The Moonstone Brooch : Time Travel Romance by Katherine Lowry Logan

Author:Katherine Lowry Logan [Logan, Katherine Lowry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

23

Adirondacks 1901—Clay

The rumbling train slowed as it approached the Albany train station, where a tide of people poured out of the depot and onto the platform, waiting for the current train to leave the station. The hissing sighs and clanks of steam engines at rest created a surreal moment for Clay. It reminded him he truly was living in the past before high-speed electric trains crisscrossed the country.

Roosevelt’s secretary, William Loeb, stood and spoke briefly with the vice president, pressing down his mustache with his thumb and forefinger to cover his mouth so others couldn’t hear his conversation. Clay had already made several sketches of Loeb but found the expression on his square face so remarkable that he sketched him again.

Loeb finished with Roosevelt and stopped by Clay’s seat on the way to the exit. “You’re a fit young man, Clay, and Theodore enjoys your company. He’ll push himself up Mount Marcy. If he looks tired, force him to rest.”

Clay chuckled. “Can anyone force Mr. Roosevelt to do anything he doesn’t want to do?”

Loeb pinched his brushy eyebrows together, and the eyes behind the lenses of his pince-nez spectacles darkened. “No, but just remind him—”

“That he’s a heartbeat from the presidency?”

“He won’t like hearing that, even if it’s true. I’ll stay in touch with McKinley’s staff in Buffalo. If anything changes, I’ll send word.”

“It’ll be difficult to get updates once we leave the Tahawus Club. If President McKinley takes a turn for the worse, don’t wait. Mr. Roosevelt could be incommunicado for a time, which isn’t good for the country.”

Loeb nodded.

Clay signaled for Loeb to lean closer to speak privately. “If I were you, I’d also research the procedure for swearing in the vice president following the sudden death of the president.”

“That’s unnecessary.”

“If it means not scrambling around at the last minute, then being prepared is necessary.”

In 1901, there was no 25th Amendment outlining presidential succession, so the cabinet members would have to figure out the necessary steps to swear in the new president.

Loeb left the train, and Clay settled in for the remaining hundred miles to the small train station at North Creek. He dozed off, and every time he woke up, he looked over at Roosevelt. He wasn’t sure the future president ever slept.

“When will we join Mrs. Roosevelt and your children?” Clay asked.

Roosevelt closed the book he was reading and removed his glasses. “They should already be at the Tahawus Club.” He wiped the lenses with his handkerchief. “Mrs. Roosevelt is ready for a vacation. She was nursing Archie through a bout of chicken pox when Alice returned from visiting a friend’s house with an abscess in her jaw and two loosened front teeth. She was being rushed to the hospital when Quintin stuffed a mothball up his nose, also requiring medical attention.”

Clay chuckled. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh at your children’s misfortunes, but I remember getting a small pebble stuck in my nose and having to go to the hospital to have it removed. But it seems to be more upsetting for parents than it is for kids.

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