Romance in Time: An Oregon Trail Time Travel Romance

by Susan Leigh Carlton

  “Come on inside. They can bring your things and unload the supplies. Your room is ready. I fixed it up a little bit.”

  “I’m not going to need it very long,” she said. “He asked me to marry him and I said yes. We talked about having the wedding before we came home, but I wanted you and Mister Josiah to be there.”

  Arm in arm they went up the steps and into the house. “When do you think you want to have the ceremony?”

  “As soon as possible, if it’s all right with Thomas.”

  “It will be. I think this is our Sunday to have the preacher. I’ll check to make sure. Would Sunday be too soon?”

  The puzzled look on Abby’s face led her to explain. “Our church is too small to have our own preacher, so we share him with three others. This is our Sunday.”

  “I’ll tell you something later. Do you think I can help him with whatever he’s doing?”

  “No, that’s a man’s work. We have a wedding to plan.”

  “Before I forget, that was so thoughtful of you with the clothes. I really did need them. I’m afraid I might have sounded ungrateful in the letter, but Mama always said I talked before I thought. I did appreciate them.”

  “That was Thomas’ idea. I just made out the list for him. I have a pretty good eye for sizes. If this dress is an example, it worked out well.”

  Later that same day…

  When Josiah came in from the range, she was sitting at the table with Sophie. His face lit up. “Welcome home, Abigail.”

  She stood and walked into his embrace. “That’s the nicest thing you could have said. Are you ready for a daughter-in-law?”

  “I’ve been ready for several years.”

  The supper table…

  “Did Abby tell you what happened yesterday morning?” Thomas asked.

  “No, was it something bad or good?” Sophie asked.

  “We were riding along, close to the river with Cody and Slade out in front, when all of a sudden it got as dark as night. A bolt of lightning hit, not twenty feet away. There was a big black wall. Abby screamed at me to stop and not go any farther. We think it was the same thing that happened when she came to our time. It was a way for her to return home. She wouldn’t go, and said this is her home. I’m telling you my heart almost burst open then.

  “We sat there until it went away; Cody and Slade came back to see why we had stopped. They hadn’t seen any of it. No rain or anything. It was real; when the bolt of lightning hit, I could feel the hair on my neck stand up.”

  “So you deliberately chose to stay with us?” Sophie asked.

  “I did. This is where I belong.”

  “Bless your heart darling. I agree with you. This is where you belong.”

  The next morning…

  “I looked it up last night. This is our week to have the preacher,” Sophie said.

  “I know. You wrote about it in your diary.”

  “So you knew it was going to turn out this way all along?”

  “I was beginning to think it might have been another Abigail. Grandma told me there was more than one when we were going through the books, and I asked if this was where Mom got my name.”

  Sunday, December 20th, 1868…

  The preacher asked the congregation of twenty-three adults and eight children to remain seated after the closing prayer. “Thomas Barnes and Miss Abigail Sanders have asked me to join them in Holy Matrimony. Thomas, would you and Miss Sanders join me at the altar please?”

  He asked the congregation to join him in asking God to bless the union about to take place. He read several verses from the King James Version of the Bible regarding God’s word on marriage.

  “Abigail, please repeat after me: ‘I, Abigail Sanders, take you, Thomas Barnes, to be my lawfully wedded husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.’” Abby repeated the vows.

  “Thomas, please repeat after me, me: I, Thomas Barnes, take you, Abigail Sanders, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.’” Thomas repeated the vows as stated by the preacher.

  “By the powers vested in me by the Dakota Territory, and the Lord, our God, I pronounce you man and wife. That which God has joined together, let no man put asunder. “You may kiss your bride, Thomas.”

  After the kiss, they were joined by Sophie and Josiah in a group hug. The men of the congregation pounded Thomas on the back in congratulations. The women, most with tears in their eyes, introduced themselves and welcomed Abigail into their lives.

  The Barnes family returned home. Thomas and Josiah took care of the horses while Sophie and Abbie prepared dinner.

  “We have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas,” Sophie said.

  “We do. A lot has happened this year, none of it expected, but the way it worked out, this is going to be the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” Abbie responded.

  And so it came to be.

  The End

  Epilogue

  Thomas and Abby lived in the main ranch house, adding rooms as their family grew.

  Their first son, Josiah arrived in October, 1869, and was delivered by a midwife. The second son, Thomas James followed in September 1870. Their daughter, Sophia was born in April, 1872.

  Thomas and Abby had been unable to visit Doctor and Mrs. Turner due to Abby’s being with child and the trip would have been arduous with the children later.

  The good doctor and Cora moved to Laramie when he retired from the Army. He established a practice in the developing town and became the Barnes family doctor.

  A familiar sight around the Bar B Ranch was Josiah riding with his namesake in front of him, holding on to the saddle horn.

  Abby used her engineering training to design a water diversion on the Laramie River to provide water to areas of their range that were dry. She also designed a means to provide running water to the house, and other conveniences to make their life more comfortable..

  University of Wyoming History Department…

  “Doctor Jordan will see you now,” the Secretary told the attractive young lady seated in the outer office of the head of the Wyoming University History Department.

  “Thank you, Ma’am.”

  Doctor Jordan met her at the door, dressed in dark pants and a white shirt over which he wore a dark sweater. A pair of reading glasses perched precariously on his nose, threatening to fall off any minute. His snowy white beard would have made him an ideal candidate for Santa Claus.

  “I’ve been looking forward to this since your telephone call, Miss Sanders.”

  “Please call me Abigail. I’m delighted you could take the time to see me,” she said.

  “I would have made time. I did my thesis on the Oregon Trail, and it’s been my passion ever since. It would have been a boon to have had something like this when I was working on it.”

  “Then I should be calling you doctor instead of professor,” Abby said.

  A delighted grin spread across his face. “Doctor sounds pretentious. Professor gives the impression I might know a few things. Let’s see what you have.”

  She had the diaries arranged in chronological order. As he examined the first one and the days on the trail, he clucked with delight.

  “You have a real trove here. Miss… Abigail.”

  “I’m visiting my grandparents on their ranch, taking a break after finishing my degree at Ohio State. I was exploring and found these in a box in the main house. I was hooked when I read this diary. Josiah was my sixth great grandfather, and the writing is by his wife Sophronia, called Sophie. Thomas was their son, and his wife, Abigail was my namesake.”

  They spent the rest of the afternoon going through the diaries. “Doctor Jordan, my grandfather has given me permission to lend these to you. My parents and I are going to be here for two more weeks before we return to Ohio. As I go through the
others, I will give you access to them as well. I’m an only child and these will be mine someday, so I want to retain ownership.

  “You have made my day, Miss Sanders.”

  “Abby or Abigail, please.”

  “Abigail. A name that was popular even back then.”

  “It was popular in the family. There were four Abigail’s along the way.”

  “Once again, I want to thank you,” he said.

  “You’re quite welcome, Doctor. I’ve learned a lot about my family since I arrived, and I’m delighted to share. I shall be seeing you again in a few days.”

  “My door is open to you. Good day, Abigail.”

  “And a good day to you as well.”

  From the Author

  The hostilities that plagued the Laramie/Fort Laramie area continued into 1868. The U.S. government increasingly sought a peaceful rather than a military solution to the conflict known as Red Cloud's War. The successful completion of the transcontinental railroad took priority, and the Army did not have the resources to defend both the railroad and the Bozeman Trail from Indian attacks. The military presence in the Powder River Country was both expensive and unproductive, with estimates that 20,000 soldiers might be needed to subdue the Indians.

  Peace commissioners were sent to Fort Laramie in the spring of 1868. Red Cloud refused to meet with them until the Army abandoned the Powder River forts named Phil Kearny, C. F. Smith, and Reno. In August 1868, Federal soldiers abandoned the forts and withdrew to Fort Laramie. The day after the soldiers left the forts, the Indians burned them. The Bozeman Trail was closed for all time.

  Red Cloud did not arrive at Fort Laramie until November, one month after the birth of Josiah Barnes. He signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868, which created the Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills. The reservation included all of South Dakota west of the Missouri River.

  The Oglala victory was short-lived. Indian sovereignty over the Powder River country endured only eight years until the Great Sioux War of 1876. After 1868, Red Cloud lived on the reservation. Seeing that the numbers of new emigrants and technology of the United States would overwhelm the Sioux, Red Cloud adapted to fighting the US Indian Bureau for fair treatment for his people. He was an important leader of the Lakota tribe through the years of transition from their plains culture to the relative confinement of the reservation system. He outlived all the major Lakota leaders of the Indian wars. He lived until 1909, when he died on the Pine Ridge Reservation and was buried there.

  Rekindled Love Excerpt

  Chapter one

  The Saddest Day

  Roseburg, Oregon 1861

  Jenny’s mother, Clara Stevens came to the kitchen door in response to Ben’s shout as he yanked back on the reins to stop the horses.

  “What is it? Is it the baby?”

  “It’s Jenny, Miss Clara. She’s real sick. You take Becky and I’ll get Jenny inside and go get the doctor.”

  “Put her in her room. How long has she been like this?”

  “She thought she had a cold, then last night it got a lot worse. I should have brought her in then, but she said she would be okay. I found her on the floor when I came in from the barn this morning. She needs the doctor.”

  “Hurry, Ben,” Clara told him.

  He tore out of the house and whipped the horses into a gallop. He pounded on the doctor’s door. Mrs. Coombs came to the door. “What is it, Ben?”

  “Jenny’s real bad off, Mrs. Coombs. She needs the doctor. She’s at her mother’s house.”

  “You go on back. I’ll get Jim started.”

  “Yes, ma’am, but please tell him to hurry.”

  * * *

  Jenny was coughing blood when he returned. “Is the doctor coming?” Clara asked.

  “Mrs. Coombs said he would be right behind me. It’s getting worse, isn’t it?”

  “It doesn’t look good. She’s having trouble getting her breath.”

  Doctor Coombs came in followed by his wife. “Ben, you go in the other room while I take a look at her.”

  Ben went into the kitchen where her father, Jeb, was waiting. “What’s wrong with her?” he asked.

  “She was sneezing and coughing. We thought she had a cold, but yesterday, it got worse.”

  “Good God, man. Why didn’t you bring her in then?”

  “I wanted to, but she said no, she would be all right.”

  “What’s taking so long?” Ben asked. “Why doesn’t the doctor do something?”

  Mrs. Coombs came out of the room, trailed by Clara. “Can you get some boiling water? Jim thinks the steam might help her breathing.”

  “I’ll put some on,” Jeb said.

  “Would it be all right if I went in?” Ben asked.

  “I think so. You go ahead. He may have to ask you to leave again, but go ahead.”

  “Is she any better?” he asked the doctor.

  Doctor Coombs shook his head. “There’s a lot of pneumonia going around. We’ve lost two in town this week, but they were both elderly. This is as bad as I’ve ever seen it.”

  Her closed eyes fluttered open. When her voice came, it was weak. “Ben,” the gravelly whisper pierced the room. Her breathing was shallow. He had to put his ear close to her mouth to hear. “Ben,” a gasp, and a desperate struggle to get enough air to say what she had to say. “Becky is going to need a mother. Promise me you’ll find a good mother for her.”

  “Jenny, don’t leave us,” Ben pleaded. “We can’t do it without you.”

  “Promise me Ben. You have to promise,” the anguished voice whispered. “Promise me, Ben.”

  “I promise, Jenny. I’ll take care of Becky.”

  “I love you, Be…” Her eyes closed; she took her last breath. She was gone.

  “Nooooooooo! Jenny, no,” he wailed. He wrapped his arms around the frail body. “We need you. Becky needs you.”

  A hand rested on his shoulder. “She’s at peace now,” Jenny’s mother said.

  He gathered his wife in his arms, rocking back and forth, whispering her name, crying, with tears cascading down his cheeks. “I want to be alone with my wife,” he said. They left him alone, cradling the still body.

  “We’ll be going back to town,” Dr. Coombs said. “Do you want me to ask the undertaker to come out?”

  “Please do,” Clara said.

  “I’ll take care of it. Call me if you need me.” He nodded toward the closed door.

  Two hours passed. Ben was still in the bedroom. Clara opened the door and started in. “Ben, I need to take care of Jenny.”

  “No. No one’s going to touch her. Leave us alone.” He rocked back and forth; his face buried in her hair, the dried tears on his face shimmering in the flickering candle light.

  She backed out of the room. “Jeb, you had better go get Alice.”

  He nodded and went to the barn, saddled his horse and made the short ride to the Palmer farm.

  He knocked on the door. When Alice saw his face, she asked, “Has something happened to Ben? Is he all right?”

  “Jenny died a few hours ago,” he said, “Ben won’t let anybody in the room. Clara said you’d better come.”

  “Jenny died? That can’t be. We just saw her last weekend.”

  “It was the pneumonia. Doc Coombs said it was the worst he’s ever seen. Two people died in town this week.

  “I’m going to have to get on back. There’s no telling what Ben might do in his state. The baby is asleep right now. We need your help.”

  “We’ll leave as soon as we can get hitched up. You go on back.”

  Alice had her shawl. “Let’s go,” she said to her husband. “We need to see about Ben and Becky.”

  Buy this book.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Susan Leigh Carlton lives just outside Tomball, Texas, a suburb twenty-six miles northwest of Houston. She began writing and publishing on Amazon in August of 2012.

  Susan observed the eighty-first anniversary of her birth on April 17
th. She says, “I quit having birthdays, because they are depressing.” Susan and her husband celebrated their forty-ninth wedding anniversary on April 16th, 2015, the day before her birthday.

  Susan has said many times, “One of the joys I get from writing is the emails I receive from readers that have read and liked my books. I even like the letters that are critical of the writing because it means the writer cared enough to take the time to write.

  “I intend to keep writing as long as the good Lord allows me to have a clear mind and fresh ideas.”

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