Orphan Train Disaster

by Rachel Wesson

  “Kathleen, remember you promised to stay with Charlie and the children. I need to speak to Lily alone. Doctor to patient, not friend to friend.”

  “Yes, but --”

  “No buts. I know I’m not qualified yet, but Charlie says Lily may speak to me.”

  Kathleen looked hurt, making Frieda kick herself. “It’s because I went through Slocum, and now this. It's not because she doesn’t love you.”

  “I know that. I just feel I failed her.”

  Frieda felt better after Kathleen snapped. It meant her friend wasn’t wallowing. She knocked on the door and stood back to let Kathleen greet Charlie first. She did her best to hide her shock at his appearance. Not only was he disheveled, but he looked like he hadn’t slept in months.

  “Thank you for coming. Frieda, do you want to go up? It’s the second door at the top of the stairs. Kathleen, the children are playing up. I know they are worried, but they’re driving me to distraction. Can you help me?”

  Frieda knew Kathleen was in good hands, so she made her way upstairs. Hesitating for a second outside Lily’s door, she knocked.

  “Lily, it’s Frieda. Let me in, please.”

  Silence greeted her. What would she do if Lily refused to open the door? She couldn’t kick it down. She tried again, but no reaction. She was about to call for Charlie when she heard the lock click. The door didn’t open, so Frieda turned the handle.

  The room stank. Frieda wrinkled her nostrils, walking over to the window and opening them first before turning to where Lily was lying on the bed, fully dressed.

  “Lily, Charlie asked me to come. He thought you might talk to me.”

  “Nothing to talk about.” Lily turned away, her head facing the wall.

  Frieda walked to the other side of the bed and sat down. “Lily Doherty, you have plenty to say, and don’t deny it. I know you’re hurting and feeling powerless and maybe even scared, but you have people who rely on you. You can't afford to wallow in bed. “

  “I can do what I like.” Lily spat back.

  “No, you can't. You gave that right up when you became a mother. Your children are worried sick. Charlie looks dreadful, almost worse than you do.”

  Lily’s lips curled. For a second Frieda was tempted to laugh and tell Lily she looked like a badly behaved child having a tantrum. Instead, she reached for her friend’s hand.

  “Lily, I know. More than anyone else, I guess, I know what you are feeling. I’ve felt it too. When Sarah Cooper died. She was the 16-year-old from the Bronx who jumped onto the street. I thought she’d make it, but she didn’t. When Johanna died, I was so frustrated I took it out on Patrick. You never stopped to grieve, and your mind just gave up for a while. It forced your body to rest. But you have to come back to us. We need you.”

  “I can’t do anything for anyone.”

  “Yes, you can. You can finish the factory.”

  “I gave that to Gustav to do.”

  “Then you can help your husband. It’s tearing him apart to see you like this. He is hurting too. They have torn asunder his faith in the Justice system. He’s quit his job.”

  Lily sat up a little. “What? But he loves the law. It took him forever to qualify.”

  “Yes, but he’s quit. He says there is no point if money always wins. But it doesn’t Lily. Things are changing. They will change. I don’t know how many more factory fires will happen or how many will die, but they will change. But the women at the sanctuary, the poor of New York, need someone on their side. They need people like you and Charlie. You have to persuade him to come back and fight their cases. Who else will take on a case and get paid in eggs or shoes or blouses?” Frieda knew Charlie often accepted nothing in payment, but she purposely used the more unusual reimbursements to tickle Lily’s sense of humor. “Do you remember when he came back to the Sanctuary covered in chicken poo, carrying that box of cranky birds? The children laughed so hard they were almost sick.”

  Lily smiled, not her usual wide smile, but it was a start.

  “I need you, Lily.”

  Lily met her gaze for the first time.

  “You? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Kathleen. I love her to bits, but she is driving me nuts with the wedding. It’s in two days, Lily and everything is ready, but she isn’t satisfied. She wants us to change the color of the flowers. She thinks pink would go better with Carrie’s dress. You were supposed to be by my side. Patrick can have his mother.” Kathleen had been nothing but kind to her, but Frieda played on her soon to be mother-in-law’s reputation for fussing.

  Lily blinked but looked back at the covers on the bed. “Kathleen is doing that because she loves you, Frieda.”

  “And you don’t?”

  “What?”

  “You are lying here when I’m getting married. I thought you were happy for me and Patrick.”

  “I am, but --”

  “But nothing. We aren’t asking you to march or go on fundraising drives, just to come to our wedding. Is that too much? After everything we’ve been through together?”

  Frieda hated playing on Lily’s guilt, but at this point she was out of options. The next stage was admitting Lily to an asylum, something Frieda wanted to avoid at all costs. Instinctively she knew Lily was in there, she just had to be pulled out of herself. The exhaustion of pushing herself too hard, particularly after the fire had already pushed her right to the edge, but Frieda knew her friend wasn’t insane. Far from it.

  “Lily. Darn it anyway, I need you, and if I have to drag you out of the bed and push you into the bath fully dressed, I’ll do it.”

  Lily glared at her, but Frieda remained firm. “I mean it. I’ll open that door and call down to Kathleen for backup. You know she won't walk away from you even if she has to move in downstairs. So what’s it going to be?”

  Lily let out a sob and then another one. Frieda sat on the bed and dragged her friend close. “Cry it out, Lily. You’ll feel better.”

  “I’m just so tired, Frieda. I’m tired of being strong. I don’t feel strong anymore. I feel nothing. I just want to stay in this bed and sleep.”

  “You need a change of scenery. A time to be Lily Doherty again. Not Lily, who runs the Sanctuary, or even mother of five children. Just Lily.”

  “How can that happen? I don’t have a magic wand.”

  “No, but you have an amazing husband. Lily, Charlie wants to look after you, protect you, love you. Let him. You’ve always been so strong and not needed him.”

  “I need him. I couldn’t live without him.”

  “So let him see that. He wants to take you away on a trip to Europe. Go with him, Kathleen will mind the children, you know she will. Not that the older boys need much minding.”

  “Are you kidding? If I leave, Laurie will get into the first plane he finds.”

  “So let him. If Laurie grew up near Maria, he would be out working. He could even be engaged, married, you could be a grandmother.”

  “Frieda. That’s going too far even for you.”

  Frieda smiled, Lily was fighting back. It was a step in the right direction.

  “I’m tired, Frieda. I can’t explain it. Every bone in my body feels like it is one hundred years old. I just don’t believe I can jump out of bed and be the old Lily.”

  “So invent a new one. Maybe it's time to leave the Sanctuary to Kathleen’s capable hands. Leave the orphan train work to Father Nelson and his friends. Find another cause, start a new chapter of your life, but first take some time to get to know your husband, to enjoy your marriage, and to find joy in life. Go see Las Ramblas in Barcelona, the Louvre in Paris, and the green fields of Ireland. Charlie has his dream trip all planned out. He has for years, if Kathleen is right.”

  “Yes, he’s been talking about it since we got married.” Lily picked at the bedcover.

  “Charlie needs to get away, too. If you can't do it for yourself, do it for him.”

  Frieda stood up. She’d done her bit. It was up to Lily now.

/>   “I get married on Saturday. It would mean the world to me for you to be there. Please, Lily.”

  She walked over to the door. Lily hadn't answered. When she looked back, her friend was staring ahead, deep in thought.

  “Did it work?” Kathleen asked as soon as Frieda came down the stairs.

  “I don’t know. I told her I wanted her at the wedding. I guess we will see.”

  Kathleen looked like she wanted to cry. Frieda said goodbye to Charlie and dragged Kathleen out of the house. The last thing that poor man needed was Kathleen or Frieda sobbing on his shoulder.

  Epilogue

  The Sanctuary, 31st December 1911.

  Frieda paced the floor of her room, trying to even her breathing. Her heart was racing and making her dizzy. A knock on her door admitted Lily.

  “You came.” Frieda moved to embrace her friend, but Lily held her back.

  “You’ll crush your dress. You look incredible, Frieda. So beautiful. Patrick is a lucky man.”

  Ignoring the remark about crushing her dress, Frieda enveloped Lily in a hug. “You came. Thank you.”

  “No, sweetheart, thank you. You are wise beyond your years, Frieda Klunsberg. I spoke to Charlie, and we are going to London with you and Patrick.”

  “You are? That’s wonderful!”

  “Don’t worry, we won’t encroach on your newlywed life. We will head to France and Ireland.” Lily took up a brush. “Do you want me to do your hair?”

  “Yes, please. I can’t get it to sit properly.”

  Lily brushed Frieda’s hair. “Thank you for giving me a dressing down, Frieda. I don’t know what came over me, but whatever it was, it’s getting better. I won’t lie, I still can’t sleep properly, but I can get out of bed. Last night, Laurie made me laugh, and that felt good.”

  Just then Maria interrupted them, “What’s wrong with you two? Second thoughts?”

  “I don’t know, Maria. Nervous, I guess. Were you, when you married Conrad?”

  Maria put a hand over her swelling stomach. “Me, no. Relieved would be the better word. Mama would have had heart failure if we hadn’t got married in a church before this came out.”

  Frieda knew Maria’s mother would have taken forever to give the young couple permission to marry. She couldn’t blame them for jumping the gun, so to speak. She’d been tempted too, if she was honest, but she and Patrick had waited.

  Lily stood back as Maria arranged Frieda’s veil. “I’ll leave you to it. Frieda, see you downstairs.” Lily kissed her on the cheek before she left. Frieda didn’t realize she was staring at the door until Maria poked her.

  “You want to marry Patrick, don’t you?”

  “Yes, more than anything. I’m just not sure about living in London. I will miss New York.”

  “But this is an amazing opportunity for Patrick, and maybe you, too. Didn’t you say you wanted to see the Women’s hospital?”

  “See it, not live beside it,” Freida retorted before taking a seat on her bed. “Maria, what am I going to do without all of you? You are my family, and I will be on the other side of the world.”

  “Don’t you start me off, you know what I am like. I cry at the drop of a hat. I will miss you Frieda, but you and Patrick are meant to be. This is his chance to shine, not as Richard Green’s son, but as a doctor in his own right. You know he would still be in his father’s shadow no matter what hospital he worked at on the East Coast. Richard’s reputation as a burns specialist has only intensified since the fire. Patrick needs to be his own man. In London he can be Dr. Patrick Green. “

  Frieda reached for Maria’s hand. “How did you get so wise?”

  “I don’t know. Something about having friends like you and Lily and Kathleen. And Anne Morgan. Times are changing Frieda. Before this little one is grown, we will have the vote. Women will be equal to men in every way. You just wait and see.”

  “Still my revolutionary friend, aren’t you?”

  Maria shrugged, “Someone has to keep the fight going here while others are off gallivanting. Will you be taking tea at the castle?”

  “I don’t know.” Frieda replied, trying to be serious. “Lily has contacts everywhere. Wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t get an invitation to court.”

  Frieda and Maria were giggling as they acted out being in court when Kathleen and Lily knocked and came in.

  “We came up to see what the delay was. Frieda, you look wonderful. Doesn’t she, Lily?”

  Lily winked at Frieda. Kathleen was fussing, but that was just her way.

  “She does. Fit for a princess.”

  Frieda and Maria exchanged a look, then the giggles hit again.

  At the bemused looks on her friend’s faces, Frieda tried to be mature.

  “We were talking about Lily being presented at court before you two came in. That’s why it’s funny.”

  Lily and Kathleen didn’t get the joke, but it no longer mattered. They heard Charlie shout up the stairs.

  “Miss Klunsberg, I believe I am to escort you somewhere.”

  Charlie had agreed to give Frieda away as Richard was standing in as Patrick’s best man. Frieda stood and let her friends fix her hair again and pull imaginary threads from her dress.

  “I shall really miss you guys.” She said as she hugged them all.

  “You’re stuck with me, darling.” Lily replied.

  Kathleen and Maria hugged. “We will have to keep each other company, Maria, while these two go gallivanting across the pond.”

  Lily threw her eyes up to heaven, “Charlie and I will be back before you know it. We are traveling back on the Titanic. Charlie told me this morning.”

  “On its maiden voyage. That’s so sweet of Charlie. He really wants to make this a vacation you won’t forget, Lily.”

  “More like he knows you will kill him if we don’t stay in London for at least a month. Three months seems extreme though, Kathleen.”

  “You won’t be in London for three months. Charlie wants to take you to Ireland to see where his folks came from. And you will have to tour around England, Scotland, and Wales. You won’t have enough time for all the things you are going to see.”

  Kathleen moved to take Frieda’s arm. “Most of all you will have to make sure my new daughter in law is as happy in London as she can be. I will miss you and Patrick so much, Frieda.”

  “Don’t make Frieda cry. Come on, off you go downstairs. Carrie and Alice are waiting patiently, but Carrie won’t keep her dress clean for long. Leonie will get tired. We will have to be at the church soon or Father Nelson will have a panic attack.”

  Kathleen held her hands up in mock surrender, “Lily, let’s go. Maria, getting married made you bossier than ever.”

  Maria and Frieda exchanged a last hug before they two followed their friends down the stairs and out to the road where the automobiles stood waiting.

  The next book I will release is another orphan tale but this time, the orphans were created by the Nazis. In the late 1930’s, various people and organizations worked hard to get Jewish children and others at risk of deportation and death, to safety. When’s Mummy Coming? tells their story.

  Sneak Peak:

  Many of my beta readers who read the draft for the following book have called it my best book yet. Maybe because I am so passionate about WW2. My book, When’s Mummy Coming, is included for a short time only in a boxset collection launching on May 8th for VE (Victory in Europe) Day. I’ve included an excerpt for you :-)

  When’s Mummy Coming?

  © Rachel Wesson

  LondonGate Publishing

  Blurb

  When’s Mummy Coming

  The War was over but for some it had just begun!

  Growing up in Berlin in the 1930’s, Heinz Beck watches the life he loves disintegrate, soon it become too dangerous to walk the streets. After a spell in Dachau, he reluctantly escapes via the Kindertransport to London, England. With him are his siblings and best friends. And his memory of the tortures he endure
d.

  Newlywed Sally Matthews waves her husband, Derek off to war. Her Rector asks her to open her home to some Jewish children seeking sanctuary in England. She travels to Liverpool Street with the intention of taking one child home, and ends up with three.

  Sally, Heinz and the children must learn to navigate through testing times. England is at war with Germany. Some neighbors believe the children are dangerous aliens who should be locked up for the duration.

  Sally fights to keep her new found family together despite having to deal with losses caused by the war. Together they battle rationing, bombing and at times the unkindness of strangers. When the war is over becomes their mantra. When the war is over, rationing will stop and loved ones will return. The children will reunite with their German families.

  .After five long years, the war is finally over. But can Sally give up the children she has come to love as her own? Have their parents survived? The people of Britain find the end of the war doesn’t bring the hoped for end to their troubles. People must pick up the threads of their pre-war lives but this is easier said than done.

  Prologue

  8th May 1945, Abbeydale, Surrey

  “When’s Mummy coming?”

  Sally Matthews took a deep breath as she gathered the seven-year-old girl up in her arms. With one hand she pushed the child’s blonde hair from her eyes.

  “Liesl, we’ve spoken about this. They have only just announced the war is over.”

  “But she said. She wrote in her letter. She said she would come as soon as the war was over. Then we would go home.” Liesl bit her lip, her brown, tear-filled eyes staring into Sally’s face. Sally’s heart ached. How could she tell this poor child the chances of her mother being able to keep her word were all but nil? She tried to find the words, as the child’s heart fluttered against her chest. What the child said next shocked her.