Circle of Love

by Joan Lowery Nixon

  "Pardon me, sir," she said to the gentleman in the high collar and tightly buttoned suit jacket who sat by the window. "Can you tell me, please, the name of the gentleman who was sharing this seat with you?"

  The man looked surprised, then shrugged. "Didn't pay him much attention," he said. "He got on the train the same stop you did. That's all I know."

  Puzzled, Frances returned to the children. It wasn't likely the man had jumped off the moving train. He'd probably just moved to another car. And he most likely wasn't Seth at all but just another ex-soldier making his way home.

  Eveiy few minutes one of the children would ask, "Will it be long until we get to Springbrook?" or "Are we almost there now?"

  "In a little while," she answered over and over again. "In just a little while."

  Finally it was time to brush hair and straighten jackets.

  Belle smiled shyly. "Miss Kelly, the ribbon you gave me got lost somewhere."

  "Belle loses everything," Jessie piped up.

  "Do not."

  "Do too."

  "We have more ribbons," Frances said. She handed one to Belle, then retied the drooping bow in Daisy's hair.

  Frances glanced over at Aggie. "Would you like a ribbon, Aggie? IVe got a lovely white ribbon that would match the collar on your dress."

  Aggie shook her head angrily. "I don't need a ribbon. Are people going to want me just because Fm wearing a ribbon?"

  "Miss Kelly wants to make your hair look better," Jessie said, "although I don't think anything will help."

  Aggie would have fit into Sheriff Malloy's storm prediction. Her eyebrows dipped in a scowl, and her cheeks turned red.

  Frances put an arm around Aggie's shoulders. As she smoothed Aggie's skirts, she skillfully turned her so that her back was to Jessie. "You look perfectly lovely," she said.

  Aggie's anger hadn't abated. "People aren't supposed to want to adopt me because of what I'm like on the outside. They're supposed to care about what's on the inside. They're supposed to care about me!"

  Frances looked deeply into Aggie's eyes. "You're

  right," she said, "and that's the way you're supposed to care about them.''

  Flustered, Aggie took a step backward. The anger had disappeared, replaced by confusion.

  Maybe I've given her a new direction to think about, Frances thought hopefully.

  The conductpr strode through the car. "Spring-brook, next stop. Springbrook, jfive minutes."

  Frances made sure all their baggage was piled by the door, and as soon as the train stopped, she led the children to the platform.

  As before, a number of people were clustered on the platform, waiting for the children to arrive. A tall, thin woman stepped forward and thrust out her hand. "Miss KeUy? Fm Isabelle Domain, chairman of the placing-out committee," she said. *The train will be here in Springbrook for half an hour, so well do the choosing right here and now on the platform and get the waifs no one wants back on board."

  The waifs no one wants? Frances winced at Mrs. Domain's words and the hardness in her voice, but before she could speak, Mrs. Domain said, "I—that is, we —can vouch for everybody who's cqme to see the children."

  Taken aback by Mrs. Domain's rushed manner, Frances said, "But the children and the potential foster parents must have time to get to know one another."

  "Hummph!" Mrs. Domain said. "The longer things take, the less gets done. Line up the children, please, and introduce them. We'd better get started."

  Frances, realizing she had no other choice, took the children by their hands and placed them with their backs to the train, facing the adults who had gathered.

  Smiling, she rested her hands on the shoulders of George and Earl Babcock. "George and Earl are brothers," she said. *They want very much to be placed together."

  She moved to Harry and his little brother, Adam, who had wrapped his arms around Harry's waist and climg to him in terror. "Hany and Adam are brothers, too, and they're also hoping for a family who'll take both of them."

  She introduced Belle, Daisy, Lucy, Aggie, and Jessie; Jack, Eddie, and Shane; and once again—^although Mrs. Domain fussed impatiently—Frances gave her short speech about the Children's Aid Society and what the foster parents must promise to do in raising the children.

  Frances stood back, allowing the adults to talk with the children. In the shade at one side of the depot, she caught a glimpse of the man she had seen on the train. This time his hat was pulled low to shade his eyes from the sun, so it wasn't possible to see his face. He was watching her, Frances knew. Why? He couldn't be Seth. He was too short, wasn't he? Or did the distance create that illusion? He*s not Seth, she told herself firmly.

  Eddie stood nearby. He had picked up three stones and was unsuccessfully trying to juggle them and smile at the people around him at the same time. "Learned to juggle on the streets of New York, I did," Eddie said. "Maybe you'd Uke to hear me whistle a cheery tune while I juggle."

  A woman who'd stopped to watch him turned to her husband. " 'Fraid this one's a little smart al-eck," she said. "Let's talk to that boy over there."

  Eddie dropped the stones, and as he picked them

  up, Frances said in a low voice, "Eddie, take a look at the man leaning against the depot"

  Eddie straightened and stepped back to look. "What man?" he asked.

  Frances stared at the building. The man who looked like Seth was now outside the door to the depot, where Frances could get a closer look. He definitely wasn't Seth. "Never mind," Frances told Eddie. "I made a mistake." Ready to tend to business, she turned back to the people who had stopped to talk to the children.

  A man and woman came to Frances, leading George and Earl Babcock by the hand. *The boys said they'd like to come with us," the man said, and introduced himself and his wife.

  "They've got four dogs!" Earl exclaimed. "And one of them just had pups! They said one of the pups could be mine!"

  *There'll be a pup for each of you," the woman said, beaming. "They're fine boys," she told Frances.

  "Yes, they are," Frances agreed, but she could see the depths of sorrow in George's eyes. As eldest brother, he had tried to keep his family together. He'd have his brother with him, but he'd always dream of the little sister he might never see again.

  Jack Greer went to a young couple who smiled readily and often, and Daisy Gordon agreed to go with a stout middle-aged couple who told her a happy child brightened a lonely house.

  Frances felt at ease about these placements, but she was concerned about the man who asked for Lucy Griggs. Quiet and solemn-faced, he seemed to be as shy as Lucy.

  Without introducing himself, he blurted out to Lucy, "My wife sent me to bring home a girl to be a

  companion to our own little girl. Would you like to come with me?"

  Frances asked, "Where is your wife? Td like to meet her, Mr. . . ."

  "Snapes. Wilbur Snapes. Mabel couldn't come. She had to stay home to take care of the child."

  "Fm not sure that—" Frances began, but Lucy, tightly clutching her doll, burst into the conversation.

  "They have a little girl!" she said. "I'd have a little sister! This is what I wanted right from the beginning!" She looked up at Mr. Snapes. "What's her name?"

  "Emma," he answered.

  "Emma! That's a lovely name!"

  Mrs. Domain stepped up and nodded to Mr. Snapes. "Morning, Wilbur," she said before she turned to Frances. "The Snapes are good-hearted people. I reconunend them."

  "We usually meet both prospective parents," Frances said, but Mrs. Domain shook her head.

  "Poor Mabel doesn't get out much, what with Emma to care for, but she's a fine, upstanding woman. Did I mention that Wilbur's a deacon in our church?"

  Frances took Lucy aside. "Are you sure you want to live with the Snapeses?" she asked. "You have a choice."

  Lucy's eyes sparkled. "I choose yes. Miss Kelly, I'm going to have a little sister! I'll share my doll with Emma. Maybe she has a doll, too. Maybe Emma will sit on
my lap and I can rock her."

  Frances smiled at Lucy. "All right. We'll give Mr. Snapes the papers to sign."

  Sudden loud voices nearby caused Frances to

  whirl around. Aggie was glowering at the woman who stood before her.

  "Open your mouth, child. Let's have a look at your teeth," the woman ordered.

  "No! I am not a horse!" Aggie snapped.

  The woman's husband scowled at Aggie and took a step toward her "There'll be no talk like that," he growled.

  Aggie looked frightened, but she spoke up. "Don't you dare hit me," she said, "or I'll yell and scream and hit you back."

  Frances hurried to Aggie's side and put a protective arm around her shoulders.

  "There seems to be a problem here," Frances said, but the woman drew her shawl around her shoulders and stomped off in a huff.

  "We don't want the likes of that young savage," her husband said as he followed her.

  "I'm not a young savage," Aggie murmured to Frances. "I'm a person. I'm Aggie. And all I want is to be part of a family until . . ."

  "What do you mean by until?'' Frances asked.

  Aggie's voice was barely a whisper. "My mother left me on the steps of a hospital when I was bom." Defiantly she added, "She had to! She didn't want to leave me!"

  "Of course she didn't," Frances said. She held Aggie's hands.

  "She wrote a note. She pinned it to my blanket. I have it. I found it in my file in Mrs. Marchlander's office, and I took it, because it belongs to me, not her. My mother wrote that she was in temporary distress—those are the exact words. And she wrote that she would come back for me someday."

  "Oh, Aggie, love," Frances said, aching for her.

  "It's been twelve years," Aggie said, "so I don't think she will." Quickly she corrected herself. "Or can. That's it. She probably can't come. But she loved me, so maybe ... My mother loved me, and somebody else will. Won't they?"

  "Of course they will," Frances said. She spoke to three or four yoimg couples, praising Aggie, but they all shook their heads and drifted away.

  Belle Dansing foimd a home with kind, smiling people, and Frances rejoiced. The little girl who had known nothing but life in an orphanage would now have the parents and love she needed so badly.

  Shane Prescott was chosen by people Frances liked immediately. Mrs. Domain gave them high praise.

  But soon the people who had come to see the children just out of curiosity drifted away. There were only a few couples left on the platform. Not nearly enough for the children who hadn't been chosen. Frances looked at the worried young faces and felt heartsick.

  Mrs. Domain pointedly looked at her watch and announced, "It's a few minutes early. Miss Kelly, but you might as well get the rest of the waifs back on the train."

  A young woman bustled up to Frances, a disappointed look on her face. "I'm Annette Sebring," she said. "My husband and I have a farm not far from here. We've been married only four years, and we're doing well, but not well enough to support more than one child."

  She stopped as though waiting for Frances to speak, but Frances was puzzled. "We have a mmiber of children here who haven't been chosen yet," she said.

  "Oh, I know, I know," Mrs. Sebring said "I guess Fm so concerned about my problem that I didn't make myself clear. There's a darling little boy over there named Adam Stowe, and my husband and I have our hearts set on him. But he said he can't leave his brother. My husband and I talked it over, but we don't see how we can manage to support more than one child."

  Frances's heart ached. "Adam and Harry are very close. They've been terribly afraid that they'll be separated."

  "But you do separate children in families, don't you?" Mrs. Sebring pleaded. "We want Adam, and we'll love him with all our hearts."

  "I'll talk to the boys," Frances told her.

  "Make it quick," Mrs. Domain said. *The train will leave in five minutes."

  Frances knelt in front of Adam and took his tear-stained face in her hands. "Adam, love," she said, "Mr. and Mrs. Sebring want you very much. They'U be good parents to you."

  "No," Adam insisted. "I have to stay with Harry."

  Frances looked up at Harry. "You understand, don't you? There's just one more stop. It's going to be very hard, if not impossible, to place you together."

  Harry nodded, but his face was white with fear. Frances could see the struggle within him as he said, "Adam, you have to go."

  "No!"

  "They're nice people. I can tell. You'll have a real mother and father again."

  "I want our own mother and father."

  "You can't. They died. You know that," Harry said.

  Adam buried his head against Harry's chest and sobbed.

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  I

  Harry didn't waver. "YouVe always done everything I told you to, right?" As Adam nodded, Harry went on. "I want you to go with the Sebrings. You'll be happy with them."

  Adam looked up. "But Til never see you again."

  "Yes, you wiU. We'll write to each other, and maybe, when we're bigger ..."

  "I can't write."

  "You'll go to school and learn how. Just remember, someday I'll come and see you. I promise."

  Mrs. Domain leaned out of the open window of the railway car and shouted, "Miss Kelly. I've put the children on board. You have only a few minutes left!"

  Frances stood and held out her hands to Adam and Harry. "Adam, we have to get the papers signed. Harry, say a quick goodbye to your brother and hop aboard the train."

  It took just a few minutes to get the Sebrings' signatures. Frances hadn't realized she'd been crying, too, until Mrs. Sebring handed her a small, lace-trimmed handkerchief.

  "Thank you, thank you, thank you, for our boy," Mrs. Sebring whispered. "We'll make him happy."

  With the help of the conductor, who held out a hand, Frances boarded the train just as it began to move. Quickly she wiped her eyes. Only four children were left in her care: Harry Stowe, Jessie Lester, Aggie Vaughn, and Eddie Marsh. They sat quietly, wrapped in their own blankets of misery and self-doubt. Reddened eyes and streaked faces showed that they'd been crying—except for Aggie, who sat stubbornly, her lower lip pushed out and her arms folded tightly across her chest.

  Aggie had told Frances, "I never cry." Frances wished she could say, "Go ahead and cry. Let all that

  iinhappiness out." But she knew that headstrong Aggie wouldn't listen.

  Bkidie's laugh was wobbly as he said, "I guess there's not much interest out here in the West for a lad from the big city."

  "The right person will come along," Frances said. "It's going to be someone who'll really appreciate all your fine qualities."

  "What fine qualities?" Jessie asked. "I heard someone say that Eddie was a smart aleck."

  "I just tried to make people laugh," Eddie explained.

  Frances patted his hand and smiled. "1 liked your juggling act," she said.

  Aggie slumped in her seat, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her face a small thundercloud. "1 am not going back to Mrs. Marchlander," she muttered.

  "Of course you're not," Frances said. "I'm sure that there's someone in Woodridge who'll choose you and love you."

  "You can't really know for sure," Jessie said. "You're just guessing."

  Aggie scowled at Jessie, then tumeti to Frances. "I'm not going back," she said. "I'll run away first."

  "I'll find a home for you—for all of you," Frances promised. She sighed. From the glum expressions on Aggie's and Jessie's faces, it was obvious that she hadn't been able to in^uence either of them. She hadn't been able to influence Seth. And Johnny? Would she be a failure with Johnny, too?

  Jessie tugged at Frances's arm. "No one's going to want us," she said.

  Frances patted Jessie's cheek and smiled. "Jessie, love, don't always look at the gloomy side," she said. "Each train makes three stops, and children are chosen at each of the stops."

  Jessie looked more mournful than before. "Even the waifs, like us?"r />
  Sighing, Frances said, *That foolish Mrs. Domain was rude and stupid to talk about children in the way she did. Each of you is special and wonderful and deserves a happy home."

  "//* someone chooses us."

  Frances slowly shook her head as her gaze went from Jessica, to Harry, to Aggie, and last to Eddie. "Look at these sad faces," she said. "It's a short ride

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  to Woodridge and your new parents. Td expect you to be excited and impatient."

  Harry lifted a somber, tear-swollen face to Frances. "I don't care what happens to me, now that IVe lost Adam," he said.

  Frances rummaged through her reticule and pulled out a sUp of ps^er. "Here. I've copied down the name and ^dress of the people who took Adam to live with them," she said. "I promised you that Fd give it to you so that you could write to Adam."

  Harry grabbed the paper and stuffed it into his pocket. "But the train keeps pulling us farther and farther apart. I won't be able to see Adam in school, or walk to the Sebrings' farm to visit him, or let him know I'm still around to be his big brother and watch over him."

  "I understand how you feel," Frances said. "I was parted from my brothers and sisters when we rode the train west, but we wrote to each other and stayed close through our love for each other"

  She reached out to hold Harry's hand, but he jerked it away. She didn't blame him for his anger. All the adults who were involved in separating Harry from his little brother had become the enemy. But I had to follow the rules, Frances reminded herself. / couldn't deny a child to the Sebrings and take the chance that someone at the third stop would want two boys.

  Hope shone in Eddie's eyes as he said to Frances, "I've never been a farmer, but I know a pig from a cow, and I'm quick to learn. Tm not afraid of hard work, either. Maybe you could tell 'em that."

  "I'm going to brag about all of you," Frances said.

  Jessie sniffed. "Eddie does enough bragging about himself."

  As the train slowed, Frances straightened a collar, brushed down a jacket, and smoothed back locks of hair. "You all look wonderful," she said.