Across the Border

by Arleta Richardson

  “Where are you going?”

  “To Juárez, Señor,” Reymundo replied.

  “You will stay there?”

  Reymundo paused. “No, Señor. I will go on with my friend to El Paso. Then I will return.”

  The soldier looked sharply at Chad. “Where do you come from?”

  “I have come today from Galeana,” he replied. “I will join my family in El Paso, then continue on to South Dakota.”

  The man turned to one of his companions and said, “This is the one. He is here.”

  Turning back to Reymundo, he gave him rapid directions, and Reymundo turned the wagon toward the mountains and followed the soldiers.

  “What did he say? Where are we going? Was he talking about me?”

  Reymundo nodded. “Yes. He says you are to see the general.”

  The general? Chad’s heart sank as he imagined what might happen to them. What had he done? Was there a problem about the money he was taking out of the country?

  The small building before which they stopped seemed like a long way from the road, but they had reached it sooner than Chad was ready to see it. He was relieved to find that Reymundo would be going in with him. Two soldiers accompanied them, and they were escorted into a room furnished only with a desk and a chair. A dark-haired man with heavy eyebrows and a drooping mustache sat behind the desk. He regarded the two men silently for what seemed like a long time. Finally he spoke to Reymundo in Spanish.

  “Was your work in Ocampo a success?”

  “Sí, General.”

  “You are escorting your companion to the border?”

  “Sí.”

  The general nodded, then looked at Chad. Although Chad’s knees were shaking, his eyes never left the general’s face. Many thoughts crowded his mind as he stood there. It was possible that he would be taken captive. Many others had been. Undoubtedly they would take the money he carried. If he escaped with his life, Chad would be grateful.

  Suddenly the general reached into his pocket, drew out a heavy object, and laid it on the desk.

  “Ethan’s key!” Chad exclaimed. “Where is he? Do you have Ethan here? Is my family—?”

  “No, Señor. Your son is not here. Your family has had a safe passage to El Paso.” He looked at the object before him. “I am reluctant to let it go, but the key must be returned to Ethan. I have never received a greater token of friendship. I want him to know that it is being returned to him in the same spirit.” The big man stood. “Take care of that boy. You do not know what great fortune you had when he came into your life. You may go now.”

  Chad and Reymundo were escorted back to the road, and the soldiers disappeared into the hills. As the little mule plodded along toward Juárez, Chad puzzled over the last hour’s events. Of all that has occurred during our stay in Mexico, he thought, this was the strangest incident of all.

  After several miles, Reymundo’s voice broke into Chad’s thoughts. “I think we have a problem. Hold the reins while I check.”

  For the first time, Chad was aware that the wagon was tipping perilously. Reymundo jumped down from the slow-moving vehicle and inspected the rear wheel.

  “It is coming off,” he informed Chad. “We will not make it to the border in this wagon. We wanted to look like poor farmers? We could not have done much better than this.”

  It was now the middle of the morning, and clouds were gathering over the foothills. There was a storm approaching, and a glance in both directions revealed no other conveyance or person on the road.

  “We cannot just stand here and soak up the rain,” Reymundo said. “I will load the burro with as much as he will take, and we will carry what we can. I would rather be walking than wasting time alongside the road.”

  It was soon apparent that the burro didn’t share his preference. He dug in his heels and refused to move. Pulling and pushing had very little effect.

  “This doesn’t look too promising,” Chad said. “We’ll have to leave what we can’t carry and go on without him, unless the Lord sees fit to move him.”

  At that moment lightning struck the earth near them. A clap of thunder shook the ground. Chad and Reymundo dived under the wagon. The sky opened up as rain and hail pelted the earth. Reymundo watched the burro hightail it down the road, his ears back and his hooves flying.

  “I guess we had better chase him before he is out of sight,” Reymundo grumbled. “When the Lord moves something, He does not waste any motion.”

  By the time the men caught up with the burro, the animal was winded and willing to be led slowly toward Juárez.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Crossroads

  The border crossing between El Paso, Texas, and Juárez, Mexico, was forbidden territory to the younger children. Manda refused to heed their protests.

  “We didn’t leave Mexico to be shot in Texas,” she said. “Those bullets have no idea which side of the border you’re on. You may play in the park when Frances has time to go with you, or you can go walking with Luke. I’m not going to turn you loose and risk having to look for you when your papa gets here.”

  “When is he coming?”

  Manda sighed. “Just as soon as he can. You’re no more anxious than I am to get on the train for home.”

  Polly looked out the hotel window at the busy street below. “We been here three days. If Chad and Reymundo started soon after Luke left, they should be here by the first of the week. You plannin’ to wait for ’em?”

  Manda nodded. “I don’t want to go back to South Dakota without Chad. I suppose I could send Luke and Frances on ahead with the children, but I’d feel better if we’re all together.”

  Ethan was free to come and go as he pleased, and the border guards were soon familiar with the boy who stood and watched the road that led to Juárez. Although the fighting had ceased, military units were still in evidence.

  “Them rebels over there is staying holed up in the mountains,” one of the men told Ethan. “Their general is a smart one. No one ever sees him, but he knows just what’s going on over here. We’ll never catch him if he don’t want us to.”

  Ethan was thankful for that, but he didn’t say so. He just listened and watched.

  Dinner at the hotel the following noon was a quiet and sober meal. Manda and Luke had agreed that they shouldn’t wait any longer for Chad but take the late-afternoon train north.

  “If you all want to stay in Willow Creek until he comes, Ethan and I can go on by train,” Luke suggested. “I’d like to be home to help Henry with the planting. The rest of you can come on in the wagon when Chad arrives.”

  Thus it was decided, and a letter was left at the hotel desk for Chad, outlining the plan. Polly was overjoyed at the thought of being on the way home.

  “I hope this trip’s taken all the wanderin’ out of Chad,” she declared. “I’ll be happy to spend the rest of my days on the plains lookin’ at the cottonwood trees and cookin’ for my family.”

  “You woulda felt terrible if you’d missed this trip, Polly, and you know it,” Luke told her.

  Polly admitted it. “Yep, I reckon I would’ve. Nobody could ever have told us about the things we saw and tasted and smelled so’s we could’ve really known what it was like. And imagine not knowing Carlotta and the other people at the church.”

  “We all made good friends there,” Manda said, “but I’m glad to be going home. I just wish Chad had gotten here in time to go with us. What if he doesn’t get to the border? What if they’re stopped by the soldiers and not allowed to leave the country?”

  Will had left the table and was standing by the big front window. Now he called out, “He’s here, Mama!”

  Ethan stood up to look. “No, Will, that’s not him. He and Reymundo are coming in a wagon. Those men just have an old burro.”

  Luke walked to the window. “Chad wouldn’t come into town with
a week’s beard and clothes like that. Them fellows look like they was caught in a—” His eyes widened. “Well, what do you know? It is Chad!”

  The next day Reymundo hired a wagon and prepared to head back to Mexico.

  “I will miss you, mi amigo,” he said to Chad.

  “And I, you,” Chad replied. “I couldn’t have successfully completed my business without your help. It’s easy to make mistakes in another country and offend the people, and without your help, I would have done so. The Lord be with you as you travel back to Galeana.”

  At breakfast, Chad pulled the key from his pocket and handed it to Ethan. “A friend of yours gave this to me.”

  Then the whole story had to be told all over again, and Chad relayed his adventure too.

  “I never expected to get the key back,” Ethan said. “How did he know you were the one to give it to?”

  “The soldiers said they questioned everyone who passed there in the days after you went by. That’s the reason General Villa has remained safe—he knows what’s going on around him. He also has a good place to stay. I don’t think I could find my way back to his hideout even if I wanted to.”

  “I don’t reckon I’d want to,” Luke said. “I’m glad to be on this side of the border.”

  When the train left El Paso that evening, the whole family was glad to leave their adventures behind them and head back to the plains.

  “Amelia will have the garden in, and we’ll be just in time to can the early beans and peas,” Polly said. “Won’t that kitchen look good?”

  “I’ll be tending my flowers.” Manda sighed happily. “I know I’ll miss the cactuses, but I can’t wait to see the lilacs and roses.”

  Polly reached under the seat and pulled out a cloth bag. “You won’t miss the cactuses. I brought some along. I figured since they grow like weeds, nobody would miss a few.”

  “I brought something too.” Frances smiled. “Carlotta gave me a lace mantilla. I don’t know where I’ll wear it, but I can show it to the children at school in the fall.”

  “I’ve got my sombrero,” Will announced, “and I’m going to wear it!”

  It seemed that everyone had brought something home to remind them of Mexico, except Luke.

  “I couldn’t carry what I wanted to bring,” Luke said glumly.

  “What was that, Luke?”

  “An oil well.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Future Plans

  The scenery didn’t seem to fly by as swiftly going home as it had when they had traveled south. Ethan watched out the window absently and thought of the little Mexican town they had left. Its crooked streets and empty warehouses were as clear in his memory as though he were still there. Even though he might never again see Carlos or the other fellows, they wouldn’t be forgotten. He could hear Pa and Luke discussing the crops, and Ma and Polly talking about the house and garden. Everyone had plans for the year ahead.

  When the train steamed into Willow Creek, Ben and Lydia Archer were the first people they saw. Manda greeted her friend with delight, then looked around at the others who had gathered to welcome them.

  “My, your children have gotten big,” Edith Watkins exclaimed. “I believe Will is as tall as Ethan was when they first came here.”

  Will is almost the same age I was, Ethan thought. He’s almost nine. Then suddenly Ethan remembered. It had been just five years ago today that the Coopers had first set foot on this platform. Many of these same people had been here then, wanting to look over the orphans and perhaps take one home. So much had happened since then!

  Not all of it, Ethan reflected, had been happy. His new father had been a harsh taskmaster.

  “He treats you boys like his pa treated him,” Polly once told Ethan. “I ain’t sayin’ it’s the best way to raise a young ’un, but Chad’s become a successful man. Folks ain’t never gonna understand him, but they respect him.”

  He’s the only father I’ve had, Ethan thought, and I’ve learned a lot from him. I’m thankful for a home where I can keep the others with me. I hope all the orphans on that train are as well off as we are.

  Someone poked Ethan on the shoulder, and he whirled around to find a grinning Bert standing behind him. They greeted each other joyfully, with much pounding on the back and playful shoving.

  “I didn’t think I’d see you this time,” Ethan said. “Luke and Polly and I are going on home to South Dakota with the evening train. Pa is staying to drive the wagon and the rest of the family back.”

  “Would I miss bein’ here today of all days?”

  “You remembered what date it is, then.”

  “No, but Mama did. She celebrates it every year, just like our birthdays. It kinda sneaks up on me. We been so busy, what with a new baby and all. Wait till you see my sister. She looks just like me!” Bert laughed at his joke. “I’m kiddin’. She looks like Mama. And it’s a good thing too.”

  By the time the late train arrived, their plans were made to leave for school as soon as the harvest was over in the fall.

  At last Luke, Polly, and Ethan settled into their seats for the final lap of the journey.

  “I made my last trip bouncin’ across the country in a wagon,” Polly declared. “My bones can’t take no more. I don’t want to go across the country again unless I can fly!”

  “Looks like you’re homebound then,” Luke said. “You’re never gonna fly till you go to heaven.”

  The summer passed quickly for the family. Henry and Amelia moved into their new home, and between them, Amelia and Polly kept the farmhands well fed. Everyone worked at something, even Will, who celebrated his ninth birthday in June.

  All too soon for Manda, fall arrived, and with it school. Frances would teach in Winner, and the younger children would go with her each day. Ethan, though still torn between his desire to learn and his reluctance to leave the place where he felt secure and cared for, was ready to leave for Kansas.

  He looked back as the wagon carried him down the road toward the train depot. The others were waving to him. Simon was ten and a half and nearly as tall as Ethan. Alice was a young lady at twelve. And Will was no longer the round-cheeked boy that Ethan had been responsible for. The rest of the family was lined up at the fence to watch him leave too.

  Ethan waved to them, then turned to look down the road toward the future. Luke slapped the reins on Ned’s back, and another chapter of the orphan’s journey began.

  What lay ahead? Ethan didn’t know, but he was sure that God was going with him, just as He had from the beginning.

  When a rockin’ concert comes to an end,

  the audience might cheer for an encore.

  When a tasty meal comes to an end,

  it’s always nice to savor a bit of dessert.

  When a great story comes to an end,

  we think you may want to linger.

  And so we offer …

  … just a little something more after

  you have finished a David C Cook novel.

  We invite you to stay awhile in the story.

  Thanks for reading!

  Turn the page for …

  • Author’s Note

  • Write, Talk, Imagine

  • About the Author

  • Other Books by Arleta Richardson

  Author’s Note

  Remarkably little has been written of the thousands of children who were placed in midwestern farm homes and small communities between 1854 and 1929. The Orphan Train Heritage Society, based in Arkansas, has collected valuable information about those years from the children or their relatives. Many orphans have been reluctant to discuss their experiences, while others speak with deep appreciation of their adopted homes.

  It was inevitable that some children would be placed in the care of people who regarded them as extra workers for the farm or business, wit
hout regard for their spiritual or emotional needs. Some reported cruel treatment that led to their removal from the home or impelled the children to run away. Many others stayed in situations that were less than perfect, and through their experiences became strong, self-reliant adults.

  Such was the case for the real “Ethan Cooper.” Reflecting on his life after he reached his nineties, he recalled long hours of hard work and harsh discipline, minimal schooling, and few times of fun and childish activity. Yet his attitude was always, “I had a home. I learned a lot. I’m a better person for it.” There is no doubt that Ethan’s strong faith in God was the anchor that held him through those years.

  The real Ethan died at the age of ninety-six, before this book was finished. I was pleased to be able to present Looking for Home and Whistle-Stop West to him several months before that. He looked at them carefully, then said, “My, my. Who would have thought anyone would ever write a book about me?”

  I couldn’t have chosen a better subject. During the four years that the books were in process, I grew to love and admire Ethan the child … and the man I learned so much about through his family.

  If Ethan was surprised that his life could be the subject of a book, those who knew him and his family were not. Ethan married a lovely young lady whom he met at a Christian college. Together they had four sons and twin daughters, now teachers, businesspeople, and missionaries. They in turn have raised children to honor the Lord. There is every reason to believe that the influence of this godly man will continue on through succeeding generations.

  Although Ethan remembered much about his early life, the Orphan Train, and his adopted family, many of the details were left to my imagination. His children recognize a number of the incidents retold and have been gracious enough to agree that the story hasn’t strayed so far from the truth as to be pure fiction.

  Of particular interest to me was the time the family spent in Mexico. The circumstances leading to the homesteading for oil, which drew Chad Rush to the country, did occur. The events surrounding Pancho Villa and the revolutionaries actually took place over a period of several years rather than the few months portrayed in the story. Ethan did remember seeing the infamous general who later, as Pancho Villa predicted in the story, was assassinated by his own men.