CHAPTER ONE

 

 

As the train pulled out of the station, Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes while she watched everything and everyone she ever knew fall behind her.  She continued to gaze out the window, not really seeing anything until the conductor came by and introduced himself, “Miss Pruitt?”  When she nodded, he smiled and said, “My name is Sonny Elliott and I’ve been asked to watch over you till we get to Fort Lee.  Do you have your ticket?”

 

She pulled her sheaf of tickets out of her bag and handed them to him.  After finding the right one, he punched it and handed them back to her, saying, “I’ll be coming by from time to time to check on you so if you need anything just let me know.”

 

She nodded and returned to staring blankly out the window again.  As Sonny walked away the tears began again.  It seemed that every time she closed her eyes she saw the five caskets standing in the front of the church.  And in those five caskets were the remains of her family; the only family she’d ever known.  Now she found herself on an eastbound train that was taking her to her mother’s sister whom she had never met before.

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Her mother…she remembered the last conversation she ever had with her and the circumstances that led to it.  About a week before her world ended she remembered she and her mother were in town to pick up the mail and some supplies when they ran into her best friend, Alice Jankowski, and her mother, Grace. 

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Alice was calling her name as she ran up, “Sarah!  Sarah, I’m so glad we ran into you today!  Guess what?  My birthday is Tuesday and Mama says I can have a party and I’d love for you to come!”

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Sarah looked imploringly at her mother, “Can I go,” she asked.

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Her mother hesitated until Alice’s mother said, “Oh, please let her come, Wilma, we’d love to have her.  She can stay with us till the weekend, if that’s okay.  Then, you can pick her up after church; or we can bring her home if you’d like.”

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Her mother still hesitated, “Oh, that’s such a long time and I wouldn’t want to burden you with her, you have enough on your hands.”

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Grace laughed and said, “Don’t worry about that.  We already have seven, what’s one more?  Besides, Sarah is never a problem, she’s so well behaved, she’s a pleasure to have.  I just wish my own children were as well behaved.  Honestly Wilma, I’d trade mine for a dozen Sarahs.”

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She laughed but then said, “I’ll bring her over Tuesday afternoon, after she finishes her chores, and then we’ll bring her home after church Sunday.  Is that good?”

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“Oh, that’s too much trouble, would it be alright if she came home with us after church Sunday and she can spend the week and you can take her home after church the following Sunday?”

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The adults agreed and they all went their separate ways.  Once they got back home, Sarah was on her best behavior.  Every day she tore through her chores, helped her brothers and sister with theirs and even helped make dinner every night. When Sunday morning finally arrived she was the first one up and had breakfast almost done by the time her mother got out of bed.  She laughed and said, “I should let you spend the week at Alice’s more often if you’re gonna do everybody’s chores and make breakfast too.”

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Sarah was all packed and loaded in the back of the wagon by the time they left for church.  Services were barely over when Sarah all but ran out to find Alice.  In fact, she barely slowed down to say goodbye to Brother Harris as she bolted out the door.

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She stopped at the bottom of the stoop and began searching.  As her eyes swept the churchyard she began to wonder if Alice had forgotten about her when she heard her calling her name from the top of the stairs.  Sarah had just turned around when Alice flew down the stairs. The two girls greeted each other and then tore off to get Sarah’s bag from the back of the wagon.

 

They were both carrying the bag as they returned and found the two families gathered together just to the side of the entrance, talking.  As they approached, they heard Wilma saying, “Grace, are you sure you don’t want me to bring her by on Tuesday afternoon or, maybe pick her up Tuesday night?  You have so many of your own, you surely don’t need another one, especially this little wild Indian, running around wreaking havoc wherever she goes.”

 

Grace laughed and said, “She’ll be no problem, I’m sure.”

 

Wilma turned to Sarah and said, “Now you be a good girl and do everything Mrs. Jankowski tells you.”

 

“I will, Mama.”

 

“Eat what’s put in front of you and don’t forget to mind your manners.”

 

“I will, Mama,” Sarah replied as she gave her mother a quick hug.  Then she moved over and hugged her father and waved goodbye to her brothers and sister.  She and Alice grabbed the handle of her bag and began going down the street toward the Jankowski’s house.

 

Wilma and the rest of the Pruitts chuckled at the sight of the two nine-year-old girls struggling to carry the heavy suitcase down the street together as they got in their wagon and headed for home.  Meanwhile Grace and the rest of the Jankowski’s began following the two girls back to their house.

 

By the time they had dragged her bag the five blocks to the Jankowski’s house, Sarah was convinced Mama had put rocks in it.  Both girls were huffing and puffing as they dragged it up the steps and onto the front porch.  Mr. Jankowski unlocked the door and the two girls dragged it into the room Alice shared with her two sisters Myrtle and Lydia.  After stashing the bag in the corner they bolted out to the back yard and the swing that was hanging off the old oak tree.

 

Before they knew it Mrs. Jankowski was calling them in for dinner and not long after that Sarah and Alice were tasked with doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen.  Sarah couldn’t believe how many pots and pans it took to make dinner for ten, nor could she believe how long it took them to finish cleaning up the kitchen.  But, at last the job was finished and they joined the family in the parlor for some games before bed.

 

The next day Mrs. Jankowski took the girls shopping for the party.  When they got home, they put up the decorations while Alice’s mother began working on the cake.  They finished their work and Mrs. Jankowski sent them out to play for the rest of the afternoon while she made dinner.  As the girls played, they noticed the sky was becoming darker as a storm came over the western horizon.  They didn’t really pay any attention till they heard the first peal of thunder off in the distance.

 

Mrs. Jankowski looked up from preparing dinner as Alice and Sarah came in the kitchen door.  When she asked why they were inside, Alice said, “We heard thunder and so we thought we’d better come in before it rains.”

 

“Well thank goodness it’s finally goin’ to rain; we haven’t had any for the longest time,” she said as she looked out the window.  Then she said, “Why don’t you girls go play in your room and I’ll call you when it’s time to set the table.”

 

They did as they were told and all the time they were in Alice’s room the thunder kept getting louder and louder and each time they heard it, they both jumped.  It wasn’t long before they were setting the table for dinner.  As Sarah put the last fork in place Mr. Jankowski came through the back door and said, “Must be a brush fire out west.  ‘Tween the storm clouds and the smoke it’s gettin’ dark quick.  Wouldn’t wanna be out tonight, gonna be pretty bad I think.”

 

Sarah began to worry, “Mr. Ski, you don’t think the fire’ll get to our ranch do you?”

 

“No. No, I’m sure the rain’ll put it out before the hour’s out.”

 

But it didn’t.  In fact they could still see the glow of the flames when it was time for bed.  When Mrs. Jankowski came in to tuck them in, she could see Sarah was still worried.  As she kissed her on her forehead, she said, “Don’t worry, Sarah, I’m sure everything will be just fine by tomorrow morning.” She smiled down at the little girl and said, “Just you wait and see, by tomorrow the fire will be out and the sun will be shining just like any other day.  And don’t forget, tomorrow’s Alice’s birthday party.”

 

Sarah gave her a weak smile and said, “I guess you’re right.  I’m just worryin’ about nuthin’.  Goodnight.”

 

Sarah lay still as the others all went to bed and finally fell asleep.  As she lay there she heard Mr. and Mrs. Jankowski talking in the room next door and finally Mr. Jankowski begin snoring.  It seemed to her that she had just closed her eyes when Alice was shaking her, calling out, “It’s my birthday!  Today I’m finally in double numbers!  Today I’m ten!  Come on, let’s go see what Mama’s fixed for breakfast.  I bet she fixed my favorite.”

 

Sarah hastily pulled on her dressing gown and slippers and followed Alice into the kitchen, yawning all the way. As she passed the window she looked out and found there wasn’t a cloud or a wisp of smoke to be seen.  ‘I guess Mr. and Mrs. Jankowski were right, I was worried ‘bout nuthin’.’

 

She was half way through her waffles when there was a knock on the front door.  Mrs. Jankowski excused herself and went to answer the door.  A few minutes later she called Mr. Jankowski into the parlor.  Sarah was just finishing her milk when Mr. Jankowski came in.  One look at his face and she could tell something was wrong.  “Sarah,” he said softly, “Sheriff Foster is here; he’d like a word with you in the parlor please.”

 

Her heart had stopped.  Had she done something that the sheriff would come and arrest her for?  Had something happened?  She stood up and said, “Let me throw on my clothes and I’ll be right in.”

 

“No need to worry about that, I’m sure nobody’ll mind if you talk to him in your nightdress.”

 

Now she knew something bad had happen.  She nodded and followed him into the parlor where she saw Sheriff Foster standing by the fireplace and Mrs. Jankowski sitting on the couch, crying.  She hurried over to Sarah as she said, “Sarah, honey, Sheriff Foster has something to tell you that I think you need to sit down to hear.”

 

She shuffled her over to the couch and they both sat down.  Mr. Jankowski sat down on Sarah’s other side just as Sheriff Foster knelt down in front of her.  “Sarah, Mr. and Mrs. Jankowski told me that you knew there was a brush fire out west of town last night.”

 

Sarah nodded as the tears began to slip from her eyes.

 

“Well, sometime during the night the fire made its way to your family’s ranch…”  Mrs. Jankowski put her arm around Sarah as the sheriff continued.  “Your family must have been asleep in the house and didn’t know it was comin’ or could be they thought the rain woulda put it out ‘afore it reached ‘em.  Unfortunately, the rain didn’t put out the fire and it destroyed the ranch house with them in it.  I’m sorry, Sarah, none of ‘em made it out.”

 

Sarah turned and buried her face in Mrs. Jankowski’s bosom.

 

The sheriff stood and looked at the grief stricken child and his heart broke for her.  Softly he said, “Mr. Jankowski and I will take care of makin’ the funeral arrangements, you won’t have to worry ‘bout a thing there.  Once that’s taken care of, we’ll figure out the rest.”  He gently patted her shoulder and said, “Well I’d best go and get things rollin’.”

 

As he walked out the front door Alice and the other children came in from the kitchen.  Within seconds, the entire family was embracing Sarah and promising to help her through the next few weeks. 

 

She didn’t know how but suddenly she found herself dressed and sitting in the parlor listening to Doctor Miller talk to the Jankowskis.  “You need to try and keep her quiet for a few days,” he was telling them as he handed Grace a large bottle of a dark liquid.  “Give her a tablespoon of this every night before bedtime and anytime she seems to be getting overwhelmed.  It’s not really strong but it should help her nerves.”

 

Changing the subject he asked, “Do you know if she has any family anywhere?”

 

“No but the sheriff is checking around.  He hasn’t gotten back to us yet so we’ll have to wait and see but she can stay with us until we find out.”  She began to cry as she told the doctor, “That’s what I told Wilma last week when we were talking about Alice’s birthday.”

 

He patted her arm as she dabbed her eyes and nose with a handkerchief.  “Well, if you need anything else, don’t hesitate to let me know.”  Once he was standing he added, “And Grace, if it becomes too much for you and Leon, I’m sure Harriett and I can take her for a while, you just need to let us know.”

 

As she was showing him out she thanked him and then went back to Sarah.  While she was comforting her she looked at her husband and wondered, ‘What are we goin’ to do with Sarah?’