“I don’t disapprove but I am concerned. The poor girl has herself convinced everything will be perfect. Real life isn’t like that. It is going to be hard work.”
“She knows that, Della, she is just being optimistic about the opportunities ahead of all of us.”
“I think it’s more than that, Paddy. She has the idea she has to be the perfect wife too. A bit like our Eva.”
“What’s wrong with Eva?” Pa’s voice bristled.
“Don’t speak to me using that tone. There is nothing wrong with our daughter apart from the fact she seems intent on working herself into the ground. Since she got married, she has insisted on doing all their cooking and chores herself. She won’t take any help.”
“It has only been a few days. She just wants to show Clarke what a treasure she is.”
“David Clarke knows that more than most. He is as concerned as I am. He asked her to let them take their meals here. He mentioned I could do with some extra help but she won’t listen. She thinks he is insulting her. I fear they had their first row about it.”
“You better be careful, Della. You didn’t take kindly to my mam getting involved in our business.” Pa laughed as if remembering the early days of his marriage.
“Maybe at first but I learned your mother was usually right.”
“I will speak to Eva, Ma. I can ask her to help us to ease your burden.”
“Thank you, Johanna.”
“So what plans do my girls have for their lives in Oregon?”
Becky excused herself quickly leaving Johanna to answer her father.
“My dream is the same as it always was, Pa.”
“To be surrounded by children. You have certainly got plenty of practice on this trip.” Pa beamed at her. “You will make a fine mother and wife.”
“I want to be a school teacher, Pa.”
“Not that again. I thought you would forget about teaching. It is not a career for a woman.”
“How can you say that? A lot of teachers are female.”
“Dried up old spinsters. Not fresh faced beautiful girls who can make a fine match.”
“Pa, I am not one of your prized animals. I am a person with my own thoughts and dreams,” she protested. But her disrespectful tone got her into trouble with her ma.
“Johanna Thompson, mind your tone. Do not speak to your father like that.”
“Sorry, Ma. I best get to bed. It’s late.”
Johanna had to leave for fear she would say something else. She was determined to be a school teacher whether her pa agreed or not.
Chapter 4
The next morning, Johanna waited by the shore. Milly walked up behind her, her hand lying on her stomach protectively.
“It won’t be like last time, will it?” Milly’s nervous tone was matched by the look in her eyes.
“No, of course not. Look, it’s barely deep enough to swim in. We will all be fine,” Johanna said hoping she sounded sincere. She didn’t like river crossings any more than Milly did. “How are you feeling?”
Milly blushed. “Better now the sickness has passed over. Your ma has been wonderful. It helps having someone who understands what it’s like,” Milly said quietly. “She makes it seem less scary.”
“Listen to Ma and you will be fine.”
“She promised to help Stan look after the baby if anything was to happen.” Milly bit her lip staring at the river.
“Nothing bad is going to happen, Milly. You’ll see. God willing, we will be in Oregon before your little one makes an appearance.”
Johanna crossed her fingers as the hope shone out of the other girl’s eyes. She hoped she was right. Having your first baby was bad enough, but out here in the wilds? But Indian women do it all the time. That was different though. They were used to it.
She turned her gaze back to the happenings at the water. She bit her lip watching everyone’s progress, in particular her ma and pa’s wagon, David’s, and not least of all Rick and the girls. She was riding Pa’s horse across as he wanted to take the wagon.
Thankfully, everyone crossed without incident and they camped about half a mile from the river. The grass was better than they had seen for some days. Captain Jones was concerned about the oxen losing their strength so he wanted to take advantage of every good grazing opportunity that came their way. She spotted Eva looking a little strained and very tired. She made a mental note to speak to her alone the first chance she got.
Later she saw Eva moving toward the river presumably to get some water so she followed her.
“How is married life?” Johanna teased her older sister.
Eva blushed prettily. “It’s wonderful, although I can’t wait until we have our own home and some privacy.”
“Is that what this is all about?” Johanna asked.
“What do you mean?”
Johanna knew she had to tread carefully or risk hurting her sister’s feelings.
“I mean you setting up your own fire and cooking your meals. Why don’t you and David just eat with us? It would be less work for you, and David would feel better not leaving you alone so much.”
“Has he said something?” Eva’s eyes filled with concern.
“Of course not, but I know he worries about you when he is on guard duty. You don’t have anything to prove, Eva.”
“I am a married woman now with responsibilities.”
“Your main responsibility is to keep both of you as healthy as possible. The hard work won’t stop when we get to Oregon.” Her sister had that stubborn look she sometimes got in her eyes. “Eva, please. I need you at our fireside. You know what Pa is like. He thinks Becky and I are still children.”
Eva’s eyes blazed with curiosity now. “Is this about the man you were dancing with at the wedding? Isn’t his name Hughes?”
Johanna wished she had left Eva to it now. One sister knowing about her love life was bad enough, but two?
“I was dancing with Mr. Hughes but that’s not what this is about. I want to be a school teacher when I get to Oregon. Pa thinks I am too young to know what I want. Even though he got married and everything by our age.”
“He’s a man.”
“That shouldn’t make a difference.” Surprised at her sister’s traditional response, Johanna’s tone was sharper than she’d intended. She immediately softened it again. It wouldn’t do to get on Eva’s bad side. “Please, Eva. He listens to you.”
“You mean he is being nice to me because of what happened with Harold,” Eva said sadly.
Johanna knew it still hurt that their pa had favored Harold over David so obviously, but in time, that wound would heal. “Well, that too. But he does listen to you, Eva, you are his first born and hold a special place in his heart. Don’t protest. I am not complaining. I heard him tell Ma you reminded him of Granny.”
“I wish Granny had been at the wedding. She loves David.”
“You will have to write to her and tell her all about it. You would have time to write letters if you came back to our fire. Will you, please? It makes more sense if we share the chores. You will wear yourself out at this rate.”
“I will speak to my husband.” Eva’s teasing tone gave Johanna hope. If anyone could talk their pa round, it was Eva.
Johanna gave her sister a hug. “Thanks, Eva.”
As Johanna wandered back to camp, she couldn’t stop thinking about Rick Hughes. He wasn’t as tall as her father or as well built. He looked rather like a school teacher instead of a farmer. His dark hair and slightly sallow colored skin made his eyes look even darker. He didn’t shave regularly but she didn’t mind. In fact, the light stubble across his chin made him look older and more distinguished in her mind at least. It was obvious from speaking with him, he was well educated. His cultured accent and excellent general knowledge spoke of a well-funded education. He wouldn’t be at all out of place in society parlor, although they may make him take off his dusty shoes. She giggled at the image of him standing in front of society’s most imperv
ious matrons, all dusty and smelling distinctly of horse. She wondered why he was heading out West. He looked as if he should have gone in the opposite direction.
Chapter 5
“Johanna, is that snow on top of the hills? I said it was but Stephen said it wasn’t. He said it was stones.”
“I think you are right, Carrie, looks like snow to me.”
“Can we go see?”
Johanna smiled. “No, sweetheart, we can’t. Those hills look close, but in reality, they are far away. We would get lost.”
“So how do I prove to Stephen he’s wrong?”
“Tell my brother girls are always right.”
Carrie’s face lit up as she ran after Stephen. Johanna heard her telling him how boys were wrong about everything. Her brother was arguing back.
She pulled her woolen shawl around her as she gathered more fuel for the fire. There was a cool sharp breeze blowing making her believe it was snow. She hadn’t told Carrie two men from the wagon train had placed a rather large bet and were now in the process of finding out who was right. She didn’t understand them betting over silly things. Nobody in the wagon train was very poor but still they didn’t have money to waste either. They were a long way from Oregon.
“Who upset you?”
She twirled around at the sound of Rick’s voice. She hadn’t noticed him ride up. He must have been out hunting, although he didn’t seem to have caught anything.
“Nobody. I was just thinking,” she said quickly, her heart racing at his closeness.
“Your face was all screwed up like this.” He made a face making her laugh.
“I was thinking about the men who had gambled on whether the snow was granite or not. It seems a silly waste of time and money,” Johanna answered as soon as she stopped laughing.
“I guess but the trail is rather boring and monotonous. If anything helps to pass the time, providing it doesn’t hurt anyone, I think it’s fine.”
“They could read a book. It is safer and cheaper.”
He laughed. “True, Miss School Teacher, but how many of these men can read? I figure most of our company are illiterate or barely know enough to get by. Not much chance of schooling for many of these men.”
Johanna flushed. She had been insensitive, something very unusual for her. Usually she was the one pointing out the obvious reasons to her sisters. Why did this man always make her feel as she should be apologizing?
“Have you seen the girls?”
“Carrie is off teasing Stephen and Sarah was with Becky and Ma earlier. I think Becky took her to visit her friend Milly. She won’t have left her alone, don’t worry.”
“I don’t know what I would do without you and your family, Miss Thompson. Thank goodness we joined this wagon train at Fort Kearney and not another one.”
Johanna’s cheeks went redder. Flustered, she turned back to collecting fuel too quickly. Her foot caught in her skirt and she fell over. She was so embarrassed at being sprawled over the ground, she didn’t realize how much leg she was showing. As soon as she did, she clambered to get up but after trying to put weight on her foot, she screeched and fell down once again.
He was by her side in an instant feeling guilty for distracting her and contributing to her fall.
“Is it broken?”
She was very pale and breathing quickly. Her eyes were shimmering but as yet she hadn’t cried. “I don’t think so,” she whispered. “I will be fine in a minute.”
“Let me be the judge of that. I am going to take off your boot.”
She jerked back. “You can’t do that. It’s not seemly.”
“I don’t care.” He took off her boot and whipped off her stocking before she could get her breath back. Her ankle was already starting to swell, all red and puffy. He felt around the bone gingerly not wanting to hurt her even more. “I don’t think its broken but it looks like a bad sprain. I won’t put your boot back on as I don’t think you will get it off again.” As he spoke he rolled her stocking into her boot. “I will take you to your ma.”
She looked at him and the horse. “How?”
“You can ride in front of me. Spirit won’t mind, will you boy?”
The horse butted his shoulder gently as if answering.
“Can you help me please? I don’t think I can stand up.”
He lifted her as easily as if she was a bag of sugar before placing her gently on the horse. He pulled her closer to him.
“Do you feel dizzy?”
She nodded.
“Lay your head back against me. Close your eyes and don’t panic. I will ride slowly.”
She closed her eyes as she lay back against his chest, conscious of the strength of his body. Her foot ached horribly but it was almost worth it to get so close to him. She glanced at his strong hands, rough from hard work yet they had felt so gentle when he tended her ankle. Her heart was fluttering remembering the look of concern in his eyes. Was it her imagination or had he just kissed her hair? She closed her eyes, letting herself relax into the circle of his arms.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long to get back to camp. He helped her down from the horse as her ma fussed around her. As he released her, she felt bereft. She wanted to cry not just from the pain in her ankle.
“I don’t think it is broken, Mrs. Thompson, but it probably should be strapped. Miss Thompson should rest as much as possible.”
“Thank you, Mr. Hughes, for coming to her assistance. We are very grateful,” Ma responded as she waited for him to leave. Johanna knew her mother wasn’t going to examine her ankle in front of a strange man.
“Least I could do given what your family has done for my girls. Take care, Miss Thompson.” He turned to go back to Spirit.
“Thank you, Mr. Hughes.” Johanna finally found her voice. He smiled at her and for a minute she forgot the throbbing pain.
“You are mighty flushed, young lady. I wonder if it isn’t broken. Let me have a proper look at it.”
Johanna winced as her ma examined her. She agreed it wasn’t fractured.
“The swelling suggests a bad sprain. You will be traveling in the wagon for the next few days.”
“Yes, Ma.”
Chapter 6
The next few days passed by so slowly. Johanna was going out of her mind with boredom. She sewed and crocheted but the hours still passed so slowly. Her pa took pity on her one evening and carried her to sit by the fire.
“Looks like Captain Jones is right. Those sky’s hint at stormy weather coming our way. I best go check the cattle. You all right alone or do you want me to fetch your ma?”
“I am fine, thanks, Pa.”
“Your ma and Becky are over with the Freemans. She won’t be much longer. I best get to it.”
Johanna stared into the flames trying not to think of the storms coming their way. Ever since she’d been little, she’d hated lightning. The noise of thunder didn’t bother her much. She was still deep in thought when Rick Hughes walked by.
“Good evening, Miss Thompson, I hope your ankle is improving?”
“Yes, thank you. Ma reckons I should be able to walk on it in a day or so.”
“I have something I’ve been meaning to give you. I got it from a friend back East. I thought you might enjoy it.” He looked at her shyly handing her a package. “It might break the monotony of traveling in the wagon.”
“What is it?”
“Open it and see.”
She opened the package realizing it held a book. Looking at the cover she gasped. “Oliver Twist. I’ve been dying to read this. Have you read it? Are you sure you want to lend it to me?”
“Yes, and yes,” he smiled.
“Oh, thank you. This will help, especially tonight.”
“Why tonight?”
She read the curiosity in his gaze. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to whine. I don’t like storms.”
“Oh that. I don’t think any of us do. Speaking of which, come on I will see you back to your wagon. You best get in before the r
ains start. I don’t want to be responsible for you catching a chill as well as a sore ankle.”
“You didn’t make me fall.”
“I was rather hoping I distracted you a little.”
Johanna didn’t know what to say to the intense look in his eyes. For once she wished she was as accomplished a flirt as Becky. Her twin wouldn’t sit there gawping at the man she liked, opening and closing her mouth like a fish.
“Thank you for the lend of the book,” she finally managed to stammer.
“It’s a gift, Jo.”
Startled by his familiarity, she glanced up at him.
“Sorry, I apologize. Miss Thompson.”
“I like Jo but I don’t think my pa will let me accept a gift.” She couldn’t look at him for fear he would see her feelings in her eyes.
“Tell him it’s payment then for you looking after the girls.”
He helped her to her feet, his arm remaining around her waist. She knew she should say goodnight but she didn’t want him to leave. Yet by staying she risked her pa coming over to ask him what his intentions were.
“Thank you. I will treasure it.”
“I rather think it will make you cry, so please don’t hate me.”
“I could never do that,” she said softly looking up into his face.
Before she knew what was happening, he kissed her quickly, his lips barely brushing hers before walking back toward his wagon.
“That you, Johanna?”
“Yes, Pa,” she called back hoping her pa wouldn’t come too near. He’d see her all flushed.
“Go to bed, girl. We got an early start tomorrow.”
“Yes, Pa, goodnight.” She got dressed for bed, thankful her twin was already asleep. She felt her lips with her finger. Had he really kissed her or had she just imagined it?
The kiss, although brief, had proved her lips were just as delicious as he had imagined. There was a spark between them that threatened to engulf his entire body. He had taken a risk kissing her like that. Thankfully, his restraint had kicked in preventing him from sweeping her into his arms and deepening the kiss. Her father could have returned any second.
Oregon Dreams Page 2