At the last stop before Hazard, Jamie stood up and walked down to the door to stretch his legs. They’d made multiple stops since Louisville, but generally the train was fast to empty out the people for the stop and pick up new passengers. This time they seemed to be delayed.
Jamie swung down off the train. He would have time to get back on when the conductor called “All aboard.” Right now the conductor was talking to a woman on the platform. Her back was to Jamie, but something about her made him think of Truda Danson. Except two children were clinging to this woman’s skirt. Truda didn’t have children.
“Are you sure this is the last stop before Hazard?” The woman had the little boy’s hand clutched in hers. She not only sounded very concerned, she sounded exactly like Truda Danson.
“Yes, ma’am. No more stops until Hazard.”
“Do you think you could be wrong about where Thomas is supposed to meet his family, Bonnie?” The woman looked down at the girl beside her.
Jamie had heard that everybody had a double somewhere, but this was more than a double. This was Truda Danson.
The little girl nodded. “They put a paper with it writ on it in his bag.”
Truda pulled something out of a bag the girl was holding and showed it to the conductor. “Is this where we are?”
“This is the place. Right as rain.” The man handed the paper back to Truda and looked around. “He’s where he’s supposed to be, but his people aren’t where they’re supposed to be. And sorry as I am about it, we can’t hold up the train any longer. We have a schedule to keep.”
“I’m very aware of that.” Truda’s voice rose. “But I can hardly leave a four-year-old child here alone, now, can I?”
“Then you’ll have to wait here with him or take him back on the train to wherever you are going.” The conductor matched Truda’s irritation.
“But I can’t stay here. This other child is expected in Hyden.”
Now Truda sounded near tears. Jamie couldn’t imagine the Truda Danson he knew ever dissolving in tears. Piper was the same way. Ready to fight. Never ready to cry.
He stepped over to them. “Miss Danson, is that really you?”
A mixture of surprise and relief flooded her face. “Jamie Russell, what in the world are you doing here?”
“I might ask you the same thing, but I’m on the way to interview Mary Breckinridge for a newspaper story.”
Her eyes narrowed on him. “Is that the only reason?”
He didn’t shy away from her look. “That’s the reason I’m giving, but seems you might need some help. How about I stay here with the boy until his family shows up? I can catch a train tomorrow.” He looked over at the conductor. “Will my ticket still be good?”
“If you help us out of this dilemma, I’ll see to it.” The man seemed relieved. “I don’t want the little fellow to miss his folks. Or the girl either.”
The boy hid his face against Truda’s skirt. “Stay with you,” he said.
Truda looked stricken. “Bonnie says Thomas doesn’t like changing people. Poor boy has been pitched between several on his way home.”
Jamie squatted down in front of the kid. “Hey, Tommy, I bet your folks will be here to get you soon, but before they get here, maybe we can go find us a candy bar. Do you like candy?”
The boy eased around to peek at Jamie with tear-streaked cheeks.
Jamie reached out to the boy. “Come on, Tommy. I’ll give you a ride up on my shoulders.”
The little boy took Jamie’s hand but still held on to Truda’s skirt with his other hand.
She leaned down. “I’ve heard Jamie tells great stories. I wouldn’t be surprised if he knows one about a dog. Do you have a dog back at your house?”
Thomas nodded and let go of Truda’s skirt. “Bo. Pa says he’s crazy ’cause he chases his tail.” The kid’s smile was shaky, but it was there.
“Well, I want to hear more about this crazy dog.” Jamie grinned at the kid. “Wait here while I get my bag off the train.”
He had to be as crazy as the kid’s dog to be doing this. What if the kid’s folks never showed up? What then? He shoved aside his worries as he ran to fetch his bag. He was traveling light. A change of clothes, a composition book, and his camera. He was light on money too. He wouldn’t starve, but he might have to skip some meals.
Sometimes a person had to forget the obstacles and jump into the moment. Piper’s aunt needed help. Wendover wouldn’t disappear overnight and neither would Piper.
Truda was waiting with the two children when he climbed down from the train. The conductor was there too, ready to get the train rolling.
Jamie picked up the little boy. “Ready to have some fun, Tommy?”
The little fellow’s lips trembled a bit, but he wrapped his arms around Jamie’s neck.
“Thank you for this, Jamie. The Lord must have put you on the same train to watch over these children.” Truda stuffed a dollar bill into Jamie’s shirt pocket and waved away his protests. “Just in case you need something while you wait. Does Piper know you’re coming?”
“No.” Jamie should have written back to Piper, but too late for that now.
“She doesn’t know I’m coming either.” Truda laughed. “Things may get interesting for my favorite niece.” She put her fingers to her lips and then touched the little boy’s cheek. “Goodbye, Thomas.”
After she climbed up the steps onto the train, the boy waved. “Bye bye, nice lady.”
The kid seemed resigned to his fate. At least no new tears were coursing down his cheeks.
“Let’s go find that candy bar.” Jamie grinned at the kid. “You want to take that ride on my shoulders so you can point the way?”
When the boy nodded, Jamie hefted him up on his shoulders. “You hang on up there. Grab my hair if you need to, just don’t yank it out. I need my curls. And my ears too. I’d be grateful if you leave them in place. Wouldn’t want to lose them.”
“You’re funnin’ me.” The kid giggled. “Ears don’t come off.”
“You never know.” Jamie flipped his ear with his finger. “They do wobble a little. And if I lost an ear, the girls might not think I was worth looking at, and fact is, I’m hunting for a girl.”
At the store, Jamie splurged on a candy bar and a soda for both of them. He was surprised when he pulled Truda’s money out of his pocket to see that the bill was a five spot and not a one. Maybe he wouldn’t have to skip any meals after all.
They sat on the edge of the train platform and ate their candy. Thomas giggled when he tipped the bottle up to drink. “It tickles my nose,” he said.
“The fizz is what makes it good.”
The kid had chocolate on his chin and orange lips from the soda. Jamie pulled his camera out of his bag. With the money Truda had given him, he could buy more film, and this was a picture wanting to happen, even if the orange lips wouldn’t show. He’d read about color photographs, but the equipment was far beyond his means.
Jamie stepped back and sighted in on the boy. When Thomas took a sip from his soda bottle, Jamie snapped the shutter. He took a second picture after the kid set the bottle down on the platform. If the pictures turned out good, maybe he could sell them.
Jamie sat back down beside Thomas. “You ready for that story now? About your dog, Bo?”
The boy nodded as he licked the candy wrapper.
“Then here goes. The adventures of Bo and Tommy.” Jamie started a story where the boy got lost and the dog had to find him. He had them splashing through creeks more than once and fighting off wildcats. For fun, he threw in a talking crow.
He was winding down the adventure when Thomas jumped up and shouted, “Pa!”
Jamie stood too as the man came toward them on a horse. The man got off his horse and glared at Jamie. “What are you doing with my boy?”
“Just keeping him company until you got here.” Jamie met the man’s stare straight on. Cal Rogers had said some mountain people didn’t like outsiders and warned him to watch his back. There was no ignoring the gun hanging by the man’s saddle.
“You one of those government men?” The man’s frown got darker. When Thomas pulled on his hand and tried to say something, the man hushed him with a look.
“Not me.” Jamie tried another smile. “The lady who brought Thomas here on the train was somebody I knew. So when the train had to leave and she couldn’t stay with your boy, I volunteered to wait with him.”
Thomas grabbed his father’s hand again. “Wanna go home. See Ma.”
The man’s face softened as he looked down at the boy. “She wants to see you too, son.”
“Here are your things, Tommy.” Jamie handed the boy his bag. “Give Bo a pat on the head for me when you see him.”
When he turned to leave, the man stopped him. “I reckon I owe you for seeing to my boy till I could get down here.”
“No, no. Glad to do it. Tommy’s a great kid.”
The man sat Thomas up on the horse and then climbed up behind him. “You still look like one of those government men. What’s your business here?”
“I’m headed to Wendover to talk to Mary Breckinridge about the frontier nurses.”
The man’s face relaxed. “She’s the one that seen to it my boy got fixed up at that city hospital. I hear she brings in all kinds over there.”
He tightened the reins and turned his horse away. The kid leaned around him to wave as they rode off. Jamie breathed a little sigh of relief. Did he look like a government man? If so, that obviously wasn’t good. But he was stuck here until the next train came through. Could be he should keep a low profile.
The ticket agent came out of the depot. “You got someplace to go tonight, young man?”
“Not really. Would it be all right if I just hang around here until the next train?”
“If you’re headed on to Hazard, that won’t be until tomorrow. You sort of got stuck with that boy and didn’t look like his pa was the first bit grateful. That’s Clem Baker for you, but the boy’s ma is as sweet as his pa is sour. Not that Baker don’t care for his young’uns. He does that. He just doesn’t cotton to strangers.”
“He didn’t shoot me.”
The agent laughed. “Folks come down here they’re always thinking they’re gonna get shot. Trust me, son, it doesn’t happen that often.”
“Glad to hear that.”
“Tell you what. I appreciate you helping out with that boy. I wouldn’t have wanted to try to watch him myself. That age takes both eyes on them. I’m closing down for the night. No more trains coming through till morning. But a cot’s inside there where I take a rest now and again that you’re welcome to use.” The man pointed back toward the depot. “Door’s not locked. No need in it.” He winked. “In spite of how we shoot strangers.”
“That’s comforting,” Jamie said.
The man clapped him on the back. “You’ll be fine. The cot isn’t fancy, but it beats a hard bench.”
And it did. Jamie settled down on the cot after he went back to the store to get some crackers and cheese to ward off hunger. As night fell, he considered how different his life was from a few years ago. Then he’d be sitting at a fancy dining table with his family or perhaps at a dinner party with servants setting the dishes in front of him. Now here he was in the near darkness on a cot with a blanket that smelled of coal dust in a town where he knew absolutely no one, if he didn’t count Tommy.
Very alone. Except for his thoughts of Piper. As different as everything else was, that was the same. Those thoughts of Piper. He did hope she’d smile when she saw him.