My Heart Remembers Read Online Free PDF Page A

will be your escort to Missouri. She has already visited Severy, informed the town of your coming, and knows of several families eager to meet you and make you their own.”
    Cheers went up from several children, and Mattie and Maelle exchanged smiles of joyful anticipation.
    “I trust you will obey Miss Esther on the journey and will show all the people on board what wonderful children you are.” Tears sparkled in the woman’s eyes as she finished. “Now, let us have a word of prayer before you board the train.”
    She closed her eyes, folding her hands in front of her. All the children followed suit, except Maelle, who needed to keep her eyes on Molly.
    “Bless these children, Lord, as they venture forth. Keep your hand of safety over them, and lead them to the parents who will nurture them and raise them in the knowledge of your love. Amen.”
    “Amen,” echoed the children.
    Miss Esther clapped her hands. “Form a line now, children! Quickly!”
    With giggles and shoves, the children fell into a makeshift line with Maelle and Mattie somewhere in the middle. Maelle whispered, “Get behind me, Mattie, an’ hold on ta my jacket.”
    Molly’s wiggling form in her arms and Mattie’s hand on her back reminded Maelle of the night they had escaped the tenement. A wave of homesickness for Ma and Da hit her so hard tears spilled from her eyes. But she blinked bravely and marched in line with the others to their waiting railroad car. Boys do na cry , she told herself fiercely. Yet she heard sniffling behind her, and even without looking she knew the sound came from Mattie.
    Peeking over her shoulder, she gave her little brother a quavery smile. “Do na cry, Mattie. Do ya na be rememberin’ what Miss Agnes said? We’re goin’ to better things. . . .”
    Severy, Missouri
    May, 1886
    Maelle stood on a raised platform at the front of the sanctuary of the Presbyterian church, flanked by Mattie and a chubby boy named Pat. A splash of color from a stained-glass window high and to her left fell across baby Molly’s head, highlighting the red curling wisps of her hair. Although her shoulders ached from her sister’s constant weight, she held Molly so she faced outward, her tag easily seen. Mattie fidgeted, standing on one foot, then the other. Maelle hoped he didn’t need to use the outhouse.
    After four days of sitting on a hard bench, with only brief marches around the train at watering stops for exercise, it felt good to stand. Her heart pounded with hope, even as an odd worry pressed her chest. This was the moment for which they had waited—the moment of meeting their new parents. Before leaving the train to walk to the church, Maelle had asked Miss Esther if parents had already selected her, Mattie, and Molly, but Miss Esther’s reply had been less than satisfying.
    Maelle retrieved the words from her memory. “You will all be cared for, Michael. That is what is important.” Then she had raised her shrill voice to address the entire car of children, cautioning them all to be on their best behavior since parents would not choose an ill-mannered child.
    Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Mattie’s continued wiggling, and she gave him a light bump with her elbow to settle him down.
    Now Miss Esther marched to the double doors at the front of the sanctuary and opened them wide, calling out, “We’re ready. You may come in.”
    Maelle pasted a smile on her face and prayed Mattie was doing the same.
    The pounding of feet on the wooden floor of the church vibrated through Maelle’s shoes and into her legs as couples poured into the sanctuary. She kept her smile in place as she searched faces, her heart pounding, wondering which of the couples entering the building—if any—had come for her, Mattie, and Molly.
    A well-dressed couple approached, the woman’s eyes scanning tags. When her gaze fell on Molly’s, her face lit and she rushed forward. “Reginald, look! There she is—number twelve!”
    Before