SEPTEMEBER 22, 1861

Caller Bob was tired of being laid up. It had only been a week, but he was feeling much better. The bullet had sliced through his side, but Daniel had patched him up very well, and now he felt like riding into town, so he had one of his hired hands saddle up Promenade for him, and at a leisurely gait, he made his way into town.

Jewel saw the young girl cowering under the table when her and Jacy walked in. There was a man she didn’t recognize trying to coax her out. It took Jewel back to when she was growing up, and she had been scared of storms. Every time she heard a thunderclap, she would scoot under the nearest table. Her father – adopted father or abducted father would always coax her out by using a bribe of some sort, be it either money or a present, she would usually creep on out from underneath the table and climb into her father’s lap. Even though he had abducted her, she just really couldn’t be mad at him for that. She had grown up in a loving home, and her parents had given her mostly anything she had wanted. She went to the finest schools and wore the finest clothes. She shook her head to bring herself back to the present. There were three other girls and one boy at the table. The boy tried to crawl under the table to be with his sister, but Clem grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and made him sit back in his chair. He held him there and started to try and coax his sister back into her seat. “No, I don’t want to go back to the orphanage. I want a home. I want a last name.” She hollered at Clem.

“But honey, you have to go back to the orphanage so that you can get adopted and get a last name.” Clem softly said.

“No, I won’t get adopted there. I’ve been there too long. They want little kids or babies when people come looking to adopt, not me.” Tyrell said.

Caller Bob and Marta had walked into the restaurant right behind Jacy and Jewel, so they both heard what the girl had said. It was heart wrenching to see that the orphans would be going back to the orphanage. Marta almost shed a tear thinking about it.

Jewel walked over to the table and stooped down to see the little girl. “Will you come out for some ice cream?” The little girl didn’t respond. She liked ice cream, but she didn’t want to go back to the orphanage. “What if I say I will try and help you find a home, then will you come out for ice cream?”

“Will you adopt me?” Tyrell wanted to know.

“Well, I can’t adopt you. I’m not even married.” Jewel replied.

“I don’t need a pa, just a ma will do for me and my brother.” Tyrell wanted a home but she didn’t want to leave Tye.

“You’re brother?” Jewel was getting in deeper. Now the little girl wanted her to find a home for her and her brother.

Caller Bob walked up to the table. “How about a pa and not a ma?”

Tyrell looked him up and down. “Well . . . ummm . . . I guess that would be ok. You’ll adopt me and my brother.”

“I will if the judge will let me.”

“What are your names?” Marta inquired of the other children.

When the children didn’t answer, Clem started pointing at them and calling off their names. “That’s Tye, his sister down under the table is Tyrell, they were left at the orphanage when they were four years old, their twins, nobody wanted to adopt them together, and if anybody would take one of them home, they would cry and cry and not eat because the twin wasn’t there, so they would bring them back to the orphanage. They are thirteen years old now. We believe that their ma left them at the orphanage. There was a note with their names but not their last name. That’s Devany Lewis beside Tye.” Marta was surprised by the last name because it was the same as hers. “She’s fourteen years old. That’s Blaine Meyers. She was left at the orphanage when she was six years old. She never talks. I’ve never heard her say a word since she’s been with us at the orphanage,” the little girl under the table butted in.

“She’s going to be adopted.”

Clem continued as if Tyrell hadn’t spoke, “And the last girl there is Jaslyn Young. She’s fourteen years old almost fifteen. She was left at the orphanage when she was just a baby, but her ma left her complete name on a piece of paper. And there you have the whole crew. These five stick pretty close together in the orphanage.”

“Oh, who is adopting Blaine?” Marta wanted to know.

“A lady by the name of Rachel Dunne. Hopefully the judge when he comes to town will award her custody of Blaine. I would like to see Blaine and all the children go to a nice home. I wish all the children at the orphanage would find a nice home. I’m appalled of what my brother tried to do. I’m just glad that the sheriff here, sheriff Hunter, exposed the plot and put him behind bars where he belongs.” Clem replied, and Marta could tell that he was speaking with his heart.

Marta looked at Devany. She was a pretty young lady, having the same coloring of brown hair as Marta and upon looking intently at the young girl’s eyes she could tell that she had brown eyes just like Marta, too. Although Marta hadn’t known growing up that Ellen and Spencer Lewis weren’t her real ma and pa, but on Ellen’s deathbed she had told Marta about it. Marta had always wondered who her real parents were, but she had no clue. It was strange though that at this time in her life that a child with her own adopted parents last name would show up, unloved, unwanted and needing somebody because in the last few months, Marta had felt as though something was missing from her life. She knew it was because she didn’t know who her parents were, but she had no idea of how to find out who they might be, but maybe she could help this child, Devany, find her real parents. But to do so, she would have to adopt her in order to keep her here in Dreamville. And even if she couldn’t find the young girl’s parents then maybe she could fill the emptiness in the young girl’s life, since she couldn’t fill the own void in her life.

“I would like to adopt Devany.” Marta said and she smiled at the girl. Devany looked up from the table at Marta. She wondered why Marta wanted to adopt her. She didn’t even know her, but she very much wanted to be adopted. She tried to smile a little, but she was still very suspicious of strangers and their motives, so she wasn’t sure about Marta.

“That’s great.” Tyrell scooted out from under the table. “Now we will all get adopted and live here in Dreamville.

Tye shook his head. “Not everybody,” his head turned from his sister to Jaslyn who sat across from him.

“Oh,” Disappointed Tyrell dropped her head and looked at the floor.

Jaslyn dropped her head, looking at the table, because she hated being the center of attention. “That’s not necessarily true.” Jewel pulled Jacy aside and talked with her. Then the twins returned to their prior positions, and Jewel finished what she had wanted to say, “I have two sisters, my twin here and a younger sister. We could take Jaslyn in. Who knows maybe we could help her find her real parents, but if not, we have plenty of room for her.”

Tyrell’s smile grew very big. “We’re all going to be adopted isn’t this just the best day ever.”

“This is all very wonderful of you folks, but you’ll have to prove to the judge that you’ll be able to take care of these children. They’re not like little lost puppies. They are a big responsibility. Make sure that you know what you’re getting yourself into before you make such a big decision. I know you want to help these children, but your intentions might be good today, but tomorrow, you might realize that you’ve taken on more than you can handle. Now I’m not trying to sway your decisions. I’m all for these children getting adopted, but I don’t want you bringing them back to the orphanage in a month from now because you didn’t know how it was going to be.”

“Hmmm . . . he does have a point.” Caller Bob stated. What if he decided that adopted the two children wasn’t a good idea in a month or so. Would he really be helping the children or hurting them more? He saw the little girl, Tyrell, hopes disappear, and he hated seeing such a beautiful young girl looking so sad. He also saw the others, Marta, Jacy and Jewel debating if they had made a hasty decision after all. “I think I have a solution. How about you let us take the children out to our homes to stay with us until the judge comes? That way we will get to know them better, and they will also get to know us better, too. Then by the time the judge gets here, we will know if we are ready to be adopted parents, and the children will also know if they want to live us. What do you think?”

Clem pondered Caller Bob’s words and decided that it might just be a good idea. Better for them to find out before the judge came if they really wanted to be adopted parents than later on after the children had already been adopted. “I like it. It’s a good sound idea. Children would you like to go with these nice people to their homes to see how you would get along together?” Before Clem had even finished his question, Tyrell walked over and took Caller Bob’s hand.

“I’m ready to go home when you are . . . pa.” She looked up into his face and smiled. Caller Bob couldn’t help but smile back at her.

Tye walked over to his sister and Caller Bob, “Well, if you’re going, sis, so am I.”

“You know all the children have been introduced, but we forgot to introduce ourselves.” Jewel said. “I’m Jewel Hunnewell Davis and this is my twin sister, Jacy. We live out at the Starshine Haven Ranch. We have a younger sister, Melissa. She’s fifteen. I’m sure you and Melissa will get along very well Jaslyn.” Jewel smiled at the girl.  Jaslyn didn’t smile back. All of this was happening so fast. First today she thought that she would be returning to the orphanage, and now it seemed like someone might really want to adopt her.

Caller Bob looked down at Tye and Tyrell. “I’m Bob Sitzler, but everybody calls me Caller Bob. And I’ll tell you all about that later.”

“And I’m Marta Lewis,” Devany looked up at Marta when she heard her last name. She tilted her head, a little puzzled. It was amazing. This lady had the same last name as hers. “I work at the Dreamville Hotel as a waitress. Sometimes I help out the cooks in the kitchen, but I prefer serving the food instead of cooking it.” She smiled at Devany hoping that she would smile back at her, but she didn’t.

“So now that all the introductions are made”

“Wait,” Jacy butted in before Jewel could finish. “He didn’t introduce himself.”

“I’m sorry. I’m Clem Clossen. I work at the Cedar Rapids Orphanage and look after these children.”

“Ok, now that all the introductions are made, how about some ice cream for the children and some lunch for us.” Jewel looked at her twin when she said us.

“Charity, ice cream for the children, and some lunch for us, please.” Jewel took a seat at a close proximity to the children. Jacy sat down with her.

“May I join you?” Marta inquired. “I came in to have some lunch, too.”

“What? You’re not eating at the hotel!” Jewel inquired. “Please join us.”

Caller Bob came over and Jacy had him join them at their table for he had also came into the Silver Spoon to have some lunch. She was glad that he was up and moving around now. It had been her that had screamed, when Caller Bob had fallen off his horse and landed at her feet. She had been so shocked by it that she hadn’t been able to move to see if he was still alive. It had been Cody who had went to Caller Bob. When she heard Cody say that he was still alive, she came back to her senses and had hollered for someone to get the doctor. It was Jennie who had been the one who had retrieved Daniel. Jacy had been so distraught when Cody and Ted following the doctor’s orders had taken Caller Bob over to Daniel’s office that she couldn’t leave there until she had heard word that he was going to be all right.

“I decided on something different for today.” Marta replied as she looked over at Devany, who had been looking at Marta, but quickly turned her head when she saw that Marta was looking at her. Marta turned back to her company, and she smiled. She was pleased that she had decided to adopt Devany.

After they had finished their lunches, and the children had finished their ice cream, the children left with the individual adults that might adopt them. But Blaine was left with Clem.

Jacy, Jewel and Jaslyn were the last three to set foot outside of the Silver Spoon. Rachel saw one of the orphans walking with Marta and two other orphans walking with Caller Bob, and then she noticed that one of the orphans was with Jacy and Jewel. She wondered what was going on. She had rode into town to see how the orphans were doing, but now they weren’t with Mr. Clossen, they were with some of the Dreamville residents.

She watched as Marta and the orphan entered the hotel, and then she watched as Caller Bob helped Tye onto a horse and then he put Tyrell on his horse and mounted. Caller Bob took the reins from Tye’s horse and led him out of town. What was going on? She was tempted to ask Jewel and Jacy as they rode by her with the girl holding onto Jewel’s waist, but she decided not to. She would find Mr. Clossen and see what was going on. She saw him and Blaine coming out of the restaurant, so she spurred her horse onward and arrived there as they were stepping out into the street. As she rode up, Mr. Clossen spoke. “Good Afternoon, Miss Dunne. Blaine and I were just going to take a walk since it’s such a nice day. Would you care to join us?”

Rachel dismounted and tied Firecracker to the hitching post. “Mr. Clossen I saw the other children leaving town with some of Dreamville residents. Why?”

“They are thinking about adopting the children, so we decided that it would be best for them to spend some time together.” He smiled at the voluptuous blonde.

“Oh! Well then shouldn’t Blaine come out to the waystation and stay with me, so that we can get to know each other better since I’m planning on adopting her?” Rachel asked.

“That’s fine with me, what about you Blaine?” Clem looked at the mute girl. She smiled and nodded. “But can we go for that walk before you both leave me?”

“Sure!” Rachel responded. It was such a lovely day. She felt like taking a little stroll.

After their walk around town, Rachel took Blaine home. She knew when Ike arrived back from his run that he would be pleasantly surprised because lately Blaine was all he could talk about.