Orphan Train

In American history class, Molly is studying the Wabanaki Indians—a confederacy of five Algonquian-speaking tribes, including Molly’s father’s tribe, the Penobscot tribe. The Wabanaki carried all of their possessions with them in their canoes, and when they had to move across land from one body of water to another—called a portage—they carried the weight of their canoes and all of their belongings. Because of this, they had to choose which belongings to take with them and what to leave behind. They had to travel light.

Molly is assigned a project: she must interview an older person about the times in their life that they had to move from one place to another. What did the person take with them? What did they learn? Molly decides to interview Vivian.

Molly’s history class helps her connect stories her father told her with the larger historical perspective of the Penobscot Indian people. She is named for a powerful historical Penobscot Indian woman, Molly Molasses.

Molly remembers her father, who missed her 8th birthday party, but arrived to visit her late that night. He gave her three charms, three powerful symbols in Penobscot culture: a pewter raven representing protection from dark magic; a bear representing a fearless, brave spirit; and a fish representing the power to resist others people’s magic. Two weeks after giving her these symbolic gifts, her father lost control of his car in a drunk driving accident and died. Six months later, Molly was in foster care.

Molly begins interviewing Vivian for her school project. Molly explains the meaning of the charms on her necklace, and Vivian touches her own necklace—the Claddagh cross. The women soon share another connection: Molly asks Vivian if she believes in ghosts. Vivian answers that she does.

There isn’t much food at the Grotes’. Mr. Grote grows more and more desperate. He treats Dorothy like a grown-up, talking to her all the time, as the two of them work side-by-side to feed and care for the children. He tells her too much about his marriage: he never loved his wife and never wanted to have all these children. He is only 24 years old; he and Mrs. Grote got together at 16 and had their first child at 18. He starts saying that he should have married someone like Dorothy. Dorothy recognizes that he shouldn’t be talking to her like this: she is only 10 years old.

Dorothy cannot help but remember and compare the misery of this family with her own parents. In many ways, her mother and father were like the Grotes: a sickly, weak woman married to a strong, selfish man. Dorothy tries to distract herself from her hunger and misery by remembering a wonderful day with her grandmother in Ireland.

The children all become infested with head lice, and Dorothy has to clean and boil all their clothes and all the towels and bedding in the house. She cannot manage the mangle on the washing machine by herself; she’s not strong enough. She also cannot go to school until her own head full of lice is cleared up. Gerald helps her clean up, and he removes all the children’s hair, including Dorothy’s, and treats them with lye to kill the eggs.

Mrs. Grote blames Dorothy for bringing lice to their house and begins cursing her and calling her names; she refuses to help and won’t even allow anyone to check her for lice or clean up her own bed.

Dorothy eventually returns to school, where Miss Larsen welcomes her back.

By the time summer ends, Mr. Grote has filled the house with smoked squirrel, fish, and raccoon meat. Mrs. Grote is pregnant again and due in March.

Dorothy continues to go to school. By November when the snow starts falling, she realizes that it will be difficult for her to walk to where the truck picks her up in the winter. She has no light to do her homework, and Miss Larsen asks her if everything is all right. She is embarrassed to admit that there is no light for her to do her homework by and no way for her to stay clean.

One night, Mr. Grote wakes Dorothy up and asks her to keep him company. He attempts to rape Dorothy but stops when Dorothy’s screams wake up Mrs. Grote. Mrs. Grote throws her out of the house in the middle of the night. Whatever was left of Dorothy’s childhood innocence is now gone.

Dorothy nearly freezes to death, but she makes it to the school house—walking four miles in a dark, snowy winter night. She huddles on the school building’s back porch, waiting for the morning.

Dorothy tells Miss Larsen everything. Miss Larsen promises Dorothy that she will help find her a safe, warm home where she will be treated like a 10 year-old girl. Meanwhile, she takes Dorothy home to the boardinghouse where she lives. 

Dorothy goes home with Miss Larsen, and in a stroke of great luck, the landlady is Irish and has a sympathetic heart. She welcomes Dorothy into the boarding house. Dorothy cannot believe her good fortune. There is plenty of food and plenty of baths. She feels safe for the first time since she stepped off the train more than a year before.

Dorothy comes down with pneumonia. A doctor visits to treat her, and Mrs. Murphy nurses her. When Mrs. Murphy discovers that Dorothy has no clothes, she gathers up a bundle for her from the ones left behind by boarders. Dorothy fears for when she will have to leave this wonderful, safe place.