Whistle-Stop West by Arleta Richardson

Author:Arleta Richardson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical fiction for middle school;orphan train history;orphan train children;history books for children;historical fiction series
Publisher: David C. Cook
Published: 2016-01-02T21:02:58+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Searching for Simon

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.

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