Circle of Love(44)

Frances stood and held out her hands to Adam and Harry. “Adam, we have to get the papers signed. Harry, say a quick goodbye to your brother and hop aboard the train.”

It took just a few minutes to get the Sebrings’ signatures. Frances hadn’t realized she’d been crying, too, until Mrs. Sebring handed her a small, lace-trimmed handkerchief.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, for our boy,” Mrs. Sebring whispered. “We’ll make him happy.”

With the help of the conductor, who held out a hand, Frances boarded the train just as it began to move. Quickly she wiped her eyes. Only four children were left in her care: Harry Stowe, Jessie Lester, Aggie Vaughn, and Eddie Marsh. They sat quietly, wrapped in their own blankets of misery and self-doubt. Reddened eyes and streaked faces showed that they’d been crying—except for Aggie, who sat stubbornly, her lower lip pushed out and her arms folded tightly across her chest.

Aggie had told Frances, “I never cry.” Frances wished she could say, “Go ahead and cry. Let all that unhappiness out.” But she knew that headstrong Aggie wouldn’t listen.

Eddie’s laugh was wobbly as he said, “I guess there’s not much interest out here in the West for a lad from the big city.”

“The right person will come along,” Frances said. “It’s going to be someone who’ll really appreciate all your fine qualities.”

“What fine qualities?” Jessie asked. “I heard someone say that Eddie was a smart aleck.”

“I just tried to make people laugh,” Eddie explained.

Frances patted his hand and smiled. “I liked your juggling act,” she said.

Aggie slumped in her seat, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her face a small thundercloud. “I am not going back to Mrs. Marchlander,” she muttered.

“Of course you’re not,” Frances said. “I’m sure that there’s someone in Woodridge who’ll choose you and love you.”

“You can’t really know for sure,” Jessie said. “You’re just guessing.”

Aggie scowled at Jessie, then turned to Frances. “I’m not going back,” she said. “I’ll run away first.”

“I’ll find a home for you—for all of you,” Frances promised. She sighed. From the glum expressions on Aggie’s and Jessie’s faces, it was obvious that she hadn’t been able to influence either of them. She hadn’t been able to influence Seth. And Johnny? Would she be a failure with Johnny, too?





15





JESSIE TUGGED AT Frances’s arm. “No one’s going to want us,” she said.

Frances patted Jessie’s cheek and smiled. “Jessie, love, don’t always look at the gloomy side,” she said. “Each train makes three stops, and children are chosen at each of the stops.”

Jessie looked more mournful than before. “Even the waifs, like us?”

Sighing, Frances said, “That foolish Mrs. Domain was rude and stupid to talk about children in the way she did. Each of you is special and wonderful and deserves a happy home.”

“If someone chooses us.”

Frances slowly shook her head as her gaze went from Jessica, to Harry, to Aggie, and last to Eddie. “Look at these sad faces,” she said. “It’s a short ride to Woodridge and your new parents. I’d expect you to be excited and impatient.”

Harry lifted a somber, tear-swollen face to Frances. “I don’t care what happens to me, now that I’ve lost Adam,” he said.

Frances rummaged through her reticule and pulled out a slip of paper. “Here. I’ve copied down the name and address of the people who took Adam to live with them,” she said. “I promised you that I’d give it to you so that you could write to Adam.”

Harry grabbed the paper and stuffed it into his pocket. “But the train keeps pulling us farther and farther apart. I won’t be able to see Adam in school, or walk to the Sebrings’ farm to visit him, or let him know I’m still around to be his big brother and watch over him.”

“I understand how you feel,” Frances said. “I was parted from my brothers and sisters when we rode the train west, but we wrote to each other and stayed close through our love for each other.”

She reached out to hold Harry’s hand, but he jerked it away. She didn’t blame him for his anger. All the adults who were involved in separating Harry from his little brother had become the enemy. But I had to follow the rules, Frances reminded herself. I couldn’t deny a child to the Sebrings and take the chance that someone at the third stop would want two boys.