Free Secrets of the Heart by Al Lacy Page A

a justice of the peace that she was indeed Kathleen O’Malley. Then he gave her twenty dollars earnest money until the transaction could be completed and had her sign a receipt.
    The next day, Kathleen and three women who had been faithful customers at the store went with Ralph Martin to a justice of the peace.
    Afterwards, Martin explained to Kathleen that it would take a week or so to get the paperwork done, but when it was all set uplegally, he would pay her the rest of the money She should come back to the Land Office the next Saturday.
    Kathleen decided to rent a room near Chicago’s east side, where the rich people lived. That side of the city was untouched by the fire. Her plan was to approach the wealthy people along the lakeshore and seek employment doing cleaning jobs and housework.
    After renting a room in a boardinghouse for six dollars a month, which included meals, she walked downtown to a secondhand clothing store and bought two dresses to work in, a shabby black overcoat, and a pair of used shoes. She discarded the lace-up boots in a trash receptacle on the way home.
    By the time she reached the boardinghouse, the shoes she had bought were hurting her feet. They were apparently too small, though they had felt all right when she tried them on at the second-hand store.
    In spite of the uncomfortable shoes, Kathleen walked to the Killanin home and told Evelyn her room was ready at the house where she would be living, so she would be moving in today. When Evelyn asked where that would be, Kathleen was evasive and managed to get away without giving an address.
    On her way back to her new neighborhood, Kathleen stopped at a grocery store and bought a few food items, though her main meals would be eaten in the dining room at the boardinghouse.
    The next day, Sunday, Kathleen rested her tired feet. Monday morning would come soon enough when she would have to do a lot of walking and a lot of knocking on doors.
    On Monday morning, Kathleen winced as she slipped into her secondhand shoes, but she had no choice but to lace them up and wear them. She was down to only a few dollars. New shoes would have to wait until Ralph Martin paid her for the lot.
    She ate a hearty breakfast and left the boardinghouse to see what the day’s search might bring in the way of a job.
    The sky was cloud covered, and as she made her way down the street, a wind as raw and cold as her heart assaulted her. Life was avacuum of emptiness for her now, but she also felt a strong sense of self-preservation as she mentally prepared to do whatever it took to survive. This was what her parents would have expected of her.
    Soon Kathleen was walking down a street in the wealthy section of Chicago. The huge houses on either side stood boldly in massive, tree-filled yards with wrought-iron fences and fancy driveways.
    She stopped in front of the first house. The trees were nearly bare, and what few leaves were left trembled in the wind, some of them letting go of the branches even as she watched.
    A sign made of iron hung on a wooden post and had bold letters engraved on it:
GEORGE W. WILKINSON.
Kathleen recalled that there was a banking family in Chicago by the name of Wilkinson. No doubt, this was that family.
    She pulled her coat collar tightly around her throat and warily headed for the sweeping front porch. Barely moving her lips, she said, “Papa…Mama…help me. I’m a little scared.”
    She lifted the heavy door knocker and let it fall, the sound echoing inside the house. Her pulse quickened when she heard heavy footsteps and the rattle of the inside latch. Then the door swung open. A gray-haired man dressed in a swallow-tailed coat with vest and bow tie looked her up and down and said, “Yes, mum.”
    Kathleen had heard about butlers and had seen drawings of them, but she had never seen a real one. “Sir, my name is Kathleen O’Malley. My family died in the fire a week ago Sunday night. Our house was destroyed. I…I am looking for work. I