Chapter 11

“Tell me more about Emily!,” Becky begged as they were pushing a cart through town.

“I told you all I really know,” Claire said as they collected clothing, blankets, bandages, food and medical supplies for their trip to Pennsylvania.

Claire knew better than to tell Becky about her newest “encounter” with Emily during her dream.

“Are you going to bug me the whole trip?” Claire asked.

“You know I will,” Becky said.

Claire rolled her eyes. Deep down, she was glad Becky and her mother would be accompanying them on their trip. It was somewhat of a surprise, since Becky didn’t particularly like the sight of blood, which Claire’s mother was sure they would see in the hospitals once they reached Gettysburg.

“Well I promise not to bug you too much about it,” Becky said. “But I do want to know more. I think Emily’s real. I think it’s wonderful she’s trying to contact you.”

Again, Claire rolled her eyes.

“Well, okay, but we’re not going to do any sey…ances, or whatever you call them,” Claire said.

Meggie once told Charlie O’Hara about people back in the old country who tried to contact the dead. And her mother also told her about Mary Lincoln, who she heard held sey…ances in the White House to try to contact her dead son Willie.

“It’s very sad,” her mother told her. Her mother once wrote President and Mrs. Lincoln sending her condolences. She also knew how they felt dealing with grief after Emily’s death.

She still remembered her mother being sad sometimes when she thought of Emily.

But she didn’t dare tell her mother about Emily’s appearance to her when she was Charlie hanging for dear life on a log…or when she was sleeping the other night.

“Mother said you’ve never ridden in a train before,” Becky said, changing the subject.

“Nope, never have,” Claire said. In fact, she’d never left the town before.

Sure, she felt like she’d left another world. Mirilla told her she was lucky to have lived two lives, for she felt it gave her a more down-to-earth perspectives, something she felt was lacking in most wealthy families.

And her perspective was quite unusual. She lived the life of a poor Irish lad, a son of immigrants. Now, she was, in Mirilla’s words, now on her way to living life as a spoiled heiress, the daughter of the most prominent woman in town.

But changing a life from poor to rich, from male to female, only moved her a few blocks from the river, to Windham Manor. This time, she was leaving the only place she’d ever call home.

*****

Claire marveled at the railroad car. It was the fanciest on the whole train. She, her mother, Becky and her mother, were sharing it. Dr. Robert had a nice one too.

Claire and Becky had the run of much of the train and enjoyed meeting the passengers. Many were from most walks of life. There was another doctor and his family. A man who owned a mercantile like Willem van Husan’s. There were a couple of soldiers who were returning after leave and both felt lucky not to have been in the fight. There were farmers and business people.

There were also children aboard. Claire and Becky enjoyed playing with them too. They played games with tops and marbles, although it was hard because the train was moving.

They also stopped in towns along the way in the mountains of New York and Pennsylvania. Claire was amazed how beautiful the country was.

Most of the time, Becky and Claire were seated together across from their mothers. They read books and knitted yarn.

Becky loved to ask questions, including what life was like for Claire as a boy and if she liked being a girl.

“Of course I do, silly, it’s what I really am,” Claire said.

Becky was horrified when Claire recounted her life as Charlie and all the things Charlie went through living along the river. Claire was glad Becky had known her “secret” as did her mother,

She and Becky were two peas in a pod, They were as much sisters as Claire now felt she was with Emily.

“You know, Becky, I’ve almost forgotten what it was like being a boy,” she said, although seeing the younger boys on the train did remind her a little of what life was like rough-housing with Lucas, Robert, Eli and Samuel.

But she had now began to think of Charlie O’Hara as a totally different person, the boy who tragically drowned in the river.

The only times that seemed real were the times Charlie spent at night with Meggie during what really felt like mother-daughter times. She felt the same way about the time she spent now with her adopted mother, Mary Windham.

She was reminded of that when she saw mothers on the train sitting with their little girls. She like to think of her times with Meggie as times between a mother and her little girl, when she first learned to sew and first rocked Beatrice and “mothered” her doll.

Becky and her mother were amazed by Claire’s transformation. They never saw the beginning, when Claire started off wearing girls clothes as Charlie, but no one had to teach Claire to be a girl. There was no transition, even Mary Windham recognized that.

That was what convinced Mary that Charlie was really Claire inside. The real transition was transforming from the child of Irish immigrants to a proper lady, and Claire seemed to take to that like a fish to water.

After only a few weeks, no one could tell Claire was once a boy at the river, but a proper young lady. Oh she still needed to work on the refining part, but so did Becky. But that was part of their charm, Mary thought. She didn’t want them to be porcelain doll snobs like some society girls were.

As the train made its way south, Mary Windham wondered what life had in store for Claire. She admired her young daughter’s amazing beauty considering how her life’s journey began. Claire was smart and confident, but even with the amazing body transformation, Mary Windham knew things would never be entirely normal for her daughter.

Would she marry? Sure, the Stensons knew Claire’s secret. And Lawrence seemed smitten with her. Their marriage would please his parents and perhaps him at first, but what if things changed?

She tried to assure Claire that she would become a mother. But she knew her child would never be able to bear a child. She wondered if that opportunity to adopt a child in need would indeed come to pass.

But she tried not to worry herself too much about the uncertainty of Claire’s future. Claire brought her happiness. Whatever trails Claire would face, she would be there at her daughter’s side. She was sure Claire would be able to overcome them.

“Ma’am, we’re going to continue on through the night,” the porter told Mary Windham. “We should be pulling into Lancaster in the morning.”

“Lydia, I know of a wonderful dress shop in Lancaster,” Mary Windham told her fried. “I’m sure we can find some pretty ones for Claire and Rebecca.”

Claire and Becky were excited about the chance to try on new dresses. Their faces lit up.

“I guess it is time to bed down for the night,” Lydia told Becky.

The railcar had two compartments in which to sleep. Becky and her mother would share one. Claire and her mother would share the other.

The girls and their mothers put on their bed clothes. Their mothers brushed their hair before they climbed into the compartments.

Claire pulled Beatrice from her bag. Becky pulled a doll from hers. The smiled at each other. Sure, they were supposed to be getting a little too old for dolls, but they didn’t care.

Claire slid in the compartment beside Mary.

“Momma, will you hold me tight?” Claire whispered as she felt the train rumble down the tracks.

“Why sure, poppet,” Mary Windham replied.

She clutched on to her daughter. Claire felt the warmth. She also smelled her mother’s perfume. It comforted her. She clutched Beatrice and dozed off to sleep.

*****

Claire marveled at the narrow, cobblestone streets in Lancaster. They saw soldiers marching. There were plenty of farmers’ markets, where the people of the community sold fresh produce.

She and Becky were fascinated by the “plain people” of Lancaster. They were religious people, the mothers told them, called Mennonites and Amish. Some of the men had strange beards. The women wore black and white or dark colored dresses with bonnets.

They stopped by a candy shop on the way to the dress shop Mary Windham wanted to visit.

“Wow, momma look at those!” Claire said when they finally reached the dress shop. There were some very beautiful dresses in the window.

“That’s why I wanted to come,” Mary Windham said as they entered Mabel Rinehart’s dress shop.

“This one would look good on you, Rebecca,” Lydia Randolph said.

“Mary, Mary Windham, is that you?” a silver headed woman said.

“Mabel, why yes, it’s me,” Mary Windham replied.

“We haven’t seen you and Emily here since before the war,” the woman replied in a German accent. “My, how she’s grown!”

Claire blushed. It took Mary by surprise.

“Mabel, this is my adopted daughter Claire,” she said as Claire curtsied and said “How do you do.”

Claire, Lydia and Becky felt Mary explained things pretty well to her old friend. She told her that Emily died of an illness. She explained that Claire was the daughter of Irish relatives that she took in as her own.

“We’ve come to see if you had some dresses for Miss Claire and Miss Rebecca,” Mary Windham told her fried. “I want some nice ones for Claire. She and I will be going to Europe after our trip to Gettysburg.”

“I will see what I can find Mary,” the woman replied. “What business do you have in Gettysburg, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“We are caring supplies,” Mary Windham said. “I also have some experience as a nurse. We hear they are need of as many supplies and help as they can find since the battle.”

“Yes they are,” Mabel Rinehart said. “I went with my husband and some friends of ours. It is truly a dreadful place. Churches, businesses and homes have been turned into hospitals. The armies are gone, but they’ve left thousands and wounded and dying soldiers. It is more than they can handle.”

She then changed to a much more happier subject.

“Girls, I have some really nice dresses in the back to show you,” Mabel Rinehart said. “Come along with me.”

The girls eyes lit up when they saw what seemed to be racks of endless dresses in the room in the back of the store. Mabel Rinehart brought several for them to try, which they did.

They returned to the front of the store and modeled every one of them before their mothers, who spent a lot of money that day increasing their daughters wardrobes.

“I was thinking about buying a dress for Meggie,” Mary Windham told Claire. “Do you think she’d like one?”

“Oh yes!” Claire said. “I know they have some nice ones at the Mercantile, but none as nice as the dresses here.”

Claire and Mary picked out one they thought would suit Meggie at church. It helped that Lydia was about Meggie’s size.

“Mabel tells me there are several Southern dresses that were big sellers before the war,” Mary Windham said. “She can’t give them away right now.”

“Maybe after the war,” Lydia said. “I’ve always like the fashions the women in the South wear.”

The girls carried parasols as they left the store, skipping as they went. They really protected them from the July heat, which seemed to rise off the stones on the streets.

“We’re to meet Dr. Robert at the train at 5,” Mary Windham said. “I’ve asked him to dine with us tonight. I hear they are preparing a really big feast.”

The ladies enjoyed their afternoon in town. Claire and Becky were not looking forward to getting back into the train. But their journey wasn’t far from being over. They would be in Gettysburg by morning.

“Did you enjoy your day in town ladies,” Dr. Robert said as they returned to their car.

“Why, yes we did,” Lydia Randolph replied as they took their seats at a nicely prepared table.

“The girls enjoyed their time at the candy shop and the dress shop,” Mary Windham said. “We also spent some time at a few farmers market buying some food for our journey.”

Dr. Robert spent much of his time making sure there were enough medical supplies once they reached their destination. He also recruited two other physicians for the trip.

“I want you ladies to be prepared for what we’re going to see,” the Frenchman said. “I have been to many battlefield hospitals in Europe, Asia and North Africa and here since this war began,” he said. “But the physicians I talked to today said they’ve never seen conditions like they’ve seen in Gettysburg.”