ESCAPE
Chapter Nineteen
Under the name Violet Freeman, Rose stayed at
a hotel near the outskirts of the city. There, Charles, claiming to everyone
that he was more determined than ever to find Mrs. Hockley and would be very
busy scouting for her until she was found, nursed her back to health.
Medicines and herbs alike were brought from
both near and far. Much to her annoyance, she was confined to bed.
"Charles, please. It’s just a bad
cold."
"Rose, the better you’re taken care of,
the sooner you’ll get to California. And the sooner you get to California, the
safer you and your family will be.”
*****
Under Charles’ careful care, Rose was over
her sickness within a week.
Now came the difficult part.
*****
"Hello, sir? Yes. Hi. I would like to
get two adult tickets and two child tickets for my family," Charles,
disguised as a working-class man with slightly ragged clothes, told the man at
the ticket counter.
The man looked the family up and down. The
wife was beautiful, yet pale and a little sickly. She had a scarf around her
hair, but he could see a few blonde strands coming out. Glancing at the
children, he found them to both be boys, bundled up in hats and coats. They
looked enough like an average family, but something told him to take a closer
look. Mr. Hockley had given him strict orders to carefully survey everyone
buying tickets and the people they had with them.
"Those kids seem to be bundled up a heck
of a lot for warm weather like this."
"Like my wife here, they’re recovering
from a recent sickness and it’s doctor’s orders that they should be kept
exceptionally warm for the next week."
Looking at the mournful expressions and
feeble look about them, the ticket master nodded. "Okay. Here you go. Two
adults, two kids. Have a nice trip. Next!"
*****
It wasn’t until a half-day long train ride
that it pulled to its last stop.
"I guess our ways part here," Rose
said to Charles.
"Yes. I guess so. I wouldn’t love
anything more than to go all the way to California with you and see to it that
all three of you arrive safely, but it would raise too much suspicion,
especially now that so many clues have been popping up as to your whereabouts
and I’m hot on your trail." They both had a private laugh on the stories
Charles had dished out to insure that Rose’s real whereabouts were
undetected.
One last hug from Rose, two hugs and kisses
from Jayvelin and Jacob, and one last good-bye and promise to see each other
again when there wasn’t so much at risk later, Charles found himself alone and
searching through the timetable to see the next trip back to Philadelphia.
*****
How long did it take to get to California?
How many times did they have to switch trains? How many stops were there? Rose
and her small family couldn’t tell. They were absolutely, positively worn
out.
But they made it.
On the magical hour that the clocks struck
midnight, they arrived at their final destination. Rose, family and supplies
all in her overburdened arms, gazed out in wonder from the open train station.
The whistles of the departing train woke Jayvelin and Jacob, and together they
sat on a bench and looked up at the dark sky. Never had Rose seen it so black.
Never had she seen such bright stars. And they were all bestowing their
glorious beauty because of her. She had made it.
She drew her children closer and whispered in
their precious little ears, "We’re here. We’ve made it."