Shifted By The Winds Read Online Free PDF

other homes were in. In spite of the buckets of water hauled to rooftops, it would still be easy for other buildings to ignite.
    She felt a spark of hope when the firemen hurried to attach hoses to the closest hydrants, but then frowned as she watched them. “What are they doing?” she asked tightly. “That hose is far too short to reach the hospital.”
    “That it is,” the man muttered. His face was set in angry lines, but his eyes were filled with a bitter futility and his grasp didn’t loosen.
    Carrie stared at him for a moment and then swung back around to watch the fire.  She groaned as a section of the roof exploded into flame. The roar of the inferno made it seem alive. Mixed in with the roar was the sound of cracking timbers and popping glass.  “They’re just going to let it burn, aren’t they?” she asked numbly.
    “I’m afraid so,” the man managed. He turned away and beckoned to the other women. “I have to get you out of here,” he muttered. “You have to come with me.”
    “And why should we do that?” Florence asked in a crisp voice. Only her eyes showed the devastation she was feeling.
    The man shrugged. “My granny told me to come get you. I never tell her no.”
    Carrie looked at him more closely. She liked the calm compassion she saw in his eyes, and she somewhat understood the urgency on his face, but she wasn’t going to leave. She might not be able to stop the fire, but she was determined to see what happened. The fact that her obstinacy made no common sense was not registering in her mind. And, in spite of the fact that she liked what she saw in his eyes, it would be sheer lunacy to go into the darkness with a strange man. Perhaps no more ridiculous than thinking they could walk home alone through Philadelphia for six miles, but at least that was a choice they had made on their own. She was not going to allow herself and her friends to be hauled into a stranger’s house in the middle of Moyamensing. She exchanged a long look with Janie.
    “Then I suggest you go back and tell your granny that we said no,” Janie said wryly.
    “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” the man replied, pulling his hand through his hair as he eyed the angry expressions on the firemen’s faces. “I’m afraid things are going to get ugly around here.”
    “They’re already ugly,” Carrie shot back as she twisted her arm free. She felt another surge of hope when two more fire wagons rounded the corner and barreled down the street. “Here comes more help!” She held her breath and watched as the horses plunged to a stop. Men jumped from the wagons and deliberated briefly over the useless, short hoses. 
    “Get new hoses over here!” one of them yelled. Several of the firemen rushed forward with longer hoses that could reach the hospital from a block away.
    Carrie knew it was too late for the entire building to be saved, but perhaps some of the supplies would be salvaged. Several of the firemen grabbed the long hose once it had been attached to the hydrant and began to run toward the burning building. Her alarm and anger exploded when several men from the first fire company emerged from the shadows with hatchets and immediately cut the hoses.  Water gushed out onto the road, glowing from the light of the growing blaze.
    “Stop!” Carrie ordered, rushing forward as fury propelled her into action. “You can’t do that! You must stop that immediately!”
    Her indignation became fear when several of the men turned toward her with their hatchets raised and menacing looks on their faces. Carrie jolted to a stop, her mind racing as she realized she could be in grave danger.
    “That’s one of the women who was turning our hall into a hospital,” one of the men called angrily.
    “We let them leave before we torched the place, but if she wants to pick a fight, we’ll show her what we think about women who want to bring cholera to our children,” another man shouted through the noise and