Orphan Train Tragedy

by Rachel Wesson

  “Kathleen, please. This little town is so small. Nothing ever happens here.”

  “I will talk to your parents and to Lily but in the meantime, you should remember a good education and behaving like a lady will help your case.”

  Meg turned pink. “Did you see me showing Cindy how to climb the tree?”

  “I did. And I reckon you’re lucky Mrs. Willis didn’t see you or your parents would be shocked.”

  Meg’s cheeks grew pinker still. “I know I shouldn’t, but some days I just want to be a boy. They have so much more fun.”

  Kathleen looked at Bridget and had to bite her lip. She didn’t disagree with Meg but now wasn’t the time to tell her.

  Chapter 48

  Kathleen walked along the river, thinking about everything that had happened since she’d had Granny Belbin read her tea leaves. Granny’s predictions had come true, well most of them. She had met the foreign boy and the girl hurt by fire. She had even met the woman and her cat. Mrs. Willis was every bit as bad as Granny had predicted. She was a real thorn in Bridget’s side. Bridget had shared a couple of things Mrs. Willis had done. They included writing to the Bishop and telling him the children weren’t attending a Catholic church. She had also written to various newspapers giving false reports of children being used as slaves on the nearby farms. She had somehow heard of Meg and Eileen’s near disastrous experience and had reframed that to make it sound like Carl and Bridget had knowingly placed the children in harms way.

  Bridget was right to be worried. Mrs. Willis could easily close down the Riverside Springs orphanage before it got a chance to get up and running.

  Screams intruded on her thoughts. They were coming from a wooded area nearby. Without a thought for her safety, she pulled up her skirts and started to run. She heard Pieter telling someone to stay still. She slowed down for fear of making the situation worse. Her niece came bursting through the trees.

  “Mary-Jane, what’s wrong? Why are you screaming?”

  “Aunty Kathleen, Mrs. Willis came at us out of no-where. We didn’t see her, honest. She was about to hit us with her stick when she tripped over something. There’s a wolf.”

  Kathleen couldn’t believe her ears. Wolves didn’t attack, at least not on their own. Was there a pack nearby? She would have heard if they had been attacking farm animals or sheep.

  “Calm down Mary-Jane, you are speaking too fast. Breathe slowly.” She held her niece's hand. The young girl was shaking. Kathleen pulled her close, but the girl couldn’t stop.

  “There’s a wolf. Mrs. Willis is hurt and can’t move. Pieter told me to go for help.”

  Kathleen’s heart stilled as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “Where is Pieter now?”

  “He stayed with Mrs. Willis. She told him to go away. She was really mean, but he just ignored her. He was throwing rocks at the wolf. I have to get help.”

  “Who else was with you?” Kathleen asked, her heart racing so hard she thought it would come through her chest.

  “Some of the boys but they took off at the sight of Mrs. Willis.”

  Hopefully they had gone back to town to get help.

  “Mary-Jane, go to the nearest farm and get help. Tell them to bring guns and get someone to follow with a wagon. Find your mother and get the doctor. Go on now.”

  “But what about you?”

  “I will be fine. Go, run as fast as you can. Good girl.”

  She waited for her niece to take off and then turned back to the woods. Looking around her she picked up a large piece of wood. She couldn’t leave Pieter alone. Nor Mrs. Willis. Especially if she was hurt.

  Chapter 49

  “Ge Weg. Go away. Shoo.”

  Kathleen heard Pieter shouting in German and English. She moved slowly as carefully as possible trying not to make a sound even though she knew it was dumb. Wolves had a highly trained sense of smell and hearing, didn’t they? What did she know?

  Then she saw it. A fierce animal baring its teeth and growling. But not moving. She saw Pieter, standing tall, a stick in his hands. Behind him, Mrs. Willis was on the ground, her eyes stuck on the beast.

  “Pieter, move away slowly.” Kathleen was glad her voice sounded confident even though she was terrified.

  “No.”

  Kathleen looked around but thankfully there were no signs of any other wolves. She glanced at the wolf again, it wasn’t a he but a she and a new mother if she was any judge of animals. The wolf looked a bit like one of the old cats back in the tenement. Maybe her babies were nearby and that was why she was growling. She didn’t look to be starving.

  “Pieter, I will stay with Mrs. Willis. You need to move away.” Kathleen moved closer, the wolf sensing her presence and growling. She didn’t know if she was making the situation worse but she had to get Pieter away from the animal. If the wolf attacked, the little boy wouldn’t stand a chance.

  “Sorry. No leave. Man protect women. Papi say so.” Pieter stood taller. Mrs. Willis whimpered.

  “Mrs. Willis, how badly are you hurt?” Kathleen asked.

  “I think my ankle is twisted but I don’t care about that. Victoria is missing. The boys must have taken her.”

  Victoria? Her cat. The woman was complaining about her cat.

  “Pieter didn’t take Victoria. Animals make him itch. So forget about your cat and see can you get out of that hole. I think the wolf has pups nearby. She’s protecting them.”

  Kathleen hoped Mary-Jane had reached the nearest farm by now. “Pieter, please move back one step.”

  The wolf’s growls grew louder. Her pups must be somewhere behind the boy. Kathleen swallowed the lump in her throat. She had to save the boy. “Pieter, don’t move back. Move toward me.”

  Pieter glanced at her as if he thought she was mad. Maybe she was. By asking the boy to move toward her, he would come closer to the wolf. But hopefully it also meant he would be putting distance between him and the pups. Kathleen prayed she was right.

  “Pieter, move one step. Now another.”

  The boy moved at her command. The wolf kept her teeth bared but didn’t growl as furiously as before.

  Kathleen took off her shawl. She moved closer to Mrs. Willis, all the time keeping her eyes trained on the wolf. “Pieter keep moving. I need you to keep moving. I will go to Mrs. Willis. When you get far enough away, run for help.”

  “I stay.”

  “No. You go. Do what I say.” Kathleen hoped her command would work.

  The boy looked from her to Mrs. Willis and back.

  “I did not take your cat. She is not here.”

  Chapter 50

  Mrs. Willis didn’t acknowledge Pieter’s comment. Kathleen gave her a dirty look but spoke calmly to Pieter.

  “Pieter, I hear someone coming. Move now.”

  Pieter followed her instructions and just as he did, Kathleen pulled him toward her for a quick second and then shoved him behind her.

  “Good boy. Now go slowly until I tell you to run.”

  Tears trickled down his face as he hesitated. Kathleen had to convince him to move. “Pieter, this is what your Papi would want.”

  He nodded slightly before moving slowly backwards away from her. Kathleen turned her attention back to the animal, looking at the wolf more closely. She was hurt – blood running freely from a cut on her back. That was why she hadn’t attacked, she probably knew she was weak.

  “Mrs. Willis. I am coming to help you get out of that hole. Please do not move or say a word. I don’t want to spook the wolf.”

  Mrs. Willis for once did as she was told. Kathleen took another step and another but the wolf had had enough. She bared her teeth and growled a warning. Torn between helping Mrs. Willis and putting them both in more danger, Kathleen hesitated.

  “You stop right there, miss. Don’t move. I got a clear shot.”

  “No!” Kathleen uttered the word before thinking. “Don’t kill her. She’s hurt and has pups nearby. She is only protecting them like any mother would.”r />
  “Listen lady, you can’t treat wild animals like children. Now do as I say and keep still.”

  The shot rang out before Kathleen could argue. The wolf fell to her side.

  Kathleen hurried toward Mrs. Willis who was shrieking with terror.

  “Don’t move please, you will only do more damage to your leg. I’m here.”

  But Mrs. Willis continued to thrash about, her wailing intensifying.

  “I could shoot her too if it would help?” the man suggested.

  Tempting as the suggestion was, Kathleen took the next best action. She swung her palm out and caught Mrs. Willis straight across the face. The sound of the slap rang through the trees. Mrs. Willis fell silent.

  Kathleen glanced at her. “Sorry about that but I had to get your attention. Now let’s see what you did to your leg.”

  Kathleen ignored the woman’s outraged expression and bent to examine the leg. “You’re lucky. I don’t think it is broken although I could be wrong. We will know more once that swelling has gone down.”

  “You struck me.”

  “Yes, and I will do it again in a heartbeat. If you hadn’t accused innocent children of stealing your precious cat, you wouldn’t be lying here. Pieter, that so called unwanted orphan, protected you. That child who has already seen more tragedy than he ever needs to see, could have saved your life today. Did you for one second think of the ten year old boy and how he was feeling? No you didn’t. Did you know he watched his mother and father die in front of him? Yes, he did. And yet he stayed by your side until help came.”

  Mrs. Willis opened her mouth but Kathleen wasn’t done. She continued speaking knowing if she didn’t, she would never tell this woman what she thought of her. “All you can do is scream over a twisted ankle. You selfish old battle axe. You make me sick.”

  Kathleen turned and walked away. She marched past the farmer holding his gun.

  Without looking at him, Kathleen snarled, “If she screams again, shoot her. If she stays silent, someone will be along in a few minutes to take her back to town.”

  “Sure things, missus. Say, you aren’t figuring on settling down around here are ya? Could do with a woman like you.”

  Chapter 51

  Kathleen didn’t answer. She just kept walking taking her anger out on the ground under her feet. How dare that woman put her precious Pieter in danger? Over a mangy old cat.

  She spotted Bridget driving a wagon, coming toward her. Mary-Jane was beside her. There was no sign of Pieter.

  “Kathleen are you all right? Mary-Jane said there was a wolf.”

  “The wolf is dead. Some farmer shot him. Mrs. Willis has a swollen ankle. She needs a lift back to town. Have you seen Pieter?”

  Bridget shook her head. Soon more of the townsfolk arrived. “The doctor is out of town but I brought some bandages and a splint.”

  “Good thinking Angel. Have you seen Pieter?” Kathleen asked her sister in law.

  “Yes. He was heading toward the river. I called out to him but I don’t think he heard me.”

  Kathleen picked up her skirts and started to run in the direction Angel had pointed. The ground was too rough for a wagon to cover.

  “Pieter. Where are you? Pieter?”

  She found him sitting by the river in a world of his own. Moving slowly she made her way to his side.

  “I was looking for you.”

  “You are angry?”

  “No Pieter. I was worried about you. You were very brave.”

  “Not really. I left you and Mrs. Willis.”

  “I told you to do that.” Kathleen moved closer but didn’t touch him. His shoulders were hunched up, his arms crossed with his hands in his armpits. Tears streaked a trail through his dirty face. “Pieter you did very well today.”

  Pieter didn’t look at her. He was staring at some point in the distance over the river.

  “I let Mutter die. Papi pushed me away. I was trying to protect Mutti but Papi, he threw me to the side.”

  “Oh, Pieter darling. You didn’t let your mother die. You couldn’t have stopped that trolley. Your father saved you as he loved you so much. He and your mother wanted a good life for you.” Kathleen wasn’t sure how much Pieter understood. She tried to speak slower. “Your parents came to America to have a good life. To help you have a chance. They saved you. It is a parent’s job to protect their children.”

  Pieter rubbed his arm across his face, cleaning it with his sleeve. Kathleen spotted the blood.

  “Pieter you are hurt. Let me see?”

  She took his hand gently.

  “It is nothing. Just a scratch.”

  Kathleen tore a strip from her petticoat and after wetting it from the river, cleaned his hands. He was full of scratches and his skin had started to redden. He scratched it. “See the farm makes me itch.”

  She smiled at his comment. “The forest, Pieter. Would you like to come back to town? I know there are some very worried people thinking about you.”

  “People worry about me?”

  “Yes, Pieter. You are one of us now. We are your family. All of us. Bridget and her husband Carl want you to live with them just like Kenny does.”

  “They want me?”

  “Of course, they want you. Why wouldn’t they? You made your parents really proud today.”

  “You think they are looking down from up there and can see me?” Pieter gazed up at the sky.

  Kathleen shrugged her shoulders. “I like to believe so. I think my mam and baby sister are up there looking down at me.”

  Pieter smiled. “Yes, they with my Papi and Mutter.”

  Kathleen stood and held out her hand. Pieter took it and she helped pull him to his feet. “Let’s go home.”

  “Mrs. Willis? She is all right?”

  Kathleen didn’t want to think about that woman, but she nodded her head in answer to his question.

  “So, Pieter, how do you think you will like having Angel, I mean Mrs. Collins as your teacher.”

  “I will like very much. She is really handsome.”

  Kathleen burst out laughing causing him to look confused.

  “What? Not handsome?”

  “Men are handsome. Women are pretty or beautiful.”

  “She is like you Miss Kathleen. Very beautiful.”

  Kathleen couldn’t speak for the lump in her throat. She squeezed his hand tightly and then together they made their way back to town.

  Chapter 52

  Kathleen came down the stairs rubbing her wet hair with a towel. She felt better after the hot soak in the tub. Pushing open the door, she wasn’t too surprised to see Bridget, Angel and Bella chatting at the table.

  “Well if it isn’t the woman beater.” Bella’s teasing remark made the others smile but Kathleen caught the wary looks in their eyes. Her family were worried about her, that much was obvious. “Before you ask, Pieter is fast asleep in bed. He had a bath and a hot meal and then Angel read him a story. He is sleeping like a baby.”

  “Good. He was really brave today.”

  “You were too Kathleen, but hitting Mrs. Willis?” Bella raised her eyebrows.

  “She had it coming. I was nice. I didn’t let the farmer shoot her.”

  “Yes, the farmer. He wants to propose marriage. I told him you were already taken but he suggested you leave Richard in New York and settle down with him. You made quite the impression, Kathleen.” Bridget smiled at her, but Kathleen didn’t feel like smiling. She was starting to regret hitting Mrs. Willis. What if her sister and this wonderful community ended up in more trouble?

  She glanced up at her friends, “I suppose I should go and apologize to Mrs. Willis.”

  “For what? Knocking some sense into her? From what I hear, she could have got herself and young Pieter killed. You did us all a favor. Seems she has given up all thoughts of a life in the country. She is going back to live in New York. Brooklyn.” Angel grinned. “So, she won’t be too close to you.”

  “If she did come near, I think
Lily might send her packing. Can’t see her taking kindly to any woman who talks about her orphans the way Mrs. Willis does.”

  “I don’t know Bridget, I reckon Lily might see her as a challenge. For all we know she could turn Mrs. Willis into the best fund raiser the sanctuary has ever seen.” Bella glanced at Kathleen. “What do you think?”

  “I think if I never hear that woman’s name again, it will be too soon. Who names their cat after a dead queen of England anyway?”

  “Lord above knows. All I can say is thank goodness she is leaving Riverside Springs.” Bridget held her hands on her hips. “This town isn’t big enough for both of us. Now she is gone, we can get back to planning our big dance in honor of my very special sister.”

  Chapter 53

  The night of the dance arrived. Kathleen, as guest of honor, was told to arrive last as the children and other residents wanted to surprise her. She’d made Mia a pretty dress and was amazed when the child said she wanted to go to the party.

  “Cindy says it's for you and you have been so nice, so I have to go.”

  Kathleen smiled at the young girl. ‘Cindy says’ was an almost constant refrain now. The two girls had grown closer than most sisters with Cindy being very protective of Mia.

  “You don’t have to Mia, if you don’t want to,” Kathleen told her. “You can stay home here. I can stay with you. Nobody will mind.”

  “Yes, they will. They said you are the main guest. I want to come. But I won’t dance.”

  Kathleen didn’t argue. When Mia saw the other children having fun, maybe she would change her mind.

  They walked into the decorated barn together. It was unrecognizable as a barn, apart from the mild scent of horses. There were ribbons and banners and seating areas set up with the band playing on a type of stage. Kathleen was pleased to see there were a couple of baskets for donations for the orphanage. People from all around came to barn dances so it might be a good time to collect some money toward the Riverside Springs Orphanage. A few people came up to shake her hand and thank her for the fact Mrs. Willis had left town. Kathleen didn’t like feeling she had chased the other woman away but when Geoff Rees congratulated her, she decided it was a good thing.