Separate Roads (9 page)

But Victoria knew that was seldom, if ever, the case. She had seen the poverty-ridden Chinese as they struggled to coexist in a world that didn’t want them. She had known from Anna Judah of the hideous treatment these people had suffered and of the life of prostitution many of the young women had found themselves forced to endure. Li had been one of those women, and the very idea caused Victoria to thank God for the protected life she had known. It also made her most intent on continuing to help the Chinese in any way she could. The O’Connors might be poor and needy in the sense of possessions, but they were not so poor that they couldn’t offer a helping hand to their neighbors.

8

It wasn’t long before Jia was back to his laughing, roly-poly self. Li felt confident that he had suffered no long-term effects from his illness, and when Xiang came for them, she heartily thanked Victoria for her generosity.

“You good friend, Victoria. I sorry to go so far away from you.”

“Not half as sorry as I am to see you go,” Victoria admitted, barely holding back her tears. It was only because of Li and Jia that Victoria had forgotten her loneliness in Kiernan’s absence. What would she do to feel better once Li was gone?

Jia laughed and pulled Victoria’s dark hair. She reached out and took the baby from Li. “I shall miss you both, so very much. Please come back and visit me.”

Victoria touched the downy black softness of Jia’s hair and kissed him lightly on the head. He was so very precious. Such a sweet and gentle soul. If she had a son of her own, Victoria knew she’d want him to have just such a disposition.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she quickly handed Jia back to Li. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to cry.”

Li nodded. “We share our tears with our smiles.”

Victoria wiped her cheek. “I suppose that’s what good friends do.”

The house was uncommonly quiet after Li and Jia had gone. Victoria had tried to question Xiang about the railroad, but he wasn’t given to conversing much with women, and she could easily see how uncomfortable he was. He did mention the possibility that the Chinese would be hired on as actual workers for the Central Pacific because white workers were often called to the hills by their desire for gold. Victoria could well understand that problem. She’d seen gold fever at its worst. Men fighting, even killing, for the elusive little mineral. It was a powerful motivator.

Realizing she’d not kept up her correspondence during Jia’s sickness, Victoria sat down to pen a letter to her sister Jordana. Finally, the two could communicate because their mother had managed to tie up the loose ends of their family and locate her missing children. A strange turn of events had sent her brother Brenton and sister Jordana from their established locations in New York City to Omaha in the Nebraska Territory. The biggest reason for this had come in the arrival from Ireland of Caitlan O’Connor, Kiernan’s baby sister. Only to hear her mother tell it, Caitlan was far from a baby. She was a progressively minded young woman with a will of her own and an internal driving force that apparently gave her all the motivation she needed for life. Victoria thought she sounded very much like Kiernan.

Taking up her last letter from Jordana, Victoria scanned it for anything pertinent to the letter she was about to write. Brenton and Caitlan had thrown Jordana a surprise birthday party. Victoria mentally calculated that her little sister was now eighteen years old. That would make her youngest brother, Nicholas, almost thirteen and the baby of the family, Amelia, nearly eleven. How could this possibly be? Time had flown and Victoria had scarcely known its passing. Why, she herself had just turned twenty-seven.

A sigh escaped her lips. Twenty-seven. Could she really be that old? In a few short years she would be thirty, and what did she have to show for it?

She looked at the dingy little apartment. The front room consisted of a living room and kitchen combined together, with a single fireplace and kitchen stove to provide heat for their comfort. There was a small bedroom, but nothing more. Nothing of beauty or elegance. Nothing of her life from so long ago.

Oh, there were a few pieces, packed in a trunk at the end of her bed. Little things, mementos really, that she had brought with her to the West. She had always thought that she and Kiernan would set up a grand house and then send for their things. Or that they would make so much money in the goldfields, they would return to Maryland as wealthy as any two people could be. But neither outcome seemed possible now.

She returned her attention to the letter and dipped her pen.

April 1864

Dearest Jordana, Brenton, and Caitlan,

No doubt by now you are enjoying a pleasant spring. California has turned lovely with flowers of every imaginable kind growing in pots and boxes along the way. The trees are flowering and green, and occasional rains keep everything washed clean. I’ve not heard from Kiernan in several weeks, but I feel confident of his health and well-being. Charlie Crocker, his supervisor, is good to see to his care, and I know Mr. Crocker would keep me informed should something happen to bring Kiernan harm.

She continued to write about the weather, the rapid growth of the city, and of her longing that they come to California at the first possible moment.

I know that the way is long, but Kiernan is anxious that Caitlan join us, and I am anxious to see all of you. You could stay with us for as long as you pleased.

She glanced up again to observe her tiny home. Maybe she could talk Kiernan into moving them elsewhere before the traveling trio arrived.

A knock sounded on the door, followed by the announcement of a telegram for Mrs. O’Connor. Victoria startled and jumped up, nearly spilling her ink bottle. She steadied it, then went to the door, trying as hard as she could to look calm. Had something happened to Kiernan? Or her parents?

“I’m Mrs. O’Connor,” she told the young man.

He shoved the telegram forward, and Victoria frowned. “I have no penny to give you.” He shrugged, tipped his hat, and took off down the stairs that stood just diagonally to her apartment.

Victoria quickly scanned the telegram and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t bad news. In fact, it was wonderful news.

See Mrs. Hopkins for ticket to join us in Roseville. STOP. Celebration on 25 April. STOP. Will surprise Kiernan. STOP. Charles Crocker

Good old Charlie, she thought, closing the door and smiling. Then glancing upward, her smile broadened. “Thank you, Lord.” This was just the answer to her prayers. She would see Kiernan in a matter of a few weeks.

——

The twenty-fifth of April dawned cool and lovely. Kiernan was in no mood to deal with Charlie’s demand that he accompany him to Roseville for the celebration of the opening of the first regular passenger train. The celebration simply held no interest for him. He was happy that the line was finally in place and productive. The promise of generated revenues could only be a bonus for the struggling line. But he had no interest in a party. He was tired and restless. He longed for his wife and for a good hot meal, not for a railroad soirée.

“You’ve already decided that nothing good can come of this, haven’t you?” Charlie questioned as they stood in anticipation of the train’s arrival.

“I’ve seen a dozen or more of these celebrations,” Kiernan replied. “I’m not supposin’ this one to be much different from the rest.”

“Well, you just never know.” Charlie gave him a sound slap on the back and a mysterious wink.

They heard the whistle in the distance and knew the first train of the day was running well ahead of schedule.

“Look at that,” Charlie said, holding up his watch. “They’ve made it in just under thirty-nine minutes. Sacramento to Roseville.”

Kiernan nodded. It was excellent time. The townsfolk had gathered at the makeshift platform in order to cheer the first regular service train into town. There was great hope for the railroad, and this was just the first of many small towns to benefit from a connection to the bigger cities of California.

A surge of people caused Kiernan to grimace. “I’ll just be waitin’ by the trees,” he told Crocker and took himself away from the crowd and toward a stand of oaks and buckeyes.

He didn’t blame Charlie for not understanding his feelings. He’d asked for time to go home—to see Victoria and make certain she was all right. Instead, Charlie requested—no, he demanded Kiernan’s presence at this grand opening of locomotive service to Roseville.

Normally, Kiernan wouldn’t have minded Charlie’s insistence. The man was good to him. But Victoria had been alone in Sacramento for over two months now, and he’d scarcely had a word from her. California’s population was nearly seventy percent men, or so Kiernan had heard. And from what few women he’d seen, either reputable or otherwise, he figured this was true. Knowing it only worried him more. Victoria had already experienced the pestering of lonely, eager men in Sacramento. What was he thinking leaving her there to fend for herself?

Of course, he’d had very little choice. First, Charlie had taken him along to Dutch Flat, where they spent several weeks discussing strategies for moving ahead with the Dutch Flat wagon road. This road would open an easier route between Sacramento and Virginia City, saving teamsters over three days of eating dirt on the less congenial, but long established, Placerville stage road. It was hoped this toll road would generate funds for the Central Pacific while laying the railroad through nearby.

After Dutch Flat, Charlie had left Kiernan off at Newcastle to help with the strenuous work at Bloomer Cut. Kiernan thought it was what he wanted. The pay appeared very good, and Charlie had boasted more than once that if he could afford to pay only one man, that man would be Kiernan O’Connor. But some things were more important than money.

He looked off past the trees to a green meadow. Tiny yellow and white flowers waved in the breeze. Victoria would like them, he thought. Tempted to pick a few and press them between sheets of paper, Kiernan smiled. Although it might be silly and sentimental, he could always mail them in his letter home.

Cheers from the crowd rose up, bringing Kiernan’s attention back to the arriving train. He’d done everything Charlie had asked of him. He’d cleaned up, even allowed Charlie to pay for him to get a haircut and shave after the man had insisted the CP had an image to uphold. He’d worn his best navy blue wool trousers and the newest bleached linen shirt he owned. Handmade by Victoria shortly before he’d gone away with Charlie, the shirt reminded him of her. He could see her sitting in their tiny apartment, rocking and stitching.

Misery saturated him like a heavy summer rain. He had to stop thinking about Victoria and home. He had a job to do, and like many other men, he had to do it separated from those he loved. He chided himself for being so ridiculous.

He turned back to the fields and gazed on the beauty of the landscape. The trees across the valley were dressed in various shades of green. Klamath Plum trees were flowering white to pink in delicate petals that snowed down on the ground in artistic patterns. Not to be outdone, a few flowering dogwood and Judas trees were doing their best to offer their own colorful show.

“And what would a fine Irishman such as yourself be doin’ out here all alone?” came a soft, feminine voice.

He spun around to find his wife, resplendent in a calico gown of green and gold. “Victoria!” He felt frozen in place, mesmerized by the way her dark eyes branded him. She smiled, her face lighting up in amusement.

“Is that all you have to say?” With a coquettish grin she stepped toward him, her arms reaching out to touch him.

His legs worked quickly then, and rushing to her, he pulled her tightly against him and held her for several moments without saying anything at all. He’d lived this scene so many times in his dreams that for a very few minutes, he couldn’t be certain he wasn’t still dreaming.

“Is it really yarself?” he murmured.

She giggled and pulled away. “And who else would it be hugging my husband?”