Winds of Change
Vicki Hunt Budge
Eastwood Press
Copyright © 2019 by Vicki Hunt Budge
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously except for Horatio Nelson Jackson. I have woven some of Jackson’s true adventures into Cora’s story using facts about about the early automobile enthusiast, but all conversations that include Jackson or his mechanic are purely from my imagination.
For my father
who taught me how
to drive the
old green Chevy
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Author’s Note
The Next Book
Also by Vicki Hunt Budge
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Introduction
When Cora Gardner reads about a wealthy doctor who’s attempting to drive an automobile from San Francisco to New York City via southern Idaho, she makes a fifty-cent bet that he’ll succeed. But there are only 150 miles of paved roads in the country, and none in Idaho, so her chances of winning are slim. Her enthusiasm for the cross-country road race excites all the young people in town who are fascinated with the idea of horseless carriages. All the young people, that is, except for that stubborn Gideon Lewis.
Gideon Lewis learned to build wagons and wheels from his father, a master craftsman in his trade. He’s positive the automobile is simply a passing fancy for the wealthy, and that the doctor who’s attempting to drive across the country will bog down in Nevada’s sand like his predecessor. Gideon accepts Cora’s bet, however, and humors her in the attempt to win her hand.
Will the biggest event of 1903 in southern Idaho enable Cora and Gideon to stop arguing about the future of the automobile? Is the beginning of a new era in America also the beginning of a new era for Cora and Gideon?
Winds of Change is a fictional story based on an exciting true adventure. It’s a story of love and friendship and the ability to dream anew.
1
Cora Gardner stood at the counter of Jepson’s Mercantile, thumbing through the family’s mail with her younger sister. “Look, Alice! The new Sears, Roebuck catalog! Ma and the girls will be so excited.”
“Let me see!” Alice grabbed for the catalog. “If I don’t look through it right now, it’ll be days before I see it. Even Pa hogs it anymore, looking for tools or something for his workshop.”
“Let’s move out of the way,” Cora whispered, ignoring her sister’s outstretched hands. She scooped up the stack of mail and grinned at Mrs. Jepson, who stood behind the counter. Cora had already handed Mrs. Jepson the list of supplies her parents needed filled while she and Alice were in town.
“We’ll wait outside on the bench until our order’s ready,” Cora said, turning toward the door, and still ignoring Alice’s outstretched hands. With the catalog, the various newspapers and survey periodicals her father subscribed to, and the one package addressed to her father, the bundle of mail was an armload.
Alice held out her hands as soon as she and Cora settled on the wooden bench outside. “Give me the catalog,” she demanded, her voice practically a growl. “I get to look at it first.”
“Perhaps I want to look at it first,” Cora said, grinning mischievously and clutching the stack of mail to her chest.
Alice reached out and tugged on the catalog, trying to free it from Cora’s arms. “Give it to me,” she grunted. Soon the girls engaged in a tug of war, giggling and snickering as Cora clung to the catalog and Alice kept trying to pull it free. A couple of ladies gave them concerned looks as they skirted around the girls and entered the mercantile.
“Stop!” Cora said, trying not to laugh. But she couldn’t stop the snicker that escaped. Here she was eighteen years old, fighting with her younger sister over a silly catalog. “What will Ma say when she hears we were squabbling like school kids in front of the whole town?”
Alice’s eyes flicked sideways. “Ma won’t be pleased. So, give me the catalog. You can look at it on the way home, and I’ll drive the wagon.”
“Uh-uh, I’ll drive,” Cora countered. “The horses like me better than you. You can look at the catalog on the way home.”
One more tug from Alice caused the whole lot to slip from Cora’s hands and crash to the boardwalk. Both girls broke into muffled hysterics with newspapers and periodicals spread everywhere. The package bounced off the boardwalk and landed in front of Sage and Venus, the Gardner family’s horses.
“Now look what you’ve done!” Cora shrieked, her hat askew, her long blond hair in disarray. She stepped off the boardwalk and picked up her father’s package, dusting it off, and giving Sage and Venus quick rubs on their noses.
Alice snagged the catalog from amongst the mail clutter. She held it away from her sister with a smug look on her face.
“Oh, my goodness!” Cora gasped, ignoring Alice and slamming the package onto the bench. She leaned down and snatched up the San Francisco Examiner. The Examiner, one of her father’s favorite newspapers to keep track of events in the west, had a headline that grabbed her attention. “What’s this all about?”
Alice proceeded to open the Sears, Roebuck catalog and totally immersed herself in it.
Cora collapsed back onto the bench and studied the newspaper more thoroughly. “Will you look at this?” she said, nudging Alice on the arm.
“What?”
“Someone’s attempting another try at driving an automobile across the country.”
“Hurray!” Alice said, never looking up from the catalog. “You read about the road trip while I look at the latest styles.”
Cora devoured the article within seconds, her light blue eyes growing wider with every word. She discovered a second San Francisco Examiner in the stack of mail at her feet and read another article about the cross-country road trip. “Let’s go!” she said, jumping to her feet. “Hurry!”
Alice turned a page in the catalog. “What’s your rush? Mrs. Jepson hasn’t finished our order yet.”
“Forget the order,” Cora gasped, straightening her hat, and scooping the scattered mail into her arms again. She dashed over to the carriage and shoved the mail under the bench seat. “I have to show these articles to Gideon before I explode. Tell you what; you stay here. I’ll drive over to the wheelwright barn and come back for you and the order in a little while.”
“Oh, sure,” Alice said, smiling and not taking her eyes off the catalog. “Anything to traipse over to the wheelwright barn to see good-looking Gideon Lewis.”
“We’re supposed to drop off that broken wheel for Pa anyway. Remember?”
“Of course. I remember you volunteering to run that little errand for Pa just so you had an excuse to visit Gideon.” Alice turned another page in the catalog, and her eyes widened at something she saw. “Go ahead and visit your beloved,” she said. “I’ll sit right here and die of envy over the new fashions.”
“Humph!” Cora said, her eyes looking skyward. But she scrambled into the carriage
and took only a moment to fuss with her hair before guiding the horses down the road toward the wheelwright barn. “Gideon can’t fight progress any longer when it comes to the future of the automobile,” she said to no one but Sage and Venus. “These articles prove that I’m right about the future of the automobile, and he’s wrong.”
Gideon and Cora had been in constant conflict since attending school together when she was six and he was seven. It started with him pulling her braids and extended to spelling competitions, math quizzes, and political issues as the years went by. Their friendship had somehow survived even though they had been at odds for the past year regarding one of the major topics of the day: the future of the automobile.
A few minutes later, Cora brought the family carriage to a halt in front of the massive wheelwright barn. The red two-story building had a wide-open barn door on the main level and a family residence located to one side on the second level. A large sign above the open barn door read: Lewis and Sons, Wagon, Carriage and Wheel Makers. Wagons and wheels in various stages of manufacture or repair were in front and to the side of the barn.
Cora scooped her long skirt into one hand and used her other hand to balance herself as she jumped from the carriage. She hefted the heavy wooden wheel from the back of the carriage and held it upright while waiting for Gideon to notice her and come to retrieve it.
Gideon could be seen through the open double doorway of the barn wearing his leather apron. His strong arms hammered away with a fuller, an iron tool used to make and repair wooden wheels. He worked in front of a huge flaming fireplace, and it was several moments before he glanced up, dropped his heavy tool on the wheel-block, and ran out to greet Cora. He took the wheel from her that needed repairing and leaned it against the barn, returning to stand in front of her with a heart-stopping grin.
“You look right pretty on this beautiful spring day,” Gideon said, his dark eyes glowing under his smoke-covered brow. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped sweat and grime from his face.
“Thank you,” Cora said, reaching up and adjusting her straw hat that had slipped to one side again. She reached into the carriage, withdrew the two San Francisco Examiners, and handed them both to Gideon with a flourish.
“So, what do you think?” Cora asked, her eyes sparkling as she pointed to the first article.
Gideon read the headline of the first newspaper out loud. “Dr. H. N. Jackson and S.K. Crocker Will Start This Morning on Automobile Trip They Hope Will End in New York.” He scanned a couple of paragraphs before handing the newspapers back to Cora. “They won’t make it,” he scoffed. “They’ll bog down in Nevada’s sand or break down before they reach California’s border, just like the others who’ve tried to cross the country in one of those new-fangled contraptions.”
Cora stomped her foot. He made her so mad with his mulish attitude. “Read the article in the second paper,” she demanded, her voice failing to conceal her excitement and exasperation. “This Horatio Nelson Jackson guy and his mechanic are not going through Nevada! They decided to take a northern route through southern Oregon and Idaho!” She added even more volume to her voice when she said, “Idaho.”
Gideon grinned at her. “Your face turns the prettiest color when you’re upset.”
“Don’t you dare change the subject, Gideon Lewis!”
Gideon looked at her with patient eyes. “Cora, there’s no such thing as a northern route from San Francisco to New York. The only route is almost straight east. No one in their right mind would travel up into Oregon and Idaho first.” He paused and spoke gently as though trying to calm her. “There probably aren’t more than cow trails in southern Oregon, and there’s a lot of country to get lost in.”
“Jackson made a fifty-dollar bet,” Alice said, trying to emphasize how determined Horatio Nelson Jackson was to be the first person to cross the country in an automobile.
Gideon ducked his head, shaking it slightly. “He’s just one of those rich guys who cavort around big cities in automobiles and can afford to lose money on trivial bets.”
“He may be rich, but he’s smart,” Cora argued. “He believes the automobile is the way of the future, just like I do. And he’s set out to prove it.”
“Does that make me not smart because I don’t agree with him?”
“That makes you exasperating!”
“What kind of automobile is the guy driving, anyway?”
Cora scanned the newspaper article again. “A Winton,” she said.
“A Winton?” Gideon covered his face with his hand, unsuccessfully attempting to hide another grin. “The Winton is the automobile that failed to make it across Nevada two years ago. Mr. Winton himself tried to drive across the country in one of his automobiles. He ended up stuck in a sand drift. This new guy can’t possibly succeed. There’re only a few good roads in the whole country, and they’re all in the big cities. Johnson will get buried in sand just like Mr. Winton did.”
“His name is Jackson,” Cora said, shaking the newspaper at him. “Horatio Nelson Jackson.”
Gideon’s eyes closed momentarily, and it looked like he struggled to keep from smiling. “What I’m saying is that by going north into Oregon, this Jackson guy’s planning to travel hundreds of miles out of his way over country that’s never, ever seen an automobile. It’s impossible! He’ll tear that Winton and its tires to shreds driving through rocky mountain roads and sagebrush deserts. You’ll probably never hear about him or his automobile after another week or two.”
Cora’s lips twisted, her eyes narrowed. “I’ll bet you . . . I’ll bet you fifty cents that Jackson drives his car right through Oregon and Idaho, all the way to New York City and proves you wrong.”
“Cora, you shock me.” Gideon clasped his hand to his chest. “A genteel young lady like yourself, betting on a scheme such as this. What would your parents think?”
“Well, they don’t believe in gambling,” Cora admitted, huffing and raising her chin, “but this isn’t a gamble. This is one visionary’s realistic opinion that a lot has changed in the past few years. Trains cross the whole country now, and more and more people are getting electricity in their homes and telephones in their towns. The automobile’s only been around a few years, but it’s just a matter of time before it replaces the horse and buggy. Some people are just too stubborn to admit it though.”
Gideon wiped his forehead again and pushed his dark hair out of his eyes. His voice took on a softer tone and he smiled. “I’m not trying to be stubborn, Cora, but only people in cities have electricity, and only a few people have access to telephones. Rural farming communities probably won’t see those kinds of improvements for years. I don’t believe a horseless carriage will ever replace the horse and buggy for the farmer or the ordinary man. Automobiles are simply a novelty.”
Before Cora could counter his argument, Gideon pressed on. “Since the government passed the Rural Free Delivery Act, farmers are starting to get mail delivered right to their farms now, instead of having to drive all the way into the nearest town like your family does. You wouldn’t believe how many orders our family is getting to build rural mail wagons. It’s like an explosion. And horses will pull those wagons, because horses don’t get bogged down in mud or sand. Horses keep going, even in rain and snow. They’re reliable. The horse and buggy are still the way of the future for farmers and practical people everywhere.”
“You just wait and see,” Cora said, turning on her heel and flouncing into the carriage seat before Gideon could help her. “When Horatio Nelson Jackson and his mechanic drive that automobile right through southern Idaho, people like you will realize that big changes are coming. I, for one, am going to go wave a flag when he comes through and cheer him on.”
“If Johnson makes it to Idaho, I’ll go with you to cheer for him,” Gideon said.
“His name is Jackson!”
Gideon grinned at her in that way that made her quiver inside when she wasn’t so mad at him. “But Jackson won’t make it a
cross the California mountains,” he said, “or if he does, he’ll get lost in that uncharted waste land of southern Oregon.”
“Oh, you make me so fighting mad!” Cora said, and she flicked the reins, setting the horses into motion.
“I accept your bet!” Gideon called out as the carriage slowly turned around and the horses headed back toward town. “Fifty cents says Jackson won’t make it to southern Idaho, let alone to New York City!”
“You and Gideon made a bet?” Alice said upon Cora’s return to the mercantile, and the frustrated retelling of Cora’s encounter with Gideon.
“Only for fifty cents! Horatio Nelson Jackson made a fifty dollar bet with those men in San Francisco that he could drive an automobile clear across the country in less than ninety days. I say he’ll do it, but Gideon clings to the notion that they’ll bog down or break down somewhere and never make their way into Idaho.”
“Well, Gideon could be right,” Alice said, as she helped Cora load their mother’s supplies into the back of the carriage. “I know you got to ride in an automobile when you and Belle went to Salt Lake City last year, and that you’re in love with the horseless carriage, but the rest of us have never seen one of those machines. I doubt anyone in Clover Creek has seen one.”
“That’s right. You haven’t seen the power of an automobile, and neither has Gideon.” Cora and Alice loaded the last of their mother’s supplies into the carriage and covered them with a blanket to keep the dust off. After tying the blanket down, Cora turned to Alice again. “If you could see how automobiles chug down the road all on their own, you would believe they’re the way of the future like I do,” she said. “Gideon makes me so mad, though. He won’t listen to reason. I know his family builds wagons and wagon wheels for a living, and that line of work has been in their family for hundreds of years, but Gideon needs to open his eyes to the future. He needs to forget about wagons and think of building automobiles or at least repairing them.”
Winds of Change (The Surveyor's Daughters Book 4) Page 1