Hearing about the brother, Lorn shook his head in disappointment in how a family member could treat another family member.  His heart went out to the woman.  When she said she wanted no matter how the cottage looked, he smiled.  "Well, there are two kinds of set up.  Apparently they were set up long before I bought the place.  Likely generations ago, but they wanted to provide for the employees and their families so they were close enough to get to the main house and not have to come and go to town to get to work."  He explained.

"One size is one floor with two bedrooms, and the other is two stories with three bedrooms.  You'll have room in the front for flower gardens should you want to do that and a small garden area in the back for vegetables and to hang out the laundry.  There are currently two of each types laying empty.  So, you have your choice of them."  He continued.  "They are on beyond the stables, so not right by the main house so you would have your privacy but close enough to come to visit or have access to the nursery and the nanny there at the main house if you wish to take a break." 

He had hired the staff himself, as he wanted to know they would be good around Heidi and take care of things in a quality that he required for his home.  The grooms and workers for the stable he had been just as picky about.  He knew about horses and breeding them.  He was learning about racing and the English style of showing horses, but he was a quick study.  The last year had been productive and profitable.

"The housekeeper, butler, and the head groom each have a cottage out there.  There are some maids sharing one of the bigger cottages, and the younger grooms and male staff share two of the other bigger ones.  So, we have a small little community of our own there.  Most have been with me for the year I've owned the place, others about half a year as the stable became more productive and needing more hands."

Once he went quiet, he saw she was falling asleep.  He stayed quiet and let her rest with a soft smile on his lips.  The poor lady had been through the ringer.  He kept an eye on the children as she slept, and looked out the window as the train moved through the landside.

A garden… and a place to do laundry. That would be essential. With a nod, she chose one with a garden. “It’ll be lovely.” She would say goodbye to the cheerful, yellow house, and maybe even give the clock she had been gifted to someone else who would use it. It would be a shame to throw it out anyway.

Now, she was a talkative person by nature, but with her brother gone, it was hard getting used to someone who could match her conversation with length and pitch. By the time the man was through explaining about his staff and their locations on his property, she was well and truly asleep. She hadn’t meant for it to happen that way, but the poor dear was so exhausted.

She started awake within an hour, heart beating against her ribs in alarm at the vivid visions in her head of her husband’s untimely and gruesome death. He’d been killed by something… otherworldly… Needless to say, she was panting to catch her breath and looking around in a panic. The sound of the train tracks being hit by wheels rhythmically relaxed her a little as she remembered that she was on her way home.

She looked in the baskets, only to find one pair of eyes peering up at her in a familiar way when he was hungry… And she very well couldn’t pull her breast out in front of the whole of the train car, that would have been scandalous. It was a good thing that she had the wherewithal to pack a few bottles of cow’s milk. She tiredly moved to pull a bottle from the bottom of the basket and stuck the nipple in Harold Jr’s mouth. She was on autopilot.

When the young woman stirred, Lorn glanced over.  Watching her take care of her son.  He remembered which one was which thanks to where they were located in relationship to their mother.  He wasn't sure how close they looked alike as yet. 

"They've been quiet.  I think they knew you needed a nap." He smiled, speaking quietly.  He had stretched out his legs to the side away from the lady's legs, as it would be a long trip otherwise.  "I'd say he is hungry the way he's getting to that bottle."  He chuckled.

"If you have another bottle, I can feel the little lady there."  He offered with a kind smile.  "I have nothing else to do at the moment.  Might as well put me to work."

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the cowboy spoke to her. Lord, but that dream didn’t help matters. Karen stared at him tiredly for the moment, blank eyes until she registered that he was offering help. She produced a bottle for Niamh and offered it to the man, sighing sleepily and looking as if that nap wasn’t enough. However, she made no complaints.

After a moment or two of him taking Niamh and the bottle, she began to sing in Gaelic to the little ones in a sweet voice that was strained with exhaustion. Karen was looking at Lorn without really looking at him. Really, it was another face she was seeing altogether smiling her way, and that was of her dead husband. No, that couldn’t be right, she thought and blinked away the vision, only to find the opposite of her dark cowboy; a light cowboy.

Tears tried to burn at the backs of her eyes and her voice cracked, but otherwise she seemed alright. Eventually, the song died down and then came the silence, and she was looking out the window, holding the now empty bottle that had been spit out at some point or another.

Lorn reached over and with every so careful large hands picked up the little girl.  He had an experienced manner, as he had done the same action often enough with his own little girl.  He gazed down into the little face with a friendly smile to get her attention.

"Well, hello there, Niamh.  How are you doing?  Hmm?"  He adjusted the little body into the crook of his arm and shoulder before reaching over for the bottle.  "I am Lorn.  Yes, I have a funny face, don't I?  Yes, I do."

He moved the bottle to her lips as he talked with a calm and light sounded voice.  "You and I are going to be friends, aren't we, yes we are."  He smiled down as the baby latched onto the bottle.  "You are so tiny.  Yes, ma'am, very small compared to my little Heidi.  You are going to meet her too.  I bet you two will be grand friends too.  Likely causing all sorts of mischief together with your brother.  I can see it now.  Yes, I can."  He glanced over to Karen with a wink.

He spoke various nonsense to the baby softly as she ate, with her eyes on his.  He glanced over again and went quiet as Karen began to sing.  He didn't understand it but it was lovely all the same.  He sat the bottle down beside him and reached over for a cloth to put over his shoulder to lift the baby over it and patted her lightly to see about a burb.

Seeing Karen seeming distracted, he wondered where her mind had gone.  He heard a light burp from the little girl on his shoulder and chuckled.  "There you go, ready for some more?"  He asked her resettling her in his arm and giving her the bottle again.

"That was a lovely song."  He commented glancing back over to Karen.

Niamh most certainly rooted for the bottle when it was brought to her lips. She did that thing that babies did where they breathe loudly through their noses and sighed in content. She was as hungry as her brother had been. Meanwhile, her brother was lifted to the shoulder of their mother and burped before returned to the basket, nappy checked to make sure it didn’t need changing, and then Karen relaxed some in her seat.

She glanced over to Lorn when he spoke about her song and she smiled a little. Even as small as the smile was, it was easy to see why the clockmaker had wanted to woo her and court her. She was a pretty thing. Her dark eyes watched his face for a moment before looking down at her daughter. He was feeding her with such gentleness that it melted her heart a little.

Karen quickly looked away, not wanting to stare at such a scene and let her hopes get up that she was no longer alone in the world. “Thank ye,” she said even still and eventually when it came to his compliment as well as his help in feeding her children. She forced her gaze back to the window.

Once the tiny girl had finished the bottle and provided an appropriate burp on his shoulder, Lorn smiled at the miniature face and put her back tucked into the basket.  He held the empty bottle and the cloth from his shoulder in one hand and handed it over to Karen.  "There you go.  I think she is full."

He looked around the rest of the people in the train car they shared.  It was about half full, so not crowded nor too busy.  Some chatted here and there with those sitting near them, as Lorn and Karen had chatted previously.  He gave Karen a look.  She seemed so young and small.  He couldn't help but have a kind of feeling or protectiveness even though they had only just met.

He didn't want to talk too much if she was needing some quiet time, so he also looked out to the window at the lovely scenery beyond the glass.  After a few moments, he stood up.  "If you don't mind me, ma'am, I need to stretch my legs a bit.  I will be right back."  He assured her.  He left his cowboy hat there on his bench as if to let her know he would indeed be back. 

As tall as he was, he got cramped up in short spaces and he was more of a man to be acting, not just sitting.  So he moved down the aisle and then to the next train car.  After several minutes he returned and sat down.  His white hair was more rustled from the wind outside as he managed the transfer between the cars.  He ran his hand through his hair to calm it down a bit.

"There's a lady moving along the train cars selling sandwiches and the such if you are wanting something."  He reported.

“Thank ye,” she said again softly, looking back at him again for a brief moment. She remained quiet after that, her eyes half mast with sleepiness still. She heaved a sigh then and wished she had coffee or tea, or even some Scotch Eggs, which sounded lovely about then.

Then he got up to leave for a few moments and she watched him go, pensive as he was gone. She didn’t realize she was dozing off until he returned and she awoke with a little snort. He mentioned sandwiches and she perked up. Her stomach growled loudly as if to interject some sort of argument that the sandwiches appear… now…

“That sounds lovely,” she hummed out and gave a stretch.

“Ta tell the truth, I haven’t eaten much today. I could fair eat a horse,” she chuckled.

He chuckled.  "Well, lets get you some food.  I wouldn't want you to get that hungry when you will be living where I am breeding horses." 

When the woman with the basket of food goods came along their seats, Lorn nodded.  "I'd like one of your sandwiches and one of those boiled eggs."  He requested looking at the items there in the basket.  He looked to Karen with a raised brow after he was given his small meal.

She chose two sandwiches and an egg, thanking the woman for her time and such. She normally wouldn’t eat two, but she really was famished. The Irishwoman gave a blush and sat back. The first sandwich was gone within moments. She did not apologize for not eating like a lady, not that she was a lady…

The next few hours were spent in relative silence, though if he asked her something, she would probably answer. As the day wore on and the train moved toward Whitby, she seemed to grow comfortable enough around him that she caught naps here and there. The silence was not an uncomfortable or awkward one, it was just one of companionship.