“Yes, he has. He has a plan to help avoid most of the pitfalls. He wants horsemen at each side of the wagon. In addition, every wagon has to have four, preferably six yoke of oxen,” David explained. “As some have lost their spare oxen on the mountain, we must share. It means the fitter oxen will do two journeys but there is nothing we can do about that.”
“Ma and Becky are already lightening our wagon. Becky said Jones told her it would be better to ditch the stuff we can afford to lose now to avoid running the risk of losing necessities such as our food sources. Poor Ma is torn, she knows she will have to leave some of her furniture behind, but it all has precious memories associated with it.”
“My wagon’s fairly light, Sadie didn’t have much to pack. I might be able to take a couple of things across for her.”
Johanna could have hugged Rick for this generous offer.
“Let me go ask her. Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Why don’t I go with you?”
Johanna saw Eva exchange a smile with David and knew she would be in for some good-natured teasing later, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was everyone got to the other side of the river safely.
Chapter 44
The current was very strong. The first few wagons made their way across to the first and second island without incident. Johanna drove their wagon with her pa and David riding alongside her. The wagon wobbled dramatically as one of the oxen fell into the holes Rick had mentioned, but knowing what could happen stopped Johanna from panicking. She held the reins tightly and waited until they passed the danger. In time, all the wagons crossed without any toppling over. Johanna exhaled softly, thanking God and everyone else Captain Jones was such a good leader.
Now they just had to wait for the cattle to cross. The animals were proving mulish. They obviously hadn’t heard of the dangers in snow covered passes. There was no incentive for them to enter the water. The men herding them shouted louder and louder but without success. The storm that had been brewing all day started in earnest. Sheets of rain poured down making everyone miserable as well as scared.
“They need to get those animals across before we have to deal with lightning and worse,” Pa muttered. Just then Captain Jones called for more men to join the others. Johanna held her breath again as David and Rick both volunteered. They crossed the river back to where the cattle were situated. Again and again, they drove the animals to the edge of the river, only for the herd to split and stampede in different directions. Finally, one of the men’s patience must have given out or else he was worried about the fact it was nearly dark, but as the cattle moved toward the water, he jumped on the back of the lead ox and drove him into the water. The plan worked, with the cattle following their natural leader. Johanna and the other people waiting on shore cheered in relief as the cattle all crossed over. The last of the men were crossing when lightning suddenly lit up the sky. The thunder that followed was deafening. Johanna looked toward the water to see Rick’s horse rear up, obviously petrified. Rick did his best to hang on but another streak of lightning flashed across the sky and the horse bucked again sending Rick into the water. She saw him splashing and then it went dark again as the clouds rolled over.
“David, Rick is in the water. Do something.”
David held her back. “We can’t, Johanna. Not in the dark, it’s too dangerous.”
She struggled in his arms but he didn’t let her go.
Another flash of lightning lit up the sky. “Johanna, look. He’s on the sandbar in the middle of the river. He must have swum to it.”
Johanna looked, her heart beating so fast it was making her dizzy. Rick was lying on the sandbar mostly out of the water but he didn’t seem to be moving. Was he dead? He couldn’t be. Not after reaching relative safety.
“We have to get him out of the water.”
Captain Jones came forward. “Have you spotted him?”
“Yes, he’s on the sandbar over there. Look. You have to get him out.”
“We can’t risk it, Miss Thompson. The water is raging now and with the storm it would be too dangerous for anyone to try and swim out there.
“But you can’t just leave him.”
The look in Captain Jones’ eye told her that’s exactly what they intended to do. Johanna begged and pleaded but nothing worked. Her ma came forward and half dragged half carried her back to their wagon. “The girls need you. Pull yourself together, girl. This is not what he would want.”
“But, Ma, he could be dead. And he doesn’t even know.”
“Know what? You love him? Its written all over your face, love. He knows.”
Johanna didn’t believe her ma but she was right about the girls. Carrie was hysterical but she was more worried about Sarah who didn’t seem to be upset. She was standing like a statue staring at the water but there were no tears. “Sarah, come with me. We need to find you and Carrie dry clothes and some food. I suspect you are starving.”
Sarah didn’t seem to hear. She stood staring into the water.
“Come on, love, it won’t do Rick any good if you come down with a chill. Please, Carrie needs you.”
That seemed to reach something inside Sarah who turned to Carrie, took her by the hand and pulled in the direction of the wagons. But still, she didn’t speak. She didn’t try and comfort her sister either. It was like she was a stranger.
The night was the longest Johanna had ever experienced. The lightning stopped, thankfully, but she almost missed it. She couldn’t see Rick anymore. It was far too dark. Feeling completely helpless she stayed with the girls, Carrie eventually falling asleep on her knee. Sarah just lay there, saying nothing.
“Sarah, honey, please talk to me. You are scaring me now.”
“It’s my fault he’s dead. I told him I wanted him dead.” Sarah turned her face away.
Shocked, Johanna didn’t know what to say. A few minutes of silence passed only interrupted by Carrie’s soft snores.
“Sarah, Rick is not dead. We have to hope he is still alive until we find out different.”
“He’s dead, everyone dies. That’s just the way it is. I wish I were dead.”
“No, Sarah, don’t say things like that. Imagine what it would be like if you weren’t here. Carrie would be distraught and so would I. It would break Rick’s heart.”
“He doesn’t care.”
Johanna put Carrie down on the bedroll carefully so she didn’t wake her. She inched closer to Sarah.
“He does care. He loves you and Carrie. He is just not very good at showing you how he feels.”
“You think so.”
“I know so. And I also know he knows you didn’t want him to be dead. You were just angry.”
“But why does everyone nice die? Ma was kind and she’s gone. Benjy wasn’t bad for a big brother. George was only a baby. Pa didn’t die and he’s really mean.”
Johanna gathered the young girl to her, cuddling her tightly. “We can’t explain why some die and some live but together we can pray for your Uncle Rick. We can will our thoughts to him. Tell him we are thinking of him and we will see him tomorrow. Shall we do that?”
Sarah nodded and together they said a prayer.
“Now close your eyes and pretend you are talking to Rick. Tell him everything you want to tell him. Maybe he’ll hear you in his mind.”
Johanna watched as Sarah screwed up her eyes in concentration, her lips moving as if she were talking. After a long time, she fell asleep. Johanna waited, prayed and waited some more. It seemed like daylight would never come.
Chapter 45
She must have nodded off at some point as Eva came to wake her.
“David, Captain Jones, and a couple of the other men are trying to rescue Rick now. Do you want to stay here or come to the bank? Becky will stay with the girls if you want to come with me?”
Johanna knew Eva was worried about David going back in the water. Although it was daylight and the storm had gone, the current was still fast. It was a risk.
/> “Thank you, Eva.”
Turning to Becky, she whispered to let the girls sleep as long as she could. It was better they didn’t know about the rescue attempt until it was over.
She walked slowly down to the shore, her hand clutching Eva’s. She saw the men further out. They had just reached the sandbar. It was obvious from the way they were holding Rick, he wasn’t conscious. Was he dead? He couldn’t be. She put her head up and made herself watch the rescue. David was swimming on one side of Rick with Captain Jones on the other. Rick was on his back and the men were keeping his head out of the water. Turning quickly, she ran back to the wagon to grab a blanket. She was back before they got up the bank.
Running into the edge of the water, she held out the blanket. “Is he alive? Please tell me he is.”
“He is but he’s close to death. Get some whiskey. Give me that rug.” Captain Jones’ gruff tone betrayed his lack of hope.
Johanna’s ma came running with the whiskey. She forced Johanna to give the men room to work on Rick. Captain Jones and Pa rubbed it into his body. David trickled it into Rick’s mouth but it simply ran out the sides.
“Rick Hughes, wake up now. You are holding us all up,” Johanna said fiercely.
As if he had heard her, she saw him swallow. David gave him another small mouthful of the whiskey and he opened his eyes.
“Jo?”
She wrenched free of her ma and sank to her knees beside him. “I’m here, darling. I’m here. She kissed him all over his face before kissing him on the lips.
“That’ll sure warm him up,” someone commented.
“Do you think if I went for a swim she’d do that for me?” another man called out.
Johanna knew she was making a scene but she didn’t care. All that mattered was Rick was alive.
“Come on, young lady, that’s enough of that. Go make your man some hot soup to keep the chills away.”
Although Ma’s tone was gruff, Johanna knew she was more relieved than upset.
“I will be back, Rick. I have to tell the girls.”
“Soon.” He closed his eyes again but this time he was sleeping. Johanna walked back with her ma leaving the men to carry Rick. It wouldn’t be seemly for her to change his clothes or wrap him up in bed. She wasn’t his wife. Yet!
Rick slept for hours as his body recovered from the bashing it had received. Ma and Johanna applied salves to the lacerations on his face and upper torso. Mrs. Freeman, Ma, and Mrs. Newland worked on his legs, insisting it was not appropriate for an unmarried woman to help.
Captain Jones suggested they set up camp six miles north at the edge of the foothills. They had to set off again the next morning to make up for the time lost when everyone had been ill. Hughes would continue to travel in the back of his wagon until he regained consciousness and recovered. Johanna volunteered to drive the wagon and nobody argued with her.
Later that evening, the lecture she’d been expecting from her father started. Ma insisted she come to eat something leaving Rick in Eva and Mrs. Newlands capable hands.
Johanna sat down beside Becky who gave her hand a squeeze. David sent her a compassionate look while Mrs. Long asked her how the patient was.
“He’s just the same. He hasn’t woken up yet.”
“Such a brave nice young man. I will pray for him to recover. And for you, too, Johanna. I didn’t realize you two were courting.”
Before Johanna could reply, her father answered.
“Neither did I. She’s too young to be courting.” Turning to look at her, he continued. “You are the talk of the wagon train, Johanna Thompson. Kissing a man in public like that. I didn’t know where to look.”
“Leave her alone, Paddy. You would have done the same.”
“I’d never kiss a man, Della Thompson.”
“You know what I mean. If it were me lying there half dead, I would hope you would be grateful to see me alive.”
“It would depend on the mood you were in.”
Everyone laughed including Ma. Johanna smiled her thanks at her mother. She was still a little in shock. She hadn’t thought of anything other than the fact that she hadn’t lost Rick. Not that he was hers to lose. It wasn’t as if they had an official agreement or even an understanding. Nothing mattered in those few minutes. She loved him and it seemed as if he loved her back. Her name had been the first word he said.
“So how long has all this been going on?” Pa asked, his tone still slightly quarrelsome. “I don’t recall anyone asking my permission to go courting.”
“We haven’t been courting,” Johanna protested.
“I know you think I am ancient, lass, but you don’t go kissing a man who you have never been courting. At least in my day you didn’t.”
“We have been spending time together looking after his nieces. But there were complications.” Johanna’s face burned at having to discuss something so private in front of an audience. Even if these people had become as close as family.
“What sort of complications. He doesn’t have a wife, does he?”
“No, Pa, of course not.”
“So what is the problem then?”
Johanna stood up. “That is between myself and Mr. Hughes. It is nobody else’s business.” Although she spoke calmly, Johanna was shaking. She hoped her legs would carry her to her tent. She didn’t want to face the embarrassment of falling over.
“Just a minute, young lady…”
“Paddy, leave her be. Can’t you see, she’s reacting to the shock.” Her ma stood and put her arm around her. “Come along, love, I think you need some medicinal whiskey.”
“I could do with some whiskey.” Her pa’s pleading tone made people laugh once more, thus diverting the attention away from Johanna.
Chapter 46
Rick didn’t wake up. Everyone had become more concerned as the time passed on. Johanna could tell her ma was worried even if she pretended not to be. When they stopped for nooning, Johanna sat by Rick’s side talking to him but there was no reaction.
“Why won’t he wake up, Jo?”
“I don’t know, Carrie. He probably just needs a rest.”
“I am going to read to him. He kept telling me to practice. I am doing good now.”
“I am doing well now, you mean,” Johanna corrected her automatically.
“That’s what I said.” Carrie gave Jo a funny look before turning her attention back to Rick.
David came to help her get ready to move out so she left Rick with his nieces. He would wake up soon, he had to. Almanzo escorted the wagon walking beside it the whole way. He didn’t say much but he kept looking into the back as if expecting Rick to look out. Johanna’s grip tightened on the reins. She couldn’t afford to scare the children so wasn’t about to give in to tears. She had to be strong for them and for Rick.
The not so gentle rocking of the wagon was making his head hurt like the blazes. Why was his bed moving? Where was he? Rick opened his eyes to see both his nieces staring at him. Carrie was still holding the book she had been struggling to read to him.
“About time you woke up. You’ve been real lazy.”
“Carrie, you can’t talk to Uncle Rick like that,” Sarah reprimanded the younger girl. “He’s not lazy, he’s been sick.”
“He’d tell me off if I stayed in bed all day.” The defiance in Carries tone made him smile but it didn’t last long due to the painful laceration on his face. He remembered crossing the river and then the lightning. He’d come to as the water went over his head, the current fighting to keep him under. He’d fought for breath before striking out for the nearest piece of land he could see. It had taken every piece of energy he possessed to reach the sandbank and then the world had gone black. He wondered if Spirit had made it back. He hoped so, that horse had been with him a long time.
He opened his eyes again. “Sarah, can you ask them to stop. I…sick.” He couldn’t form the words properly but saw by the widening of Sarah’s eyes she understood.
“Jo,
stop the wagon. Uncle Rick is going to be sick everywhere.”
The wagon stopped with a jolt. It didn’t help his stomach. He tried to push himself up but, thankfully, she was there to help just in time. He leaned out over the side of the wagon as what seemed a river of water exited his stomach. Weak, he slid back against something hard. She leaned over him to dry the side of his mouth.
“Sorry…not pleasant,” he muttered.
“You’re alive and awake. Don’t be sorry. Be thankful.” Her eyes glinted with tears but her smile took up nearly her full face. He wanted to kiss her but couldn’t. He squeezed her hand instead.
“Thank you. Kiss at river.” He smiled as she turned bright red. “Drown again for kiss like that.”
She swiped him with her apron. “Don’t you dare. I have had enough shocks to last me a lifetime.”
“With me?” He knew it wasn’t the most romantic proposal, but it was all he could manage for now. His eyes closed but not before he saw the happiness on her face.
Chapter 47
It took a few days, but finally Rick recovered sufficiently to drive his own wagon. He tried to get Johanna alone but it seemed their kiss had made her father more protective. She was rarely out of his sight. Rick wanted to propose to her in a more romantic fashion but given the lack of privacy he lost patience. That evening, he walked into the Thompson camp leaving his nieces behind.
“Evening, Hughes, is there a problem?” Mr. Thompson looked at him curiously.
“There is no problem at all, Mr. Thompson other than me being rather slow to make a declaration of my feelings. I love your daughter and nothing would give me greater honor than if she became my wife.”
“Well, if that just takes the biscuit. I don’t even know you, lad, and here you are asking for my daughter’s hand.”
“He’s not marrying you, Paddy.”
“I know that, Della, but I don’t know anything about his prospects. Are you intending on staying in Oregon, young man?”
Oregon Dreams Page 14