-Somewhere in Manitoba

A plume of black smoke streamed from the chimney on the steam engine as it pulled its cargo northward through a wide-open prairie.

Some time had passed, still, both Ruth and Naomi wore the same outfits as they had the day they left the United States.

Money was short, too short to spend on frivolous things like-new clothing. However, this hadn’t damped Ruth’s spirit in the least.

She leaned forward, pointing out the train window toward the vision of a small town in the distance. “There…over there, is that it?”

Naomi leaned forward to peer at the town in the distance. “Indeed it is. Home sweet home, just as I remember it.”

Ruth settled back in her seat and smoothed her dress. “It looks, dirty.” She paused and then continued as a brilliant idea occurred to her. “Maybe I should start an improvement and beautification committee!”

Naomi glared at the innocent child sitting across from her. “Are you sure you aren’t homesick yet?

“No. My parents hated it when I married your son Bradley and now they’re determined that I’ll never make that type of mistake again. I need something different.”

“Let me tell you something, it was because my husband wanted change that we left Palestine in the first place and God knows there was change alright!” Naomi’s voice turned harsh. “I lost everything, including my son and my husband.”

Ruth grinned. “Well, look on the bright side. You still have me!”

“That’s a small comfort.” Naomi seemed about to say something really nasty but she was stalled by the shriek of a whistle. After the whistle faded, she collected herself enough to be motherly again.“Look, what will your family, your mother Patricia, your rich young man, be thinking about all this?”

“I’m sure they’ll get along just fine without me.”

“Really? You don’t think they’ll be worried that you left without telling them where you were going? Or even that you were leaving at all?”

Ruth began pulling on her skin-tight white gloves. “Don’t you worry, I’ll write them all a nice letter as soon as we get in.”

“If I hadn’t spent all my extra money on your train ticket I’d say send them a telegram, it’d be a lot faster.”

Ruth pointed toward the window with her white-gloved hand. “Oh, look at that. Some kind soul made the effort to come out and welcome us.”

Naomi took in the sight of a slim, overall-wearing man standing on the station platform. “Bah, he’s probably just here to pick up a box of parts for his threshing machine.”

“Don’t be silly.” Ruth sighed as romantic visions flooded her mind. “He’s one of those rugged, hard-working men of the Canadian prairie I’ve read so much about. I like him already.”

“Considering the shortage of women out here I’m sure he’d like you too.” Naomi’s tone turned thoughtful. “Come to think of it, maybe farm life would suit you. You know, I’ve always found caring for newborn calves in the middle of a blizzard to be the perfect remedy for boredom.”

The man on the station platform had wandered over until he was standing beneath the window of their train car. “Pardon me ladies, but the train pulled to a stop about ten minutes ago.” He paused as a smirk crossed his face. “That means you can get off that there train…if you got a mind to anyway.”

Naomi stood, grabbed her bags, and began to move down the aisle. “Very well, you heard the man.” Ruth scrambled to keep up with her mother-in-law. At the pace, they moved it didn’t take them long before they had pushed their way out of the dimly lit train car and into the warm Canadian sunshine.

The farmer was waiting for them as they clomped down the metal steps to the station platform. “I’m sorry Ladies, I didn’t mean to be rude…”

Naomi waved her hand dismissively as she continued to walk. “You can rest assured that I didn’t think anything of it.”

The farmer moved to head them off. “I’m glad ta hear that. The name’s Simon Westlake by the way.”

Ruth blushed and then began fanning herself with her little paper fan. “It sure was nice of you to come out and welcome us, Simon.”

Simon grinned, revealing a pair of charming dimples. “Funny thing, I didn’t really come out here ta welcome ya, I just came out here ta pick up some parts for my threshin’ machine.” Simon took a moment to admire the beautiful young woman before him. “Still, I’m always glad ta welcome such fine-looking young women as yourselves here to Gladstone.”

A look of puzzlement crossed Ruth’s face. “Gladstone?”

“Fine young women? Ha.” Naomi snorted. “You’re about as good a judge of character as you are of geography. I’m Naomi and this is…”

“Ruth,” Ruth said she moved closer to Simon.

“And I’m positive this town is called Palestine,” Naomi finished.

“Palestine? Well, I guess you wouldn’t know bein new here an all but the name was changed from Palestine to Gladstone in honor of that great British Statesman, William Gladstone.” He turned thoughtful. “You know, back when this old town started out it was called…”

“It was called Third Crossing! I know that much, I lived here in those days.”

There was an awkward pause as everyone eyed each other. Naomi made a mental note to double-check her train ticket. Still, she knew it was futile, there would be no destination printed there.

Simon coughed, embarrassed. “In that case, I’m just glad ta be the first to welcome ya’ll back home.” He turned his attention to Ruth. “You be sure an let me know if ya have any trouble settlin in.”

“We left all our troubles back in the United States of America. I’m sure we’ll have no trouble here.” Naomi grabbed Ruth’s arm. “Anyway, it was nice meeting you Simon but we really must be going.” With that, Naomi began dragging Ruth away from Simon’s appreciative gaze.

As the women neared the entrance of the train station, Bill and Betsy burst through the doorway. The two trouble makers still wore the same dirty smirks and oil-stained uniforms they had back in the United States.

Naomi dropped her bags, shocked at their appearance. As her luggage hit the platform, Bill and Betsy grabbed the bags and hurled them toward the baggage cart. Both bags somersaulted gracefully through the air before finally crashing to a halt squarely in the middle of the cart. Happy with a job well done, Bill and Betsy scampered off to the flag pole standing just before the train station.

Simon sauntered up behind Ruth and then tapped her shoulder. “May I ask what brings ya’ll up here to Gladstone?”

Naomi whirled back to glare at the would-be Romeo. “You can ask but that doesn’t make it any of your business.”

“You’ll have to excuse Naomi, we’ve had a stressful journey.” Ruth batted her thick black eyelashes at Simon as she fanned herself.

Naomi pushed her way past Ruth. “You should know, you created most of that stress.” As she reached Simon, Naomi poked her long skinny index finger into his broad chest. “If you must know, I inherited the Campbell land and I’m here to claim it.”

Simon grew silent.

All the while Bill and Betsy were busy in front of the train station, wrestling with a flag they apparently planned to hang from the flag pole. Still, this didn’t stop them from listening in on the world around them.

“Oh. I’m sorry ta hear that Ma’m,” the farmer finally said.

Ruth peeked over Naomi’s shoulder to view Simon’s agitated face. “Is something wrong?”

“That land didn’t walk off, did it?” Naomi cocked her head, awaiting a reply.

“Well, it’s like this.” Simon took a step away from the ladies, almost as if he were ashamed of what he was about to say. “I’m sure you’ve heard of C.P. Brown, bein from around here and all.”

Naomi scratched her head. “Of course, who hasn’t?”

“Indeed. C.P. was in charge of surveyin the streets, so he planned it out so that if anybody wanted ta buy land in town, they’d hafta buy land from him. I guess he figured this would be a big moneymaker or somethin…anyway, long story short, your section of land never made it into Gladstone.” Simon moved past Naomi to Ruth’s side. His voice grew tender as he spoke to his beloved. “You know Ruth, it’s a funny thing you came along when you did…I…”

“But that land is still here. I can rent it out if I need money, can’t I?” Naomi’s voice was strident but she didn’t manage to turn Simon’s attention from her daughter-in-law.

“Oh, it’s still around alright. It’s just not here in town.” Simon became apologetic as he stared into Ruth’s beautiful eyes. “And, it hasn’t been worked for quite a while so…”

“What he’s trying to tell you is that you’d be lucky if you found anybody to rent it at all,” Bill shouted from his position by the flag pole.

Betsy swatted Bill. “No, he isn’t.”

Naomi was yelling as she stomped her way to the edge of the station platform. “Listen, I came to Manitoba to get away from people like you!”

Ruth looked as if the wind had been punched from her. “I’m sure we can make this work. We just need some time to think and…”

Simon shook his head. “I’m afraid you’ll hafta do a lot more than just thinkin. That section of land is just a big empty patch of overgrown prairie. That’s nothin renters these days are gonna get excited about. Anyway, speakin of gettin excited Ruth…I…”

“But…That land is all I have left of my husband,” Naomi interjected. Her voice pleading as if her future depended on this land.

Simon was now trapped between two women. Unsure how to deal with this, he shifted his attention to Naomi. “That may be but take it from me, a woman of your age would be far better off sellin land like that.”

Naomi shook her hand. “No, no, I could never do that.”

“Well, don’t be hasty now. Take some time ta think on it. Sometimes when it comes to things of the past ya just gotta let’em go.” Naomi was still shaking her head as she moved back to the edge of the station platform.

Simon’s attention shifted toward Ruth. “Speakin of the future. I’ve been doin a lot of thinkin about the future lately. I’ve been thinkin of settlin down with a beautiful young woman.” Ruth’s head seemed to swell and her fan moved faster. Simon moved closer.“A woman much like yourself in fact.” He sized up the woman before him. Ruth preened as she melted under his appreciative gaze. “Yep, I reckon a woman like you would be just what I need ta help me raise up a family of twelve children.”

Ruth pushed Simon away with an uncharacteristic force. “You just keep on thinking about that.” Ruth joined Naomi, turning her back to the farmer behind her. “What about this new railway? Surely, that’ll help turn things around.”

Bill began pulling on the rope dangling from the flag pole. “That railway hasn’t helped much yet.”

“Of course it has,” Betsy retorted.

Now it was Ruth’s turn to shout at Bill and Betsy. “I thought you two were told to be quiet!”

Neither Bill nor Betsy paid any attention to this shouting. They were too busy watching the Canadian flag lurching its way up the flag pole.

“Good girl.” Naomi patted Ruth’s shoulder. “You’re catching on.” She raised her voice. “Go on Simon. What happened next?

Encouraged by this, Simon approached the two ladies. “What happened next? Well, what happened next was that the railway wanted ta go around the town but C.P. Brown used his influence as Minister of Public works to persuade ‘em to lay tracks right on through and the town of Gladstone to pay the price for doin it. I guess he figured this would be another big moneymaker… and at first, it seemed like it was gonna be alright, there was a big real estate boom, and then…”

“And then the town couldn’t come up with the money to pay off the loan they made to get the railway in,” Naomi finished.

“That’s exactly right Ma’m. C.P. Brown lost a whole lotta money and you’re gonna find this awful hilarious, but at this very moment, Gladstone is flat broke.”

There was a moment of stunned silence.

“I can’t believe it.” Ruth paused, then continued. “I’ve always read that things were different here…better…”

“I don’t know what ya read, but I do know that there’s nowhere in this world ya can run to if ya wanna run from trouble.” Simon moved in on Ruth. “Anyway, if ya like, I could drive ya over to the Wilson House Hotel. That’s where all the travelers comin through these days lay their heads.”

“That’s all well and good but I…we don’t have any money.” Naomi had lost her bitter edge and now she simply seemed resigned to a fate that she couldn’t control.

“No worries ma’am. I can loan ya some cash till things turn around for ya.” Simon took a few moments to rummage through the greasy pockets of his overalls. Eventually, he pulled out some grease-smudged bills and extended them toward the beaten woman before him.

Naomi hesitated and then took the money. “Thank you. I suppose we don’t have a lot of choices do we?”

“I don’t suppose ya do. One thing though, if ya do decide ta sell your land, remember, I’d be glad ta pay ya fair market price for it and help ya out a bit.” A gleam entered Simon’s eyes as he approached his beloved. “An Ruth, if you’re lookin for work, why not come on over and work for me durin the harvest?”

Ruth recoiled as if a snake had struck at her. “Don’t be silly. What could I do on a farm?”

Simon began to pace as he pondered all the work to be done. “Oh, whatever needs doin. Cookin for the threshin gang, forkin up sheaves.” He whirled back toward Ruth, rubbing his hands as he did so. “It ain’t calvin season yet, otherwise I’d get you out there takin care of them frisky newborn calves.”

“Calves? No. No. I couldn’t possibly do anything like that.” Ruth made as if to run but Naomi was on the other side of her, blocking her escape route.

Naomi’s voice was stern. “Remember child, you owe me for your train ticket and for a whole lot more to boot.” She shifted her attention to the kind-hearted farmer before her. “She’ll work Simon. You have my word on it!”

Ruth’s eyes screamed panic. “But I’ve…but I’ve never done any farming!”

“You’ll start if you plan to eat!” Naomi turned away from her daughter-in-law. “I’ll leave you to arrange it with Simon. I need to get my luggage back while I still can.”

With that, Simon guided Ruth to a nearby bench and began outlining her duties for the next few weeks.

Naomi strode toward the baggage cart where Bill and Betsy had resumed their favorite positions. Namely, leaning against the cart and staring into space as if space held the meaning of life. Naomi motioned them aside. “How’d you two manage to get here so fast anyway?”

Bill ambled a few steps to the west, graciously allowing Naomi to access the baggage cart. “Our boss bought us express tickets on a special work train heading north, he said it was a matter of life and death.”

“To be precise, he said he’d kill us if we stuck around the United States one moment longer,” Betsy chimed in.

Naomi pulled her battered bags from their position in the middle of the cart. “Why am I not surprised? Anyway, I’d say it was nice meeting you again, but if I did I’d be lying. ” She raised her voice. “Are you ready Ruth?”

Ruth stood and fled from the bench as if it harbored a hive of wasps. “Yes. I’m more than ready. Let’s go.”

Simon stood and began running west, around the back of the baggage cart, heading off the two women as they attempted to leave. “Don’t be runnin off now. You’ll do a lot better thinkin about all this after a little rest. That’s why ya gotta let me drive ya over to the Wilson House Hotel.” Simon took a breath. “Take a moment ta talk it over if ya need ta. I’ll be waitin for ya at the wagon.” Simon waved and then headed over to the dirt trail that ran just to the west of the train station.

Ruth shuddered as she watched him amble off. “What a horrible man! Farming and children, that’s all he cares about. I never thought I’d say this but I sure I wish I was going back to the United States.”

Naomi shook her head. “I’d hate ta agree with you but, maybe you’re right. I should’ve known better than to think things around Palestine…”

“Gladstone,” Ruth corrected.

“Gladstone…bah…who’d want to call a town Happy Rock?”

There was nothing more that could be said about this situation. It was clear to both of them what they wished they could do. They also knew what they would have to do in their desperate situation. They put off their fate for a few moments, but it was clear they had to move forward. Still, it was a dejected pair of women that made their way toward Simon and his transportation.

Bill chuckled as he watched Simon’s clumsy attempts at helping Ruth board his broken-down old cargo wagon. “Who knows, maybe I will get another chance to marry Ruth.”

“Who knows, maybe one-day ships will sail along the Whitemud River!” Betsy retorted, giggling as she pictured Bill and Ruth together.

“Huh, it’s funny you should say that, I heard the other day that C.P. Brown had a Paddlewheel Steamer hauling supplies up and down the Whitemud.”

“Really? What I heard is that C.P. Brown is about to be named Provincial Treasurer.”

“Huh. Well, there’s no place like home, is there?” Bill moved to a bench sitting on the station platform.

“You can say that again,” Betsy said as she followed him.

Bill plumped himself down on the bench. “Well, there’s no place like home, is there?”

Betsy took a playful swipe at Bill’s cap and missed.

Meanwhile, on the road beside the train station, Simon flicked the reins he held. As his horses clopped into action, the wagon bearing the new immigrants rolled off toward the Wilson House Hotel. Overcome by the emotion of the moment, the two young troublemakers they had left behind began to sing that famous folk song, Home on the Range. However, it remained to be seen whether it would actually be a happy home for anyone.