Whispers in the Wind (30 page)

“Uh-huh?”

“Your love of the medical world has rubbed off on me. I want to become a nurse someday.”

“Wonderful! I hope you will hang on to that dream, and after you get out of high school, you will be able to find a good nurses’ school and pursue it.”

“That’s my plan.”

“Good.”

Dane then told Tharyn about Dr. Lee Harris giving him his medical bag before he and his family left for Virginia. Tharyn commented that it was very nice of Dr. Harris to do that, and she was still praying that one day the Lord would allow him to become a doctor.

Tharyn told him about the girls in the colony and herself being put in a room with four other girls. She explained about Leanne Ladd, who was also a Christian and her age, and who was blind from birth. She said that the two of them had already become close friends.

Dane smiled. “It’s just like you to take an interest in a blind girl and befriend her. I hope there will be a lasting friendship between the two of you that will go on.”

“Well, Leanne has already been chosen by a Christian family in Denver, Colorado. At least this way, wherever I end up, I will know how to contact her in Denver.”

“Good.”

The guard who stood at the door on Tharyn’s side stepped up. “Sorry, missy, but your time’s up.”

She looked up at him. “I know, sir. Could I have just a couple more minutes?”

“Okay.” He returned to where he had been standing by the door.

Dane and Tharyn grasped each other’s hands beneath the barred window. Tears filled their eyes, though they both were trying to put on a brave front.

Tharyn swallowed with difficulty. “Mr. Brace is in the waiting room with his wife. He wants to see you after I leave.”

“Oh. All right. I’d love to talk to him.”

“Well, good-bye, big brother. Thank you for all you’ve done for me.”

“That’s what big brothers are for. Don’t forget to write me.”

“I won’t. I’ll write as soon as I have an address, so you can write me back. I’ll be praying for you every day. You can count on that.”

Dane sniffed, blinking at his tears. “Thank you.”

Tears began spilling down Tharyn’s cheeks. “I—I love you, Dane.”

“I love you, too. Don’t ever lose sight of your dream to become a nurse, and don’t ever take your eyes off the Lord. In this life or the next, I will see you again. And that’s a promise.”

They looked longingly at each other.

Taking a deep breath, Dane said, “Go with God. Let Him be your constant guide.”

Letting go of his hands, Tharyn rose from the chair with a hot lump in her throat. She turned and walked to the door, where the guard waited, holding it open. She looked over her shoulder, and her heart seemed to shatter in her chest as she saw the tears streaming down Dane’s cheeks.

She waved and he waved back.

Tharyn faced forward, and with slow steps, passed through the door and out of sight.

Dane was still wiping tears when Charles Loring Brace was ushered in by a guard and sat down, facing him.

Brace asked to hear the story of Dane’s arrest, conviction, and sentencing directly from him.

When Dane had told his story—including that he was innocent—Brace said he believed him. They agreed that it would take a miracle from the hand of God to clear Dane of the crime, and Brace assured him that he would be praying for that miracle.

They prayed together at that moment, then Dane thanked Brace for coming. He also thanked him for taking care of the children in his colony, especially Tharyn. He added that he was glad the children would be going west on the orphan train to find homes.

Brace said he was glad he could do it, and told Dane he would be back to see him periodically.

O
n Monday morning, November 6, at the Children’s Aid Society headquarters, sixty-four orphan children were gathered in the front center section of the auditorium—which had once been the auditorium of the Italian Opera House.

Tharyn Myers, Melinda Scott, Bessie Evans, Nettie Olson, and Leanne Ladd were sitting in the same row of seats. Leanne was sitting next to Tharyn, who was holding her hand and describing the auditorium to her. Leanne was listening intently. Nettie was sitting between Melinda and Bessie, excitement showing on her face.

Russell Mims and Billy Johnson were seated behind the girls, along with other boys from their dormitory room.

Several staff members were standing in the aisles talking to some of the children.

At precisely 7:45, Charles Loring Brace entered the auditorium from a side door. While he was mounting the platform, Tharyn leaned close to Leanne and said, “Mr. Brace is here, honey.”

Leanne smiled. “It won’t be long now, will it?”

“Sure won’t. We’ll be leaving for Grand Central Station shortly.”

Brace moved to the center of the platform and ran his gaze over the faces of the nervous but excited children. “Boys and girls,
your day has come. I’m so glad each and every one of you is here and I hope you will enjoy the trip west.”

He then explained the basic rules that would be followed on the train during the trip, so they would understand what was expected of them.

“How many of you have ever traveled on a train? Raise your hands.”

Only three of the sixty-four raised their hands.

“I see. Well, this is about how it is every time we send a new group of orphans out West. Very few have been on a train.”

Brace then looked down near the bottom of the stairs that led to the platform, where five adults had gathered while he had been laying out the rules for the young travelers. He motioned for the five to come to him.

As they were mounting the stairs, Tharyn fixed her eyes on the lady in the white uniform. She whispered, “There’s a nurse among those people.”

“Will she be going with us?” queried Leanne in a low whisper.

“I would say so. I think the other people are the escorts who will be traveling with us.”

As the five people moved up beside the Society director, they smiled down at the children.

“Boys and girls,” said Brace, “I want you to meet the four people who will be chaperoning you on your journey.” He pointed to the couple who stood closest to him. “This is Mr. Mark Newton and his wife, Eva. Next to them are Mr. Colin Justman and his wife, Barbara. Mr. Newton and Mr. Justman will be riding in one coach with the boys, and their wives will be riding in another coach with the girls. The two coaches will be connected, with the girls’ coach in front. The railroad companies always put the orphan coaches at the rear of the train, just in front of the caboose.

“Aboard the train during the entire trip, there will be Bible
reading and prayer twice a day, just as it has been done here at the Society during the time you have been with us.

“Please let me emphasize that Mr. and Mrs. Newton and Mr. and Mrs. Justman are to be obeyed at all times.”

Brace then looked to the lady in the white uniform at the end of the line. “I also want you to meet Miss Millie Voss. She is a certified medical nurse and will be aboard the train to care for any of you who become ill on the trip.”

Millie flashed a winsome smile and waved at the children. Most of them waved back.

“Miss Voss will be riding in the girls’ coach.”

The Society director excused the five adults, who descended the steps and sat down in the front row.

Brace ran his gaze over the sixty-four faces once again. “I mentioned that the railroad companies always put the orphan coaches at the rear of the train. Ahead of them will be more coaches. These are for the trains regular passengers. From Grand Central Station, your train will be stopping at Pittsburgh, Columbus, Indianapolis, Springfield, and Kansas City.

“At each stop from the Kansas-Missouri border on, there will be people waiting in the railroad stations, prepared to choose orphans to take into their homes as foster children.

“The first stop in Kansas will be at Topeka, which is the state capital. There will be several stops in towns across Kansas and some in eastern Colorado. You will stop at Denver, where there are usually many people waiting to choose foster children.”

Leanne leaned close to Tharyn. “Denver!”

Tharyn squeezed the hand she was holding. “Yes, honey. Denver.”

Brace went on. “After leaving Denver, the train will cross the Rocky Mountains and stop at Grand Junction, Colorado. Its final destination is Los Angeles, California, but there will be stops in southern Utah, southern Nevada, and eastern California before
you reach Los Angeles.”

Tharyn leaned toward Leanne. “It must be good to know already where you will be getting off.”

Leanne smiled. “It sure is. I’m looking forward to meeting Mr. and Mrs. Ross and their other adopted children. Oh, Tharyn, I wish you could be chosen by someone in Denver so we could always be close to each other.”

Tharyn squeezed her hand again. “I wish that would happen. It sure would make me happy.”

Charles Loring Brace smiled at the children once more. “Now listen to me, boys and girls. Don’t become discouraged if you are passed over time and again. It usually takes the entire trip to see all of the orphans chosen by prospective foster parents. If any of you have not been chosen by the time the people in Los Angeles look you over, you will be brought back to New York. After some time passes, you will be put on another train west. The process will continue until every child is chosen. We’ve been running these orphan trains for over eighteen years—before any of you were born—and only very, very few have had to return to New York. And every one of them was chosen on the next trip.”

Most of the young faces showed fear when the director had spoken of the possibility of them being brought back to New York, but they changed back to normal at his latter words.

Brace then led the group in prayer, asking God to give safety to the children, their chaperones, and their nurse on the trip.

When he finished praying, he asked the chaperones and Miss Voss to make their way to the front doors of the building. “All right, children, I want you to go outside now where you will be loaded into six wagons that are ready to take you to Grand Central Station. Everyone walk slowly. No running.”

As the orphans were filing slowly out the doors to climb in the wagons, Charles Loring Brace hurried off the platform and moved up to the spot in line where Tharyn was guiding Leanne.

Tharyn said, “Leanne, Mr. Brace is here. I think he wants to talk to you.”

“I sure do,” said Brace, joining them in their slow walk.

The blind girl turned her face. “Yes, sir?”

“Honey, I know you are going to be very happy with the Ross family.”

“I’m sure I will, sir.”

“Will you please greet them for me?”

Leanne smiled. “Yes, of course.”

Brace set tender eyes on the redhead. “Tharyn, I want to thank you for looking after Leanne as you have.”

“I’m glad to do it, Mr. Brace. I love her very much.”

“That’s quite obvious. Every time I see you two together, you are doing something to help her.”

Leanne patted her friend’s arm. “I love Tharyn very much too, Mr. Brace. I’m praying that the Lord will let her be taken by a family in Denver. Or at least nearby, so we can be close together always.”

“Well, you just keep praying, Leanne. We have a great big wonderful and powerful God. He can certainly do it.”

“I will, sir. And thank you so much for guiding the Rosses and me together.”

“It’s been my joy, Leanne. God bless you.”

“God bless you too, sir.”

Brace moved on.

When it was time for Tharyn and Leanne to board a wagon, its driver stepped up and touched Leanne’s arm. “Little lady, I’m the driver. Would you allow me to lift you up into the wagon?”

Leanne smiled. “Thank you, sir.”

The driver looked at Tharyn. “You go ahead and get in. I’ll put her on the seat next to you.”

Tharyn climbed in. When Leanne was placed gently beside her, Tharyn took hold of her hand.

About two minutes later, the caravan of wagons with
Children’s Aid Society
lettered on their sides drove onto the street and headed in the direction of Grand Central Station.

As the wagons moved through the streets, Tharyn began giving Leanne word pictures of their surroundings. Quite often, Leanne commented that she knew about this building and that store.

“You know it pretty well, don’t you, honey?” said Tharyn.

“You might say that. New York has been my home for all of my thirteen years. We lived here in Manhattan until my father—” she swallowed hard—“until my father finished his seminary work when I was eight and we moved to Staten Island. That’s when he became pastor of the church there.”

“I see.”

“Even then, we came to Manhattan quite often, so I still have a pretty good picture of it in my mind.” She paused. “I’ve never been outside the five boroughs, though.”

“Me, neither. Kind of scary, isn’t it?”

“Oh, is it! I’ve heard stories since I was small about the Wild West.”

“Me too,” said Tharyn. “I learned a lot about it in school.”

“Mm-hmm. I can remember shivering with fear as I heard tales about wild Indians out there, and the tough towns that are overrun by oudaws and saloons filled with drunken cowboys who are always fighting each other.”

Tharyn nodded, though Leanne could not see her do it. “Yes, and gunfighters in the streets drawing against each other to see which one is the fastest.” She snorted. “One of them always wasn’t, and from what I’ve read, he always ends up six feet under at some Boot Hill.”

Leanne giggled. “For sure. It sounds like a dangerous part of the country, doesn’t it? I mean like a faraway place from which one never returns.”

“Yes. You could say that.”

“Of course, it’s not that bad now. Before you kids came to the Society from your alley, Mr. Brace was talking to us about the West, and he said life is much calmer out there in the western states and territories than it was even ten years ago. He said it’s still not as civilized as here in the East, but better than it used to be.”

Tharyn said, “It’s certainly going to be different from what both of us have known up until now. But I’m really looking forward to living out there. Since living as a waif on the streets of New York, with all its dangers, as well as hunger and cold, I’m expecting a happy future.”