| |
The towns they passed through became farther and farther apart, but they rarely needed to stop for supplies as they had packed well for the trip. They found a salt lick outside one place and filled bags and empty barrels with the precious commodity. Smashing the salt into smaller granules took no effort, but Erin had them putting the rocks of salt into their bags and barrels as quickly as possible, sure that someone owned this valuable site and would order them off it.
“Mind if we travel with you a ways?” a man approached them after they made camp that night. He pulled up his horses and wagon, his wife sitting on the wagon seat beside him and a child peeking out curiously between their shoulders.
“Where you headed?” Erin asked. Her camp chores were done, and she and the children were smashing rock salt crystals to better fit into the barrels and bags. They were using a tree stump as the mortar and a hammer and fist-sized stones as the pestle to crush it.
The children stared shamelessly at the strangers, stopping all work as they watched.
“We are taking up a farm next to my brother’s in Indiana,” the man said. “Name’s Bauman. I’m Jake Bauman. This is my wife, Melody and our son, Bryan.”
“I’m Erin Herriot and this is my wife, Molly,” that phrase still brought overweening pride to Erin, “and our children,” she stated, pointing them out. “Meet Tabitha, Theodore, Tommy, Theresa, and that there is Timmy,” she said as he popped up from where he had been petting Queenie’s puppies under the wagon.
The Bauman’s made camp next to their own and in no time at all they were friends. Bryan was nine and in between Tabitha and Theodore in age. At first shy, the children soon warmed up and were playing together. Both sets of parents delighted in the interaction.
“Sheesh, it’s cold,” Jake stated, pulling his jacket tighter around his neck and shrugging his shoulders.
“Yep, that’s what we get for traveling so early in the year,” Erin agreed with him.
Having lived on the edge of the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, they had come a far piece. Keeping well north of the Ohio River and the high bluffs and rocks there, they had rolled across Ohio and Indiana and were now approaching the Illinois border. Having company was nice, but also invasive. Molly laughed at Erin and her need to keep to herself, reminding her that the worst had yet to come when they got to Missouri and the wagon train started out. She understood that Erin liked the peace of their own campfire and their own family exclusively to herself. Strangers invited questions and more eyes on their situation, and she didn’t encourage personal questions.
“My brother’s place ought to be along there,” Jake pointed out after they traveled together for four days. “The road you are gonna need to take you into Illinois is over there,” he pointed as the road forked. “With the snow melting so quick, I’d advise getting across the river as soon as you can.”
Erin thanked him, and everyone said their good-byes once they realized they were parting. The children were sad to lose their friend, Bryan. It provided excitement to have someone besides their siblings to play with. The puppies were also an exciting draw, and it gave them something to look forward to with each stop.
Erin was relieved to see their new friends go. Melody had been friendly enough with Molly but reserved towards Erin since she thought her a man. Jake had proved hearty and friendly enough, but his conversation proved to be boring and rather one-sided as Erin worried more about being discovered. Still, it was good practice for them.
They saw what Jake was warning them of when they came to the next river. No bridge was visible and there was no raft to take them across. Stopping the oxen, Molly climbed down with the children. Like monkeys, they followed as everyone worked to lift puppies and piglets into the crowded and well-packed wagon. Queenie and the sow looked on anxiously as they heard their babies’ noises, but they knew the routine. Erin checked to see that the ties binding the now two calves and the stallion to the back of the wagon were tight. Molly would drive the wagon into the waters, which looked like they were flowing well, before she, Queenie, and King would herd the reluctant animals into the cold, wet obstacle before them.
They’d performed this routine at some frozen creeks and a few rivers, but nothing this large.
“You be careful,” Erin cautioned Molly, looking meaningfully into her eyes and worrying. It wasn’t that she didn’t think Molly could handle herself, but there might be floating trees and branches that they couldn’t foresee. She’d heard of wagons overturning in rivers and everyone in them drowning.
Molly smiled up into Erin’s concerned face. They’d talked about these challenges many times. The children were all excited as one by one they climbed back into the wagon, the smaller children needing a boost. The cats had been smart enough not to get out of the bed of the wagon this time. They looked at the river with disdain. “Keep those piglets and puppies down,” she ordered the children when they tried to pull them onto their laps on the mattresses. She didn’t want a mess in there.
“Maybe we should try tomorrow first thing...” Erin began cautiously.
“And maybe it will rain up north and send more water down and it will be worse tomorrow,” Molly countered, trying to relieve Erin’s mind. “I’ve got this. You be just as careful,” she warned, knowing that being mounted on a horse and trying to herd the cattle and horses would be just as hard as her driving the oxen.
Erin smiled ruefully. There was nothing for it, and Molly was right; the sky looked like rain. It had been a hard couple of weeks as they traveled in the wintry mess that was now turning into a spring-like mess. They had mud and wet to look forward to, and they hadn’t even gotten across Illinois yet or into Missouri. She worried about making the departure dates the letter had given them for their wagon train.
“See ya on the other side,” Molly said with a caress along Erin’s face, smiling affectionately. Erin leaned down to steal a kiss as she checked various things around the wagon one more time before mounting up. Both dogs looked from Erin to the wagon as they heard the whip crack above the oxen and the wagon started forward. They knew they had their work cut out for them forcing the horses and cows into the river, and their offspring were in that wagon.
Erin watched as Molly got the oxen to head for the river. They balked at the swirling cold, but the whip cracking above them kept them going in. Molly headed them slightly upstream in case they had to swim it. The stallion pulled at his rope before he too entered the water behind the wagon. The children watched behind them anxiously at their pa. Erin waited. The horses and even Billy were watching the wagon as it slowly made its way across the wide river. When it was halfway, she spoke to the dogs. “Let’s go,” she ordered them, making a sweeping motion with her arm to get them moving forward with the animals that were waiting. None of the animals wanted to enter the cold waters, but fear of the dogs’ nips on their heels had them taking to the swirling waters. Erin headed the animals at an angle in the water, knowing they might have to swim at some point. Entering on the mare, she watched as the waters rose to the knees of the horse rapidly. They continued rising to the bottoms of the stirrups but thankfully, no higher. She glanced at the animals frequently, encouraging them and the now swimming dogs, who still managed to keep the herd intact. Some of it was due to intimidation and some was just outright healthy respect for these dogs.
Molly pulled up on the far shore, relieved to have made another crossing, but she knew it wouldn’t be the last. She kept going far enough that they wouldn’t slide back before stopping the oxen and setting the brake to look back and see how Erin was doing. She was alarmed to see the dogs and the sow swimming, but she saw Erin was still high in her saddle and calling to the animals. She was relieved when first, the horses and then, the cattle began to climb onto the bank. They were probably all worn out from the cold waters. Once she saw that the dogs, the sow, and Erin had all made it and were climbing the incline of the road, she took off the brake and called to the oxen, getting them moving again. They had miles to go before the sun set and it wouldn’t do to waste the time. The animals would dry off as they went and would stay warm from their exertions.
That night, Molly was disturbed to see the mess the puppies and piglets had made in the back of the wagon. They’d used up enough supplies that both litters had been able to have a small space on the wood floor, but the children had put a blanket down for them, and it was full of pee and poop. She insisted on washing it out immediately, hanging it on a nearby branch, so it wouldn’t stink and might possibly be dry the following morning.
“This little piggy went, ‘Wee, wee,’ all the way home,” Erin was telling the story to the younger children as she made dinner that night. Molly glared at her for the joke; she hadn’t found it very funny.
It started to rain shortly after dinner and the piglets, puppies, and their parents were all under the wagon. The horses, cattle, and oxen stood placidly in the downpour as they chewed what grasses they could find. Erin, Molly, and the children all retired to the wagon but only after Erin put up a shield to protect the fire from going out. They would need it to cook their breakfast.
“Why don’t you make the fire under the wagon?” Theodore asked.
“Because we don’t want to light the wagon on fire. As the heat of the fire rises, it might burn the wagon. I don’t want you to ever light a fire too near the wagon, ya hear?” Erin used the moment as a teaching lesson. “Everything we own in the world is in this wagon.”
“What about the horses and dogs?” Tommy asked innocently.
“Well, them too,” Erin admitted, exchanging a look with Molly and trying to keep from laughing.
“The kitties too?” Theresa asked.
“The kitties too,” she admitted, her mouth twitching as she turned away.
They went to bed early as they couldn’t see to do anything, and Erin wanted to save the oil in the lanterns. There was no point burning oil if they didn’t need to. She still got up during the night to check on her animals, and King came out from under the wagon to join her. She made her way around the animals, making a count. It was no longer necessary to get them running around to stimulate their blood. It was still cold but not so cold that they would freeze in the night. The rain was coming down, making it feel worse than it was despite her slicker, and she wondered if they would be able to move on in the morning as she made her way back to the wagon. She heard the pups as King made his way back under the wagon, then a few clucks from the chickens. Climbing in, she did her best not to joggle the bed as she quickly removed her wet, outer clothes.
“Everything okay?” Molly murmured as she welcomed her back into their bed, snuggling close, using her own body heat to warm the now cold Erin.
“Everything is fine,” she murmured back, sticking her nose into Molly’s neck to warm it, grateful that she didn’t object as she warmed her hands under the covers, rubbing them together. She took the moment to apply her lips to Molly’s neck, wishing she could do more and further warming her hands as she caressed Molly’s body. As the children had gotten more familiar with them, they felt less comfortable about making love in the wagon. They hadn’t purchased those tents yet, but she was determined they would once the snow was gone from the ground.