The Seeds of Change

by Lauraine Snelling

  “Don’t you go correcting me, missy. If you don’t let me in, I’m going to break down this door and—”

  “And what?” Jonah paused under the arbor over the gate in the picket fence, then slammed the gate shut behind him.

  “Don’t you smart-mouth me, you young good-for-nothing. Get your sister out here.”

  “Well, I don’t rightly know which of my sisters you might be referring to.” He looked at Forsythia in the doorway. “You know who he means?”

  “He was yelling for Larkspur.”

  “Oh, that sister.”

  “His banging woke us up. How should I know where she is?” Stepping out from behind Jonah, Del yawned for good effect and patted her mouth. “Pardon me. What time is it anyway?”

  All played their parts well. Please, Lord, get Anders here before anyone gets hurt.

  “Jonah, do you know where Lark is?” Lilac asked, leaning around her older sister.

  “Oh, of course I do,” Jonah said, easy as you please. “Why, she left early this morning when Uncle Leroy came to get her. Aunt Bessie slipped and fell, and she wanted Lark to come help her. It’s a shame her own children are too far away to come quickly. I’m surprised she didn’t wake you.”

  “Why, me too. Did she say when she’d be back?” Forsythia asked. Was that the kitchen door she heard?

  “What’s going on here?” Anders stepped up beside Forsythia. “Deacon Wiesel, I hear you’ve been raising a ruckus. I hope you didn’t wake all the neighbors up too.”

  “Your sister . . .”

  Anders’s eyebrows almost disappeared under his hat brim. “Yes? Which one might you be referring to?”

  “Why, Lark, a’course.”

  Able to breathe easier now that Anders had arrived, Forsythia studied the man before her. Please, Lord, let him know nothing about the gambling.

  “Why—why, she stood right up in church last evening, got up and left before I even finished the sermon. Caused a ruckus, she did,” Wiesel complained.

  “As the eldest in the family, since our parents passed on to their reward, I will be sure and pass on your message,” Anders said. “Was there anything else?”

  “She’s been corrupting my wife with her misuse of Holy Scripture, turning her against me.”

  “Seems to me she helped bandage up your wife a couple of times after she fell or met some other misfortune.” Anders stared the deacon down. “Could you tell me why your wife didn’t go see Dr. Hunsaker?”

  Wiesel glared over his shoulder at Jonah, who had moved closer behind him. “I-I guess that ain’t none of your business.”

  “Perhaps you should go apologize to our neighbors for waking them up with all your ranting and hollering.” Jonah took another step closer.

  Anders stepped out on the porch. Even though he was still a little thin and weak from his imprisonment, he towered over the ball-shaped man with the mean mouth and snake eyes.

  “She’s hidin’ in that house, I know she is. You let me in, and I’ll find her.” The deacon raised one fist, then thought better of it and took a step backward, bumping into Jonah.

  “I think you owe my sisters an apology.” Jonah spoke softly, then made a show of sniffing the air. “Smells like you’ve been hitting the bottle.” He raised his voice. “Anders, seems to me a letter to the head church office might be in order. As president of the board, mightn’t you want to let them know how our deacon is behavin’? I thought he was supposed to be an example for us younger folks.”

  Forsythia rolled her lips together to swallow her response. This had gone from a frightening confrontation to something they would laugh about later. Interesting the difference because two men had arrived. Not that she would usually refer to her younger brother as a man. At least her heart was no longer jumping right out of her chest.

  “I’m sure when Larkspur returns, she’ll be glad to discuss all this with you.” Anders leaned against the porch post as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “And perhaps by then we’ll have a new pastor in our church so the burden isn’t so heavy on you.”

  Forsythia caught the gleam in her brother’s eye. She knew he and a group of the men of the church had written letters to the head office and were talking about sending a delegation to get Deacon Wiesel relieved of his position.

  That old phrase “if looks could kill” sure fit here. Wiesel spun around and elbowed Jonah aside on his way to the gate. In his drunken rage, he stomped clumsily off the path and through one of the prettiest corners of Ma’s garden, which was known throughout the town and beyond.

  Lilac gasped and started forward, but Forsythia held her back. No point engaging with the man further this morning.

  “You ain’t heard the end of this,” Wiesel flung over his shoulder as the gate slammed behind him.

  The three young women joined Anders, who sat down on the steps.

  “Thank you for coming so quickly,” Forsythia said.

  “Never went to bed. Made lists of what can go in that wagon and gathered some of it up. I hate having to do this in such a rush, but I wouldn’t put it past him to go on a drunken rampage and hurt someone other than his poor wife.”

  “Good thing Mr. Holt thought ahead enough to get Lark out of here.”

  “Now to get the rest of you out of here too. He’s worse’n an angry boar hog.” Anders shook his head. “He wasn’t like this before Pastor Earling passed on.”

  “Power gone to his head?” Del asked. “That’s what Lark said one time.”

  “He ruined Ma’s primroses.” Lilac’s voice quivered.

  “I know. He’s violent every which way, it seems. We’ll just have to ask Josephine to plant more.” Forsythia stood. The sky was lightening toward dawn. “I’ll get breakfast on the table.”

  “Stay for breakfast?” Del asked Anders as they all filed into the house.

  “Thanks. I thought Jonah and I could get the trunks down from the attic. I still can’t believe this exodus is actually going to happen.” Anders sighed, looking troubled. “You should have a man along.”

  “We’ll have Lark, and she’s stronger than many men and more than capable.”

  “But, Sythia, she’s still a woman.”

  “She was able to bring you home in spite of the battles going on and the ruffians who tried to steal her horse and you nearly dead.” The words came forth sturdily, but Forsythia’s chest still ached at the thought of leaving home.

  “I know, and I will be forever grateful, but . . .”

  “With her strong features and dark eyebrows, she can look the part more than the rest of us too.” Forsythia filled the coffeepot.

  Lilac turned from setting the stove lids back in place now that she had the fire going. “When are you and Josephine planning to get married?” She placed the cream pitcher on the table, then stared at it. “We won’t have milk or cream.”

  “People can live without milk and cream and eggs and all kinds of food.” Forsythia gave the mush a stir. “I’ve not made biscuits over a campfire before, but I guess we’ll learn how.”

  By the time breakfast was on the table, the three trunks waited in the parlor, and Del had emptied and wiped them clean. To sweeten the musty odor, she brought lavender sachets from the wooden box their mother had used to store her dried herbs and garden seeds.

  Anders said grace, and Lilac set the bowls of mush around the table. “We better be thankful for all the good things we are leaving behind.” She blinked and swallowed, but the tears burst through her attempted dam and rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t want to leave home.”

  “We all agreed,” Forsythia said softly, blinking hard.

  “Why did Lark have to go in that saloon? She’s always charging into things.” Lilac glared at Jonah and headed out the back door.

  Del stood to go after her, but Anders shook his head. “Let her be. Better to work it out here than on the trail.”

  The silence was broken only by an oriole singing in the ash tree that shaded the south side of the house a
nd the scrape of spoons on the bowls.

  “More coffee, anyone?” Forsythia pushed cheer into her words. She couldn’t deny Lilac’s point, but they were family. And family stuck together.

  Anders raised his cup. “I figure we’ll park the wagon behind the store and have everything ready to load tonight under cover of darkness. I’ll make a diagram of where everything needs to go. I’m hoping you can leave before dawn tomorrow. It’s a good thing I’ve done this before, and the wagon was mostly loaded already when Sam’s wife died and he decided not to go.”

  “How were you able to refund his money?”

  “He hadn’t paid it all. Was planning on the last payment on departure, but now we have the barrels of flour and slabs of bacon, sacks of beans and coffee that you need. The oxen are freshly shod too. I’ve been studying maps, and it looks like you could take the National Road across Ohio and join the Oregon Trail in Independence. It goes through Nebraska, so you could easily stop off there if that is where you decide to settle. One of my officers in the army hailed from out there and moved back after he was wounded and discharged. He’s an attorney. I’ll write to him and see what I can find out to pass on to you.”

  Forsythia nodded. At least that gave them something of a plan. “Give me the list so we can start packing.”

  Lilac came back into the house, her face more at peace. “Ma always said to use bay leaves to prevent weevils. We should put bay leaves in all the foodstuffs.”

  “Good idea.” Forsythia sent her a smile.

  They heard Mr. Holt talking to his horse before he mounted the steps and entered at Anders’s invitation.

  “Sit down and have some breakfast while you tell us what happened.” At Anders’s invitation, Del rose to fetch the coffeepot and kettle of mush while Lilac brought dishes from the cupboard.

  Holt brown-sugared his mush and poured cream both on the cereal and into his coffee. “We made it without anyone noticing us, at least as far as I could tell, and Lark let the horse out to pasture before we ate. I left her getting ready for bed and made my way home. ’Bout fell asleep on my horse, so it’s a good thing he knows the way.” He paused to eat a few bites and wash it down with coffee. “I tried to give her all the information I could about taking care of the oxen and the wagon, since I’ve had some experience with ’em on my farm. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, but . . .” He heaved a sigh. “I hate to see you four undertake such a strenuous ordeal all by yourselves.”

  “You didn’t tell her that, did you?” Jonah asked, his face wrinkled.

  Holt shook his head. “Nope, I know better’n that. Best way to get folks all fired up is to give them unasked-for advice.” He looked at Anders. “You got any maps to send along?”

  “I do, some ’specially for folks heading west. We were just talking about that. Lark did a good job running the store while I was gone. I imagine she was the one who ordered the maps. I know I hadn’t before I joined up with the Ohio brigade. I guess that’s why my sisters figure they can do this—they helped so many others.”

  “True, but they didn’t make the trip. I’d feel a lot better if they could join someone else from around here.”

  “We can join up with a wagon train in Independence, assuming we can get there in time,” Del said. “It’s mid-May already, and the trains start leaving in April, I think.”

  “Can I get you anything else, Mr. Holt?” Forsythia asked.

  “More of that coffee, if’n you don’t mind.” He held up his cup. “Then I need to get some sleep so I can show you all the way to pick up Miss Lark.” He looked around the table. “You’re still planning on leaving before dawn tomorrow?”

  Forsythia’s head spun. So much to do.

  Anders nodded. “Just praying we can keep their departure from Deacon Wiesel.”

  “It’s a shame we can’t figure out a way to get him out of commission for a while.” Holt drained his coffee and set the cup on the table, staring at it for a long moment. “Just such a rush.”

  “Like Pa always said, ‘Just do the best you can.’” Anders stood. “Jonah, you come with me. You can pack boxes in the back while I take care of the store. Or I’ll pack the boxes, and you mind the store.”

  “I don’t know.” Holt’s head moved slowly from side to side while he studied the embroidery on the doily in the center of the table. “All this hurrying could cost you your lives on the trail because you don’t have something that didn’t get packed in the rush.” He looked at Anders. “Think about that, all right?”

  That afternoon, Forsythia took a break from packing and stepped out to soak in Ma’s garden one more time. The primroses struggled up bravely in the sunshine despite the deacon’s careless stomping. She gently fingered the irises budding along the fence. They would miss the graceful lavender blooms this year.

  She found Del bent in her favorite corner by the lilac bush, digging up several of their mother’s rosebushes.

  “I want to take these four with us.” Del wrapped burlap around the root balls. “I don’t know if I can keep them alive on the way, but I want to try. Those apple seedlings too. It’s too early to collect seeds from all her flowers and vegetables, so we’ll just have to take what we’ve already saved.” Tears caught in her voice. “Do you think Josephine would send us more later?”

  “I’m sure she will.” Forsythia hugged her sister’s shoulders. “We should plant that garden in Ma’s honor wherever we settle. You know, like we were talking about earlier. Not just for ourselves, but a place where others can come and buy her seeds and starts, benefit from all the wisdom she taught us. A real horticultural business. What do you think?”

  “We could call it Leah’s Garden, after Ma,” Lilac said from behind them.

  “Leah’s Garden.” Del sniffed and reached for Forsythia’s hand to pull herself up. “I like it.”

  Del wrapped both her sisters in her arms. Forsythia blinked into her older sister’s shoulder, wishing Lark were there too. Lord, we’re stepping into the unknown. So much ahead, and so much we’re leaving behind.

  5

  The oxen moved out when Delphinium, walking to their left, hupped and flicked the whip before dawn the next morning.

  Lilac sat beside Forsythia on the wagon seat, sobbing on her shoulder. Tears dripped off Forsythia’s and Del’s chins too.

  Mr. Holt and Jonah rode alongside on their horses, shadowy in the darkness. The men would lead them to where Lark was waiting.

  Forsythia patted her little sister’s knee. “We’ll get through this. I know God is with us. He’ll never leave us, and as far as I can tell, we are doing His will.” She sure hoped so.

  “I-I’m not afraid.” Lilac sniffed and pulled a bit of soft cloth from her apron pocket. “I just don’t want to leave home.” She wiped her nose and tears. “I think Lark is happy we’re starting on a new adventure. That’s what she called this—an adventure.”

  An adventure to Lark maybe, but, Lord, I can see so many things that could go wrong. Forsythia’s thoughts piled on top of each other and weighted her down like boulders. She knew she was supposed to trust in God to lead and guide them, but . . . Lord, you seem so far away. Please don’t turn your back on us.

  The four-up team of oxen plodded along. How could they cover twenty miles a day with beasts that didn’t even trot, let alone walk faster than this? She could hear her father saying, “Sure and steady wins the race.” There had been so many bits of wisdom stored in his silver-crowned head. She should have brought some of his journals just so she could hear his voice, at least through the written word. He had encouraged all of them to write journals, saying they were a mark of a thinking being. Hers had been sporadic, to say the least. Anders was the most consistent. Where would they even find journals out west?

  At least her tears were drying. Maybe that was a good part of traveling with oxen—it gave one time to think. The moon cast shadows of the trees that lined the road. The whoosh of the wings of an owl on the hunt made her look up and watch as it
flapped in and out of the moonlight. Up ahead it swooped down. A scream rent the air. The owl gained altitude again, a rabbit hanging limp in its talons.

  The way of life. She knew there were plenty of rabbits and that the owl needed to eat and feed its family. God set it up this way.

  Lilac flinched beside her. “Poor bunny.”

  “You can go back and sleep on that pallet, if you like.”

  “I know. I thought about it.” She tucked her hand under Forsythia’s arm and leaned on her shoulder. “Maybe later.”

  Del raised her voice. “Jonah, you make sure you keep that garden weeded. Shame to have wasted all those seeds if you don’t.”

  He pulled his horse back to ride beside her. “Who’s going to eat all that, since you won’t be there to put food by for the winter?”

  “I guess you and Anders better put up the screens for drying. I’m sure some of our friends will appreciate all that produce and put some by for you too.”

  “I think Anders and Josephine ought to get married soon and move into the big house, and I’ll sleep above the store.”

  And get into trouble without anyone looking out for you. The thought brought Forsythia’s eyebrows up. “Remember, you promised—no more gambling. Nor drinking either.” She raised her voice. “Or Mr. Holt will attend to you, right?”

  Mr. Holt reined his horse back. “Why will I attend to this young man here?”

  “If anyone catches him in the saloon or drinking or carousing in general.” She shook her head. “No, never mind. We can’t ask that of you. He knows wrong from right, and he keeps saying he’s an adult, so he needs to behave like one.”

  Holt shook his head. “Drinking and gambling are supposedly the realm of men. Some boys just start earlier and pay the price sooner. Between Anders and me, we’ll keep him too busy to have time during the day. Can’t speak for the night.”

  “I know. None of us can. It’s all his choice.” Forsythia finished with an internal, Please, Lord.

  “How much farther, Mr. Holt?” Lilac raised her head to ask.

  “Oh, we’re about halfway there. Then we’ll all sleep for a while, let the beasts graze, and then get you back on the road in the daylight.”