Circle of Love(43)

“What do you mean by until?” Frances asked.

Aggie’s voice was barely a whisper. “My mother left me on the steps of a hospital when I was born.” Defiantly she added, “She had to! She didn’t want to leave me!”

“Of course she didn’t,” Frances said. She held Aggie’s hands.

“She wrote a note. She pinned it to my blanket. I have it. I found it in my file in Mrs. Marchlander’s office, and I took it, because it belongs to me, not her. My mother wrote that she was in temporary distress—those are the exact words. And she wrote that she would come back for me someday.”

“Oh, Aggie, love,” Frances said, aching for her.

“It’s been twelve years,” Aggie said, “so I don’t think she will.” Quickly she corrected herself. “Or can. That’s it. She probably can’t come. But she loved me, so maybe … My mother loved me, and somebody else will. Won’t they?”

“Of course they will,” Frances said. She spoke to three or four young couples, praising Aggie, but they all shook their heads and drifted away.

Belle Dansing found a home with kind, smiling people, and Frances rejoiced. The little girl who had known nothing but life in an orphanage would now have the parents and love she needed so badly.

Shane Prescott was chosen by people Frances liked immediately. Mrs. Domain gave them high praise.

But soon the people who had come to see the children just out of curiosity drifted away. There were only a few couples left on the platform. Not nearly enough for the children who hadn’t been chosen. Frances looked at the worried young faces and felt heartsick.

Mrs. Domain pointedly looked at her watch and announced, “It’s a few minutes early, Miss Kelly, but you might as well get the rest of the waifs back on the train.”

A young woman bustled up to Frances, a disappointed look on her face. “I’m Annette Sebring,” she said. “My husband and I have a farm not far from here. We’ve been married only four years, and we’re doing well, but not well enough to support more than one child.”

She stopped as though waiting for Frances to speak, but Frances was puzzled. “We have a number of children here who haven’t been chosen yet,” she said.

“Oh, I know, I know,” Mrs. Sebring said. “I guess I’m so concerned about my problem that I didn’t make myself clear. There’s a darling little boy over there named Adam Stowe, and my husband and I have our hearts set on him. But he said he can’t leave his brother. My husband and I talked it over, but we don’t see how we can manage to support more than one child.”

Frances’s heart ached. “Adam and Harry are very close. They’ve been terribly afraid that they’ll be separated.”

“But you do separate children in families, don’t you?” Mrs. Sebring pleaded. “We want Adam, and we’ll love him with all our hearts.”

“I’ll talk to the boys,” Frances told her.

“Make it quick,” Mrs. Domain said. “The train will leave in five minutes.”

Frances knelt in front of Adam and took his tear-stained face in her hands. “Adam, love,” she said, “Mr. and Mrs. Sebring want you very much. They’ll be good parents to you.”

“No,” Adam insisted. “I have to stay with Harry.”

Frances looked up at Harry. “You understand, don’t you? There’s just one more stop. It’s going to be very hard, if not impossible, to place you together.”

Harry nodded, but his face was white with fear. Frances could see the struggle within him as he said, “Adam, you have to go.”

“No!”

“They’re nice people. I can tell. You’ll have a real mother and father again.”

“I want our own mother and father.”

“You can’t. They died. You know that,” Harry said.

Adam buried his head against Harry’s chest and sobbed.

Harry didn’t waver. “You’ve always done everything I told you to, right?” As Adam nodded, Harry went on. “I want you to go with the Sebrings. You’ll be happy with them.”

Adam looked up. “But I’ll never see you again.”

“Yes, you will. We’ll write to each other, and maybe, when we’re bigger …”

“I can’t write.”

“You’ll go to school and learn how. Just remember, someday I’ll come and see you. I promise.”

Mrs. Domain leaned out of the open window of the railway car and shouted, “Miss Kelly. I’ve put the children on board. You have only a few minutes left!”