Former orphan train child now grown, Merry Murphy Bird is convinced she can build a successful life operating the boarding house she and her sister purchased. Rescuing three quirky orphans from a current orphan train was irresistible if not quite legal. Merry is determined to give the children a better life than she and her sister endured in Nebraska. Boarder Lawyer Blake Woolf has come to town to take over the practice of his late uncle. Blake was the eldest of ten children and forced to care for them far too often. Now he wants nothing more to do with children.
Excerpt:
Tears burned the back of Merry’s eyelids when she surveyed the children.
The matron lined them up as if they were going on the auction block. Reverend
Jones stood at the church door, as if to bar anyone he thought unfit. Merry had
confidence the kindly preacher would do just that.
Some children wore hopeful expressions, some fearful, some so downtrodden
their eyes were those of old people in young faces, and others looked only at
their feet. Several particularly tugged at Merry’s heartstrings—the ragtags,
the unadoptable. What would happen to them?
Couples from town came forward and chose one or two children. Of course
Fiona and Brent Burchell would be good to the boy they adopted. Gwen and
Marshal Canup also adopted a boy. Lavinia and Dennis Zimmerman chose a girl of
four who Lavinia carried as they left.
Helga and Gustav Swenson had lost their sons to diphtheria last year and
chose two brothers. Sophie and Dieter Mayer had lost two children in the same
epidemic and accepted a girl and a boy. Sophie cried with happiness as they
ushered their new children away.
Merry wasn’t as familiar with the other rural families but she’d heard
nothing bad about them. Hilde and Arvid Larsen had a dairy farm and selected
the two oldest boys. Lena and Jurgen Webber wanted strong boys, but shied away
from the belligerent look on Calvin’s face or the fact that Noah was mute.
Claudia and Steven Bailey chose a girl and a boy.
Elsa and Martin Witt, local ranchers, chose a girl and a boy. Ingrid and
Espen Olsen also chose a girl and a boy. Maybelle and Orville Darnell wanted
two boys.
Merry recorded each couple’s names and the names of the children they
selected. These people were all known to her by reputation if not personally.
She was comfortable believing these children would receive good treatment.
A scrawny little girl whose nametag said Abigail wore a pinafore too
large that drooped off one shoulder and had a torn pocket. Her hair looked as
if it had never been combed. The poor child limped badly, but something was
off.
Merry whispered to Polly, “Notice she changes legs for her limp.”
Abigail hovered around a toddler labeled Tamara. Occasionally, Abigail
brushed against Tamara and the baby would cry.
Polly leaned toward Merry. “I think Abigail pinched the baby to make her
appear disagreeable so they can stay together.”
Merry gazed at the two girls. “Tamara is a pitiful sight. Her nose needs
wiping. Do you suppose she’s old enough to blow her nose?”
Polly pretended to pick something up from the floor in front of the
table. “The baby has red spots everywhere on her exposed skin.”
Merry stood and walked around the table. The spots appeared to be from a
paint crayon. Sorrow and mirth warred inside Merry.
What an ingenious child Abigail was. The poor girl must be frantic
thinking she’d be parted from Tamara. Merry wondered if they were sisters.
A boy whose nametag read Calvin stood with feet braced, arms crossed, and
a stubborn expression locked on his face. His age would be around nine. He
glared as if he dared anyone to adopt him. No one did.
Merry got Abigail’s attention. “You must be tired from standing on your
bad leg while taking care of Tamara. Why don’t you both sit beside me?”
Abigail pulled at a lock of her disheveled hair. “Both of us? You mean
Tammie can stay with me?”
Merry smiled as reassuringly as she could. “Yes, that’s what I mean.”
Abigail picked up Tammie and deposited her at Merry’s feet then promptly
sat beside her so that she and Tammie were obscured by the skirt around the
table.
Merry motioned to the boy. “Calvin, I can see you don’t need anyone to
look after you, but would you help me by standing beside Abigail to make sure
no one bothers her or Tammie?”
He didn’t move for a full minute before he inhaled and released a deep
breath. “S’pose I can.” Slowly, he ambled to stand behind Abigail and Tammie,
as if daring anyone to touch the girls.
Merry wrote the names of the three children on the list and her name as
the person adopting. To mask the fact there was no husband, she wrote her first
name and then sort of scribbled her middle and last name in what she hoped
passed for a husband’s name. Murphy Bird could be a man’s name, couldn’t it?
Beside Merry, Polly whispered, “What are you doing?”
“You know exactly what I’ve done. I am not deserting these children to
chance.”
Polly’s eyes sparked fire. “Neither am I. You can put my name down for
Olive and Noah. You know that no one will adopt a boy who’s mute, at least not
for any decent purpose, and that little girl is ill.”
Polly rose and stepped over to the two she’d chosen. “Olive, Noah, I’d like
you to come live with me.”
Noah stood clasping the girl’s hand, his brown eyes holding suspicion.
Hope sprang into Olive’s eyes as she clung to Noah’s hand. “He don’t
never talk. He’s good to watch out for me and he’s real smart.”
“I’m sure he is. He won’t have to talk at our house unless he wants to.”
Polly took Olive’s free hand and led the two to the table.
The children sat on the floor beside Polly’s chair as Abigail and Tammie
had at the table’s other end. When Polly had reclaimed her place, she leaned
near Merry. “Can we really get away with this?”
“Proceed as if everything is secure and above board. We can do this,
Polly. The matron is busy talking to Vallie and Jessica.” From where the matron
stood, probably only Calvin was in view. “Calvin, perhaps you’d like to rest by
sitting down behind Abigail.
With his gaze focused on the matron, Calvin dropped to the floor and sat
with his legs crossed and his elbows on his knees. Smart boy understood the
need to disappear.
Merry checked her lapel watch. “Ten minutes until time for her to get
back on the train and depart for Fort Worth. We can’t let the children suffer
as we did just because we don’t have husbands.”
Merry carefully stood, avoiding stepping on a child, and took the list to
the matron.
The woman beamed at her. “All the children gone to good homes. Wonderful.
Thank you ladies for your help.”
Vallie and Jessica walked the matron toward the train. The other
volunteers hurried away.
Reverend Zebediah Jones walked Merry to the table she and Polly had used.
“I suppose you think I didn’t notice you acquired a family of your own?”
Merry smiled at the kindly minister. “You also know they’ll each have a
wonderful home with us. We’ll love them as if we’d given birth to them.”
“If I didn’t believe that was true, I would have alerted that matron who
appeared more interested in talking than in doing her job. To be kind, I
suppose traveling with children leaves her starved for adult conversation.”
Polly held her children’s hands. “We have room, plenty of wholesome food,
and a good place for them to live and grow.” She spoke to the children. “Aren’t
you excited?”
Merry picked up Tammie. “Let’s go
to your new home, children. You’re going to love it there.”
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