"Some guys. I found that bitch String Bean and pulled her off the road."He poked at his mouth with a dirty index finger, knowing something was seriously wrong, but unable to see the damage."Some bitch walking by told her husband I was hurting a girl, and he tackled me and dragged me back here, the country bumpkin asshole."

"And he kicked the shit out of you for grabbing String Bean?"

Albert's expression darkened."No, dummy. A few of the guy's friends followed us, and one of 'em noticed my new watch."

Bo leaned against the wall and slipped off his Derby. He ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair, then gently tapped the rain water from the brim of his hat. "The watch you stole?"He dropped his hat back atop his messy hair and gave it a tug."Why'd he notice that? Nothing special."

"It was his."

Bo's eyebrows lifted."Oh."He cocked his head to the side as he glanced down at the other man, thinking Rat Face had gotten exactly what he deserved. He stared at the holes in Albert's stockings, which were so large that all his toes, except for his pinky, hung out in the breeze. "Yuck. Your feet are disgusting. Aren't you cold?"

"Too numb to be cold," Albert grumbled.

"Guess we're heading back to New York then," Bo said in a chipper voice, relief coursing through him. This much hell wasn't worth the money; when was Rat Face going to realize that?

"The fuck we are."Woozily, Albert pushed himself to his feet heading to the local store intent on shoplifting a pair of shoes. With every step across the cold, wet ground, he let out a curse."I'd kill String Bean for free now."

Bo groaned inwardly. He let out a slow deep breath and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he followed Albert towards the fat man's next mini-crime spree."String Bean, you're gonna be the death of me yet."

The moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the land in a soft, golden glow. Diablo whinnied softly and stamped his front hooves. He smelled water. His steady walk increased to a trot and, quite without permission, he turned off the road for a nearby trickling stream."Hey!" Lindsay squawked, the sudden movement shocking her out of a light sleep. She grabbed on to the saddle horn to keep from toppling off."Stupid. I...whoa... I told you about that," she grumped, her voice cracking after hours of disuse.

Seeing where the gelding was heading, she felt a little of her moodiness dissolve."Thirsty?"She yawned, then grimaced at the dry, scratchy feeling in her throat. Her hand stroked her neck."Me too."

The horse stopped a few feet from his destination, and Lindsay took the hint; she slid off his back, landing heavily on the soft soil with a protracted moan. "Oh, god." She looked down."My legs," she whined."For the love of God. I'm alone, I'm getting sick, my arse will never forgive me for this, and I'm bowlegged?"

The horse lifted his nose out of the water and swung his head in Lindsay's direction, his large liquid eyes gazing at her intently as water dripped from his lips.

Lindsay studied his expression."Are you saying I'm not alone? If you'd actually answer me, you'd make my day. Then I can add crazy to my list of woes."

Ignoring her rhetorical question, the horse dipped his nose into the stream again and began lapping up water.

"That's what I thought."Gingerly, she padded the few steps to the narrow stream and dropped down onto her belly so she could stick her mouth directly into the water. Her hands were already cold and she couldn't bear the thought of plunging them into the icy stream. The water was so cold it burned going down, but she drank her fill and pushed herself back to her feet. The water stung the small cut on her chin, courtesy of Albert, and she spared a violent thought for the man who had caused her so much trouble. Where did you go?

Diablo finally finished and turned back to her, burrowing his nose in her coat and letting out a loud snort.

A tiny smile creased Lindsay's cheeks, and she carefully reached up and stroked the velvety skin of his nose."Yeah, I guess, you're all right," she allowed, acknowledging the tenuous understanding they'd come to during this long journey. He was in charge and she was along for the ride. Once she'd accepted that conclusion, she admitted ruefully, things had gone much smoother.

A far-off sound caused Lindsay's head to whip around. In the distance, for the first time, she saw the hazy outline of Atlanta. Yes. The faint, plaintive sound came again and Lindsay's grin grew. The noise wound its way around her brain, gently tugging the cords of her subconscious with aching familiarity.

A train's whistle.

Her world righted itself a little as she began walking towards the road, Diablo's reins held loosely in her hand. Despite her exhaustion, her pace quickened. An hour or two more and she'd be back in her world and on her turf.

The tracks.

Squinting, Lewis stepped off the train first. The morning sky was dull gray and spoke of rain yet to come. He shielded his eyes from the gray light, having spent so many hours enclosed in the shadowy boxcar. He had slept against Ginny, his head pillowed in her lap, and it was surprisingly comfortable, given the situation.

At first, he'd been afraid to sleep, afraid he'd dream of the fire and hear the imagined screams of his parents and sisters, which tormented his sleep nearly every night. But Ginny had stroked his hair and spoken in the low, soothing tones that had unerringly reminded him of the best parts of home. Not the smoke or fear or anything else. It was as though an enormous weight had been lifted from his small shoulders.

Lewis yawned and moved away from the steps so that Ginny and the passengers behind him could exit the boxcar.

She gently cupped his cheek and peered at him with worried eyes. "How you doing, Lewis?"Ginny handed him his coat and he slipped into it quickly, already shivering in the cool morning air.

"Fine..." He couldn't meet her eyes."I guess," he murmured.

"Mmm." Ginny frowned at her brother's guilt-ridden face."I can see that. Lewis, honey, I told you it wasn't your fault. Lindsay missed the train... on her own."Not quite the truth. But she herself wasn't sure what she'd seen and there was no use frightening the boy and making him feel worse than he already did.

"But the blanket-"

"Was an accident," she finished kindly but firmly."She'll find us."She has to. Ginny wrapped her arm around his shoulders and steered him away from the depot to where the crowd was thinner."I'll never give up on Lindsay. Just like I'd never give up on you or James or Jane. But if we backtrack, we might spend days or even weeks and still not find each other. Your brother and sister need me now, and Lindsay is a grown woman...."

"Who can take care of herself?"

A faint, wistful smile crossed Ginny's face."I didn't say that."

Lewis took their traveling bag back from his sister and slung it over his shoulder as they walked."If she's gonna find us, why are you so sad?"

Ginny swallowed hard, acknowledging the ache in her chest that hadn't stopped since they left Talking Rock."I don't know," she whispered truthfully."I guess I just miss her."

Lewis was about to say something when a short woman, with a head of thick white hair streaked with blonde and a slim face with pointy features, hurried over to them. Ginny guessed the woman to be in her late sixties and thought her remarkably well kept for her age. Despite the cool temperature, she was perspiring and her wrinkled face was pink.

"Virginia?" she drawled, coming to a stop next to Lewis."Virginia Chisholm?"

Ginny and Lewis looked at each other in surprise and then back at the woman."Yes," Ginny answered hesitantly."May I help you?"

"Thank you, Jesus!"The woman fanned herself dramatically, looking as though she might pass out from the sheer relief of seeing Ginny."Yes. Yes, you can."

Uneasily, Ginny offered her hand."Hello." She grasped the old woman's hand gently, feeling the paper-thin skin beneath her fingers. Her brow creased."Do I know you?" Ginny asked doubtfully.

The woman smiled brightly at Lewis before turning her attention back to his sister. "No, Miss Chisholm." But that didn't stop the woman from smiling at Ginny as though she were her long lost grandmother."If you knew you me, you'd remember me."

That, Ginny knew, was the God's truth.

"I've been coming every day to meet the train in case you were on it. You look exactly as you were described." Twinkling brown eyes drifted to Ginny's pants. "Except for those of course. Lordy, what won't you Yankees do?" Her voice held more curiosity than censure."Next, your men folk will be wearing petticoats."

Still at a loss, Ginny looked down at the old woman blankly."I'm sorry... I-"

In one long breath the woman informed her, "I'm Edith Pigg, of the Montgomery Piggs, widow of Captain Eustace Pigg of the 45th Alabama Regiment. God rest his Rebel soul."She waited for the usual awe her words inspired. Getting nothing but a confused look from Ginny and a snort from Lewis that his sister quickly muffled by clamping her hand across his mouth, she plowed ahead at the same rapid speed. "Come with me. Trudy is waiting." Edith wound her bony arm around Ginny's and simply began walking.

"Yeow," Ginny squealed, her eyes nearly popping out of her head when Edith blithely began to drag her along. Lewis, who was even more bewildered than Ginny, had to run every third step just to keep up.

Edith prattled on happily, as though she was taking a breakneck Sunday stroll with a dear friend."I got the most lovely telegram from a fine man named Christian Spence."

"Ohhh," Ginny drew out the word as things suddenly started to make more sense. You're always looking out for us, my friend. Meeting you was so lucky.

Ginny nodded, starting to think that Edith might not be insane. Though she was reserving judgment for later.

"He told me about your search."Abruptly, Edith stopped, causing Lewis to run a few steps past them. She turned and stared at Ginny with regret-filled eyes. The look on her face was enough to make Ginny hold her breath for a second."I'm so sorry. Had I known he had any living kin... well, I don't know what I could have done." She pursed her lips. "But something, surely."

Ginny blinked."Who?"Her eyes went round as realization hit her squarely in the chest."Do you mean James?" Please."He's here?"Her heart leapt into her throat and the two or three seconds Edith took to answer seemed to stretch out for a lifetime.

"Yes, of course." Edith's forehead creased deeply and her voice held a note of irritation at having to explain."Why else would I be waiting for you at the train station, dear?"

"God." Ginny was scarcely able to believe her ears. She closed her eyes. Her knees felt like water and, if it wasn't for the deceptively strong arm curled round hers, she was sure she would have crumbled to the ground.

"Are you all right?" Edith gasped, using her slight form to steady Ginny.

Next came her brother's worried voice."Ginny?"He dropped their bag and grabbed onto Ginny's coat to steady her.

The redhead scrubbed her face with one hand. She felt dizzy."I'm sorry. I-I."She scrubbed her face again and let out a shaky breath."I wasn't expecting that."

Edith smiled kindly."No, I don't suppose you were."Her gaze seemed to sharpen and she tsked Ginny as she began tugging her towards a shiny black buggy parked in the front of the local Millinery."You're exhausted. How long since you've eaten or slept?"

"A long time," Lewis piped up, earning a glare from his sister but a pleased nod from Edith. Encouraged, he continued to tattle on Ginny."She didn't sleep at all last night or eat anything for lunch or dinner yesterday or breakfast this morning."

"Mmm..." Edith gave a small nod."Just as I suspected. Don't worry. We'll take good care of you. You'll be staying with us, of course. And we'll fatten you up in no time."

"With you and James?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Me and...?Oh, my."Edith's voice softened with regret."I didn't mean to give you that impression."

Ginny's mood sunk like a rock."I was just hoping..." She shook her head and chastised herself for setting herself up for another likely disappointment."I should know better by now. I was just hoping is all."

Edith looked truly distressed at the woebegone look that had settled over Ginny's young face. "I'm sorry, but the boy isn't with me."

"And my sister? Jane?"

Edith shook her head."She wasn't adopted in Troy. I'm truly sorry."

Ginny's heart sank a little further, and she swallowed a few times before answering. She managed a weak smile, mostly for Lewis' sake. His eyes were glued to her face and he was hanging on her every word."Not your fault, Mrs. Pigg."She relaxed a little into their brisk walk and let her hand rest on Lewis' shoulder, forcing herself away from the looming depression her mind seemed so hell-bent on embracing."So James is here somewhere, but you don't know where."

"I didn't say that either, Virginia. I do know who took him in."

Thank goodness."Who?"

Edith made a face."His name is Milo Porter. I'll explain everything on the way home. "Imperiously, she stood alongside her buggy... waiting... until Lewis realized that he was expected to help her in.

"Oh." His cheeks flushed and he scrambled into the buggy, tossing their bag onto the floor and turning to extend a courteous hand to Edith."Here you go, ma'am."

"Thank you, young man," she praised gently.

Ginny's eyes widened at Lewis' polite tone. He's getting so big. Mama would be so proud she'd just die. She cringed at the sick feeling that accompanied the accidental words.

"Well?"Edith daintily picked up the reins and wrapped the white-gloved fingers of one hand around them. Lewis settled in next to her. Edith retrieved a reed-thin riding crop from the floor and absently arranged her carriage blanket about her knees. She lifted a snowy eyebrow at Ginny."What are you waiting for, Virginia?"

Ginny glanced back at the tracks longingly before pushing down her emotions and boarding the buggy.

Everything.

Ginny stood outside Smokey's Saloon, feeling vaguely dirty for even considering going inside and nervously wiping her sweaty hands on her dress. "Okay, Ginny, be firm. This is your brother. Don't mess this up. It doesn't have to be a fight if I explain myself reasonably."

But her thoughts were quickly derailed. What sort of man spends his afternoon in a bar? Didn't Edith say he worked for the city? She'd never actually been inside a place like Smokey's, though she'd waited outside one for her stepfather on several occasions.

She had changed back into the plain dress the Charity Hospital had given her and shed her coat in deference to the afternoon temperatures, which had climbed into the upper fifties. It felt wonderful to shed the heavy wool garment that she had worn so much it now felt like a second skin. A dark, itchy, somewhat grungy second skin.

Edith had introduced Ginny to her younger sister Trudy, who was her spitting image, if you erased a half dozen years, and filled her in on what had happened with James while Lewis was taking a much-needed nap. Both elderly women were on the town's adoption committee and swore up and down that what happened with James was far from the ordinary. So far, in fact, that the sisters had written to the Wards protesting James placement. Not surprisingly, the Wards never responded.

On the afternoon that the orphan train came to Troy, Milo Porter had shown up trying to get a boy, any boy over the age of six, just as he had last year when the committee deemed him unfit to adopt. He was unmarried, had no chance of marrying in the future because he was as appealing as a leper, didn't attend church services, and lived in a squalid shack whose stench was bad enough to make even his white trash neighbors cringe.

True to form, when James was literally dragged out in front of the prospective parents in Troy's Town Hall, he'd been such a holy terror that none of them would come near him. Edith's face had colored when she explained to Ginny that the town's adoption committee had been at a loss as to what to do with the boy. No one wanted to force an adoption or separate James from the sister he seemed so attached to. But the sad reality was, the town's committee didn't have any real legal authority. The most they could do was make recommendations to the Wards employees.

Milo had approached one of those employees as the children who weren't selected for adoption were herded back onto the train, only minutes after leaving the Town Hall. Edith wasn't sure what had actually transpired at the depot. All she knew was that Milo left the train station dragging a kicking and screaming, 8-year-old boy behind him.

Ginny shook her head to clear it and pushed open the saloon's door. Not surprisingly, it was smoky inside and she suppressed a cough. Feeling the weight of a room full of curious stares, she headed for the bar."Excuse me."

The bartender stopped drying the glass in his hand and glanced up at her.

"Can you tell me which man is Milo Porter?"She glanced around the room uncomfortably, her eyes quickly moving past the faces wreathed with drunken smiles.

"I'll be Milo for you, honey," a loud voice from the back of the room called, causing the place to erupt in raucous laughter.

Ginny ignored it.

The bartender draped the rag he was using on the glass over his shoulder."Who wants to know?"But the words were still hanging in the air when his eyes swung in the direction of the dusty piano. A man sat at the table next to it. Alone.

Ginny didn't wait for confirmation that that was Milo. She drew in a deep breath and marched across the room, not stopping until she stood in front of a small, wooden table that held several empty shot glasses and beer mugs."Mr. Porter?"Her voice rose a little at the end, betraying her hope that this was not the man who had adopted her brother.

Milo was in his late forties, though he looked at least fifteen years older. Even with him seated, she could tell he was tall with wiry, whipcord muscles. His skin was pale and sallow, and what was left of his greasy black-and-gray hair was worn long and hung limply around his shoulders. A cigarette was perched on thin lips and emitted a thick cloud that hung around his head. The rank, stale smell of liquor and smoke that oozed from his pores told Ginny that this was his normal, pitiful state.

Milo eyed her warily."How much?"His voice was scratchy, as though he'd just awoken.

Ginny blinked a few times, at a loss. "How much what?"

Milo took a long drag on his cigarette, then adjusted it so it was hanging out of the corner of his mouth, barely stuck to his lower lip. "For a poke in the whiskers, girlie. What else? Hurry up, 'cause I ain't got all day."

Huh? "Poke?"

Milo let his gaze drift up and down her body, making his intent crystal clear.

Ginny's eyes nearly popped out, and she suddenly craved a very hot bath. In lye. Her mouth worked silently for a moment before she ground out, "You must have me confused with someone else. "Eww. I'd rather tie rocks around my waist and then jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.

Milo's face went very still."Then get the hell away from me," he mumbled, obviously dejected. He dismissed her with the wave of a dirt-stained hand."I'm busy."

Ginny paid no attention to his rebuke and lifted her chin a little as she spoke."I'm here for James Robson."

Milo swallowed his mouthful of warm beer hastily and wiped the foam from his stubbly chin with the back of his hand."If I ain't getting a poke, that runt boy sure as hell ain't." He leaned way back in his chair, causing it to creak in protest and once again ordered Ginny to get the hell away.

The young woman wrung her hands together."I can't just go away. You don't understand. James is my brother."