A Home at Trail's End (12 page)

“Is Reverend Holmes going to officiate your wedding ceremony?” Jess asked Elizabeth and Eli. They exchanged glances, but neither of them answered.

“That'll be one strange wedding if he does,” Matthew teased Elizabeth. “I don't want to miss it.”

“Maybe that's why Malinda wants to have her wedding in her barn,” Elizabeth mused.

“Well, couldn't you have your wedding in her barn too?” JT suggested.

“I don't know…I think it might be better to have it in the church.” She looked at Eli. “Unless you have other ideas?”

“You tell me when and where and I'll be there,” he told her.

Elizabeth didn't want to mention the friction going on between her and Malinda, but she felt certain it would not improve the situation if Elizabeth wanted to have her wedding in Malinda's barn. It truly did not seem like an option.

“Do you think our house would be big enough to hold a wedding?” she asked Eli.

“Depends on how many folks are coming.”

“Mother was making a guest list,” Elizabeth told him. “And I suspect she's already invited a few people, like Lavinia and Flo and Mrs. Taylor. But she didn't want anyone to feel left out, and last I heard she thought there would be close to fifty people attending.”

“That would be mighty cozy in your house,” Matthew told Eli. “Unless you didn't have the bedroom walled off and if you didn't have any furnishing in place. Even then it might be tight.”

“The barn would be much better,” JT tried again.

She smiled at him. “Yes, I agree. But I don't want to burden Malinda with hosting our wedding just two weeks before hers. I don't think she'd appreciate that.”

“Then it looks like we'll be getting married at the church,” Eli declared. “Makes no matter to me, as long as we're married.”

“But I'd like for it to be a pleasant wedding,” Elizabeth said sadly.

“With no yelling,” JT added.

“I wish Asa could perform the ceremony,” Eli said wistfully.

“Now, there's an idea.” Matthew pointed at Elizabeth. “Maybe you should go and have a little talk with the reverend. Explain what kind of ceremony you want, and if he's unable to give it to you, ask him if Pa can do it.”

Elizabeth nodded eagerly. “Yes! That is exactly what I'm going to do.”

“You're a braver woman than I am,” Jess teased.

Elizabeth frowned. “Yes, well, maybe I'll invite Mother to go with me.”

They all laughed.

Soon they were unloading at her parents' house. “Why is the tent up?” Elizabeth asked her mother as Brady came out to help Asa with the team and the wagon. “I thought you were all moved into your house by now.”

“Asa worried it might be overly crowded in the house, what with all the children and all,” Clara explained as the women hurried through the rain to the little cabin. “With Malinda and Will's children, there will be nearly twenty of us.” Clara opened the door.

“Oh, Mother, look at how nice it is in here! You've been working hard.” Elizabeth went around admiring familiar pieces and shelves and curtains that had been put up since she'd last been here. “Home sweet home.”

“Matthew and I just moved into our house this week,” Jess told her as they hung their wet coats by the door. “We won't have a party like this, but I'd love to have you come by and visit as soon as we're all settled in. Maybe some sunny day when the children are in school, you and Clara could come for lunch.”

“That sounds lovely.”

It was fun being in a kitchen with her mother again. Certainly it was nothing like the kitchen she'd left behind in Kentucky, but it was a great improvement over the way they cooked meals on the Oregon Trail. Before long, the men came in along with Malinda and Will and all the children. As Asa had predicted, it was very crowded in the small cabin, and it wasn't long before some of the children opted to go out to the tent to play. But it was plain to see that both Asa and Clara were proud of the house they had built. And in some ways it seemed nothing short of miraculous to Elizabeth.

“God has been good to us,” Asa said as they all gathered around for a blessing before the dinner, which would be served buffet style. “For that we are grateful.” Then they bowed their heads and prayed. As her father said amen, Elizabeth wished more than anything that he might be allowed to perform her wedding ceremony in December.

After the dinner and a spell of friendly visiting, the sun came out, and it seemed a good time to load up the wagons again. But Elizabeth insisted on staying behind to help her mother clean up, and JT and Ruth went with Eli to see the progress on the house. By the time they returned—with both JT and Ruth suitably impressed with what would become their home in a few weeks—Elizabeth and Clara were just finishing up.

“I'm envious,” Elizabeth told Eli. “I haven't seen the house in days.”

“Come on.” He grabbed her hand. “Let's go see it together.”

Asa winked at her. “Off with you. I'll challenge JT to a game of checkers.”

“And I'll show Ruth my plans for the wedding dresses.”

“Dresses?” Elizabeth looked curiously at her mother.

“One for you and one for Ruthie.” Clara grinned. “Didn't I tell you?”

Elizabeth laughed. “No, you did not.”

“I get a wedding dress too?” Ruth's eyes grew big.

“Come on,” Eli said again. “Let's go while the weather is holding.”

It was delightful to be alone with Eli again. It seemed their opportunities were few and far between these days. They had probably spent more time alone together while traveling than since they arrived. He took her hand in his, and they walked blissfully through the cool damp meadow between the two properties. “There's already a path wearing through here,” Elizabeth noticed. “That's nice.”

“It'll be broken in nicely and I expect it'll be traveled even more regularly once we're all moved in.”

“I can hardly wait.”

Eli paused in the meadow, and pulling her near, he leaned down and kissed her. “I've been wanting to do this for days now,” he declared.

She nodded dreamily. “Me too.”

They stayed there for a bit, just enjoying each other, and then Eli frowned up at the dark clouds that were rolling in again. “We better hurry if we don't want to get soaked.”

Elizabeth grabbed up the skirt of her Sunday dress, and letting out a whoop, she broke out into a full run. Eli laughed as he hurried to catch her. But they barely reached the house when the sky opened up.

“Come on,” he said as he pulled her through the open doorway. “Part of the roof is up on the north side. We can hunker down there and stay dry until this passes.”

They went to the back of the house where several stumps were doubling as stools and sat down. “The floor is wonderful,” she told him, tapping her toes on the solid board beneath her feet.

“I could easily have the floor done by midweek.” He peered up to where the open part of the roof was letting in the rain now. “But I reckon I should make the roof a priority. Your dad and Brady have been making cedar shingles, but when I ran out yesterday, I decided to go to work on the floor instead.”

“Well, it's just lovely, Eli. Everything about this house is perfect.”

He laughed. “I'm not sure that it's perfectly squared.”

“It's a perfect place to bring up a family.” She looked down at her wet shoes. They hadn't spoken specifically about the possibility of having more children, but she knew that was likely since they both were young. And being around Jessica today, hearing her talking about the baby that would come in the spring, Elizabeth realized that she would love to have another baby too someday…God willing. But thinking of babies reminded her of something else.

“Eli,” she said quietly. “There's something I've wanted to ask you about, but I just never seemed to get the chance.”

“What's that?”

She explained about when she'd been riding Molly back to Malinda's just a few days earlier and how she felt certain she'd spied a young Indian woman crouching down in the brush alongside the road. “She looked right at me,” she told him. “Straight in the eyes. And then—just like that—she disappeared.”

“An Indian woman in these parts?” He picked up a scrap piece of wood, peeling a long sliver from it. “From what I hear, that's not very likely, Elizabeth. I recently heard that all the Indians for miles around were herded to a reservation up north. Fort Umpqua.”

She nodded sadly. “Yes, I've heard the same thing.”

He looked mildly surprised. “Really? Who did you hear that from?”

“Malinda told me about it.”

“Did she also tell you about how inhumane the army has acted toward the Indians these past few years? And how the government broke their treaty? Did she mention how many Indians were forced to walk up the beach for a hundred miles, and how many died just making the journey?” He scowled and grimly shook his head. “And did she happen to say how most of the Indians are starving and dying from sickness on the reservation?”

“No.” She stared at him in horror. “Where did you hear all that?”

He reached for her hand. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound irritated at you. But I get so enraged by the unjustness of it.” He sighed. “I'd hoped that maybe over here in the far West…well, I thought that perhaps things would be different—that for once there would be enough land for everyone.” He made a cynical laugh. “Unfortunately, it seems that wherever the white man goes, the Indians suffer.”

She swallowed and then nodded. “I fear you may be right.”

“Do you know they won't even allow the Indian men to fish or collect clams on the beach? They won't let the women gather food. They don't even have enough blankets to go around.”

“How did you hear all this?”

“Josiah Miller. I picked him up on the road on my way back here from Empire City. Seems he was friends with someone from Indian Affairs, a man by the name of Joel Palmer—”

“Malinda mentioned Joel Palmer. He was friends with James. And it sounds as if he's very sympathetic toward the Indians.”

“That's what Josiah said too. But then the army took over the Indian situation and the relocation began, and it seems that no one pays much heed to Joel Palmer anymore.” He tossed the piece of wood onto a scrap pile. “Forgive me, my dear Elizabeth, but as you know this is one of my sore spots. As much as I love this country—this brave United States of America—I sometimes cannot comprehend or agree with all of the men in leadership.”

“I know,” she said quietly. Now she pointed at him. “This country needs leaders like you, Eli. Maybe someday you will hold a political office and straighten them all out.”

He laughed heartily, and she felt relieved to see him smiling again.

“Now, back to what you were attempting to tell me before I so rudely jumped on my soapbox and subjected you to my sermon.” He chuckled. “One session of fiery words is enough for the day.”

“If the reverend's passion had been targeted at the Indian situation, I'm sure I would have listened with much more appreciation.” For the second time she described how she'd spotted the Indian woman several days ago. “Her eyes looked so lost and frightened. I really wanted to speak to her. But before I could dismount from Molly, she just seemed to vanish into thin air.”

“That sounds typical. She obviously did not want to be seen by anyone.”

“But I only wanted to help her.”

“Think about it, Elizabeth. Wouldn't you try to hide if someone wanted to herd you and your children off to a death camp?”

“I cannot even imagine that.”

“Unfortunately, I can.”

The rain had stopped, and the late afternoon sun was glistening through the trees in the west, so Eli suggested it was time to leave. As they walked through the soggy meadow back to Elizabeth's parents' house, she explained what Malinda had told her about Charles Levine offending most of the settlers by taking up with a young Indian woman. “I think she said they've been together a few years. But apparently they're not married.”

“Not married by white man's law, which is understandable. But they may consider themselves married.”

“Yes…I wondered about that.”

“Charles Levine has chosen a difficult path.”

“And Malinda said they have a child too.”

“Oh…” He let out a long sigh.

“Do you think that was her, the woman I saw that day?” she asked. “And if it was her, do you think there's any way we can help her? Help them? Help the child?”

He shrugged then squeezed her hand. “We can sure try.”

“I've been praying for her,” she said quietly. “Ever since that day—whenever she comes to mind. Those dark eyes…they were haunting.”