Angela's Hope (Wildflowers)

by Banicki, Leah

  Corinne nodded happily.

  Angie hugged her again and then added. “I beg you, find me a chair, and bath and then tell me all. You smell like a floral garden as always, making me more and more aware that I do not.” They shared a laugh as Angie led Corinne back to the wagon where she introduced the Brannigan family to her friend. The Brannigans were eager to be on their way but polite to Corinne and spoke only praise about her comrade Angela.

  “She was a dear girl and a pleasure to travel with. My bairns will be sad to not have her sweet hugs every morn.” Mrs. Brannigan said before she left with her children in tow, her husband giving her eager looks to be about their own business.

  Corinne took Angela back to the party of people waiting for her. After Corinne’s father made his presence known and introductions and hugs given by Angie they gathered luggage and headed back to their group and wagon waiting in the fields nearby. A feast was prepared and families from the arriving wagons were fed and helped. There was a boardinghouse in town for those without shelter and barns for animals to be fed and cared for.

  “Angie, meet my husband, Lucas Grant.” Corinne announced.

  Angie smiled and embraced the familiar man before her.

  “Oh Lucas, I somehow knew you would turn out well.” Angie teased him about how she secretly knew that he had an eye for her friend. “You were always nearby. Thank you for making my Cori so glowingly happy.” Angela’s praise made Lucas blush the tiniest amount, which continued the teasing from others nearby.

  “Where’s my redhead girl?” She heard the man’s voice before she saw him.

  “Clive!” Angie peaked around Lucas and saw the man with a heart of gold. His peppered hair cut shorter than he kept in on the trail last year, he wore a vest and tie and she was taken aback by his cleanliness. “You look like a city merchant, Clive.” She laughed and saw him curtsy in his comedic way.

  “You scared me last year, my girl. We were all afraid for ya. I can’t say how warm my heart is today to see you alive and well. Though you are mite skinny girl. Corinne better feed you good to get the red back in your cheeks instead of it all bein’ in your hair.” Clive looked upon her with some emotion. She could tell he was happy to see her.

  “I shall be glad for some love and care for a few days, but mostly a roof over my head and the ground staying firm beneath my feet. I am so weary of the traveling. I have walked through two pairs of good shoes.” Angie confessed. Clive sat her down and planted a well meant kiss on the top of her red head.

  Everyone that loved and cared for the girl watched her eat heartily with a caring eye. All with memories of a year gone by of worries and regret for the girl’s past troubles. All secretly praying for her life to now be one of safety and healing.

  * * * * *

  Angela Fahey awakened in a strange room; the outer wall with the curtained windows had smooth logs that were a warm light brown with white chinking to keep out the breeze. The inner walls were nicely decorated with shelves and books. Angela smiled to see a few bottles of plant oils on the shelf. The smell of lavender and other scents drifted through the room as she slept that night.

  Angela reached above her head with a long stretch and a yawn of one who was still weary after a long journey. She padded around on her bare feet and noticed her blisters were still burning persistently. She had walked her fair share of miles these last months. She could not expect to feel perfect in a day.

  She did another long stretch and grabbed a fresh dress from her satchel she had dropped by the door the night before. She dressed in a simple green cotton dress and brushed out her long red hair and braided it hastily, listening to her own stomach as it growled for attention. Angela opened the door with the smallest hint of a creaking sound and was instantly bombarded by a young blond boy. Angela searched her brain and remembered his name. She had met him last night.

  “Good morning Cooper,” Angela said quietly. She accepted his brief hug around her middle. She was not sure what time it was so she wanted to err on the side of quiet in case others were still sleeping. The light coming through the window persuaded her to hope it was still morning.

  “It’s not morning anymore, Miss Fahey. It’s nearly lunchtime and I am going fishing with Dolly after lunch and I wanted to see if you would come. Dolly is an Indian girl. A real one!” Cooper’s face was alight with pride.

  “A real Indian girl. I met her last night. She is very nice.” Angela said, watching Cooper nod. He was seven years old, and had enough enthusiasm to spare.

  “Yup,” He said and bolted away to have his own adventure.

  Angela saw her closest friend sitting in a chair near the fireplace. Cori Grant’s long brown hair was neatly done in a long braid down her back. Just seeing her made Angela grateful for surviving the long trail. She was the closest thing to a sister she had ever had.

  “Hi Cori,” Angela joined her in an empty chair by the fireplace. “Sorry I slept so late. Cooper informed me it is nearly lunch time.” Angela was still talking quietly. She was a guest in Lucas and Cori’s home, she felt so strange and out of place, not sure how to act.

  “No worries Angie, we all felt exhausted after arriving. A few days rest and you will be bouncing around like your normal self, I promise. We have dinner tonight with my father and Marie. She will feed us like royalty. I am still working on my cooking skills. It will be a while before I can match her prowess. Though as busy as I have been with the harvest and building a botany greenhouse and lab we eat from Marie’s kitchen often. Marie has been a Godsend.” Cori squinted her face in a focused look of concentration and bent over her needlework.

  “Are you darning stockings, Cori?” Angie laughed, actually feeling joy bubble up inside her. The feeling was pleasant. It did not happen near enough.

  “Yes, and you are only allowed to laugh once dear friend. Any needlework I do is extremely tedious but it must be done. All of my winter stockings are a mess of holes and the weather will be getting colder soon. I hate for my toes to stick out of my stockings. It annoys me to no end.” Cori’s face was still squinted in concentration as she spoke and her fingers furiously tore at the knotted thread that refused to do her bidding. Angela worked very hard to keep her laughter on the inside.

  “I would be glad to help. I am pretty skilled at needlework as you know.” Angela held her hands out to take the mess of thread and stockings off of Cori’s hands.

  “NO!” Corinne says forcefully. Angela jumped in her seat, her coppery eyebrows high in surprise.

  “You are no one’s servant, you are my guest and you are resting from a six month journey. There is no way you are lifting a finger in my house!” Corinne was firm. She smirked a little at Angela to calm her frightful look but she wasn’t budging from her decision.

  “Well, may I borrow your kitchen then? I shall recover from your bold statements while eating. I am not sure if I can wait for lunch.” Angela asked.

  “I have a plate made up for you. Some bread and cheese and we had some oranges Clive brought from California. They taste so delicious, like tasting sunshine. Even at my Aunt’s fancy house in Boston the fruit did not taste this good.” Corinne dumped the mending mess into the chair and they walked together to the kitchen.

  “I am sorry to say I do not miss your Aunt much.” Angela confessed. She accepted the plate and they sat together to visit at the oak table.

  “I will only admit to a few people that I do not miss her much either. She tortured you and the other servants much more than she did me but I am grateful to have escaped. I do not know how her and my sweet mother could have been sisters.” Corinne kept her hands busy by cutting up a few apples as she talked.

  The girls prayed a blessing over the food then it was devoured quickly by Angela until she came to the orange, after taking her time peeling it she ate the slices slowly, savoring every juicy morsel.

  “You are right, that is a heaven-inspired fruit.” She washed the sticky juice from her fingers at the nearby washbasin.

&n
bsp; “Are you still tired?” Corinne asked, her concern about Angela was very endearing. Angela squeezed her hand.

  “I have a little energy. Did you want to take stroll?” Angie asked.

  “No, I have a surprise for you but I don’t want to overwhelm you. I do not know when the right time will be so perhaps now will be the best.” Corinne seemed at a loss for words so Angela let her pause to find them.

  “I have a trunk full of your mother’s possessions.” Corinne finally blurted out. Angela felt her heart start a wild pumping inside her chest, pain and love and other unknown emotions flooded her.

  “That’s not possible…” Angela said in a voice that was barely a whisper. She held her breath for a moment.

  “When my Aunt agreed that you would be my ladies maid for the Oregon Trail, I began writing a series of letters. First to a lawyer who was handling my father’s money held in trust for me. I put him on the trail of your stepfather, Stanley Lankarski.” Corinne watched her friends face. Angela looked shocked but she seemed stable enough for Corinne to keep talking.

  “My lawyer found him quickly and before we left I had my lawyer working on your behalf to get your mother’s affects and any property for you and your brother. Because your brother is in places unknown the items were sent to you. You will be pleasantly surprised to know that you are a woman of independent means.” Corinne smiled. There was much more to talk about but this was a start. Corinne had a horrifying fear after the trunk arrived a few months ago that Angela wouldn’t survive the trip and… Corinne settled her thoughts, the worst-case scenario did not happen.

  Chapter 7

  The trunk was larger than Angela had expected. She imagined it to be something small, a few books, maybe a drawn portrait or two.

  "I am not sure I am ready for this." Angela said. A few tears escaped her green eyes and down her face. "What good can come of revisiting all that pain again?"

  Angela felt like a haze was drifting into her brain trying to shut out the past. Her walls of protection were usually down when she was with Corinne, her closest friend. She didn't want to go into how much it really hurt to lose her father and mother so close together, then the work orphanage was a horrific nightmare that stole her brother away too.

  Angela stared at the trunk; it had a dark green patch of leather on the top with Fahey stamped into it. There were gold leaf details along the edges, brown leather along the sides and a handle on each side with decorative carvings pressed into the metal. It was the trunk belonging to an affluent family, one that had money and choices. How could people with these kinds of choices end up with two children going from a beautiful neighborhood to a dirty and poorly maintained work orphanage, a thieving establishment that stole money from the orphans as they got older and worked outside the orphanage?

  "You can take your time Angela, we do not have to do anything today. I just wanted you to know it was here. I have looked through some things to make sure everything was there as the lawyer requested, you will have to sign a few papers to send back, your brother will, as well if we are able to locate him. But nothing has to be done today. There are a few drawings and diaries that you may treasure." Corinne had her hand running up and down Angela's back to comfort her.

  Corinne had lost her own mother in the last few years and knew that that kind of pain didn’t have a time limit. One moment you were fine, the next you could be devastated like the pain was a fresh bleeding wound. Though time passing makes things easier in some aspects, there were ways that a close death could change you profoundly. Corinne knew that the pain of what Angela and her brother went through was catastrophic to them. They were both used and abused by people they should have been able to trust. Thrust into a situation that no child should have to face.

  "I shouldn't be afraid Cori, I know that in my head." Angela wiped a few tears away almost angrily. She didn't like to be this weak. It made her feel out of control. Why was she always more real around Corinne?

  "I just need to tell my heart to stop being afraid. Help me open it Corinne. I may need some help to get started." Angela plopped down to her knees, swiping a handkerchief , a gift from Mama Sparks, on the tears that were in a non-stop cycle. She faced toward the treasured and dreaded trunk, knowing that her real family, the love they shared was inside somehow, that could not be stolen by anyone.

  The trunk opened with a creak of wood and a crackle of worn leather. The inside had a few planks of cedar and the smell was unmistakable. Angela could see the trunk was full to the brim, several bound books, items wrapped in canvas, four small wooden boxes, some larger items wrapped in parchment paper underneath. This was treasure, Angela's heart nearly burst with the overwhelming bittersweet pain.

  "Oh Lord, please help me." Angela whispered. Her fingers ached to touch but her heart longed to run away from the memories. Her family’s hopes and dreams were all tucked away in a trunk.

  Corinne sat next to her but let her have time to process. She was there to cry or cheer with her, whatever friend duty was required in this kind of trying moment.

  Angela reached in and grabbed the first item on top, a wrapped object. The white canvas unwrapped easily and fell into Angela's lap.

  The frame stared at her for a few moments before her brain could register what she was seeing. Angela saw her mother first; the drawing caught the sparkle in her eye. Angela could see how much she looked like her mother as she had grown older. The next was her father and his face triggered a pain through her stomach that was an unexplained agony of resemblance. Sean was so young, his face a smaller version of her father and she was in her mother’s lap with her mother’s arm wrapped around her side.

  Oh to have that arm touch her now… was a beautiful tragic thought. Angela just stared with her mouth covered by one hand. Her teeth wanting to bite down to keep herself from crying out or screaming or maybe laughing in a hysterical way. There was nothing like this, mourning, and it had a tangible feeling about it that no one could grasp unless you had felt it yourself. It was like a person that came to visit and brought gifts that hurt you and blessed you at the same time. It carried both memories of sweetness and heartbreak. Capturing moments of your life but constantly reminding you it could never happen again. Those moments could never exist again on God's green earth.

  Angela let go of her face and traced the drawing against the glass with her finger, it was as close to an embrace that she will ever get anymore with everyone in the picture, save one. Sean was hopefully still in this realm, alive and kicking up trouble, Angela mused.

  "You have a beautiful family." Corinne sniffed. Angela looked over to see tears in her friend’s eyes. They cried together and embraced for a minute, the frame between them.

  "Thank you Cori, I miss them. Thanks for telling me about this. I will get through it all. This is enough for today. I think I can handle the past in manageable pieces. All at once, may just do me in." Angela sniffed and blew her nose with her handkerchief.

  The girls stood up and stretched their arms. Corinne decided that a visit to the barn would be in order. Perhaps a ride around the property would do them some good.

  "Cori, I will try and ride but I am not as good a rider as you. These huge beasts still frighten me a little, though after the Oregon Trail I am not as afraid anymore." Angela walked with Corinne to the barn and she was introduced to a gentle horse that was grey and white. Angela patted the mare on the nose to make friends and was helped into a pair of Corinne's boots then up into the saddle. They both laughed when Angela nearly fell over the other side on the first try.

  "I guess my muscles are a little weak from the journey still. Let’s hope the horse goes slowly or I may have a few fresh bruises on my backside." Angela laughed as she got settled in the saddle.

  "You already have bruises on your backside?" Corinne laughed and gasped.

  "Well yes, of course?" Angela nodded.

  "Whatever from, Angie?” Corinne's eyebrows shot up in shock.

  "Well Barlow Pass was such an ea
sy road, flat as a flapjack and easy as a Sunday stroll." Angela gave Corinne a look that spoke of heavy sarcasm.

  "I found Barlow Pass impossibly difficult, a horror of steep inclines, rocky obstacles and strenuous to the extreme. It nearly killed me and my horse Clover here a few times. I shall not question you further about it." Corinne laughed to commiserate with Angela's own journey as she had made the trip just the year before. Angela's injuries during a tragic fall had prevented Angela from finishing the journey with Corinne.

  "Yes some of those rocky obstacles were a bit much for me. I was put in charge of three children and keeping them from falling off the cliff's edges was a nightmare. I think they took delight in testing the laws of nature to see how many ways they could nearly die in my presence. I loved the family I was with well enough but the children seriously lacked discipline. The mother had three children and they were all under six years of age, she could birth them but had no backbone to raise them. She will be lucky if the oldest boy does not become an outlaw by the age of sixteen." Angela laughed as she shared.

  They headed out on horseback to see the lay of the land. Several fields of lavender had been harvested but a few remained to be harvested by the end of the week.

  Angela gasped several times as the fields of lavender spread out before them and overwhelmed her with sights and smells.

  "It actually smells purple, Cori." Angela smiled and tried to take in the beauty. The heavy scent of lavender made her head light, she could taste it a little.

  "I thought so, too. When I asked for lavender fields from Lucas, I had no idea what I would get. I can imagine God using my valley to paint Heaven as one of the most beautiful places to see. It makes me so happy, seeing my dream come true. Now all we must do the hard work of capturing the flower." Corinne grinned beautifully and Angela enjoyed seeing her closest friend so happy.

  * * * * *