Chapter 341: Gifts Galore

They’ve done this before.

Once we finished our shower, I massaged skin moisturizing lotion into the skin on both girls. At breakfast, I introduced Sidney to my parents.

While the two girls got reacquainted, I reached out to Camden to see if she knew anything about the girl’s family. Chrissy, Sidney, Cassey, and the three babies were enjoying the heated pool when Corwin called me.

“David,” Corwin said in a more formal variation of her family’s language. “Their parents were not the daughters of the head of their family. Their head of the family, aunt, two uncles, and parents were all in the group to meet with Darren and the Elder. Everyone in line to control their family’s businesses and wealth died with Darren. Their aunts and uncles had no heirs. From the information I have available, Sidney is now the head of their large extended family and controls their entire family empire. I did some research and found that people far down the line of succession engineered the kidnapping of both girls. As with many families, the claims of their deaths are invalid without substantiated proof. Without any bodies to match the DNA tests, then they are considered alive and thus the rightful heirs to run the empire. Those who can control Sidney controls the family. Should they kill Sidney, Casey would take over. Being blind will raise questions about her ability to take the reins but does not remove her from power. Their family is doing a significantly protracted period of stabilizing than most of the families. Mary faced a similar challenge after returning home, but those in her family feared to cross her, with good reason. I shall make it know that both girls are, in fact, alive and well, in your care. On a different note, Darren earned the respect of the Elder quickly. None sought to cross him lest they face Daren’s incredibly creative forms of discouragement where all others, myself included, would have called for the head of their family to, permanently, remedy the situation.”

She asked to speak to both girls. They had a long discussion before handing me back the phone.

Corwin told me, “They understand that your home is safe. I don’t know how you became so ingrained with those in my elite world, but those in it protect you, your home, your family, and friends. Discussions with my own family caution me not even to consider taking actions against you. There are those the Elder feared who also protect you, and no amount of money or coercion is causing them to divulge their reasons why. My advisors do say that it is now an excellent thing that Camden, Mary, Skylar, and I are each carrying your child. Our lives have no value in the eyes of these people but incubating your children in our wombs places us under the same protected bubble as you. Once your children are born, we shall continue to have that level of security until your child reaches adulthood, marries, or you choose to take them from us. I found that incredibly hard to believe, so I discussed it with Camden, Skylar, and Mary. Our consensus is that it has absolutely nothing to do with your wealth. At some point in your life, you attracted the attention of these influential people by you being who you are. We keep tabs on you, in as much as we are able given the lack of details available about you and your life. We are closely watching your efforts to house, protect, educate, and give real homes to those children who are victims of abuse, orphans, or removed from their homes due to the incarceration of their parents. On paper, the plan you rapidly put into place appears to be a fantastic solution that governments the world over have failed at providing. If your experiment proves successful, we wish to, anonymously, fund expansion efforts. Keep being the person you are, David. So far, you are better than any I have met in my life. Word spread quickly about your reuniting Elise and Ariba with their distant relatives. I know you don’t ask anything in return for your kindness, but continuing to do as you have done is slowly convincing those who disbelieve such is possible. We know you aren’t a saint, none of us are. I am glad that we met and that your child grows inside me to one day join Darren’s many children. Please, care for the girls as you did us. They have not known the true joy of being children, for that was not permitted in their family. Each is still young enough to keep from becoming bitter women seeking to force others to suffer for the way the girl’s parents deprived them of their childhood.”

“I can do that,” I told her. “There are many simple things done around this area during the holidays that the girls will love. One of the farms brings in horses, cows, goats, and other animals that they harness up and put saddles on for a live animal merry-go-round. A historical society brings in an old restored steam train with sleeper and restaurant cars for a twenty-four-hour train ride along the old train lines from back in the late eighteen hundreds. Everything is period, including the toilets, beds, questionable heat, rattling, and other things those from that period had to experience. No one is allowed on with anything but their money and picture ID. Those without ID have one made after changing into clothing hand-sewn identically to what was available on the market at that time. That includes a chemise. They used to offer bloomers, but some dirty-old-men said that wasn’t precisely period for this part of the U.S. at that time. Of course, I will take them shopping.”

I talked it over with mom, and she suggested that I invite Chrissy, a few of her girlfriends, and Jess. It seems that there has been a lot of turmoil in Jess’s family as of late. Jess could use a break from home. Mom let me know that if we hurried, there was a train leaving at eight tonight, that was a four-day trip, and the local schools would let kids go on it as long as they wrote up a report to turn in on the last day before Christmas break.

Mom leaned over to whisper, “There are waivers for the parents and kids to sign to let them know that this is an authentic trip from the late eighteen hundreds. Many laws were not in place back then that are now. They turn a blind eye for anyone fourteen and older, which they allude to in the waiver, without saying it explicitly. I’ve heard they do screenings as they fit each passenger for period clothing, so you need to be there no later than two in the afternoon.”

Both girls liked the idea of the train ride, so I called Chrissy’s mom. She got a conference call going with some of Chrissy’s trustworthy girlfriends. I filled them in on the trip details, and they were all for it, with a few requirements. One girl had a pair of twin older sisters that had some mental challenges but loved trains and wouldn’t be a problem as long as I didn’t mind keeping an eye on them from time to time. Another girl had an older brother who desperately needed the extra credit he would get from doing his report on the train ride. The last requirement was that one of the girls had a twelve-year-old sister who was learning the hard way that spreading her legs, getting pregnant, and having a baby, before she turned twelve was not very smart. The girl kept the baby and is still breastfeeding. Having to deal with a baby while living in the mid to late-eighteen hundred would be very informative. I didn’t have to babysit the younger sister or baby. The older twin girls going were happy to help out.

To keep things simple, we all agreed to meet at the train station at two in the afternoon. I already made the reservation and bought the tickets for everyone before Sidney, Casey, and I left the house. Halfway to the train station, mom called to say that they agreed to let Casey keep her new helmet and battery pack. The train has cell and radio communication to get in contact with us if there is a need. It was a relief to find that no one needed any special meds and that birth control pills and rubbers were permitted items to carry on. Epi-pens were part of their onboard medical supplies, should they be needed.

None of the parents had told the girls and boy about the full details of the train ride. One set of parents had their kids strip in the same area. It wasn’t required, but their mom asked the train people to do that because the two had been trying to catch the other naked since before either started puberty. Both were thoroughly embarrassed by the time the guy got his crude form of underpants, and the girl got only a chemise. They did give the girls a petticoat to wear under her dress. Guys wore pants with multiple layers of shirts. Boots were the only footwear offered.

That isn’t about the be the biggest shock they are going to find on this trip.

At seven-thirty, they began allowing us to board the train and find our seats. They served a late dinner at nine, once the train is underway.

“George,” one of the twin girls asked the black porter.

George is the name we were to call every porter. There is some history about coming from George Pullman, who made the sleeper cars.

“Yes, miss,” the black man replied.

The twin told him, “I need to use the bathroom, but the doors are locked. Do I need a key or something?”

His skin was coal-black, versus the shades of brown we have around town. He smiled, showing the contrast between his white teeth and very dark skin, and explained that no one could use the toilets while the train is at a station or waiting on a red signal. She said she had to go, so he told her she was welcome to step off the other side of the train and do her business over in the bushes beside the tracks like everyone else.

Oh, the next four days will be very thought-provoking for her. She did have to go, badly, though.

Once she got back on the train, she looked rather miffed that she didn’t have anything to pat herself dry. A female worker on the train told her, loudly enough for all in the car to hear, that unless the twin brought on a newspaper or a Beers and Hoe-bucks catalog, she would have to wait until she dried off naturally. For a bit of humor, the same female worker told the girl that she could wash up in the lady’s bathroom once the train was underway.

It wasn’t long until we were moving, and the other twin girl needed to use the bathroom. Once the porters unlocked the restrooms, she was rushing back to go. She barely had the door locked before coming back out.

“There’s only a hole over the tracks. I can’t use that. Someone might see me going, and it is damn cold,” the twin exclaimed.

One of the porters replied, “Ma’am, if you need to go, that is what you have for your use until we make the next stop. We clean those toilets many times a day, so you need not worry about germs. Lock the door if you are worried about being observed while taking care of your private business.”

She wasn’t happy as she stormed back to the bathroom.

It is hard not to laugh as she is farting away as she waits on the woman inside to do her thing. She doesn’t have tight jeans and panties to quiet her flatulence.

The men’s bathroom was pretty much the same except that there were places outside between the cars where I guy could whip it out to take a piss.

Cellphone or not, my implant pinged me and told me that we weren’t shitting and pissing on the tracks. It was a carefully designed illusion with mirrors, one-way glass, and cameras. Everything goes into a composting tank that is powered by gears attached to the wheel hubs. Of course, modern heating equipment replaced the period devices which used coal or oil. They also redid the mattresses and seats but ensured they were every bit as uncomfortable as back when the car was in regular use. Whoever rebuild the interior of the sleeper car cleverly hid the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors out of sight.

Soon we were called to the dining car for dinner.

These aren’t the more luxurious seats and tables in the dining cars of the era.

“These chairs hurt my butt,” the twelve-year-old girl complained. “How am I supposed to eat and hold my baby at the same time? I don’t think I can ever figure out a way to breastfeed in this outfit.”

“Miss. Please come with me,” one of the black women working on the train said.

The girl wasn’t happy, but the woman took her off into another car. Soon the girl came back wearing a different dress with a cloth around her body that held the baby. When the girl sat down, I saw that she now had on a front-buttoning dress and chamise. She lost the petticoat. Currently, both her breasts were out with the cloth sling covering them. The baby only needed to shift from one to the other. The girl still complained that now she couldn’t eat with a baby between her and the table.

I got this one.

Going to her, I asked, “What is your name? No one introduced us.”

“Chastity,” she replied. “Seriously.”

“Well, Chastity, you can’t be as stupid as you are acting like you are. Tie your napkin around your neck and turn sideways to the table,” I told explained.

I can’t laugh. These menus are messing with people’s heads.

They had teal duck, cold sardines, beef tongue, fried eggplant, brussels sprouts, radishes, roast goose, and welsh rabbit. If you wanted fruit, you got a choice of stewed prunes and pickled bananas. Now they did have various bread and potage soup. I ordered the rabbit, sprouts, sweetbread, whatever sort of dessert they offered. Casey and Sidney quickly selected their meals without needing to contemplate their choices.

I don’t think the older brother had any idea what stout was for his drink.

Surprisingly, most of the kids there were having various alcoholic drinks, along with hot teas, milk, and coffee. Chastity ordered champagne, but I took that from her and told them to bring her milk instead.

“Your goat milk, miss,” the waiter said, giving it to her.

It was already dark when we came to dinner, so upon returning to the sleeper car, the lights were turned down. There wasn’t much to do, so soon everyone was getting ready to go to bed. That is when the fun started.

“He’s naked! I shouldn’t see a naked man,” one of the twins complained.