Train Through Time Series Boxed Set Books 1-3

by Bess McBride

  “And your mother?”

  Dani drew in a sharp breath, and he regretted raising the issue. Tears pooled in her eyes again.

  “I can’t leave my mom. She’s going to have surgery for breast cancer in two weeks. I need to get back there.”

  “Cancer? Oh, Miss Douglas, my condolences.” Steven bronzed at the graphic description of her mother’s anatomy, but he said nothing.

  Dani jumped up to pace restlessly. “I don’t need your condolences, Stephen. I need to get home.” Stephen rose to stand by the fireplace and watch her. What could he do? He could not be so selfish as to wish her to stay if her mother were ill. How could he help her return?

  A soft knock on the door caught his attention. He crossed to the door and opened it a crack. Mrs. Oakley stood there with Ellie behind her, a satchel in her hand.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Oakley. Could you bring some breakfast for Miss Douglas and tea for Mrs. Chamberlain?”

  “Certainly, Mr. Sadler.” The tall, lean woman nodded and glided away leaving Stephen once again grateful he had such loyal servants.

  “Stephen,” Ellie said. “Your note was pretty cryptic, but I’m here...with some clothes.” She nodded toward the satchel.

  Stephen pulled her inside and bent to kiss her cheek. “Ellie, thank goodness, you are here. I could not explain as much as I wished or I would have been writing all night.”

  He pulled her forward into the room.

  “This is Miss Danielle Douglas. Miss Douglas, this is a friend of mine, Mrs. Ellie Chamberlain.”

  Ellie took one look at Dani. “Oh, crap,” she said. “It’s happened again, hasn’t it?”

  Stephen drew in a quick breath at the vulgarity, but relaxed as he saw Dani’s eyes widen. Something passed between the two women—a recognition, and he understood he was in the fortunate position of witnessing it.

  “Oh, my gosh, you too?” Dani said. She surveyed Ellie from head to foot in an overly familiar fashion. “I would never have believed it.”

  Ellie shot Stephen a quick look, and sighed. “Stephen doesn’t know. This is a surprise for him.”

  Dani looked at him. “You mean he didn’t know you...”

  Ellie shook her head. “No, we’ve been very careful not to let on. I didn’t know what would happen.”

  Stephen noticed that Ellie put a hand to her stomach, but he hesitated to say anything to spoil the revelations that would surely follow.

  “Let’s sit down,” Ellie said. “I’m as shaken as Stephen looks.”

  Ellie took Dani’s hand and guided her to the sofa. Stephen opted to retake his position at the fireplace. He surveyed the women—so different, and yet so much alike.

  Ellie raised her eyes to him with a sheepish expression. “So, now you know, Stephen. I have to warn you. No one else knows. No one.”

  “Not even Robert?”

  “Oh, yes, Robert knows. But that’s it.”

  “This certainly explains much about you, Ellie,” Stephen smiled gently. “Your forthrightness, your speech pattern, your appearance seemingly from thin air.”

  “I’m sure it does,” she said dryly. Stephen noticed that Dani kept a tight grasp on Ellie’s hand.

  “We need assistance, Ellie,” he said. “I cannot take Dani to a tailor without proper clothing to get there. She cannot even go downstairs for breakfast because I am not certain of my sister’s reaction to her—at least to her attire.”

  “Say no more, Stephen, I know what to do, but you’ll have to leave. What are your plans for her?”

  “Wait a minute, you two. He can’t have plans for me. I have to get back.” Dani clutched Ellie’s hand. “Ellie, you must know how to get back. Please tell me you do.”

  Ellie threw a quizzical glance at Stephen who had stiffened.

  “Oh, Dani, I don’t know what to say to you. I don’t know if there’s a way back. I didn’t know if I was dreaming or awake half the time. I never wanted to try to get back because...well, I fell in love.” She looked from Dani to Stephen. “Where did you come from?”

  “The train from Chicago,” Stephen replied. “She simply appeared in the observation carriage, stating she seemed to be in the wrong place. She seemed very lost and thought she was from the future.”

  Ellie nodded. “Same thing happened to me. Had you been sleeping before you ‘appeared’ in the observation carriage?”

  Dani nodded. “Yeah, I think I’d fallen asleep.”

  “That seems to be the key. Don’t tell me. Somewhere around Wenatchee?”

  “That’s it!” Dani said. “I remember the train had just left Wenatchee.”

  “It seems to play a big part in it. I’m not sure what it means. What year did you come from?”

  Dani told her.

  “Oh, me too!” Ellie exclaimed.

  Mrs. Oakley returned with tea and food for Dani. She left quietly.

  Ellie rose and retrieved her satchel.

  “Well, you’d better get scootin’, Stephen, so we can at least get her dressed while she’s still here. Thank goodness I’ve figured out how to do hair by now so we won’t need a maid. I also brought a dinner dress and an extra set of underthings and stockings.”

  Stephen turned for the door, but hesitated. He looked from Ellie to Dani. “Ellie, did you never want to return?”

  She threw Dani a quick look. “I thought I did...for a moment...when things were going badly, but I fell in love with Robert the moment I met him. I never really wanted to be without him.” Her cheeks reddened, and she patted her stomach once again. “And now? No way. I’m with the man I love more than anyone else in the world—in this time or my old time, and I’m going to have his child.”

  Chapter Four

  As soon as Stephen left, congratulations having been extended for the coming baby, Dani turned to Ellie who rummaged in her bag. “Have you known him long?”

  “Stephen? Probably as long as I’ve known anyone here. I met him soon after I arrived. He was very kind to me.” She pulled some clothing out of the bag. “Better take off those jeans.”

  “Ellie, I can see that you found the love of your life here in the past, but I have to get back. Not only do I have a job, but my mom is ill. She’s having breast surgery in two weeks for cancer.”

  Ellie paused and turned to her. “Oh, Dani! I’m so sorry. I can see the urgency to return. Can you tell me about it?”

  While Ellie helped her into a chemise, stockings and several petticoats, Dani explained about her mother’s illness, her quiet life in Seattle, and her job.

  “No husband, no boyfriend?” Ellie asked. She twisted Dani this way and that way assessingly.

  “No, work keeps me busy, and then when I get home, I’m too tired to worry about not having a love life. Sometimes, on my days off though, I wish I had someone.” She looked down at her clothing—a poofy white lace blouse that made her chest look bigger than it already was. A long periwinkle-blue embroidered skirt of silk fell away from her hips into a bell shape at her feet. She ran a finger around the high-necked frothy collar. “What the heck is all this?” she asked, apprehensively eyeing a jacket of matching blue silk and a pair of boots in Ellie’s hands. “There’s more?”

  “Consider yourself lucky I’m dressing you. When I first got here, they tried stuffing me into a corset, something that makes your chest and butt stick out in opposite directions. I said no way. Just give me bigger dresses!”

  “Oh, I think I saw a woman on the train wearing something like that. She walked like a pigeon.”

  “That’s the one!” Ellie eyed her curiously. “So you met someone else on the train...from this time? And what did they make of your clothes?”

  “I think her name was Lucinda Davies, and her husband was Gerald. They never saw my clothing because Stephen threw his jacket over my lap the minute they showed up in the observation car, and he wouldn’t let me get up after that.” Dani chuckled at the memory.

  “Stephen didn’t want me to talk either, you know, in case they though
t my particular brand of English was odd, so he told her I was ill. Lucinda, it seems, is a believer in hot toddies, so she insisted I have a few, and she joined me.” Dani’s chuckle evolved into laughter, and she bent over to ease her aching sides as best she could in the tight skirt. Ellie’s face crinkled as she joined her.

  “The rum went right to my head. You should have seen Stephen’s face! He was panicked.”

  “I can imagine,” Ellie said on a laugh. “Poor Stephen! He’s a pretty serious guy. This whole thing must be quite a shock to him.” Her laughter subsided. “I’ve met Lucinda Davies by the way. You’ll want to be careful around her. She’s gets around pretty well, has a lot of friends and enjoys a good gossip. I’m not saying she’s a bad person or would harm you in any way, but if she figured you out—figured us out—there could be a lot of questions.”

  Dani stopped laughing. “Oh, Ellie, I wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt you here. I’ll behave,” she said. “Besides, I don’t think I’ll be here that long. At least I hope I’m not.” She bit her lip and turned away to look toward the breakfast laid out. “I’m starved! Let’s eat and brainstorm how I can get back home.”

  On Dani’s second cup of tea, a soft knock sounded at the door. Dani rose to go to the door but tripped on the skirts pooled at her feet. She cried out as she hit the carpet with her elbow. The door burst open and Stephen rushed in.

  “What has happened?”

  Ellie, having dropped to her knees to help Dani, looked up. “She just fell, Stephen. She’ll be all right. The hazards of the early twentieth century, I’m afraid.” She turned back to Dani who had risen awkwardly to her knees. “This won’t last forever though. Skirts will get shorter.”

  Ellie attempted to rise and fell back, her own skirts tangled in her legs. “Stephen, please help. Now, we’re both stuck.”

  Dani and Ellie looked at each other and broke out into another round of laughter, as Stephen helped each one rise to their feet. He looked between the two and smiled broadly.

  “I can see that you two will become fast friends,” he said.

  Dani laid a hand on Ellie’s arm. “Oh, I am sure we would, but you all know I can’t stay.” She almost wished the words unsaid as Stephen’s smile faded. Even Ellie sighed.

  “No, I don’t think you can. Your mom.” Ellie turned to Stephen. “I think we need to get Robert. Between the four of us, we should be able to figure out how to get Dani home.”

  “Yes, of course,” Stephen said quietly with a nod. “You and he would be the persons most qualified to help Miss Douglas...to return home. We shall send a note to him at once.”

  “Speaking of which, Stephen, I think Dani should probably come and stay at my house. It would just be easier for her there, don’t you think? What about your sister? Has she met Dani yet?”

  Dani’s heart melted at the wounded look on Stephen’s face before he managed to mask it. A muscle twitched in his jaw, and he seemed to take a deep breath. He bowed his head.

  “Yes, of course, that is the most sensible plan for her at the moment. You can guide her and comfort her in a way that I cannot.” He lifted his chin. “Susan is still abed, I think, and she has not yet met Miss Douglas.”

  A knock on the door startled them, and they looked from one to the other. Stephen moved to the door, and Dani ran her hands along her skirts to press out any wrinkles.

  Mrs. Oakley entered and spoke in hushed tones to Stephen at the door, but Dani heard the conversation.

  “A Mrs. Lucinda Davies is downstairs in the parlor, Mr. Sadler. She says she has come to call on Mrs. Sadler?” The normally unflappable housekeeper threw a curious glance in Dani’s direction.

  Stephen braced one hand on his hip and ran the other through his hair. “I was afraid of this,” he muttered. “Thank you, Mrs. Oakley. Please tell Mrs. Davies we will be down at once.” The housekeeper nodded and slipped out of the room.

  “Mrs. Sadler?” Ellie squeaked. “Oh, Stephen, you didn’t...”

  “Yes, he did, Ellie,” Dani said with a smirk on her face, her arms akimbo. “Oh, yes, he did.” She eyed Stephen with a raised eyebrow. “Now what, Stephen?”

  “I can hardly say we have divorced in the last twelve hours,” he said with a twitch of his lips. “I believe we must face the music.”

  “Well, she can’t go down right now! I have to do her hair,” Ellie said. She pulled Dani over to the dressing table and settled her there before running to her satchel for a hairbrush. “Five minutes, Stephen. Stall her for five minutes.”

  “I could say she is unwell?” Stephen offered.

  “That sounds like a good plan!” Dani said as Ellie mercilessly yanked through her hair. “Gosh, woman, take it easy, will you?”

  “Sorry, Dani,” Ellie said. “No, let’s get it over with. She’ll just come back. Go on, Stephen. We’ll be right down. Maybe you can tell Mrs. Davies about the wedding while you wait!” Ellie shook her head with a wry smile.

  “It was the best I could do at a moment’s notice, ladies!” Stephen protested as he moved toward the door.

  “I know, Stephen, I know,” Ellie muttered. “I’ll send a note over to Robert. I think he’s still at home. It’s a good thing we live so close by.”

  Dani gave Stephen a reassuring smile through the mirror as he paused at the doorway to look at her. He nodded, returned the smile and left.

  Five minutes later, Ellie and Dani descended the stairs with Dani grabbing at her skirts with one hand and adjusting her hair with the other. Ellie had pulled Dani’s hair on top of her head and wrapped the mass of it into a chignon which felt dangerously close to falling down, but a poke or two with an exploratory finger revealed it stayed intact.

  “How do you walk in these dresses?”

  “You’ll learn. No choice,” Ellie said as they reached the foyer at the bottom of the stairs. A man in a cutaway coat stood by a large wooden door and opened it.

  “Mrs. Sadler. Mrs. Chamberlain, this way please.”

  Dani froze at the name. How was Stephen going to get out of this? She wasn’t too concerned about herself because she believed that she would leave all this behind, but she worried about Stephen when she was gone. He had really gone out on a limb to protect her.

  Ellie grabbed her arm and guided her into the drawing room. At first glance, Dani was dazzled by the myriad of color in the room. Soft green embellished wallpaper adorned all the walls. Sofas and chairs in various shades of green and rose velvet surrounded a fireplace of white marble near which Stephen stood. A delicate gold filigree chandelier crowned the room. Velvet drapes of moss green framed a large picture window which looked out over the city below.

  “Ellie!” Lucinda cried as she rose to kiss Ellie on the cheek. “Stephen told me you were here. How nice to see you!” She turned to Dani. “You look as if you have recovered nicely from the journey and your illness, Danielle. As I said, hot toddies! The cure for all.”

  She seated herself and patted the sofa beside her. Dani sat next to her and Ellie sat beside Dani. Mrs. Oakley accompanied a young maid who brought a tea service.

  “I do hope you do not mind that I called so early, Danielle. I did not have a chance to say goodbye to you last night.”

  “Oh, no, that’s fine,” Dani said with a quick glance toward Stephen. She had no idea if the hour was fine or not but Lucinda was already there, so the point was moot.

  “I also wanted to offer my felicitations on your marriage again!” Lucinda said with a broad smile. “My daughter, Evelyn, who is acquainted with your sister, advised me only this morning at breakfast that she thought you were unmarried. She seemed taken aback when I mentioned there was a Mrs. Sadler. In fact, she was quite distressed.” Lucinda wagged a finger at Stephen. “I am not at all sure she did not have her eye on you herself.”

  To say that everyone looked at everyone did not describe the varying expressions which traveled around the room. Dani looked finally toward Stephen whose high cheekbones bronzed at Lucinda’s last words. The
thought that Stephen was probably in high demand as a handsome, single man disturbed her.

  She surprised herself by speaking up. “Yes, it was sudden. We met in Chicago, and it was love at first sight.” She flushed and bit her lip, aghast at her comments. She had no idea what scenario Stephen would have chosen for his “marriage.” She threw him a quick look from under her lashes. He regarded her with a soft smile. Good! She hadn’t blown it.

  “Yes, that is correct, Mrs. Davies. We met in Chicago. A whirlwind romance.”

  “How romantic!” Lucinda beamed. “I shall have to confirm to Evelyn that you are no longer eligible. Pity me the task. I fear there will be tears.”

  “Who is no longer eligible?” A slender blonde girl of about eighteen entered the room in a swish of pink silk and lace. She nodded in the general direction of the room and crossed to her brother’s side, linking her arm in his. She raised her face for a kiss.

  “Welcome back, Stephen,” she said. “Mrs. Chamberlain, how are you?”

  “I’m good, Susan, and how are you?”

  “I am as well as could be, thank you, Mrs. Chamberlain.” Dani had no idea what to make of that cryptic statement, but Ellie didn’t seem to worry too much about it.

  “Susan, let me present Mrs. Lucinda Davies. I believe you are acquainted with her daughter, Evelyn?” Stephen made the introductions.

  Susan nodded her head in the older woman’s direction, but her eyes locked on Dani. “And?”

  Dani’s eyes flew to Stephen. The situation had deteriorated rapidly. How was he going to lie to his sister—especially one who seemed overtly protective? Dani didn’t miss the firm grip Susan had on her brother. She wished she could disappear back to her time at that very moment.

  “Susan, may I present my wife, Danielle.”

  Susan’s eyes widened.

  “Oh, goodness. This is new then if your sister did not yet know!” Lucinda crowed.

  Dani cringed when Susan turned sky-blue eyes on her. She stared hard at Dani for a moment and seemed to take a deep breath.

  “So, someone has finally caught you, dear brother,” she murmured.