Orphan Train Escape

by Rachel Wesson

  “I will, Miss Collins. Thank you for everything. I hope you get your family too.”

  Bridget hugged the young man close, thinking how much they had both changed since she’d first dismissed him as a ruffian.

  “I am so glad for you and Elizabeth,” she said softly.

  He grinned and whispered back, “She’ll always be Lizzie to me, but don’t say anything.”

  Then she watched as Jacob walked with a straight back and a look of pride tempered by disbelief to his new family. With a wave of goodbye, the carriage disappeared.

  Chapter 41

  Bridget stared long after the carriage disappeared. She would miss the children but hopefully they would get their happy ever after. She turned toward the train to find Carl standing beside her, the expression on his face grave.

  “Now, Miss Collins, it is time for us to part ways.”

  “Oh, I thought you were traveling on to Green River,” Bridget said.

  “No, that was only in the event we had children left to place,” Mr. Watson told her. “Now, with Jacob gone, I am free to return to New York. I wish to check on the children on my way back, so the sooner I get moving the better.”

  He couldn’t wait to get away from her. He was practically running out of the station.

  “Oh, of course. Well, goodbye then. Thank you,” she said, holding her hand out. She willed it to stop shaking but it didn’t listen.

  He took her hand in his. “It was a pleasure being with you on this trip, Miss Collins. You have a lovely way with children. They all fell in love with you.”

  She looked up at that remark. He seemed about to say something and then the old mask fell down again.

  “Do you need anything?” he asked. “I have already removed my things from the train but have left you the rest of the food. It’s not much, you may need to buy some more.”

  “No thank you. Myself and the children are fine. Liam, Annie say goodbye to Mr. Watson.”

  “Why are you leaving now? I thought you were coming with us?” Liam asked.

  “My job here is done,” Mr. Watson said. “You are the man of the party now. Look after your sisters.”

  “I will.” Liam looked so proud to be called a man.

  “But why are you going? I thought you liked Bridget. You look at her a lot,” Annie said.

  Bridget nearly died. Mr. Watson stammered, trying to reply.

  “Annie Collins will you get on the train please,” Bridget admonished her younger sister.

  “Why are you angry with me? You said I should tell the truth. You look at him the same way.”

  “Annie, now. Liam, take your sister’s hand. Goodbye, Mr. Watson.” Bridget didn’t risk looking at him, and instead, more or less pushed the children onto the train and into their car. Taking their seats on the benches, she glared at Annie who simply stared back at her. Liam moved closer to his sister as if to protect her.

  “I thought she liked him,” Annie said to Liam.

  “She does, but she has to marry the other man,” her brother said.

  “But why can’t she marry Mr. Watson? We would get to keep Scamp.”

  “Shush up, you’ve said enough,” Liam chided his sister who stuck her thumb in her mouth. Bridget didn’t notice, her gaze was stuck on the view from her window although she couldn’t see a thing through her tears.

  Carl Watson watched as the train disappeared, taking Bridget with it. He didn’t know how he stopped himself from jumping back on and telling her how he felt about her. Annie had been right in her assessment of his feelings. Could she have been speaking true of her sister’s feelings as well? It didn’t matter, she was promised to someone else and Carl was not suitable husband material anyway.

  He walked back the short distance to the hotel they had stayed in the previous night securing the room Bridget had slept in. Her lavender fragrance lingered in the room as if taunting him.

  Lying on the bed, his thoughts strayed to his first trip on the orphan train. He’d been ten when his ma died leaving him responsible for his younger brother and sister, alone in New York. The nuns had been quick to send them off to good catholic families on the orphan train. Chrissie had been adopted at the first stop. He had tried to find her numerous times, but nobody seemed to have any record of a six-month-old baby. He and Tim stayed together all the way until they reached the second but last station. There they found a family. That was one name for them. A family where duty mattered above all else. Tim and himself were expected to work all hours in all weathers with little food. Their new parents told them it was their penance for their parent’s sins.

  Eventually they had decided to run away. Tim was ill and needed a doctor. He kept wheezing all the time and working around straw and animals seemed to make him worse. So, one day on their way into town, they had hitched a ride with a stranger on his wagon. Something spooked the horse and the wagon had overturned leaving him with a permanent limp. The stranger and Tim died outright.

  Devastated over his brother’s death, he’d prayed for hours and hours for answers. He was returned to the same family who punished him for running away and blamed him for Tim. He’d tried his best to live up to their expectations, but nothing was ever good enough. Finally, he’d agreed to become a priest because the constant daily starvation and other deprivations became too much.

  He had Father Nelson to thank for rescuing him from the seminary. The man had quickly seen he wasn’t there because of a vocation but because of fear.

  Carl drew his legs up to his chest and, for the first time in what seemed like forever, cried. For Tim, his baby sister Chrissie, his lost childhood, his ma, the other children facing what he had faced, but most of all for the loss of Bridget. She needed a man who was rich enough to take on her two siblings as well as any family they might have together. He only had the pittance he earned as a part-time teacher. She was the one woman he had met who had seen through his cold-hearted exterior and wanted the man he could have been. And he had failed her too.

  Chapter 42

  Three days later

  Annie and Liam ran from one side of the train to the other, looking out the windows.

  “Bridget look, the sky goes on forever. There are no houses. Where do the people live?” Annie asked.

  “They live in houses, stupid. Where do you think they live?” Liam said.

  “Liam called me stupid. Tell him not to, Bridget.”

  “Be quiet both of you, I can’t hear myself think.” Bridget stared out the window, her heart in her mouth. All this land with no people on it. It was so different from what they had left behind in New York. She prayed the life ahead of them was better than the one they’d left behind.

  “When will we be there? I’m hungry and fed up of the train,” Liam asked.

  “Just a little bit longer,” Bridget said. “Now why don’t you sit down, and I will tell you a story.”

  She’d told them so many stories since they had first started out, she was running out of ideas.

  “Why don’t I tell them a story and you close your eyes and rest. You look worn out,” another passenger offered.

  Bridget looked over at the woman who had offered. “Thank you, ma’am, but I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “Oh, I would love to. I love children, but God, well he didn’t bless us that way. Please. I would like to. My name is Caroline Rees, and this is my husband, Philip.”

  Bridget looked into her kind face, her eyes shining brightly back at her.

  “Liam, Annie, this lovely lady is going to tell you a story while I get some sleep. Be nice for Mrs. Rees.”

  Liam and Annie turned their full attention to the other lady. Bridget hoped they would behave.

  “What sort of story?” Liam asked. “Can you tell us about cowboys and Indians?”

  “I tell you what young man. Why don’t you come over here and I’ll tell you about cowboys and my wife can tell your sister about girl’s stuff. Would that be satisfactory?”

  “Oh yes, sir. Ca
n you tell me about Indians too? I heard they are really scary and they want to kill us white folk.”

  Bridget was about to reprimand him, but the man got in first.

  “Now who has been filling your head with that nonsense? The Indians don’t want to kill us. They just want to keep their way of life and we, the whites as you called us, have been so doggone stupid we haven’t listened. Often, we left them no choice but to defend what was theirs. Someday maybe we can all live in peace. The Indians can teach us a lot of things.”

  “Like what?” Liam’s expression suggested there was nothing the Indians could teach him, but the man didn’t take any heed.

  “Like how to survive in the wilderness. They only kill what they need to eat. They do not believe in waste. They can show you how to find food even when you think there is none. Their women can weave bowls from reeds to carry water, they can build shelter and provide nourishment to their families. There are countless things we could learn.”

  “I wish they could show us how to get food on the train. I’m starving,” Liam said, his eyes wider than usual.

  “Liam,” Bridget remonstrated but her brother just looked at her.

  “What? I’m hungry.” As if to illustrate his point, the child’s stomach growled loudly.

  “Mrs. Rees has a picnic basket packed with some delicious food. How about you all join us for lunch?”

  “Sure, mister,” Liam responded just before Bridget got a chance to speak.

  “Thank you very much,” Bridget said. “You’re very kind but we will be fine. We will eat when we reach our destination.”

  “Aw Bridget, that’s miles away and my stomach hurts now.”

  “Please Bridget, if you don’t mind me using your Christian name. My husband is correct, we have plenty of food.”

  “Thank you very much Mrs. Rees,” Bridget said, giving in to the couple’s kindness. “Liam and Annie say thank you and don’t be greedy.”

  “Thank you,” Liam said. “Do you have cake?”

  Bridget sighed. Liam was incorrigible but at least Annie stayed quiet, her eyes taking in everything. Bridget closed her eyes even though she was tempted to stay awake in case some food came her way. But it wasn’t fair trying to make the couple’s food stretch to three more people.

  “Do the Indians eat grass?” Liam asked as he munched away on a sandwich.

  “No, child, but they do eat berries, nuts, fruit, and other produce of the land. They can fish too. Why old Red Charlie, he was the best fisherman you ever did come across.”

  “You mean you met a real Indian? Liam asked. “Weren’t you scared?”

  “Of Red Charlie?” Mr. Rees balked. “Not at all, child. He saved our lives a long time ago. If you’re going to live in this State, you have to learn that everyone is equal in the eyes of God.”

  Bridget could feel herself falling asleep despite wanting to hear the rest of the man’s story. She slept for ages, only opening her eyes when the whistle blew, announcing a station.

  “Oh my, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to sleep so long,” she apologized, wiping her face as she did so.

  “Your children were wonderful. They kept myself and my husband amused. You are so lucky to have them,” Mrs. Rees said.

  “She isn’t our mam, she’s our sister,” Liam said. “Our mam died, and our brothers got—”

  “That’s enough,” Bridget interrupted. “You don’t need to tell your life story to everyone.”

  “I’m not. I didn’t tell them you’re going to marry a man you’ve never met.”

  Bridget didn’t know where to look. She opted for the window as her cheeks flamed. She could have killed Liam in that second. But to her astonishment, the lady moved to the seat beside her and took her hand.

  “Don’t be embarrassed dear. We all have stories to tell. The child didn’t mean it. Children are honest, they talk straight from the heart.”

  “I just…it sounds so awful, Mrs. Rees. Going all this way to marry a stranger,” Bridget admitted.

  “You won’t be the first, or the last to do that dear. I will pray your husband to be is a decent man. He must be to take on the children, no matter how lovely they are.”

  Bridget looked over the woman’s shoulder, but it was too late. The woman gave her a shrewd look.

  “He doesn’t know about them, does he?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t lie. I just didn’t get a chance to write him back when I knew the children were coming too. I just couldn’t leave them to the orphan train. I know many children move all over the place in those trains but not my sister and brother. They are so young, and I promised my mam I would keep them safe and together. I just…”

  “Shush, dear,” Mrs. Rees said. “Haven’t you been through a horrible time. But what if this man cannot afford to take on two children as well as a new wife? What will you do then?

  “I don’t know. Father Nelson said the Reverend who visits Riverside Springs is a friend of his. I shall turn to him.”

  “Reverend Franklin,” the woman nodded. “He is such a dear man. Rather elderly to be moving between parishes, but he won’t listen to reason.”

  Bridget didn’t respond. The lady seemed lost in her memories.

  “Three children I have buried on the ranch. I refuse to leave them now, but I worry about the future. It can be so lonely at times.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Bridget murmured.

  “Thank you. It was a long time ago, yet it feels like yesterday,” Mrs. Rees said. “None of our boys reached one year of age. It was God’s will.”

  Bridget saw the woman’s gaze land on Annie who was drawing quietly on some newspaper.

  “Maybe this is also God’s will, meeting you and the children like this. We don’t live far from Riverside Springs. We shall make a point of coming to church on the Sunday after we return. We have plans to stay with friends for the next month in Green River. Geoff has business to attend to, and I can catch up with my friends.”

  “It would be nice to see a friendly face,” Bridget said.

  “The next station is where we all get off. You will have to take the stagecoach on to Riverside Springs. Look after yourself and the children. I hope the man you have come to marry will be everything you wish for.”

  “Thank you,” Bridget replied automatically. What did she wish for? Someone who would provide her and the children with a home. That wasn’t asking for much was it?

  Chapter 43

  Brian paced back and forth on the street. The stagecoach was late. Not that it was unusual, but still, it wasn’t helping with his nerves. What would she be like? He wasn’t sure Riverside Springs would hold a lot of attraction for a city girl. And what about him? He had washed up and was wearing his best clothes, but he still looked and felt like a cowboy. Not some city slicker with fancy clothes and a full wallet. He didn’t even have a family to offer her, not with him being an orphan.

  He stopped his line of thinking, knowing he was just being silly. If she wanted all that, she wouldn’t be coming to Wyoming as a mail order bride.

  Bridget answered the children’s questions automatically as her heart beat faster with every movement of the stagecoach. They were getting closer to meeting her soon-to-be husband. How would he look and act? What would he think of a bride who brought two children with her? Would he be kind? What age would he be?

  “Riverside Springs coming up ahead,” the driver called out.

  Bridget rubbed her hands in her skirt and pushed her hair back from her face.

  “Is my face clean?” she asked.

  “Sure,” Liam replied, not even looking in her direction.

  “You look pretty,” Annie said, snuggling even closer. It was almost as if the child sensed something big was happening even if she didn’t completely understand the specifics of it.

  The stagecoach came to a stop. Bridget didn’t want to look out the window. The door opened, and a man asked if she would like a hand down.

  She looked up his
arm and into his face. Her breath stilled. He was smiling, not only with his mouth but his eyes too. He wasn’t old and toothless as she had feared.

  “Good afternoon, Miss Collins? I’m Brian Curran.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Curran,” she said.

  “Children, where are your parents? Surely you didn’t travel on the stagecoach alone?” he asked Liam and Annie.

  “No, they didn’t,” Bridget answered for them, finding her voice. “They came with me.”

  She couldn’t drag her eyes from his face even as his eyes closed, and his mouth drew into a thin line. It was obvious he wasn’t happy, but he wouldn’t be cruel enough to send them away, would he?

  Chapter 44

  His bride had brought young children with her. What was he going to do? He didn’t have the money to support a family. Not at the moment, and perhaps never. He looked away from the beseeching look in Bridget’s eyes. How could he tell her they couldn’t stay? Would she leave too? He had only just met her, but he knew he didn’t want her to go.

  “I’m very sorry, Mr. Curran. I didn’t know what else to do. They were talking about sending them on the orphan train. You may not be familiar—”

  “I know about orphan trains,” he said.

  “Then you can understand why I couldn’t do it,” she pleaded. “I promised my mam I would keep us together.”

  “Bridget, don’t let the horrible man send us away. I want to stay with you,” Liam begged her.

  “Liam don’t call people names. It’s not nice.”

  “He’s not being nice. Look at the way he’s looking at us. We can’t smell that bad. The Reeses on the train liked us.”

  “Who?” Brian asked.

  “We met a couple on the train,” Bridget explained. “Mr. and Mrs. Rees. They helped with Annie and Liam while I rested a little. They said they would come to church on Sunday.”

  “I don’t think I know them,” Brian said.