Part 2
### Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Set in the 1800s along the Oregon trail. It is unheard of for a woman to face the perils on her own, but she is determined to find the dream that her husband has set in front of her.
She loses her husband and two of her children on a journey to a new world, a new life. She alone, with an infant, brave on amid words of discouragement. She grows and finds inner strength from those that believe in her, and an unlikely alliance with a young Pawnee buck. She faces many trials and tribulations, but her faith and determination keep her strong.
Complete Chapters 38
Rating 5.0 ( 5 reviews ) Age Rating mature
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Chapter 1
A cool breeze across my face, sends an unexpected chill through me.
A bright light burns my eyes as I look around. I am in the wilderness. Mountains in the distance. Rippling grass as far as I can see. A clear blue sky and warmth from the sun. The Eagle screams as it soars high above, riding the current, looking for its next meal.
There is no one around. I see a covered wagon in the distance. Two mules grazing, contently.
I hear the faint cry of a baby. Why is the baby crying? Where is it? I turn to look around. My breath catches as I turn to see three mounds of loose dirt. One large, two small.
My hands are bloodied and muddy. My long heavy dress is as well.
The image of Jacob floods my mind. My husband, the love of my life. My children Mary and David. Oh God, I remember! Lucy! Lucy is the one crying, my baby!
My vision is blurred by the fountain of tears that fall. I run to the wagon, stumbling and tripping, making my way back to the only thing in this life that I have left now. My Lucy.
Rounding the wagon, I see the cradle that Jacob had made with his own two hands six years ago for Mary when she was born. All of our children have slept many a night in it as I sat and rocked them, singing songs of love.
Lucy screams, red faced. Little arms and legs flailing about, tangled in the thin linen coverlet. I drop to my knees, lifting her to my chest, whispering my love, holding her tight.
Freeing my breast, she calms as she latches on for the nourishment she is craving. A rush of relief floods my body as she nurses hungrily.
I gently stroke her red hot cheek, wiping away the tears. She is so beautiful. She looks just like Jacob, dark brown curly hair and eyes the green of Emeralds.
I rest back against the wheel of the wagon, body and mind completely spent. They are all gone. How will I go on? We were headed for a new life. It was supposed to be as a family, all of us. Why God? Why have you taken my family from me?
I look back at the three mounds of dirt. My heart hurts. I can't go on. I can't do this alone.
I found that I had fallen asleep, still holding Lucy tight to my chest. Her soft breath against my breast. With one hand, I straighten the coverlet and gently lay her down covering her. She fusses and whines but doesn't awaken. I gently rock the cradle and she settles.
The fire is almost out, I need to gather some small pieces of wood left from what Jacob had gathered a week ago. I painfully gain my feet, willing myself to tend to the task at hand.
The fire now stronger, I get a bucket and head over to a small stream filling it with cold clear water. I put the water in a black iron kettle over the fire to heat, reserving some for drinking.
I gather the mules that have been staked with heavy ropes, moving them to the taller grass to graze. There are two large buckets they use for water. I fill them and return.
Returning to the wagon, my angel sleeps peacefully. I climb into the wagon, sorting through the mess of crates gathering some clean clothes.
I strip in the open air. It will be dark soon and the air is getting cool on a slight breeze. I feel the blood and dirt run down my body as I try to wash my pain away. But it will never all wash away.
Slipping into a cotton gown, I get some potatoes hanging in a burlap bag on the side of the wagon, dropping them into the unused water, putting it back on the fire to cook.
I pulled Lucy's cradle closer to the fire and settled on a log that Jacob had cut and laid out for seating near the fire. I touch her little fat cheeks, she is cool, no fever.
Looking at the three mounds of dirt, my heart clenches in my chest with pain. Two weeks ago, my children ran around screaming and laughing as Jacob chased them through the tall grass. I watched them, holding Lucy, laughing at their free and happy lives that were suddenly ripped away.
Mary was the first to fall ill. A raging fever burned through her little body. We could not get it to go down. Jacob even held her little body in the cold stream to no avail. Three days was all it took for it to take her from us.
Next was David. A strong robust little boy, never sick a day in his short four years. So smart and strong, he was like a shadow of Jacob, mimicking his every move. He suffered the fever five days before joining his sister in heaven.
I watched as Jacob withered away, unable to save his children, laying them in the cold dark graves he had to dig for them. He would sit between them for hours until I made him come back to the wagon to eat. I undressed him and washed him, fed him. He was barely a husk of the large man that I had fallen in love with, vowed to spend the rest of my life with.
I went to fetch him and found him laying across the two tiny graves. When I touched his shoulder I could feel the heat burning through his clothes.
I struggled to bring him back to the wagon, he was so weak, and I so small, the heat from his body cooking mine. I watched my beloved husband die for four days before God called him home.
It took me two days to dig his grave as I cried and screamed out my agony to God. Why? Why have you done this God? Were our sins so great? We worshiped you, prayed to you, taught our children to be kind and have faith in you. Why?
Lucy fusses, dragging me from my thoughts. I look into her beautiful green eyes as she smiles and drools on her tiny fist. I have to smile, she's still hungry. I pluck the potatoes from the hot water, laying them on the ash while I get her situated on a breast. I eat the flavorless potatoes as she nurses.
When she finishes, I lay her in the cradle and climb into the tent to straighten the blankets where we will sleep. I gently lift her, lying down, covering us and snuggling close to her.
I woke up the next morning to the pattering of rain on the canvas cover around us. Lucy is still asleep as I make my way to the opening of the tent. It has just begun to rain.
"No, no!" I crawl from the tent.
Everything will get wet. I scramble around gathering everything, throwing it into the wagon as the rain falls heavier. By the time I get through, I am soaked to the bone with a chill. Lucy fusses as I try to dry myself with a blanket and dig through the crates for dry clothing.
Dressed, I put her on my breast to feed as I shivered in the cold. I pulled blankets up around us. She fed, I cried. When she finished, I gathered some water that was running down the canvas. I quickly undressed her, washed her and redressed her.
"I'm sorry, my love. I know the water is cold, but we need to clean you."
I settled her on the floor of the tent, sighing heavily, I rested back and looked around. The wagon is in such a mess. Clothes pulled out and scattered about, dishes, pots and pans, toys, books.
I climb into the wagon, I need to straighten it up, put things where they belong.
I pick up a tiny shoe laying beside me. It belongs to David. I start feeling around to find the mate, picking up and folding things as I search, sorting them to their owner. I found the other shoe. I carefully lay the clothes in the crates.
It's hard to believe that we all shared this tiny space, and mats in a tent, but now it feels cavernous with only Lucy and I occupying it. Cold and lonely. I stretch out next to her, touching her flushed cheek. She is cool to the touch.
"Oh Jacob. What do I do now? I can't do this without you," I whisper.
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### Chapter 2: Chapter 2
"Annie! Annie, I have it! Come see, Annie!"
"Jacob, must you be so loud?" I laugh, coming in with a basket of dried clothes from the back room. I miss hanging the laundry outside.
"I have it!" he shouts, taking the basket from me.
"So I gather," I start folding clothes.
He takes my hand and pulls me to the table, spreading out a map. The map that will take us to our future thousands of miles from Boston.
I have known Jacob my whole life, and loved him just as long. I am the daughter of a grocer and he, the son of a blacksmith, neither very high in the ranks of society, but rich in our love.
We have been married five years now and have two bubbling children that we dote on constantly. Mary is five and David is three.
Jacob had a dream of going west into the new country, a world in no comparison to the world we live in now. Wild, untamed, untouched by politics and petty people that only wish to take, but never give. A world in which we build our own lives by our standards.
At first I thought he was crazy, we knew nothing of the wild or how to go about traveling such a route, but he has been working diligently learning all he can, what it will entail, how much, what will only be necessary for the journey. And I admit, I began to see his way, catching the same burning desire.
"Okay, so. This is the route we will take. We will be on our own the first four hundred miles, then we can join a wagon train here," he points at the map.
"We will have to leave the first of March in order to connect with them. It has to be precise or we will miss them. They leave the same day every year. We need to start preparing now."
"Jacob," I lay my hand on his strong lightly whiskered cheek.
"Breathe my love. You will faint from lack of air if you don't calm down," I laugh and kiss him.
"You may be right!" he laughs and pulls me close.
"Oh Annie, it's really going to happen. We will be free, our children will be free. It still feels like a dream," he smiles.
"Our dream. Now, help me with these clothes so I can start dinner," I threw something at him.
"I'm sorry my dear, my hands are black and dirty," he laughs, rolling up the map.
"I need to get back to work," he laughs and runs out the door.
I can't help but smile at his excitement as I set about folding the laundry. I hear little giggles from the next room. I peek around the corner to see Mary playfully patting David on the nose with a sock doll. I leave them play, and go back to my task.
It is January now, we have two months to get prepared for our adventure. There is a long list of must have items to start our new lives, plus a couple of luxury items on the back burner if we have the room.
Everything has to be weighed and measured. Jacob is building our wagon. He is customizing it to be larger than most. Most being about ten by four, bearing approximately twenty five hundred pounds, he will make it fifteen by five.
Supplies such as hand saws, crosscut saws, Axes, shovels, tools to repair the wagon if needed, cooking utensils such as cauldrons and skillets. Hoes, rakes, plows, tools to start the land, lanterns and oil, bullets and knives, and seed. These are the must haves. All of which will weigh quite heavy.
The food and water supplies are weighed in next. There will be two large water barrels attached on either side. Dry boxes as well. Flour, sugar, lard, rice, and coffee will be the backbone of our diet.
My father has promised to supply anything needed for our journey from the store, but my mother insists we dry and can, as much as we can ourselves. We will make our own soap and any essential balms. All of these things weigh in.
Personal items will be kept to a minimum. We will take three changes of clothing as well as my sewing machine and bolts of fabric for later production.
Quits and linens, although not heavy, but space hungry. Tin dishes will serve us just fine. I will dearly miss my grandmother's beautiful china, we can survive without it.
I have discovered through preparation, that there will be a lot of things we can survive without. I smile with my heart knowing that the only things in this life I truly need are my husband and children.
Lucy is getting fussy as I drag myself back to the task at hand. I feed her as I continue to square things away. She is such a good baby, quiet unless hungry, sleeps well and always has a smile for her daddy. The tears flood my eyes as I remember, she will never smile for him again.
Her down for a spell, I light a lantern in the dark tent to see the map that Jacob had prepared for us to follow, milestones, distances, resources along the way.
I will need to pull out at first light. There is a town marked about a days journey from here. Maybe I can find some help there, whether it be returning to Boston, or continuing to join up with the wagon train in a week from now.
I stepped out into the humid air that came with rain. The air is clean, nothing like the congestion of Boston. Moving the mules to taller grass, fetching fresh water, it all seems so much like breathing now.
There is no dry wood to start a fire, so either I don't eat or resolve to eating raw potatoes. I look at the rifle laying under the wagon seat. It will serve no purpose without a fire. I go back into the tent and wait for sleep to come.
Before our journey began, we gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Lucy. She was two months old as the day arrived.
Jacob has been packing and preparing the wagon for weeks now. The stable has delivered four mules and a milk cow. Mother has gathered as many eggs as possible from her hen house, boiling dozens to preserve. Friends and neighbors have gathered, offering unbelievable amounts of food and staples. I fear the mules will be overtaxed with the extra supplies.
Our farewells said in streams of tears, we set off to our new lives.
Only achieving approximately twenty miles a day, long days roll into long weeks, weeks into months. The children are always restless as well as Jacob and I. When I can't stand the confines of the wagon any longer, I walk alongside, letting the children run wild, burning out pent up energy. Even Jacob has to step down to walk the wagon along.
The first peril comes at the crossing of a river. A small river, but a river rushing angry with the melting snow, icy cold water. Jacob had planned on such an incident and made the bottom of the wagon solid and water-proof, heavily tarring it.
With the rising of the sun, Jacob carefully leads the team and wagon across. The mules buck and bray, the wagon rocks and tries to turn sideways.
We had almost reached the other side when one of the mules went under. Jacob is riding the lead mule on the right. He can't get the mule back up, he has no choice but to cut it loose. He drops into the water and goes under. My heart stopped until he resurfaced. Sadly we watched the mule be swept away.
Secured on the shore, I built a raging fire to warm him and made a hot soup. The next morning, we set out again after Jacob had made adjustments to the harnesses and pole.
Our journey continued. We all became foul and fed up. There would be days when Jacob and I would snap at one another over the simplest thing, then the guilt would eat us alive. But we went to bed in one another's arms to declarations of our love.
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Authors can write and upload their manuscripts on Inkit for free and writers retain 100% of their copyrights while writing on Inkitt
Readers can read all books for free, without any ads and give the authors feedback.
Books that perform well based on their reader engagement are published on our Galatea app.
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