But he saw no reason to bring up the subject of internal injuries. Stirring up the woman’s bad memories and pain gained nothing. At least she was right about the doctor sending the man home. The doctor had probably known what was going to happen, had seen the signs of what was coming, and was kind enough to allow the man to be cared for by family until the end came. He suspected the woman knew it too.
And there were undoubtedly hundreds of widows who had suffered so, he thought. Widows, mothers who lost their sons, fatherless children. War was a vicious waster of lives, destroying not only the men who so proudly marched off to join the fight but so many people around them.
It destroyed places as well, he thought, recalling too many savaged towns he had seen. He could only pray that his people had learned something from the bloody mess. Then he thought about the place he had come from in Scotland and all the blood repeatedly spilled there and sighed, shaking his head.
He glanced at Robbie and noticed his brother was already sound asleep. James was asleep as well. He wished he felt sleepy, but unfortunately he did not. Even the woman had gone to sleep, but her daughter was wide-awake. The little girl looked at her mother, then looked at him and grinned as she advanced in her seat until she sat on the edge near the aisle.
“You all done reading your book?” she asked as she hugged her doll.
“Nay. Just tired of it for now. Thinking I might try to sleep like my companions.”
“And my mum.”
Her mother opened her eyes and looked at the child. “Not sleeping,” she said in a voice that strongly hinted that she had been. “You shouldn’t bother the man, Morgan.”
“I wasn’t. Was just talking.”
“It is all right, ma’am. I was only wondering if I could sleep like my companions are. But, afraid I did that coming here.”
“It is the motion of the train.”
“Aye, a wee bit like a rocking cradle.”
“Where are you going? Boston, like us?”
“I think we will stop there for a change of trains. We are then going up the coast, might stop somewhere along there or go on to Maine with James at least for a while. Robbie and I are going to see the ocean, and once we get to the coast we can choose where we stay.”
“Oh. So you have no plans to be at a set address?”
“Only his for a bit. But if ye ever need a hand”—he dug a small scrap of paper out of his pocket—“this is James’s address, his parents’ house, where he will be staying. Before the war, I would have said he was going to go back to Maine and settle down. Now I am not sure he kens where he wants to be.”
“I think there will be many men who are roaming about looking for a place to settle.”
“I fear so. Anyway, notify him, as he will ken how to notify us. We might even be there already.”
“Thank you,” she said and pulled a piece of paper from her bag. “This will be our address. I always find it a comfort to simply know someone is near or reachable.”
They only talked for a few moments more before she clearly needed to go to sleep. Geordie thought hard on where he and Robbie would stay. He did not want to impose on James’s parents and he did not want to stay in Boston. That city had certainly grown bigger than it was when they had first arrived in America. He hoped there would be something in-between that was reasonable.
Someplace near enough to the ocean so that he could walk the shore whenever he wanted to. That was the whole point of this journey. He was determined to find someplace to stay near the ocean. A small part of him was a little worried that he might decide to stay, but he ignored that worry. He suspected he would fight that battle right up until he had to get on his horse and head home. Would he turn to a new life or would he ride back to his ever-growing family?
Not a question he would easily find an answer to. He would have to keep it to the fore of his mind as he searched for that answer. He would also have to be brutally honest with himself, he thought, and grimaced, as he knew he had no history of that and would have to find it within himself. Once a person settled somewhere, it could be difficult and costly to turn back, so he needed to be absolutely sure he wished to settle.
“Ye arenae looking cheerful or expectant as one would expect when ye are making a trip ye so wanted,” said Robbie as he woke up and tried to stretch out the aches caused by sleeping in his seat. “Having second thoughts?”
“Nay. Just wondering exactly what I plan to do.”
“What do ye mean? Ye are going to see the ocean because we dinnae have it in the Ozarks.”
Geordie nodded. “And I think it might be best to cease wondering if there was anything else to it.”
“What else were ye wondering about?”
“Whether I wanted to live there, if I was thinking of, or searching for, a place to settle.”
“Ah. That would displease Iain.”
Geordie laughed and nodded. “It would, and not just because he has always worked to keep us all together. He hasnae said it, but I really do think his plan is to make his own clan.” He grinned when Robbie laughed.
