Elsie Hughes looked down at the red-faced squalling child in her arms and tried to settle him with another lullaby. The lad was hungry she knew, he hadn't eaten since they'd left in the early morning and it was nearing mid-day now. An irritated mother of four rambunctious children sitting next to her kept glaring in her direction, probably because Elsie was holding a child and wasn't wearing a wedding ring. It was the last thing the distressed new mother wanted to deal with. Deciding to take a chance, Elsie left the crowded and stuffy compartment to search for a mother from whom she could beg a few moments at the breast. If I could only feed him myself, I'd have one problem less, she thought nearing tears.
She took a moment to compose herself, it wouldn't do to have a cry in public no matter how tough things were. No matter what challenges came her way, she would stand tall and face them with squared shoulders and her head held high. After all, it didn't matter if the irritated mother sitting next to her knew the details of her life; women with children and no husband were judged to the point where they never stood a chance anyway.
Four cars down a mother took pity on the child and took the bairn to the mother's room. Elsie took advantage of the few moments of peace to reflect on the events of the last few days and her precarious new circumstances. Becky had been horribly abused at the facility she lived in and had given birth. It had been a mercilessly rough situation to navigate when Becky's caretakers hadn't known a thing till Becky was well into her pregnancy; they had simply assumed she had undergone the change and had started gaining weight given her age. The facility hadn't a clue as to who the father was and Becky had gone silent months ago, save for the occasional rage-filled outburst, so there had been no way to see the man sacked. When they had shown Becky the child after the birth she had lashed out and tried to attack her own child. By the time Elsie had received a letter detailing her sisters' welfare, Becky was near ready to give birth. Elsie had been granted some time off from Mr. Carson and the family citing exhaustion from a lack of using her half days. The family had been kind enough to let her go without much issue, but Mr. Carson had given her a good scolding in his pantry. The original plan had been to spend some time with Becky and make plans for the child to be adopted as soon as possible. The actual chain of events ended with Elsie arriving the day before the birth and had fallen in love with her nephew the moment she laid eyes on him. He was perfect with ten little pink toes, a pair of pouty lips and the sweetest face she had ever seen. No, she couldn't give him up after laying eyes on someone so wonderful as her only nephew. As things stood today, Elsie was a single mother with no husband and a sister who was heavily dependent on her ability to earn.
The kind mother who had acted as wet nurse returned with her nephew who was sleeping peacefully in his swaddling clothes. Elsie thanked her several times over before making her way back to her stuffy compartment only to find the unkind mother had taken advantage of the extra space to let her youngest nap and refused to wake her. It had been enough to force tears to well at her eyes when the train began to slow and the ticket inspector called out the stop. An exasperated Elsie grabbed her valise off the top shelf and hurried out before the woman could see the tears flowing down her cheeks. Taking in a steadying breath of fresh air, Elsie took the first steps towards the pub where the man she hoped would help her, the only man she trusted at this moment, would be waiting. He may not be perfect, but he is a good man.