“What’s going to happen between us when we get there?” he asked.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t bring that up. I’m still too young to think about getting married and I don’t think I will be for a while.”
“Do I even have a chance?” he asked.
She looked at the earnest face. “Jed, you’re the only person that has a chance. I care for you, and I like you a lot. Goodnight,” she said, elevating to her toes for the night kiss that had become a nightly ritual.
They kissed. “Goodnight.” He turned to head back to his family’s wagon. He stopped. “Angie, I love you with all of my heart, and I will take care of you.”
It was the first time she had ever heard the words from anyone other than her relatives. I think I love you too. It was a sentiment she was unable to say aloud.
“Goodnight, Polly,” her voice choked with emotion.
Polly peered through the opening in the rear covering of the wagon. “Are you all right? You sound strange.”
“I’m fine,” Angie replied.
“You don’t sound fine. What’s wrong?”
“Jed just told me he loves me.”
“Then you should be happy instead of being sad. It’s a magical time. I remember the first time Seth told he loved me.”
“That’s just it. I can’t let myself fall in love with him.”
“It sounds as if it’s too late for you to think that way. You’ll be fine. You have a home with us, and they’ll be just down the road when you realize how you feel, and are ready to admit it.”
“I wish it was that simple. Goodnight, Polly.”
Three days later, they were in Oregon City.
The Lewis family and the Gilley’s got together over supper. Hiram led the discussion. “We’ve taken a house and barn on the edge of town from a man that’s gone off to the gold fields, and we plan to move tomorrow. We will be staying there until we have a place of our own. Seth and Polly have a room here in the boarding house.
“We’ve made some tentative plans. We’re going to give our weary feet a rest for a couple of days. After that, we want to go look at likely areas to settle. Since we want to be close to Seth and Polly, We have no idea how long we’ll be gone, so I’ve hired one of the settler’s sons to look after the stock while we’re gone. When we come back, we should have an idea where we are going to be living. In the meantime, Angela, it is not my place to give you orders, but if you’re willing to listen to a suggestion, I have one.
“While we’re gone, Polly will stay in the house with Sophie. You can share Mandy’s room in the house. This way, Polly will have someone around in case she needs help, and it will also help them save some money. When we get back, we’ll figure out what to do next. What do you think?”
“Mr. Hiram, I don’t really have any choice. You’re all being kinder to me than anyone has a right to expect, and I appreciate you sharing with me until I have the means to repay you.”
“Dear,” Sophie said gently, “the good Lord has provided well for us, and it is only right and proper we share it with you. We will not hear anything about repayment.”
“Mr. Lewis, I accept your kind offer,” Angie said.
“I share Angela’s sentiment,” Seth said.
“I’ve always wanted a sister and now I have one,” Mandy said.
Later…
“Everything’s all worked out,” Jed told Angie.
“It isn’t all worked out,” she said. “I’m still living off the charity of others. It isn’t something I want.”
“That’s just not true,” he said. “You’re helping take care of Miss Polly.”
“And your father is helping take care of all of us.”
“Like Mama said, we’ve been blessed, and it’s right and proper, and besides, I love you.”
“I love you too, but I don’t want charity.”
He heard only the first four words. He picked her up and whirled her around, his face all smiles. “It won’t be charity if we’re married.”
“Put me down you idiot. What are other people going to think?”
“I don’t care, do you?”
“No, but I’m still too young to get married.”
“That’s all right. I can wait. As long as you need me to, I’ll wait.” He set her back on the ground, but held onto her. “You’ll think this is silly, but every night I have prayed for this.”
“It’s not silly at all,” she said. “Now I want to be kissed.”
With his arms wrapped around her, he bent, when his lips touched hers the fireworks went off in his head, sending jolts of electricity coursing through his body.
When they broke the kiss, she said, “That was nice.”
“It was more than nice, it was wonderful,” he corrected.
Angie was almost asleep in her usual place under the wagon when she sensed someone nearby. “I seen you and that boy, and I come for my share,” a slurred voice said.
She screamed and tried to scramble further under the wagon, but he caught her ankle. “You can’t get away from ole Burl,” the coarse voice said. He had a terrible stench and reeked of rotgut whiskey.
Angie screamed again as he began pulling her from under the wagon.
“That’s Angie!” Jed shouted, and ran toward the Gilley wagon. He charged into the drunk, and knocked the foul smelling man off his feet. She was free.
“Get away, Angie,” Jed’s voice said.
“Boy, you fooling with a man now,” Burl roared, and swung his arm. He backhanded Jed and sent him sprawling. He grabbed a shovel from the side of the wagon and hit Jed on the side of his head. Burl leered, an evil grin as he drew back to hit Jed again. “You gonna get your comeuppance now, boy.” A blast from Hiram’s double barrel shotgun hit him in the chest, driving him backwards and onto his back. The shovel fell harmlessly to the ground. Burl didn’t move again, as his life’s blood poured onto the ground.
Seth had jumped from his wagon, his rifle in his hands. Major Adams came running up. “What’s going on?”
Hiram said “We heard Angie screaming. Jed got here first and hit this man at a dead run. He hit Jed with a shovel and was fixing to hit him again when I let go with my shotgun. He’s not from our company, so he wasn’t up to any good.
“I got to see to Jed. I think he’s hurt bad,” Hiram said.
Polly was struggling to climb down from the wagon and would have fallen if Seth hadn’t caught her.
Sophie was kneeling on the ground beside Jed. “Hiram, we need to get him to the doctor. They do have one here don’t they?”
“I’m sure they do. I’ll get hitched,” Hiram said and ran toward his wagon.
Meanwhile, Major Adams said, “Miss Thornton, what happened here?”
“I was just about asleep when this… he grabbed me and was trying to pull me from under the wagon. Jed knocked him loose and told me to run. The next thing I know, the gun went off.”
“Why were you under the wagon this time of the night?” Major Adams asked.
“It’s where I sleep,” she said.
“Major, she won’t have it any other way,” Seth said.
“No more,” Miss Thornton, understand?”
“She’s going to be staying with us in our rent house, Major,” Sophie said.
Hiram and Seth loaded Jed in the wagon pulled by horses he had borrowed, since they would be faster than the oxen. Hiram boosted Sophie to the wagon, along with Mandy.”
“May I go too, Mr. Hiram?” a trembling Angie asked.
“Sure, honey. I’ll give you a boost.” He shook the reins and they clattered off toward the center of Oregon City, where they hoped to find a doctor.
Chapter twenty-one
It’s Bad
Doctor Seamus Murphy…
Hiram stopped the wagon in front of Doctor Seamus Murphy’s office on Main Street. He enlisted the help of a man passing by to get Jed inside.
“Put him on the table,” directed the man who identified himself as Doctor Murphy.
“What happened to this young man?” the gray-haired man asked as he donned a white smock to protect his clothes.”
“He was hit in the head with a shovel,” Hiram said.
“Is he going to be all right?” his anxious mother asked.
“I won’t know until I’ve examined him,” the kindly doctor replied. “Why don’t you wait outside until I take a look at him?”
“We’re his parents and we want to stay with him,” Sophie replied. “Mandy, you and Angie wait outside.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“This could be very bad or nothing more than a bad headache. We don’t know much about the brain, and I’ve never done any type of surgery,” Dr. Murphy explained. “He has a large knot, but I don’t see any evidence of bleeding. When he’s a little more alert, I’ll do some more checks. I think it would be best to keep him here at least for tonight where I can keep an eye on him.”
“Will it be all right if I stay?” Sophie asked.
“Yes, it would be all right.”
Sophie told the girls what the doctor had told her. “I’m going to stay with him tonight,” she told them.
“Mrs. Lewis, I can stay. It’s my fault he’s here,” Angie said.
“Why in the world would it be your fault?” Sophie asked. “Put that thought from your mind right now. You can stay, but I will stay with you.”
Dr. Murphy brought another chair into the room. “He’s trying to wake up.” I don’t want him to get up. His balance might not be good, and I don’t want him falling and hitting his head again.”
“We won’t let him do that,” Sophie said.
“Doc, we were going out to look at some claims in the morning, I guess he shouldn’t do that, right?”
“I would advise doing nothing that might get him another hit on the head.”
“Sophie, I’m going to check on the stock. Why don’t you come with me and let the kids stay with Jed?”
“No,” she said fiercely. “I’m staying with my boy.”
Later…
“He really cares for you,” Sophie said.
“I know,” Angie answered. “I care for him too. In fact, earlier tonight, I told him I loved him too, but I wasn’t ready to get married.”
“Why don’t you think so? I was about your age when Hiram and I married.”
“I guess it’s the way I was raised. I don’t feel like I’m old enough to take on the responsibilities of being a wife. He seems like he’s a lot older than me. I told him and he said he’d wait until I was ready.”
“That’s right smart of you to think about whether you’re ready. It’s a big step. The most important one a woman can take. I saw a few that married before they grew into adults, and it was a mess. You’ll know when it’s right. If it isn’t Jed, you’ll know that too.”
She went to the bedside. He was awake. “Mama, is Angie all right?”
“Ask her yourself. She’s right here.”
“Angie’s here?”
“I’m right here. You’re my hero!”
“He didn’t hurt you?”
“Thanks to you, he didn’t have a chance. You gave me the chance to get away.”
“I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
“That’s right, you did say that.” She kissed him on the cheek.
“You be careful, he might come back.”
“He won’t bother anyone again, ever,” his mother said.
“Is he…”
Sophie nodded. “How are you feeling?”
“Other than a bad headache, I’m fine. My first night in Oregon City and I’m spending it in the doctor’s office.”
“At least you’re not sleeping on the ground,” Angie said.
“Speaking of that, I didn’t know you had been sleeping on the ground,” Sophie said.
“It wouldn’t have been right for me to displace Seth, so I insisted.”
“You could have been in the wagon with Mandy and me,” Sophie said.
“That wouldn’t have been right either.”
“You are the strangest girl I’ve ever met,” Sophie said.
“That’s me, Strange Angela Thornton.”
“The Major was surprised when he found out where she had been sleeping and told her she is not to sleep under the wagon again,” Sophie told Jed.
“I can hardly wait to get out and look around,” Jed told them.
“It’s going to be a few days before you can do much. The doctor says you can’t take a chance on falling or anything.”
“I’m fine,” he insisted.
“We’re going to go by what he said.”
“That means I won’t be able to go with Papa and Mr. Gilley to look at claims.”
“Until the doctor says it’s okay, that is the way it is. The subject is closed.”
The next morning…
“Seth and I went by the land office today and found out what we have to do to file a claim. While we were there we looked at their map,” Hiram told them. “We saw some likely looking places we are going to look.”
“You can’t wait until I can go?” Jed pleaded.
“There’s another train coming in every day,” Hiram said. “That means another thirty or forty people looking for land.”
“Yes sir, I understand.”
* * *
“How are you feeling this morning?” Dr. Murphy asked when he came in to check on his patient.
“Except for a headache, I feel pretty good,” Jed replied.
“Have you tried sitting up?”
“Yes sir.”
“Did you feel dizzy?”
“No sir.”
“I don’t think there’s any need to keep you here any longer. You just need to be careful.”
“Doctor, we were planning to start looking for a place to settle. Will he be able to go?” Hiram asked.
“I’d say give it the rest of the day and he should be good to go tomorrow, as long as he doesn’t do any hard riding until the lump on his head goes down.”
“Yes sir. I’ll be careful,” Jed promised.
“Son, it wouldn’t be a good idea to get hit in the head by a shovel anytime soon either,” Dr. Murphy told him, smiling.
“No sir. I plan to stay away from shovels for a while.”
The wagon had been emptied and cleaned. They would sleep in real beds tonight.
Chapter twenty-two
Our Place
Thirty-five miles from Oregon City, and two days in the saddle brought the land hunters to Salem, the capitol, where they visited the land office. The next day, based on information from the clerk, they headed northwest to an area they deemed ideal. The land was located twelve miles from Salem. Silver Rock Creek wound its way through the area, and the soil looked fertile and plow ready.
“Seth, this is it for us,” Hiram said. “I’m going to file on two sections, and buy another section.”
“I don’t think we’ll do any better,” Seth agreed.
At the land office in Salem, the paperwork was completed. “What about you, young man?” the clerk asked Jed. “Are you eighteen?”
“Yes sir, but I’m not married, so I don’t qualify.”
“The law says you have to be eighteen and you have to begin living on the land within six months. It would be a household of one, and you would be the head. I’ll take your claim.”
“Go for it, son,” Hiram said.
When they left, Hiram and Sophie had three sections along Silver Rock Creek, including the one Hiram purchased. Jed had one section, and the Gilley’s had two. All three sections had water and trees, along with what would be good pasture land.
“I don’t believe it,” Jed proclaimed. “I have a farm!”
“Is there any labor for hire around here?” Hiram asked the clerk.
“Yes sir, I believe you can find some of the Chinese that will hire out. Why do you ask?”
“I’d like to get started on a house, as soon as possible. Are there any places to rent?”
“There may be. There is a boarding house.”
“Let’s take a room tonight and head back in the morning,” Hiram suggested.
* * *
Oregon City…
“We have good news and bad news. We filed claims on two sections and bought another,” Hiram told friends and family at the supper table.
“On top of that, Jed was able to file a claim on a section. Seth filed on two sections”
“That’s the good news. What’s the bad?” Sophie asked.
“It’s about fifty miles away. That means three more days in a wagon,” Hiram told them.
“Three days I can do, after all we have been through, three more won’t even be noticeable,” she said.
“How are you feeling, Jed?” Angie asked.
“I’m tired, but I’m good. I missed you,” he answered.
“I missed you too. I’m glad you’re back. I’ve been kind of worried about you.”
“Take note of this, everyone,” Sophie said. “We’re all going on about land, and this sweet girl is the only one asking about our son’s well being. I’m embarrassed.”
Angie’s cheeks colored. “I was afraid he might have gotten woozy or something.”
“Whatever woozy is, if it means dumb, he has it,” Mandy said.
“Woozy means dizzy.”
“He’s that too.”
“Stop picking on Jed. He saved my life,” Angie told them.
“Now she’s defending him,” the undeterred Mandy said.
“Why wouldn’t I? I love him.” Angie retorted.
“Could we change the subject?” Jed asked. “You’re going to love it. It’s prettier than anything around here. Besides, Most of the good land around here has already been taken.”
“When are we going to see it?” Sophie asked.
“Why don’t we plan to pack the wagon and head on down this week?” Hiram asked.
“Honey, are we going to be close to them?” Polly asked Seth.
“We’ll be next-door neighbors. Jed will be on one side and we’re on the other.”
[Oregon Trail Time Travel 04.0] Angie and the Farmer Page 9