The family was now a family with money, and they could afford to ride in luxury. As the three of them got onto the train they were treated well by all the workers . They would ride in one of the best cars that the train offered.
Jack took out his book that he would do his drawings on. There was nothing more relaxing than sitting in a chair and drawing the people around you. He found a lovely woman sitting there watching the scenery and began to draw her. She would be the first of many things that he would see on the long trip across the United States.
The nice thing about riding a train is that it makes frequent stops. Many times Jack and Rose would have the opportunity to stop and spend the night at a small town. They had been on the train for just one day when Jack saw a brochure about Niagara Falls.
Jack had always wanted to see the falls in person. He had seen photos of them, but he thought that he could bring the life of them onto his paper. The soul of the falls had never been caught. on canvas and he wanted to try.
As Jack and Rose disembarked the train they were taken to a local inn. The inn had all of the modern conveniences and the two of them were shown the best room that the inn had to offer. The falls were within view of their room and Jack sat outside doing some more of his drawings.
But Rose was surprised to find an article of a woman who just a little over ten years ago had gone over the falls and survived. Not only did she survive, but she could meet her. She was in town now. Annie Taylor was someone that Jack wanted to draw also.
As they approached a large crowd of people, they found that Annie was there signing copies of her picture. She did not appear to be anyone that would draw their attention. She was much older than they thought she would be also.
As Jack went to her and approached her on the subject of him doing a drawing of her, she thought for a moment. But he showed her some of his other work and she was impressed. The drawings that she saw that had been done by Jack were good, very good, and she needed the money. She agreed to allow him to do her picture. For the first time Jack paid for the right to draw a person. He gave the lady twenty dollars for the picture. One he would keep for himself, but agreed not to sell and one for her.
But the falls were absolutely beautiful and they were on both sides Canada and the United States. Jack and Rose went to the Canadian side the next day. The falls were even more amazing on the other side of the border. They each watched the mist and enjoyed the time. They even dared to take a ride on the boat that took them very close to the falls themselves. Ever since the Titanic Rose and Jack had been leery about riding on anything in the water, but they managed to enjoy the ride along with Rose's personal maid and friend Jenny.
As the three of them looked up at the sheer height of the falls and the speed with which the water came down they wondered how a person, especially a woman could have survived such a fall. And she did it intentionally, Jack shook his head in disbelief. He had learned that Annie had been sixty-two years old when she had gone over the falls on that day.
As Jack and Rose enjoyed the time together they each spent time relaxing. This was not a trip that had to be done in a certain amount of time. They had the money and their belongings would be waiting for them when they arrived in California. Fabrizio knew that they were on their way. They sent him a postcard to let them know where they were on their trip.
But they had been at Niagara Falls for the past three days and it was time for them to move on. The desk clerk found that the best train for them to be taking would be leaving at ten the following morning. They agreed to be on that train and the manager of the inn made arrangements for their belongings to be put on the train.
For the last night there, Rose and Jack went back to the falls. She now carried a camera with her wherever she could. She thought that Jack could do the drawings while she could take the less personal thing of the quick photo. They were glad to have the camera with them, because on that night something special did happen.
It was just past four in the afternoon, when a call came out from one of the crowd. There was someone else trying to go over the falls in a barrel. Rose and Jack squinted to see if they could spot the barrel. Neither one of them saw much until they heard a scream. Rose snapped the photo with her brownie camera and then watched as people started to run toward the barrel that was now against the rocks. She snapped another photo as she watched the police open the barrel and an ambulance come with two men and a stretcher. She took a photo as the man was pulled from the barrel and watched as he was taken to the hospital.
Jack and Rose shook their heads and thought how stupid that young man had been. He was alive, but looked as though he had been badly injured.
The next morning as they ate their breakfast Jack and Rose were told the sad news that the man had not survived the fall. There was talk about a fence being placed where the people were getting into the water, but that was all. It was just talk.
Rose thought of the photos that she had on her film. The film would have to be developed, she had a couple of rare photos. They would have the photos developed at the next train stop. As they embarked on their next part of the journey the three of them sat back and relaxed.