Hannah's New Home Read online

  Hannah was surprised. “I’ve never seen Mama make eggs. Will she know how?”

  “We’ll figure it out together. Now, hurry and eat. I want to take you with me to the train station. We need to find out when the best trains leave for Kansas so we can make our plans.”

  Hannah liked going places with her father. He was so tall and handsome, and everyone said hello and touched their hats when they saw him. He said that was a sign of respect, and he always touched his hat back. It made Hannah feel proud to see how people treated her father.

  As they walked down the street this time, though, not many people said hello, and some people acted like they didn’t even see her father.

  “Why is everyone acting so strangely?” she asked, tugging on his hand.

  He looked around to make sure no one could hear what they were talking about. “Do you remember when I said people would think I stole money from the company?”

  Hannah nodded. “That’s why they aren’t talking to you?”

  “That’s right. People’s tongues wag pretty fast when there’s bad news, and everyone’s talking about it today.”

  Hannah thought it was funny to say that tongues were wagging. That made her think of a dog wagging its tail, but she knew it meant that people were telling all their friends about what had happened, and that they weren’t telling the truth.

  “Couldn’t you tell everyone what really happened?” she asked.

  Her father sighed. “I could, but they probably wouldn’t believe me. It’s a hard problem, sweetheart, and it’s best for us to leave it behind us.”

  Hannah didn’t understand, but she trusted that her father knew what he was doing. “I wish people wouldn’t believe everything they heard,” she said. “They should come ask you for the truth.”

  He smiled. “That would be nice, sweetheart. And let this be a lesson to you—if you hear something unkind about someone, don’t believe it right away. Find out more before you decide what to think.”

  “All right, Papa. I’ll try.”

  The next few days were very busy as the family got ready to move. Father had found out how much they would be able to take with them on the train, and they would be leaving most of their furniture behind. “We’ll buy new things a little bit at a time in Kansas,” he told Hannah. It was still hard to say goodbye to the things she’d grown up with.

  The hardest part was saying goodbye to her friends. Cook sobbed until her eyes were red and her nose was puffy, and the maid’s lower lip kept trembling. They had each found new jobs, so Hannah wasn’t worried about them, but she would miss them so much. She would also miss her playmates. She visited each of them and told them goodbye.

  “It’s too bad you’re moving,” Billy Turner told her when she went to visit his sister, Sally. “I was going to marry you someday.”

  “You were?” Hannah had never even thought about marrying Billy Turner. He had always teased her and said she was too skinny. “Well, if you were going to marry me, why weren’t you nicer to me?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. But now it’s too late.”

  She lifted her chin in the air. “You should think about that the next time you decide to marry someone. The boy I marry will be nice to me.”

  But she wasn’t ready to think about getting married. She was going to have adventures first, even more than moving to Kansas. She was going to find some Indians—some friendly Indians—and learn their ways. They would protect her from the scary Indians. That would be very exciting, and that’s what she thought about while she was packing up her things. If she thought about how sad she was, it would be harder.

  Much too soon, it was time to leave. Hannah walked through the house for the last time. Her father had found someone to buy it, and he had promised her they would take care of it, but that wasn’t the same thing as being there herself. “Goodbye, house,” she said softly. “Please try to remember me.”

  “I’m sure it will always remember you,” her mother said, coming up beside Hannah. “Houses have very long memories.”

  “Long memories? What does that mean, Mama?”

  “It means that they don’t forget things that happened to them even a long time ago. You’ve lived here for nine years—the house won’t forget that, and you won’t forget this house.”

  “Even after we’ve been in Kansas for a long time?” Hannah asked.

  “Even then.” Her mother put her arm around Hannah’s shoulders. “We need to go, dear. The wagon is all loaded up, and the driver is waiting.”

  Hannah walked down the stairs slowly, then out to the wagon. Her father lifted her up onto the seat, and she watched as he locked the door for the last time. Then he climbed into the wagon too, and the driver told the horses to start walking. Hannah tried not to cry as they drove farther and farther away from the house. Her mother was trying not to cry too, and she held Hannah’s hand.

  “Let’s go find our new home,” Father said cheerfully. “We have a whole new land to explore.”

  Exploring sounded so much better than moving.

  Chapter Four

  Hannah had ridden on a train before. She had gone to see her grandmother last year before she died, and she had visited her cousins several miles away. But she had never been on a train for so long, and it was hard to sit still and be patient.

  Her mother had packed a bag full of books, drawing paper, pencils, yarn, knitting needles—everything they could want to keep themselves busy, but it wasn’t helping. By the end of the first day of travel, she was tired and whiny, and she just wanted to go to bed.

  “When will we get off the train, Mama?” she asked. “I’m so tired.”

  Mother smiled. “We’re not getting off the train, dear.”

  Hannah’s eyes opened wide. “Do we live here now?” What would it be like to live on a train? How would she take a bath? “I thought we were going to buy a house!”

  Mother laughed. “No, I mean we’re going to sleep here. Watch.” She gave a wave to the porter, who was walking toward them with a big smile on his face. He was a friendly man with skin the color of chocolate, and Hannah had liked him the minute she first saw him.

  “Is it time for bed, Mrs. Stewart?” he asked.

  “I believe so, Frank.”

  He gave Hannah a wink. “Now, this is the fun part of my job.” He reached up and grasped a handle on the wall across from Hannah. He pulled it down, and a whole bed folded right out of the wall. It was like a shelf with a mattress on it. “There you go.”

  Hannah felt her mouth open wide. “How . . . how did you do that?” she asked.

  Frank laughed. “This is called a Pullman sleeper car. Mr. Pullman got the idea that people should be able to travel in comfort, so he made these train cars with beds built right in. They fold back up when you’re done with them, and it just looks like a regular train again.”

  “It’s . . . it’s like magic,” Hannah told him, and he chuckled.

  “It’s not exactly magic, but it’s certainly fun.” Frank moved down the train car, opening beds all the way until everyone had one, and then he disappeared to go help the people on the next car.

  Hannah couldn’t believe how many beds had been hiding in the wall. She wondered if this train had any more secrets.

  Before she climbed into her magic bed, she opened up her diary and wrote,

  Tonight I’m sleeping in a bed that came out of the wall. Today was pretty boring until I saw the bed. Everything outside looked the same. I thought exploring would be more exciting. I guess we haven’t really started that part yet.

  The next morning when the train stopped for a break, Hannah and her parents got off to walk around a little bit. They’d been doing this every time they could so they wouldn’t get too tired of sitting so much. As they were walking, Hannah saw five men go riding past on horses, and she gasped. “Cowboys! Real cowboys!”

  Father chuckled. “That’s right, sweetheart. We’re going west, and that’s where the cowboys live.”

  Hannah couldn’t believe it. “There are cowboys in Kansas?”

  “Lots and lots of them,” Father replied.

  “I thought . . . I thought they lived in California!”

  “They live lots of places, but Kansas is definitely one of them,” her father said.

  “This is amazing! Do you think I’ll get to meet one?” Hannah asked.

  “I don’t see why not.”

  The train whistle blew, and it was time to get back on and take their seats. Now Hannah was excited to get to Kansas. She also felt a little silly. She’d been thinking about Indians, but she hadn’t been thinking about cowboys. Of course they’d be in the same place! Cowboys and Indians went together like . . . like mashed potatoes and gravy. As soon as she got to Kansas, she was going to go looking for a cowboy, and maybe she’d even marry one someday. That would show Billy Turner a thing or two.

  Every so often, the train stopped to pick up new people and let other people get off. They had to refill the train’s water tanks and get new fuel, and they even had to get a new conductor.

  “But why are you leaving?” Hannah asked as Mr. Smith, their old conductor, was climbing off the train. He’d been so nice, it was sad to say goodbye, and Frank was going with him.

  “All the people who have jobs with the railroad take turns,” the conductor explained. “Frank and I are going to work the next train back to New York, and then we’ll turn around and come back. That way, when we have a day off, we’re not too far from our own houses.”

  “Oh.” Hannah thought that made sense. If they had to ride the train all the way to the end of the tracks and all the way back, they’d never get a break.

  “Mr. Bean will take care of you until you reach Kansas City, and then you’ll meet Mr. Dupree. He’l
l take you to Topeka. Don’t worry—no matter which conductor you have, you’ll get where you need to go.”

  It took twelve thousand years to travel from New York City to Topeka. At least, that’s what it felt like. Hannah’s mother said it had been much, much shorter.

  At last, Mr. Dupree announced that they’d be in Topeka in half an hour, and Hannah sat right up against the window with her nose touching the glass. She couldn’t see anything but dirt and wheat-colored weeds—shouldn’t she be able to see something more? As they got closer, she still couldn’t see much of anything, and she was starting to get worried. “Papa, where’s the town?”

  “We’re almost there,” he told her. “But it’s not as big as New York, so you shouldn’t expect it to look the same.”

  “How big is it?”

  Her father scratched his chin. “Well, I’m told it has almost six thousand people in it.”

  Hannah frowned. “Are you sure that’s not very big? If I had six thousand pennies, I’d think that was a lot.”

  “It is, but New York City has one hundred thousand people. There’s a big difference between six thousand and one hundred thousand.”

  Hannah tried to imagine having one hundred thousand pennies. It made her brain hurt.

  Within a few minutes, the train whistle sounded again, and Mr. Dupree said, “Here we are, folks! Topeka, Kansas! This is your crossroads to the west, where the real adventure begins!”

  “Did you hear that, Mama?” Hannah tugged her mother’s sleeve. “Real adventure! He just said so!”

  Mother smiled. “Yes, he did.”

  Hannah couldn’t wait to get off the train so she could see better. But even then, she still couldn’t see very many buildings. She went up on her tiptoes, thinking that would help, but it really didn’t. It just made her toes tired.

  “Where’s the rest of the town, Mama?”

  “What do you mean, sweetheart?”

  Hannah pointed down the street. “There’s hardly anything here. Do you think they had a big tornado that carried all the buildings away?”

  Mother smiled. “No, I think this is a young town that hasn’t had a chance to grow yet. But it’s going to get big very fast. Lots of people are coming this way.”

  “Well, when are they going to get here?”

  “Soon, I’m sure.” Father gave one of Hannah’s brown curls a tug. “I’m going to talk to the stationmaster about our things. There’s a hotel right over there—why don’t the two of you walk over and get something cool to drink while I’m taking care of this?”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Mother said. “Come along, Hannah.”

  Hannah followed her mother toward a brown building that was probably the tallest one in the whole town—and it was still pretty short. In New York, there were buildings so tall, Hannah couldn’t see the tops even if she leaned way back.

  When they entered the hotel, they were greeted by a nice young woman with brown hair almost the same color as Hannah’s. “Welcome to the Brody Hotel,” she said with a smile. “I’m Elizabeth. Are you here for a room or for a meal?”

  “Something to drink, please,” Mother said. “I’m Clarissa Stewart, and this is my daughter, Hannah.”

  “Is your husband Lucas Stewart?” Elizabeth asked.

  “That’s right.”

  “I have a note for him—it was left here yesterday.” Elizabeth walked over to the large desk in the corner and found a folded piece of paper. “Here you are.”

  “Thank you so much.” Mother put the note in her pocket. “What can you serve us to drink? We’re rather hot and thirsty.”

  “I’m sure you are. Come this way, please. We have lemonade and apple juice and milk . . .”

  Hannah couldn’t decide what she wanted. Everything sounded so good. Finally she chose some milk, and Elizabeth came right back with milk for Hannah and lemonade for Mother. “Let me know if you need anything else,” she said, then disappeared into the kitchen again.

  Father arrived a few moments later and asked for a lemonade, which he sipped while he read the note.

  “This is good news,” he said. “It’s from Mr. Jones, the man who hired me to come out here. He says he arranged for our new house, and he left the key with Mr. Brody here at the hotel. He wasn’t exactly sure when we’d arrive and he didn’t want us locked out of the house, but it made sense to him that we’d drop by the hotel.”

  “That was very smart of him,” Hannah said. “But what if we hadn’t? Would we be lost forever?” She imagined what it would be like if they never got the key to their new house—would they have to live in one of those giant haystacks she’d seen through the train windows?

  “We would have figured it out, dear,” Mother told her. “What else did the letter say, Lucas?”

  “It says that Mr. Jones put some coffee and sugar in the kitchen, but we’ll want to buy food at the general store pretty soon. He also says that he’ll be in touch as soon as he hears we’ve arrived.”

  “It sounds like we’ll want to eat our lunch here before we head out to the house,” Mother said.

  “That’s a good idea. The stationmaster is having our things delivered in his wagon, but he said it would be about an hour, so that gives us time to eat.”

  “How does he know where to take our things, Father?” Hannah asked.

  “It turns out that he knows quite a lot of things. When I introduced myself, he knew right who I was.”

  “Maybe that means we’ll make friends easily here,” Mother said.

  Hannah sure hoped so.

  Chapter Five

  After they ate their lunch, Father was able to rent a buggy, and they drove toward their new house. Hannah kept turning her head back and forth, trying to see everything all at once, but it was giving her a headache. She’d just have to be patient and see half the town at a time. She saw a few children running around, some who might be her age, and that made her happy and nervous at the same time. What if they didn’t like her? What if they thought she was strange and different?

  They drove around a curve, and up ahead, Hannah saw a child walking along the side of the road. At first she thought it was a boy because they wore overalls and carried a fishing pole, but then she saw long red braids hanging down the child’s back, and she realized she was a girl. As they passed, Hannah waved, but the girl only tilted her head to the side like she was wondering who they were. Hannah thought it might be nice to wear overalls instead of a dress that poofed out every time she sat down, but she knew that if she asked her mother, the answer would be a loud no. Being a young lady was very, very important.

  At last they reached their house. The town wasn’t very big, but driving through it felt like it took forever. That was mostly because she was so impatient to get there, but being impatient wasn’t ladylike.

  When Father brought the buggy to a stop, Hannah couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Their new house was so small, it looked like it would fit inside their old house in New York City. And it wasn’t painted at all. It was just brown and plain.

  “Well now,” Mother said after a long quiet moment. “Here we are.” She didn’t sound very excited.

  Hannah noticed a wagon coming up behind them and stopping. It was full of the furniture they’d chosen to bring with them. She jumped down from the buggy, glad to see that their things were safe—especially her box of books. She couldn’t move clear across the country without her books.

  The wagon driver helped Father take things out of the back of the wagon, and Mother unlocked the door. Hannah went inside with her, curious to see where they would be living.

  “It’s . . . it’s very cozy,” Mother said, turning around in a circle.

  “Does that mean it’s tiny, Mama? Because I think it’s tiny.” She wondered if it was a house built for elves—then it would be the right size.

  Mother smiled. “Yes, dear, it’s tiny. But that’s good, isn’t it? Now that we don’t have a maid, we’ll be doing our own housework, and we wouldn’t want to try taking care of a huge house.”

  “I guess you’re right.” Hannah walked through the living room and opened a door next to the fireplace. “It’s a bedroom,” she called out.

  “And I found the kitchen. Oh, and another bedroom by the kitchen.”