A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon

Author:Joan Lowery Nixon [Nixon, Joan Lowery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-82755-5
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2013-11-27T05:00:00+00:00

8

EARLY IN THE morning, as they approached the town of St. Joseph, Frances wistfully watched Katherine busy herself with brushing and braiding the girls’ long hair. From under a seat Katherine pulled a small valise and began extracting fresh hair bows from it as though she were a magician.

Katherine smoothed and straightened dresses, tidied jackets, and made sure that all buttons were buttoned. Frances brushed off her own jacket with trembling fingers.

“You look wonderful,” Katherine said. “The people who come to meet you will be impressed.”

For a moment the children were quiet, then Danny spoke up. “What if no one comes?”

Katherine laughed, and Andrew seemed surprised. He motioned toward the windows. “Have none of you looked outside?”

Frances quickly turned toward the nearest window and was shocked to see a number of people in buggies or wagons, driving in the same direction as the train on a road parallel to the tracks. They were not dressed as elegantly as the people in New York. There were no top hats or canes to be seen among the men, and the women—many of whom wore broad-brimmed hats to shield their faces from the sun—were wrapped in shawls rather than elegant woolen coats. As Frances and the other children on the train stared at them, the people smiled and waved eagerly.

“Are they coming to see us?” Peg’s voice was a squeak.

“Yes, and many more with them,” Andrew said.

“All those people! How did they know we were coming?” a boy asked.

“Letting them know about you was part of my job,” Andrew explained. “I put an advertisement in the St. Joseph Weekly West that told about the society’s placing-out program. We received a response immediately, so I set up a committee of three prominent St. Joseph citizens to approve applicants. The next step was to bring you to St. Joe.”

“Will we all live in St. Joseph?” someone asked.

“No. Most of you will live on nearby farms. A few of you will probably be adopted by families who live across the Missouri River in the Kansas Territory. And because we’re so close to the borders of Iowa and Nebraska Territory, some of you might even find homes with families there.”

Frances could feel the shudder that ran through Megan’s body as she squeezed close and held tightly to Frances’s hand. She heard Danny murmur again, “You and me together, Mike. Right?”

Curiosity and excitement overcame Frances’s fear. She pressed against the car window to see the busy, noisy town. Horseback riders, wagons, and foot traffic crowded the streets, just as they did in New York. But in St. Joseph, the streets were dirt, and few of the buildings were higher than two stories. The other children pushed to the windows, pointing and yelling as the train chugged into the station and rattled to a stop.

Many of the passengers on their car paused before leaving to say good-bye to the children and wish them well.

Captain Taylor came to where Frances stood with Mike and solemnly shook hands with both of them.

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