“Mrs. Barrett?”
It wasn’t until she was inside that Emmie realized they had visitors. A coffeepot and three cups sat on the table that held the framed portrait of George Washington. Mrs. Barrett, in a spotless uniform, sat across from the British colonel with the exceedingly bushy mustache who had attended their Christmas party. And behind him stood Captain DeWitt.
“You remember Miss Van Alden, Colonel?” said Mrs. Barrett.
Chapter Twenty-One
Over the months of January and February, the social service department reports the distribution of more than 800 articles to 165 families in 12 villages. Among the articles distributed were: 72 beds, 8 mattresses, 16 armoires, 9 tables, 60 chairs, 28 buffets, 238 sheets, 138 blankets, 91 quilts, 10 stoves, and 118 articles of clothing. These distributions are relief work unrelated to supplies sold from the store. The sale of supplies in January and February amounted to $3,264, approximately 2/3 the cost of the articles to the Unit. Under the guidance of Miss Dawlish, 40 women in our villages were given material to make 986 garments, which they sold to the Unit for $714.45. More material has been purchased.
Miss Baldwin reports that the library contains more than 700 volumes, and now includes books for adults. An effort is being made to find the right person in each village to take charge of their circulation, most likely through the schools. At Grécourt, a house will shortly be opened at specified hours for a reading room, lending library, game room, and center for sewing classes, children’s classes, and mothers’ meetings. Another house is to be fitted as a workshop for the boys. A portable cinema machine has been purchased for the instruction and amusement of the children, who walk miles to see these pictures. An average of 320 children are being reached weekly through these channels, not counting the children reached through the creation of similar social centers in the villages of Canizy, Courcelles, and Verlaines.
When reading the medical report, it should be remembered that since January 24, there has been only one junior doctor at Grécourt, so the medical work has been greatly limited. Over the past month, with the assistance of one nurse （Miss Mills）， Dr. Pruyn has made 364 house visits and received 160 patients in the dispensary for a total of 524. In the absence of our doctors, in serious cases we have the assistance of Dr. Stapleton of the American Red Cross hospital at Nesle, who holds dispensary at Grécourt three times a week, and also of Dr. Cooney of the AEF. Getting the proper pass from the British authorities for Dr. Clare and renewing the pass for Dr. Pruyn is of the highest priority for the ongoing success of the Unit’s mission. . . .
—From a report by Miss Katherine Moran, ’11, Assistant Director, to the Paris Committee, February 1918
February 1918
Paris, France
“I would like to see the general,” said Kate, for approximately the twenty-third time.
“Ce n’est pas possible,” said the very minor official to whom Kate had progressed via a series of other minor officials. “Monsieur le General only grants audiences on Saturday afternoons from half past three until five and on Wednesday mornings from nine until half past ten.”
It was Wednesday afternoon. The clock on the official’s desk read three thirty.
“I was here at nine in the morning,” said Kate, channeling her fury into withering politeness. “I was here before nine in the morning. I was told I needed a pass to enter the building. I went to another office and acquired the pass. Then I was told I needed another pass to proceed up the stairs. That was ten thirty. It has taken me six and a half hours to get to this office and I. Am. Not. Leaving.”
She spoke very slowly and clearly, just to make sure he understood.
He didn’t. “It is not the time at which Monsieur le General receives visitors.”
“Well, he’ll receive me,” said Kate firmly. She fumbled in her pocket. “Look. This is a letter of introduction from the Marquise de Noailles. Tell Monsieur le General that the assistant director of les Collégiennes Américaines is here to see him at the express request of the Marquise de Noailles.”
“Ah, les Collégiennes Américaines.” He looked at her as though it explained a great deal, not necessarily in a good way, more in the way of suddenly being confronted with a zoo animal who might or might not bite. “One moment.”
Kate didn’t wonder he looked at her strangely; she probably looked like a madwoman. She was wearing her uniform, the new one that Mrs. Barrett had brought for her, but it was slightly too large and already stained. Her red rubber boots, de rigueur for the mud of Grécourt, were entirely out of place on the streets of Paris and even more out of place on the elegant marble floor of the ministry. After six months of boots, it had never occurred to her to bring shoes. She’d practically forgotten what they were. Or what it was to walk on solid flagstones instead of sinking knee-deep in mud.