Chapter Four

~ Laying Foundations ~

 

Dennis and Carrol got back late the next day. “Lots of trees for building, but they’d be green, and we didn’t see much level land,” Dennis reported.

“My fault,” Carrol said, “I wanted to go higher up and find a lookout, but the trees and the rocks kept getting higher too.”

Lorrie laughed. “We’re getting close to the mountains, but I found a valley that might do.”

Carrol looked at her and smiled. “So you went down.”

Lorrie shook her head. “Nope, you give me too much credit. I found a guide. Well, actually, he found me. He’s been watching the wagons and us and thinks we might make good neighbors.”

“He wants the whole train?” Carrol twisted the end of her pony tail. “They’re not going to stop. It’d just be us and the Johnsons.”

Lorrie sighed. “I haven’t even talked to them yet. I’ve been waiting to hear what you thought. And there’s not enough time for you to look at the valley, and I’m not even sure I could find it again!”

“Did he say anything about a trail?” Dennis asked.

Evan stood up and looked at the Johnsons’ wagon. “I reckon he’ll find us and show us a trail, but you need to talk to the Johnsons first, anyways. I still see a lamp lit over there.”

Lorrie looked at Hannah. “Will you walk over with me?” she asked hopefully. Hannah nodded, and they walked towards the wagon with children spilling in and out of it.

“The kids have lots of energy. They’ll help too. It’s not all on your shoulders, Lorrie.”

“Thanks, Hannah. I’m afraid of making a mistake—a horrible mistake. You know—I think shooting people is easier than this.”

Hannah looked sideways at her. “It’s true then? That’s how you got their wagon and horses back?”

“I had help!”

“And you’ve got help now. You just tell them what you found out, and I’ll be here to hold your hand if you need me.”

“I think it’s a good idea, when I’m not afraid.” Then Rollie, the Johnson’s oldest boy, saw them and called to his parents. Samuel Johnson poked his head out of the canvas at the rear of the wagon.

“She’s feeling poorly,” he said softly, “but I think she’ll be glad to see you both.” He climbed down and gave the two women a hand up.

Inside, Elizabeth Johnson was lying on the mattress pile. She turned over and said fretfully, “It’s time to go outside, Samuel, and maybe I’ll just sleep under the wagon so I don’t have to get up any more. I have to go out too often, now.” She tried to sit up then and saw them.

“I found a valley today,” Lorrie said. No point wasting time. Mrs. Johnson needed encouragement at least. “It’s empty, with hardly any neighbors. We’d have to do all the clearing and building ourselves, and it’ll doubtless be hard to get the wagons there, but it’s closer than Oregon. But I’m afraid there’s not enough of us to start a settlement.”

Mrs. Johnson sat up, and Sallie Sue, her oldest girl, clambered up the mattress pile to hold her up. The girl looked hopefully at Lorrie. “When can we start?”

“Tomorrow morning,” her mother said firmly. “The Colonel stopped by this afternoon to check on me. He didn’t shake his head in despair, but I think he turned away so quick so we wouldn’t see him cry. Tell him tonight, Lorrie, so he can get a good night’s sleep before starting again in the morning.”

Lorrie swallowed. “Okay, I surely will. It’s nice of you to think of that, Mrs. Johnson.” She swung down out of the wagon and looked at Hannah, who’d followed her down. She felt a little panicky, but Hannah grabbed her hand and held it while they walked up the line to Dawson’s wagon.

The colonel was staring glumly into the fire and sipping a cup of steaming coffee. He stood up when the two women approached; he did not look hopeful. “Evening, ladies,” he said.

When Lorrie hesitated, Hannah stepped forward. “Glad tidings, Colonel. The Johnsons and all of us will be pulling out in the morning too, but taking a different trail.”

The colonel was obviously torn between relief and worry. “You think that’s wise?” He frowned and stared at the ground. “You know I’m relieved not to have the responsibility for getting her through South Pass or even any further down the trail,” he confessed. “I’ll not try to dissuade you. I just hope you know what you’re doing—and where you’re going!”

“We have a plan,” Lorrie said reassuringly. Or it would have sounded so if her voice hadn’t wavered a bit.

“Not to fret,” Hannah said, and they didn’t know which one she was addressing. Possibly both. “We should all get a good night’s rest so we can get an early start in the morning.”

“Bless you, Mrs. Brown,” the wagon master said when they turned away to go back to their wagons.

“Thank you, Hannah. I’m tired enough to go straight to sleep, I think.” When she crawled into her blankets though, Lorrie was sure she wouldn’t sleep, but next thing she knew, she smelled sausage simmering in Hannah’s skillet.

Sausage, eggs, and fresh corn bread got Lorrie’s mind off what to do next. She took her time over breakfast, and what she noticed first after that, was three cows and two pigs tethered to the Brown’s wagon tongue. They were the Brown’s, and the wagon train was mostly a cloud of dust in the distance. She started up in dismay, and then she saw her cow tied to the small wagon’s tongue, while the Michaels’ two cows were tied to the back of their wagon and their little piglet snuffled noisily in the dirt near the two sows.

“Evan got all our livestock at first light,” Hannah said, as she finished shaking out their bedclothes and piling them on the wagon seat. She stopped and looked at Lorrie. “He’s wondering when we’re going to start. He doesn’t want to hitch up the horses and oxen too early.”

Evan appeared behind her carrying two water buckets. He poured them into the water barrel, and turned to Lorrie. “I’ve topped them off and taken the animals to drink. What direction are we headed?” He waited to give her time to think of a response.

“We’ll backtrack my trail and get started now. Sooner started, sooner finished. And, Evan, you’re wagon master. We won’t waste any time if we have someone in charge who knows what he’s doing.”

Both the Browns stared at her in surprise. Then Hannah said, “That’s a good idea. I’ll finish packing.”

Lorrie was relieved to have someone else in charge. All she had to do was to pick a direction. She was pretty sure that Brock Summers would appear along the way; he might want to be sure of them before he showed up.

But before they’d finished hitching the teams, Clifford, the Johnson’s middle boy, called out, “Rider coming.” Lorrie looked up and recognized the black and white horse loping toward them. The rider pulled up beside the closest wagon, and the Johnson children started climbing out until their father called them back.

Lorrie walked immediately over to Summers. “I’m happy to see you,” she said And very relieved, she thought to herself. She turned to the others. This is Brock Summers, our guide.” She introduced him to the others—“Evan Brown, our wagon master, his wife, Hannah, Dennis and Carrol Michaels, and the Johnson clan, starting with Samuel and Elizabeth Johnson. You can sort the kids out later, along our trail.”

He nodded. “Pleasure to meet all of you. It’ll take most of the day because I’ve picked out the easiest way. I chopped down a few trees to make it quicker.”

Before the day’s end, the wagons were in the valley bottom, not too far from the river to make watering the livestock easier. Elizabeth Johnson had her husband take the canvas off their wagon to make a tent. “Now that I don’t have to climb in and out of that wagon, I won’t!”