Circle of Love(32)

The conductor broke in. “Out here the law officials are the sheriff and his deputies.”

Eddie tossed his head impatiently. “Whatever they’re called, they’ll be waitin’ for those Connally brothers when they ride in.”

Oh, Seth, what is going to happen to you? Frances wondered. Seth had made the wrong choice, turning his anger into revenge, but for a little while he had been a friend. He had had the potential to do good. If only he would realize he could change his ways for the better. Mike had. Seth could, too.

Johnny’s face came to mind, and Frances’s unhappiness grew. Oh, Johnny, my dearest love, she thought with determination, it’s too late for me to help Seth, but it’s not too late to save you.

Frances let Eddie go with the conductor to get the telegraph equipment. Before he left, she patted his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here, Eddie.”

She attempted to calm the children, whose fear had blossomed into excitement as they discussed what had happened. “Seth Connally wasn’t a preacher,” she told them. “He pretended to be so the police wouldn’t find and arrest him.”

“What’s going to happen to him, Miss Kelly?” Aggie asked.

“They’ll shoot him,” Jessie said matter-of-factly.

Frances shuddered. “Oh, no, Jessie. If Mr. Connally’s caught he’ll be arrested, along with his brothers. They’ll be tried before a judge and jury. If they’re found guilty, they’ll probably be locked up in jail where they can’t rob anyone else.”

Frances tried not to think about Seth. If he was imprisoned again, his bitterness and hatred and desire for revenge were bound to grow. She would have helped him if she could have, but there was nothing she could do for him now.

Sam asked, “What if the sheriff doesn’t catch the Connally brothers? Then what?”

“I don’t know,” Frances said, but she thought about Seth’s words with dread. “I’ll come and find you,” he had told her. He could do that easily. He knew where she lived. A shiver ran up her backbone.

The train gave a sudden jolt, throwing people into their seats. Frances grabbed the back of one seat, managing to keep her balance. “Sit down, children,” she said. “We’ll soon be in Harwood.”

During the remainder of the ride Frances thought about the calm and friendly support of Andrew MacNair and Katherine Banks as they helped the Kellys and the other children over their fears. I must be like them, she thought. The children need me.

A muffled whimper came from across the aisle. At least I can try, she told herself. She hurried to pick up four-year-old Philip and held him close. As she hummed a lullaby, he stopped sniffling and relaxed against her. What a dear little boy you are, Frances thought. Someone will be lucky to get you.

As the train began to slow on its approach into Harwood, Frances stood and faced the children. Some looked back at her with fear in their eyes. A few faces were pale and pinched with worry. George Babcock tried to hold tightly to Earl and Nelly, who clung to him in desperation. Adam Stowe, tears rolling unchecked down his unhappy face, grasped his brother Harry in a stranglehold. Only Eddie, who had returned from helping the conductor, Sam, and Marcus kept up a smiling, poking, shoving, teasing manner, but as Frances looked into their eyes, she saw three scared boys hiding behind their brave masks.

Frances smiled. “You’re going to discover many fine people who want very much to meet you,” she said. “Some of you will find new families among them.”

Jessie spoke barely above a whisper. “What happens if we don’t?”

“Then you’ll still have me,” Frances answered. “I’ll be right there with you. I won’t leave you until you all find homes in which you’ll be happy.”

“You promise? You’ll stay with us?” Lucy Griggs asked.

“I promise,” Frances said. “Part of my job is to make sure that you all have good homes.”

“How many stops are there?” Mary Beth asked.

“Three,” Frances told her.

“And then what?” Marcus asked. “At the Society they said you brought a lad back because no one wanted him.”

“That’s not true,” Frances said. “I brought Stefan back to New York City because his aunt and uncle came to the United States and asked for him soon after his orphan train left for Kansas.”

“He had family,” Daisy said in wonder. “A real family.”

“I have a mother,” Frances told Daisy. “I love her very much, and she loves me. But I also have a foster mother and father, who took me in when I was thirteen and raised me as though I were a child of their own. A family doesn’t have to be a mother and father and a child to whom they’ve given birth.”