Across the Border

by Arleta Richardson

  With a sigh, Ethan decided that it would not. If they were going to be here, in a familiar place, he might not worry. But in another country? Ethan wouldn’t even be able to picture where they were. He didn’t know anything about Mexico. He turned his attention to what his father was saying.

  “Mexico has a new president, and the United States is putting a lot of money into the country. Some big oil companies are going down there, and work will be plentiful. I figure that if I get some land now when things are beginning to prosper, I’ll be able to sell it later at a profit. Mexico has a system of land laws that allows United States citizens to do that. In fact, they’re encouraging it.”

  “Chad ain’t never needed no encouragement to get him more land,” Polly grumbled as she took a cold drink to Luke at bedtime. “He didn’t say a thing about what we’ll live in when we get there.”

  “Probably a ’dobe house,” Luke said.

  “What in the world is that?”

  “Mud.” Luke grinned at Polly’s shocked expression. “You can be glad it’s on top of the ground. It won’t be a soddy.”

  “My, my.” She clucked her tongue. “Ain’t we fortunate? I was just gettin’ used to having a hardwood floor to scrub again. Now I can go back to one that won’t show the dirt. I s’pose everyone will be in the same room, too. We don’t know a soul who’s ever seen that country. How do we know what we’ll find there?”

  “I can think of a few things,” Luke told her. “It’s like a desert, so there’ll be cactus and rocks and plenty of heat. We’ll also hear another language.”

  Polly slumped into the nearest chair and stared at Luke. “Another language? You mean them folks don’t speak no English?”

  “Nope.”

  “What, then?”

  “Spanish. I met some cowboys once who could say a few words. They said you learn to talk to folks when you been there awhile.”

  Polly shook her head. “I’m feelin’ better all the time. If it wasn’t for helpin’ Manda with them young ’uns, I’d stay right here.”

  “You wouldn’t want to miss all the excitement.” Luke smirked at her. “How many ladies your age get to leave the United States? Chad says we’ll live in a town and not way out in the country. You can visit with the neighbors.”

  Polly glared at him. “Sure I can. We can talk about two different things at the same time and never know the difference. I’m goin’ to bed. Chances are I won’t sleep a wink for countin’ my blessings.”

  Chapter Six

  The Cicadas

  The heat continued without a break, but the work went on as usual. Fresh vegetables and fruit were canned to replenish the root cellar, and almost everyone took part in the job. The men and Ethan gathered a fresh supply each morning while the ground was still wet with dew. Simon and Will were set to stringing beans, shelling peas, cutting tops from beets and carrots, and stripping the outer leaves from the cabbages. Frances and Alice washed, cut up, and peeled bushels of everything, while Polly and Manda supervised the cooking and canning. It was a never-ending job.

  “We ain’t even started the butcherin’ yet.” Polly wiped her face with a wet towel and sat at the table for a minute. “We got a lot of meat to put down.”

  Manda nodded. “I’m thinking we’ll make a quantity of jerky to take on the trip. It’s a long way, and ice won’t keep more than a few days.”

  “That’ll do for gettin’ there, but it won’t hold us all winter and however much longer we stay.”

  “I’m not worrying about that. I told Chad that I wasn’t planning to lug a year’s worth of food across the country. We’ll live like the people there and eat what they eat.”

  “Hmmph.” Polly was skeptical. “And what might that be?”

  “I don’t rightly know, but just about everyone in the world eats bread and meat and vegetables. I daresay we’ll find something that looks familiar.”

  “Probably a whole lot that ain’t, too.” Polly sniffed. “I’m gettin’ past the age of making a good pioneer.”

  The family was glad when Saturday evening arrived and they could turn their attention to getting ready for church. Baths were dealt with quickly. The men and boys elected to carry soap and towels to the creek, thus taking care of six people at one time. It was a cooler group that gathered on the porch to enjoy the end of the day. Simon and Will had energy left to chase fireflies and put them in a jar that Polly provided.

  “Do you suppose we can get enough in here to be able to read by?” Simon asked.

  “You might have a little trouble getting ’em all to turn on at the same time,” Luke joked. Then he said more soberly, “And they won’t live long without air.”

  “We better let them go, Will,” Simon decided. “They look prettier flying around anyway.”

  “What’s that funny noise coming from the trees?” Alice asked.

  “Cicadas,” Chad answered.

  They listened to the high-pitched sound for a minute.

  “Are they birds?” Simon asked.

  “No, they’re insects. They only hatch every seventeen years. We haven’t heard them since we’ve been here.”

  “The Bible calls them locusts,” Manda said. “God sent a plague of them to Egypt so that Pharaoh would let the children of Israel leave the country.”

  “Did Pharaoh let them go?” Simon asked.

  “He said he would, but he didn’t. The locusts didn’t stay long, but they ruined the land while they were there.”

  Simon frowned. “I hope the cicadas don’t do that to us.”

  “They can be pesky and fly into your face,” Luke said, “but they ain’t likely to clean us out. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  Sunday was another hot, clear day. Early in the morning, the family prepared to leave for Winner to spend the day. Picnic baskets were stowed in the wagon, and Luke took the reins to drive to church.

  “Feels good to be out and able to get around again,” Luke declared. “The service’ll mean a lot more to me than it did before I got sick.”

  They rode briskly down the road between the fields of corn. “It’ll be shoulder high in a couple of weeks, if this weather keeps up,” Chad remarked. He surveyed his crops with pleasure. “I’ll be back in time for harvest.”

  “The Lord willin’,” Polly added.

  “Yes, the Lord willing,” Chad said.

  “Aren’t we going to have a farm in Mexico, Papa?” Simon asked.

  “Not exactly. Remember I told you that we were planning to sell the land? First we’ll drill for oil. The folks from the big companies will buy the land if we find oil.”

  “It won’t be as pretty as our fields, will it?” Alice said.

  “No, it won’t,” Manda answered for Chad. “Nothing is as pretty as these green leaves and sprouts of corn.” She glanced at her husband. “We’ll all miss it.”

  Chad remained silent for the rest of the trip to Winner, and the children wisely said nothing more about Mexico.

  The small church was crowded with worshippers, and after the service it seemed that everyone pounded Luke on the back and welcomed his return after so many weeks.

  “I hear you folks are joining the caravan to Mexico,” the minister said. “That’s a pretty long trip. Staying a year, are you?”

  “We plan to,” Chad replied. “I’ve filed on several sections, and it’ll take that long to see whether it’s going to be profitable.”

  “Taking a chance, aren’t you? What if your claim is a pile of rocks that won’t even grow cactus?”

  “Don’t think it will be,” Chad replied. “We have to take the land agent’s word for it, but if he tries to hoodwink all of us, he’ll be in big trouble.”

  Dr. Flynn wandered over while the ladies were putting out the dinner. “I happen to know that this is the best food around,” he said. “Polly sure got you back on your
feet, didn’t she, Luke?”

  Luke happily agreed that this was so, and Polly looked pleased. “Go along with you, Doc. You just saw this berry cobbler and thought you’d get a piece of it. Why don’t you and the missus join us for dinner?”

  “We’d be happy to do that. I think Elaine is already over here talking to Frances.”

  He sat down with the men, and they were soon discussing the crops and the upcoming trip to Mexico.

  “You’re leaving your place in good hands, Chad,” Dr. Flynn said. “Henry and Amelia are capable young people, and her brothers are good workers. We’ll miss all of you, especially on Sunday when Frances isn’t here to play the organ. You have a wonderful family. Make sure you don’t lose any of them in Mexico.”

  Ethan was sitting with some of the older boys. They were talking about Mexico too.

  “You’re lucky, Ethan. I wish I could travel like that.” Sam Goode sighed. “I’ll spend the rest of my life on the farm and maybe get to town on the Fourth of July.”

  “You come in to church every Sunday, Sam.”

  “I don’t count that as going to town. This is the only thing I see.” Sam gestured at the woods surrounding the little church on three sides and then out across the prairie they were facing. “Hey!” he exclaimed suddenly. “Look at the dark clouds coming in! Do you suppose it’s going to hail the way it did three years ago?”

  The boys stood and watched the black clouds come closer. The men stopped talking and walked to the edge of the churchyard. Very soon the sun was covered, and the bright day had turned to dusk.

  Mothers gathered their children and headed for the church. “Hurry and get inside! We’re going to have a downpour!”

  “Them ain’t rain clouds. We’d best take shelter,” one of the older settlers declared. He headed for the building, and Ethan and the others followed quickly. As many as could crowded around the windows to watch the ominous blackness approach. There was silence in the church. Even the small children watched wide-eyed while objects like pebbles hit the panes of glass, and the room was darkened.

  Simon tugged at his father’s coat. “What is it, Papa?”

  “Cicadas. They’re migrating.”

  One by one the men turned from the windows and slumped onto the benches.

  “They’ll be past us soon,” said one. “We can go on home and start over.”

  “Too late for corn, but mayhap we can get some late wheat,” said another.

  “We’ll share what they didn’t get. Sometimes they only cut a swath a mile or so wide.”

  A solemn group headed for home late that afternoon. As far as they could see on either side of the road, the prairie grass had been stripped to the ground. When they reached the outer boundaries of the farm, their worst fears were realized. The corn was gone. Not one blade of green remained. It was as if some giant mower had moved through while they were away and flattened everything in its path.

  “Where did it all go?” Will asked. “What happened?”

  “The grasshoppers ate it,” Ethan told him.

  “Did God send us a plague like he did Pharaoh?” Alice looked frightened.

  “No,” Chad said, “they’re just doing what’s natural for them. When it’s been hot and dry for a long time, they migrate from one part of the country to another. They travel in big swarms like those we saw today, and they eat everything in their path.”

  Henry and Amelia joined the others at home. Polly prepared supper, but her heart wasn’t in it. “All the food we saved is what grows underground or what we already canned. Nobody’s gonna starve, but this is one desolate-looking place. Looks worse than it did when we came.”

  “It’ll look brand new again by the time you get back here,” Henry told her. “This won’t happen two years in a row. We’ll replant whatever we can right away.”

  If Chad was discouraged, he didn’t show it. Preparations went ahead for their departure. When they were ready to leave for Willow Creek in September to pick up the rest of the group, the prairie was beginning to look green again, and things were returning to normal.

  Chapter Seven

  Heading South to a New Life

  By the time the group was ready to leave Willow Creek, Nebraska, only three families were making the journey. One family had decided to leave later. Another had illness and abandoned the idea. Two others admitted to being fearful.

  “I hear tell that’s wild country down there,” Ed Swartz told Chad. “I don’t want to get in the middle of no civil war.”

  Ben Archer chimed in. “Yep, and they’re havin’ trouble with bandits. Some of them revolutionaries are coming right on over to the United States, crossin’ the border like it weren’t even there!”

  Chad listened politely but wouldn’t be turned back by threats of danger. “We’ll be as safe there as we are at home in South Dakota or Nebraska. We aren’t far from Fort Randall here in South Dakota, and there’s a regiment that does nothing but settle the range wars. Some homesteaders have fenced their land with barbed wire so the Indians can’t graze their stock or hunt buffalo. Doesn’t make for good feelings, I can tell you.”

  “Don’t think it’s a land dispute in Mexico,” Ben said. “Seems more like they’re fightin’ over the government. And if the United States has got their own folks down there, they’re gonna want a say in what goes on.”

  Chad nodded. “Could be you’re right. But I’ll stay out of their politics. I’m just going to homestead my land, sell it, and come back.”

  Manda was disappointed that Lydia Archer wouldn’t be going. “I thought we might be neighbors again. I don’t know Emma Sellers or Mary Brooks as well.”

  “You’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted,” Lydia predicted. “You’ll be in pretty close quarters for a while.”

  The prospect didn’t enchant Polly. “I remember our last move, and it was only into the next state. I don’t look forward to havin’ my home move under me for however long it takes to get there. And how many young ’uns are we gonna have to look after?”

  “The Sellers haven’t any little ones,” Lydia said. “A fifteen-year-old boy and a girl who’s seventeen. The Brooks have two girls, eight and eleven.”

  The group decided to travel by train to El Paso, Texas. “With fewer people than we expected, it’ll be cheaper and faster than taking the wagons,” Chad said. “Seventeen people can ride comfortably in one train car, and it won’t take much over two weeks to reach the border in El Paso.”

  The morning of their departure from Willow Creek, Ethan sat on a trunk and leaned against the station house. The familiar smell of the railroad-yard tar and gravel dust surrounded him. He had only to close his eyes to bring back the scene of his arrival at this station four years earlier. He had been about the age Simon was now, and although he hadn’t admitted it, even to himself, he’d been afraid. He and the others were just getting used to the Briarlane Christian Children’s Home, where Matron Daly had cared for them so lovingly.

  In his mind, Ethan saw the big steam engine puffing and snorting, the long trail of railcars behind it, and the two coaches that were the orphans’ home. It had taken several weeks to reach Willow Creek, with frequent stops to leave children in towns along the way. Today he would be leaving on a train again, but not as an orphan. There was another difference that mattered to Ethan even more. He’d already been without Bert’s company for the years they had been in South Dakota, though the two had exchanged letters as much as possible. Now Ethan was leaving again without his friend. They wouldn’t be going to school together this year as they’d planned, and Ethan didn’t know how long it would be until he saw Bert again.

  Suddenly, as if in answer to a wish, someone poked him on the arm. Ethan looked up at Bert’s freckled, grinning face.

  “Papa let me ride in on Trotter this morning to see you off,” Bert said. “So you’re really goin’ to Mexico?”


  “It looks that way. I sure wanted to go to school with you this fall.”

  “Hey! You can do that next year! Ain’t you excited ’bout travelin’ so far away?”

  “Yeah, I guess I am,” Ethan admitted. “Maybe you get to go to another country only once in your life.”

  “Some of us don’t get to go that often,” Bert said. “You don’t know what it’ll be like there, but you sure know about livin’ on a train. I guess it’s a little like goin’ to a home you don’t know nothin’ about, but at least you’re used to the people you’re with.”

  Ethan nodded. “I need to keep my eye on the others, too. Maybe you ought to come along to see that I don’t lose anyone.”

  “I wasn’t much help when you lost Will back at Briarlane. And remember Simon followin’ that itty-bitty circus lady with the hat and purse? Who knows what they’ll find to do in Mexico?” Bert grinned.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Ethan sighed. “I suppose I’ll always be responsible for them.”

  Bert regarded him with a sober expression. “Listen, Ethan. You got to start livin’ your own life. They got a papa and mama to look after ’em now. You won’t be watching out for ’em every minute when you go away to school. You might as well begin gettin’ used to it now.” He picked up the bag he had dropped beside him. “I almost forgot. I brought you somethin’ to take on your trip.”

  Bert dug out a book and handed it to Ethan. “Remember this?”

  “The drawing book I gave you when we came here!” Ethan looked at his friend in amazement. “You still have it after all this time?”

  “Sure. Ain’t you still got the key I gave you?”

  Ethan pulled a big key from his pocket. “Of course. I’d never lose this. It reminds me that God will help me whenever I pray.” He turned the key over in his hand. “I’ll probably need it lots more, too. But, Bert, why are you giving back my book?”