LEON CHAPTER 17

Train Compartment
courtesy photobucket.com

The day finally came for the three women to head East to New York, and Leon went to the station to see them off.

While they were filled with excitement, Leon was a bit heavy of heart. The two persons who meant the most to him were going to be gone for he didn't know how long.  He gave Ellie a hug and a kiss on the cheek and said, “Come back soon and don't forget to write.”

He next took FiFi's hand to shake it, when she grabbed him and kissed him on the mouth for what seemed to be a long time. He had never heard of someone using their tongue to kiss with before.

Then he moved over to Kathryn and she started to laugh at him while she wiped the lipstick from his mouth from FiFi's kiss; he surprised her by hugging her and kissing her something like FiFi had kissed him.

Kathryn looked surprised and he said, “I'll have to practice that while you are gone for I'm not sure if I did it right.”

The train started to move and Leon had to make a hasty exit so as not to be heading East with them.

For the rest of the trip FiFi teased Kathryn about her having a boy friend. She knew FiFi well enough to tease her back saying, “I hope you don't take him away from me.”

They each had a compartment which was going to be more comfortable than just sitting in a seat for the eight day journey.  It was tiring even though they had the best accommodations available on the train.

There were a number of people on board, who traveled back and forth from New York to San Francisco each year. It was more of a status thing than anything else.

There were some older men who tried to interest FiFi and Ellie into being friendly with them. They were good for a couple of laughs but ended there.

        
Of the younger set of travelers, there were a couple of young men who took an interest in Kathryn but she found them to be immature especially after the training by FiFi.

All in all everyone enjoyed the company of each other, telling stories, most of which were lies especially from the drummers who traveled across the country stopping off at the towns trying to get orders for their merchandise.

They made up a part of the traveling salesmen stories that are told about this kind always trying to seduce women.  It was the first time Kathryn had seen them in action and FiFi or Ellie stayed close by her all the while for they knew how well men could woo an unsuspecting woman.

Kathryn observed first hand, how a few drinks could cause some women to respond to the line those men would tell them.  It was entertaining to say the least especially when some guy would get his face slapped.

They stopped over in Chicago for a couple of days and visited some friends of Ellie who had settled there after the great fire of 1871. There was much to see and it added greatly to the excitement of their journey.

The city had grown from 300 thousand to something less than 2 million people in the last thirty years.  

Ellie wanted to see the Chicago Board of Trade for so much business of the world transpired there. It was second on her list of "Things I must see."

They left Chicago and headed for New York with great anticipation. When they arrived Kathryn was amazed at the buildings and the mass of people, she told Ellie, “I want to see it all.”

To be Continued