Free Rory's Promise by Michaela MacColl, Rosemary Nichols Page A

you, your train will wait if need be. But I think I see them.”
    Hiding her face, Rory hurried past the two men as though she were a paying passenger. She made her way past the engine car, followed by the coal car, the baggage car, and several passenger cars where men in uniforms directed passengers. The farther down the platform she went, the more worried she became. Her heart was pounding and her palms were moist. How was she to find the Sisters’ car without asking anyone? Thinking of Mr. Swayne's conversation she wondered how you added a car to the train anyway. Maybe it was better to just sneak onto the train and find the Sisters after the train left the station. How hard could it be to find almost sixty orphans, escorted by nuns in full black habits and nurses wearing their working white uniforms?
    Taking a deep breath, Rory climbed into the nearest car. Unluckily, a conductor was making his way down the rows of bench seats. Rory ducked behind the last bench and the wall and tried to make her lanky body small and unnoticeable.
    “What do we have here?” A mincing voice accompanied a strong grip on her arm. Rory squealed as he hauled her from her hiding place.
    “Where's your ticket, miss?” The conductor was a small man whose uniform seemed a tad too big.
    Rory straightened up and met his eyes squarely. Her only chance was to brazen it out. “I'm with the Foundling,” Rory muttered. “Do you know where they are?”
    The conductor frowned. “If you really were with theFoundling, you'd know they have their own car at the rear of the train. And the Children's Aid Society kids already boarded.” He nudged her back to the doorway. With every step Rory knew she was closer to losing everything. She didn't move and he would have to shove her to get her to leave.
    “No ticket, no ride, little girl,” he said. “Now move, before I call the police.”
    Rory slowly let him push her. She was halfway out the door when she saw Sister Anna not twenty feet away.
    The man in the brown suit walked backward in front of Sister Anna. “The train won't wait for you, Sister.”
    “Of course it will, Mr. Swayne,” Sister Anna said, but her step quickened. The little children were practically running and the porters with all the trunks were red-faced and panting.
    Rory whirled around, her back to the platform and Sister Anna. “Mister, I really am an orphan. My little sister is with the Foundling. If you throw me off then my family is wrecked forever. Please let me stay!” She locked her hands around the door handle and held on for her life.
    “If you haven't paid, you don't ride my train.” He began to pry her fingers off the handle. Out on the platform, Sister Anna passed by, too intent on her argument with Mr. Swayne, the Foundling's agent, to notice Rory.
    “But mister, just give me a chance!” Rory said desperately.
    “OFF!” he shouted and pushed her from the train. Rory landed on the platform, falling on one knee and tearing her dress. He closed the door behind her with a slam. Herkerchief fell to the ground and through the tears in her eyes Rory groped to get it back.
    At that moment the train whistle blew twice. Rory looked up and down the platform. There were no more passengers. The train jerked as the steam engine began pulling out of the station. Unstoppable.
    It was too late. She had lost Violet. Her stomach contracted and she retched. Her head in her hands, she felt for the first time what it was like to be alone.
    “Hey, Red!” A voice from above startled her. Rory jumped to her feet, looking up. “Remember me? From jail!”
    Brigid was hanging from a window just barely wider than her frame. She was grinning. The train moved slowly, taking her closer to Rory and then away.
    A jolt of hope through her body felt like lightning. Rory ran alongside Brigid's window. “I have to get on this train!”
    “Why should I help you?” Brigid's broad smile had more than a little malice in it. Rory didn't care. She