The girls watched Swan walk off before turning to each other and beginning
to talk. "So Mills you and Cray looked awful close." Tack teased the small
raven-haired girl who succeeded to keep from blushing.
"Well you know Tack that happens when couples get engaged, they forget about the rest of the world." Kit piped up.
Mills saw an opening, "Kinda like youse and Spot right?" Kit opened her mouth to respond but found she really couldn't and began laughing instead. Mills and Tack soon joined in. Their laughter turned to shouts of delight when Swan brought his 4 charges around the corner. Bait and Jolly ran to Kit almost knocking her down in their exuberance as Lacy ran to her older sister. Two Bit squirmed to get down from Swan's arms and was happily handed over to Tack. There were lots of hugs given and everyone talked at once. Swan shepherded the small group off to the side of the platform out of the eyes of the public so that the scolding could be given in private.
Spot and Cray walked in relative silence to the ticket office. The line to the window was pretty long and Cray started the conversation that he had been forming in his mind since he first saw Spot on the train. "So Conlon, I don't have to tell you to treat her right do I?"
Spot looked at the other man, "Nah Ise don't need to be told, but if it makes youse feel like youse done something go ahead." He motioned for Cray to continue.
"Well I ain't gonna repeat what I said back in Brooklyn, that would be pointless. I just want you to know that I respected the way you reacted to everything that's happened. Not many guys would have the guts to come after a girl when he finds out all the stuff you know about Kit."
Spot looked a bit surprised, this wasn't what he was expecting. "Well that stuff that happened in Bal'more and the fact that she's youse cousin not youse sister don't change nothing."
"Good, I needed to hear that. Guess I should let you in on this, Mills and me are getting married." Cray smiled a bit and almost fell over when Spot slapped him on the back.
"Well Ise not that surprised but congratulations." Both young men smiled at each other, "So how do youse wanna divide up the tickets. Ise think wes shouldn't get the kids tickets till wes know they's on the train."
"I got to agree with you there. We can get four now, then if we find the kids Swan can get all 4 of those and the other two. Plus that give us some time to sell the coins you got." Spot nodded in agreement and stepped out of line as Cray got up to the ticket window.
"I'd like to get seats for the next train to Omaha Nebraska. I am going to be getting 4 of the tickets now then two adult tickets and 4 children's tickets before the train pulls out." Cray stated to the station employee behind the counter.
The man looked at the schedule to see when the next train would be leaving. "The next train to Omaha leaves at 6 tonight. You really have the dough for 10 tickets?" The man was skeptical that such a young man would have the finances.
A muffled shout was heard from the platform and Cray picked out Kit's excited squeal along with the squeals of children. He smiled as he went back to talking to the employee. "Yes my wife and I along with my brother, our sister and their spouses and our children are all going to see our father for the last time. My father has never seen his grandchildren and we felt this was the best time for that."
"So you are going to need 6 adult tickets and how many children under 12?" The man was adding up the numbers there.
"Well lets see there is Peter and my John, and of course Rachel and little Becky. That I believe is four children's tickets." Cray answered counting off the children on his fingers.
"Your tickets will come to total of 10 dollars. $1.30 for each adult ticket and $.50 for each child's, plus tax." The man said quickly.
Cray reached into his pocket and took out the last remaining bills, "Well let's see I have 5.50 here."
Swan came up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Now Crale I can't have you paying for all these tickets on youse own. Here is the rest of the money for me, Jessie and the girls." Swan placed the last 4.50 on the counter. The man gave the two young men their tickets. Cray gave Spot the last two children's tickets, and two of the adult tickets, while keeping the last two for himself.
To say that the twins were happy to see Kit would have been an understatement. Both boys vied for her attention and to sit on her lap. As the guys came up this brought more pandemonium as the twins ran to see Spot. The lap problem finally solved as Spot and Kit sat next to each other with a boy on each lap. Tack sat with Two Bit falling asleep in her lap and Lacy telling her all about their trip in a boxcar loudly in her ear.
Swan finally sat down and pulled Lacy into his lap. "Now Miss Lacy your sister needs a bit of a rest. You can't keep talking her ear off now can you? So tell me what was it like riding in a boxcar with the boys? Did they treat you right?"
Lacy looked at the boys before nodding. "Yeah they made sure me and Bit got stuff to eat, even though crackers are nasty and they made sure our water lasted us till we got here."
Bait hearing this turned to Spot, "Yeah wes took good care of them, but Spot Ise hungry." His stomach growled in agreement, which brought smiles to the older kid's faces.
"Well guess that means wes need to go find all of us some food." They all stood up and began walking into downtown Chicago chatting. The little boys kept their eyes out for a restaurant searching for the perfect place.
"Spot let's go there." Jolly tugged on Spot's sleeve and pointing at a small outdoor café. Swan went to check out the prices and after seeing they were reasonable motioned the group over. The waiters looked a bit surprised to see such a large group of poorly dressed people coming to their restaurant and were hesitant to give them a table. Spot pulled out the last of the paper money they had.
"Well gentleman, if youse don't want our business wes be happy to take it else where. Would youse be so kind to point out youse nearest competitor?" The headwaiter reluctantly had two bus boys shove two tables together and showed the rag-tag group to their tables.
Tack turned to Swan, and picking a snooty name out of thin air started talking; "You would think, James they wouldn't turn away potential customers that are sure to order a lot would you?"
"There, there dear. We aren't exactly dressed in our best. If they knew we were Vanderbilts they wouldn't have acted so crudely." Cray patted Mills arm as she pretended to sniffle.
The children hid their snickers well as they watched the young adults put on a wonderful show. The headwaiter heard both Tack and Cray's comments and soon their service was much better. The older girls tried to keep straight faces as they heard the whispers around the café. So how they made it through the meal without any incidents got the bill paid.
They were almost back to the train station when Kit broke out laughing. "I can't believe they think that we were the Vanderbilts. Did you see the face of the waiter when you said that Cray?"
"Yeah, at least we got good service out of that." Cray said with a shrug as they walked up to their train and got on, going to their car.
"Well you know this is gonna be a long train ride, and I know 4 little people that need to sleep." Tack said as she lead in a yawning Two Bit.
Lacy tried to protest, "I'm not.*yawn* sleepy." Bait and Jolly nodded sleepily in agreement.
"Well youse don't have to sleep but youse got ta at least lay youse heads down on our laps after the train starts got it?" Mills suggested as she sat down across from Tack taking Lacy into her lap. They finally got situated in two sets of seats across the main aisle from each other. Cray sat next to Mills with Lacy lying across their laps. Two Bit wouldn't be moved from Tack's arms so Tack sat on the opposite bench next to Swan. On the other side of the aisle the seating Spot and Kit shared a seat while the twins curled up on the opposite seat.
The kids were all out before the first 20 minutes had passed. The girls drifted off one at a time, Tack first leaning her head slightly on Swan's shoulder, while Mills and Kit struggled violently before drifting off. The guys talked amongst themselves but after the conductor had passed by for the night soon leaned back in their seats and were soon sawing logs like pros.
"Well you know Tack that happens when couples get engaged, they forget about the rest of the world." Kit piped up.
Mills saw an opening, "Kinda like youse and Spot right?" Kit opened her mouth to respond but found she really couldn't and began laughing instead. Mills and Tack soon joined in. Their laughter turned to shouts of delight when Swan brought his 4 charges around the corner. Bait and Jolly ran to Kit almost knocking her down in their exuberance as Lacy ran to her older sister. Two Bit squirmed to get down from Swan's arms and was happily handed over to Tack. There were lots of hugs given and everyone talked at once. Swan shepherded the small group off to the side of the platform out of the eyes of the public so that the scolding could be given in private.
Spot and Cray walked in relative silence to the ticket office. The line to the window was pretty long and Cray started the conversation that he had been forming in his mind since he first saw Spot on the train. "So Conlon, I don't have to tell you to treat her right do I?"
Spot looked at the other man, "Nah Ise don't need to be told, but if it makes youse feel like youse done something go ahead." He motioned for Cray to continue.
"Well I ain't gonna repeat what I said back in Brooklyn, that would be pointless. I just want you to know that I respected the way you reacted to everything that's happened. Not many guys would have the guts to come after a girl when he finds out all the stuff you know about Kit."
Spot looked a bit surprised, this wasn't what he was expecting. "Well that stuff that happened in Bal'more and the fact that she's youse cousin not youse sister don't change nothing."
"Good, I needed to hear that. Guess I should let you in on this, Mills and me are getting married." Cray smiled a bit and almost fell over when Spot slapped him on the back.
"Well Ise not that surprised but congratulations." Both young men smiled at each other, "So how do youse wanna divide up the tickets. Ise think wes shouldn't get the kids tickets till wes know they's on the train."
"I got to agree with you there. We can get four now, then if we find the kids Swan can get all 4 of those and the other two. Plus that give us some time to sell the coins you got." Spot nodded in agreement and stepped out of line as Cray got up to the ticket window.
"I'd like to get seats for the next train to Omaha Nebraska. I am going to be getting 4 of the tickets now then two adult tickets and 4 children's tickets before the train pulls out." Cray stated to the station employee behind the counter.
The man looked at the schedule to see when the next train would be leaving. "The next train to Omaha leaves at 6 tonight. You really have the dough for 10 tickets?" The man was skeptical that such a young man would have the finances.
A muffled shout was heard from the platform and Cray picked out Kit's excited squeal along with the squeals of children. He smiled as he went back to talking to the employee. "Yes my wife and I along with my brother, our sister and their spouses and our children are all going to see our father for the last time. My father has never seen his grandchildren and we felt this was the best time for that."
"So you are going to need 6 adult tickets and how many children under 12?" The man was adding up the numbers there.
"Well lets see there is Peter and my John, and of course Rachel and little Becky. That I believe is four children's tickets." Cray answered counting off the children on his fingers.
"Your tickets will come to total of 10 dollars. $1.30 for each adult ticket and $.50 for each child's, plus tax." The man said quickly.
Cray reached into his pocket and took out the last remaining bills, "Well let's see I have 5.50 here."
Swan came up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Now Crale I can't have you paying for all these tickets on youse own. Here is the rest of the money for me, Jessie and the girls." Swan placed the last 4.50 on the counter. The man gave the two young men their tickets. Cray gave Spot the last two children's tickets, and two of the adult tickets, while keeping the last two for himself.
To say that the twins were happy to see Kit would have been an understatement. Both boys vied for her attention and to sit on her lap. As the guys came up this brought more pandemonium as the twins ran to see Spot. The lap problem finally solved as Spot and Kit sat next to each other with a boy on each lap. Tack sat with Two Bit falling asleep in her lap and Lacy telling her all about their trip in a boxcar loudly in her ear.
Swan finally sat down and pulled Lacy into his lap. "Now Miss Lacy your sister needs a bit of a rest. You can't keep talking her ear off now can you? So tell me what was it like riding in a boxcar with the boys? Did they treat you right?"
Lacy looked at the boys before nodding. "Yeah they made sure me and Bit got stuff to eat, even though crackers are nasty and they made sure our water lasted us till we got here."
Bait hearing this turned to Spot, "Yeah wes took good care of them, but Spot Ise hungry." His stomach growled in agreement, which brought smiles to the older kid's faces.
"Well guess that means wes need to go find all of us some food." They all stood up and began walking into downtown Chicago chatting. The little boys kept their eyes out for a restaurant searching for the perfect place.
"Spot let's go there." Jolly tugged on Spot's sleeve and pointing at a small outdoor café. Swan went to check out the prices and after seeing they were reasonable motioned the group over. The waiters looked a bit surprised to see such a large group of poorly dressed people coming to their restaurant and were hesitant to give them a table. Spot pulled out the last of the paper money they had.
"Well gentleman, if youse don't want our business wes be happy to take it else where. Would youse be so kind to point out youse nearest competitor?" The headwaiter reluctantly had two bus boys shove two tables together and showed the rag-tag group to their tables.
Tack turned to Swan, and picking a snooty name out of thin air started talking; "You would think, James they wouldn't turn away potential customers that are sure to order a lot would you?"
"There, there dear. We aren't exactly dressed in our best. If they knew we were Vanderbilts they wouldn't have acted so crudely." Cray patted Mills arm as she pretended to sniffle.
The children hid their snickers well as they watched the young adults put on a wonderful show. The headwaiter heard both Tack and Cray's comments and soon their service was much better. The older girls tried to keep straight faces as they heard the whispers around the café. So how they made it through the meal without any incidents got the bill paid.
They were almost back to the train station when Kit broke out laughing. "I can't believe they think that we were the Vanderbilts. Did you see the face of the waiter when you said that Cray?"
"Yeah, at least we got good service out of that." Cray said with a shrug as they walked up to their train and got on, going to their car.
"Well you know this is gonna be a long train ride, and I know 4 little people that need to sleep." Tack said as she lead in a yawning Two Bit.
Lacy tried to protest, "I'm not.*yawn* sleepy." Bait and Jolly nodded sleepily in agreement.
"Well youse don't have to sleep but youse got ta at least lay youse heads down on our laps after the train starts got it?" Mills suggested as she sat down across from Tack taking Lacy into her lap. They finally got situated in two sets of seats across the main aisle from each other. Cray sat next to Mills with Lacy lying across their laps. Two Bit wouldn't be moved from Tack's arms so Tack sat on the opposite bench next to Swan. On the other side of the aisle the seating Spot and Kit shared a seat while the twins curled up on the opposite seat.
The kids were all out before the first 20 minutes had passed. The girls drifted off one at a time, Tack first leaning her head slightly on Swan's shoulder, while Mills and Kit struggled violently before drifting off. The guys talked amongst themselves but after the conductor had passed by for the night soon leaned back in their seats and were soon sawing logs like pros.