Some of the girls were excited, but Blanche felt torn. She was leaving the only place she knew. Her father was buried here. Her birthright was here. And Rusty. All week long, she’d wanted to sneak out and go see her beloved dog, but knew leaving him a second time would be heartrending.
She couldn’t do it. And it wouldn’t be good for him to see her walk away from him a second time. Oh, how she missed his sweet kisses, his head bumping her leg begging for attention. The way he snuggled with her at night.
Mrs. Newton stood in front of the ticket counter at the train station, giving each girl a hug and handing out tickets.
This was it. They were leaving. Her final moments in Charleston.
A tear trickled down her cheek.
“Stop crying, Blanche. You’re going to do well. Always remember you’re a lady.”
“But I’m leaving everything behind,” she said with a whimper.
“Think of your new beginning.”
As much as she’d tried, that was hard to do. She had no idea what Montana looked like. What her husband would look like. What if no one chose her for a wife?
“Look to the future,” Mrs. Newton said and gave her one final hug. “Now, off you go. Does everyone have their tickets?” Mrs. Newton asked the ladies.
Blanche held hers up.
“Now, girls, remember, you can come back to Charleston if this is not what you want. They will pay your way home.”
There was nothing to return to.
Just then she saw the sheriff walking down the platform. Were they coming for her? Had her burning the barn caught up with her?
He stopped in front of Mrs. Newton and she pointed to Daisy and then she walked beside him.
“Daisy, the sheriff wants to talk to you.”
Thank God, it wasn’t Blanche. Turning, she walked onto the train to reach safety. No sense waiting around to see if they wanted to speak to her. She was going to quietly disappear onto the train.
The conductor took her ticket and showed her to her seat. Sitting there, she wondered if Daisy would be kept behind.
Then she saw her as she made her way toward her seat. When she passed by Blanche, she winked at her.
And the two women giggled, sharing a secret.
The train blew its whistle and Blanche glanced around at the women. They were all in the same area of the train but sitting on different benches. Three months they would be traveling before they reached their destination.
Alice was sitting across from her and Blanche sent her a smile. There was nothing protecting her now. One smart comment out of her pretty pink mouth and Blanche would make her pay.
As much as she wanted to be a lady, it was hard to forget how Alice had treated her as a child. And she would never accept her bullying as an adult.
Blanche filled her eyes with the city of her birth. The hours of playing chase with Rusty. The home she’d left behind. The land that was rightfully hers.
Damn her father for his gambling ways.
God, how she wanted to stay but knew that was not possible.
“To new beginnings,” Daisy said quietly.
“To new beginnings,” Mary replied.
“To new beginnings,” Blanche said.
The train whistle blew and the engine began to move toward her destiny. Toward her new husband and Montana.