Orphan Train

Spring has arrived in Maine at last, and Molly tries to make things right with Jack, who is holding a grudge over their fight the previous week. Molly worries that if Jack knew the whole truth—that cleaning out the attic has transformed into an ongoing conversation about Vivian’s life for Molly’s school project—he would be even more convinced that Molly is using Vivian inappropriately.

Molly reviews her notes and completes her school project. She decides that she wants to give something back to Vivian for all her help. She wants Vivian to have closure.

Molly goes to the library to search out information on Vivian’s family, such as passenger records for the ship the Powers arrived on—the Agnes Pauline, newspaper articles and other public records. Molly finds out that that Bernard and Agneta Schatzman adopted a baby named Margaret in 1929—Vivian’s sister Maisie. However, Margaret died recently at age 83, surrounded by her loving family.

Dorothy recovers from her illness and returns to school. She rides to and from school with Miss Larsen. Mrs. Murphy’s cooking reminds Dorothy of her grandmother; Dorothy remembers the constant conflict between her grandmother and her mother, usually about her father, which led directly to their little family leaving Ireland.

Mr. Sorenson arrives to discuss Dorothy’s future, but it is Mrs. Murphy who has found a potential home for Dorothy. The Nielsen’s lost a daughter five years ago, and they might be persuaded to take in a girl who is nearly the same age as the one they lost. Dorothy is devastated, and she doesn’t want to leave Mrs. Murphy, she doesn’t want to go to another family where she will only be tolerated in exchange for the free labor she provides.

The adults arrange a meeting with the Nielsens—a couple who own a prosperous local store. Mrs. Murphy coaches Dorothy on how to behave. The Nielsens agree to take in Dorothy, though she must become a Lutheran. She agrees, and she moves to the Nielsens’ house the next day.

The Nielsens are decent people, who provide Dorothy with a beautiful room and a safe, comfortable home. She enters the fifth grade, and she spends a lot of time figuring out how to fit in. She realizes that her background and experiences are much different to those of most of the 10-year-olds around her. She mimics their hair, their clothing, and their accents.

Dorothy helps in the store, filling in and making herself indispensable to the Nielsens. She discovers that she is nearly the same age as the daughter the Nielsens lost to diphtheria. She joins in a quilting group with Mrs. Nielsen, which also happens to include Mrs. Murphy. Dorothy is the only child, but she feels welcomed by these adult women. Mrs. Nielsen begins saving scraps for Dorothy’s own quilt.

After she has been living with the Nielsens for several months, they ask her to take their dead daughter’s name. Because it means so much to them, she agrees. Her feelings for the Nielsens include gratitude and affection, though she knows she will never feel that they are her people. Nevertheless, now she is Vivian Nielsen.

After several years, they ask if they can legally adopt her and Vivian says yes. She lives a “normal” life of work, play, and school, completely safe, and even cherished.