The Back Building Read Online Free PDF Page A

counting in my head so no one was bothered. I wouldn’t miss the constant nagging to be a perfect young lady, but I would miss Hetty. She was the only friend I had in the world and I made a vow to follow the doctors’ orders so that I could get back to the farm, and back to her.
    The drive to Willard took less than one hour. The hospital was situated along Seneca Lake and was quite pretty if not for the imposing barbed wire fencing all along the north side.
    “The fence was put in place to keep the thieves out.” The larger of the two men with the twitchy nose said, sensing my distress. He told me that the gardens had been thinned out by thieving migrant workers and that they had to put up the fence to keep them from whittling down the food stores. Also, in recent years people came in droves to witness the lunatics in the asylum as if they expected to see patients with two heads. I felt satisfied but stunned by this honest answer, and suddenly grateful for the fence. I didn’t wish to be heckled by oglers.
    We drove along the lakeside and wound our way across two miles of road leading from the gate to a massive brick building. This was the Chapin House that also served as the administration building. Here, I would be given my room assignment. I would be placed in the south wing where all women were housed. I was not considered severely disturbed so I would be placed on ward number three. The more disturbed patients were on wards one and two, and the back building housed the insane patients that could no longer function in society. The female administrator smiled hopefully at me when she learned my attendant would be Emily Black. Emily was known for her kindness, her understanding, and especially for her charges’ good manners and cleanliness.
    “Pardon me, Miss, but my suitcase hasn’t been retrieved. May I please have it?” I suddenly grew anxious that my possessions were out of my sight. Nerves were getting the better of me and I felt that I could be sick at any moment. I bit my nails and tasted the blood.
    “It will be brought to your room as soon as we go through it. We need to catalog all of its contents, I am sure you understand.” She said to me dismissively.
    “Oh. Okay.” I took a deep breath and stood up feeling woozy. I grabbed the edge of the desk to secure myself and then felt more stable.
    “Now, then, let’s show you around and get you to your room.” The administrator stood up and led me out of the small office space she inhabited and through the main building towards a large hall. I tried counting the paces but found it difficult because of all the corners and hallways.
    “Look around. Everywhere your eye can see is part of the Willard Asylum, excuse me, Willard Hospital. We have over six hundred acres on our property. The land is used for everything from a working farm, piggery and its slaughterhouse, to a dairy, vegetable gardens, and a firehouse. We have a beauty salon, a chapel, a bakery, laundry, and we even have a hall solely for entertainment. Here it is now; Hadley Hall has a bowling alley and theater too. Do you like to bowl, Iona?”
    “I have never bowled before, Ma’am.” I said, feeling overwhelmed and shy. I was missing my family and the familiarity of my own home and farm and could hardly get excited about bowling.
    “Well, it also has a projection room, a basketball court, and a snack bar. We even serve hot buttered popcorn on movie night. You’ll like that.”
    “I am sure I will.” I muttered more for her benefit than my own.
    “Here we have Elliot Hall, over there is the Campus Hospital, and off in the distance you can see a few of our houses. That’s where the superintendent stays as well as the steward.” She pointed out the buildings that surrounded us.
    “What’s that building?” I asked, pointing to a shorter brick building that was rather unremarkable.
    “That’s the nurses’ training school. Now, here we are at your hall. The third ward is located on