Mrs. Cheng didn’t answer, but followed them onto the porch. From the corner of her eye, Rebekah saw her hide a glinting silver object in her flower pot.
A dime for the newspaper boy tomorrow. She smiled to herself. Thank you, God, for letting us meet such a woman with a servant’s heart.
“Ah-mitch,” she called to their retreating backs. “And Chinese. Not so different.”
When Rebekah looked back, Mrs. Cheng was waving with both hands. They waved too. For a moment, she thought she caught sight of something glistening on Mrs. Cheng’s face.
Are those tears? Rebekah squinted.
Perhaps.
Or just glinting rays from the sun on the ocean.
***
The lot of them arrived at the train station much too soon. Something about leaving New York City in the state it was in, so much complacency and so much sin, it just seemed...wrong. Rebekah hobbled along next to Joseph, her bound ankle already feeling better beneath the black silk binding.
“Do you think we did any good here?” Rebekah kept her voice low, so only Joseph could hear. “I mean, did we leave it better than we found it? As we are supposed to?”
Joseph shrugged as he helped her through the throng of people and toward the platform to board the train.
From behind them, Katie spoke. “Did you see that? That poor woman and little boy, eating out of a rubbish can!” Rebekah heard her tsk and sigh. “What was I thinking?” she asked nobody in particular, especially not Peter since she still hadn’t spoken to him that Rebekah had seen. “How did I think I could live among these people?”
Joseph spoke up with a bite in his tone. “By these people, you mean people who are forced to eat out of trash heaps?” Rebekah knew he’d taken to little Noah, but didn’t count on the flare in his words, at least not for it to be so noticeable. Almost tangible.
“No.” Katie’s answer was meek. “Of course not. I meant among the people who let people live like that. People who do nothing to help them.”
Rebekah’s heart warmed and the world swirled around her. Something in the tea made her sleepy, apparently. This must be what Mrs. Cheng meant when she said it would help me rest.
The trip was worth it, she said. Or maybe she only thought the words. To hear Katie’s heart change so, I would make this trip again and again.
Her eyelids fluttered as Joseph installed her into a seat. This train ride promised to be much more crowded, with lots of seats taken. Once they were all situated, the train whistle blew.
Divine timing, Rebekah thought, her eyes shut against the world.
“We have some money left.” Peter’s voice spoke from somewhere. “I’m going to go see if I can upgrade our tickets so we can have a place to lie down. Maybe a sleeper bunk.”
Her brother’s calloused hand brushed her cheek. “I’m going to find some ice for Rebekah too, like I promised I would.”
Joseph’s words came quickly and were punctuated by laughter. “You were not really given the option but to promise.”
Peter laughed too, but his heart wasn’t in it.
Probably heartbroken over Katie and the way she’s acting. Give her time, brother. I can see her heart changing. Give her time.
If she wasn’t so tired and her eyelids and lips weren’t heavy as stone, Rebekah would have said these things.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Peter said.
“I’ll try not to let it leave without you,” Joseph jested.
Katie, it seemed, wasn’t going to say anything.
Joseph tucked Rebekah’s quilting bag in between them and sat down beside her. Rebekah cozied down under his arm, sleep only a breath away. “Wish there was more we could have done for Patty and little Noah,” he muttered to himself as he adjusted to find the most comfortable spot in the hard seat. “That little boy was something else.”
Finally, he was still. It was no matter to Rebekah, who was overtaken with fatigue. She slumped over her quilting bag and leaned against him. Joseph slid his arm over her shoulder as she snuggled into his side.
“I’ll do my best,” he promised quietly into her hair, “never to let you get hurt again. I promise, Rebekah. And I promise you all of my tomorrows, and the very best of me.”
And I you. The best of me. Forever.
The train whistle blew again, shrill and sharp.
Peter? Did Peter make it back?
Exhaustion refused to let the words pass her lips. She had no other choice but to simply let go.
Let go, and trust.
Chapter Seventeen
Montgomery, Indiana
“Montgomery,” shouted a voice she didn’t recognize. “This stop is Montgomery, Indiana. If your ticket says Montgomery, Indiana, this is your stop and you need to disembark the train at this time.”
The shrill tone, unfriendly and all too professional, pierced into Rebekah’s ears.
“Sounds sharp, like Pa’s ice pick that he lets us use to ice fish when the river freezes over,” she muttered. “Thomas loves to jab it.” Acutely aware that her words probably didn’t make sense, she didn’t look around to see if anyone heard her.
She sat up and stretched, long, popping stretches. Katie was stretched out on the bunk across from her, still snoozing away.
Eyes bleary, Rebekah fumbled around her. When did I get moved into a bunk? Do I have a ticket? Who is that person with the terrible voice?
Joseph? Where is Joseph? Did Peter make it back?
Panic struck her heart and froze her momentarily in mid-movement. “Did we leave Peter in New York City?”
Her words found their place with Katie, who sat bolt upright.
“Did you say we left Peter in New York City?” Katie’s words, too, were thick and fuzzy like her own.
“I don’t know. Do you see him? I don’t.”
“Your ticket, Miss? And Miss?”
Finally, the person with the disembodied ice pick voice appeared before them.
“What, I’m sorry,” Rebekah stammered. “Who are you? Where’s Joseph?” Aware that she sounded rude, Rebekah was powerless to stem the flow of questions that flowed from her mouth, which refused to work properly, like blood from an untended wound. “I’m sorry—” Stopping in mid-thought, she extended her shaky hand. “I’m Rebekah Stoll. How long have I been asleep?”
