Let There Be Light (2 page)

When Lorna raised the window, a fresh breeze swept in accompanied by a louder sound of clicking wheels.

“Ah, that’s better,” said Madeline.

“Yes.” Lorna paused, then said, “We haven’t been able to talk very much since we left Chicago. Where are you bound, Mrs. Rudeen?”

“Topeka, Kansas. That’s the train’s next stop after Kansas City. Topeka is my home. I’ve been visiting my oldest son and his family in Riverdale, just south of Chicago.”

At that moment, the train moved onto a trestle over a wide, sunlit river. As Lorna looked down at the rolling water, Madeline said, “That’s the Missouri River, dear. In case you didn’t know.”

“I knew it was in the Kansas City area, but that’s about all. I’ve never been here before.”

The front door of the coach opened, and the conductor entered. Moving along the aisle, he called out, “Kansas City … fifteen minutes! Kansas City … fifteen minutes!”

Madeline looked at Lorna. “So where are you going, dear?”

“Mogollon, Arizona.”

“Oh, really? Just where is Mogollon?”

“It’s in eastern Arizona. Do you know where Holbrook is?”

“Oh yes. It’s just a few miles west of the Petrified Forest. I read about it in a magazine not long ago.”

“All right. Mogollon is thirty miles west of Holbrook.”

Madeline frowned. “There are no railroads in Arizona yet, are there?”

“No. The train I’ll take out of Kansas City will get me to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I’ll have to take a stagecoach from Santa Fe down to Albuquerque. I’ll board another stagecoach there, which will take me all the way to Mogollon.”

Madeline nodded. “So you’ve got a long trip ahead of you.”

“Yes.”

At that instant, the train started to slow down. Passengers began leaving their seats to take hand luggage out of the overhead racks.

“Do you need to get past me to take down your bag, dear?” asked Madeline.

“No, that’s all right. I’ll get it when the train stops.” Lorna felt a cool gust of air sweep through the opening in the window. She pressed her face to the glass. “I see some dark clouds gathering to the north. We just might be in for a thunderstorm.”

“That’ll cool the air for sure.”

No sooner had Madeline made her comment than a jagged bolt of lightning stabbed through the dark clouds. A few seconds later, a
low, rumbling thunder could be heard.

“I think you’re right, dear,” said Madeline, craning her neck to peek out the window. “One thing is for sure. God is in control of the weather, and a little rain would be refreshing right now.”

“You’re right about that. I just hope it holds off until I change trains.”

The terminal came into view and the train slowed. The whistle on the big engine let out a blast, and within a few minutes, the train chugged to a halt in the depot.

Lorna stood up, moved past Madeline, and retrieved her small bag from the overhead rack. Passengers were making their way toward both doors. Lorna looked down at Madeline with a smile. “It was nice to have met you, Mrs. Rudeen. I hope you have a safe journey the rest of the way to Topeka.”

“Thank you, dear. And you have a safe journey all the way to Mogollon.”

“I’m trusting the Lord to see to that,” Lorna said softly, smiling again. “Good-bye.” With that, she slipped into the line of passengers and stepped off the train into the cool, refreshing air. She could hear distant thunder as she made her way amid the crowd and passed through one of the doors that led inside the terminal.

It took her only seconds to locate the large chalkboard in the center of the depot. Threading her way through the crowd, she made her way to the chalkboard. Her heart sank when she found the schedule of the Santa Fe–bound train on the board with a chalk message next to it, saying that it had been delayed indefinitely.

Lorna sighed. Her nerves were already a bit on edge with the prospect of what lay ahead in Mogollon. She was anxious to get there, have the initial meeting, and see how things would develop.

Squelching the anxiety, she wheeled and headed for the ticket counter. There were three agents taking care of people who stood in line. Behind them, at a large desk, was a young man in a wheelchair, operating a telegraph key. Lorna chose the shortest line.
Lord, I really need to get to Mogollon as soon as possible
.

Some ten minutes had passed when the man in front of Lorna turned and walked away. As she set her bag down and stepped up to the counter, the silver-haired agent said, “May I help you, young lady?”

“I hope so, sir,” she said a bit timidly, placing her ticket in front of him. “As you can see, I’m booked on the train to Santa Fe. What can you tell me other than it’s delayed indefinitely?”

The agent looked at the ticket, lifted his billed cap and dropped it back in place. He met her gaze. “Well, Miss Lee—it is
Miss
Lee, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“There’s been a battle between Union and Confederate forces near Dodge City, Kansas. The battle is over, but the Confederates tore up a section of the tracks, and there’s been no word as yet from the railroad officials as to when they expect the damage to be repaired. Since we’ve gone through this kind of thing before, my own guess is that it will be done within twenty-four hours.” He placed the ticket in her hand. “If you will check with me periodically, I’ll let you know when we get word. I see you’re going by stagecoach to Albuquerque, then on to Mogollon.”

“Yes.”

“Once we know about the train’s schedule, we’ll wire the Wells Fargo office in Santa Fe and set up new stage reservations for you.”

“Thank you,” said Lorna, then sighed wearily, placed the ticket in her purse, and looked at the large front windows of the terminal. A sign across the street caught her eye, and at the same moment, her stomach growled from hunger. She looked back at the agent. “Sir, do you think it would be all right if I stepped across the street and had a bite to eat at the diner?”

The man grinned in an attempt to calm her fears. “Sure. You’ll have plenty of time to do that. Check with me when you come back. Have yourself a nice meal.”

“Thank you, sir.” Lorna picked up her bag. “I won’t be gone long.”

When Lorna stepped out of the terminal, she found the wind gusting, and noted that the clouds were now about to cover the sun. She waited for the traffic to clear, bent her head against the wind, and set her gaze on the diner. A break came seconds later, and as she made her way across the street, she thought,
A cup of tea and a bowl of hot potato soup sound tasty
.

There was no one in line at the ticket counter when Lorna returned to the terminal. The same agent she had talked to before was at the counter and saw her coming.

A smile broke across his face as she drew up, wiping rain from her face. “Well, young lady, did you have a nice meal?”

“Sure did.”

“Raining out there, I see.”

“Mm-hmm. The small drops are turning into big fat ones. Looks like we’re going to get a good shower. Any news about my train?”

“Nothing yet, I’m sorry to say.” He tossed a thumb over his shoulder. “Lenny, there, is waiting faithfully at the telegraph key for word.”

Lorna looked past the agent at the young man in the wheelchair, who heard what the agent said. “Are you booked on the Santa Fe train, ma’am?”

“Yes.”

“Well, stay close by. I’ll let Charlie know when we get word.”

The silver-haired man grinned. “I’m Charlie.”

Lorna nodded. “I had that figured out.”

A man in a suit came out of a back room, handed Lenny a sheet of paper, and told him to get it on the wire immediately.

Lenny glanced at the paper and nodded. He began working the telegraph key, and the man returned to the office. Lorna watched while Lenny clicked out the Morse code and let her eyes run over the wheelchair.

Charlie noticed her glance. “Lenny was in the War, Miss Lee. Union side, of course. Got both of his legs blown off by a cannon-ball.”

Lorna bit her lips as her mind went to Mogollon. “Oh. I’m sorry. He seems like a nice young man.”

“That he is, ma’am.”

“War is such a terrible thing. Not only fills graves, but leaves many a soldier with wounds they will carry for the rest of their lives.”

“Yes, ma’am. Terrible thing.”

A customer was approaching the counter. Lorna smiled at Charlie. “I’ll be sitting over here in the section close by, sir. I’ll check with you periodically, but if word comes in, please let me know, even if I should fall asleep.”

“Sure will. And if nothing’s come by the time I go off duty at six o’clock, I’ll tell the agent on night shift about you. We work twelve-hour shifts, here, so I’ll see you in the morning, even if you get word this evening. At best, your train won’t be in till sometime tomorrow.”

Lorna thanked him, pivoted, and walked to the nearest section of seats, where a few other people were sitting. She found the hardwood benches less comfortable than the seats in the railroad coaches, but weary, she soon fell asleep.

Lorna slept until nearly ten o’clock. She sat up straight, rubbed the back of her neck, and looked toward the ticket counter. There was one agent on duty, as well as another man at the telegraph desk. The people around her were all asleep. She rose to her feet, stretched her arms, and made her way to the counter.

The agent gave her a smile. “May I help you, Miss Lee?”

Her eyebrows arched. “You know my name?”

“Yes. Charlie pointed you out when I came on duty. I’m supposed to let you know if word comes in about your Santa Fe train. So far, we’ve heard nothing. Probably won’t until morning.”

Lorna thanked him and went back to her seat. Once again positioning herself as comfortably as possible, she closed her eyes, and soon fell asleep. She awakened a few times during the night and looked toward the ticket counter. Each time, there was no sign of the agent, nor the man who had been at the telegraph desk. She figured they were sitting where she could not see them.

She awakened again when sunlight was just beginning to stream through the terminal’s east windows and saw Charlie behind the counter. She could hear the telegraph key clicking. She jumped up and rushed to the counter. “Good morning, sir. Any word, yet?”

“It’s coming in right now, Miss Lee,” said Charlie, turning to look back at Lenny.

Lorna glanced at Lenny, who smiled at her and raised a finger to indicate that the message would be completed shortly. Seconds later,
the clicking stopped. Lenny finished writing the message, then handed the paper to Charlie.

The agent read it quickly and looked at Lorna. “The train is on its way, Miss Lee. They say it will arrive at ten o’clock this morning. It is scheduled to leave here at eleven.”

“Oh, that’s good!”

“If you will let me have your ticket again, I’ll have Lenny wire the Wells Fargo office in Santa Fe and make new reservations for you.”

As Lorna handed him her ticket, Charlie said, “You go ahead and sit down. I’ll let you know when we get the message back from Wells Fargo.”

Lorna returned to her seat. She could hear Lenny tapping out the Morse code on the telegraph key. People were now coming into the terminal, and the other two agents appeared behind the ticket counter.

Lorna heard the telegraph key clicking, and when some thirty minutes had passed, she saw Charlie motioning to her. She hurried to the counter, and he laid the ticket in front of her. “You’re all fixed up now, Miss Lee. You’ll be in Santa Fe at ten o’clock tomorrow morning, and you have a reservation on the eleven-thirty stage to Albuquerque and the three o’clock stage from Albuquerque. You will spend the night in Gallup and arrive in Mogollon at four o’clock on Friday afternoon.”

Lorna thanked him, went across the street to eat breakfast at the diner, then headed for the spot in the depot where she would board her train.

The train came in as promised, and Lorna climbed aboard at the conductor’s first call. When the train pulled out of Kansas City, she was sitting by herself on a coach seat. She watched the landscape for a while, then took her Bible out of the handbag that lay next to her and began reading. A half hour later, she laid her head back, closed her eyes, and spent time with the Lord in prayer.

On Thursday morning, Lorna pressed her face to the window and watched as the train chugged into the depot at Santa Fe. The elderly
woman sitting next to her had boarded at Dalhart, Texas, and had family meeting her.

They stepped off the train, bid each other good-bye as the woman’s relatives rushed up, and Lorna made her way to the baggage coach where she told a baggage handler she needed her small trunk taken to wherever the Wells Fargo people would pick it up. The baggage handler told her there would be a Wells Fargo wagon right out front. He would bring her trunk, and the wagon driver would take her to the Fargo office, which was three blocks away.

Some twenty minutes later, Lorna was at the Wells Fargo office where she soon boarded the eleven-thirty stage bound south for Albuquerque.

Just before three o’clock that afternoon, Lorna boarded the westbound stage in Albuquerque with two men in their forties and a young woman about her age. Her heart pounded with excitement as she realized how close she was getting to Mogollon. She would be there at four o’clock tomorrow afternoon on this very stagecoach.