“How did you get permission to do that?” Tommy asked.
Rachel smiled. “We didn’t. Pa and Daniel put sand in the pine box meant for Uncle Joseph and went ahead with the funeral. I saw the owner and his son watching from the ridge, but they didn’t look inside the boxes. They think Uncle Joseph is buried in the slaves’ cemetery.”
“So, you had no place to go and decided to start over in Oregon?” Jason asked.
Rachel nodded. “That’s right. Oregon is free country without slavery.” She looked down at her hands in her lap. “But Uncle Joseph didn’t make it. He died before we reached Missouri. Of course, he wasn’t really my uncle, but I respected him and miss him.” Rachel turned to Tommy. “Now it’s your turn.”
Tommy lifted his eyebrows. “I wish I could say we left for honorable reasons, but I’d be lying if I did.”
Katie looked down as her brother went on.
“Dad’s always had a liking for the whiskey bottle. About once a week, he’d visit the local saloon where he could drink and play cards, too. The last time he went, he had what he called a bad run of luck. He lost his hand of cards and our farm.”
“Oh, no.” Rachel covered her mouth, her eyes wide.
“Yeah.” Tommy grinned at her. “Dad’s Irish and has the temper that goes with it. He couldn’t face Mama if he didn’t at least try to get the farm back, so he tried to reason with the man who won it. When talking didn’t work, he used his fists and knocked the man’s head against an iron railing. He thought he’d killed him for sure. Oregon sounded pretty good then.”
“Did he?” Jason asked. “Kill the man, I mean.”
Tommy shook his head. “No. The sheriff caught up with us before we got very far and told Dad he was in the clear. Considering we still had no home to go back to, he decided to turn over a new leaf and go on to Oregon. So here we are.”
“He seems like a nice man.” Rachel stared into Tommy’s face.
Tommy nodded. “He is normally. I’ll admit I’m a little surprised he’s stayed sober all this time. I guess he meant it when he said he wouldn’t touch the stuff again.”
While Tommy told of their father’s run in with the law, Katie thought of Rachel’s story. Admiration for the Morgans contrasted with her feelings of resentment toward her own father. She wondered if she would ever find it in her heart to forgive him. The loss of their farm now seemed insignificant compared to the greater loss of her young brother. For that, there could be no forgiveness.
Chapter 12
Independence Rock loomed in the west. Far beyond it, at the western horizon, Devil’s Gate waited. For the last two days Katie had watched the huge rock grow larger as they advanced.
Tommy rode in her direction. She pulled Star up and waited until he came alongside.
“Well, what’s ahead of us?”
Tommy grinned. “Not much except that big rock you can see from here. We’ll be there by nightfall.”
“That big rock is famous, you know.”
Tommy nodded. “I plan to take Rachel there to see it. We’ll be staying over a while to take advantage of Sweetwater River. The animals need the grass, and we need the rest.”
Katie brightened at his news. “Then you do like Rachel.”
“I never said I didn’t.” Tommy laughed. “Why do you keep pushing her off on me? I like Rachel because she explains the Bible better than any preacher I’ve ever heard.”
He turned Midnight toward the wagons. “There’s more to life than love and marriage, little sister. It’s time you thought of your spiritual condition instead of romance all the time.”
Katie watched him ride away. He was falling for Rachel, she was sure of it. Rachel was already half in love with him. She smiled. She was young. There’d be time enough to think of religion. Right now Tommy and Rachel’s blooming romance promised to be more interesting. Her smile faded as she thought of her own desert of love. Clay and Jason were both special in their own way. She might be able to fall for either of them, but Clay seemed to have lost interest in her, and Jason only wanted to be friends with Tommy and her because of the way he’d felt about Karl. She spent the rest of the day bemoaning her lack of beaus and Tommy’s lack of interest in anything romantic.
The company arrived at the foot of Independence Rock and began making camp beside Sweetwater River where they found plenty of clear, sweet water and tender, green grass for the animals.
A bend in the river provided a private place for the girls and women to bathe. Katie and Rachel went early the next morning with a few other girls. Katie took a soothing bath and washed her long, auburn hair until the sunshine sparkled off the ends like spun gold.
“Oh, it feels good to be clean again.” She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and dressed. She rolled down her long sleeves then lifted her wet, heavy hair from her back and combed her fingers through the strands. The sun was already out, warming the land and would be uncomfortable before long.
“I know.” Rachel squeezed water from her dark brown hair. She stopped and looked at Katie. “Are you aware it’s almost the fourth of July?”
Katie grinned and nodded. “That’s where Independence Rock got its name. Or so I’ve been told. Almost all the wagon trains coming through here arrive about this same time. Independence Day equals Independence Rock.”
Rachel laughed. “And where did you get all that information? From a young man we all know by the name of Jason Barnett, maybe?”
“How did you guess?” Katie climbed from the water. “He’s always finding something in that guide book of his to share with us.”
“Are you going to the rock?” Rachel followed. “Why don’t we go together?”
Katie lifted her eyebrows. “Aren’t you going with Tommy?”
A flush touched Rachel’s cheeks. She shook her head. “Not that I know of.”
Katie shook her head. “He told me yesterday he planned to take you and he hasn’t even asked you yet?”
The color in Rachel’s cheeks grew darker. “I didn’t know.”
“But you will go with him?”
Rachel nodded. “If he asks me. You don’t mind, do you?”
Katie hurried to dress. “No, I don’t mind. Actually, I mind that he didn’t ask you last night. He can’t expect you to drop everything and run off with him just because he wants to talk about the Bible.”
Instant regret for her thoughtless words filled Katie’s heart when she saw the crushed look on Rachel’s face. “He told me you explain the Bible better than any preacher, but Rachel, he also told me he likes you.”
A weak smile was all she got. She’d love to choke her brother. Couldn’t he see what he had in Rachel? She was beautiful and smart and she was the Christian girl he wanted. Whether he knew it or not.
“Come on.” Katie turned toward camp. “If Tommy doesn’t show up, we’ll go without him. We’ve got a ton of things to do before we go traipsing off to look at a big rock.”
Katie found her mother struggling to take a load of laundry to the river to be washed. Katie took the bundle from her. “Mama, you shouldn’t be carrying this. It’s much too heavy.”
Mama smiled. “I don’t think it would have hurt me, Katie, but I appreciate your concern.”
The clothing wouldn’t be clean enough to suit her when they finished, but she kept quiet. There was no point in complaining. The river was the best place to do their wash for now. She hurried through the chores, washing and laying out the clothes to dry. She carried the basket back to camp and started to climb into the wagon to straighten it.
Her mother’s hand on her arm stopped her. “Katie, if this doesn’t get done today, it can wait.”
“I’m sorry, Mama, I was hoping to see Independence Rock today. Tommy said he was going to take Rachel. I thought if I hurried, I could go with them.”
“I see.” Mama placed her hands against the small of her back to stretch. “Just the three of you?”
“I’m sure other people will go, too, but I suppose ju
st the three of us will go together. Why?”
Mama looked especially interested in the clean clothing she was folding. “I thought Jason might be going along, too.”
“Jason?” Katie’s eyes grew wide. What did her mother have in mind? “Why Jason?”
“Isn’t he your friend, too?”
“He’s Tommy’s friend.”
Mama looked at Katie. “Oh? I thought he might be your friend as well.”
Katie slumped against the end of the wagon. “What exactly are you trying to say?”
Mama put a folded towel in a box with the others. “Jason is a fine Christian boy. You could do a lot worse than him, Katie.”
“Oh, Mama!” Katie felt the color rise to her face. A fine Christian boy was the last thing she wanted. Someone like Clay was more to her liking. “Are you trying to marry me off?
Mama looked at her a moment. “You are plenty old enough for marriage. Yes, I would like to see you settled with a good husband, but I think today I will allow you to run off and look at Independence Rock. You’ve worked hard and need a little holiday.”
Katie jumped up and gave her mother a quick hug. “I love you, Mama. One day I’ll make you proud of me.”
Mama held Katie close. “I couldn’t be any more proud of you than I am right now, sweetheart. I just want your happiness.”
“I am happy, Mama. Truly, I am.”
~*~
Katie checked first at the Morgan’s camp. “Is Rachel here?”
Mrs. Morgan shook her head. “I’m sorry, she just left with your brother. I would think you could catch them if you hurry.”
“Thank you.” Katie hurried away, but she didn’t see them anywhere. She left the security of the wagon circle and started toward the huge rock formation whose base covered more than twenty acres. She could see others already there and a couple about halfway between the wagons and the rock, but she didn’t recognize Tommy or Rachel among them.
As she came closer, she saw someone on a ledge of the rounded granite rock near the top. She took a second look then quickened her steps until she reached the base and stood looking up at Jason.
A warm smile spread slowly over his face when he looked down at her. He motioned to her. “Come on up and I’ll show you something.”
Katie shook her head. “I can’t climb up there.”
“Then I’ll help you.” He climbed down a few feet and reached toward her. “Take my hand, Katie.”
She hesitated before placing her hand in his. Jason backed up, digging each booted foot into small crevices in the surface of the rock. Katie clung to his hand and followed. Finally, he reached the ledge again and pulled her onto it with him.
They both sank to the hard surface and rested a moment before Jason stretched his arm out, indicating the view from their perch. “Look, Katie. Feast your eyes on the beauty God has set before us.”
She saw white canvas wagon tops gleaming bright in the sunshine like puffs of cotton on a lush green carpet. The long strip of blue that was Sweetwater River sparkled and seemed to wink at them as it flowed merrily on its way. The sky served as a light blue backdrop with wisps of filmy white clouds floating past.
“Now look at this.” Jason pulled her up. There on the side of the rock were carved names and dates. He read one. “The Oregon Company arrived here July 26, 1843.”
“Oh, how interesting.” Katie read another. “J. W. Nesmith from Maine.” She turned to Jason. “People have left their names behind for others to read. Are you going to do the same?”
He looked at her, his blue eyes searching deep into hers. “Do you think we should?”
“Of course.” Katie nodded. The wind loosened her hair, lifting it to fly out in wild disarray.
Jason watched her for several moments before he smiled and turned away. He took his hunting knife from its sheath and began scratching. She watched until he completed his name.
Next, he added her name until it read, “Jason and Katie—July 10, 1850.”
A warm tingle spread through Katie’s body. Jason had linked their names together for all time and for many people to see. Did he know what that would mean to her?
When he completed the date, Jason sat back on his heels and looked at it. Then he turned and smiled at Katie. His look ignited something within her heart, and she lowered her lashes in confusion. What was this feeling so foreign to anything she’d felt around any other young man? Jason was Tommy’s friend and that was all. Yet the very stirring of her heart suggested something else quite different.
She jumped back when he reached toward her. Without touching her skin, he brushed a flyaway tendril of hair from her face. His voice sounded gentle, the expression on his face sad. “We’d better be getting back.”
~*~
Katie watched her mother rock Suzy to sleep in the old wooden rocker. Susanna curled in her lap sharing space with the swelling that was her unborn sibling. Katie sat on a quilt on the ground apart from the others.
Mama often read from her Bible by the light of the campfire when all the work was done for the day. Tonight Tommy took her place, sitting on a barrel near the glowing campfire. He held Mama’s Bible reverently in his hands.
Dad was stationed somewhere along the outer fringes of the night ring on guard duty along with fifteen other men. Together they formed a circle around the company to warn of danger that might come from any direction.
Katie’s mind drifted as she listened to her brother read. She couldn’t understand the change in her older brother. Since the night of the Indians’ party, he was so different. Something had happened that night when he talked to Rachel. Something she didn’t understand.
“Hi, can I sit here?” Rachel whispered as she settled beside Katie. “I love to hear your brother read.”
“Yes, I can imagine.” Katie smiled, bringing a flush to Rachel’s cheeks. “Of course, you can listen, anytime you want to.”
“‘Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’” Tommy’s voice rang out, strong and sure.
Katie looked from her brother to her mother and then at Rachel. Did they know something she didn’t? Sometimes she felt as if she didn’t belong. Jason, too, she realized, made her feel that way. It was as if they were settled and peaceful like a pool of water, while her insides roared and thrashed about as a rushing river after a rain. As if she’d confronted a fork in life’s road, she realized she wanted to change things. If only she knew what and how. She looked again at Tommy and sensed there was help for her in what he read. She opened her mouth to call to him when a rifle shot rang out followed by the rapid explosion of other shots. Katie’s heart leapt inside.
Tommy jumped up, laying the Bible on the barrel. As in one movement, he swung into the wagon, coming out with his rifle. He joined a group of men from other wagons who were already heading toward the commotion. Katie looked at her mother and then at Rachel. Both sat with heads bowed, no doubt praying. Katie kept silent and listened over the sound of her own heartbeat for anything that would indicate what had just happened.
When Tommy came back, his face was white and his hands trembled as he laid the gun back in the wagon.
With her voice steady, Mary asked, “What is it, son? Is it your father?”
He nodded and knelt beside her, tears running down his face. His words came out in short sentences, broken by sobs. “It was Indians. They took some horses. Dad tried to stop them. The first shot was his. He hit one. Then, an arrow hit him. The men are bringing him here. Mama, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. He’s gone.” Tommy broke into sobs that shook his broad shoulders.
Rachel took Susanna and carried her to the wagon as Mama pulled Tommy close. She rocked him as gently as she would Susanna. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she didn’t make a sound.
Katie felt paralyzed in disbelief. How could her strong, Irish father, who literally vibrated with life, be dead? She refused to believe it. Hurt, yes, but he wasn’t dead.
Then
they were there. The men, quiet and reverent, laid him on the sheet that Rachel spread on the ground. They stood with bowed heads and sorrowful faces while the wagon master made plans with Mama to have the burial first thing in the morning.
Katie’s heart rebelled. She stared at the still, white face she loved and refused to believe. They said her father was gone just like Karl. All the bitterness and anger she had felt toward him for bringing them on the journey rose to the surface. New anger for leaving them alone in this horrible place blossomed and tears ran down her cheeks unnoticed.
She knelt beside him, scarcely believing what had happened. She memorized his face, frozen forever in death. “Why did you do this, Daddy?” She whispered, her voice hoarse. “You had no right to bring us here and leave us to—”
Death. The word lodged in her throat. She hated him, but she loved him. Guilt for her resentful feelings swept over her. How could she carry this heavy load of unforgiveness? How could she forgive him now? How could she ever forgive herself?
Someone knelt beside her, but she didn’t look up. Strong arms went around her, drawing her close, and she leaned against a buckskin-clad chest. Jason was there and he cared, but still the hurt and anger would not go away. She turned toward him, burying her face in his shoulder, as sobs shook her body.
~*~
Tommy gave up scouting and drove the wagon while Katie rode herd on the cattle every day. The pain of missing her father and the guilt of her unresolved anger toward him was so sharp she wondered if the arrow had also pierced her heart. She hated Indians with a hatred she was sure would never go away.
They were in the mountains now. The snow-covered peaks of Wind River Range hovered in the distance. Katie shivered in the thin, cool air and longed for the heat of the plains they had left several days ago. Mr. Colton continually urged the company to hurry through the high altitude as mountain fever, a sickness that caused high fever and vomiting and too often death, swept throughout the wagons. Most families were touched by the strange fever in varying degrees.
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