Chapter 21: On to Fort Laramie

 

Saturday the reunited wagon train headed toward Fort Laramie. Esther wanted to walk with Jenny in the morning. “All right,” Jenny said, “But I need to stay near our wagon.” She wanted to keep an eye on Mac while he drove. Coughing fits still wracked his body.

Jenny, Esther, and the younger Pershings looked for berries as they walked, but few were ripe yet. When the children wandered off a bit, Esther clutched Jenny’s arm and whispered, “He proposed!”

“Daniel?”

“Yes, silly. Who else? Near Chimney Rock. I said how splendid it was. He said it looked like a church spire. Like the one back home, where he always thought he’d get married. And he asked me!”

“What’d you say?”

“I said yes, of course.”

“How do your parents feel?”

“Daniel hasn’t talked to Pa yet. Pa’s been too busy. You’re the first person I’ve told, so don’t let on till Daniel talks to Pa.”

“I wish you both joy, Esther,” Jenny said, smiling. Her own future seemed bleak, but she hoped her friend would be happy.

“What’s it like?” Esther asked. “Being with a man.”

Jenny tried to hide her shudder. “Ask your mama.”

“I did.” Esther sighed. “She just said to do my duty. Won’t you tell me the truth?”

“It might not be the same for you as for me.” Jenny hurried off toward the Pershing children. In her haste, she forgot to watch for thorns and ripped her skirt on a prickly pear.

Esther ran after her. “Well, at least tell me what it’s like to have a baby inside. Is it scary?”

“Sometimes. Nothing I can do about it.”

Jenny drove in the afternoon while Mac rested in the wagon. She listened to him hacking and wheezing. When they stopped she asked Doc to recommend a poultice.

“Best thing is whiskey in his tea. And have him breathe steam over the kettle.”

Jenny coaxed Mac to sit by the fire and breathe steam rising from a pot of boiling water, but he wouldn’t stay. After two shots of whiskey, he went to bed.

Jenny sat by the campfire alone and wrote:

 

Saturday, June 5th—I cannot get Mac to treat his cough. Some in our company are short on food. Daniel proposed to Esther. I doubt they marry until they reach Oregon.

Mac coughed less on Sunday. “Maybe the whiskey helped,” Jenny told him, feeling relieved.

He grunted and continued yoking the oxen in a pelting rain.

“Want me to drive?” Jenny asked. “You could stay in the wagon, out of the storm. Or ride Valiente, so you won’t bump around so much.”

“I’ll drive.”

Jenny sat under the wagon cover to stay dry. Mac hunched on the bench, hat low on his head and his coat collar pulled high. He coughed from deep in his chest. They didn’t talk. He never talked much. She wanted to know more about his life in Boston, about Bridget, but she didn’t know how to ask.

After the noon meal, Jenny insisted, “I’ll drive now. You rest.”

Mac looked at the sky, still spitting rain. He nodded wearily and climbed in back.

Jenny heard nothing from him all afternoon, except an occasional wracking cough.

That night Mac took another shot of whiskey and went to sleep early. Jenny wrote:

 

Sunday, June 6th—Rained until evening. Mac still coughing. Good progress toward Laramie.

The sun shone as the travelers pulled out of camp Monday morning. The rain had reduced the dust, and the sky sparkled. Jenny walked with Esther, and Mac stayed with the wagon.

“Daniel talked to Pa last night,” Esther said when the girls were alone. “Pa came around. Ma don’t like it.”

“Why not? Daniel’s a nice young man.”

“She says he’s too young.” Esther sighed. “Pa likes Daniel, though he don’t like Mr. Abercrombie. I can always get Pa to do what I want, so he said yes. There’s land enough for everyone in Oregon. Once Daniel stakes his claim, he’ll be able to provide for me.”

“Your mama doesn’t agree?”

Esther shook her head. “Says Daniel’ll be stuck working for his pa. Says it’ll be years before Daniel can afford a family.”

“What now?”

“We’re engaged,” Esther said with a blissful smile. “But no wedding date set.”

“That’s something. You and Daniel can spend time together now. In the open.”

“Yes.” Esther nodded. “But Ma’ll watch me twice as close, don’t I know it.”

Later Jenny told Mac Esther’s news. He snorted.

“Don’t you think it’s a good match?” Jenny asked.

“Glad I’m not either one of them,” Mac said. “Wouldn’t want to be saddled with a silly girl like Esther. Couldn’t abide Abercrombie for a father-in-law. Don’t know which would be worse.”

“But they love each other.” Jenny didn’t have any hope of romance for herself, but she could relish it in her friends.

Mac grimaced. “I doubt their love will even reach Oregon.”

Jenny sighed as she wrote in her diary:

 

Monday, June 7th—Esther and Daniel have announced their engagement. Mac doesn’t approve, but I hope they find happiness.

It took two more days of hard travel to reach Fort Laramie. Jenny was pleased that Mac coughed less each day and no longer wheezed.

They rode along the North Platte through meadows of wild grass. To the south, sand hills undulated, the only change in the scenery. To the north, the river shone in sunlight and darkened under clouds.

The wagons stopped at springs along the trail, avoiding the muddy Platte for drinking water whenever possible. Most of the families ran low on supplies as they traveled.

“Can I borrow some cornmeal?” Hatty Tanner asked Jenny apologetically on the last morning. “I ain’t got none left.”

Jenny smiled and filled Hatty’s cup.

“Hope we can stock up,” Mac said as they pulled into the campground outside the fort on Wednesday. “And that prices aren’t high. Otherwise, many in our group will suffer.”