PART 2 — THE BOY WHO WAS ALREADY PROMISED AWAY

Levi Ransom looked down at the little boy hiding behind Hannah’s skirt.

Toby’s fingers were wrapped тιԍнтly around the wooden spool. His gray eyes moved from Levi’s boots to the scar across his eyebrow, then back to his sister.

The question hung between them.

“Will you take my brother too?”

Levi had come to Bell Four prepared to adopt one child.

He had brought one set of papers, one small trunk, and a room he had spent three weeks preparing.

He had not prepared for this.

“How long have you known about the other family?” he asked Hannah.

“Since Tuesday.”

“And nobody told you?”

“Mrs. Vane said I wasn’t supposed to worry about it.”

Hannah’s chin lifted.

“But Toby worries. He thinks I’m leaving him.”

The boy pressed closer to her.

Levi looked toward Clara Whitby.

“Is this true?”

Clara’s expression тιԍнтened.

“Mrs. Vane has arranged for Toby to be placed with a family in Denver. The carriage is expected this afternoon.”

“Does the family know he has a sister?”

“They do.”

“Then why are they taking him alone?”

Clara hesitated.

“Because they requested a boy. They have no intention of taking Hannah.”

Levi looked at the children again.

He knew something about being left behind.

His younger brother, Samuel, had died at eleven years old. Levi had been fifteen. Their father had buried the boy beneath a cottonwood tree and gone back to the ranch the following morning.

Levi had spent the next twenty years telling himself that grief was a thing a man could work through.

But some evenings, when the house was quiet, he still remembered Samuel’s laugh.

He looked at Toby.

“Son, do you want to go to Denver?”

Toby said nothing.

Hannah answered for him.

“He doesn’t know what Denver is.”

Levi nodded slowly.

“Fair enough.”

He turned to Clara.

“Can I speak with Mrs. Vane?”

Mrs. Vane was sitting behind her desk when Levi entered.

She looked up from a ledger.

“I trust you have reached a decision regarding Hannah.”

“I have.”

“And?”

“I’d like to take both children.”

Mrs. Vane closed the ledger.

“That is not how the arrangement works.”

“Then explain how it works.”

“Hannah is eight. Toby is six. They are two separate cases, two separate placements, and two separate approvals.”

“Then I’ll make two applications.”

“The Denver family has already been approved for Toby.”

“Have they met him?”

“Not yet.”

“Have they spoken to him?”

“That is not required.”

Levi stared at her.

“Then what is required?”

Mrs. Vane adjusted her spectacles.

“Stability. Means. A suitable home. The board believes the Denver family can provide those things.”

“And what does the board believe about me?”

“You own a large ranch, Mr. Ransom. You are unmarried. You live far from town. You have no experience raising children.”

Levi nodded.

“That’s all true.”

Mrs. Vane seemed surprised by his answer.

“But,” he continued, “I have a house with four empty bedrooms, a cook who has been asking for someone to bake with her, and eleven ranch hands who would gladly teach a boy to ride a horse when he’s old enough.”

He paused.

“And I can learn the rest.”

Mrs. Vane’s expression softened, but only slightly.

“You cannot make an emotional decision simply because a child has asked you to.”

“No,” Levi replied. “But I can make a decision because I’ve seen what happens when adults decide children are easier to separate.”

Mrs. Vane looked down at her ledger.

For a long moment, she said nothing.

Then she turned a page.

“There is a complication.”

Levi waited.

“Hannah and Toby were brought here after their parents died. Their father left no property, and their mother had no surviving relatives willing to take them.”

“That doesn’t sound like a complication.”

“Their mother left a letter.”

Levi frowned.

“What kind of letter?”

Mrs. Vane opened a drawer and removed a folded sheet.

“It was addressed to the person who might eventually adopt Hannah.”

She handed it to him.

Levi read the first lines.

If my daughter is ever given a home, please do not forget her brother.

He stopped.

The letter continued.

Hannah will tell you that Toby is quiet, that he eats slowly, and that he is afraid of strangers. She will also tell you that he is good.

Levi looked up.

“How long have you had this?”

“Since the children arrived.”

“Why wasn’t it shown to the Denver family?”

Mrs. Vane’s face changed.

“Because the letter was written specifically about Hannah.”

Levi looked at the page again.

Then he read the final sentence.

If you cannot take both children, please do not take Hannah first. She will spend the rest of her life believing she abandoned him.

Levi lowered the letter.

For the first time that morning, he felt anger.

Not at Mrs. Vane.

Not at the Denver family.

At the entire arrangement.

He stood.

“Where are the children?”

“In the schoolroom.”

“Then I’d like to speak with them.”

Mrs. Vane nodded.

“But Mr. Ransom, you must understand. If you proceed, the board may refuse both placements.”

Levi put the letter inside his coat.

“Then I suppose I’ll have to give them a reason not to.”

The schoolroom was quiet when Levi returned.

Hannah sat at the long table, holding Toby’s hand.

The little boy was examining the wooden spool.

Levi pulled out a chair and sat opposite them.

“I’ve spoken with Mrs. Vane.”

Hannah’s fingers тιԍнтened around her brother’s.

“Are you still taking me?”

Levi looked at her.

“Yes.”

She lowered her eyes.

“And Toby?”

Levi took a breath.

“I’m asking to take both of you.”

Hannah stared.

Toby looked up.

For the first time, he spoke.

“Both?”

“Both.”

The boy’s face remained solemn.

Then he asked a question Levi would remember for the rest of his life.

“Will we have to go back?”

Levi felt something тιԍнтen in his chest.

“No, son. If I can help it, you won’t.”

Toby looked at Hannah.

She was crying again.

But this time, she was smiling.

The Denver carriage arrived at three o’clock.

A woman in a dark green traveling dress stepped down.

Her name was Mrs. Eleanor Pike. She was a widow with a comfortable home, a grown daughter, and a reputation for taking in children.

She had come to collect Toby.

Mrs. Vane met her on the porch.

Levi stood nearby with Hannah and Toby.

Mrs. Pike looked at the children.

“I understand there has been a change.”

Mrs. Vane nodded.

“Mr. Ransom has requested both placements.”

Mrs. Pike’s expression тιԍнтened.

“I was approved for Toby.”

“Yes.”

“And I have made preparations.”

“I understand.”

Mrs. Pike looked at Levi.

“Perhaps you should consider whether taking two children is wise. You are a rancher, not a schoolmaster.”

Levi remained calm.

“Perhaps.”

“Children need more than a large house and horses.”

“I agree.”

“They need patience. They need someone who understands their fears.”

Levi looked at Hannah.

Then Toby.

“I have a great deal to learn.”

Mrs. Pike seemed taken aback.

But before she could answer, Hannah stepped forward.

“Please don’t take him.”

The woman looked down.

“Hannah, dear, this is not your decision.”

The girl’s face went pale.

Levi saw Toby’s hand тιԍнтen around the spool.

Then he did something nobody expected.

He knelt beside the boy.

“Toby, I want you to know something.”

The little boy looked at him.

“You don’t have to decide anything today. Nobody is going to drag you into a carriage. And nobody is going to make your sister leave without you.”

Toby stared.

Then he slowly held out the wooden spool.

Levi took it.

The boy pointed at the carriage.

“That lady came for me.”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to let her?”

Levi looked toward Mrs. Pike.

Then he looked at Hannah.

“No, son.”

Toby nodded.

And for the first time, he stepped out from behind his sister.

That evening, Levi returned to his ranch alone.

He had left the children at Bell Four while the board reviewed his application.

The house was exactly as he had left it.

The small bedroom upstairs had a new quilt, a wooden rocking horse, and a shelf filled with books.

He had prepared it for Hannah.

Now he realized it would need another bed.

He walked into the kitchen.

His cook, Mrs. Bellamy, was kneading bread.

“How did it go?”

Levi removed his hat.

“I may be bringing home two children.”

Mrs. Bellamy stopped.

“Two?”

“Brother and sister.”

She smiled.

“Then I’ll need to make more biscuits.”

Levi nodded.

But he didn’t smile.

Because he had seen something in Toby’s eyes that afternoon.

Something he recognized.

Fear of being left behind.

And he knew that if he failed these children, it would not be because he lacked money or land.

It would be because he had not understood what they needed.

At Bell Four, Hannah sat beside Toby’s bed.

The boy was still holding his wooden spool.

“Do you think he’ll come back?” Toby whispered.

Hannah brushed a strand of hair from his forehead.

“I think he will.”

“How do you know?”

She hesitated.

Then she said, “Because he listened.”

Toby looked at the ceiling.

After a moment, he whispered:

“Hannah?”

“Yes?”

“What if he takes you and leaves me?”

Hannah’s face тιԍнтened.

She leaned down and kissed his forehead.

“Then I’ll find you.”

But she didn’t know that, outside the schoolroom window, Mrs. Vane had overheard every word.

And the matron had just made a decision that could change the children’s future.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3…

See more Stories :