New Beginnings (New Beginnings Series) (37 page)

In a whisper he asked, “Did you not know, Sara, did your family never tell you?”

Her response was only the slight shake of her head.

“When you wrote to your mother about your children, did she not tell you?”

“I never told her about the children after Willie. I wanted to spare her feelings and not to feel grief for me.” In her own answer she also found the answer as to why she wasn’t told of her family’s sorrows.

They planned to visit the St. Stephen cemetery before they left to continue their travels. After making this vital discovery they decided to make the journey sooner. It was not far from the Winston home, only about a half a mile north and east from the residence. The cemetery was a large area and was filled with many evergreen trees, which brought the feeling of time without end. It took a while, but they were able to find the four graves they were searching for and the words written in the Bible took a trueness upon themselves.

The journey to St. Stephen was not as expected and brought more heaviness to Sara than the release which was planned. She had a hard time deciding what the permanent plan for the home was and felt obligated to stay for the family. After a long discussion with her husband the night before they wanted to continue with their journey south, she concluded by saying, “I hope my family will forgive me if I go back home to Manitoba.”

“Of course Sara. If you think about it, you went to a new land to live your life, like they did when they moved here.”

She dreamt of her parents as she slept soundly … the first restful night she had since coming. They never said anything to her, but just smiled their happiness for her. She never noticed the scent of anything in her dreams before but tonight for a moment the smell of roses filled the air, as if a hundred blooms were placed near her and the peace she was looking for surrounded her.

Chapter Twenty-seven

On the morning of Monday, December 18th, the Fieldings arrived at the St. Stephen train station to continue with their journey. Anne met them there, already knowing of their plans and rode with Duncan as he went to work.

Sam purchased their tickets and prepared the required documents to send a crate back to Manitoba. Back at the house they had packed up a box of items Sara wanted to take home with her and sent it from the station to travel on its own back to Brandon

For as much time as they could, the women sat together. They were making promises to continue writing to each other and sharing tears of parting. They both gave their word they would see each other again, but in reality knew it would be unlikely. They exchanged gifts, Sara giving Anne one of the finely embroidered handkerchiefs she bought at Niagara Falls. In return her friend presented her with a fancy spring-loaded mechanical pencil, “To help you to keep writing in your journal,” Anne told her. Sam presented Duncan with the bottle of liqueur he bought in Montreal in return for the kindness he had shown in refusing payment for the provisions and the loan of the horse and carriage.

The train gave its first whistle, the warning for all travelling to board or at the very least be ready to do so. Anne and Sara went out to the platform arm in arm. Sam followed carrying the suitcase and two carpetbags which were heavier than when they arrived. They decided to keep their entire luggage with them as the process of getting to Philadelphia was going to far exceed the complication of travelling across Maine. The east was more highly populated than the west and towns and junctions dotted their route.

“I’ll be counting the days until we see each other again,” Anne said as she hugged her friend when the warning whistle sounded again.

Sara could hardly find words and fought back the tears as she held her companion tightly until she let go and stepped up to their car.

Anne gave Sam a quick hug, “Take care of her.”

“Always,” he answered, “Thank you for everything you have done.” He joined Sara on the step, placing their luggage on the floor of the car. Together they waved to Anne and her brother who joined her on the platform, until they were completely out of sight and Sara turned to go inside.

Leaving from St. Stephen, they had no choice for accommodations as only one passenger car was on the train. Gradually the cars were added along the route and selection became better.

Sam noticed Sara was quiet on their journey and she looked exhausted. Their trip to her first home was hard on her. The emptiness of the dwelling had been one thing but she also needed to decide what should be done with the house and the land. After discussing it with Sam, she decided to give everything to Anne and her family. Her friend had done so much for the Winstons when Sara was so far away. The house was much larger than Anne’s and they seemed barely able to make ends meet. Sara left the final decision up to her. She could move her family into it or sell it and the land. For a moment Sam felt a twinge of his old ways try to creep in on him. Money could be made here, but he realized Sara felt it did not belong to her and never did. He understood any other decision would have been unsettling for her.

The hardest thing for Sara was finding out she had siblings. In a way, this made her more anxious to visit this Dr. Evans in Pennsylvania and try to find the answers. Up until this point she thought with the condition she had, all the children after the first one would not live. Her mother’s entries in the family Bible so much resembled her own and she could only come to the conclusion her mother was affected by the same disorder. But her mother’s fourth child lived. Sara, herself, had mysteriously beaten the odds. “How?” So many times she asked herself, her friend and her husband. But no one had any answers, no one except possibly a doctor at Jefferson Medical College. This bit of history made her more confused than ever.

They stayed on the same train from McAdam Junction to Mattawankeag, although there were at least ten stops before they travelled that far. They enjoyed first-class seats but before arriving at their connecting stop in Maine, Sam decided as often as they could they would get accommodations in the sleeper cars. Sara slept soundly all the way from McAdam to Mattawankeag, not waking when they stopped at the various stations even with the commotion of passengers boarding or leaving. When they came to their place of departure Sam found it difficult to wake his wife after they stopped and he knew more extensive planning had to be made.

Sam bought several maps and a book of schedules at a stop in Augusta, Maine. It took several hours of work on his part to find the best route to take.

With the aid of the kerosene lamps he studied the best route to Philadelphia as he sat through the night in the passenger car next to their sleeper accommodations. Several times he went to check on his wife but found she continued to sleep.

With careful planning he discovered with only six stops for connecting trains they could work their way down to Danbury, Connecticut, where they could board a straight-through train to their destination. There would still be many stops along the route and no luxury sleeping accommodations available, but they stayed in one coach until their arrival.

The train arrived in Philadelphia in the early morning on Friday, December 22nd. The last four days of travel were hard on Sara. She thought she may have picked up a sickness on her travels, possibly from being among the many people they saw come and go. She continued to feel very tired and stayed in their berth for a few days, after leaving Danbury. She could only eat soup Sam brought from the dining car, but she had a hard time trying to keep it down.

She started to feel better by Thursday and ventured out to the passenger car early in the afternoon. The weather was certainly getting warmer the further south they travelled and she enjoyed the warmth in the sun as she sat next to the window, her eyes closed.

Sam came back to their seats. Before he sat down he stopped for a moment to admire his wife, as she looked to be sleeping. He brought two cups of coffee and sandwiches for their lunch. Feeling him sit beside her, she opened her eyes and softly smiled at him.

“I feel so much better today. It must have been a touch of something and then motion sickness on top of it, although I’ve never had trouble before.”

“You are looking so much better. You worried me,” he said as he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

“It wasn’t as bad as it looked, I like having you take care of me,” she smiled back.

“It was bad, Sara. Even you aren’t that good of an actress.” He handed her a cup of the coffee with cream and sugar already added, “Fixed it the way you like.”

She took a whiff of the coffee which she so looked forward to enjoying, but a surprised look came over her face and she handed it back to her husband. “Does it smell all right to you?”

Sam took the cup. “Just like the coffee at home. Are you still not feeling well?”

A look of realization crossed her face but she quickly changed her expression. “I guess I’m not quite over it yet,” she said as she gave him back the sandwich. “I’ll try again later.” She closed her eyes again and leaned her head on the pillow she brought from the berth. Sam put the sandwich into the carpetbag sitting at her feet, drank a little of the coffee and poured the rest into his own cup. He sat quietly, slowly consuming the hot beverage, but reached for Sara’s hand, holding it tightly. He knew by the crease across her forehead she was thinking about something.

She stirred with his touch and moved to place her head on his shoulder. She jumped slightly when she felt the two days of hair growth on his chin against her skin.

“Sorry, I haven’t shaved for a couple of days. I don’t trust myself with a straight razor when we are moving. Someone with the same idea beats me to the washbasin when we stop. I’ll take it off as soon as we get to our hotel room in the morning.”

Sara placed her hand on his cheek and gently rubbed it, “It’s good,” she whispered leaning to his ear. “A few of days’ growth is rather appealing.”

He put his arm around her and pulled her close, whispering back, “You better save your energy to get better.” They slumped down in their seats together to rest, the porter taking the cup as he walked by.

The seats were arranged so two passengers sat together and faced another seat. An older couple sat across from them. The woman frowned when Sam smiled at her. The man who appeared to be her husband grinned back and tried to put his arm around his wife, but was met with a slap of her hand and a scowl. He still smiled back at the Fieldings and quietly said, “Just wait twenty-five years,” to which Sam grinned back.

They arrived at the Pennsylvania Railroad Depot in the centre of the city at nearly four in the morning. The porter had told Sam they could stay in their berth at least until seven. They would have an easier time finding accommodations after sunrise and the train was stopped until eight anyway. Sam thanked and tipped him quite generously for the extra care he showed, especially when Sara wasn’t feeling well.

Sam took the time to shave and put on a change of clothing as she slept. They shared a top bunk and when he went to wake her, he didn’t have to bend to greet her face-to-face when her eyes opened. She tiredly placed her hand over his clean-shaven cheek.

“Thought while you aren’t feeling well, I shouldn’t try to appear too appealing.”

She quietly said back to him, “This tends to arouse me too.” Her blue eyes looked deep into his, “But I don’t think there is any time I don’t want to make love to you.”

After a light kiss, he said, “We better find ourselves a place to stay in this big city and I better take care of my wife.”

At that moment the woman who was sitting across from them walked past, expressing her disapproval with a loud, “Humph!”

Her husband followed meekly behind. Quietly to the side he said to Sam, “I think in twenty-five years you two will still be like young lovers. You are a lucky man.”

“I am a very lucky man,” Sam agreed, grinning back at him.

Sara giggled when the door closed behind them. She took the opportunity while the car was empty to slide down from the bunk. She was rather uncomfortable for others to see her in her nightwear.

Sam noticed she had looked both ways to make certain they were alone. “I am so sorry we haven’t had a private room through our travels.”

She started to say, “That’s too expensive anyway,” as she slid down from the bed, but staggered and almost fell when her feet touched the floor. Sam caught her and made her sit on the bed below theirs.

“Before we do anything else, you must get food into you. You have hardly eaten in four or five days.”

“I’m used to the train moving. Now I’ve got to get used to being on solid ground again.”

“Doc Brown was right, you are stubborn,” he said as he assisted her into the washroom and helped her dress. He didn’t like the way she trembled, although it was so slight it was practically unnoticeable.

It was shortly after seven when they stepped down from the train to the platform. Sara was still unsure of her footing, so held onto Sam’s arm as he carried a suitcase in one hand and the two carpetbags in the other. He asked her often if she was all right as they walked slowly to the waiting room.

There was a small dining area and Sam insisted they eat before doing anything else. Sara still had little appetite but agreed, if only to put her husband at ease. She managed to eat a slice and a half of light toast and jam, but Sam was disappointed the coffee remained untouched.