Orphan Train Romance 1 - 5 (38 page)

“I have already tried,” Katrina told her.  “I don’t feel I can.  The Porters are pretty insistent that I marry him.”

“I feel I should tell you that I saw the bag you have hidden in your closet.  Do you have plans to leave?”

Katrina was surprised at Mrs. Coleman’s words and did not know what to say.  If she told Mrs. Coleman the plans she had to go to Montana, would she be able to keep them a secret?

“You can trust me, Katrina.”

At the housekeeper’s words, Katrina knew she could trust her.  Mrs. Coleman had never given her a reason not to trust her in all the years she had been with the Porters. 

“Yes, I have plans to leave with Serena.  She is going to Montana to marry the brother of the man Anna married.  I have been offered a job to teach school on their ranch.”

Mrs. Coleman smiled.  “I think that is a fine idea.  I am relieved you have some concrete plans and you weren’t just planning on leaving to go to any old place.”  She tucked her hand into Katrina’s arm.  “My friend, Esther, saw Serena purchase two train tickets today, and I wondered if you were making other plans.”

Katrina nodded.  “We are supposed to leave in a few days.  We should be gone before the engagement is officially announced.”

Mrs. Coleman continued.  “I will help you.  What do you need?”

“Well, I would like to take some of my school books.  I just don’t think I can carry them in that bag.”

“I have a small trunk you can have.  We can pack what books you want and then I will have Mr. Coleman take the trunk to the train station.  Don’t worry.  He will be discreet.  He is not fond of Joshua and will be glad you are not going to really marrying him.  We have all been very concerned.  Joshua is not a kind man.”

Katrina stopped and hugged the older woman.  “Thank you so much,” she said with tears in her eyes. 

“I will help you finish packing,” Mrs. Coleman told her as she returned the hug.  “But please promise me that if the job does not work out in Montana, you will let me know.  I was going to offer that you could go live with my sister in Oklahoma.  She needs a companion and would be willing to take you in.”

“I promise,” Katrina said as she hugged her again.

Katrina sighed with relief as the train pulled out from the final stop before they arrived in Pine Valley, Montana.  She had been very nervous the entire trip.  She knew Serena was wondering what was going on, but Katrina still did not dare tell her.  She felt that the less Serena knew, the better, just in case something happened and the Porters discovered she had left earlier than she had planned they would.  She had snuck out of the house early in the morning to make the train which left at 5:30.  She was glad that Mr. and Mrs. Porter never got up before 7:00.  Mrs. Coleman and her husband had helped her get to the station. 

She knew it would have been impossible for anyone to follow her at first, but she also knew that with their money, the Porters could have somehow caught up with her.  She did not leave a note, but she knew that they would probably be able to guess where she had gone.  They knew Anna had gone to Montana and they would easily find out that Serena had left as well.  She hoped that Mrs. Coleman and her husband would not lose their positions with the Porters, but when she expressed that fear to them, they both indicated to her that if that happened, they would be fine and would be able to find other positions.

At the last stop, they had to stay the night at a hotel because the train had some emergency repairs that needed to be done.  Katrina had been unable to sleep the entire night.  When they left the hotel to board the train for the last part of the journey, she half expected someone to be waiting for her to keep her from boarding the train, but luckily no one was there.

Katrina leaned back against the hard bench and closed her eyes with relief.  Only a few more hours and they would arrive at their destination.  She would be able to see Anna again after over a year.  She felt excited at the thought of seeing her good friend.  She was glad that they would be able to live near each other and continue their close relationship.

She talked with Serena for a while, commenting on the scenery that they saw passing through the grimy train windows.  They could see large mountains in the distance.  It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.  She could see that some of the tallest mountains had snow on the tips, even though it was only the beginning of September.   Parts of the mountains looked almost purple in color. 

Are you nervous about marrying Paul?” Katrina finally asked Serena as the train chugged along. 

“I am a little bit,” Serena admitted.  “I have gotten to know him through our letters, but what if he is different than what he portrays himself?  I keep telling myself that Anna would not have suggested that I marry him if she did not feel he would be good for me.” 

“I have been thinking the same about teaching.  I know teaching on a ranch will be different.  I probably will be lucky if I have more than ten students, but Anna would not have suggested it if it wasn’t going to work.”

“Boy, we are sure putting a lot of trust and faith in Anna, aren’t we?” Serena asked with a smile.

“So I guess if it doesn’t work out for us, we can blame her,” Katrina joked.  “Seriously, I accepted the job because I felt good about it and I needed to leave Maple Grove.  I know you feel good about marrying Paul.”

“Why haven’t you told me why you are really leaving Maple Grove?”  Serena asked all of a sudden with a hurt voice.  “I know that something was going on, especially when you changed your mind so quickly about coming, and then you didn’t want to leave until now, wanting me to put my plans to marry Paul on hold. “

Katrina sighed.  “I wish I could tell you, but I want to make sure we are safe first.”

“Safe from what?” Serena asked with fierceness in her voice.  “Does this have to do with the Porter’s nephew?” 

Katrina hesitated and then slowly nodded.  Surely, by now it was safe to tell her friend.  It had been very difficult to keep this to herself through the entire ordeal.  She had only done it because she really believed the less people who were aware of the situation, the better.

“They were going to force me to marry Joshua in order to keep the money I am to inherit in the family,” Katrina admitted. 

Serena gasped with shock. “Why didn’t you tell me?  Maybe I could have helped in some way.”

“You did help, by being willing to put your plans on hold and not leave in June.  I didn’t feel I should tell anyone.  I was so afraid that if the Porter’s heard that you were leaving, they would keep a closer eye on me to prevent me from following.” Katrina could tell Serena was hurt she had not confided in her.  She quickly told her the events that had been happening the last few months, being careful to not leave any detail out.  When Katrina finished, Serena stared out of the train window for a while as if she needed to think about what Katrina had told her.

“I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell me,” Serena finally admitted.  “I probably won’t ever understand what it has been like to live in the Porter’s home.  I just wish you could have trusted me.  I wouldn’t have told anyone.”

“I know you wouldn’t have, but I felt I needed to for your safety, as well as my own.”  Katrina hoped she could find the words to help Serena understand.

“Do you really think they can figure out where you are and try to follow us?”  Serena questioned.

“I did my best to cover our tracks, but they have a lot of money and many people who could help them.  Every time this train stops, I am worried we are going to step off of it and Joshua will be there waiting for me.”

“When it comes right down to it, I don’t think you can be forced to marry someone you don’t want to,” Serena offered her opinion.

“Maybe, or maybe not, but I can’t take that chance.  The Porters are very powerful.”

Serena suddenly indicated she was tired and wanted to try to sleep before they arrived.  Katrina dropped the subject and let Serena rest, hoping that her friend was not too upset at her.  She knew deep in her heart that once Serena thought through everything she had told her, she would understand.  Serena rarely stayed mad for long. 

Katrina pulled out a book and tried to read, but could not.  All she could think about was the mess she left.  She hoped that she was not heading into another mess.  She hoped the teaching position was really going to work out.  She realized she really was placing all her faith in Anna.

I am going to do my best to make this work
, Katrina promised herself. 
I am going to be the best teacher I can be so Luke will not regret offering me this job.  I am going to quit thinking about my past and focus on my future.
 

****

Luke clumsily finished brushing his daughter’s hair.  He wished he had sent her over to the main ranch house to ask Anna for help, but Sage had insisted that he do it.  She had put on a new dress that Anna had sewn for her.  Sage insisted that she look her best for when she met her new teacher.

Luke knew that Sage was very excited that she would finally be able to go to school.  Ever since she had heard of Luke’s plans to build a school right on their ranch land a year ago, she had talked about school almost constantly, along with her best friend, Aida.  Luke had wanted her to wait another year before going to school, but Sage insisted she was old enough.  After all, she was already five years old, she had informed her father very seriously when he had made the suggestion.  Luke eventually agreed.  After all, wasn’t this why he had the schoolhouse built in the first place?  He was just starting to realize his Sage wasn’t a little girl any longer.

“Thanks, Pa,” Sage said with a smile and leaned over to kiss his cheek.  “Anna said she had a new ribbon for me that matches this dress.  I am going to go get it, okay?”

When Luke gave her his permission to leave their little cabin, she ran out, slamming the door behind her.  He smiled at her excitement and then quickly washed his face and shaved.  He then changed into his best pants and shirt for the trip to town. 

The new teacher, Katrina, would be arriving with another woman, Serena, who was to be Paul’s mail-order bride.  Both women were Anna’s best friends.  Luke knew that all three of them had grown up in an orphanage that was located in New York.  When they were each around 12 years of age, they had traveled on an orphan train to a small town in Texas, where they were each taken in by a different family in that town. 

Anna was the first to leave, coming a little over a year ago to be a mail-order bride for his younger brother, Alex.  Soon after Alex married Anna, Paul had asked her if she knew of anyone who would want to be his bride and she had told him about Serena.  At that time, Luke found himself offering to give her other friend, Katrina, the position of teacher when the school was built.

Luke had wanted to build a school on his ranch for quite a while.  They lived quite far from the nearest town, Pine Valley.  It took about two hours to drive to Pine Valley in a wagon, and so it was not realistic that his daughter travel that far for school every day.  Luke and his brothers employed some men who had families of their own.  He figured their children also needed schooling, so he decided to build their own school for the children of his ranch hands, his daughter, and any children who might live on other ranches close by. 

The building had been completed a few weeks ago, just in time for the new teacher.  He had also offered her a small home for her to live in, which was located nearby.  When Luke thought of this cabin, he sighed in frustration.  He had forgotten to send someone over to clean the cabin out.  It had been used in the past for keeping supplies and to sleep in when the men were taking care of the cattle on that part of the ranch.  He hoped he would be able to get someone to go out there and make it fairly presentable before they returned from town.

Luke grabbed his cowboy hat and fitted it on his head as he left the cabin.  He quickly strode towards the nearby barn and was grateful to see, Red, his best ranch hand and foreman. 

“Hey, Red, can you do something for me?” Luke questioned as both men entered the barn. 

“Sure boss, what is it?”

“I completely forgot that I need that cabin near the new school to be cleaned out for the school teacher.  Can you make sure that gets done sometime today?”

“I was planning on sending Dan out that way.  Maybe he can swing by.”

“Good.  Just tell him to sweep it up a bit and make sure there are a few supplies.  It shouldn’t be too bad.  I think a few men used it last winter, didn’t they?”

“Yep, I think so.  Consider it done.”  Red turned and walked a horse out of its stall and started to saddle it.  “You know, my Aida is very excited for school to start.  It was all I could to keep her from stowing away on your wagon this morning.  She insisted she needed to go and make sure the teacher makes it back here safely.”

“She’s welcome to come,” Luke invited.  “Just know it will be after lunch before we are back since Paul is going to get hitched and all.”

Red shook his head.  “My wife needs her to help with William today.  She wants to work in the garden.”

Luke nodded his head at the decision.  “All right then.  We will be leaving soon.  I am glad we can leave the ranch in your capable hands.”

He half walked and half jogged to the main ranch house.  He tried not to smile as he entered the room to mild chaos.  Anna was washing the breakfast dishes while Alex and Paul finished up their meal.  Sage had the promised ribbon in her hair and she was carrying dishes from the table to the sink, chatting as she went about her favorite subject, the new schoolteacher. 

Alex and Paul were busy discussing the coming plans for the cattle drive that Paul would be in charge of.  Paul was planning on leaving in a few days, leaving his new bride on the ranch while he was gone.  Luke knew he was disappointed that Serena had not arrived sooner in the summer like she had originally planned.  Now that she was arriving later with the new schoolteacher, Paul and Serena would marry and only be able to be together for a few days before he needed to leave. 

“Hi, Pa,” Sage almost shouted when she saw them.  “Can we leave now?”

“Can I eat breakfast first?”  Luke asked his daughter, trying not to smile and encourage her excitement.

Sage tilted her head as if seriously thinking about his request.  Luke chuckled and accepted the plate of eggs, ham and pancakes from Anna.