Chapter Twenty Three:

"It's been a week." Elouise sat at the kitchen table with both Meg and Jo. They both looked terrible, but Jo managed to look worse. Her eyes were dull with dark bags under them, she hadn't slept since Beth had gotten sick. "She must be getting better."

"I think she's getting worse." Jo rubbed her tired eyes.

"I've ran to town and have gotten every tonic the doctor has said would make her better." Elouise bit her short nails.

Meg shook her head, "I'm worried... that perhaps, maybe-"

"No. Do not speak those words, Meg." Jo cut her off, "Our Beth will be fine. She is strong, she will win."

Elouise nodded, "She will win."

Jo leaned back in her chair, the kitchen awfully quiet. Hannah was tending to Beth, ordering the girls out to give her space. Elouise dropped her hand to her lap, "May I tell you all something?"

"Of course." Meg said.

Elouise pursed her lips, "I want to thank you, for this past year. I'm so very blessed that I've been able to stay here with such incredible people. I feel as if you are my family, and I love you all very much."

Jo stood up and walked around the table, pulling up a seat between both her and Meg. She grabbed both their hands, squeezing tight. "Our sister will be alright. We love her very much, as well as ourselves. She will not be taken from us. Never."

Meg took a shaky breath, "Not in a million years."

"She will not leave you." Elouise nodded, "She's a March, and if she's anything like Jo, she will be stubborn."

Jo's mouth quirked up as Hannah came down the stairs and rushed to the kitchen, causing them all to scramble up.

"She's gotten much worse." Hannah said, worry and fear shining in her eyes. Jo froze, pulling them closer to her sides. "What do we do?'

"We should send for your mother."

Elouise dropped Jo's hand, "You both stay with Beth, I will go send word to Mr Laurence to borrow their carriage."

"What will you do after?"

"The train station isn't far, and I will wait there for your mother so she isn't stuck with only Mr Brooke." Elouise rushed to the front door, "If anything I can get to her before your letter does. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Meg ran over and pulled her into a hug, "Thank you."

Elouise stepped away from Meg after a few moments, nodding to Jo before slipping out the door. She sprinted as fast as she could across the field, banging on the double doors. When a woman finally answered, she brushed by them, "Laurie! Mr Laurence!" She called out.

"They are having a late breakfast, Miss Myer. They are not available-"

"Laurie!" She yelled louder, running up the stairs.

Footsteps sounded and he rushed towards her, he read the worry in her eyes as he stopped, "Is it Beth?"

She nodded quickly, "She's gotten worse and I need to get Marmee home to see her daughter. May I borrow the carriage to go to the train station?"

"Of course." He practically threw himself down the stairs, coming to a stop in front of the woman who had answered the door. "Fetch Franklin and tell him to bring the carriage around."

She nodded, rushing from the room. Mr Laurence appeared to her right, "Is little Beth doing better?"

"Worse." Elouise ran down the stairs after Laurie, "I'm getting their mother, she needs to come home."

"Oh dear. Theodore, go with Elouise and make sure she stays safe."

"I had already planned on it." He said grasping her hand, pulling her out of the house. When the carriage pulled up they both jumped in, moving in no time. Her leg bounced up and down, Elouise couldn't begin to imagine how Jo and Meg may be feeling. Meg seemed to be handling herself okay, but Jo, she couldn't mask her fear no matter how much she tried.

"I'm sure she will be fine." Laurie said out loud, watching her from the other side of the carriage.

Elouise pursed her lips, "What will happen if she does lose this battle? What of Jo, Meg, Amy and their mother? I've never seem such a tight knit family. It will destroy them."

"Do not think about that." He said, "If the worst does happen, they will have to keep moving."

"Laurie!"

He frowned, "I'm only speaking truthfully. When I was left alone, I couldn't keep myself from thinking about it. I miss my parents dearly, but the world did not stop no matter how much I prayed it to go back."

Elouise closed her eyes, "I'm sorry."

"Do not be. I admire your courage, Elouise." He tapped the bench, "You are doing absolutely everything in your power to make this easier for the March's, even if that may not be possible. You are trying, and that's what matters."

"She is also so quiet compared to the other girls." Elouise mumbled, "Will she grow up to have a voice or fade away in that house? She's an amazing little girl and the world cannot lose her, it cannot lose that glimmer of light."

"If Jo has anything to do with her fate, she will be around until the end of time."

Elouise nodded, "Sorry for interrupting your breakfast."

"No need to apologize, I was not hungry anyways."

She tried to smile, but her expression never budged. She picked her nails, staring down at the floor. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Laurie get up and move next to her, "What happened when your grandmother died?"

"I buried her and grieved and moved on." Elouise said, "But she wasn't my sister who I've grown up with, who I spent every waking hour with. I met her at the beginning of the year and lost her at the end of it."

He swatted her hand which she hadn't realized was at her mouth, know chewing her nails. A habit that vanished years ago, only to resurface. Laurie watched her, "Do you plan to wait at the station until word gets to Marmee?"

"I plan to get on the next train out and find them myself."

"How much money do you have for a ticket."

"I don't."

He gave her a look, brows furrowed. "How do you plan to get to them if you're without a ticket?"

Elouise stared back at him, completely serious as he waited for a response. She sat up, "Sneak on the train."

"Sneak on the train?" He repeated.

She nodded, "Only half of a passenger train is built for passengers, of course. The rest, usually the back half of the train is a way to get supplies and other things around, it's storage."

His eyes widened as her plan clicked in his head, "You're telling me that you're going to hitchhike in a train, which is very much against the law."

"So I won't get caught."

"Elouise-"

"It's not difficult. One side of the train faces the forest, each side has a sliding door which both need to be unlocked for them to open it. I sneak on and hide somewhere, it's easy."

Laurie pursed his lips, still not on board with her plan. "I will get us tickets. No need for jumping onto trains and sneaking around."

"I will not take your money, Laurence." She poked, "You can wait at the station with your carriage while I get on the train. I'm sure I will be back in no time."

"Unless you get caught and get arrested in another town, in which we will most likely never see you again."

She shrugged, "You'll survive without me, I'm sure."

"You're not going alone."

Her brow raised, "You plan to join me?"

"Yes."

Elouise laughed at that, it was the first time she had laughed in a week.