Chapter Nine

The Chosen Ones

Ethan’s attention was suddenly drawn to a disturbance at the front of the church. A girl had grabbed Simon’s arm and was attempting to pull him to his feet. Simon was clinging desperately to the pew. As Ethan raced to the rescue, the girl shouted, “This one’s mine!”

Ethan snatched Simon and jerked him back. “You can’t have him. He’s already been adopted.”

“I don’t see anyone coming to get him.” Glory Hodge looked around the room. “Mama said I could have any one I wanted, and I want him.”

“Well, that’s too bad, because you can’t have him. He’s my brother, and he goes with me.”

“Mama!” Glory screamed and stamped her foot. “Tell this horrid boy that his brother is mine. Make him turn him loose!”

Both Mrs. Hodge and Mr. Glover ran to the scene.

“Of course you shall have him, Glory. What is the problem here, young man?” She glared at Ethan and took hold of Simon’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Charles broke in. “Ethan is right. Simon isn’t available for adoption.”

“What’s he doing up here, then?” Mrs. Hodge’s fancy hat shook with indignation. “These are all orphans, aren’t they? I should think we could have the one we want.”

Mr. Glover gave a quick-witted reply. “Yes, ma’am. You may have your choice, but if you take this one, you must also take his two brothers and sister. They stay together as a family.”

Mrs. Hodge backed away with a gasp. “Four children? Well, I never!”

“We make it a policy not to separate siblings from each other unless it is absolutely necessary. Someone has offered to take these four.”

“Come along, Glory. You’ll just have to play with the children at school.”

Glory stamped her foot again. “But Mama, you promised!”

“I’m not going to adopt a whole orphanage, even for you,” Mrs. Hodge told her daughter. “Come along.”

She swept out of the church with a protesting Glory in tow. Her sister, Edna, followed them, nodding pleasantly to her neighbors as she passed.

Mr. Glover mopped his forehead and escorted the boys back to Matron. Ethan was shaken, but Simon gave voice to other concerns.

“I wish people would stop pulling my arms,” he said.

As the afternoon wore on, several other children were spoken for. Three-year-old Millie went with a young couple. Martin, age twelve, was taken by a kind-looking farmer and his wife. The schoolmaster from a neighboring town chose six-year-old Duane because, he said to Mr. Glover, “The boy has my red hair and my father’s name! How could we leave him here?”

“It looks like young Billy picked his own folks,” Ethan observed to Matron. “He’s still hanging on to that man.”

Matron smiled at the small boy who clung to a farmer’s pant leg as the man talked with his wife.

“It’s up to you,” the woman told him. “He’s already decided that he’s going with you. You’ll have to pry him loose if you don’t take him.”

The man leaned over and took Billy in his arms. There was no question about the outcome. Billy had found a home and a family, and he wasn’t going to let them get away.

Will had fallen asleep on Matron’s lap, so she simply sat with Ethan, watching the various scenes.

Of special interest to Ethan was the tall, thin man who stood apart from the others, apparently just observing, although he nodded and spoke to his neighbors when they looked at him. He had studied each child so carefully that Ethan was curious as to what he might be thinking. This was the man who didn’t like boys, according to Bert. Ethan wasn’t so sure about that. Close up, the man looked sad and worried, but not mean.

“A lot of people are gone,” Ethan said to Matron. “Can I go and sit by Bert for a while?”

“I don’t know why not,” Matron replied. “I think we’ll be going back to the train before long.”

“Lots of folks found kids today,” Bert remarked. “But I still haven’t seen anyone I wanted to take me. Especially not that one.”

As though he had heard Bert’s statement, the man started toward the front of the church.

“Uh-oh.” Bert looked worried.

“Maybe he wants a girl,” Ethan whispered.

Apparently he did not, for the man headed for the boys and stopped in front of Arthur. From where they sat, Bert and Ethan could hear the conversation.

“Well, young man, how old are you?”

“Fourteen, sir.” Arthur straightened his shoulders and looked the man in the eye. “I’m strong, and I ain’t afraid to work.”

“My name is Clayton Jones, and I need a boy to go into business with me,” the man told him. “You would be apprenticed until you’re sixteen, and then if you do well and wish to do so, you may become a partner.”

Arthur’s eyes sparkled. “Really, sir? I ain’t had no schooling, but I can do whatever you show me. What kind of business you got?”

“I’m a mortician.”

This was met with a blank look from Arthur. “A mortician?”

“Yes. I arrange for all the funerals in this part of the country.”

Arthur’s face cleared. “Oh, you take care of stiffs. I know about that. I seen as many dead folks as I have live ones. You just tell me what to do.”

Mr. Jones cleared his throat. “I must tell you that I have never had a boy your age, and I may need some help in learning how to treat a son.”

“Oh, that’s nothin’,” Arthur assured him. “I ain’t never had a pa neither. We can start out together.” He surveyed the room. “I think I can even put a little grub on the table if there ain’t no ma at home.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Mr. Jones told him, “but it won’t be necessary. My sister will take care of us very well. I know she is going to like you as well as I do.”

Arthur came over and poked Riley on the arm. “I got me a home, Rile,” he said joyfully. “This here’s my new pa. Matron was giving it to us straight. You just wait … You’ll get one.”

Bert and Ethan watched in silence as Arthur and Clayton Jones walked out of the church together.

“Now that’s what I’m waiting for,” Bert said finally.

“I don’t think he’s going to dance a jig on the platform,” Ethan returned.

“That’s all right. I just want a pa that fits. That one fits Arthur.”

The day had almost ended, and still, two petite ladies in starched cotton dresses and bonnets sat quietly on the front pew of the church.

“Don’t you think you should go and claim the girls you want before they’re all taken?”

“No, I don’t think so, Sadie,” Julia Thornton replied. “The ones the Lord wants me to have will be there when the crowd is gone. I’ll wait. A few more minutes won’t be anything after waiting forty years.”

“I s’pose so. But have you seen some that take your eye?”

“Well, yes, but I won’t set my heart on them. All these young ones need someone to love them. I’ll be happy with any girl there.”

At that moment Betsy looked up at Julia and smiled at her. Julia beckoned to the little girl, and Betsy came to stand in front of her.

“I saw you smiling and waving when we were on the train,” Betsy said to her. “I told Alice that I’d like you. Alice can’t stay here,” she added sadly. “She has to go with her brothers. Wouldn’t it be nice to have brothers?”

Julia laughed. “How would you like to have seven of them?”

Betsy’s eyes widened. “Seven?”

“That’s how many you’ll have if you come home with me,” Julia replied. “They’ll all look after you and your little sister.”

“I don’t have a sister, ma’am. There’s just me. Does that mean you don’t want me?”

“Oh my, no! That means we’ll choose another little girl. Can you help me pick one?”

“I’ve been helping take care of Kate,” Betsy said. “I like her a lot.”

“Then let’s talk to Mr. Glover, shall we?”

While Betsy’s and Kate’s adoptions were being arranged with the agent, Alice and Betsy hugged each other and cried.

“That’s how I’ll feel when you get adopted,” Ethan told Bert as they watched. “But I probably won’t cry. I don’t think boys do that.”

“They do on the inside,” Bert said. “I know I will.”

“All right, boys and girls,” Matron called. “It’s time to go back to our cars. We’ll have our supper and go to bed early. This has been a long day.”

Sixteen weary children trudged back to the Orphan Train, Ethan and Bert dragging a sleepy Simon between them.

“We’ll miss ol’ Arthur,” Bert said. “I don’t think the man looked quite so sad when they left. Arthur was just what he needed to cheer him up.”

Supper was simple and quick. Before the sky had fully darkened, every child was rolled up in a blanket for the night. No one stirred when the next train west backed into the siding, coupled onto the Orphan Train and the three cars behind it, and chugged noisily away from Liberty.