Book 2 in The Orphan Trains Trilogy New York City, 1876. Ten-year-old Teddy Hansen chokes down a tearful farewell to his hardworking mother when she succumbs to pneumonia and leaves him to the mercy of God and the 32nd Street Orphanage. When police officer Justin Smith is killed by bank robbers, his grieving son, Johnny, is taken there too. Soon the boys, along with abandoned twins Donna and Deena Mitchell, board an orphan train leaving for points west.