Chapter Eight

WED AGAIN

JACOB HAD HOPED FOR A quiet ceremony, but word had gotten around, and a crowd gathered. The makeshift band played, as he stood waiting for his bride.

She came right at seven, walking between Lena and Harlan and wearing a lovely, pale butter-colored dress trimmed in lace. With her hair tucked up on her crown and a few shorter strands curling around her ears and neck, she truly looked like a bride.

He looked again. Wildflowers accented her hair and she carried a bouquet of them. Were they the ones he’d given her? They had to be. He felt honored.

Jacob didn’t remember much of the ceremony. His thoughts were jumbled and he couldn’t concentrate. He responded at the proper place and heard Faith do the same.

About the time he said “I do,” he noticed the sky had turned a kaleidoscope of color. Pink, rose, fuchsia, purple, gold, and yellow had flung themselves across the sky in royal majesty. It looked as if God had painted them a spectacular wedding present.

He heard the preacher say, “I now pronounce you man and wife. Whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder. You may kiss your bride.”

He’d forgotten about this part of the ceremony. How should he kiss her? If he just kissed her cheek would she feel insulted? Would it seem like he considered her as less? He simply touched her lips with his and tried to not make it seem too quick. Still, he noticed how soft her lips were beneath his.

“We would have planned a supper, but there just wasn’t enough time,” Mrs. Brenner said. “We’ll just have to plan something in your honor later on.”

“Yes. You’ll get to celebrate your wedding twice that way,” Marshall patted him on the back.

“Lead your bride in a dance,” John told him. Jacob had begun to resent this man he’d thought of as his friend. John sure liked to dictate what to do.

The band immediately began playing a waltz, and he pulled Faith into his arms, but not too close. She seemed to hesitate.

“I’ve only danced with my father long ago,” she whispered so only he heard.

“Just lean into me and go slowly the way I push you.”

She did exactly that, and they managed fine. Other couples came to dance after they’d given the newlyweds a minute to lead off.

“Do you want to stay for a while and enjoy the get-together, or would you prefer to go back to your wagon?” he asked when the music stopped.

“I see Harlan leading Lena back, so I’d like to go back, too.”

“You look beautiful,” he told her, as they walked toward her wagon.

She looked down. “Lena gave this dress to me, and she helped me get ready. The flowers you brought me were a nice addition. Thank you again.”

“You’re very welcome. I’m glad you appreciate them.”

“I have a stew and an apple cobbler already cooked. I fixed enough for Lena and Harlan, but they declined. Would you like to stay for supper?”

“I haven’t eaten all day, so I guess I should.”

Jacob sat down and Faith dished them up some stew she’d managed to keep warm. It smelled wonderful. She had what she called “shortening bread” to go with it. It seemed like cornbread with pork cracklings in it. He vaguely remembered a cook at the plantation making something like this years ago when he was a small child, but he’d forgotten all about it.

“Would you say our blessing?” she asked, and he did.

She ate in silence, and he felt she waited for him to guide the conversation, just as he had the dance. At first, he allowed himself to simply enjoy the food. How long had it been since he’d eaten? He couldn’t remember.

The food tasted wonderful. The restaurants in St. Louis didn’t have anything this good. He could at least say he’d married a good cook.

“I think it’ll be better if we keep separate sleeping arrangements to start with,” he told her. “We have both just buried family, and we don’t know each other very well. I think we both need some time to adjust.”

She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Then, she looked at him and nodded.

“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like for you to start sleeping in my wagon. I’ll sleep in the tent.”

“All right, but what about this?” She flung her hand out to indicate her wagon and things.

“We’ll start sorting through all our things, discarding some, and consolidating others, but that will take time. For now, I’ll get someone to drive your wagon. I’ll ask Marshall to let you move yours in front of mine in the morning. I’d rather keep them together.”

“Oh, I can drive the wagon.”

“What about Rudy? You’ll have him, too.”

“I’ll make a sling for him and strap him to me. He’ll be fine.”

“If you’re sure, but I don’t want you wearing yourself out. I’ll get a driver if it becomes too much. There are plenty of men headed to the gold fields of California, so there should be someone available.”

“Did you know we were headed for California, too?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, my cousin, Uncle Jed and Aunt Mabel’s only living son, went out, got in on the first of the gold rush, and found gold. He wrote and talked them into selling their place in Kentucky and joining him.”

“Were you planning to travel to him before you agreed to marry me?”

“No. He didn’t want his parents to bring me with them, but they insisted. He doesn’t want me.”

“So you don’t mind going to Oregon Territory?”

“No, I’m looking forward to it.”

He sat his empty plate down and looked at the bits of apple cobbler clinging to it. It had tasted so good he wished he had room for more. “This was an excellent meal. Thank you very much.”

She looked startled, as if she hadn’t expected his praise. “You’re welcome.”

“If you’ll get what you need for tonight and in the morning, I’ll go tell Harlan and Lena to keep an eye on your things for tonight. Annie is keeping Rudy.”

Lena had already gone to bed, but Harlan and Jacob talked for a while. When he returned to Faith’s wagon, she had washed and put away all the dishes, doused the fire, and had her things in a roll.

He walked her to his wagon, kissed her on the cheek, helped her inside, asked if she needed anything, and went to his tent. What an unusual day this had been. He felt as if he’d been pushed off a cliff and still hadn’t hit bottom.

Still, since he’d slept so little since Friday, he felt himself dozing off sooner than he expected. The last thing he remembered was the sound of a wolf calling in the night, and another wolf answering the call.

He woke up to the smell of coffee, but it still looked dark in his tent. He got up and peeped out the slit in the tent. The sky had not begun to lighten yet, but Jacob could tell it would soon. Faith had the coffee on, and she sat close to the fire with her Bible in her hand. He hurried to dress and join her.

“Good morning. You’re up early. Did you sleep well? Were you bothered by the wolves howling?”

She smiled at him. “It took me a while to fall asleep, but I slept well once I did. The wolves didn’t bother me, however. We lived in a cabin in the mountains of Kentucky, and I’m used to night sounds, although some of the ones here are different.”

“What are you doing?”

“I like to get up before others and have a time of devotion.”

“May I join you, or would you rather be alone.”

“Please, join me. I’ll pour you some coffee, and I can start breakfast. I’m going to fry pancakes, but I waited until you got up to start.”

“Breakfast can wait until daylight. Where are you reading in your Bible?”

“Psalm 118.”

“I’d like it if you’d read it aloud.”

She nodded and read in a smooth, steady voice, as if she lost herself in the meaning of the words. Psalm 118 thanked and praised God and left Jacob filled with positive thoughts. What a good way to begin the day! Jacob especially liked “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

“Would you lead us in prayer?” she asked when she’d finished the chapter.

He reached for her hand, and she put hers in his without hesitation. Something felt so right about this, but he didn’t stop to analyze it.

“Our Father, who art in Heaven, we do praise Your name. Help us to love and trust Thee more. Please bless our new family. Keep us healthy and safe as we continue on this journey to Oregon. Grant that we may prosper there but be ever mindful of Thy goodness and mercy. Remind us that all good things come from Thee, but the enemy tries to twist our thinking for his evil purposes. Go with us this day and bless it, and may we live it in a manner that’s pleasing to Thee and in the center of Thy will. Amen.”

“Amen.” She gave a slight squeeze of approval to his hand.

Watching her, he could tell she wanted to say something, but she hesitated. He liked the fact she seemed easy to read.

“You can tell me anything, Faith.”

A look of surprise flickered across her face. She blinked and gave him a tentative smile.

“I wanted to tell you I appreciate your patience and willingness to get to know each other before we . . . uh . . . ”

“Become intimate,” he finished for her. She looked down and nodded.

“When we said our vows, Faith, did you mean them? Do you want a real marriage with me, or was this just a marriage of convenience to you?”

“If I answer, I’ll expect you to answer the same question.”

She seemed to be hedging, hoping to avoid the question altogether. Was he rushing things here?

“That sounds fair. I just think it’s best to know where we stand, what our intentions are at the very beginning.”

She nodded again but looked down at the Bible in her lap. “I promised to be your wife before God. I take such a promise very seriously. I want to be a good wife to you.” She looked into his eyes. “I guess, like most young girls, I used to dream of meeting a special man, falling in love, and living happily ever after. I guess that’s not very realistic, but I hope I can have some of that dream. I hope we can make a good life and a good marriage together. What about you?”

Jacob had never once considered Faith’s hopes and dreams before. She’d given up her childhood fantasies of Prince Charming, a fairy tale wedding, and happy-ever-after to marry him. He knew those things weren’t pragmatic in real life, but he wanted to give her as many of them as he could. They might not have had a courtship before they wed, but there was no reason he couldn’t give her one now. Courting her and learning more about her would be a good thing for him, too.

“I totally agree with you. My first marriage didn’t turn out as fulfilling as I’d hoped it would be. I’ll tell you all about it when I get things sorted out in my mind, but Lucille’s death is too fresh and painful right now. I don’t plan to keep any secrets between us. I want our marriage to be different, Faith. I want to be the husband you’ve dreamed of, and I want our love to grow. I take all my promises seriously, especially wedding vows pledged before God.”

She smiled at him, a happy, glowing smile that lit up her whole face. At that moment, she looked absolutely gorgeous. She rose to start breakfast, and he needed to get the teams.

“Uncle Jed had six mules to pull our wagon. Any of the men can probably point them out to you.”

“Okay. I have an extra team of oxen, but only one extra yoke. If I can come up with more yokes, we can alternate the three teams, so one rests every third day. It shouldn’t be too hard to make it so we can hitch either team.”

When he came back, she had pancakes, bacon, and a choice of honey, molasses, or black cherry preserves ready. He chose the preserves. It seemed strange not to have to show her how to do anything.

“You’re a wonderful cook,” he told her. “I don’t ever remember eating better food.”

“I learned to cook when I was ten years old.”

“How old are you now?”

“Nineteen, and you?”

“I’m twenty-four.”

He had already hitched up her mules and managed to maneuver her wagon next to his, but he hurried to take care of his oxen, which he’d brought to the wagon. His oxen seemed much more docile and cooperative than her mules.

“The mules seem harder to handle,” he told her. “Why don’t I drive them and you take the oxen. I think they’d pretty much follow the line without a driver.”

“That’s okay,” she smiled. “The mules are used to me, and we get along fine.”

Faith had just finished cleaning up from breakfast when Annie brought Rudy to her. He had fallen asleep.

“He’s going to cry a lot,” Jacob heard Annie tell Faith. “There seems to be nothing you can do to make him stop. He eats plenty, and I keep his diaper changed, so I’m not sure what’s bothering him. I’ll send my oldest girl over to get him every three or four hours for his feedings, and she’ll bring him back when he’s finished.”

“Thank you for doing this,” he heard Faith say. “If we can do anything to help you, just let us know.”

“That’s not necessary. Jacob is paying me to wet nurse the little fellow. My Bonnie doesn’t take much milk, so I have plenty. Here are six diapers. Consider it my wedding present. I’m sure Lucille has some more in the wagon and some baby clothes, too. Lena helped her make some of them.”

Faith turned to Jacob after Annie left. “Is it all right if I go through the items in your wagon to find Rudy’s things?”

“Of course it is. Consider anything I have as yours, too. I’d like for you to sort through Lucille’s things when you have time. Keep anything you want and we’ll trade or throw away the rest.”

Faith went into his wagon and gathered up some of Rudy’s things. She’d just come out with the baby in a sling wrapped over her neck and shoulder when the signal to line up and start the wagons sounded.

As she went toward her wagon, he noticed for the first time she walked barefooted. He didn’t say anything, because he had noticed many of the young women and girls were going barefooted on the prairie.

Faith hurried toward her wagon, and Jacob got up on the wagon seat. He would ride until he got his team in line behind Faith.

About an hour out of camp, he saw Faith stand and start to get off the wagon with it still moving. He held his breath, but she nimbly held Rudy close and got down despite her awkward skirts. Should she be walking beside the front of her wagon? Her mules wouldn’t be as docile as his oxen were.

She repositioned Rudy, and Jacob could hear his son crying over the rumble of the wagons. He noticed she wore a hat of some sort instead of a sunbonnet like most of the women. It almost looked like a man’s dark hat, but somehow, it suited her. She had also covered Rudy from the sun.

He hopped off his wagon, too. He liked seeing Faith and Rudy in front of him.

He wished she could walk beside him, so they could talk some more. He wanted to learn more about her and how she thought. Maybe they could eventually consolidate their things into one wagon and abandon the other. He doubted Faith’s wagon would make the entire trip anyway. It looked old and well-used.

Looking ahead, he noticed Harlan walking by his wagon. Lena must be riding inside. He could tell she hadn’t fully recovered and still seemed weak.

Cholera continued to be a problem for some, but there had been no more deaths, so far, and some, like Lena, were improving. Jacob prayed the worst had ended, and his family would be spared.

Carolyn, Annie’s daughter, came to get Rudy about ten o’clock. He’d been crying for over two hours. Jacob had seen Faith check his diaper several times, but he must’ve been dry, for she didn’t stop to change it. Jacob wondered how she would manage to change it and still drive her team. Maybe he needed to figure out something else.

They stopped for the nooning, and Faith started warming up leftover stew from last night’s supper. For once, Rudy had taken a nap, and she’d laid him in a padded wooden crate under the edge of the wagon, so he’d be in the shade. Jacob hurried to take the two teams to water.

“Let me start milking for us,” Faith said as they ate. “I have a cow, also, but she’s dry right now and should have a calf before we get to Oregon. I can use the milk and butter in cooking.”

“I’m afraid you’re trying to do too much. Lester and Morton are milking my cow now and keeping half the milk. With the baby, I think you have your hands full.”

“Less and More,” she grinned. “That’s how I think of them because the names fit. But, I’m used to working hard. If you’ll bring the cow up for me morning and night, I’ll be glad to milk. I’ll cook you some special dishes to make it worth your while.” She smiled.

“Trying to bribe me to get your way?” He smiled, too, to let her know he only teased. The fact that they’d come up with the same names for Less and More pleased him.

“Just giving you all the information, so you can make the wisest decision.” She gave him a playful look.

“Okay. I don’t see how you can cook anything much more special than you have been, but I’d like to taste such a dish.”

“Annie sent word for me to take Rudy to her before we pull out,” Faith told him after she’d done the dishes. “I’ll do that while you see to the teams.”

“Do you need more water carried up?”

“We have enough until tonight.”

Faith had just returned when two girls, who looked about fifteen or sixteen, came up. They looked only a little younger than she did.

“We’re going to take a longer nooning today because there are some new cases of cholera,” one said to Faith. “We’re off to pick some wild carrots and parsnips for supper. Want to come with us? We won’t be gone long. The plants are nearby.”

“You go ahead,” Jacob said. “When Carolyn brings him back, I’ll watch Rudy until you return.”

Faith came back with her apron stuffed full of dandelion greens. By this time, Rudy screamed at the top of his lungs, and Jacob walked around with him. She had Jacob untie her apron with one hand, while she held it against her in front. She dumped the plants in the back of her wagon, wiped her hands with the damp dish towel, and took Rudy.

Faith boiled the dandelions greens and then fried them in bacon grease for supper. They and the rest of the meal were delicious.

“I thought you were also going to pick some wild carrots and wild parsnips,” he said.

“I intended to, and the others did, but I thought I saw three different plants that looked similar. Since I didn’t know what was what, I just picked the dandelions. A woman Aunt Mabel knew once picked mushrooms and got hold of some poisonous ones. They killed her little girl and made her husband and her very sick. Since then, I’ve been careful to pick only plants I know.”

“That makes a lot of sense. There’ll be new plants out here, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“You sound like Lena.”

“Is that bad?”

“No, not at all. Lena gives sound advice. She told me she found if she boiled the river water before going to bed and let it stand overnight, the sediment settled out better for drinking. I’ve been trying it ever since Uncle Jed and Aunt Mabel got sick, and it seems to work.”

He saw Faith dig out a hole beside the fire. She raked hot coals into it and set the pot of beans she’d been boiling over it right before they went to bed.

“They’ll finish cooking overnight,” she told him. “I’ll just warm them up and we can eat them at the nooning tomorrow.”

Now, why hadn’t he thought of that before? It made perfect sense.

“I’m going to sleep under the wagon tonight,” he told her. “I don’t want you taking Rudy to Annie in the dark, so I’ll take him over and rest near their wagon while he feeds.”

“I’m sure I’d be safe.”

“Maybe, but I don’t want to take any chances. I’ll take him tonight.”

Rudy took short naps but spent most of the night crying. Although Jacob carried the baby to Annie’s wagon, he thought he still probably got more sleep than Faith did. She had to stay in the wagon with the screaming boy.

Once he heard her singing to Rudy. She had a sweet, clear voice that reminded him of the ballads people sang in the mountains or the Old Country.

Sometime between eleven and midnight, he was returning from carrying Rudy to Annie, when he heard a shrill scream. Did that come from his wagon? Was it Faith?