“Like I said, Miss Rivers and Mr. Estes are leaving the day after tomorrow for a two-day trip. Once they drive off, we’ll wait a short while and then we’ll head out.”
“How you gonna afford train tickets for all of us?” Daniel asked.
Sarah explained about her inheritance. “I’m gonna take my money out of Miss River’s desk. It’s mine so nobody can accuse me of stealing it.”
“What about all the other kids here? Are we gonna take them with us?”
“I’m sorry, Jonathan. I can’t afford to take everybody. The four of us have become special friends, and I really don’t want to leave you guys behind.” Sarah swallowed hard. “I’m sure Miss Rivers will find homes for everyone else. She’s already found a home for William Mathers. They’re taking him to his new parents on this trip.”
Daniel looked up. “You ain’t gonna leave all the little kids alone when we leave, are you?”
“No, I’m going to have a message delivered to Miss Carson when we leave. It’ll ask her to come take charge until Miss Rivers returns. She knows I’m old enough to leave whenever I want so she won’t’ be suspicious. And I don’t think she knows the faces of the children well enough to know that some are missing. We’ll just let the others think you’ve all found homes.” Sarah let her gaze go briefly to each boy. “Are you guys with me?”
All three boys nodded vigorously.
“Okay, then I want you to go through those boxes over there.” She pointed to a stack of boxes in the corner of the attic. “Each of you find a dress or skirt and blouse that fits. There should be plenty of bonnets as well. You should look for something that goes all the way to the ground if possible, and make sure the bonnets cover all of your hair. You have to look like girls at a glance.
Daniel grinned. “We won’t let you down, Miss Sarah.”
“All of you need to stop thinking of me as Miss Sarah. If you’re supposed to be my little brothers you’ll need to be calling me by my first name when we finally settle somewhere.”
“You mean you want us to call you Sarah?” asked Zeke.
“Uh, no, that won’t work.” Sarah thought for a moment and then smiled. “Once we leave here I’m going to be Samuel. You think you guys can remember to call me Samuel?”
Zeke giggled. “If it gits us outa here, we’ll call you the Easter Bunny.”
“Shhhh.” Sarah tried to stifle their laughter. “After you find some female clothes, I want you to pack up any personal items you want to take with us. Put your things in pillowcases and leave them here so we can get to them quickly. Does anybody have any questions?”
Daniel glanced at Zeke, and then at Jonathan. “Nope, we’re ready to get out of here, Samuel.” His solemn expression turned into a giggle.
Zeke crawled toward the boxes. “Should we look for some pants big enough for you, Sarah?”
“No, I’ve already looked and there’s nothing there that would work.”
“What are you gonna do?” asked Daniel.
“Tomorrow’s laundry day for Mr. Estes. He always drops off his things for me to wash and iron. He won’t be expecting them back until next week.”
Jonathan’s eyes got big as saucers. “You mean you’re gonna steal his clothes?”
Sarah fidgeted, and felt a flush move up her neck. “Not steal, Jonathan. I’m gonna take enough of his clothes to get us on the train and I’ll leave money in his laundry basket to pay for what I take.”
“Guess that’ll be okay, then.” He moved to help Zeke go through the boxes.
Daniel laid his hand on Sarah’s arm. “We are sure beholden to you for taking us with you, Miss Sarah. I want you to know I’ll do everything I can to protect you and the boys.”
Sarah blinked back tears and patted Daniel’s hand. “We’re gonna be fine, Daniel. This is gonna be good for all of us, you’ll see.” Sarah bit her lip as Daniel went to help the others sort through the clothes. She’d do whatever it took to make sure these children were protected and had a home of their own.
* * * *
Sarah put all her strength behind the knife, trying to pry open Miss River’s desk drawer. Suddenly, the sound of cracking wood filled the room, as the drawer broke open. “With the wood busted up like this it won’t take her long to figure out the money’s missing.” She placed the bent knife on the top of the desk. “I just hope the money’s still here and she didn’t take it with her.”
She pulled the drawer open slowly and peered inside. A small box sat on top of a couple of file folders and a leather-bound ledger. She pulled everything out and set it on top of the desk. The first name on the ledger, William Mathers, caught her eye.
“What’s that, Sarah?” Zeke tried to peer over her shoulder.
“It looks like some kind of record of the adoptions, but it doesn’t make sense.”
“Why, what does it say?” Daniel moved to her other side.
“It’s got the name of the child, along with addresses, and dollar amounts.” She looked up at Daniel. “There shouldn’t be any money involved. There’re no fees for adopting an orphan, at least none that I know of.” She glanced back at the ledger. “What are these?” She pulled several envelopes from under the ledger pages.
“Looks like a letter, Miss Sarah. Open it up and see what it says.” Zeke positively bounced in place from excitement.
Sarah pulled a letter from the envelope and looked at the name of the sender, then matched it up with a name on the journal. “It’s from the people that adopted William.” There’s a forty dollar entry beside the couple’s name on the journal. “Maybe that’s what it cost for them to adopt him.” Curious to know more, she read the letter from the envelope. “Oh, my God, listen to this.” She glanced up at Daniel and then read out loud.
“Dear Miss Rivers,
I’m looking to take on a farmhand and Curtis Minners gave me your name. He says that you will be able to provide what I’m looking for. He’s to be under the age of twelve and over the age of six, healthy with strong bones and teeth. I’m willing to pay up to forty dollars for the right boy, but I need him right away, before the harvest season.”
Daniel snatched the letter from her hand. “You mean that ole biddy sold William to some farmer that wants to make him work in the fields?”
Sarah pulled out another letter and matched that name up to Carrie Wilson’s name. The little girl was adopted a couple of months back. There was a fifty-dollar figure beside the little girl’s name. “This one wanted a housekeeper and babysitter for his home. It says his wife is poorly and can’t take care of their family.”
She went through all the letters and matched each one up to an orphan that once lived at the home. Miss Rivers had made a small fortune selling off children like slaves.
“Was she gonna sell us off to some farmer?” Jonathan asked.
“Don’t worry, Jonathan, nobody is gonna be selling you if I have anything to say about it.” She saw a separate letter, under the journal, and pulled it out. The name didn’t match up to any of the ledger entries. She opened it and read out loud.
“Dear Miss Rivers,
By now you will have received a letter of introduction for me from Mr. Alexander Whitley. He assures me that I can count on your discretion in this matter. I’m in need of a young lady, preferably over the age of fourteen but under the age of eighteen. She should be pretty and innocent in appearance. We’ll pay one hundred dollars for the right girl. Please send me a wire if you have such a person living at your home and I’ll make a trip to St. Louis immediately.”
There was only one girl at the home that fit that description. “Miss Rivers is probably thinking about selling off Rachel Evanston to these people.”
“You mean that girl that came to live here last month?” asked Daniel.
“Yes, she’s fourteen years old and she certainly fits the description of what they’re looking for.”
“What they want a girl for? She ain’t strong enough to do much farm work.”
Sarah cou
ldn’t answer Jonathan’s question. “There’s no way I’m going to leave that girl behind to be sold off like some prime steer. She’s gonna have to come with us.”
“There’re clothes in the church donations that should fit her.” Daniel glanced over at Zeke. “She’s not much bigger than him.”
“I’ll go talk to her when we finish up here.” She prayed silently that she wouldn’t be caught leaving St. Louis with four children that didn’t belong to her.
“Did you find your money, Sarah?” asked Zeke.
She put aside the ledger and opened the box. Her breath caught and for a moment, she felt dizzy. Slowly she lowered her hand and pulled out a thick stack of bank notes.
“Jumping Jehosephat, Sarah, you’re rich.” Jonathan crowded closer and put out his hand to touch the bills.
“What is that?” Daniel pointed to several envelopes left in the bottom of the box.
“Let’s see.” She pulled one out and looked inside. “There’s money in this one.” She kept looking and then sighed. “There’s money in all of them. It’s probably the money from selling off the children.”
“You gonna keep it?” asked Daniel.
“No, the only thing I want is what that New York lawyer said was mine.” She pulled twenty dollars from her money and left it on the desk. “I’m leaving this to pay for the drawer I busted.”
Daniel reached over and picked up the ledger. “You gonna take this so you can prove what they’ve been doing?”
Sarah thought for a moment. “No, it’s better if we don’t take anything that doesn’t belong to us. That ledger could get Miss Rivers and Mr. Estes in a lot of trouble. No telling what they’d do to get it back. If we put it back, below the box like it was before, they might think we didn’t see anything.”
“But won’t they just keep selling off the orphans?” Zeke brushed at the wetness in his eyes.
“I don’t think taking the book is gonna to stop that, Zeke. It’ll be safer for us if we leave it here.” She put everything back in the drawer and pushed it shut. “You guys get cleaned up today. It’ll be awhile before we can bathe again. I talked to the egg delivery man and found out the train won’t leave until the morning so we’ve got one more night to stay here. But I want us out of here at first light. The train leaves pretty early. I’m gonna make up enough biscuits and ham to pack for several days. You just be careful, and don’t be talking about this where anybody can hear. Just get ready so we can leave out first thing.” Sarah started toward the door. She had to go and talk Rachel into coming with them.
* * * *
Sarah glanced over at the boys while she waited for the clerk to prepare her train tickets. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Zeke and Jonathan had both found dark brown and gray dresses to put over their trousers, along with dark brown bonnets that completely covered their hair and tied under their chins. Daniel had not been so fortunate. The only garment they’d found that fit him had been a light pink muslin with tiny yellow flowers. It was slightly big on the twelve-year-old boy, so much so, he had to keep straightening the bodice across his chest. A pale yellow bonnet covered his eyes as well as his hair.
“Here you are, sir.” The clerk behind the counter held out several tickets through the barred window. “This will entitle you to three adult seats and as we discussed, you can double up children two to a seat if they fit. If the train isn’t full, the children are welcome to sit in other seats, but they must relinquish them if the train takes on more passengers. Do you understand?”
Sarah nodded and took the tickets. “My sisters won’t have any problems sharing. They don’t have much weight to them.”
“Are you taking your family on a vacation?”
“No, we’re heading west to meet up with our uncle. He lives out in Indian territory.”
“Goodness, well you be careful young man and watch after those girls.” She smiled and handed Sarah some folded bills. “Here’s your change. You can purchase some box lunches from the conductor if you’ve a mind to. Have a safe trip and good luck in your new life.”
Sarah tipped her hat and mumbled thanks, then hurried over to Rachel and the boys. “Okay, I’ve got the tickets. I only bought three to save money, but you boys can double up in a seat just fine. We’re only riding to the end of the line at Jefferson City, so it won’t be too bad.” She glanced over at Rachel and smiled. “You doing okay?” The girl was dressed similar to Sarah, in boys pants, long-sleeve shirt and a cowboy hat with her hair stuffed up inside. They’d tied a rope around her waist to act as a belt.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” She scratched at her shoulder. “I just wish I could get back into my dress,” she whispered.
Sarah wriggled, and hitched her pants up higher. She had the same problem. The pants she’d taken from Mr. Estes were a bit too large. Luckily, he’d left a belt in his pants when he put them in the laundry pile. The worse part of her transformation was the shirt. To keep from giving herself away she’d had to bind her breasts with a wide strip of sheet so they wouldn’t bounce or stick out. The shirt, being large and baggy, helped to disguise her figure. “I promise you can go back to being Rachel when we find a place to settle.” She reached up and secured the hat on her head. She’d thought about cutting off her long hair to make the illusion complete, but couldn’t go through with it at the last minute.
Daniel moved closer. “Did you send word to Miss Carson?”
“Yes, I paid one of the railroad messengers to take a note to her an hour after the train departs. The children will be fine until then. Two of them are twelve years old, and they often watch out for the younger ones.”
“How much did the tickets cost, Sar, um, Samuel?” asked Daniel.
Sarah chuckled. “It’s costing us a hundred dollars for the three adult seats.”
Rachel brushed at some dirt on the legs of her pants. “How come we’re only going to Jefferson City? What’s there?”
“It’s the end of the line. The railroad doesn’t go any further, yet. From what I’ve heard it’s a fair size town that has a lot of traffic in and out. They have regular stage coaches and wagon trains heading west through there.”
“Are we going to take a stage or a wagon train west?”
“No, Zeke, I’m not really anxious to head out on a wagon train. I’ve heard it’s a pretty hard road and a lot of people don’t survive it.” She herded the children toward the train. “Nope, I got me a plan for when we get to the end of the line.”
Daniel grabbed her arm. “So, tell us what your plan is, please, Samuel!”
Sarah sighed. “Okay, okay. First, when we get to Jefferson City I’m going to rent us a hotel room for one night. Then, I’m going to the local mercantile and buy you all some new clothes. You’re going to go back to being three boys when we get there.” She waited a moment while the children cheered. “Then, I’m gonna buy us a wagon and horses, and supplies and we’ll head west, or even south. We just need to look for a small town that has some land for sale. It don’t have to be much, just enough for a small farm where we can raise a garden and maybe keep some chickens and a milk cow.”
“You really think you can pull that off, Samuel?” asked Rachel. “Have you ever worked on a farm?”
“No, but I don’t see why I can’t learn. It’s not like I’m wanting to grow crops to sell. I just wanna be able to feed us all. Nobody is gonna come looking for us on some small farm in Kansas. Everything is going to work out just fine. We’ve come this far and nobody has a clue who we are.”
“All Aboard!”
“Stay close, guys.” Sarah began leading them toward the train. She turned around to make sure the boys were staying together and collided with a hard body. She turned, already offering an apology. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was…” She looked up into the face of the most handsome man she’d ever seen. He was tall, well over six feet, and muscular with brown hair and eyes. She could feel herself blushing.
“I’m sorry, young man. I wasn�
��t watching where I was going.” He glanced at the children and frowned, then turned back to Sarah. “My name is Isaac West, but you can call me Ike.” He held his hand out and looked at Sarah expectantly.
Reluctantly, Sarah placed her hand in his and shook it vigorously, like she thought a man would. She narrowed her eyes when she caught his slight smirk. “I’m Samuel…” She coughed to hide her hesitation. “Kees, Samuel Kees.”
Ike frowned and stared at the children huddled together. “Samuel, huh? Well, Samuel, are these your kids?”
Sarah tried to move the children further toward the train. “No, these are my sisters and brother. We’re traveling to meet up with our uncle. If you’ll excuse me, I wanna make sure we get on the train and get seats together.
Ike tipped his hat. “Pleasure to meet you, young man. Enjoy your trip. I’m sure I’ll see you around since we’re taking the same train.”
Sarah watched as he strolled toward the ticket counter. Zeke pulled on her arm. “What is it, Zeke?” she whispered.
“Are you okay, Samuel? You’re face is getting mighty red.”
Sarah groaned to herself. “Come on, let’s get aboard and find some seats.
* * * *
Ike stopped and watched through the train’s window as the young boy seated the children on the train. All five of them squeezed into three seats. Something didn’t feel right. There was something off about the boy, but he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Even the kids didn’t seem quite right.
He’d been working as a bounty hunter the past few years, trying to earn enough money to join up with his brother in Big Springs. They’d come west several years back with the idea of starting up a farm together. They’d planned on finding themselves a wife and settling down to raise a family. They’d just started settling in when they got word their Pa was real sick. One of them had to go home to help out their Ma.
Ike had always gotten along better with his Pa, so they decided he would travel home. His brother, Abe, took on the job of sheriff in Big Springs so he could earn money toward their dream while Ike was away. Ike did everything he could, but it hadn’t helped. Their Pa had succumbed to his ailment and passed away not long after he’d arrived. Ike had stayed on and helped his Ma settle in at her brother’s farm. It had cost a lot to get her moved, so he’d had to find a way to earn some more money toward his own dreams.
Martine, Missy - Star Wishes (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 3
