"That's what I thought," the rail-rider said under her breath. Ginny's face was red, but Lindsay couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or because she was upset. Guess it doesn't matter. She gentled her voice. "Ginny?"

Feeling foolish, Ginny hesitantly swung her eyes up to meet Lindsay's. "Relax, okay? I'm sure they tried to place them in a home together." Ginny's shoulders sagged and Lindsay quickly moved to reassure her, sorry now that she'd said anything in the first place. "Hey, we don't know exactly who has them for sure. Maybe they all three went to a family at the very first stop." She lifted her eyebrows hopefully and cocked her head slightly to the side. "We can still hope, right?"

The words transported Ginny back to a snowy night on Orchard Street when Lewis, his little face stained with soot and his cheeks streaked with tears, looked up with all the hope and faith a child could possess and uttered the exact same thing. Even now she could feel the cold wind ruffling her hair and the sting of tiny snowflakes as they melted against her hot face while she stood there, helplessly watching her life go up in flames. Stop it, she told herself ruthlessly. Was it only a few weeks ago... a month? It seems like ages.

"What's your plan if the folks who did the adopting don't want to turn the kids over to you?" Lindsay asked her, desperately hoping to steer the conversation back to safer ground.

With a sad smile, Ginny allowed herself to be dragged back into the moment. "Don't worry. I'm all right. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that before. Stupid, I suppose." A grim look chased its way over normally bright features, making Ginny appear much older than her seventeen years. "Okay. I've been thinking about this for days." And she had. In her mind she'd imagined some sweet, loving couple, who had tried to start a family but couldn't. They would have taken in all her siblings to give them a loving home. And now she was coming to rip the couple's beating hearts from their chests.

"I see," Lindsay said gravely, adjusting her coat, which was wadded up against the window in a vain attempt to keep the cold air out. The look of guilt in those blue eyes next her was unmistakable. It was an emotion Lindsay saw little use for.

Ginny's eyebrows jumped. She leaned forward and propped her elbows on her knees, resting her chin on her fist. "What exactly do you see, Miss Mind-Reading Rutabaga? You don't know what I'm going to say."

Lindsay stuck out the tip of her tongue at the younger woman, relieved that Ginny's good humor seemed to be making a reappearance. So much had happened to both of them, so fast, they were prone to the occasional outburst. But that was okay. They had been working on that together.

"Well," Ginny prompted again, giving Lindsay's chest a tiny poke with a challenging finger "What do you see?"

A single brown eyebrow lifted. "I see someone who feels guilty that she's about to claim what's already hersher family."

The look on Lindsay's face dared her to disagree. "Wh...Wow." Ginny let out a long breath, a little unnerved at the other woman's ability to read her so clearly. "I'm that obvious?"

"Mmm... hmm."

"But, Lindsay"

"No buts. Your brothers, at least, know you're out here...somewhere." A fond, slightly wry smile tugged at the corner of Lindsay's lips. "If they're anything like you then they're not shy about saying what's on their mind. Whoever's got them knows about you, Ginny. And they have to know it's only a matter of time 'til you turn up."

Ginny sat back in her seat and forlornly gazed out the window. "I just don't want anyone else to get hurt, Lindsay." Her eyes remained rooted on the passing scenery. "I know I'm putting the cart before the horse, but there's been enough hurting to go around lately, don't you think?"

Lindsay followed Ginny's line of sight, watching the trees and snowy landscape speed by. She sighed and finally said, "Someone might get hurt." She felt her way carefully through the sensitive issue. "But if they do, it's the Wards who are to blame for this mess. Not you. The guilt rests on their shoulders, Ginny. Let it go."

Ginny turned her head and gave Lindsay a weak smile, trying to adopt her friend's attitude, but failing quickly.

"Now, what about your plan?"

Ginny's expression grew determined. "If they won't give them back voluntarily, I'm taking them anyway, Lindsay. They can't have my family. They just can't. The law can call it kidnapping if they want to, but it's not true. We belong together." She paused, not wanting to continue. Her next words were physically painful, though she knew they needed to be said. "You could probably get into a whole lot of trouble if you do this with me and"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Lindsay exploded, rolling her eyes. "Do I seem to be concerned about the law?"

"Lindsay!" Ginny hissed, glancing at the other passengers who were shooting her companion disgusted looks.

"You clearly have me confused with someone else." She snorted then questioned Ginny impatiently. "What?" She gave Ginny a pointed look. "You were going to tell me something stupid like I'd better not help you because I could get in trouble." Ginny opened her mouth to speak but Lindsay plowed ahead, undeterred. "I know you, Virginia Chisholm. Don't try and lie your way out of it. This is the part where you make some selfless statement about how I'll be better off not helping you. Let's get this out of the way here and now, I'm in this mess and not getting out of it any time soon." She nodded firmly. "I don't want to get out of it. So there." Lindsay lifted her chin, a little proud at the way she'd handled that.

Ginny threw her hands in the air and groaned. "You make it sound like a bad thing that I don't want you getting into trouble!

"It's not bad," she gave Ginny a ghost of a wink, "just not realistic in my case. Or yours either, for that matter. Besides, when the shoe was on the other foot, I seem to recall you giving me 'what for' until I ate crow like a starving woman."

Ginny's exasperation melted away in the space of a single heartbeat. "It's not the same thing," she argued gently, but even as she said them, she didn't believe the words.

"Sure, it is," Lindsay responded knowingly, thinking of what had happened the day before and how she'd nearly gone insane with worry.

The look on Lindsay's face told Ginny exactly what her friend was recalling.

Ginny had announced to Christian and Lindsay that she needed to go someplace that afternoon and wouldn't be back until after supper. Ignoring their curiosity and Lindsay's outright concern, she'd left the orphanage alone and walked the several miles to the East River. Once there, she'd followed a path along the shore until she found a spot secluded behind a cluster of trees, their dry branches extending over the water.

Ginny had stood there for a long time, waiting for dusk and just thinking. Her hand closed around the pistol in her pocket and she remembered how her grandfather had taught her and Alice to shoot, using empty bean tins as targets. Despite his time and care with her, however, she never really liked guns and was never able to move beyond the overwhelming sense of dread that something terrible was going to happen just by being around one. Her decision made, she pulled Lindsay's bloodstained gun from the pocket of her coat and hurled it as far as she could, watching it disappear into the murky, fast-flowing waters with a small splash.

Now that same type of bone-deep loyalty and devotion was being offered back at her. The same fierce affection and concern was mirrored in warm-brown eyes. Ginny understood the overwhelming desire to help and protect so completely that she couldn't find it in her heart to begrudge Lindsay that. Though she sorely wanted to.

The redhead scrunched up her face in defeat. "I hate it when you're right. You know that?"

Lindsay chuckled, wishing she could kiss those smiling lips. "Lucky for you it doesn't happen very often."

Delano carefully traversed the muddy railroad yard, ignoring the wary looks and unhappy murmurs from several men who were standing around small fires, warming themselves and talking. It was late afternoon and this was the place Rat Face had informed him he'd be most likely to find String Bean if she hadn't taken to the rails yet. Of course, it wasn't Lindsay that Delano was here to find. His shoes sank deeply into icy-cold mud with every step, making sucking noises as he lifted his feet. The cold stung his ankles.

There was a larger fire at the very end of the yard, near the fence, where half a dozen men idly stood around the flames. Several were drinking from dark bottles, their vulgar words and laughter carried across the yard by the wind. Delano pulled his collar up around his neck and continued on his course, shooting each man a surreptitious glance as he passed.

When he finally made his way to the largest group of men, he sidled up to them, trying his level best to appear casual, though his clean-shaven face and clean coat were enough to make him stand out like a sore thumb. He pulled his hands from his pockets and focused on them for a few seconds as he warmed them over the hissing flames. Then his eyes rose to meet Albert's.

"Well, lookie who's here," Albert said, not hiding his surprise. "This is the guy who was so interested in our String Bean." The words were laced with venom and he brought his bottle to his lips, sending a few droplets of cheap beer splashing onto his shaggy beard as he swigged down the last swallow. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and, when he was through, tossed the bottle over his shoulder without looking. It shattered against a boxcar, sending shards of glass into the mud and remaining snow, its loud crash echoing through the yard.

The men around the fire all laughed when the boxcar's occupant poked his disheveled head out of the car and hurled profanities at whichever prick had interrupted his nap.

"Shut up and go back to screwin' Bug Eye's ass," the oldest of the men at the fire yelled over his shoulder. There was more general laughter, with men from several other fires joining in this time.

Delano was hard-pressed not to gag.

The head disappeared back into the boxcar with another, even louder string of expletives.

Delano recognized Albert instantly, but there was another man present who was familiar too. The wheels in his mind churned until finally something clicked. The man with the mustache and black hat was the one he'd seen leaving the alley just before the shooting. They hadn't spoken, but they'd glanced at each other as they passed on the sidewalk beneath a street lamp.

Albert followed Delano's gaze and sneered. "Yeah, that bastard Bo was there." His gaze shifted into a nasty glare.

Bo was a little on the tall side with a naturally broad build, despite needing a little more meat on his bones. His head was covered with a thick crop of wavy, reddish brown hair that curled around his collar and ears and stuck out wildly from the sides of a dirty black Derby. He was barely out of his teens, and his slight harelip was mostly hidden by a dark mustache that needed trimming.

For the umpteenth time, Albert recalled the events of the evening he was attacked. "Amazing that you didn't get bashed on the head or shot, isn't it, Bo? " His voice dripped with contempt, but Bo merely shrugged.

"I didn't owe her any money. And you're a fat loser."

"Shut up, asshole!" Albert boomed, jerking his coat closed over his protruding belly as he tried to act indignant. "I didn't owe her squat."

Bo sniggered. "Not according to her."

The other men laughed. String Bean, who they taunted as cruelly as they would any in their ranks, was begrudgingly respected. Rat Face, on the other hand, was about as popular as a heart attack, though his presence was tolerated out of laziness as much as anything else. No one was completely shunned; not Negroes or foreigners, though they were undeniably given a harder time than other riders, or String Bean, who most knew to be a woman, though she didn't advertise that fact, not even Jacque and Jean who were exceptionally violent. The community was so loose, its members so transient, that they didn't bother trying to weed out the bad ones. That tended to take care of itselflike it had with Jacque and Jean who hadn't been seen since the shooting Rat Face had told them about. Personal alliances were few and far between.

Delano wanted to pull Rat Face aside to make his proposal, but he didn't know how the other men would react. Unsure of what else to do, he ignored them. "I... um... I have a job offer for you, Albert." His eyes darted to Bo and he made a split-second decision that he hoped the Wards would applaud. He had not performed as well as he should have earlier in the day. The Wards knew it, and so did he. Now was his chance to rectify that. Albert couldn't be trusted, but perhaps, with another man watching over him, he would manage to get the job done. "Job's for Bo, too, if he's interested."

At the word 'job' the other men scattered like roaches in the sunlight.

Albert was about do the same when Delano stopped him with a firm hand on his arm. "I think you'll want to hear my offer." Bo began edging his way to the other side of the fire, and away from the stranger. "You too, Bo," Delano told him, his eyes requesting that the young man stay put for the time being.

Bo reluctantly held his ground, ready to bolt if need be. Folks just didn't come down to the tracks and offer people jobs out of the blue. Still, this man had been asking about String Bean, and that piqued his curiosity.

Albert looked around nervously, hoping the other riders didn't think he was turning snitch for the cops, or getting religion, or something equally despicable. "Whaddya want?" he said in a hushed voice. "And make it quick."

"It's simple really. I want you to find String Bean and"

Suddenly, Albert's anger flared. "If I ever meet up with that rotten bitch I'm going to break her in two!" he barked, his heart beginning to pound in his chest.

Delano nodded slowly, then carefully stoked the flame burning in Albert's dark eyes. "She stole from you. She attacked you and she should be..." he paused for effect, "punished."

"Hell, yes she should." Albert narrowed his eyes and absently pulled a hand-rolled cigarette from his pocket and crouched down. He pulled out a slender twig from the flames. The stick's tip was smoldering and he used it to light the cigarette, puffing heavily. "Why should you care what happens to her? You never did say why you were sniffin' around after her the other night either. I don't even know your name."

Delano's expression went a little cold. No link back to the Wards. No matter what. "That's none of your business." He shifted from one foot to the other. "All you need to know is that there is someone out there who believes String Bean should get what's coming to her." He stopped, allowing both Albert and Bo to absorb his words. "Maybe justice will come from the cops." The look on his face, however, made it clear that he wasn't impressed with that option. "Or maybe it will come from"

"Me." Albert finished. He smiled, showing off stained teeth. "Maybe from me."

"Either way, you financially benefit, Rat Face." Delano handed each of the men a shiny silver dollar. Next, he held up the ten-dollar note Jeremiah Ward had torn in half. "Find her... conduct your business, come back with proof that you did it, and you'll get the other half of this as a reward." He passed over the note.

Albert's eyes widened. He'd never had ten dollars at one time in his entire life.

"What about me?" Bo asked, warily. "I don't have anything to do with what's between Rat Face and String Bean."

Delano correctly him quickly. "You do now. Your job is to see that Albert does his job." His eyes flashing with anger, Albert scowled and kicked mud at Delano, who stepped aside. "Bullshit! I ain't splittin' the money. I can"

Delano held up his hand at Albert but addressed Bo. He forced himself to take a calming breath before he continued. He found himself wishing String Bean had hit Rat Face hard enough to crush his worthless skull. "If you do this, Bo, there'll be several more dollars in it for you." He only hoped that the Wards would agree because he sure as hell wasn't going give either one of these men a penny of his own money.

"And I don't have to do anything else?" Bo asked, scratching his jaw as he considered it.

"Not a thing," Delano promised. "You're just my back up security when it comes to Rat Face."

A cloud of cigarette smoke wafted from Albert's mouth. "Where is she?" he asked, picking a tiny piece of tobacco off his tongue with stubby fingers. He wasn't happy about having Bo reporting back on him. But then again, once they got paid, he intended to rob Bo and beat the shit out of him because he could. So things could be worse. He regarded his new partner carefully, wondering if Bo was already planning to do the same thing to him. Probably, the bastard. Can't trust nobody these days.

Delano dug into his coat pocket for a folded piece of paper. He gave it to Albert. "That's a list of the towns she'll be stopping in."

Albert blinked. "She's already left New York? Shit."

"There's a phone number on the back. Call me when you've done what I've asked and we'll meet." He'd been careful to leave the number of a fancy hotel where his brother worked. There'd be no way to trace that to the Wards. "Leave a message and I'll get it."

Albert shoved the paper back towards Delano's face, causing the other man to stumble backwards a couple of steps. "Can't read and never used no damn phone. Just tell me where she went."

Bo crossed his arms over his chest. "Same for me, Mister."

Delano had to stick his hand in deep mud puddle to brace himself to keep from falling further, and keep from falling. He stood angrily, his hand already achingly cold and dripping. "You men now have two dollars between you." His face twisted into a snarl. "Pay someone to read it and have them make the call if you're too stupid."

"Hey! Who you callin' stupid?" Albert took a step forward but was restrained by Bo.

Bo shot Delano an evil look before turning to Albert. "Can't kick his ass, Rat Face. He's our new boss." He smiled boyishly and slapped Albert's back in a gesture that was a little too hard to be entirely friendly. But, finally, Albert relaxed and grinned back at the younger man.

"That's right," Albert chuckled smugly. He took a long drag from his cigarette and intentionally blew the smoke in Delano's direction. "Never had me a boss before. I forgot myself. Kickin' his ass is probably not a good thing to do on your first day."

Delano nearly bit his tongue through, half hoping the fat rail-rider would give it a try and give him an excuse to throttle him. "My boss expects you to leave immediately," he ground out. "Do it and don't fuck up."

And with that, he whirled around and began stomping out of the railroad yard, blocking out the sound of Albert's laughter as he moved. Maybe, Delano acknowledged moodily, it was time to find a new job.

Chapter Ten.

The next afternoon....

"Finally," Ginny mumbled as she stepped down off the train and was greeted with a blast of fresh air. A light snow was falling, and she tugged on her cap, stepping away from the door so that Lindsay could join her on the platform.

"Where are we really?" Lindsay traversed the three steps, jumping off the last one, her shoes thudding lightly against the wood. There was a teasing glint in her eyes as she awkwardly tried to button her coat.

"Here." Ginny guided Lindsay a few paces away from the door so that other passengers could disembark without running into them. But there were none. She blinked a few times, her eyes scanning the platform."Huh. Popular place. There's not even a station master. Folks must buy tickets in town someplace." She set their bag between her feet then began working on Lindsay's buttons. The skin of her palms was still thin and sensitive, but it didn't ache as much as they used to and most of her manual dexterity had returned.

A loud hiss escaped the train's smoke stack.

Lindsay briefly covered one of Ginny's busy hands with one of her own."Thank you," she said softly."Now say it...You know you want to."

"I do not." Ginny spoke without looking up from her task, a tiny smile creasing her cheeks."And you're welcome." She enjoyed doing things for Lindsay, and only wished she had opportunities to show her which didn't involve her friend being hurt. When she was finished, she gave Lindsay's chest a little pat.

The train's whistle wailed and, with a puff of black smoke, began to slowly inch forward, gaining speed and momentum with each passing second.

"Ginny...," Lindsay pleaded.

"Tch... I've read you the name of this place three times already."

"And your point is?"Lindsay smiled.

Ginny rolled her eyes but dutifully repeated herself."We're in Big Ugly, West Virginia."

A snicker met her words.

"Mercy, Lindsay, how old are you again?" she laughed. "You remind me of the boys."Then the happy sound came to an abrupt stop and Ginny's face fell as she remembered why they were here. Her tone grew melancholy."I'll bet they laughed when they saw the name too."Please, she prayed silently. Please let them be here.

Lindsay's eyes softened and she opened her arms."C'mere."

Ginny stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Lindsay's solid, strong body, sighing a little at the contact. Even though they'd sat next to each other on the train, she'd missed this more intimate contact.

Lindsay's entire body felt stiff and she was bone-tired from not being able to sleep while sitting up in front of two-dozen strangers, but she melted into the embrace now, feeling herself relax and her heartbeat slow. Her eyes slipped closed of their own accord.

There wasn't another soul at the station and they stayed pressed tightly together until the chugging of the train disappeared into the distance and the world went blessedly quiet except for the occasional clinking of dry, ice-covered branches when the wind blew.