by Linda Byler
Mam looked at Dat, squeezed his hand, and told him goodbye. Dat hugged all three of the girls in one big, enveloping hug, and there were tears in his eyes as he said, “Goodbye, girls. Come home again as soon as you can. I’ll take good care of Dolly until you come home.” With a final pat, he smiled, and they all went up the bumpy metal steps into the train.
Mam found a seat for Emma and Lizzie, and found another seat beside them, across the aisle. She put her purse and small suitcase on the floor, but the large suitcase she lifted to a rack above their heads. Lizzie was glad Mam was so strong, because who else would have lifted that heavy suitcase? Mam was brave, too, or else she wouldn’t go on the train with all the children. Lizzie was glad she had a mother like that.
A man with white hair was watching Mam put away her suitcase. He leaned around the corner of the seat, and said quietly, “Ma’am, I could have done that for you.”
“Oh, no, that would not have been necessary. It really was not that heavy. Thank you just the same,” she said, and smiled.
“Well, you certainly are a brave lady. Are these all your children?” he inquired.
“Yes, they are,” Mam said. “This is Jason and Mandy, and Emma and Lizzie are seated across the aisle.”
“Beautiful children. Beautiful,” the white-haired man beamed.
Mam looked shy, but she said quietly, “Thank you.”
Lizzie was so glad the man said they were beautiful. She bet he meant it. It was because of her navy sneakers with white soles, and her new lavender dress. Lizzie clasped her hands tightly and sighed happily, sitting up straight. This was so much fun, she could hardly sit still for a minute. Emma was just as thrilled, Lizzie could tell, because she was wriggling around in her seat, trying to look out the window at the train station.
“Emma, you can’t see Dat anymore, can you?” Lizzie asked.
Emma hopped up on her knees to look out the window. She looked very carefully all around the train station before she shook her head. “No, Lizzie, he went home as soon as we got on the train,” she said.
“Why aren’t we moving?” Lizzie asked Emma.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you suppose there’s something wrong with the train?” Lizzie asked anxiously.
“I hope not,” Emma answered.
“Mam, why aren’t we moving?” Lizzie asked, from across the aisle.
“Oh, they have things to load and unload first, I suppose. Why? Are you in a hurry to go to Doddys?” she asked.
“Of course!” Emma answered.
Mam arranged Jason more firmly on her lap and winked at Emma. “Me, too!” she said.
“Mam, are you going to buy me a sandwich from that black man?” Lizzie asked.
“Oh, we’ll have to see. I do have some sandwiches and snacks packed in my bag for us to eat,” she answered.
“Do, Mam. Those sandwiches are different than ours,” Lizzie said.
Mam just smiled. Then she told the girls to look out the window, because the train was starting to move. And sure enough, when they looked out, the train station was slowly slipping away. It made Lizzie feel funny, because if you didn’t focus your eyes right, it seemed as if the train was actually holding still, and it was the station that was moving. Lizzie and Emma looked at each other and giggled.
Faster and faster the train sped along the tracks. Buildings, trees, and telephone wires all became a blur through the window. The whole train swayed in little movements that made you slant a bit in your seat. Lizzie thought it must be hard to walk in the aisle, because the train was swaying from side to side.
Jason and Mandy soon fell asleep, the constant motion rocking them until they became sleepy. Mam rested her head on the back of the seat, and Emma and Lizzie relaxed.
“Emma, who do you think is going to meet us in Ohio at that train station?” Lizzie asked.
“Probably Doddy Miller. He did the last time,” Emma said.
“Do you remember the last time?” Lizzie asked.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Do you remember everything?”
“No, not everything. I just remember that Doddy came to meet us, and that he grabbed my neck with his cane like he usually does,” Emma replied.
“Oh,” Lizzie said.
After a while, Emma said she remembered Mommy Miller made custard pies that were so good, she ate two big pieces.
“I don’t remember,” Lizzie said.
“That’s because you were too little,” Emma sniffed.
“Oh,” said Lizzie.
A door opened at the end of their car, and the tall black man entered. He was talking in English to some of the passengers, so the girls didn’t know what he was saying. Mam got her purse and took out two yellow pieces of paper. She held them carefully and when the black man came to Mam, he tipped his hat politely.
“How do you do, ma’am? Your tickets, please.”
Mam handed them to him and smiled up at him. The black man punched the tickets with something that looked like Teacher Sylvia’s hole puncher in school.
“There you are, ma’am. These all yours?” He looked at Emma and Lizzie, and for a moment, Lizzie felt his piercing look from his deep, very dark brown eyes. He smiled at them with his white teeth showing against his dark skin. Lizzie was fascinated by this man. She had never seen a person look so dark and shiny. She wondered why God made some people with dark skin and some with white. She looked down at her arms, and suddenly her skin seemed much too white. She wished her skin was as dark as the black man’s skin, because it was prettier.
“Emma,” she whispered.
“What?” Emma whispered back.
“How come he said ‘Mam’ to Mam? She’s not his Mam,” Lizzie said.
“He didn’t,” Emma said.
“Yes, he did. I heard him!” Lizzie shot back.
“Ask Mam.”
So Lizzie leaned across the aisle and asked Mam why he called her “Mam.”
Mam laughed. “Ach, Lizzie, your ears just don’t miss a thing, do they?” she said.
“Well …” Lizzie started.
“No, he said ‘ma’am’, which is short for ‘madam.’ That’s a polite way to address a woman. It’s old-fashioned and really rather nice,” she told Lizzie.
“Oh, I thought he said ‘Mam,’” Lizzie replied.
The door opened again, and another black man appeared. He had a wide strap around his neck that was attached to a big square tray held against his stomach. On this tray were the sandwiches and drinks that Lizzie was hoping Mam would buy.
This man was short and a bit heavy. He joked and laughed as he sold things from the big tray.
“Mam?” Lizzie asked.
“Do you want a sandwich, Lizzie?” Mam asked.
“Emma and I can share, if they cost too much,” Lizzie offered.
When the black man came to Mam, he asked her if she wanted anything. Lizzie held her breath as Mam reached down for her purse.
“Yes, I’ll have two chicken salad sandwiches and two Cokes,” she said.
Lizzie could hardly believe it. Mam was really nice and kind, buying those good things. Lizzie knew she had packed food for their train ride, and this was just for a special treat. She loved Mam so much right at that moment, because she was a kind, good Mam.
Emma and Lizzie had to be very careful, because the train made a rolling motion. The black man opened the glass bottle of soda for them, and put in two straws, one for Lizzie, and one for Emma.
“There you go, sweeties.” He smiled at the girls, and Lizzie smiled back. She didn’t really mean to smile, but she was so happy with her chicken salad sandwich, she just smiled before she thought about it.
The black man with the tray went whistling and joking down the aisle. Emma and Lizzie looked at each other and giggled. They carefully sipped Coke from the bottle. Tears formed in their eyes and their noses burned because the soda was so bubbly. Lizzie burped out loud, and clasped her hand across her mouth, her eyes wide with surprise.
Emma threw back her head and laughed, but Mam frowned at Lizzie and told her to say, “Excuse me.”
Lizzie did, then they giggled some more. The chicken salad had pieces of green celery and flaky white pieces of chicken in it. Creamy mayonnaise was mixed with the chicken, and put between soft white pieces of bread. The sandwich wasn’t cut straight across like Mam cut their sandwiches for school. It was cut diagonally, and made two perfect triangles. Lizzie thought it was fancy and it made the sandwich taste even better. She savored every bite of that delicious sandwich.
“Mam,” she said.
“What, Lizzie?”
“You should cut our sandwiches like this for school. It would be fancy,” she said.
Mam tried to hide her smile. “Yes, Lizzie, I suppose that would be fancy,” she replied.
Mam gave them a small bag of pretzels and another package that contained two peanut butter cookies. They ate every bite, brushing the crumbs from their laps, folding their bag neatly and cleaning up after themselves. Mam smiled at them approvingly and put the trash in a paper bag.
Emma and Lizzie leaned back against the seats and tried hard to stay awake, but they soon fell asleep. Lizzie’s head fell against Emma’s shoulder, and as the train sped along through northwestern Pennsylvania, Lizzie was quite oblivious to the scenery outside.
Mam watched the girls sleeping and thought, Even little girls who aren’t going to sleep can fall under the spell of a moving train. Especially if they got up very early in the morning.
chapter 19
Doddy Millers in Ohio
The evening sun cast a reddish glow across the train station in Baxter, Ohio, as the train came slowly to a complete stop.
Passengers stirred, slipping on their shoes and gathering their luggage as they came to their destination. Mam had all her suitcases and bags ready to go and was instructing Emma on which bags she should carry.
Before Mam could stand up to get the big suitcase, the white-haired gentleman was there to help. “If you will allow me, I will help you off the train, carrying your large suitcase,” he informed Mam.
Mam looked a bit flustered, but she smilingly accepted his help. “As you can see, I do have my hands full,” she said. “I really appreciate your help.”
So with the white-haired helper leading the way, they made their way off the train. Mam followed, holding Jason and a large bag. Emma held tightly to Mandy’s hand, and Lizzie came last, carrying the small suitcase.
The black man smiled at them as they stepped down, touching his cap to Mam and wishing her a good day. Then they were on the concrete, a vast area filled with hundreds of people all milling about in different directions. It was a bit scary, but with the man helping them, they found their way to the door of the station.
Suddenly Mam stopped. “There he is!” she cried joyfully. Everyone stopped to see Doddy Miller make his way through the crowd. His white hair and beard with his piercing blue eyes were not easily missed.
Emma and Lizzie ran over to him and were enveloped in his welcoming hug. He held Mam’s hand warmly, asking her if she had a good trip. Mam introduced the man who helped her with the large suitcase, and Doddy Miller shook his hand.
“Thank you for helping my daughter,” he said kindly.
“It was a pleasure, sir. You have beautiful grandchildren. A wonderful family,” the man said, and after shaking hands again, he left to find his own friends.
Lizzie looked down at her navy blue sneakers and felt beautiful. That man was really nice, she thought. Suddenly she felt something hard and smooth around her neck. She was being pulled back gently, and she knew instantly what it was.
“Goobity, goobity,” she heard Doddy Miller say. Lizzie grinned up at him. Doddy always does that, she thought. He took his cane and pulled them in, saying that silly word that made no sense. It didn’t even mean anything—except to Emma and Lizzie, it meant that their Doddy Miller was very special to them.
Doddy patted Emma’s shoulder, grabbed the large suitcase, and together they all walked out to the parking lot. He had hired a driver, so they all climbed into an old, rusty blue car. It was so small that they barely fit in. Emma and Lizzie were not very comfortable, so when Lizzie pinched Emma to make her get over, they had a serious giggling fit. They were not allowed to make fun of this funny old car, but the harder they tried not to, the more they had to laugh.
Lizzie was very glad when that trip was over. They pulled in the drive to Doddys’ house, and tumbled out of their confining space.
Lizzie just stood and looked. She loved Doddy Millers’ home. The house was small, with a wide front porch. There were concrete steps leading up to the white porch, which was always cool and breezy in the summer. Doddy had a small barn where he kept his horse and surrey.
In Ohio, the buggies weren’t made like Pennsylvania buggies. They were very narrow on the bottom, but bigger on the top, so that when you sat in a surrey, it seemed like you were going to fall out on the road, except that the side of the buggy kept you from doing that. Ohio horses were fatter and slower, and Doddy Miller was much more kind to his horse than Dat was.
Doddy also had a pet crow that talked. Emma and Lizzie were only a tiny bit afraid of it. Its round black eyes stared so hard that Lizzie couldn’t look at it too long. It reminded Lizzie of something bad, like a picture of the devil she had seen once in a Bible story book. Emma said that crow was nice—it did not look one bit like the devil, but Lizzie didn’t care what Emma said—it did—a little bit, anyhow.
If you opened a gate beside the barn, there was a little pasture for Doddy’s fat horse. In this pasture there was a small concrete trough where a pipe came up out of the ground. Cold, clear water bubbled out of this pipe and into the trough. It ran through the trough and down a hole, running into the ground again.
Doddy told the girls it was called an artesian well. That meant if you tried to stop the flow of water, something would burst, because the water needed to flow all the time. Lizzie often wondered where it would burst if she stopped the water. Would it look like a picture of a whale, spouting water through a blowhole? Emma never let Lizzie try to hold her hand over the pipe, so she never found out.
Today Mommy Miller came out on the porch, wiping her hands on her white apron. She took Jason from Mam and fussed over him, admiring his curls and how much he had grown. Mam was smiling and nodding, talking as fast as she could as they carried the suitcases up the wide concrete steps.
“Oh, let’s just sit here on the porch swing,” she said. “It’s so nice and cool here. It’s just so nice to be here with you again.”
“And to see you, too,” Mommy smiled warmly at all of them, as she gathered Mandy in her lap. Mommy was small and soft-spoken—she never made much of a fuss. Mandy just loved Mommy and was almost constantly on her lap when they were together.
Doddy asked Emma and Lizzie to go with him to the kitchen. They hurried inside, and he handed them a bag of round pink candy. It was not hard and not chewy, just kind of crumbly. Emma and Lizzie were not allowed to look at each other or they would have burst out laughing. Doddy didn’t know it, but they really hated that candy. It tasted exactly like Pepto-Bismol, that sticky pink stuff they had to take for a stomach virus.
Mommy’s kitchen was painted white, with small white kitchen cupboards along one wall. The artesian well was piped into the kitchen, so the cold, flowing water ran through a metal trough. Mommy kept jars of milk, butter, and other items in this water to keep them cool. They had a funny, little white granite table with extensions you could pull out to widen it. The chairs were small and made of wrought iron in a curly design on the back. They were not very comfortable. There were bright-colored handwoven rugs on the floor.
Instead of a gas stove and refrigerator like they had at home, Doddys had an old kerosene stove that Mommy had to light with a match. Their refrigerator was cooled with a block of ice that melted in a pan. Once a week a truck would bring them a block of new ice after the old one had melted.
/> Another thing Lizzie liked about Doddys’ house was the bathroom door. It had glass in it that let in plenty of light, but it was so bumpy, you could not see through it. Lizzie thought it was a very smart thing to put in a bathroom door.
After the evening light faded, they moved indoors. Mommy lit the gas lamp, hurrying back and forth between the icebox and the granite table. She set out a big golden brown custard pie, and small, perfect oatmeal cookies.
Doddy made a big popper of popcorn on the kerosene stove, while Mam helped Mommy make hot chocolate. Lizzie was so hungry, she could hardly wait until it was ready.
After she got her cup of hot chocolate, she dipped three cookies in it, one after another. They were so good, she could have eaten another one, but she decided to eat custard pie instead. Her piece was large, and so shivery and golden yellow, she ate one delicious bite after another until it was all gone, even the soft, flaky crust. After that, she ate a bowl of salty, buttery popcorn and drank a glass of cold tea.
Then, as Mam and Doddy Millers sat and talked, Lizzie became sleepier and sleepier. She slid as far down on her uncomfortable chair as she could, but she just could not go to sleep on that chair, so she got up and walked sleepily into the living room and threw herself down on the couch. Emma soon followed and lay down on the other end. They had to arrange their legs so they both fit.
Sometime during the night, Lizzie felt a soft, clean-smelling blanket being placed across them, and she snuggled deeper into her pillow and slept on.
· · · · ·
When Lizzie awoke, the sun was streaming through the living room window. A bird was singing in the pine tree outside, which sounded so pretty. Lizzie sat straight up, blinking her eyes in the morning sun. Emma stirred and mumbled in her sleep, pulling the blanket up over her head.
