by Jody Hedlund
“I’ve lied, cheated, stolen—”
“None of it matters,” Elise said fiercely. “All that matters is you.”
“We’ve been searching for you for so long,” Marianne said from beside Elise, openly crying. Elise didn’t know when her sister had climbed down from the wagon, but she was grateful for her steady presence and support. “And now that we’ve found you, we only want you to know how much we love you. That’s all.”
Another sob broke from Sophie’s lips. Reinhold pressed a kiss against her head. She leaned into him as though gathering courage and strength from his love. Then she straightened and broke from his embrace. She took a small, shaky step toward them, her eyes shadowed with uncertainty.
Elise had no uncertainty, no doubts, no reason to hold back. This was the moment she’d prayed for, the one she’d begged God to give her. And she wasn’t going to let it slip away. In three long strides she reached Sophie, wrapped her arms around her, and hugged her with every ounce of love and strength she possessed.
“Oh, Liebchen,” she whispered into Sophie’s ear. “Oh, how I’ve missed you.”
Sophie held herself stiffly for only a moment before sagging against Elise, her chest rising and falling with the intensity of her sobs. In an instant, Marianne was there too, wrapping her arms around both of them, her tears a sprinkling of love, relief, and joy.
Elise held on to both her sisters, never wanting to let go and whispering silent prayers of gratitude for God’s presence in their midst. They’d each had to take different journeys in their search for Him. Their paths had been marked with their own unique trials and difficulties.
But He’d led them gently and lovingly, never letting go, finally bringing them to this place. Elise suspected this reunion wasn’t the final destination, that they’d have many hard steps ahead yet to travel. But for now, she’d cherish this haven, this rest, this togetherness.
Chapter 27
At the screech of train wheels, Sophie pressed a hand over her stomach to quell her nerves and to ease the churning that had grown more frequent in recent days. She stared out the train window to the fallow fields covered with a dusting of snow, the dark loam a stark contrast with the pure white. The first buildings and storage bins loomed closer as the train slowed.
“How are you doing?” Reinhold’s low voice rumbled near her ear.
She shifted to face him, his dark eyes watching her with concern. His face was freshly shaven, his jaw smooth, his muscles rigid. In his best shirt, vest, and coat, he was entirely too handsome. The gold chain from his new watch hung out of his pocket. He’d thrown his father’s old broken watch into the flames one evening. Not long after, she’d surprised him with a new one. Having wealthy sisters had its advantages, especially since they were more than willing to loan her money.
Although Reinhold was handsome in his patched and worn garments, with the soil and dust of the fields grooved into his skin, she appreciated the way he cleaned up.
She glanced at the children on the bench across from them—to Nicholas and Olivia, who had their faces pressed against the glass in anticipation of their stop. She peeked across the aisle to where Silke and Verina sat quietly reading books, which Marianne and Elise constantly supplied them.
The children were occupied, which meant only one thing . . .
“Kiss me,” she whispered, leaning in to Reinhold and hungrily capturing his mouth with hers.
He just as hungrily obliged, his mouth fusing with hers for just an instant before she broke away.
She slipped a hand underneath his coat to his heart. His responding rapid thud told her he felt the same way she did, that he’d be waiting for the chance to get her alone sometime today—as he usually did—and kiss her longer.
“There’s the depot!” Olivia called out.
“Look, look!” Nicholas cried.
Reinhold bent in toward her ear. “I love you, Mrs. Weiss.”
She smiled. She loved hearing him whisper her name. Before she could whisper the endearment back, he slid his hand underneath her coat and splayed his fingers on her waist.
“I want to tell them,” he whispered.
“Don’t you think it’s too soon?” She placed her hand on top of his.
“Don’t you think they’ll be expecting it?” he said with a mischievous grin.
From the first moment she’d seen Elise and Marianne that day two months ago in the farmyard, she and Reinhold hadn’t been able to hide their love for each other. At least Elise and Marianne had known from the start how things stood between her and Reinhold.
That day had been truly memorable in every way. Not only had it been a beautiful start to her marriage with Reinhold, but she’d also regained her family—all of her family, including Nicholas and Elise and Marianne.
Of course, Mr. Ramsey had ridden out the next day after hearing rumors of what his wife had done. He’d attacked Reinhold and demanded that he return Nicholas.
Someone had apparently alerted Reverend Poole of Mr. Ramsey’s mission to regain the child. Since the reverend had still been in the area doing follow-up visits, he’d arrived at their farm in time to see Mr. Ramsey beating Reinhold. Even though Reinhold had wanted to strike back, he’d refrained.
The sheriff arrested Mr. Ramsey and locked him in jail for a week. Not long after his release, he sold his house, packed up his family, and moved away.
Sophie had been relieved to know he’d given up his fight to keep Nicholas and that he’d no longer be a threat. Marianne and Drew had also used their connections with the Children’s Aid Society to speed up the adoption process so that she and Reinhold could legally make Nicholas and Olivia theirs.
“What does the sign say, Mommy?” Nicholas asked.
Mommy. Sophie liked the sound of it and shared a secretive smile with Reinhold.
During the first few days after Mrs. Ramsey had delivered Nicholas, he’d grieved in his own childlike way for the woman he’d grown to care about, the one he’d called Mommy. Sophie had assured him that she would be his new mommy, that he could call her that now if he wanted to. And he had. Sometimes she even caught Olivia using the term.
Maybe one day in the future, they’d no longer notice the cracks in the pieces of their life that God had put back together. Maybe the hurts and bad memories of the past year would fade away so they would see the whole masterpiece of all God had accomplished.
Sophie glanced out the window toward the train depot. “It says Quincy.”
“After Uncle Thornton Quincy?” Olivia asked.
“Yes, after your uncle.” Sophie peered outside at the town Thornton and Elise had helped to build. Beyond the depot, Main Street was a busy thoroughfare with buildings up and down both sides, along with businesses spilling over into neighboring streets. It was hard to believe the town had been hardly more than the depot and a few meager structures just two years ago when Elise had first arrived.
Sophie had been eager to hear all about Elise and Marianne’s adventures. They’d stayed in Mayfield, making introductions, catching up, and spending time together before Elise and Marianne had taken their leave—Elise and Thornton traveling to Quincy, and Marianne and Drew returning to New York City.
When Elise invited them all to travel to Quincy for Christmas, Sophie had shaken her head in trepidation. Even though her sisters had assured her of their love and forgiveness numerous times, she still feared their rejection. What if they’d changed their minds about her after they had time to think about all she’d revealed to them regarding her years of survival on the streets?
Finally, Reinhold had been the one to make the decision to go. With the corn harvested and husked, with the pig butchered, and the new smokehouse filled with dried venison and fish that Jakob had provided, Reinhold told her the farm could get along without them for a few days.
He’d insisted on making the trip even though he was in the midst of building an addition to their home with the lumber Thornton and Elise had given them as a wedding presen
t. He’d made arrangements for Fergus and Alastair Duff to stay on and take care of the livestock. But then Jakob had declined going along and offered to look after the farm even though Sophie had wanted to include him, wanted him to feel a part of their new family. Jakob said he was content at home with his new schoolbooks, now going to school with the other children whenever he could be spared.
With the harvest in and the farm under Jakob’s watchful care, they had nothing stopping them from going to Quincy, not even the train fare. Since Thornton was part owner of the Illinois Central, he’d told them they could ride on it for free whenever they wanted.
Only Sophie’s insecurity was holding her back.
“Look, look!” Nicholas shouted, his finger pointed against the window, his eyes wide, his face beginning to lose some of its baby chubbiness.
Sophie turned her attention again to the depot, and realized people were congregating on the train platform. Bundled in heavy coats and scarves and hats, they were laughing and smiling and waving.
“What does it say, Mommy?” Nicholas asked again.
“It says Quincy, Liebchen.”
“No, the other sign.”
Sophie followed the direction of his gaze to a sign that a young couple was holding. It read, Welcome to Quincy, Sophie and Reinhold! A curly red-haired woman held one side of it, and Sophie recognized her pretty freckled face immediately. Fanny, the Irishwoman who’d bullied Elise and Marianne at the Seventh Street Mission, but who, according to Elise, was now Quincy’s premier seamstress and engaged to the town doctor. Sophie guessed that the good-looking man holding the opposite side of the sign was the doctor.
Sophie’s heart expanded at the sight of her family. Elise and Thornton stood together, their baby girl sheltered against Thornton’s broad chest. Sophie’s eyes teared at the sight of her niece, Sophie, her namesake. Elise had named her firstborn daughter after her. The thought never failed to amaze her, the realization that Elise had never stopped loving her, even though she hadn’t deserved it.
Next to Elise and Thornton stood Marianne and Drew with several of the orphans they’d apparently brought with them on this trip. The orphans were giggling and jumping up and down and thriving in the excitement, and Sophie prayed they would find good homes like the Duffs offered, where they would be loved and accepted for who they were. The moment Drew had laid eyes on her in Mayfield, he’d recognized her from that time on the train. It was only after Marianne had given him a long kiss that he finally stopped berating himself for not pursuing Sophie further.
The stationmaster in his crisp uniform was holding the hand of a redheaded boy. A petite woman with graying hair stood on the opposite side of the boy, holding his other hand. She beamed down at her son, clearly delighted in him.
There were others standing on the platform too, likely friends of Elise and Thornton, along with co-workers of Reinhold when he’d worked in Quincy doing construction. The sight of so many cheerful, welcoming faces brought the sting of tears to Sophie’s eyes.
“Are you ready?” Reinhold asked, his voice and eyes brimming with emotion.
She stood next to him and wiped her tears away. Then she intertwined her fingers with his and moved into the aisle. “I’m ready.”
As she started toward the door with her husband at her side, her children trailing, and her family waiting outside, Sophie hoped her mother and father could see them from heaven and know that they were still together even though God had taken them each their separate ways.
She’d never expected to end up here at this moment. But God had worked out the details more perfectly than she ever could have imagined.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20–21
Author’s Note
Thank you for finishing the ride with me in this last book of my ORPHAN TRAIN series. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Sophie, the third Neumann sister, a little better in this story. And I hope you were as happy as I was that Reinhold Weiss finally got his well-deserved happily-ever-after. They both carried lots of heavy baggage during their journeys—the guilt of past sins and mistakes. And they had to learn how to let go of the weight so that God could help them move forward into the newness of the life He had planned for them.
In casting Sophie Neumann as an orphan, it was my hope to give readers a glimpse into what the orphan train movement was like from the point of view of the children who participated in it, showing a variety of ages, situations, and experiences. As I mentioned in previous novels, the Children’s Aid Society (CAS), started by Charles Loring Brace, was the major placing organization of orphans in New York City from its inception in 1853 well into the twentieth century.
In 1859, during the time of Searching for You, the agency was still very much in its infancy. Well-meaning people like Brace saw the deplorable conditions under which orphans in New York lived, and they longed to make a difference in the children’s lives. While their practices and philosophies might not necessarily align with how we choose to do things today, for the most part their efforts stemmed from the desire to improve conditions for the thousands of orphans living in both orphanages and on the streets.
In his well-researched book Orphan Trains, author Stephen O’Connor paints a vivid picture of what life was like for orphans in the nineteenth century in the immigrant slums of New York. He says that between twenty to thirty percent of children became orphans before the age of fifteen. That’s roughly one in four children. A large number of children were considered “half orphans” because they’d lost one parent, and the other wasn’t capable of providing for them adequately. If extended relatives couldn’t help, the orphans ended up in asylums or living out on the street, taking care of themselves. Asylums, like the Infants Hospital on Randall’s Island, typically lost around seventy percent of the children who went to live there due to unsanitary and overcrowded conditions.
It was in this climate that the Children’s Aid Society hoped to make a difference in the lives of children through what was called its Emigration Plan. Similar to the indenture system that had been used since the founding of the nation, the Emigration Plan sought to reform poor children by placing them in respectable homes, where they might be influenced by godly Christian parents. In exchange for a home and basic necessities, the children were expected to contribute to the families. Brace idealized country families, believing that the best homes were found in rural areas. He said, “The cultivators of the soil in America are our most solid and intelligent class.” Thus the Emigration Plan worked relentlessly to take children away from the “evil vices” of the city and place them in the more wholesome influences of the country.
Of course, the placements weren’t always as ideal as the Children’s Aid Society hoped. I attempted to portray a variety of types of placement, giving light to both the positive and negative situations the children faced. During my research, I found numerous stories of real children who rode the trains, were adopted into loving families, and grew up to appreciate their new homes and lives. I also read just as many tragic stories of children who didn’t fare well, who were placed in multiple homes, were abused, and struggled to find fulfillment for the rest of their lives.
By giving Sophie, Olivia, Nicholas, and Anna happy endings, it’s not my intention to trivialize the heartache that many orphans experienced. But I do hope that you have gained a greater awareness of just how difficult a time the nineteenth century was for so many of our nation’s children. I also hope that you gained an appreciation for the many families who opened their homes and hearts to homeless children. May their example inspire us to do likewise.
It was also my prayer in writing this story to help you—wherever you are in your journey—learn to let go of your burdens and guilt, to hand them over to the One who is waiting to bear the weight for you. He can take your br
okenness and your messes and shape them into something beautiful and unique and unexpected—if you just let Him.
Jody Hedlund is the award-winning author of multiple novels, including the BEACONS OF HOPE series as well as Captured by Love, Rebellious Heart, and A Noble Groom. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Taylor University and a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, both in social work. Jody lives in Michigan with her husband and five children. Learn more at JodyHedlund.com.
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