Kit looked uneasily at the long shadows of the trees and at the manor house’s single lighted window. Then she dashed down the street toward home.
chapter 3
The Underground Railroad
“THERE YOU ARE, Kit.” Mrs. Kittredge, her face flushed from the warmth of the stove, reached out to squeeze Kit’s shoulders in a quick hug. “Mrs. Howard is in bed with a terrible cough, so I’ve been short a pair of hands—just when we have a new boarder!”
Kit put her schoolbag in the corner of the kitchen and hung her coat on a hook. She tied an apron behind her back. “Who is it?” she asked.
“His name is Mr. West, and he’s just arrived. I’ve put him in with Mr. Peck. He’s—” She broke off, shaking her head. “Here, dear, will you take these bowls to the table? Everyone will be down in just a minute. Then you’ll meet the gentleman for yourself.”
Kit pushed through the swinging door into the dining room, where several of their lodgers were already assembled.
Mismatched chairs were pulled up to the long dining room table. Mr. Peck was already seated. He was a friendly man who sometimes entertained them all by playing his double bass. Miss Hart and Miss Finney, two nurses just home from their long shifts at the hospital, settled into their places. Beside them was Mr. Bell, an out-of-work actor who spent his days cleaning windows now. Kit’s friend Stirling Howard sat across from Mr. Peck. The chair where his mother usually sat remained empty as the room filled with the hungry boarders. There was no sign of the new Mr. West.
Mrs. Kittredge entered with a tureen of fragrant vegetable soup. “Will you dish up?” she asked Kit. “I’m going to prepare a tray to take up to poor Mrs. Howard.”
As Kit was ladling out bowls of soup, her father passed bread, applesauce, and the heavy teapot. Just as everyone began eating, a tall, middle-aged man with a shock of graying hair appeared in the doorway. In one hand he carried a notebook, in the other a pencil.
“Good evening, Mr. West,” said Kit’s father. “Everyone, please welcome Reginald West.”
Mr. West nodded from the doorway. “So this is how it’s done,” he said genially. “Dinner at a boarding house.” He flipped open his notebook and jotted something with his pencil. “And what’s on the menu? Soup?” He made another notation. “Very nice. Economical and filling.”
Mr. Kittredge motioned to the empty chair next to Stirling. “Sit here for now, Mr. West.”
“Ah,” said Mr. West, sitting down. “Enough chairs need to be found for all the boarders.” He made another note.
Kit watched him curiously. She wanted to be a reporter when she grew up, and she often made notes in notebooks, though Mother would frown on such behavior at the dinner table.
Mrs. Kittredge returned to the room with the news that Mrs. Howard was resting comfortably. As everyone started talking about their day, Kit watched Mr. West. Every now and then he jotted something in his notebook.
“You are to be commended, Mr. and Mrs. Kittredge,” he said when he’d finished his soup. “You are providing nourishing food and a clean place to lay our heads during these hard times—even though it means your home is no longer your own. We salute your generosity!”
The other boarders looked surprised at this little speech, but nodded their agreement. “Hear, hear,” said Mr. Peck, applauding lightly. Under the table, Grace thumped her tail hard. Everyone laughed.
But Mr. West looked serious. “There are many homeowners in town who might also open their homes, but choose not to.”
“We feel lucky to have you all,” Mrs. Kittredge said. “Running a boarding house is how we keep our home.”
“There are plenty of large homes in the wealthiest areas of town that could shelter local homeless people,” Mr. West said, frowning. “But do those people open their homes? No! In the name of public service, they should!”
“He makes a good point,” Miss Finney murmured to Miss Hart.
Kit thought about Uncle Hendrick’s large home, with only him living there. She thought about Miss Mundis, alone at Rivermead Manor.
“Are you a Communist?” asked Mr. Bell, frowning.
“Indeed I am not!” protested Mr. West. “But I believe in sharing good fortune. Rich people in big houses should help hardworking people down on their luck.” He patted his notebook. “I may write up my idea for the newspaper. A plan to get more boarding houses up and running in our city.”
“I’ve heard of parents putting children into orphanages because they can’t keep a roof over their heads,” Mr. Peck said, and Kit remembered poor Mrs. Addison.
Miss Hart spoke softly. “Times are so hard that even the soup kitchens don’t have enough food.”
“Better to light a candle than curse the darkness,” Mr. West said passionately. “To get housing for people in need, I’ve begun canvassing the entire city of Cincinnati, starting with the wealthier neighborhoods. If enough homeowners rented out rooms cheaply, we could get many more people fed and housed.” Mr. West flipped a page in his notebook and wrote furiously. “Simple as that.”
...
During school the next day, Kit’s class walked to the public library for a special presentation. “Pay close attention,” their teacher, Mr. Leiser, told them as they entered the building. “You will be responsible for group presentations about what you’ve learned today.”
The librarian, Mrs. Newcomb, greeted Kit’s class and invited them to sit in the chairs arranged in rows in the children’s room. Kit sat in the first row next to her good friend Ruthie Smithens and watched as children from other schools filed into the large room. She noticed that one was a class of colored children. They sat at the back. Kit’s eyes widened as she recognized one of the girls. Jessamine Porter! She’d known Jessamine when they were little. Jessamine’s father had worked for Kit’s father’s dealership before Mr. Kittredge lost his business.
Kit turned in her seat and waved to catch Jessamine’s eye. Jessamine looked up and saw Kit. With a leap of happiness in her eyes, Jessamine raised her hand to wave back.
“Who’s that?” whispered Ruthie, and Kit quietly told her.
“We used to play together,” Kit said. “My father let us sit in the new cars, and we had such fun pretending to go on journeys.”
“I never had a colored friend,” Ruthie whispered, peeking over her shoulder at Jessamine.
Kit glanced back at Jessamine, too, and saw that the other girl was looking right at them. Kit grinned at her and moved her hands as if driving a car. Jessamine giggled and quickly put her hands over her mouth. Kit hastily turned around again before Mr. Leiser could scold her.
She murmured to Ruthie, “Jessamine’s nice. We played on the weekends. Her father worked on the cars. Sometimes he would push us on the big tire swing that Dad hung behind the shop.”
Mrs. Newcomb welcomed her audience. “Has anyone heard of the Underground Railroad?” she asked.
Stirling’s
