Free Time of Fog and Fire: A Molly Murphy Mystery (Molly Murphy Mysteries) by Rhys Bowen Page A

it opened up to that lake, the Tappan Zee. Lights twinkled from small riverside towns, but we didn’t stop. We passed them one by one—Irvington, Tarrytown, Peekskill. I had had adventures in these towns, in my days as a working detective. I remembered the dangers I had encountered and felt a shiver of fear go through me. I was now a married woman with a child. Surely my life was now supposed to be safe and secure, and yet here I was setting off once again into the unknown.
    Night fell completely as the river narrowed and we were in the wild, rocky country of the Catskills. Liam, exhausted by the emotions of the day and the new experiences, fell asleep. I continued to stare out of the window, as more old memories stirred. The mansion where I had stayed with Senator Flynn. And then the barn where Daniel and I had first made love. I remembered that all too clearly. I should never have let it happen. He was engaged to marry another woman at the time and I thought there was no hope for our future. But if I had pushed him away then, would I be sitting here now with a ring on my finger and a fine son lying in my lap? What strange twists and turns there are to our lives? I thought. One small decision can change the course of our histories. I paused, considering this. Would this small decision change the course of mine?
    I had brought some food with me, not knowing if any would be available on the train. When Liam woke up again I fed him some hard-boiled egg and mashed vegetables. In a way I wished he were still nursing, as that would have solved the food problem, but then again it would have been hard with such lack of privacy. We’d both have to make do for a few days. I had a cold beef sandwich for myself, and then we shared some cake I had baked. I changed Liam for the night, glad that there was a lavatory close by, and he fell asleep easily enough, lulled by the rocking of the train. I didn’t find it so easy to sleep. It was hot in the car with some kind of forced-air heat in operation and Liam’s heavy body against me made me feel clammy and rather sick. The cold beef lay heavy on my stomach. I had never thought of myself as a poor traveler before and I sympathized with Mrs. Endicott when she had said that she would have been travel sick within the first hour. This thought made me question what I was doing yet again. Had Daniel been writing the truth and really meant that this journey was too difficult for me? How could sitting in a comfortable chair for several days be too demanding? I longed for a drink of water and wished I had brought some.
    When we stopped in Albany around ten o’clock at night I lugged the sleeping Liam with me and found the station restaurant. There we both had a drink of milk and I bought cheese rolls for the morning. The milk calmed my stomach and we both slept as the train moved through the night. Morning dawned over a rural landscape still tinged with snow—neat farms and red barns making splashes of color against snowy fields. Liam awoke ready to play. I walked him up and down between the seats, pausing when older ladies wanted to make a fuss of him. Then he sat on the floor at my feet and played with his blocks. He was being amazingly good, I thought, and decided I had worried too much. Let us both enjoy this trip.
    We pulled into Chicago’s Union Station at midday. I found a porter without too much trouble and my bags were taken to the ladies’ waiting room as the Overland Limited did not leave until four o’clock in the afternoon. That gave Liam plenty of time to run around and we both ate a good meal at the station restaurant of pot roast and vegetables followed by rice pudding. I bought several postcards and wrote the first one to Bridie, as I had promised to do, mailing it in the box at the station. I also bought food for the journey, hoping I could buy more plus milk for Liam at the various stops along the way.
    Then at three thirty a porter took us and our luggage to board the