Rory's Promise (10 page)

T
HE CONDUCTOR C
AM
E INTO THEIR C
A
R TWICE.
M
ISS Worthington made her rounds too, clutching a handful of tickets and counting the kids in a halfhearted manner. Every time there was any danger of Rory's discovery, Brigid was able to warn her in time and she hid on the floor under Brigid's feet.

Rory passed the long hours watching the scenery change outside the window. Fields as far as the eye could see were planted with … Rory wasn't sure what. Workers in some of the fields were gathering large golden stalks. Could that be corn? When there weren't fields or small towns, there were trees turning all shades of gold and red and orange. She had thought Central Park was big, but now she knew that her eyes hadn't been wide enough or tall enough to see a real forest. The world kept getting bigger. Rory pinched her arm to remind herself that she was still exactly the same size.

Sometimes another train would come rushing toward
them, faster and faster as though it was going to smash into them. But at the last minute, Rory saw the train was always on another track altogether.

Once, Brigid shook Rory awake to see an outcropping that had words painted on it. “They've even got wall writing out here,” she said.

Rubbing her eyes, Rory said, “You didn't have to wake me up.” But she understood. It was reassuring to find similarities between here and home: rotten kids everywhere were painting their thoughts in places carefully chosen to irritate grown-ups.

“Look at that!” Rory said as they slowed to pass through a station. Another train was there, its engine stopped under a water tank. A sluice was pouring water into the engine. “It's like feeding a baby,” Rory said with a giggle.

Brigid gave Rory a sidelong glance. “If you say so. You're the expert on babies.”

Big clouds of steam billowed out, hiding the train's engineer in his little compartment. The girls burst out laughing. “This baby expert never saw a kid do that!” Rory said.

As the sky began to darken, Miss Worthington had Jack and another boy distribute sandwiches. Brigid tore hers in half and handed it to Rory. This time Rory was hungry enough to accept.

“Thanks,” Rory said, tucking into it. “It's not that bad.”

“Anything is good when you're hungry,” Brigid said.

“When I go back to the nuns I'll bring you some food,” Rory promised, talking around the stale bread and mustard
in her mouth.

R
ory was half asleep when the conductor announced, “Philadelphia is the next stop! Philadelphia is next.”

Rory and Brigid peered through the window. The train clicked slowly through block after block of city.

“It's big,” whispered Brigid.

Rory spoke past the nervous lump in her throat. “Yeah, it's almost as big as New York. But remember, New York is the greatest city on earth.”

“And so far, the only city either of us has ever been to,” Brigid answered back.

At Philadelphia's station the train stopped inside a great glass-roofed building alongside many other trains. Rory pulled the window down and winced at all the noise outside. There were more horses and carriages than cars, but just as many people as in Exchange Place. Philadelphia was the final destination for many passengers and there were whistles for porters. Passengers got on and off the train, some because it was journey's end, but others just to stretch their legs.

Rory's fingers gripped the window's edges tightly. What was she thinking, throwing Vi and herself into the huge world? She was an idiot to think she could control anything out here. She should have stayed at the Foundling and hid Violet until Sister Anna left with the others. Yes, that would have worked. How was it that she only thought of this now when it was too late?

“I'm going out,” Jack said, interrupting her thoughts.

“We're not supposed to,” Brigid warned.

“Nobody tells me what to do!” Jack said. But he didn't make it as far as the door before Miss Worthington stopped him.

“All of you are supposed to stay on the train at all times,” she said. “It's more than my job is worth if I let you leave, even for a minute.”

Rory ducked down under the window sash when she saw Sister Eileen walk toward her car with a change purse. Giving Sister Eileen enough time to pass by, Rory poked her head up. She watched Sister Eileen bargain with a vendor to buy fresh fruit from a cart. She also called to another vendor with cans of fresh milk to follow her back to the last car. Fresh fruit and milk. Rory had to speak sternly to her stomach to keep it from growling. When she did return to the Sisters, she would eat well. All at once, Rory felt better. Her plan had gotten them this far; she and Violet would be fine. Better than fine.

“Does Sister Eileen look tired to you?” she asked Brigid.

Brigid nodded. “Exhausted.” They both giggled.

Suddenly Sister Eileen began yelling. Rory stuck her head out the window to see what had attracted the young novice's attention. A flock of women, nuns in black habits and nurses in white, were running across the platform. She leaned out farther to see what they were chasing. It was a child. A child with red hair and a determined expression.

“Rory, you can't let them see you!” Brigid urged.

“It's Violet!” Rory said to Brigid over her shoulder. “She got off the train somehow.”

“Rory! I want Rory!” Violet screamed. Sister Eileen dropped her groceries and ran after her. Violet dodged the Sister's arms, darting under a stopped wagon. “Rory!”

Sister Eileen didn't hesitate. She fell to her hands and knees and crawled after Violet while the other adults surrounded the wagon.

Without thinking, Rory started to head for the door. “I'm coming, Vi!”

Brigid hauled her back to the seat. “Are you nuts?” Brigid asked. “Have you come this far to give yourself away now?”

Rory stopped struggling. Brigid was right. She held up her hands and Brigid let her go, watching her with suspicion. Rory returned to the window and peeked out. The nuns had managed to corral Violet. A vision of a wild bronco being captured popped into Rory's mind. She'd read Violet a story in
Wild West Weekly
where a horse had to be cornered like this. Violet had apparently taken it to heart.

The nuns passed her window carrying Vi, who kicked and writhed in their arms. In a voice grown hoarse from screaming, she called, “I want my sister!”

“What's happening?” Brigid asked, watching Rory warily.

“She's back in the train,” Rory said, slowly closing the window and sinking back down to the seat. She pinned her arms against her stomach trying to stop shaking. “She was scared. I should never have left her alone for so long. She
thinks I abandoned her.”

“You didn't have a choice, did you?” Brigid asked. “She's a kid. She'll get over it.”

“No!” Rory sat up and glared at Brigid. “Violet never has to suffer. I'm here to make certain she doesn't. I have to go to her.” Rory calculated how far they were from New York and how difficult it would be to send her home. Too difficult, she decided. “As soon as the train leaves the station, I'm finding Sister Anna.”

It took Rory a moment before she noticed the disappointment on Brigid's face. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” Brigid said. Tears glistened in her eyes and she rubbed them with the back of her hand. “I got something in my eye.” She got up and stomped off to the water bucket. While she was gone, Rory figured it out.

Brigid didn't return until the train had left the city and entered the dark countryside. She slouched in her seat, not meeting Rory's eyes.

“I'll miss you too,” Rory said, staring straight ahead.

“Who said anything about missing anybody?” Brigid said. “I've never needed anybody and I don't need you.”

Rory punched Brigid in the shoulder. “Don't be maudlin. I'm only going to the end of the train. This isn't goodbye.”

With a deep sniff, Brigid said, “Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.”

“I'll see you later. I promise,” Rory said, getting up and walking toward the end of the car. She glanced back and saw Brigid staring out the window.

Rory entered the first-class car and then a car filled with stout men smoking cigars and drinking strong spirits. Rory held her nose and tried to open the far door to get to the Foundling car, but it didn't budge.

Rory leaned against the door and thought hard. The only thing between her and Violet was a single locked door. Now that she was so close, Rory couldn't let another minute pass without holding Violet. Maybe Jack knew how to pick a lock? Some street kids did pick locks. Maybe she should just knock? But then she might lose the element of surprise, which she thought would be to her advantage. Rory was afraid she would need every advantage she could get when she faced Sister Anna.

The conductor, the same one who had thrown her off the train, entered the car from the other door. Without thinking, she ducked behind a seat. But as she cowered on the floor, she thought better of hiding. Why not let him help her? He owed her for the humiliating way he had treated her. She stood up, dusted off her skirt, and planted herself in front of him.

He stared at her in surprise. “You!” he said. “How did you get here?”

“I snuck on,” Rory told him, without a trace of apology.

“You won't stay on for long,” he threatened. “At the next stop …”

“Thank goodness,” Rory said. “I was afraid you were going to bring me back to the Foundling Sisters. They'd
punish me something fierce for hitching a ride on the train.” The conductor smiled, but not a nice smile. “On second thought,” he said, “perhaps I was too hasty. You're the Foundling's problem; they should take care of you.”

Rory blinked to force tears to her eyes and let her lower lip tremble. “Oh please, mister, not the nuns!”

The conductor twisted her arm behind her back and frog-marched her to the locked door. He pulled a keychain from his belt and opened it. They had to cross the narrow gap between cars and Rory made the mistake of looking down at the tracks rushing beneath her feet. Her stomach heaved. The train went over an iron bridge and Rory could see a river running below. She froze, her eyes fixed on the river's sharp rocks. The conductor laughed.

“I don't think you have the stomach for train travel, little girl, if this scares you. Wait until your car gets all the way to Arizona. There's only one track out there. High in the mountains, the train goes up a track that a goat'd be afraid of. You won't be so bold then!” He pushed her toward the final car.

For a moment, Rory could see the Foundling group before they were aware of her. Sister Anna was standing in the aisle between the cushioned seats, her back to Rory. Her bonnet was askew, something Rory had never seen in all her time at the Foundling. Beyond Sister Anna was a sight that made Rory laugh: fifty-seven children were climbing over the seats and rolling on the floor. The nurses and Sister Eileen were slumped onto seats as though they didn't have the strength to
stand. When the conductor opened the door, a loud whoosh echoed through the car. It almost, but not quite, was louder than the sound of Sister Anna shouting at the children to sit still.

Violet came running and hurled her body into Rory's arms. “It's about time!”

S
ISTER
A
NNA TURNED SLOWLY.
H
ER EYES BULGED EVER SO slightly when she saw Rory.

Rory stepped into the middle of the car, her eyes fixed on Sister Anna's face. Violet slid out of Rory's arms and wrapped herself around Rory's leg like a vine choking a tree. Resting one hand on Violet's shoulder, Rory gently dragged Violet as if Vi were a wooden leg.

Suddenly the din in the train car faded away, as the rest of the children sensed something important was happening. The only sound was the train wheels rattling and spinning on the tracks. Sixty-three pairs of eyes were focused on her as she moved forward. Rory only walked fifteen feet, but the journey felt far longer than the distance she had already traveled from the Foundling.

Little William shouted, “Hey, it's Rory!”

Sister Eileen shushed him and watched Sister Anna nervously.

Sister Anna looked almost like her usual self, except for the set jaw. Step by step, Rory waited for some sort of sign, a clue as to what Sister Anna might say or do. Finally she stopped in front of Sister Anna and waited. After a long moment of silence, Rory realized that Sister Anna was waiting for her to speak.

“Hello, Sister Anna.”

Her eyes dark with an emotion Rory couldn't quite identify, Sister Anna said, “Rory.”

“I couldn't let Violet go alone. So I came too.” There it was. Her confession and her explanation. It was up to Sister Anna now.

“And what about the children you were responsible for back at the Foundling?” Sister Anna asked. “Did you just abandon them?”

Rory pinned her arms against her stomach. Sister Anna was right: Rory had thought only of Violet and left the little ones without so much as a goodbye. What kind of person could do that?

“You lied to me!” Sister Anna said suddenly, as though the words couldn't stay inside her any longer. Now Rory recognized the look. It was betrayal. Her own face had looked the same when Sister Anna had disclosed her plans for Violet.

Rory sucked her cheeks in to keep from crying. Had Rory pushed Sister Anna away for good? “Violet's my family. It was wrong of you to take her away,” Rory cried. “And it was wrong of you to try and make me like it!”

Sister Anna spoke past lips tight with anger, “You have to
go back to New York.”

Violet lifted her face from Rory's skirt and shrieked. “No! Rory can't go away again!” Violet clung even tighter to Rory's legs and began to sob.

Rory's heart was thudding louder than the steel wheels on the train tracks. She had come too far to be sent back now. Somehow she had to convince Sister Anna to let her stay. She said, “I'll just run away again. And then I'd have to get to Arizona on my own.” Rory didn't want to sound like she was threatening Sister Anna; she was just saying the truth.

“Nevertheless, you don't belong on this train,” Sister Anna said. “At the next city we stop at, I'll make arrangements to send you home.”

“I don't have a home. I'm an orphan!”

“You always have a home at the Foundling,” Sister Anna said in a clipped voice that discouraged argument.

Rory ignored the warning signs and barged ahead. “Like Violet does? How about the other fifty-six?” Before Rory could say anything else, she saw Mr. Swayne coming up the aisle. His suit had tiny, dirty handprints all over the trouser legs. He coughed to get Sister Anna's attention.

She turned around. “Yes, Mr. Swayne?”

“With all due respect, Sister, it won't be easy to send her back. I don't have money in my budget to be buying extra tickets. And how will I find someone reliable in a strange city to escort her?”

Sister Anna stepped backward so she could see both Rory and Mr. Swayne. “We pay you to make the traveling
arrangements. It's absolutely necessary that she returns to New York. Immediately.” Her voice was granite hard.

“Sister?” Sister Eileen stood up from the seat where she had collapsed. Her face looked exhausted. Her complexion was pale. “Excuse me for interrupting. But as you know, Rory has a wonderful way with the little ones. They listen to her. And goodness knows we could use an extra pair of hands.”

Rory schooled her face not to show satisfaction. She knew she'd been right from the start—none of these grownups had ever tried to take care of so many kids for so long. They needed her help. If only Sister Anna's anger and injured pride wouldn't keep her from doing the sensible thing.

“Sister, if we let Rory stay, we're rewarding her disobedience.” Sister Anna was implacable. “It would be a terrible example to the other children at the Foundling.”

Sister Eileen took a deep breath. It was no easy thing to challenge Sister Anna. “Sister Anna,” she said, “I don't wish to speak out of turn, but those other children aren't here. Rory can help us take care of these little ones, and isn't that our first concern?” After a moment, the words burst from her throat, “Six more days with fifty-seven children—I don't know if we can survive it!”

Mr. Swayne added, “We'll bring the girl back from Arizona. If she travels with us, there's no need to buy her a ticket.”

Sister Anna's severe look traveled from Sister Eileen, over the exhausted nurses, and rested on Rory. There was a long pause. Finally she spoke: “You think you've won a battle, but
if I let you stay, Rory, you'll have to work harder than you ever have in your life.”

Rory nodded, though not too eagerly. “I will, Sister, gladly.”

Someone in the car sighed loudly in relief.

Violet looked up at Rory. “You're staying?” she asked.

Rory nodded. Violet bounced on her toes, grinning. She glanced at the other kids. “I got my sister back!”

Sister Anna waited until Violet had calmed down. Then she said for Rory's ears only, “You can accompany us to Arizona and settle Violet with her new family. Then you return to the Foundling with us.” She grabbed Rory's chin to make certain that she understood.

“Yes, Sister,” Rory said dutifully.

As soon as Sister Anna's back was turned, Rory knelt on the floor to give Violet all the love she'd missed for the past two days. To her surprise, Violet held her at arm's length. Looking older than her five years, Violet whispered, “Are you going back to New York without me?”

Rory's slow smile was reflected on Violet's face. “Fat chance, Vi! You can't get rid of me that easily!”