Orphan Train Romance 1 - 5 (17 page)

When they returned to the ranch it was late afternoon, and Clinton suggested Lydia go ahead to the house, that he would care for her horse.  She accepted his offer and walked to the house.  The boys had stayed in the barn with Clinton and Lydia decided she had some time to do some quilting before dinner would be ready.

When she entered the kitchen to make sure her help was not needed, Mrs.  Young greeted her, and handed her a thick letter. 

“This was delivered from town a few hours ago,” she explained.  “It looks like it is from the investigator you hired.”  Mrs. Young was aware of their plans to find the boys’ aunt.

Lydia held the letter in her hands and sat down on a kitchen chair.  “He must have some information about their aunt.  I better let Clinton know.” However, she did not get up right away.  Mrs. Young sat down beside her and grasped her hand. 

“I know this is hard for you, but you are doing the right thing,” Mrs. Young said softly.  “It is good to get the truth.   Their aunt cannot legally take the boys from you, not when she voluntarily gave them up.”  Lydia nodded and the two women sat together for some time in silence.  Eventually, Mrs. Young stood to make her some tea, and Lydia sipped it gratefully, enjoying the strong flavor of a mix of peppermint and other herbs that they grew in their gardens. 

“Thank you for the tea,” Lydia finally said as she got up from the chair with the envelope in her hand and headed outside towards the barn.  When she arrived, she found Clinton easily with Joseph and James.  They had just finished taking care of the last horse and she waited until she knew Clinton was done, keeping the envelope behind her back.  She wanted to talk to Clinton about it privately, before they gave Joseph the information that they would learn.

Clinton turned and saw her.  He greeted her with a smile, but the smile faded as he saw her expression.  “Is something wrong, dear?” he asked.

She shook her head.  “I have something to show you privately.”  She showed him the envelope, being careful to make sure that the boys did not see it.  She could tell he immediately knew what it was.

“Joseph, why don’t you and James go check on those puppies,” Clinton suggested.  “I think they might be old enough to take one or two of them and play with them on the porch in the shade.”  Joseph liked that idea and soon both boys had a small puppy in their arms and where heading towards the house.

“Mrs. Young gave this to me.  She said it was delivered this afternoon.”  She handed him the envelope.  He took it and guided her to his office.  They both sat down and he opened the letter.  He read it quickly, and then reread it, taking his time.  It was all Lydia could do to not snatch the letter from him and read it herself.  She stood up and started to pace, trying to be patient.

Clinton sighed.  “I don’t know if this is good news or not.”  He stopped her as she passed him in her pacing and pulled her down beside him. 

“What did he say?” she questioned, finally losing patience.  “Did he find their aunt?”

“He says he went to the orphanage the boys had been staying at.  He was able to verify their story.  Their father did die in a factory accident and their mother died after the birth of their sister.  Their aunt who was caring for them when their father died did give up her rights to them, but not for the reason that Joseph thought.”

“The orphanage was able to give him the address to their aunt and he paid her a visit.   Evidently, she had been engaged to be married, and that was the main reason why she gave up the boys.   Her new husband did not want to raise another man’s sons.   Their aunt was able to convince him to allow her to keep the baby, but now things have changed.”

For a moment, Clinton stopped talking and glanced through the letter again. 

“What has changed?” Lydia knew that if their aunt was married, she would not want to move to Texas.

Clinton sighed.  “She is expecting their first child.   Her husband is insisting she give up Lizzy.”  Clinton turned to Lydia and grasped her hand.  “Lydia, when her husband heard that we hired an investigator to find the boys’ sister, he insisted that she be sent to us or if we don’t want her, that she be taken to the orphanage.”

Lydia could not believe what she was hearing.   How could someone be so heartless, that he would insist on his own wife giving up her own kin?  From what Lydia understood, the boys’ aunt had probably raised this girl since birth.

“We only have a few days to decide, dear,” Lydia heard Clinton say through her thoughts.

“Of course we want her,” Lydia stated very firmly.   “I am just trying to understand…”

“I know.   I am trying to do the same.”  Clinton folded the papers and placed them back in the envelope.

“The letter is actually written in two parts, almost as if Mr. Quinn wrote the first part, intending to mail it, but then he received more information and included it at the last minute.

“In the second part, the investigator informed me that he has talked to Mr. Carver from the orphanage and they are willing to arrange for Lizzy to be brought to a town close to Maple Grove because they are bringing another group of orphans next month.”
 

“I am surprised he found her so quickly.  I thought it would take much longer than this,” Lydia commented.

“I will immediately send another letter and let him and the orphanage know we will take the boys’ sister.   If they can get her close to Maple Grove, that would be great.   We can travel to get her.   Mr. Quinn just needs to let us know when they are planning on coming.”

Lydia sat in silence for a while, thinking about everything she had just learned.  If she was newly married to a man who was insisting she give up her niece and nephews, would she do it?  She knew immediately that she would not, but she also reminded herself that they really did not know all the circumstances, and she tried not to judge the boys’ aunt or the decisions she had made.   Maybe she had had a difficult time caring for all three children.   Maybe her new husband was not able to find a good job to pay for all their expenses.   They may never know all the reasons why their aunt made the choices she did.  

Almost a month had passed since Clinton sent the second letter off to Mr. Quinn. One morning, Lydia and Clinton decided to spend the day in Maple Grove with the boys.  Almost every day, all Joseph could talk about was seeing his sister again.  He did not know what they had learned from the first letter because both Lydia and Clinton felt it would be best to wait until they had all the information.  What if their aunt’s husband changed his mind?  Lydia was getting ready to just tell Joseph what they knew.   He was driving them crazy with questions.  Clinton still felt it was best to wait until they knew all the information about his sister.

At breakfast, Lydia and Clinton told the boys they were going to drive to Maple Grove to spend the day.  Both boys were excited for the trip, and for the first time, Joseph did not bring up the subject of his aunt and sister at the meal. 

Soon after breakfast, they were on their way to Maple Grove in the wagon.  Lydia enjoyed hearing the boys chatter about various subjects.  James kept asking if they could stop so he could explore.  Joseph wanted to know if they were going to see some of his friends from the orphanage while they were in town. 

When they finally arrived in Maple Grove, Clinton pulled the wagon in front of the blacksmith shop.  He wanted to look at some tools that the blacksmith had made.   The plan was that Lydia would take the boys to the General Store to purchase some supplies and they would meet at the restaurant in the boarding house in an hour to have some lunch.

Clinton helped Lydia down from the wagon and both boys jumped down from the back.  After making sure she understood the time they were to meet Clinton, Lydia took James’ hand and led him and Joseph towards the general store.

There were quite a few customers in the store when Lydia and the boys entered, which surprised her since usually when she shopped, she would have had the undivided attention of the store keeper’s wife, Mrs. Estelle Davis.  Lydia felt relieved that it was so busy.  She did not feel like dealing with Mrs. Davis’ nosy questions today. 

Lydia helped the boys pick out a few new shirts.  She handed a list of food items that Mrs. Young needed to a young girl, Anna, who was also from the orphanage and who had been adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Davis.  Lydia picked out a few new fabrics for a quilt she was working on for the boys and took her chosen items to the front counter to purchase. 

“Do we have any mail?” she asked Mr. Davis who was behind the counter. 

“Actually something just came for you today,” he said as he turned around to get a letter out of a slot that held the town’s mail against a wall behind the counter.  “It is marked Important, so I was going to send a runner to your ranch this afternoon with it.”

“I’m glad we are here now and you don’t need to do that,” Lydia responded as she accepted the letter.  She quickly glanced at the envelope and saw that it was from New York.  She instantly knew that the letter they were waiting for had arrived. 

“Is that letter about Lizzy?”  Joseph asked as he stood next to her, trying to see the writing on the letter. 

Lydia hesitated, and then decided to be upfront with the child.  “It is.  I will pay for the things we need and then we can go to the boarding house for lunch.  We will let Clinton read the letter and then we will tell you what was written.  Why don’t you get James?  We will leave as soon as we are done here.”

Joseph ran to get his brother from the back of the store.  James had been looking through a box of colorful glass marbles.   Lydia paid for the items she needed and arranged for them to be loaded onto the wagon when Clinton could bring it by.

Soon Lydia was walking along the boardwalk towards the boarding house with Joseph and James.  She saw Clinton standing in front of the building talking to a man she did not recognize. 

“We’ve got a letter!” Joseph shouted as he ran up to Clinton. 

He turned and smiled, but looked at Lydia with a question in his eyes.  She nodded her head, subtly letting him know the letter was from Mr. Quinn.

“Can you read it and let us know what he says?” Joseph wanted to know.  “Did he find our aunt?  What about Lizzy?  Are they going to come to Texas?”

“Hold on, son,” Clinton placed his hand on Joseph’s shoulder to settle him down.  “Let me read it first, and then I will tell you and James what he has found.”

Lydia gestured toward the door of the boarding house.  “Let’s go inside.  Maybe we can find a quiet room to talk about this.”

Clinton agreed and opened the door to let his family inside the cool building.  Miss Sally, one of the sisters who own the boarding house, greeted them.  When Clinton asked for a place for privacy, she led them into a well-kept parlor, agreeing to keep other people out of the room while they talked.

Lydia sat on a sofa next to James and Clinton sat on another sofa across from her with Joseph nearby.  She handed the letter to Clinton.

“Joseph, I need to read this letter on my own first.  You will need to be patient.  I will let you know what it says when I am done,” Clinton instructed the boy.

Joseph looked like he wanted to argue, but he quickly nodded his head and sat back on the sofa, obviously knowing Clinton would not be swayed.  They sat quietly while Clinton opened the letter and started to read.  The only sounds Lydia could hear was a clock ticking and James’ feet swinging back and forth against the sofa.  The letter had a number of pages and Lydia wished she could look at the pages Clinton had already read, but she knew she needed to be patient along with the boys.

Soon, Clinton set the pages down.  “This letter does have information about your aunt,” Clinton said as he looked at Lydia.  She knew he would tell the boys all they knew.

“The man we hired is named Mr. Bill Quinn.  He went to the orphanage you lived at and was able to find out where your aunt is living.”

“Did he see Lizzy?“ Joseph immediately questioned.  “Is my sister okay?”

Lydia leaned closer to Joseph.  “Clinton will explain everything to you, but you need to allow him to talk.  You can ask questions when he is finished, okay?”

Joseph nodded his head and closed his mouth tightly, as if he was going to do his best not to open it again.

“Mr. Quinn was able to find your aunt and he found out the reason why she gave you two up.   Did you know your aunt had gotten married?”  Clinton asked.

Joseph nodded.   “Yea, she was seeing someone when pa was alive.   I don’t think pa liked him too much.”

Clinton continued.   “Well, she must have married him and he was the one who insisted you both go to the orphanage.  At first he agreed that your aunt could keep your sister, but Mr. Quinn found out that your aunt is now expecting a child and her new husband doesn’t want to keep your sister either.”

Lydia could tell what Clinton said was making Joseph angry and he was trying not to cry.   

“Why didn’t he want us?” he asked trying to understand.

“Some men feel that they can only raise their own children,” Lydia tried to explain, although she was trying to understand herself.

“What’s going to happen to Lizzy then?” James asked.

“I think we should adopt her too, like we did you boys,” Clinton suggested.  “What do you think of that?” 

“Really?” Joseph questioned, as if he could not believe what he was hearing.   “You would want another child?”

Lydia leaned forward to try to explain their position.   “I don’t know if you can understand this, Joseph, but I want to try to explain something to you.

“I am not able to have children.  When Clinton and I realized we would never have our own, we decided we wanted to share our lives with children who don’t have a family.   That is why we adopted you and James.   We would like to add to our family and adopt your sister.  We will never be like your own mother and father, and we don’t want to try to take their places, but maybe we can form a new family.   You did not have parents.   We did not have children.  We now have adopted you both, but we have enough room in our home and in our hearts for your sister.   Don’t you think we can help each other?”

Joseph started to smile as he listened to Lydia.   He stood up and stood before her.   “I’d like you to adopt my sister.” 

Lydia stood up and, for the first time, Joseph accepted a hug from her.