For the first time all day I began to cry. “I don’t know.”
Maude Coleman
Mummy was sitting just two trees away. We didn’t discover that until after the meeting had ended.
There was no point in searching for anyone while the speeches were being made and the crowd so tightly packed in. Lavinia was in despair, but I knew that Ivy May was a sensible girl-she might say little, but she heard everything, and she would know that we were to meet Mummy at Platform 5 after the Great Shout, whatever that was.
That is what I kept telling myself, and repeating to Lavinia, whenever she would listen. Eventually she laid her head in my lap and fell asleep, which is just like her in a dramatic moment. It is melodrama that she loves-to her true drama is dull. I fidgeted, waiting for the speeches to finish and for Lavinia to wake.
At last a bugle sounded. When it sounded a second time, Lavinia sat up, her face red and crumpled. “What time is it?” she said, yawning.
“I’m not sure. Close to five o‘clock, I expect.”
The distant crowds were waving their arms and cheering. The bugle sounded once more. A chant rose up like an orchestra swelling to a crescendo in a symphony. It sounded as if everyone were saying, “Folks are swimming.” Only the third time did I realize they were calling, “Votes for women!” The last one was loud like a thunderclap, and the cheers and laughter that followed like rain released from clouds.
Then, suddenly, the crowd broke up and a surge of people moved toward us. I scanned the passing faces for someone familiar. I did spy Eunice, who rushed past with a stray banner and pole. She did not see us and we did not try to stop her.
“We should go to Platform Five,” I said. “Someone is bound to be there.”
We linked arms and began to wade through the crowd, but it was very difficult as everyone was moving away from the platform rather than toward it. Everywhere there were exhausted faces-thirsty children, impatient women, concerned men wondering how they would get home through such crowds. Now that people were not marching in organized processions, the streets outside Hyde Park would be in chaos, jammed with people and cabs and overfull omnibuses. It would take hours to get home.
Finally we drew close to what I remembered as Platform 5, but the banner with the number 5 on it had been taken down. Mrs. Pankhurst and the other women had climbed down from the cart, and a man was hitching a horse up to it.
“They’re taking away the platform!” I cried. “How will we ever find Mummy without it?”
“There’s Caroline Black,” Lavinia said, pulling at my sleeve. “What on earth is she wearing?”
Caroline Black was hopping from foot to foot, still in her Joan of Arc armor. The white plume in her helmet bobbed up and down as she moved. She looked very grim, and my stomach turned over to see her alone.
“There you are!” she cried, not smiling sweetly at me as she usually did. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you for ages!”
“Where’s Mummy?” I demanded.
Caroline Black looked as if she might cry. “Your mother-she’s had a little mishap.”
“What happened?”
“It all went so well, that’s the shame of it.” Caroline Black shook her head. “We had a marvelous time, with such support from our comrades and the spectators. And the horse was lovely, so gentle, and a dream to ride. If only-”
“What happened? Where is she?” It was all I could do not to shriek the words.
“Someone let off firecrackers in the crowd along Oxford Street. The horse shied, and at that moment Kitty stepped in front of it to look at my banner-I don’t know why. The horse reared-I just barely kept my own seat. When it came down it kicked her in the chest.”
“Where is she now?”
“The daft thing insisted on finishing the march, leading the horse and all, as if nothing had happened. She said she was fine, just a bit breathless. And I stupidly allowed her. Then she wouldn’t leave during the speeches-she said she had to be here to find you afterward.”
“Where in God’s name is she?” I cried. Lavinia jumped at my tone and people around us stared. But Caroline Black didn’t even flinch.
“She’s sitting over in the trees.” She pointed back the way we had come.
Lavinia grabbed my arm as I began to walk toward the trees. “What about Ivy May?” she cried. “We must find her!”
“Let’s get to Mummy and then we’ll look for her.” I knew Lavinia was angry at me but I ignored her and kept going.
Mummy was propped up against the trunk of the tree, one leg folded under her, a bare leg stretched out in front.
“Oh, my Lord,” Lavinia murmured. I had forgot that she hadn’t seen Mummy in her costume.
Mummy smiled as we came up, but her face was tense, as if she were struggling to hide something. Her breathing was labored. “Hello, Maude,” she said. “Did you enjoy the procession?”
“How do you feel, Mummy?”
Mummy patted her chest. “Hurts.”
“We must get you home, my dear,” Caroline Black said. “Can you walk?”
“She mustn’t walk,” I interrupted, remembering my first-aid lessons from school. “That may make it worse.”
“Going to be a doctor, are you?” Mummy said. “That’s good. I thought you might become an astronomer, but I’ve been known to be wrong. As long as you become something, I don’t mind what it is. Except perhaps a wife. But don’t tell Daddy that.” She winced as she took a breath. “Go to university.”
“Hush, Mummy. Don’t talk.”
I looked around. Caroline Black and Lavinia were watching me as if I were in charge.
Then I saw a familiar figure striding toward us.
“Thank heaven you’re here, Mr. Jackson!” Lavinia cried, grabbing his arm. “Can you find Ivy May for us?”
“No,” I interrupted. “You must get Mummy to a cab. She needs a doctor quickly.”
Mr. Jackson looked at Mummy. “What has happened, Kitty?”
“She’s been kicked by a horse and can’t breathe,” I said.
“Hello, John,” Mummy murmured. “This is what happens, you see-I dress up as Robin Hood and get kicked by the pantomime horse.”
“Ivy May is lost, Mr. Jackson!” Lavinia shouted. “My little sister has been lost in that horrid crowd!”
Mr. Jackson looked from Mummy to Lavinia. I knew he could not make the decision himself-I would have to do it. “Mr. Jackson, go and find a cab,” I ordered. “You’re more likely to get one than me or Lavinia, and you can carry Mummy to it. Caroline, you wait here with Mummy, and Lavinia and I will look for Ivy May.”
“No!” Lavinia cried, but Mr. Jackson had already run off.
Mummy nodded. “That’s right, Maude. You’re perfectly capable of taking charge.” She remained against the tree, with Caroline Black kneeling awkwardly beside her in her armor.
I took Lavinia’s hand. “We’ll find her,” I said. “I promise.”
Lavinia Waterhouse
We did not find her. We searched everywhere, but we did not find her.
We walked back and forth across the park where the crowds had stood, the grass all trampled as if a herd of cattle had passed through. There were many fewer people now, so it should have been easy to see a little girl on her own. But there were none. Instead there were groups of young men roving about. They made me very nervous, especially when they called out to us. Maude and I linked arms tightly as we walked.
It was so frustrating-we could not find any policemen, nor even any of the suffragettes who had been running about during the procession wearing sashes that read BANNER CAPTAIN or CHIEF MARSHAL. Not one responsible grown-up was about to help.
Then a group of very rough men shouted, “Ahoy there, girls! Fancy a drink?” and came toward us. Well. Maude and I fairly ran our legs off to get out of the park. The men didn’t follow, but I refused to go back in-it was far too dangerous. We stood at the Marble Arch entrance and looked out across the grass, shielding our eyes from the early evening sun.