A Home at Trail's End

by Melody A. Carlson

  Malinda smiled. “Just enjoy it.”

  “Matthew is taking everything up to Eli.” Elizabeth shook her head. “I feel a bit envious though. Eli is up there in our house. Do you think he’ll put things away?”

  “I don’t see why. Most men would think of that as women’s work.”

  “I hope he does.” Elizabeth sighed. “I am just itching to start keeping house—I mean in my own house.”

  “Yes, I can imagine.” Malinda made a sad sigh. “Although I am going to miss you, Elizabeth. And Ruth and JT too.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “You’ll still have a fairly full house, Malinda. With your four and Will’s two girls, you are not hurting for companionship.”

  “That’s true. But it’s not the same as having my best friend right here.”

  Elizabeth tried not to remember the times when she had felt like anything but Malinda’s best friend. “And don’t forget that in just two weeks, you’ll have Will here as well. I expect he’ll become your best friend…in time. And, of course, we will just be down the road. I predict our families will have many wonderful times to look forward to in the years to come.”

  Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Elizabeth lay still, listening to the sounds of her daughter’s and best friend’s even breathing as they peacefully slumbered. And yet, as tired as she was, sleep was evading her tonight. Her mind seemed unwilling to quiet down as she pondered her life and how different everything had been just one year ago. She remembered being awakened in the middle of the night last December, feeling again as if James were leading her. She remembered her recurring dreams about traveling to Oregon. It all seemed so far away now, like a different world. And indeed it was. But it was about to change again. Marrying Eli and moving into their home together—tomorrow! As much as she wanted this, had been waiting for this, she suddenly felt uneasy. The more she thought about it, the more distraught she felt.

  If she hadn’t been sleeping in the middle of the bed, wedged between Ruth and Malinda, she would have gotten up and slipped out. She would have sat by the fire to think…and think. As it was, she didn’t want to disturb them.

  Finally, after what felt like hours, she remembered the way her mother taught her to put herself to sleep as a child. She would count her blessings. And so she started with each member of her family and then moved on to friends and even livestock, until finally she was thanking God for every single little thing she could think of—from ladybugs to forget-me-nots to hummingbirds—until eventually she felt herself drifting away.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When Elizabeth woke up the next morning, she was alone in the bed, but it still seemed dark outside, so she didn’t think she’d slept in. But when she poked her head out the bedroom door, it was clear that everyone else was up and busy. And when she saw the clock, she realized it was nearly nine.

  “Oh, dear,” she exclaimed. “I didn’t know it was so late.”

  “There’s our bride,” Malinda announced. “You were sleeping so soundly, we thought perhaps you needed it.”

  “Bless you,” Elizabeth said. “I did have a restless night. But now I better get moving.”

  “Is it time for me to get on my wedding clothes?” Ruth asked hopefully.

  “Yes.” Elizabeth waved. “Come on in here, and we’ll get at least one of us ready.”

  Ruth entered the room, pushing the muslin curtains aside to let in a little light. “There sure are a lot of dark clouds out there today,” she announced sadly. “Do you think it will rain?”

  Elizabeth peered out to see that the sky was gray and somber looking—the reason it had seemed dark even though it was late in the morning. “Don’t worry, Ruth.” She reached for Ruth’s new blue dress. “Rain on your wedding is supposed to be good luck.” She slid the dress down over Ruth’s head and shoulders.

  “How can rain be good luck?” Ruth asked as her head popped through the neckline.

  “If there’s been a dry spell and your crops need water, you consider yourself lucky when it rains. Remember?” She buttoned the back of her dress.

  “Yes, but we haven’t had a dry spell. And last night when I prayed before bed, I asked God to keep the rain away today,” Ruth told her.

  “Well, come rain or shine, Eli and I are getting married this morning,” Elizabeth declared. “And it will be a very happy day. You can count on it.” She tied the sash in back of Ruth’s dress, fluffing it out into a big bow before she turned her around. “Ruth Anne, you look lovely. And your grandmother will be relieved to see that the dress fits you just right.”

  Ruth spun around to make the full skirt flare out. “And it will be good for dancing too!”

  “Hold still now, and let’s do your hair.” Elizabeth reached for the hairbrush.

  As she brushed and braided Ruth’s hair, she gazed out the bedroom window. Malinda was fortunate that their house had more than just one glass window. Still, Elizabeth would happily move into a house with no glass windows if it meant that she and Eli and the children could be together.

  However, her daughter was right about the weather. It did look as if the sky might open up at any moment. Even so, Elizabeth was not going to let that get her down. Today was a happy day regardless of the weather.

  “There,” she proclaimed as she tied the big blue satin ribbon at the bottom of Ruth’s braid. “You are pretty as a picture.”

  Ruth frowned up at her. “But you are still in your nightie, Mama.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Yes—and I can’t very well get married in my nightie, can I? You go and remind Aunt Malinda that Grandpa wants the boys to come to the church early to help him, and I will get dressed.”

  “Yes, Mama!”

  With the bedroom to herself, Elizabeth layered her corset over the chemise and bloomers and stockings, and then she put on her best petticoat. Finally she removed the new dress from where she’d hung it last night after she and Malinda had used the sadiron to smooth it out. She slipped the full skirt on, fastening it at the waist. She slid her arms into the long sleeved, fitted bodice, taking her time to button the long row of pearly buttons up the front and along the cuffs of the sleeves.

  “Need any help in here?” Malinda peered in. “Oh, my. Don’t you look pretty!”

  “Thank you.” Elizabeth reached for the hairbrush. “I just need to put my hair up and I’ll be ready.”

  “The boys ate breakfast and are just finishing chores, and then they’ll head for town to help Asa.”

  Elizabeth pointed to the window. “The weather looks formidable.”

  “Yes. In fact, JT asked if you plan to take the wagon to town.”

  Elizabeth cringed. “Oh, I don’t think so. I don’t want to go through that again. I suspect that my father will be taking his wagon though. They had so much to carry.”

  “Well, at least he has his oxen. Will you ride your horse to the church?” Malinda asked. “Or walk?”

  Elizabeth looked down at the pretty dress, imagining the hem soaked with mud. “Perhaps I should have waited to put this on in town.”

  With a finger resting on her chin, Malinda made a thoughtful look. “Here is what I think you should do. Take the wagon into town unless it is already raining. But if it’s not, we could all go in the wagon. Then if it’s raining after the wedding and dinner, when it’s time to go home, you and Eli could simply ride your Percherons.” She chuckled. “That would be a lovely picture. The bride and the groom on the beautiful black horses. And the wagon could just remain in town until the weather gets better. I’m sure Lavinia and Hugh wouldn’t mind if you left it parked at the mercantile.”

  “That’s a good plan.” Elizabeth twisted her long hair into a roll, securing it with pins. “If the rain can hold out long enough, that is just what we’ll do.”

  “So should I tell the boys to hitch up the team before they go?”

  “Yes. And tell them to put my saddle in. I guess Eli will have to ride bareback, although perhaps we can borrow a saddle blanket fr
om you.”

  “I hope you won’t need it,” Malinda said. “But just in case, I’ll tell JT.”

  Elizabeth looked out the window and shook her head. “I can’t imagine that we won’t.”

  “Ruth and Susannah are praying diligently.”

  Elizabeth checked her image in the small mirror above Malinda’s dresser. Her hair seemed to be smoothly in place. “Do you think it looks all right?” she asked Malinda. “In back too?”

  Malinda came over and fussed with it a little before she proclaimed it perfect. Then, after she set the brush on her dresser, she opened a small wooden box and extracted a pair of pearl drop earrings. “Do you remember these?” She held them up to the light.

  “Yes. From your wedding to John.”

  “Why don’t you wear them today?” Malinda held them up to Elizabeth’s ears so she could see herself in the mirror.

  “Oh, no, Malinda, I couldn’t. They’re too precious.”

  Just then Ruth came back into the room. “Ooh, Mama, you look so pretty.”

  “How about these earrings?” Malinda asked her.

  Ruth’s eyes grew wide. “Those are beautiful.”

  “Have you forgotten the rhyme?” Malinda asked Elizabeth.

  “What rhyme?” Ruth asked with her usual interest.

  “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe,” Malinda told her.

  “What does it mean?” Ruth asked.

  “It’s to bring good luck to the bride,” Malinda explained. “A bride needs to have each of those things. Old and new and borrowed and blue.”

  “And a sixpence in her shoe,” Ruth added.

  “That’s right.”

  “Will you do that, Mama? Everything in the rhyme?”

  “It was something your aunt and I both did at our first weddings.” She stroked Ruth’s hair. “With your father and your uncle.”

  “Do it again today,” Ruth urged. “For luck.”

  Malinda held the earrings out. “These could be something old since they belonged to my mother first.”

  “Yes, yes,” Ruth declared. “Now you have something old, Mama. And you already have something blue—your dress!”

  “And it’s new too,” Elizabeth pointed out.

  “Can a dress count as two things?” Ruth asked. “Both new and blue?”

  “It has two parts to it,” Elizabeth reminded her that the skirt and bodice were separate.

  “Good,” Ruth said. “Now you just need—something borrowed.”

  “Do you have a clean handkerchief I can use?” Elizabeth asked Ruth.

  “You want to borrow something from me?” Ruth’s eyes lit up.

  “Yes. I would like that very much.”

  Ruth hurried to find a clean hanky and pressed it into her mother’s hand, and Elizabeth slid it inside her cuff.

  “Now, what about a silver sixpence?” Ruth asked. “What is that, and where do we get one?”

  Elizabeth smiled at her daughter’s persistence. “That’s a British coin. I suppose it was a bit like six cents.”

  Ruth features twisted into a frown. “I have a half dime and a penny. That makes six. You could put the half dime in one shoe and the penny in the other. Will that work, Mama?”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Yes, I’m sure that will work just fine.”

  Ruth hurried to find her coins and handed them to Elizabeth, watching as she slipped one into each shoe. “There,” Elizabeth proclaimed. “I believe I’m nearly ready.”

  “Not until you have your breakfast.” Malinda ushered her out of the bedroom. “The girls fixed something special.”

  “With all this attention, I am beginning to feel like a queen,” Elizabeth said as she sat down at the table.

  “You should be the queen on your wedding day. After that…well, I’m sure you’ll be dethroned quickly enough.” Malinda laughed.

  After a breakfast of pancakes and syrup, it was time to proceed to the church. And to Elizabeth’s relief, the dark clouds had not opened up yet. In fact, it almost looked as if they were rolling eastward. “Did JT hitch the team to the wagon?” Elizabeth asked Malinda.

  “He certainly did.” Malinda pointed toward the barn, where Elizabeth’s team was just rounding the corner. Behind the shining Percherons was the wagon. Not only was it cleaned up, but someone had gone to the trouble of draping the sides with evergreen garlands and large bows made of white muslin.

  “It’s beautiful!” Elizabeth clapped her hands.

  “All the children worked on it last night,” Malinda told her.

  As Elizabeth climbed up to drive, Malinda offered to take the reins, but Elizabeth just shook her head. “No thank you. I would prefer to drive.”

  Malinda just laughed, climbing into the seat beside her. Meanwhile the girls, all five of them, climbed into the back.

  “Gid-up!” Elizabeth called out happily. “We have a wedding to attend.”

  Thankfully, the road had firmed up in the past couple of days. Still, Elizabeth was relieved to see that someone—probably Eli—had the foresight to leave a shovel and some planks in the back of the wagon.

  “And now we shall sing you the wedding march song,” Ruth proclaimed from behind Elizabeth.

  “The wedding march song?” Elizabeth asked. “What is that?”

  “Mrs. Taylor taught it to us,” Ruth declared.

  “It was written by a German composer named Richard Wagner,” Amelia explained.

  “And it was written in German,” Belinda explained. “But Mrs. Taylor taught it to us in English.”

  “Because we don’t speak very good German,” Susannah told her.

  “Mrs. Taylor said that the song is from an opera,” Emily added.

  “We just learned it last week,” Ruth said.

  “But we’ve been practicing it every day on our way to and from school,” Amelia said.

  “Well, I would love to hear it,” Elizabeth told them.

  “So would I,” Malinda said.

  After a bit of giggling and adjusting of their positions in the back of the wagon, the five girls began to sing.

  Faithful and true, we lead thee forth

  Where love, triumphant, shall crown ye with joy!

  Star of renown, flow’r of the earth,

  Blest be ye both, far from all life’s annoy!

  Champion victorious, go thou before!

  Maid bright and glorious, go thou before!

  Mirth’s noisy revel ye have forsaken,

  Tender delights for you now awaken;

  Fragrant abode enshrine ye in bliss;

  Splendor and state in joy ye dismiss!

  “That is perfectly beautiful,” Elizabeth told them when they finished. “Thank you so much, girls! In fact, that was so delightful, I would love to have you sing it in the church too.”

  “Can we, Mama?” Ruth asked hopefully. “Would it be all right?”

  “I do not see why not. We always sing in church. Why not sing at a wedding?”

  “We could sing it while you walk up the aisle,” Belinda suggested.

  “Yes. That would be lovely.”

  When they reached the church, both Matthew’s wagon and her father’s were parked in front. Elizabeth looked up at the cloudy sky, hoping now more than ever that the rain would hold off long enough so that all the wagons wouldn’t be stuck in town.

  They were just getting out of their own wagon and walking up to the church when Elizabeth spotted Mrs. Holmes rushing toward them with an urgent expression.

  “Oh, Elizabeth,” she said breathlessly. “I am just in time.”

  “What is wrong?” Elizabeth asked with concern.

  Mrs. Holmes smiled. “Oh, nothing is wrong. But I was asked to bring you to my house, and I nearly missed you. You are to stay with me until they are ready to begin the wedding ceremony.” She took Elizabeth by the arm. “Come along, dear.”

  Elizabeth didn’t argue, and the girls all giggled as if they were in o
n this too.

  “I have made us a nice pot of tea,” Mrs. Holmes told her as they walked back to the parsonage. Inside the tiny house, Mrs. Holmes took Elizabeth’s coat and hat and gloves. And soon they were seated by the fireplace, and Mrs. Holmes was handing Elizabeth a teacup.

  “I want to assure you, dear, that I have been speaking to the reverend—morning, noon, and night—about how he needs to continue bringing God’s goodness and love and mercy into his sermons. Just the way your father did when he preached that time.”

  “Oh, that is so good to hear. And how does the reverend respond to your encouragement?”

  “At first he pretended not to listen to me. But then your father came by to speak to him. They have met several times now. And I do believe there is the making of a solid friendship between the two men.”

  “That is wonderful to hear.” Elizabeth sipped her tea, trying to keep her eyes off the small mantle clock as it ticked steadily toward eleven o’clock. Was it truly possible that within the hour, she would become Mrs. Eli Kincaid? And furthermore, was she truly ready for it?

  Chapter Twenty

  It was a quarter past eleven, and Elizabeth was starting to feel a bit uneasy, when she and Mrs. Holmes both startled at a loud knock to the door.

  “Hello?” called what sounded like her father’s voice. “I have come to fetch the bride.”

  Elizabeth laughed as she stood. “I’m coming, Father.”

  He grinned at her. “Why, don’t you look pretty.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Are you ready?” He peered into her eyes.

  She nodded nervously. “I believe I am.”

  “The groom awaits.” Asa took her arm and led her to the church with Mrs. Holmes following. He paused at the door, allowing Mrs. Holmes to slip in first. Then he looked at Elizabeth again. “You have chosen well with Eli. He is truly a good man. And I know he will be a fine husband and a good father. I have utmost confidence in him.”

  She blinked back tears. “That means so much to me, Father.”

  “It means everything to me, daughter.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Ready?”

  She nodded with confidence. “Now I am.”