A wide-eyed reporter stood there, grinning. “Miss Nellie Bly?”
Nellie raised her eyebrows. “What can I do for you?”
The reporter looked as though he was about ready to explode with pent-up energy. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, the train emitted an ear-splitting shriek. Katie flung her hands over her ears and pressed down hard. Still, it did nothing to stifle the sound.
With a jerk, the train began to slow.
As the noise from the brakes died down, the young, slick-haired reporter spoke with reverence. “Miss Bly, we’re here. We are pulling into the brand new Central Avenue Station in New York City.”
***
Her round face aglow, Nellie cast a glance over her shoulder at Katie. “It’s time, Katie Knepp.”
Something churned in Katie’s stomach. In all of Katie’s life, she’d never tried on dresses like she had here in her private room of Nellie Bly’s train car, and something about it felt strange. Vain. Prideful.
“Choose your dress and meet me in my car. And make haste, Katie Knepp.” Nellie tossed her dark curls over her shoulder. “Our public awaits and we shan’t keep them waiting long.”
Katie nodded and watched as Nellie slid the door closed. Raucous sounds echoed outside, sounds the like Katie’d never heard before. It was time to go see what the English world had to offer. But first...
Katie dug to the bottom of the pile of dresses and chose the one Nellie hadn’t handed her. She slipped off her rumpled Amish apparel and left it in a crumpled heap on the floor. Her skin prickled with exhilaration as she slid the forbidden English silk over her shoulders and let it tumble down over her body.
The white silk clung to her body in ways a dress never had before. Showy. Formfitting. Immodest. She shivered as she cinched the green velvet cloak at her middle.
“Swallowtail-green velvet over white silk, floor-length gown, edged with golden Renaissance-inspired embroidery, reminiscent of French royalty.”
Katie jumped.
In donning the forbidden fabric, she hadn’t heard Nellie slide open the door. Her heart thundered in her chest and her breath caught in her throat.
Nellie smiled and closed the space between them with two long strides. “Something in me thought you’d choose that one. You have fire in you, Katie Knepp.” Nellie held out a hat box. “Then you’ll need this.”
Katie lifted the lid on the box and gasped. An ornate, feathered hat in matching green velvet sat there, begging to be worn.
“It’s too...too much.” Katie’s thundering heart showed no sign of slowing. “I could never wear that.”
Nellie sat the box on the ground and plucked the hat from it easily.
“Oh we must do away with this.” She snatched the gauze bonnet from Katie’s head and tossed it onto the floor. Like an afterthought. Something caught in Katie’s throat.
Ma made that for me. I remember because she was battling a chest cold while she did so. I knew she felt terrible and should rest, but she made it for me anyway...
“Now that that’s out of the way...” As though she was crowning her at a royal coronation, Nellie sat the green, feathered hat carefully atop Katie’s head.
“You can wear it, Katie Knepp.” Nellie beamed. “And you’ll wear it beautifully.”
Without another word, Nellie spun on her heel and marched out of the train car. Without letting Nellie’s brown tweed jacket out of her sight, Katie quick-stepped to keep up.
If I lose her now, I’ll never find my way.
Katie stepped back into the train car and picked up her white covering. Without taking care to fold it, she crammed it into the front of her dress, since the tight-fitting bodice—formfitting and with no room for modesty—came with no pockets.
Her bare feet gave her pause. “Shoes, shoes, I need English shoes.” Katie frantically glanced around the train car. “There!”
An obscure box peeked out at her, beckoning, from behind a chair. Katie plucked them from the box and jammed her feet into them.
“Oomph.” She pulled the laces tight as the train horn blew again. “I have to hurry.”
Katie pushed herself to her feet and toddled toward the door. “This is going to take practice.” She took a step, wobbled, then took another step. “Think like an Englisher, walk like an Englisher...”
Turning on her heel the way Nellie had done, Katie hurried out into the aisle. A darkened glass hung in Nellie’s train car and caught Katie’s eye. She stopped and studied the reflection. There, where a simple Amish girl had been, an English lady stood, ready to meet the world. Katie lifted her chin and followed the cries of the people.
“Nellie, Nellie,” they chanted.
But for an instant, she was almost certain they were chanting for her.
***
“Ostentation, Katie Knepp.” Nellie, decked out in her tweed jacket and matching hat, stood on the train’s platform while her people unloaded trunks and cases and boxes around them. A sea of waving hats unfolded before them.
I’ve never seen so many people, or so many hats, in one place at one time!
Nellie stared off over their heads and into the tangle of dirt streets that led into New York City. “Ostentation and glamour.”
“Nellie? Nellie!”
A man’s voice sounded over the din of admirers gathered at Central Station. Katie heard him, but was powerless to pull her attention away from her surroundings.
Nellie waved one arm wide and beamed. “Hello George!”
