Whistle-Stop West (7 page)

Whenever the train stopped at a station, Simon didn't rush to the windows with the others to watch the people milling about the platform. Instead, he found a place by the window on the other side of the coach. This, he had found, was where the exciting things were happening. No one else had discovered it yet. It wasn't that Simon was deliberately keeping it to himself. He had tried to tell Ethan and Bert.

“I saw her again. She's still here.”

“Simon, are you talking about the lady in Davenport?” Ethan gave an impatient sigh. “It's all right to tell make-believe stories, but you have to know when they aren't true.”

“It is true. She has on a little hat, and she carries a purse.”

“If you see her every day, how come the rest of us don't?” Bert seemed puzzled. “You'd think someone else would catch sight of her.”

“'Cause you look out the wrong window. There's other people too. And big bunches of hay, and ...”

Ethan shook his arm. “Simon, I'll have to get Matron to talk to you if you keep on telling stories like that. Now cut it out!”

If no one was going to believe him, Simon decided, he would have to prove it to them. But he didn't know how. Ethan and Bert kept an eye on him every minute when they left the train. Sometimes they had only ten or fifteen minutes outdoors at a stop. It wasn't long enough for Simon to find a way to the other side of the tracks.

His chance came when Mr. Glover announced, “We'll be in Cedar Rapids for quite a while this morning. Our cars will sit on the siding while they add new coaches and another engine. You may all go out and watch, but stay clear of the tracks. We'll be in the same place on the train, so look for the scarf on the door bar.”

Everyone stayed close together and watched with excitement as the train backed onto a rail close to the station. The noise was deafening as yard workers shouted to each other and couplings were undone. Cars banged and jumped apart. The engine, the coal car, the freight cars, and the mail cars moved forward. Then whistles blew and steam puffed as they reversed direction and ended on an outside rail.

“Wow! Did you see that? The engineer knew just where to back up! I can see the cars up there that they're going to hitch up to.” With Simon between them, Ethan and Bert raced down the platform to watch.

Simon's feet couldn't go that fast. When he stumbled and fell to his knees, he'd had enough. “I'm tired of being pulled around,” he complained. “I'll wait here until you come back.”

“Well, all right. But don't you dare move from this spot. We'll be up there, and we'll come back to get you.” Ethan pointed to the engine just ahead of them. “I can still see you, so don't try to go somewhere else.”

Simon nodded as he got up, then stood with his back against the station house. Bert and Ethan went on, leaving the little boy to watch the train and the people walking in and out of the depot. He could see the engine up ahead backing into another track. The gap between it and their cars had widened considerably, and Simon moved closer to the track to look through. The view wasn't as good as it had been from the window. Since nothing stood in the way, perhaps he could run to the other side and back before Ethan returned.

Looking toward the engine, Simon saw that both Bert and Ethan were watching the new cars being picked up and weren't paying attention to him. Dashing across the tracks, Simon disappeared behind the coaches of the Orphan Train.

“Hey, look!” Bert shouted over the noise. “All those cars are waiting to be fastened on. Then they'll back up and hitch ours on again. How do you s'pose the engineer can see all that from up there?”

Riley was standing behind them. “They have switchmen to take care of that,” he explained. “See them?” He pointed to several men who were pulling giant levers and moving sections of the track.

The boys watched, fascinated, as the new cars were added, the engine switched back to the original track, and then the whole thing was backed up to be coupled again to the Orphan Train.

“Come on, boys,” Riley said. “We'll be leaving in a few minutes. We'd better head back to our coach.” He looked around quickly. “Where's Simon?”

“We left him at the station house. He's standing there watching the train. See?” Ethan's heart sank as he turned toward the depot. Simon wasn't there.

“Maybe he just went inside for a minute,” Bert suggested.

“Or maybe he went around back to get a drink, like we did the other time,” Ethan said. “He has to be there somewhere.”

But a frantic search in both directions revealed no Simon.

“We'll have to get Mr. Glover.” Bert tugged Ethan toward the car with the scarf tied to it. The
whoo, whoo
of the train whistle told them that they would have to hurry.

“Don't worry,” Riley said. “I'm sure someone took Simon back to our car. Matron and Mr. Glover always look around the platform and count us before the train leaves. Hurry and get on.”

Charles Glover ran up behind them. “Good. There you are. I was afraid I'd have to ask the conductor to wait for you.” He ushered them into the first car, where the others had already gathered.

After Simon had scooted across the tracks to the other side of the train, he'd been disappointed to see nothing but rails over there. This was where he had always seen the little lady and others walking. This was where a wagon with bales of hay had come up beside the cars that were being pulled behind the Orphan Train. Where were they now?

As he looked around with uncertainty, Simon spied something unusual. Instead of the solid wooden boxcars that he had seen from the other side of the tracks, there were small slats of wood on this side. He walked over closer to get a better look. Little wisps of hay stuck out between the slats, and Simon could hear thumping and stamping and stomping. Was this a barn on wheels? It certainly looked—and smelled—like one, he thought.

The cracks weren't far enough apart so that he could see through to the dark interior. As he walked the length of the two cars, strange noises reached him. They didn't sound like any animals he'd ever heard, but what else could they be?

Simon was used to the racket of the train cars banging, whistles blowing, and men shouting. The steam rising from the wheels, the soot falling from the smokestack, and the cinders skittering along the rails weren't new either. So he didn't notice when the engine and coaches were backed up and coupled to the Orphan Train cars. He did realize, though, that he'd better get back to the station house before Ethan missed him. He would be in trouble for moving away from that spot.

Running back to the other end of the boxcars, Simon was surprised to see that there was no empty space where he had crossed the tracks earlier. The two cars that he thought were theirs stood in place, but now there were many others in front of them. Simon looked between the cars and saw the station on the other side. There was no way to get to it unless he crawled over the coupling. This, he decided, wouldn't be easy. He would try to get around the end of the train.

By the time Simon had reached the last car on the train, he heard the familiar blast of steam and the
whoo, whoo
that meant the train was about to leave. He didn't dare cross the tracks if those huge cars were moving. He stood still and stared up at the windows of the passenger coach, his heart thumping wildly.

Matron counted, and as she got to fifteen, the train began to move.

“Fifteen? I must have counted wrong.” She started to count again. Charles Glover moved down the swaying aisle and numbered them aloud. “One, two, three ... fifteen! Who's missing?”

Riley sighed. “Simon. We thought he was already on.”

Ethan, near tears, pressed against the window as the platform rapidly faded behind them.

“He must be,” Mr. Glover said. “I'd have seen him out there. He's probably gone into the other car.”

But a thorough search of the coach revealed no little boy. Mr. Glover came back and sat down to decide what to do next. He studied the schedule. “I'll have to get off at the next stop and find a way back to Cedar Rapids,” he announced. “We're going west now instead of north, and the next town for coal and water is Ames. We won't be there until morning.”

“What will happen to Simon?” Ethan was trying not to cry, but tears ran down his cheeks.

Matron put her arm around him. “Don't worry, Ethan. The station manager won't let a little boy stand around alone. He'll look after Simon until Mr. Glover can get back there. We know that Simon didn't leave the train yard. He must have been behind the station, and you just didn't see him.”

“But he'll be scared. He's never been alone overnight!”

Matron sat on a nearby seat and tugged Ethan down beside her. “Remember when Will disappeared from Briarlane, and I told you about the little lost lamb?”

Ethan nodded.

“We prayed,” Matron continued, “and trusted the Lord to look after Will. You know that He did. Don't you think that the Good Shepherd can keep an eye on Simon, too?”

“I know that God can do that for Simon,” Ethan confided in Bert a few minutes later, “but I wanted to keep my eye on him too. I intended to watch, but we got so interested in the train, I forgot. Where would he go by himself?”

“I don't think he would go anywhere but the train,” Bert said. “He might have climbed on another car.”

Mr. Glover had already considered that possibility when they approached him. He shook his head. “I'm afraid not, boys. The cars ahead of us are all new ones that we picked up. The three behind us didn't open on the platform side of the train. There's no place where he could have gotten on alone.”

It was a sober, dismal suppertime on the Orphan Train that evening. Even though Mr. Glover assured them that Simon would be safe and back with them tomorrow, the children were concerned about him. No one wanted to think that anyone had taken him away from the station, but Ethan feared that might have happened.

After the boys and girls were asleep, Charles and Matron discussed what would need to be done.

“I think we'd better arrange to stay on a siding in Ames until I get back,” Charles decided. “There's no point in your going on to the next town alone, since I'm needed to make the arrangements for any adoptions.”

“I'd go back for him myself,” Matron said, “but I'm not sure that Shala could handle the girls and the cooking.”

“The children need you more than they do me,” Charles replied. “I'll telegraph ahead and tell them we'll be a day late on our route. We'll be about halfway through Iowa when we get to Ames.”

So the matter was left, and he dozed restlessly as he waited for morning.

It was earlier than his usual rising time when Charles folded his blanket and prepared for the stop. The car was dark as he made his way to the washroom and readied himself for the day. On the way back to his place, as was his habit, Charles glanced at each boy as he passed the seats where they lay. Automatically he counted as he looked. “One, two, three ... ten.”

Ten! There were only nine boys last night! Quickly he went back down the aisle, peering closely at each child in the dim light. Curled up in the corner of one seat, with no blanket around him, was Simon.