In an America that might have been, two war orphans from a divided nation, one in the north and one in the south, meet across a vast battlefield, striking out to forge a future together in the west. It's 1892, the fourth and bloodiest year of the Ci...
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The next morning, with the advice of the man at the front desk, Kay set out for the nearest bank. It was two streets away. They wanted to charge her 6 percent and to wait 24 hours before she could receive her money! This seemed outrageous to her, so she walked further down the street to the next and there they only wanted 3 percent. They explained the wait as well. They had to wait for telegraphic confirmation from her bank in Philadelphia that she had funds to cover the draft. This seemed reasonable, so she wrote them a check for 500 dollars.
When he got up, Deke went to visit the horses. The stablemen had done their work well and they all seemed to be in good shape. He had bought a bag of early season apples from a market stand and the horses happily crunched one down each. On the way back to the hotel he stopped to look in the window of a watchmaker. There, sitting on a piece of cloth, was a shiny brass compass, $12. It was oil filled and had a dial marked in degrees and about five other types of lines he didn't understand, each exquisitely engraved. Deke already knew he didn't have that much in his boot, so he headed back towards the hotel.
As he was going up the steps, crunching on an apple, he ran face to face into Kay.
"Oh," she stepped back. "Good morning."
"Good morning to you too," Deke said. "Would you like an apple?" He fished one of the nice ones out and offered it to her. For some reason her cheeks were red.
"Yes. An apple would be nice," and she smiled just a little bit and took the apple.
She was about to leave and he didn't want her to go, so he said, "Wait till you see what I'm buying."
She stopped and smiled just a little bit more. "What?"
"A brass compass." Deke crossed his arms, stared off into the distance, and struck a heroic pose. "I won't ever get lost again."
"Somehow, I can't think of you as ever getting lost." And she smiled just a bit more, which was sunshine to Deke.
"Well, you'll see when you get a good look at the plains. Even Indians can get lost out there when they get off trail."
"Then it's a good thing we can take the train."
"Yes, yes it is."
Then they both turned and marched towards their destinations, each kicking them self for acting like an idiot.
Deke was in a double quandary. He wasn't sure which way he was going, east to the cities or west with the women. They surely needed help, but he was shy and unsure. He went back to the watchmaker and bought the compass, and in front of the shop he tipped it out of its felt bag into his palm. It glinted gold in the sun and its needle turned lazily in its case. He turned the case until he had lined the needle up with the "N". At least he knew which way west and east were, he thought. Which way should I go?
He was near the train station and so decided to check the train schedules. The boards on the boardwalk thumped under his boots as he walked. There were women and children walking along the street. It was nice, he thought, not to be in a city full of war and soldiers.
