Eugenia's Embrace

smoothness of silk and satin dresses that were no longer hers. She had felt so much like a queen these last few weeks and months, never believing it was her real reflection looking back at her from a mirror, having been furnished with the most elegant clothes "From Paris," Frederick had said.

Her fingers made contact with the fur trimming of her cape, so she pulled it from a hanger and hurriedly draped it around her shoulders. Even if she had been able to put a light on, she wouldn't have wanted to look around her for this last time. She wanted to remember it the way it had been before Clarissa's discovery, she wanted to remember how she had loved the room, the colors of lilac so peaceful and cool and the adjoining room with the fireplace. It had all been hers. She wanted to remember how innocently she had accepted these gifts, not the reasons behind them all. She wouldn't let her mind spoil what she had had. She would only remember the good. Not the evil.

Stiffening, Eugenia looked toward the door, seeing it moving open, then smiled when she could make out the outline of Kiyomasu standing there waiting. "Miss Genia ready?" he whispered.

"Yes, Kiyomasu," she whispered in return. "Let's flee from this house of crazies."

Her heart was warmed by his giggles. He was a man of almost fifty, but he always had the gaiety of a young boy. She had always liked him. She was so glad that he was going with her, to be her friend forever. She looked downward as he handed her the watch and combs. She clutched them to her heart momentarily, then dropped them deeply inside her cape pocket. "Let's go," she said firmly.

Side by side, they made their way down the spiral staircase, then paused at the bottom, carefully listening for any approach of horse's hoofs. "Let's make a dash for it, Kiyomasu," Eugenia said, and began to run down the hallway toward the back door. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kiyomasu pull a jacket from a hook by the door. She felt as though they were going to make it to safety, when a sudden noise erupted from the living room.

"Shhh," Eugenia said, pulling Kiyomasu into the darkness of a closet. She listened more closely, then heard footsteps walking away from them instead of toward them. They were footsteps of a woman, not a man, and there was obviously an absence of the tapping of a cane. "It must be Clarissa," she said. "But I didn't hear any carriage."

"No matter," Kiyomasu said. "Let's go."

One step outward onto the back porch and Eugenia saw why there had been no sound of horse's hoofs or carriage wheels against brick pavement. A heavy snowfall had covered the already fallen snow, giving the street a silent cover. But this made Eugenia's heart pump with joy, knowing that the snow falling in thick masses would also hide her and Kiyomasu's foot tracks leading from the house.

"Once we're away from this yard, we're safe," she whispered. "We'll just be two more people in a crowd." Eugenia hadn't used the hood of her cape the previous day when she had worn it, wanting to show off her new fur hat. But now the hood was welcomed. Both for warmth and for giving her a hidden identity. The only thing she was worried about was Kiyomasu's outfit of white. Not too many hired cooks walked leisurely along the streets with their employers, as most would think Eugenia to be by her attire. "We must make it to Myers Avenue. Fast," she said. "We can't take the risk of staying on Bennett Avenue for very long."

"But Miss Genia, the Opera House is on Myers Avenue. We'll have to pass it to get to your friend's establishment."

Eugenia's heart seemed to stop. She had never thought that Frederick's Opera House could be on Myers Avenue, with the establishments that she could remember seeing there. They had all been of the lowest esteem. Then she laughed softly, eyeing Kiyomasu. "And how do you know so much about Myers Avenue and where The Old Homestead Parlour is?" she teased.

"One of my sisters had to work there for a while, when we first arrived here in this country," he said sadly. "She died there. From pneumonia."

Remembering Dawn, and her condition, something tugged at her heart. She wondered if this happened often to young women of Cripple Creek. She only hoped herself to be stronger and able to cope with all the odds that she knew that she would more than likely have to face in the near future. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. Then she held onto his hand as they fled down a side street from Bennett Avenue, on down a block's length, until they stepped out onto Myers Avenue. Eugenia cringed inside. She hadn't ever wanted to return to this street. She hated it, and all that it stood for. But life had led her to it, and she knew that she had no other choice.

"Over there," Kiyomasu said, stopping, pointing.

Eugenia's gaze settled on a large white building that stood out from all the rest of the other buildings. She now knew why she hadn't seen it earlier. She hadn't been down on this far end of Myers Avenue. She had entered on the other end, and had only made her way halfway down the street when she had come to The Old Homestead Parlour.

Noticing the many carriages lined up outside the building, she watched as ladies and men stepped from them, dressed in the height of fashion, not even seeming to be aware of the steady snowfall around them. Lights glowed in unison around the front door of the building, and Eugenia froze inside when she made out the figure of Frederick standing right inside this door, bowing deeply to some who were entering, and shaking hands with the others.

"Maybe he won't even notice us as we pass," she whispered, seeing that Kiyomasu was also observing the immensity of this man in the doorway. "We're clear across the street. Surely he won't see," she added, trembling. Clutching Kiyomasu's hand tightly, they hurried on their way, until they were in the next block, free of anyone questioning them now. From all observations, Eugenia could see many types of people brushing by her on the sidewalk. And, again, as before on that one night, she was aware of the loud music blaring from the saloons and the boisterous laughter from both the men and women. She stopped suddenly, pulling Kiyomasu back with her as a man was shoved from an open doorway of a saloon, falling in a heap onto the whiteness of the snow.

"And don't you never come back in here again," a man was shouting at him. "You're nothin' but trouble. Take your cards elsewhere. Where they 'low cheatin'."

Eugenia's eyes widened as this man rose, brushed his clothes, then a round-topped hat, turned and gave her a swift look, then walked on around she and Kiyomasu.

"Whew!" she sighed, then walked on, knowing only a couple more blocks of this, and she would be knocking on Dawn's front door. She knew that Dawn would be surprised to see her, and especially to see Kiyomasu. But Eugenia thought sullenly to herself, not half as surprised as I. She still couldn't believe that she was actually returning… to that house.

Kiyomasu held something up in the air before him. "See this?" he said, twisting and turning it in his small, yellow fingers.

Eugenia tried to look more closely. It looked like a key. "What is it?" she asked.

"The key to the shackles in that house of crazies," he giggled.

Eugenia gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. "I forgot to ask earlier. Where did you get it?"

"From Clarissa's apron when she took it off before leaving for town."

Laughing, Eugenia could just imagine Clarissa's exasperation when she discovered the two of them missing.

"I'm going to throw this thing away, so they won't be able to capture any more innocent girls and keep them in such a way," Kiyomasu said, tossing the key down onto the slush-filled street.

"Kiyomasu, we've got to tell the authorities about Frederick and Clarissa," Eugenia said flatly.

"Waste of time," Kiyomasu said solemnly.