As the days passed the survivors found new routines. Some no longer had jobs and were forced to move their families up river and beg for employment. Mrs. Day, along another family were invited into Mrs. Brown's house across the river. The woman was a big support to Mrs. Day but she was forever talking about the fire and how she and a few others had seen the ferry go up and had heard the ones crossing singing out the Lord's Prayer.

Pleasant couldn't take much of hearing about the fire and spent time on the river bank with May and Landry turtle who had also escaped the flames. He was forever soiled but he was all they had of their old life. The girls didn't know what their mother was planning but talk had been heard of them moving to the city which she dreaded. City folks were never easy to get on with from her perspective and there certainly weren't any muscadine grapes to pick.

Their mother had also gotten in contact with their uncle in the north. When Pleasant was sent to check the mail she sometimes found a letter from him but was never around when her mother read them.

One day after church things started to make a little more sense when Mrs. Day called her daughters to her just before dinner.

Pleasant and May walked into the kitchen to find their mother sitting at the table having regained some of her spirit. The same couldn't be said for many and that made the two girls smile.

"Sit down," Mrs. Day said as they came to the table. She looked at her daughters and smiled. "You've become such pretty girls," she said in a voice that was strange to Pleasant. "You will do fine."

May looked at her sister then back at her mother. "Do fine where, Mama?" she asked when Pleasant kept silent.

Mrs. Day didn't delay. "I'm sending you to live with your aunt and uncle in New Hampshire," she said and the girls looked at each other.

Pleasant could already feel the tears getting set. "But, Mama..."

"You'll like it there," Mrs. Day said. "You'll become real women; the wives of gentlemen who will treat good. Your hands will be soft and you'll have fine clothes and healthy youngins."

"You won't come?" May asked.

Mrs. Day gave a sad laugh. "Your Uncle Ben and I don't get along well," she said. "Besides I have to leave here and work hard so I can send for you."

"But..."

"No more buts, Pleasant," Mrs. Day said. "I know what is best for you and this is it. You uncle could have said no but he has agreed to see to your up brining. You will be right fine ladies just like your cousin Margaret-Gay. You'll ride in carriages and sip tea in the afternoons and go on holidays. We have to make the best of what has happened to us. It is not forever and when the time is right I will come and fetch you."

Leaning back in her chair Pleasant looked down at her hands. It was enough to lose everything and now they were being sent away.

As she lie in bed that night she thought about the days before the fire and realized there were a lot of things she would had have done differently. So much seemed wasted now. As she thought of the fire she couldn't help but also think of the red man, the smoke wraith. He had seen her, he had; with those glowing eyes. Rolling over she grabbed hold of May and squeezed her eyes shut. If he came into the room she wouldn't see him.

/

Pleasant had never seen anything like the train station before. Their little town hadn't had one though Mr. Braxton boasted that they one day would. Not so now. It had burned to the ground and taken the lives of many, including their father with it. It had even claimed the life of Mr. Braxton who was found in his charred office with his pocket watch melted next to him. The only survivor from his house hold had been the black colt with curved ears which was retrieved by a distant member of the family. The horse had been forever spooked my flames and folks had mumbled that it wouldn't be long for the world with how dangerous it had been made by the disaster.

Their mother hadn't wanted them to go but had to find work and with two growing girls to clothe and feed she could no longer take care of them. Pleasant had heard stories of children whose parents could no longer care for them. There was Tom Sawyer, Oliver Twist and Heidi but these children all lived in books. She had never known a child not raised by their own parents and she certainly never saw herself and her younger sister as being one of those children.

The fire had been devastating. It had wiped clean the slates of many lives and forced them to start over. It had left a sickening pain in her chest that no amount of crying could empty out.

Workers busied themselves loading the cargo while passengers prepared to depart. Their uncle had sent them tickets so the trip wouldn't cost them. The money their parents had saved in their mattress burned in the fire.

"Well," Mrs. Day began as she turned to her daughters. "This is it."

May threw her arms around her mother. "I don't understand why you can't come with us."

Mrs. Day held her daughter at arms' length. "Your Mama has some things she has to do," she said. "But I'll keep in touch and I'll always love you." The train whistle sounded and the small family embraced.

Pleasant and May were loaded on and seated in the colored car among the baggage and smoke. From the window Pleasant watched her mother standing among the other people waving. Most everyone else had smiles on their faces as the train pulled out of the station but Mrs. Day in her poor worn out clothes did not. The train would perhaps forever take her children away from her to what she hoped was a better life.

They switched trains in Tennessee then again in Maryland where they could finally put their first class tickets to use. The other passengers in the class cast looks at their dirty clothes and messy hair. Pleasant went over to the bunk bed. She had never seen beds stacked atop each other. She worried about the sadness that had over taken their mother and wished she had been able to do something more.

As they pulled into the station in New Hampshire Pleasant did May's hair into two braids.

"Is Uncle Ben going to send his carriage for us?" May asked eagerly.

"Hold still," Pleasant told her. "We'll be taking a coach to Natt Fristad, just like last time. Uncle Ben and Aunt Amy will be waiting for us at Singer Springs."

When Pleasant finished with May she got her own self in order. Her hair was a tangled mess but she managed to get it into a braid. Their mother had made them special clothing to meet their uncle in, including new and starched pinafores. Tying the apron over her gingham dress Pleasant turned to her sister."Let's get breakfast now."

May's favorite part of the train was the dining car. "Come on, Pleasant," she called to her sister. She thought the train was like a palace one rails. Waiters went from car to car bringing passengers who would rather dine and private their food. The big silver domes they carried glimmered in the light of the oil lamps.

There were a few passengers still having breakfast. May and Pleasant paused as a few of them looked at them as they stood in the doorway. Remembering that they were welcome here they found a seat and ordered ham and eggs with toast and juice.

"We will never eat like this again," May said gleefully.

"Don't you remember what meals were like at Uncle Ben's?" Pleasant asked. "They eat every day like this and Aunt Amy ain't never gotta cook."

May looked down at the tablecloth. "Do you think Mama will be all right?"

"I don't know," Pleasant admitted.

"I don't like her sad," May said. "I wanna, I wanna, I wanna—"

"Speak slowly, May," Pleasant cautioned. "She'll be sad for a long time. We just got to have faith. That's what the Bible says."

May nodded her head.

"I do know that Aunt Amy and Uncle Ben will expect us to behave the part of a lady," Pleasant said. "I'm afraid a lot of things will be different for us."

May shrugged. "I don't mind different," she said as their food was brought to the table.

"Aunt Amy is very different than Mama," Pleasant said. "She certainly won't want to catch us playing with toys," Pleasant said.

"Landry turtle?" May gasped. "Will you hide him?"

"If it means keeping him with us," Pleasant said. She thought back to the soot covered plush turtle tucked away in their room.

May took her napkin from the table and put it in her lap then folded her hands.

Pleasant smiled at her sweet innocent sister. At least with their aunt and uncle she could receive the medical attention she needed. She stuck her hand into the pocket of her pinafore and squeezed the card plate there.

While awaiting news from their uncle her mother had sent her regularly to the riverbank where a man had spent time crossing back and forth bringing things that had survived the fire from the other side. Her mother's intention had been to find the money jar they had hidden. Pleasant hadn't found the jar but she had found Ursa Major, the only card that had survived the fire. She took it as a sign of hope that everything would be all right.