried steps, she set off along the street of the old section of New York City with its aged houses and businesses, some of the buildings abandoned and going to rot and ruin. The January wind gusting along the street wrapped its frigid arms around her and she shivered and pulled the coat more tightly. She hadn’t been truly warm for many days.

  Her footfalls sounded extra loud in the silent blackness that lay upon the town and she warily watched for a shadowy form to move among the buildings. Surviving on the streets of the city by her wits and strength these past months, had taught her the danger for a girl alone in the night.

  Half a score blocks later, Alice reach the chain-link fence surrounding the factory of the Irvine Clothing Company. The single story building occupied nearly a full block. She continued past the gate with the sign Employees Entrance Only and halted at the close by gate identified by the sign Employment. She leaned on the fence near the gate and rested from her hurried pace. She was the first to appear and might have a chance to be hired. For days she had been up early and scrambling to find a job, no matter how difficult the task, to earn enough money to feed her starving body and pay for a roof over her head. She had little success for the competition for a job was fierce.

  A woman, moving with a fast step, came into view in the twilight. She drew near and halted by Alice.

  “Hello,” said the woman and gave Alice a friendly smile and a kindly look from brown eyes. She was somewhat taller than average and sturdily built. She wore a heavy coat and a man’s brimmed hat.

  “Hello, “Alice replied.

  “This’s the first morning anybody ever beat me here looking for work,” said the woman.

  “You’ve worked here before?” Alice asked.

  “Yeah, I do when I can’t get a job at the railroad freight yard unloading cargo. I’d rather work there for they pay two dollars a day while the pay here is just a dollar and a half.”

  “I thought they only hired men at the freight yard.” Alice said.

  “That’s what they think. But when the trains come in loaded, I put on men’s clothes and get up front of the bunch of men at the hiring gate and I get hired. Hell, I’m as big as maybe half of the men and just as strong as they are. I can carry that freight easy. Here feel my muscle.”

  The woman formed a fist and folded her arm to bulge the bicep. “Feel how hard my muscle is.”

  Alice hesitated, not wanting to touch the woman.

  “Feel it,”
encouraged the woman.

  Alice tentatively squeezed the woman’s bicep, and found that it was large and firm. “That’s a good muscle all right,” she said

  “Yeah. I can lift and carry that freight as good as anybody”

  The woman looked more closely at Alice. “What’s your name?”

  “Alice.”

  “Mine’s Maude. Your look half starved. Not much luck finding a job, I suppose.”

  “Most people don’t want to hire a fourteen year old. And when they do, they just pay a little.”

  “Yeah, people are like that. But hell now, why don’t you tell them you’re sixteen? They might not think that you are, but just bluff them.

  “That’d being lying.”

  “Just think of it as fibbing, and fibbing to keep from starving won’t keep you out of heaven. At least I don’t think so. Or you could try panhandling, just stand on the street with your hand out. With your pretty looks, I’d bet men would press a coin in you hand. Men like to touch pretty girls, you know.”

  “I don’t beg,” Alice said.

  “Well as long as there’re men, there’s another thing a pretty girl can do to make money, by being really friendly.”

  “I’ll never do that,” Alice exclaimed and studying Maude to determine how serious she was in all the free advice

  “You don’t lie and you don’t beg and you won’t do the other thing. Then you’ll sure as hell will starve to death in this town where tens of thousands of people are laid off and can’t find work since the stock market crashed and businesses closed. This place is a good example of what’s happened.” Maude chucked a thumb at the big factory building inside the fence. “There used to be nearly tree hundred people working for Irvine. Now there’s maybe a hundred.”

  Alice did not like the subject of the conversation. She looked away from Maude and noted several women had gathered as they had talked. Nearly everyone was larger that Alice. Her chance of being hired was slim.

  A huge woman arrived and pushed through the gathering and took a position between Alice and the gate. She turned her back to Alice.

  Stunned and angered by the woman’s brazen action, Alice spoke out to the broad back. “I was here first.”

  The woman gave no sign she had heard.

  Alice spoke louder. “I was here first! You should get behind the other women.”

  Maude called out sternly over Alice’s shoulder. “Get behind the other women!”

  The big woman shrugged her shoulders.

  “Damn bitch,” Maude exploded. She stepped around Alice, caught the woman by the shoulder and the hair of her head, pivoted half a turn and slung her toward the street.

  The woman staggered three steps, tripped on the curb, and fell to her knees on the brick pavement. She surged to her feet and looking for her assailant. She saw Maude, and with a wild shriek of anger, charged at her.

  Maude set her feet firmly on the sidewalk and cocked both fists. When the woman came within striking distance, Maude swung a right fist and smashed her in the face. That brought the woman to a halt. Instantly Maude struck with her left fist upon the angry face, and then a second time with her right.

  The woman fell to her knees. Maude stepped close and catching the half stunned woman by the hair, tilted her head back and brought her face up. Alice thought Maude was going to strike the woman again. Instead Maude stared down into the woman’s glazed eyes.

  “Apologize to my friend Alice and to all the other women for jumping the line.”

  The woman shook her head as she collected her addled sense. She wiped at the blood flowing from her nose and looked at the red smear of liquid on her hand. With an angry swing of the hand, she knocked Maude’s hold loose and rose to her feet.

  Maude backed up two steps, set her feet and cocked her fists. “You want some more?” she challenged in a hard tone. “If you do, then come on and I’ll sure as hell will smash your face so no man will ever want to look at you again.”

  The woman, her bruised face showing a rush of pain, anger, and surprise, stared at Maude. A count of three passed. “To hell with you,” she snarled and turned and walked away along the street.

  Maude returned to her position behind Alice. “Damnation. I hate line jumpers.” She began to chuckle. “I liked hitting that woman. I really did.”

  “How did you learn to fight like that?”

  “I once had a boyfriend who was a prizefighter. He taught me. We thought I could get a job fighting other women and make some good money. But we couldn’t find a promoter who’d arrange a fight. They thought nobody would pay to see two women fighting. But knowing how to hit hard is a good thing to learn. I think I’d have made a good prizefighter.” Maude raised her fists and blew on them and smiled proudly.

  Maude gestured at the employee gate. ”There comes Henry the factory supervisor. When he’s through letting those people in, he’ll come here and hire how ever many women he needs to do the day’s work. When he asks your age, you tell him sixteen. And think of it as just fibbing.”

  Henry allowed the employees through and then came to the gate near Alice and opened it. He looked at Alice and spoke. “How old are you, miss?”

  “Sixteen, sir.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “She’s sixteen, Henry,” Maude said. “I know for I’ve worked with her before. And she’s a hard worked and learns fast.”

  Henry looked at Maude. He made a half smile. “All right, Maude, I’ll take your word for it.”

  “You’re hired, miss. What’s you name?”

  “Alice Childs.”

  Henry motioned for Alice to enter.

  He spoke to Maude. “You come along too, Maude. You can show her the ropes before I give you a job.”

  Henry closed the gate behind the two.

  *

  Alice worked the first half hour with Maude and shoving a cart loaded with heavy bolts of cloth from the storeroom to the cutting room and then carting the thick mounds of cut patterns to the sewing room with its noisy clatter of machines. As Maude prepared to leave and go to her own job, she pointed out two young men unloading huge rolls of cloth from a truck at the loading dock.

  “That’s the Jarvis brothers, Al and Ed. Stay away from them for they’re killers.”

  “Killers? What do you mean?”

  “Just that. They killed one of the girls that worked here.”

  “What happened. Tell me what happened.”

  “Well there was this girl that came to work here. She was pretty, almost as pretty as you. They followed her home and when she didn’t do what they wanted they threw her down two fights of stairs. They broke the poor girl’s neck.”

  “Why aren’t they in jail?”

  “The police questioned them, but they both swore she fell down the stairs. And with no witnesses to say different, the police couldn’t do anything. The girls here know better for they’ve seen how they treat the prettier girls. Asking them out for dates. Calling out nasty things to them. Just don’t ever talk with them. Don’t even look at them. If they give you trouble, you come and tell me. I’d like a reason to smash their faces. And I’m damn sure I could do it too.”

  Maude walked away a few steps, then stopped and looked back. “Remember, stay away from those Jarvis brothers. And especially if they’ve been drinking for then they’re really mean.”

  Alice worked through the forenoon and then isolated herself in the storeroom at the beginning of the half hour lunch break. Maude found her there and persuaded her to share a sandwich. That was the first food Alice had had for a day and a half. Maude with her kindness and generosity would forever remain in Alice’s memories.

  As she filed out of the garment factory at the end of the day, Henry called her aside. “I thought you might need your pay for today’s work.” He handed her a dollar and a half.

  “Thank you,” Alice said with heartfelt thanks.

  “You did a good job today so come back tomorrow.”

  “Oh, yes, s
ir. I’ll be here.”

  *

  Alice retrieved her blanket from the attic of the house where she had spent the previous night. Then needing a place to sleep the night that was fast approaching, she rented a room at a aged, single story house owned by an aged crippled woman using a cane to get around. She paid half the cost of a week’s rent, with the promise to pay the remaining dollar the following day. She left the house and found a restaurant and bought a meal of roast beef and a tall glass of milk for thirty five cents. She ate leisurely, and then ordered a sandwich to take with her for the coming day. The sandwich cost fifteen cents. Again she possessed not one cooper penny. However, her stomach was blissfully full and she had a roof over her head.

  She leisurely bathed in the bathroom down the hall from her room, and then washed her dress in the bath water. She returned to her room and locked the door and hung her dress to dry. For a time, she stood silently and looked at the bed with its clean sheets and two warm blankets. Then she sighed with contentment, climbed into the covers, pulled them up to her chin, breathed twice and went instantly to sleep.

  *

  Alice’s task the second day of work at the garment factory was the same as the first, carting cloth from the storeroom to the cutting room to the sewing room. Several times the Jarvis brothers, with their long heads and faces and leering grins positioned themselves near the route Alice had to travel with her cart. Each time she passed by, they ogled her and called out asking her name. Alice did not reply and studiously avoided looking at them.

  The last time the brothers called out, they added that they would see her later. Alice felt a chill at those words. Should she tell Maude what they had said? She decided to remain silent about the men for she was reluctant to involve Maude in her troubles.

  Henry again paid Alice a dollar and a half as she left through the gate and told her to come to work the following day. Weary and dirty from the days work, yet feeling lighted hearted at having money in her pocket and the promise of another day of work, she hastened off toward the house where she had a room.