One Train Ride to Hope

Spring of 1919 has arrived. The Great War has just ended, and the Spanish influenza has claimed the lives of over 20 million souls worldwide. Ellie Mae’s family was not left untouched. Her father was taken by the influenza in November, 1918, leaving her mother, twin brothers and her to make their way without him. Realizing that they need help, Ellie Mae’s mother decides to move them back to her family’s farm in Clay City, Illinois. Crazy Coot has stumbled off the train in Clay City, Illinois in early 1919. No one knows who he is or why he came. It’s assumed he has come home from the war by the fact a bomber hat and goggles are ever present atop his head. Ellie Mae’s first glimpse of him is when her family reaches Clay City by train. He is down on hands and knees talking to a little dog. Will Grandpa’s farm be the place for Ellie Mae and her family to start over? Will the hole left in her heart by the death of her father ever heal? And who is this young man that seems to have lost all his good sense?