My apologies, everyone. Work has raised it's ugly head - 12 hours days. Actually, I shouldn't complain. I am blessed with work when many aren't. Enjoy!

Chapter Seventy-Five

The first day on the train was mostly quiet after the initial screaming was over. Once the children were settled in the sitting area of the car, Shiloh and Amalee took a survey of the food in the icebox, deciding what would be eaten for lunch and dinner. By the time Aaron called for his mother, plates and bowls were prepared.

Sitting at the small round table just outside the kitchen, Aaron said, "Da?"

Shiloh raised her eyes to Amalee, then closed them. "Aaron, my little love, don't you remember? We said goodbye to daddy yesterday. He's going to San Francisco, and we're going to New York."

"Da?" he said, turning and looking around the railcar.

He looked at Anna who said in a delicate, quiet voice, "Da?"

Shiloh looked at Amalee, her brows furrowed and her eyes moist. She closed her eyes. "Your father isn't with us. It's just us for a while."

Anna's pout began to grow. Her bottom lip quivered before she tried again, whispering, "Da?"

Sniffling, Shiloh said, "No, Anna. He's not here. But he did send something for you. After you eat some breakfast, I'll get it for you."

With a deepening pout, Anna's eyes squeezed shut, sending tears streaming down her face.

When Shiloh reached for her, the baby pushed her mother's hands away, but that didn't deter Shiloh. She lifted Anna into her arms and hugged her tightly. While Anna cried for her Da, Shiloh held her hand out to Aaron. "Amalee, please go ahead. We'll be right back."

She stood them both on the floor in the first small bedroom where she pulled a small trunk next to them. "Now, your Da sent something very special for each of you." She pulled two dolls out of the trunk, one a girl doll with yellow, curly hair of yarn, and the other a boy doll with short, curly black hair. Before she gave them the dolls, she said, "Da said when you think of him, hug your doll, and he'll feel your hug. Do you understand?"

Each child nodded, waiting for their mother to give them the dolls, and when she did, both hugged their dolls as tightly as they could.

"Oh my, I'm sure your Da is wearing a big smile right about now." Aaron nodded, but Anna just looked at the doll. "Now, you both need to eat lunch or you'll be hungry before dinner gets here. Shall we go back to the table?" Standing, Shiloh held her hands down to her children, and they walked back to the table together. Once they were situated in their chairs, Shiloh said, "Sit your doll on your lap, so you don't get food on it."

Both children did as they were told, and ate their lunch quietly, but by that afternoon, Anna was curled up in a corner, hugging her doll to her as she cried for her Da.

Shiloh let out a defeated breath. "Amalee, I'm gonna run out of things to give them at this rate. Shall we try a puzzle?"

Amalee cocked her head and looked at the baby. "Well, the first puzzle lasted for a while. But then she saw Mr. Cartwright off and on during the day." Taking a deep breath, she said, "We can always try. My little brother was inconsolable while my mother was away getting supplies. All I could do was hold him sometimes until he cried himself to sleep."

"We need to try to keep her awake during the day, so we all get some sleep at night," said Shiloh. "Let's try the puzzle."

While Amalee sat with Anna as she worked on the puzzle, Shiloh went to the car ahead of them to speak with Titus and all those supporting the play. "Miss Whitney, should we practice?" asked one of the violin players.

"Goodness, no. First, there's not enough room in here for everyone to practice their parts, though," she turned so everyone could hear her, "if you want to try it, go right ahead. There's no one else on this car, so even if you make a little noise, no one will care."

Someone from the far end of the car said, "We did enjoy your playing, Miss Whitney."

Her brows furrowed. "You could hear that? I thought I was playing quietly."

"I don't think it was a problem," said Titus. "Everyone got quiet. They seemed to enjoy it."

She smiled and blushed, but quickly recovered. "Is everyone eating well?" she asked.

"When we go to the railroad restaurant at the stops, we're led to a private room," said a bassist. "The food has been extraordinarily good."

"And we have coffee, tea and water, plus fruit, cookies and cake," said another man, pointing to the other end of the car.

"Well, that's part of Mr. Crocker's financial support of the company. So, make sure you show your appreciation if we happen to see him in New York or Boston," Shiloh said. "I need to get back to the children, but if any of you need something, let me know, and I'll see if I can arrange it. Shiloh took her time opening the door to her car. She moved her head in and found Anna and Amalee still working on the puzzle.

Aaron was sitting near them talking to his doll. "Da! Da!" Looking up his mother, he asked, "Da hear?"

"I'm sure he does, Aaron." Moving her hand to her heart, she said, "In here."

XXXXXXXX

Adam lay in his bed, one arm under his head as he stared at the ceiling. Even though the air coming in the window was comfortable, he pulled up the blanket to cover himself, not because he was cold, but because the warmth reminded him of Shiloh lying against him. This is going to be difficult, he thought to himself. More difficult than any other time they'd been apart. It was true, and she knew it…he didn't like being apart from her or their children. Separation took the usual pleasure out of his work. He jumped at a light tapping on the door. "Come in."

The bedroom door slowly opened, and standing there waiting to be invited in was Abel, whimpering.

Sitting up on the side of the bed, Adam opened his arms, and when the little boy stepped into them, Adam held on tight. "I miss them, too," he said.

"You not sing to me at bedtime," Abel cried as he wiped wetness from his face on his nightshirt sleeve.

Lifting Abel up on the bed, Adam settled him down where his mother would normally lay. Turning on his side, Adam laid his hand on Abel's stomach and sang Amazing Grace, words and all, very quietly until Abel finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Adam bathed and shaved before Abel woke, then went back into the bedroom to wake his son. Again, with his hand on Abel's stomach, Adam gently shook him.

Abel yawned and looked at his father, then frowned. "You not Mama."

"Abel, your mother isn't here with us. Remember?" When the boy's lip began to quiver, Adam said, "Hey, we knew this would be hard. But you're a big boy."

Sniffling, Abel wiped his nose on the sleeve of his nightshirt and nodded. "I a big boy." He scooted off the bed. "I gotta go," he said, hurrying out of the bedroom.

Adam called after him. "If you need help with your clothes, let me know. You're playing with Robbie today." A wide smile appeared on Adam's face when he heard his son yell, "Yippee."

Lo had breakfast on the table by the time all three Cartwright men came down the stairs.

Abel ate quietly though he smiled and wiggled in his chair every now and then, anxious to get to the city to play with Robbie.

Beau ate quietly at first, wondering what he was going to do with himself during the day, but he remembered Shiloh's suggestion. "I understand you're fond of Greeks and Romans," he said, glancing over at Adam.

Adam froze for a moment, then chuckled. "So, you did speak with Shiloh."

"Not about singing. She suggested that I ask you to show me your Greek and Roman architecture books. She said you get some of your design ideas from them."

"I did. I do. And I'll be happy to show you where they are," said Adam. "You can take your time looking through them unless you want to go with me to the city hall to survey the crack in the wall."

Beau nodded and smiled. "I think I'll go with you and then look at Greek and Roman architecture when we get back to your office."

At the city hall, Adam stood back away from the building, trying to judge if there was any lean or bulge…anything that told him from the outside that the building was unstable. Finding nothing, he walked around the building to the side where the land it was sitting on dove down a steep embankment. There had been nothing holding the bank in place. It had crumbled away during the quake. The sudden lack of support undermined the foundation which also slipped, causing the crack his eyes followed from right at the remaining line of dirt all the way up to the sill under the eaves of the roof.

At Adam's twisted mouth, Beau said, "It's not good, is it?"

Adam's brows rose. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, the look on your face, mostly," said Beau. "But this isn't so much of a wall crack issue as it's a foundation issue. I'll bet the crack goes all the way down."

"And exactly how would you know that?" Adam asked while his brows fell into a curious curve.

"You can see how the dirt is separated at the foundation. I can't imagine anything but a deeper crack would cause that. I'd think if it was going to pull away, it would have fallen down the hill with the rest of it. It's still here, so it's slowly separating as the crack widens."

Crossing his arms and shifting his weight to one leg, Adam's brows curled. "I thought you said you didn't study architecture…buildings…?"

"I haven't. It just…makes sense," said Beau.

Adam nodded. "Let's take a look at the inside."

Both men walked through the front door, choosing a hallway that led to the back of the building by dead reckoning. Looking at all the doors around him, Adam thought a moment, then picked one and opened it, finding a desk shoved to one side of the room away from a six-inch crack in the plaster wall. He looked up at it, then said, "We need to look in the cellar."

Beau followed his father to the cellar, straight toward the crack in the cellar wall. He stopped when Adam's hand moved behind him to stop Beau's progress.

The floor Adam was standing on was slowly sinking, so he made sure Beau was out of his way, then gingerly stepped backward. "I've seen enough," he said.

Robert met Adam and Beau as they were coming out of the City Hall. "Albert Kelley is meeting with the mayor now. He wants to bid on the City Hall."

"He can't do that. We have an exclusive contract," said Adam.

Moving his hands to his hips, Robert said, "Kelley thinks he can convince Mayor McCoppin he can beat our estimate."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Adam laughed. "He doesn't even know what our estimate is."

Robert looked sideways at his partner. "Do you?"

Looking at Beau, Adam twisted his mouth. "No. But it's not going to be cheap. The back of the building is on fill. It's sinking as we speak. Kelley probably took one look at it from the outside wall and walked away."

"What did you do?" asked Robert.

"I went down to the cellar and stood on the cracked floor. It sank."

"Well, then we need to get to that meeting and stop it before it starts," said Robert as he turned toward his buggy, but stopped and turned back around. "And you are?"

"Sorry, Robert. This is Beau, uh…Bridger. My son."

"It's…" After an awkward silence, Robert held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Beau. Now, shall we get to that meeting?"