8
The train pulled into the station late at night two days later. Tired and irritable from being on the train for so long, Jack and Rose disembarked. Rose looked around at the station.
"Where are we?" She asked, stepping closer to Jack.
"Eau Claire station. We better catch a carriage to Chippewa Falls."
"Aren’t there any cars?" Rose asked. In Philadelphia there were cars a plenty.
"Not as many as there are in New York and Philadelphia. The horse and buggy are still the common use of transportation here."
"Oh," Rose nodded thinking to herself that after a bumpy trainride she didn’t really want a bumpy carriage ride, but she had no choice. Hopefully soon her and Jack could find a comfortable bed and get a good night’s sleep for once. That awful bunk on the train was hard and lumpy, plus she couldn’t sleep with her husband.
"Hey you!" Jack hollered to a boy with blond hair and gray eyes setting on a crate. "When’s the next carriage to Chippewa Falls?"
"Tomorrow morning sir! Last one left about a hour ago!" The boy answered.
"Damn," Jack muttered. He was hoping to get Rose to a nice inn in town tonight, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen and by the look on Rose’s face, she wasn’t very happy.
"So what are we going to do now?" Rose asked, looking up at Jack, shifting her bags into her other hand.
"I guess we’ll have to sleep on that bench over there. The town is a mile away and Chippewa Falls is two."
"Perfect," Rose sighed tiredly.
"Come on. It won’t be so bad. At least it’s pretty warm and the stars are out," He led her over to the bench. Placing their bags under the bench, they sat down and cuddled closer together. "If you’re hungry I have a apple from breakfast this morning," Jack offered.
"That’s ok Jack. I’m not hungry she sighed, cuddling closer to him, trying to get comfortable.
"I’m sorry Rose. I know you weren’t expecting it to be like this. I promise it’ll get better," Jack sighed.
"I know it will. It’s just
that…I guess I’m a little homesick. Around this time, I
would go into my father’s steady and just set in his chair.
Pretend that he was still alive. His scent still filled that
room. The scent of cologne and tobacco."
"My father’s scent was of the field. He spent so much
time out there. And my mothers was of homebacked apple pie. God I
miss them. It’s going to be weird going back to the house
and their not being there."
"I wish I could bring them back for you Jack," Rose cuddled closer to him, trying her best to get comfortable.
"I wish you could too. In fact, I wish that they could meet you Rose. I think they’d like you. I really do. Especially my mother. She’d say I could learn a couple of lessons from you on manners," Jack laughed.
"Oh really? Well I for one think you’re a perfect gentleman."
"Thank you Rose," Jack kissed her head before yawning. "Are you as sleepy as I am?"
Rose nodded. "I can sleep for a week once we get to a bed."
"Me too. First stop when we get to Chippewa Falls is Mrs. Gladys’s boarding house. My house is a little further away and I don’t know what my cousin has done with it. So it’s best if we stay there."
"Ok," Rose nodded. "Are the people friendly here Jack?"
"The friendliest. But just to be on the safe side, let’s keep the details of how we met to ourselves. Chippewa Falls may be a friendly town but it has it’s share of judgemental people," Jack tightened his hold on Rose.
"Ok," Rose agreed, her eyes drifting closed. Fifteen minutes later she’s in a deep slumber. Jack stayed awake the entire night guarding his beloved Rose. He wanted to make sure that no harm came to her.
"I love you," He whispered and continued looking up at the star-lit sky.