Orphan Train

A man who works for Miss Larsen’s landlady drives Niamh and Miss Larsen to the boardinghouse. They drive into Hemingford, which Niamh hasn’t seen before. The town – with several shops, parlors and a movie theater – is much bigger than Albans. When they arrive at the boardinghouse, Miss Larsen asks Niamh to wait at the entrance. When she returns, she explains that she had to tell her landlady (Mrs. Murphy) about Niamh’s “predicament” to explain why she must stay there. They go into the parlor, where Mrs. Murphy greets Niamh kindly. Mrs. Murphy is from Ireland, and when Niamh speaks, she realizes she’s Irish, too. She knows “Dorothy” isn’t an Irish name, and she asks her real name. She also notices how Niamh “guards” her claddagh cross carefully, remarking: “It’s the only thing you’ve got to remind you of your people, now, isn’t it?” Miss Larsen appears pleased that Mrs. Murphy likes Niamh.

Niamh sits with Miss Larsen in her room until supper. She notices that Miss Larsen’s small room is “tidy and bright.” She sees a framed photograph of a man and woman, and Miss Larsen explains that they are her parents who have passed away, so she is “an orphan too.” Niamh explains that she herself “isn’t really an orphan” because her mother may be alive. When Miss Larsen inquires, Niamh reveals a secret she hasn’t told anyone: that her mother was troubled “even before the fire” and ended up in a mental hospital. Miss Larsen laments that Niamh has suffered a lot for her age. At dinner, Mrs. Murphy introduces Niamh as “Niamh Power” to her boarders. There is an abundant dinner spread, unlike anything Niamh has seen since holidays in Ireland. She notices that Mrs. Murphy is opinionated and bossy with the ladies, but “nothing but kind” to Niamh.

After dinner, Mrs. Murphy shows Niamh to the clean room she has prepared just for her. She gives her clean clothes, towels, and soap. She shows her to the bathroom, with hot running water, and tells her to take a bath for “as long as [she] likes” because “the others can use a different powder room.” After she leaves, Niamh looks into the mirror and barely recognizes herself. She feels like she’s starting to get a cold. She takes a bath, and feels like she is “floating on a cloud.” Back in her room afterward, she locks the door—it is the first time in her life that she has a room to herself. As she gets into the clean, warm bed, she “feels safe” for the first time since she came to Minnesota.

Niamh soon comes down with pneumonia. For the next week, she is confined to her bed, going in and out of delirium. Mrs. Murphy and Miss Larsen take turns caring for her and feeding her chicken soup. Mrs. Murphy “bustles around” all day, but “drops everything” when Niamh rings the silver bell she has given her. During the moments when Niamh is conscious, she struggles to believe that she is in a safe bed and that people are taking care of her. When Niamh recovers after a week, Mrs. Murphy opens the curtain to show Niamh the snow that has covered the town. Miss Murphy and Miss Larsen help Niamh find clothing from garments other boarders have left behind. Niamh tries not to get used to such “comfort and safety,” and tries not to think about how much harder it will be to return to deprivation after finally feeling safe.