Orphan Train Romance 1 - 5 (34 page)

(Orphan Train Romance Series, Book 5)

Written by Zoe Matthews

Copyright © 2015

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction.   All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

Orphan trains started to decline in the 1920s and by 1929 they had stopped all together.  Part of the reason they stopped was because of the depression.

Another reason was because different states started to pass laws to make it harder to bring children on trains across state lines. When these laws were passed, new programs were designed specifically to help children.

Michigan was the first state to pass a law that regulated the placement of children in the state and other states soon followed. Foster care started to replace orphanages.

It was a cold spring morning in New York.  Rain had been falling all morning and the large old building that housed 54 orphans was damp and cold.   Inside a schoolroom, one of the older orphans, Katrina Taylor, sat close to a young girl she was helping with arithmetic.  She encouraged the child to complete the last few addition problems before lunchtime.  She looked around at the other young children in the room to make sure everyone was working as they were instructed.  The teacher of the class sat behind her desk in the front of the room going over the afternoon’s lessons. 

Katrina sat back in her chair and stretched her back.  She enjoyed her time helping the younger children in the orphanage.  For the last year, she spent her mornings with them and her afternoons in her own classes.  She had moved so far ahead of her class that she no longer needed to spend all day in school.  For some reason, school had always been very easy for her.  She understood a new concept very quickly and generally was the first one who completed the assignments.  Her teacher had recently told her she had taught her just about everything she could and that it was soon time to move on.

Katrina knew what her teacher meant.  She would be turning 13 in about five months and she then would be required to leave the orphanage and find work around New York City.  She was very concerned because she knew she would be lucky if she found a position that she enjoyed doing.  Most people were not going to want to hire 13-year-olds to teach others.  Her best friends, Anna and Serena, would be turning 13 before her and would be leaving first.  She was afraid that when they left, she would never see them again.

Katrina had been living at the orphanage since she was six years old.  She tried hard to not think about her life before coming to the orphanage since it usually made her very depressed and sad for the rest of the day.  Yet for some reason, she couldn’t help but think about it today.  She remembered living in a small room with her mother, father and baby sister, Ruth Ann.  They were so happy together.  Her father would go to work at a local factory and her mother did her best to keep Katrina entertained.  She taught her how to read out of the Bible and Katrina could read fairly well by the time she was five years old.  Then her mother had Ruth Ann and became ill after the birth.  She rarely left her bed and was very weak.  Katrina did her best to care for her new baby sister since the only care her mother could do was nurse the baby.  Then one day, when Ruth Ann was six months old, her mother died.  She remembered that awful day very vividly.  Her father had left to go to work and her mother passed away a few hours later.  Katrina did not know what to do and so she spent the day caring for Ruth Ann the best she could until her father came home. 

A few days later, after a small graveyard service for her mother, her father dropped Katrina and Ruth Ann off at the orphanage.  He had explained to Katrina on the way to the orphanage that he had to do this so he could continue to work.  He promised her that he would find a better place to live and then hire a woman who could care for the two girls.  When he was able to do this, he would return to get them.

Katrina was very upset that her father was leaving them at the orphanage.  Even though she was only six years old, she understood what orphanages were.  They were for children who did not have a mother or father.  She had lost her mother and now it felt as if she was losing her father.  After her father had kissed her forehead in farewell and handed Ruth Ann to the orphanage worker, he walked away without looking back.  That was the last time she ever saw him. 

She had been separated from Ruth Ann right from the very beginning since the older girls could not live with the babies, but she was promised by the director of the orphanage, Mrs. Brown, that she could spend time with her sister every afternoon.  This she did faithfully.  Katrina had loved her baby sister.  She had essentially raised her since her mother had been so ill and she was the only mother Ruth Ann had known.  After school was completed for the day, she would walk up the long flight of stairs to the second floor and go into the baby room.  She would then play and care for her sister until it was time for dinner.  She still remembered what Ruth Ann looked like.  She had blonde, fine, baby hair, the same color as her own, which curled in ringlets.  She had sky blue eyes, also like Katrina’s, given to them by their mother. 

Katrina wished that it was time to go to lunch.  She did not want to remember anymore.  She had noticed this always happened when she was not busy doing her own schoolwork or helping another child.  When she had a moment to sit, she would think about her past life.  She ended up remembering what would become the worst day of her life.

She remembered that day very well.  She and Ruth Ann had been at the orphanage for about six months.  She had finished her schoolwork early that day and the teacher had released her to go to visit Ruth Ann.  When she arrived in the baby room, she looked around, and her sister was nowhere to be found.  She asked the woman who was caring for the babies where Ruth Ann was and the woman hesitated.

“Were you not informed?” the woman asked her.

“Where is my sister?  Where is Ruth Ann?” Katrina had demanded loudly.  “It’s my turn to take care of her now.”

“I think you had better go talk to Mrs. Brown,” the woman had told her and then turned her back to Katrina and picked up a crying baby.

Katrina had run as fast as she could all the way to Mrs. Brown’s office.  She had burst into the room without permission, demanding to know where her sister was.

It was then she learned that while she was in her classes that morning, a childless couple had come and adopted Ruth Ann.  She also learned that her father had signed away his rights to both of them a few months before.  He was not able to find a better job in order to care for them.  He had felt Katrina and Ruth Ann would have a better life if he gave them up.

Katrina cried bitterly that day and had refused to eat or do anything for two days.  On the second day, she met Anna and Serena.  She had been curled up in a corner of a hallway crying, missing her sister, her mother, and her father desperately.  She felt a hand on her shoulder.  Anna and Serena had both sat down beside her and put their arms around her in comfort.  All three of them had formed a strong bond with each other and had been best friends since.  In fact, they thought of each other as sisters.

Katrina had later learned from the woman who cared for the babies that Mrs. Brown had not felt it appropriate for Katrina to know of the adoption and she had not allowed Karina to have the opportunity to say goodbye to Ruth Ann.  Katrina saw in Mrs. Brown the woman who made her lose her entire family, even though as she grew older, she realized it was not totally the director’s fault.  Katrina had developed a deep anger and even a hatred toward Mrs. Brown.  For many years after this incident, she would not trust any adult.  Mrs. Brown left her position with the orphanage a few years ago and had been replaced by a woman named Mrs. Young. 

Surprisingly, since Mrs. Brown had left, Katrina had been able to put her past behind her the best she could.  She focused on her daily life in the orphanage with Anna and Serena, but she had learned to keep herself as busy as possible so she would not think about the family she had lost.

Sometimes, when she talked about what family life was like with Anna and Serena, she would realize she was lucky because she did have memories of a family before being brought to the orphanage.  She remembered how happy they were before her mother became ill.  She remembered how her father would dance her mother around the small room, humming a silly tune, and then doing the same with Katrina.  She would place her small feet on his large shoes and he would twirl her around until she was dizzy.  Anna and Serena did not have any such memories.  Anna had been abandoned by her mother right after she was born.  Serena’s mother, who was an actress, brought her to the orphanage when she was three years old, but she had no memories of her.

Katrina looked up as the teacher stood to collect papers and dismiss the class for lunch.  After the class had lined up at the door and left the room, Katrina handed her some extra papers she had gathered and turned to follow the children.

“Wait for a moment,” the teacher requested.  “I have a message for you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Katrina stopped and waited for the woman to continue.

“Mrs. Young has requested that you go to her office as soon as you finish lunch.  She has something she wishes to discuss with you.”

Katrina felt a panic in the pit of her stomach at the teacher’s words.  “Do you know what she wants to see me about?”

“Yes, I do,” the woman admitted.  “But I feel I should let her tell you.”

Katrina wanted to argue, but then just nodded her head and wished the teacher a good day.  On the way to the lunchroom, she wondered what Mrs. Young wanted to tell her.  She did not think it was about leaving the orphanage since she still had six months before she turned 13, but she also knew plans could always change.

****

When she arrived in the large room where all the children ate their meals, she quickly found her place between Anna and Serena.  She learned that they too were to meet with Mrs. Young as soon as they were done with lunch.  Katrina breathed a sigh of relief.  Maybe it wouldn’t be bad news if Mrs. Young also wanted to see Anna and Serena.

Soon the three girls were on their way to the director’s office.  They walked down a long hall that led to the front of the orphanage.  Katrina noticed that someone had just mopped the floors because she smelled the strong disinfectant and she saw small puddles of water in various places.  The three girls had to walk carefully around them in order to not step in some water and slip. 

The hallway was dingy and dark.  She hated this particular hallway that lead to the director’s office.  It always made her remember the last time she saw her father as he walked away from her.

Katrina noticed that neither Anna nor Serena said anything and she knew that they were probably as nervous as she was.  No one was asked to visit Mrs. Young unless there was a specific reason.

When they arrived at the office, the door was closed.  Katrina heard Anna take a deep breath.

“I’ll knock,” Serena offered and she hit the closed wooden door with her small fist a few times.

“Come in!” Katrina heard Mrs. Young call through the door and Anna slowly opened it.  Katrina followed her friend, with Serena beside her.  As they entered, Katrina saw a heavyset woman she had never seen before sitting next to Mrs. Young’s desk.

“Girls,” Mrs. Young stood and greeted them.  The woman stood as well.  “Come in and let me introduce you to Mrs. Carver.”  She gestured to the girls to move closer to her desk.

“These are the girls I was telling you about,” Mrs. Young spoke to the woman.  “This is Anna, Serena and Katrina.”  She pointed to each girl as she said their names.  “Girls, this is Mrs. Carver.  Why don’t we all sit down and I will let you know why I wanted to talk with you.”

Katrina sat down on a chair that had been placed in front of the desk and Anna and Serena did the same.  She glanced at her friends for encouragement, but neither looked at her.  They were looking at the woman.

“Mrs. Carver and her husband are planning a trip.  They want to take some of the children from this orphanage on a train ride to a town in the state of Texas,” Mrs. Young said as she pushed some papers around on her desk.  “They want to take some older children as well as younger ones.  When the train reaches Texas, it will stop in stations of various small towns.  All the children on the train will be given an opportunity to be placed with families that live in these towns.  The idea is if a family agrees to take a child, they will treat them as part of their family.  They will be able to continue their education and have an opportunity to have a family life. 

“I am sure you girls know you will need to leave the orphanage in a few months.  I want to give you the opportunity to go with Mr. and Mrs. Carver and have a chance at a new life.”

“Do you mean we could have a family?”  Serena asked as if she could not believe her good fortune.  Katrina knew it was Serena’s greatest wish that she be adopted into a good family.

“We can’t promise that the people who offer you a home will be like a family, Serena,” Mrs. Young responded. 

“I want to go,” Serena announced excitedly.

“Do we have to decide right now?”  Katrina asked, feeling very unsure about this new opportunity.  She was not sure she wanted to go from living in this orphanage into what could possibly be a worse situation.