Shaken to the Core by Jae Page A

Miss Kate offered her hand to help Giuliana up.
    “But…your father…he will be angry if you take the automobile, no?”
    “As long as it’s back safe and sound by the time he needs it tomorrow morning, he won’t care,” Miss Kate said. “If we’re lucky, he might not even notice it’s gone.”
    Giuliana hesitated, but she knew she’d never make it all the way home, down steep Nob Hill, with her swollen, throbbing ankle. She might not even be able to make it to the cable car stop. Gathering her skirt in her free hand, she glanced at the running board. Should she step up with her good foot first? She tried it. But the moment she lifted her good foot, her ankle refused to carry her weight, so she pitched forward.
    Miss Kate caught her around the hips and safely guided her up.
    With a relieved sigh, Giuliana slid into the leather seat. Heavens, it was more comfortable than anything she’d ever sat in! She caressed the smooth leather with one hand. “So good. I never get up,” she said and smiled at Miss Kate.
    A grin lit Miss Kate’s face. “Just wait until I get it started.” She walked around to the front of the automobile, attached a metal handle to the machine, and churned furiously.
    A sputter drifted up from beneath the motorcar’s shiny hood.
    Miss Kate stepped onto the running board and settled into the driver’s seat. Her hands gripped the steering wheel with confidence, as if she’d done it a thousand times before. Soon, they were rolling out of the stable and into the street. The automobile’s headlamps cut through the darkness. As soon as they rounded the corner and left the Winthrop mansion behind, Miss Kate lifted her foot off the pedal that was probably the brake.
    The automobile plunged down the hill.
    A startled scream escaped Giuliana. She reached up and gripped her straw hat with one hand to keep it from being swept off. When they didn ’t crash against any of the buildings rushing by, her tight grip on the side of the seat loosened. She raised her face into the wind, letting it cool her heated cheeks. “This is like flying!” she shouted to Miss Kate.
    A carefree, almost wild grin on her face, Miss Kate shouted back, “It’s better than flying!” She worked the bellows of the brass horn. The honking sound echoed through the mist-filled darkness.
    They bounced over the cable car tracks and then raced down the street. In what seemed only seconds, they were rushing past Union Square. Miss Kate took a sharp right, then left again until she steered the automobile along Market Street.
    Giuliana had often watched the motorcars weaving around the horse-drawn wagons and buggies on the broad avenue, but she had never dreamed that she would one day ride in one—least of all with a woman behind the steering wheel. No anxiety gripped her. She felt safe with Miss Kate as her driver. “How did you learn to drive?” She no longer needed to shout so loudly, because they had slowed down once they reached Market Street, which was still busy, even at that hour.
    “I begged my father until he finally gave in and taught me,” Miss Kate answered.
    Giuliana shook her head to herself. Even if her own father had earned enough money to ever buy such an expensive machine, she doubted that he would have let her anywhere near it. No amount of begging would have convinced him to let her take over the wheel.
    “Good thing he did,” Miss Kate added. “I don’t think you could have made it home on that foot.”
    True. It would have taken her hours to limp home, if she would have even been able to make it that far. She gave Miss Kate a grateful nod.
    It wasn’t long until Miss Kate took a right turn onto another street, pulled the automobile to a stop, and cut the engine.
    For a few moments, Giuliana imagined she could still feel the vibrations, and she missed the exciting feeling of rushing down the street.
    “What is it?” Miss Kate asked next to her. “Has the pain gotten worse?”
    “Oh no, I