by Al Lacy
As he turned into the yard, he saw Chris and B. J. at the barn, doing their chores. Suddenly the front door opened, and Lucinda emerged with Hannah a step behind her. They had seen Solomon but didn’t speak to him. Instead, they wrapped their arms around each other in a tight embrace.
When they let go of each other, there were tears on their cheeks, and Solomon could tell by the redness of their eyes that they had been weeping for some time.
“Hello, darling,” Hannah finally said. Then to Lucinda: “We’ll spend as much time together as possible in the next four weeks.”
“Yes,” Lucinda said. “How about sewing together tomorrow afternoon?”
“Fine. I’ll be there about two o’clock.”
“Couldn’t you come for lunch?”
“Well, yes, I could do that,” Hannah said, wiping at her tears.
“All right. See you at noon. Hello Solomon.”
Solomon moved close to Hannah as Lucinda climbed into the buggy and drove away.
“Did she learn by the grapevine, Hannah?”
“Yes. I told her that it might happen. But when she heard it was for sure, she came right over.”
“That grapevine sure is speedy. Everybody in town and all around Independence must know by now that we’re moving to Fort Bridger.”
Hannah reached up and locked her wrists behind Solomon’s neck. “I’m sure you’re right, darling,” she said with a smile. “The news moved so fast that we already have a buyer for the farm.”
CHAPTER NINE
Hannah Marie Cooper, are you joshing me?”
“No! Isn’t the Lord wonderful? When He decides to make a move…”
“Well tell me about it, honey! Who—?”
“Hyram and Florence! They came by about three hours ago. Said they heard we were moving to Wyoming and asked if we wanted to sell the farm.”
Hyram and Florence Donaldson were in their late twenties and had three children. They had moved to Independence from Kentucky about eight months ago, and were regular customers at Cooper’s General Store. The house they now lived in was quite small.
“Sweetheart, Hyram doesn’t make a lot of money. How can they afford to buy this place? We have to get our money out of it so we can buy land in Wyoming and build a new house.”
“Tell him, Mama!” Mary Beth said.
“Yeah,” Patty Ruth said. “Tell him, Mama!”
“I had the same thoughts when they showed up here this afternoon, Sol. They didn’t tell me at first how they could afford it. They said they wanted to raise their children in the country. They’ve admired our place, and you’ll remember they visited us once, so they knew what the house looks like inside.
“Then, right out of the blue, Hyram said—well, wait a minute. How much did you say we would have to get out of the farm?”
“Sixty-five hundred. No less.”
Mary Beth’s eyes danced as she looked on. Patty Ruth didn’t really comprehend it all, but she was excited because her sister and mother were excited.
“Are you ready for this, Sol?” Hannah said.
“Ready as I’ll ever be…”
“Hyram offered us seven thousand.”
“Great! We’ll take it! But—”
Hannah grinned. “But you want to know where he’s going to get the seven thousand…”
“That’s my next question.”
“He already has it! A wealthy uncle died in Kentucky and left Hyram and each of his four siblings twelve thousand dollars! He and Florence have the money in the bank right now!”
“So what did you tell them?”
“I said we’d take it! They’ll be back to talk with you this evening.”
“Glory to God!” Solomon said, grasping Hannah by the waist and lifting her off the floor. “Praise the Lord!” he shouted, whirling her around in a circle.
“Sol, put me down!”
As Hannah’s feet touched the floor, he kissed her soundly and said, “Everything is working out, honey. We’re going to have a wonderful life out west!”
At that moment, the boys came in. They knew of Hyram Donaldson’s offer and had heard their father’s voice clear out at the barn.
Solomon gathered his family in a circle and led them in prayer, thanking God for the marvelous way He was guiding them to Fort Bridger.
Hannah then said, “Sol, you did remember to invite Mother and Daddy to supper?”
“Yep. They acted a bit frosty, but they’ll be here.”
“I’m really nervous about this.”
“It’s okay. As I told you last night, yours truly will break it to them.”
“I’m still nervous.”
“Me, too,” Mary Beth said. “I don’t want Grandma and Grandpa mad at us.”
“We’ll just have to take that as it comes, honey,” Solomon said.
“Sol…”
“Yes, my darling wife?”
“Something occurred to me about our taking four extra wagons to Wyoming. Who’s going to drive them?”
He grinned and said, “When I made reservations for the last wagon train today I talked to Fred Brinton about it. By the way, we’re going with Ezra Comstock.”
“Oh, wonderful! He’s a dear man.”
“Fred said the wagon trains always have several young men who switch off driving with their parents or brothers. They’re eager to do more driving. He says I’ll be able to get drivers without even having to pay them. If, however, I have to pay them, I’ll do it gladly. We’ll know more when Ezra gets here. So far, he’s got thirteen wagons signed up in addition to ours. The agent is sure there will be more.”
“And just when are we leaving?”
“Oh! I’m sorry. On Wednesday, May 25. I’ve got the oxen and wagons reserved.”
“Good. Now, if we just had this thing with Mother and Daddy settled.” Hannah touched her forehead.
“Headache?”
“Yes. It’s just now coming on.”
“Honey, don’t let your parents’ attitude upset you.”
“I’m trying not to, but I hate having them angry and hurt. I’m glad you’re going to break it to them. You will wait until after supper?”
“Yes.”
“All right, girls,” Hannah said, “we’ve got to hurry and get supper on the table. Grandma and Grandpa will be here in about twenty minutes. You boys get your hands washed.”
“I guess that includes you, Papa,” Chris said with a laugh.
Ben and Esther Singleton pulled up in their buggy and parked in front of the house. Chris and B. J. bounded out the door, shouting, “Grandma! Grandpa!”
“Hello, boys,” Ben said. He wrapped the reins around the metal tube that held the buggy whip. “Supper about ready?”
“Sure is!” Chris said, stepping close to the passenger side and holding out his hand. “Here, Grandma, I’ll help you down.”
Ben put an arm around B. J. and watched Chris walk Esther up the porch steps.
Solomon appeared at the front door with a smile on his face, though it felt as if he had hot rocks in his stomach. “Evening, folks. Hope you’re hungry. Hannah has a beautiful meal prepared.”
They gave him a bland look and focused their attention on their granddaughters. Patty Ruth came charging out the door to hug them, and Mary Beth followed more sedately. Hannah stepped onto the porch last, feeling a sickish flutter in her stomach.
When she embraced her mother, she felt a definite coldness between them. It was even worse with her father. “Mother… Daddy… what’s wrong? You seem upset.”
Ben swung a piercing look at Solomon, then turned it on his daughter and said, “I want to hear it straight from you, Hannah Marie. It’s all over town, but I’ll call it rumor until you tell me straight out that you and your husband have decided to take our grandchildren and make that irresponsible, foolish move west. Please tell me, Hannah, that it’s not true.”
Solomon stepped forward. “Ben, it’s not rumor. That’s why we asked you to supper tonight. We wanted to
have a nice meal together, then I was going to tell you about it, and—”
“We don’t want to hear it!”
“I was going to show you how we know our decision is the Lord’s doing.”
Ben’s features molded into a rigid mask. “Don’t you tell me, Solomon Cooper, that God would lead you into anything so utterly senseless! You’re making a big mistake! I don’t want to hear any of your ‘God’s leading us’ tripe!”
The children looked on in confusion, anxiety showing on their faces.
Hannah had an arm around her mother and could feel her tremble. “Daddy,” Hannah said softly, “if you will let us, we’ll tell you some marvelous things the Lord has done to show us—”
“I’m not listening!” he said. “And neither is your mother!”
Hannah’s head began to throb. “Daddy, please… let’s go in and eat supper. Let us tell you how the Lord is working.”
Ben’s mouth drew into a hard line. “I wanted so much to hear that it was only rumor, but you’re really going to do it, eh?”
Esther spoke up. “Why would God lead you out there amongst those wild Indians, Sol? And why would He lead you to subject Hannah and these precious children to that uncivilized wilderness? And why would He lead you to take our daughter and grandchildren away from us in our old age? We don’t have a lot longer in this world, you know. I agree with Ben. You’re making a big mistake.”
“Mother, don’t lay it all on Sol,” Hannah said. “This is as much my decision as it is his. If you and Daddy will just let us explain how we know it’s the Lord’s will that we go to Fort Bridger, you will understand.”
“That’s right,” Solomon said. “And if you’ll let us tell you about it, maybe you’ll just change your minds and go with us. We don’t have to be separated. We can still be together.”
Ben’s features almost rippled with anger. “I told you before, we’re not going to do any such thing!”
“Daddy, supper’s getting cold,” Hannah said. “Let’s go in and eat. We can talk about it some more, and—”
“We’re not talking about it any more! And we’re not eating with you, either. C’mon, Esther. We’re going home.”
Esther was surprised at Ben’s command, but she nodded and turned away from Hannah toward the buggy.
Tears welled up in Hannah’s eyes and her voice caught as she said, “Mother… Daddy… please don’t treat us like this! We love you.”
Ben, who was walking behind his wife, looked over his shoulder and delivered a parting shot. “If you loved us, you wouldn’t be so eager to go off and leave us! I’m telling both of you, you’ll be sorry you did this foolish thing. It’ll backfire on you! You’re making the biggest mistake of your lives!”
Solomon pulled Hannah close, and the children drew up on both sides to watch in stunned silence as their grandparents drove away. In the dusky light they saw Esther look back, her cheeks wet with tears.
Solomon kept his arm around Hannah as they moved inside, and said, “If this has put any doubts in your mind about going west, honey, you just say so. We’ll call the whole thing off right now.”
Hannah shook her head. “No, Sol. What just happened here doesn’t change anything. The Lord has made it quite clear that we’re supposed to move to Fort Bridger. Let’s eat supper.”
During the next four weeks, the Cooper family prepared for their trip. The supplies for the four wagons came in, and everything was moving along on schedule.
The Singletons remained aloof, nursing their deep hurt that their daughter and her family could so easily leave them behind. Hannah’s heart felt heavy, but she didn’t let it spoil the excitement that was building as the days passed.
On Saturday, May 21, Solomon was behind the counter in the store when he recognized a small, wiry man among the customers. “Well, hello, Ezra!” he said.
“Howdy, Sol.” Ezra Comstock grinned and looked around the store. “Would you be havin’ time to talk this mornin’?”
“Sure. Soon as I finish up with these folks, I’ll have Randy take over and we can chat.”
The sun and wind had weathered Ezra’s skin to a mahogany color. He stood slightly over five feet seven inches, and there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. He wore an old hat with a mashed-down, discolored crown, and a sweat-stained band.
Solomon pointed toward the back of the store and said, “Come with me; there’s a place to talk back here.”
The two men sat beside a small table that held a checkerboard game, near the pot-bellied stove.
“What’s this I hear?” Ezra asked. “The Cooper family’s gonna be in my train?”
“That’s right.”
“And you’re goin’ only as far as Fort Bridger?”
“Yes, sir. Fred told me you were taking this train to Sacramento.”
“Correct. Now, I hope you’ll pardon this old man’s curiosity, but how come you’re goin’ to Fort Bridger?”
“Well, it’ll take a few minutes to explain.”
“I’m all ears.”
Solomon told Ezra how he had been stirred, watching the wagon trains form in Independence and seeing the people so excited about beginning a new life on the frontier. Now Hannah had caught the “bug,” and so had the children. And the Lord had confirmed the move to them in so many ways.
“Well,” Ezra said, “sounds like everything’s workin’ out for you. You know that we’re pullin’ out on Wednesday?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We’ll have a little meetin’ with everybody in the train on Tuesday evenin’.”
“All right. How many wagons are signed up now?”
“Sixteen, not includin’ yours. That’ll make twenty-one. I like havin’ that many. It’ll tend to keep the Indians off our backs. Now, Fred told me you need drivers for those four extra wagons. I’ve already got ’em lined up.”
“Good! I’ll pay them whatever they want.”
“No need. They don’t want pay. They’re glad to have the wagons to drive. All young fellas. Oldest is twenty-six. When do you want to meet ’em?”
“Well, I think we need to load the wagons sometime on Tuesday. The goods are in the storage shed behind the store.”
“You open up at eight, don’t you?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“How about I bring the boys by at eight on Tuesday mornin’ to load?”
“Fine. My family and I will spend the last night in our house on Tuesday, and join the train with the other covered wagons on Wednesday morning.”
“Sounds good, Sol. I have to say I hate to see you leave Independence, but it’ll sure be a pleasure havin’ you in my train.”
Hannah and the children were at the store on Tuesday morning when Ezra Comstock brought the four young men who would drive their wagons. The oldest was twenty-six-year-old Tony Cuzak. The others, Perry Norwood, Bob Lander, and Buck Mylan, ranged in age from nineteen to twenty-three.
While Hannah helped Randy at the store, Solomon and his drivers picked up the oxen and wagons and brought them back to load the food and supplies. Then the drivers took the wagons to Courthouse Square.
The people in Ezra’s wagon train gathered in Independence Square that night after supper. When the Cooper buckboard pulled up, Solomon’s drivers were standing near the fire. The young men waved and called out a special greeting to little Patty Ruth.
When everyone had gathered in a circle around the fire, Ezra asked all the men to introduce themselves and their families and say where they were from.
There were four wagons that carried only men, and they were all in the Cuzak family. Walt Cuzak, from Scranton, Pennsylvania, introduced himself and pointed out his sons, Frank, Gordon, Dwight, Edmund, and Tony. He bragged that he and his boys were going to dig gold in California and get rich, and woe to anybody who got in their way.
Solomon and Hannah heard a man behind them whisper, “I’m from Scranton, too. The four older brothers are just like the old man. Tony’s the only decent one.”
W
hen everyone had been introduced, Ezra ran his gaze over the crowd. “Now, folks, you all know that when we pull out of here tomorrow morning, we’ll be heading northwest across Kansas toward Nebraska. This is the beginning of the rainy season. There’s no doubt we’ll encounter some heavy rainstorms. Most of the time, I’ll be riding my horse back and forth along the train. When the storms get real bad, I’ll call for the wagons to make a circle and wait it out.
“I’m glad to see that most of you have done as I suggested and hooked your wagons to mule or oxen teams.”
Walt Cuzak’s four wagons were the only horse-drawn wagons. He stepped away from his sons and came within a few feet of Comstock almost as if to challenge him. “Since I’m the only one with horses pullin’ my wagons, does that make for a problem, Ezra? I mean, it was only a suggestion that we use oxen or mules. I don’t like oxen, and I don’t like mules.”
Ezra looked back at him steadily and said, “Horses have proven to wear out sooner than oxen or mules, Walt. But I leave the choice to the wagon owners. The biggest problem is that Indians like to eat the big draft horses. Lots of meat, you see. So they’re more likely to attack wagon trains and wipe them out to get their hands on horses in the harness.”
“Well,” Cuzak said, “since there will only be four wagons out of twenty-one pulled by horses, I doubt any of those savages would chance attacking our train.”
“Let’s hope not,” Ezra said. “There is one other problem. Like I said, we’re going to have some storms. If they’re severe, I’ll call for the wagons to make a circle. We’ve got to keep the animals in control when lightning is popping all around us. The mules sometimes will panic and bolt… the oxen never. But horses are especially skittish. If they’re not controlled, they’ll bolt. If we stay in a circle, with the horses’ faces against the wagon in front of them, it will usually keep them in check.
“I must also caution those of you with saddle horses. When I call for a circle, place your saddle horses inside the circle. There’s no place for them to run if the circle is tight.”
The fire was dying down and Ezra looked toward the edge of the group. “Micah, how about throwing some more wood on the fire?”