Mama's Bible

by Mildred Colvin

  Jason swallowed his disappointment. So Katie wasn’t just a hurting believer. “I’ll add my prayers to yours.”

  “I’m glad, but please be careful. Be friends with Katie and Tommy, but don’t lose your heart yet.”

  He nodded. He couldn’t lose his heart now because he’d already done that.

  ~*~

  “Here, can you put this back for me?” Mama handed a cast-iron skillet to Katie. “I don’t think I’ll use it after all.”

  Katie took the skillet and turned to hang it on the side of the wagon out of the way when she saw the tall, lean figure of Jason Barnett coming toward them. An unexpected racing of her pulse surprised her. She briefly closed her eyes and shook her head, denying the stirrings of her heart that she couldn’t believe and wouldn’t accept. Jason was Tommy’s friend. He meant nothing to her.

  His face broke into a smile when she looked back. He lifted the wide-brimmed felt hat that usually sat at an angle on his head. “Hi. You in the mood for a walk?”

  She couldn’t stop the smile that pulled at her mouth. “Sure, I’ll see if Tommy wants to go, too.”

  “Don’t think so.” He shook his head. “I just saw him heading toward Scott’s Bluff.”

  The train was camped just past the famous bluffs. Katie figured she’d help Mama sort and repack the wagon during their half-day rest before they reached Fort Laramie. If they restocked there, they’d need room for their purchases. “I don’t know if I should go. How about Rachel? I’m sure she would like to.”

  Jason chuckled. “She’s already gone—with Tommy.”

  “With Tommy? They were together?” Katie stared at him.

  Jason nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t think I saw Suzy heading out with anyone.”

  Katie smiled. That was the reason he asked her to go. He wanted to play horsey for Susanna again. She shook her head. “Suzy wasn’t feeling well so Mama put her to bed as soon as we stopped. Do you still want me to go?”

  “Sure I do. That’s why I asked.”

  “All right. If you’ll wait just a minute, I’ll ask Mama if she needs my help with anything.”

  When she turned the corner of the wagon, Mama waved her away. “You go ahead and have fun. It’ll be at least two hours before the beans are ready and I think I’ll rest with Suzy.” She brushed a wayward strand of hair from her face and sighed. “I’ll be glad to get to the fort where we can get some more food. I don’t know how long the little we have will last.”

  “I know, Mama. But we should be there in a few days.” Katie gave her a quick hug. “Thanks for letting me go.”

  Katie couldn’t remember feeling so aware of a man before as she was Jason. Walking beside him without Tommy or Rachel seemed strange, but she soon forgot her awkwardness as Jason talked about his early years.

  “My parents died when I was young. I don’t really remember either of them.”

  “How terrible. Who raised you?”

  “My grandparents, but we lost Grandpa when a cow stepped on him. Not right off.” Jason looked toward the bluff. “He lived several weeks after that. Grandma and I stayed on the farm and tried to keep it going, but I was still so young. I couldn’t do the job of a man, and she couldn’t either. I was fifteen when she died.”

  Katie searched his face and saw a hint of pain even as he smiled. “I had a run-down farm and a few animals so I hired out to Grandma’s neighbors. They offered to buy the place and take me on, too. I liked them, and they seemed to like me all right, so we made the deal.”

  “The Taylors?” She guessed.

  “Right.” He grinned. “They are the closest to parents I’ve ever had. They saw that I finished school and taught me just about everything I know.” He grew serious then. “I guess the most important thing they taught me was about the love of God.”

  “Then, you’re more than just their hired hand.” Katie spoke her thought aloud.

  Jason grinned. “They’ve always made me feel as if I’m their son. To me, they’re Ma and Pa.”

  When they arrived at the high bluff, Katie looked around, recognizing several people from the train, but didn’t see her brother. “I wonder where Tommy and Rachel are?”

  “Maybe they’re in another part. Are you too tired to walk around a little?”

  “Of course not.” She took a step landing on loose rock.

  “Be careful.” Jason’s hand closed around Katie’s arm to steady her. His touch seemed to burn through her flesh, and she was aware of his nearness in a way she had not expected and wasn’t sure she liked. She took a deep breath and let it out. What on earth was wrong with her? Her confused feelings angered her and she jerked her arm away.

  “I’m fine. I wasn’t going to fall, and even if I did I suppose I could get back up without help.”

  The hurt in his sky blue eyes reprimanded her so she softened her voice. “I appreciate your help. I guess I just wasn’t expecting it.”

  She crossed to a large flat rock and sat down. When he sat beside her, she turned to look up the sloping base of the bluff to the wall of rock that rose straight above them for several hundred feet. He didn’t speak. She’d probably hurt his feelings. And no wonder. What got into her sometimes to be so rude? She searched her mind for something to say. “Everything is brown. I’d love to see some green again.”

  His voice sounded soft so close beside her. “I know. Except for the green of your eyes, I doubt there’s any within miles of here.”

  Katie looked quickly at him then away. She twisted her fingers in her lap. She shouldn’t have left camp alone with him. Not that she feared him. More likely she feared her reaction to his nearness.

  “That must have been a terrible ordeal for Hiram Scott.”

  “Who?” Katie looked up, puzzled.

  Jason grinned. “Hiram Scott was a fur trader who got sick while on an expedition in 1829. His companions went off and left him rather than risk their own lives. He crawled sixty miles across the dry, barren plain to this bluff. After that torturous crawl, his strength gave out and he simply lay down and died.”

  Compassion filled Katie’s heart. “How terrible. How did you know about it?”

  “I read it in the guide just before we came.”

  “Oh, you! I should’ve known the way you sounded like you were quoting something.” Katie laughed, and his laughter blended with hers.

  While others milled around them, Katie began to relax as she and Jason sat on the rock and talked. As the shadows crept across them, the air became cooler. Katie jumped up. “Oh, no, my mother will be sick with worry. She said to come back in a couple of hours, and I’ll bet we’ve been gone twice that long.”

  Jason took her hand as they walked toward camp, and she didn’t resist. Instead, she nestled her hand in his and felt the rightness of doing so. Although, when Tommy met them not far out of camp, she pulled her hand away and Jason didn’t stop her.

  “Where have you two been?” Tommy’s expression held a mixture of disbelief and suspicion as he looked from one to the other.

  “The same place you and Rachel were, if my source is right.” Katie retorted.

  Tommy had the grace to look guilty. “Yeah, I guess I don’t have much room to talk. I wanted to go to the bluff so when Rachel happened along, I asked her if she’d like to go with me. Actually, we just got back a few minutes ago. Mama was a little worried so I told her I’d see if I could find you.”

  “We didn’t see you out at the bluff.” Katie said.

  “I assure you, we were there. After the walk out there, we sat down to rest and ended up talking for longer than we realized.” He grinned. “Did you know that every hair on my head has been counted?”

  “By Rachel?” Katie thought the idea was preposterous, but a scene with Rachel going through Tommy’s hair one by one came to her mind.

  Tommy laughed. “Rachel told me that. She didn’t count them.”

  Jason grinned at Katie. “I think she’s referring to the Scripture in Matthew that says God knows even th
e very number of hairs on our heads.”

  “Oh, well that makes more sense.” Katie picked up her pace. The sooner she got away from both of them, the better she’d like it. Maybe Clay would come over tonight so she could enjoy herself.

  But Clay didn’t come. Katie went to bed early and fell asleep almost instantly. Her dreams were devoid of Clay. Instead they were filled with a tall, lean figure wearing Kentucky jeans, a blue cotton shirt, covered by a buckskin vest and a wide-brimmed felt hat set at a jaunty angle atop a head of golden-blond hair.

  Chapter 10

  Katie fixed her sights on Laramie Peak and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. The few days to Fort Laramie had stretched to more than a week and she was tired of the constant walking. She hated the sand and heat. And they were running out of food.

  She turned to Rachel. “We’ll be at the fort as soon as we cross the river and I will be so glad.”

  Rachel smiled. “I know. It seems like this last week has been as long as all the rest put together. Look over there.” She pointed to a small thicket of cottonwood trees growing near the edge of the Laramie River. “If that isn’t a sight for sore eyes, I don’t know what is.”

  Katie gave a short laugh. “I’ve longed to see something alive and growing after all this sand. There’s some grass, too. On the hills over there. Isn’t it beautiful?”

  “Yes, and the animals will think it’s delicious.”

  The next day they arrived at the river crossing where Katie was shocked to see Indian men helping. She ran up to her father. “What is going on?”

  “Looks like we’re getting some help.”

  “Is that safe?” Katie knew the river was broad and its banks were rough and rocky so they could probably use the help, but Indians frightened her.

  “I’d reckon if it wasn’t, Jeb would stop it.”

  When they reached the opposite bank, teepees set up outside the fort came into view. Maybe Jeb Larson didn’t know what he was doing. The Indians, who had helped, ran toward the teepees where they joined their waiting squaws and children. Katie’s heart sank. The wagon train would be camped for two days outside the fort next to a temporary Indian village.

  Katie divided her attention between the Indians and the fort as she helped her mother prepare for the evening meal. Fort Laramie, primarily a trading post, sat near the foot of the hills. The low, oblong stone building she’d caught a glimpse of when they arrived held supplies for which the emigrants were eager to trade. Far too many in the wagon train had already started rationing food after almost two months on the trail. Maybe Dad would bring back something different than the beans, bread, and dried apples they had been eating.

  As she and her mother got the fire going and beans on to boil, Katie glanced about for Jason. She hadn’t seen him since their trip to Scott’s Bluff. He was as unpredictable as Clay. Why did she always attract men who only showed up when they wanted to? His absence was becoming conspicuous and she could only assume he was avoiding her. Clay probably was, too.

  But something had happened between her and Jason that day at the bluff. She felt it when they touched hands and saw it in his eyes as he looked at her. To believe he would avoid her now hurt more than she wanted to admit.

  She sighed as she stirred beans into the boiling water. Something must be wrong with her. She was attracted to Clay, yet just the thought of Jason set her pulse to racing. Since his sister’s accident, Clay barely noticed her and now Jason avoided her.

  Her father striding into camp interrupted her gloomy thoughts. “Mary, I need to talk to you. Those Indians are demanding a party.”

  “A party?” Mama straightened from the fire where she had just poked another stick. “I don’t understand.”

  Dad sat on an overturned barrel. “They want us to give them a party tomorrow night. They want music, but more than that, they want our food and whisky.”

  “Oh, dear.” Mama sat down in her rocking chair. “I suppose they feel they have it coming after helping us cross the river.”

  “You’d better believe that’s what they think.” Dad spat to the side. “We’ll have to feed that mob of savages over there with what little we have to last us the next three or four months and most of us don’t even have enough to keep ourselves going that long.”

  “Did you get anything at the trading post?” Mama looked hopefully at the bundles he had dropped near his feet.

  He nodded. “A little. The pickings were slim, but it would have been enough without this party.”

  “Is there any way we can get out of it?”

  Dad shook his head. “No, if we don’t have a party, they’ll never let us go through their territory and come out alive.”

  The next day as clouds gathered in the southwest, the tantalizing aroma of dried apple pie, fresh bread, and cake drifted through the air. Katie glanced over at the Indian village where several Indians sat on the ground just outside their teepees.

  “Look at them.” She complained to her mother. “They’re lazing around over there watching us. They remind me of vultures waiting for the kill.”

  Mama shook her head with a sad smile. “Pay them no mind. We’ll be leaving tomorrow. I suppose the loss of some of our supplies won’t stop us. Besides, a party might be a good thing. We will show them that white men can be friends and pay their debts. After all, they did help us cross the river.”

  “Mama, it was all of three feet deep! I really think we could have crossed without them.”

  Mama smiled. “I know, Katie. I know.” She glanced up at the overcast sky. “Maybe it will rain so we won’t have to stay long.”

  Katie shrugged. “Maybe. I guess we can hope for rain. Suzy felt hot to me while ago. She’s lying down now.”

  “I know. Seems she goes from one sickness to another. Thank the Lord nothing has been serious. I’ll keep her here at the wagon tonight.”

  “Mama, can I stay with her?” Katie frowned. There would be drinking tonight with the Indians, and Dad didn’t need to be near whiskey. He’d done so well avoiding it since they left Missouri. But without Mama’s presence, he might slide back into his old ways.

  Her mother gave her a sharp look. “There’s bound to be dancing and your friends will all be there.”

  “That’s all right. I’d rather stay with Suzy. We’ll be fine here. At least we’ll be away from those Indians.” Katie shuddered.

  Mama looked across at the Indian village and frowned. “All right. Maybe it would be for the best.”

  That evening Katie arranged a mattress and some pillows at the back of the wagon where she and Susanna could watch the activities. A makeshift table in the center of the wagon circle held a feast that the people of the train would sorely miss when they returned to the trail. The fiddle started its call to the dancers, and Katie’s toes wanted to tap. How she would love to join the couples moving together to begin the dance. The other instruments joined in and lively music soon filled the night. Hands clapped and feet stomped to keep time. Several people moved forward to dance, but Clay didn’t join them. Katie saw him standing on the sidelines watching for several minutes before he turned and walked away and she lost sight of him.

  “I can’t see good.” Susanna squirmed, trying to get closer to the opening in the wagon.

  Katie pulled her onto her lap. “Is that better?”

  At Susanna’s nod, she looked out, letting her hand brush her little sister’s hair back from her warm face.

  The Indians drew her attention with frightening fascination. Their copper-tinted skin shone in the light from the campfires as they greedily devoured the food. She hated the sight of them, and she shouldn’t. Really, she had no right to fear or dislike them. Not personally, since they’d never done anything to her other than at Ash Hollow. And those were only boys having fun. Mama always said people usually confused fear for prejudice. That had to be her problem because she certainly feared Indians. She mentally shrugged and turned her attention toward her fellow travelers to see if
she could recognize anyone in the large crowd.

  Her parents stood talking to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. The Taylors seemed to be very nice people. No wonder Jason cared so much for them.

  She turned her attention elsewhere. Lately, Jason seemed to have taken over her thoughts and dreams. He was a good friend and she liked him. But their interests and beliefs were too different for anything more. She needed to remember that.

  “Do you see anyone you know, Suzy?” Katie pointed toward a group of young ladies. “Look, there’s Tommy’s friend, Amanda.”

  “Uh huh.” Susanna didn’t act interested. She seemed content to lie still and listen to the music.

  Tommy didn’t appear to be anywhere in sight. After their trip to Chimney Rock, he’d been spending more and more time with Rachel while Amanda had been keeping company with a young man named Jonathan Thomas. Rachel would make Tommy a wonderful wife. Not that Tommy or Rachel acted like that would happen. When Katie even hinted such a thing to either of them, they laughed at her.

  Katie searched the crowd and didn’t find Rachel either. Maybe she was with Tommy someplace. A distant roll of thunder brought her attention to the dark sky.

  “Hiding from our guests, are you?” Jason appeared at the end of the wagon.

  Katie jumped, and her heart thudded. “You could give a person some warning, you know.”

  “Sorry, I assumed you saw me coming.” He grinned. “You were too busy watching those Indians, weren’t you?”

  When she didn’t answer, he said, “I don’t think they’ll attack tonight. Not as long as they can stuff their stomachs. Besides, I imagine the rain will send them and us running for cover before this party is over.”

  “Suzy is sick.” Katie patted her little sister’s shoulder.

  “Oh, I didn’t even see you, Suzy.” Jason reached out and touched her check. “I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. I don’t think you’d like this party, anyway.”

  Susanna didn’t move from Katie’s lap, but she smiled at her friend. “Why not, Jason?”