Emma's Journey (6 page)

Emma took the opportunity to study him. Davis was a good-looking man, different from Peter. Her husband always had a “little boy” manner about him. On the other hand, Davis looked like someone who had been through hard times and could handle just about any problem. Even though she knew him such a short time, Emma felt safe with him alongside her each day. Now if she could only get past her reaction every time he smiled in her direction or accidentally touched her arm.

“Howdy, Miz Thorpe, Davis.” Ezra hesitated as he entered their camp, holding a piece of paper.

“Would you like some coffee, Ezra?” Emma asked as she stood and brushed off her dress.

“Yes, that would be fine, Miz Thorpe.” Ezra settled himself with his coffee and appeared a bit uncomfortable with what he apparently had come to say.

He took a sip of coffee and placed the cup on the ground. “Miz Thorpe, do you recall when you and Mr. Thorpe–God rest his soul—first came to me in Independence?”

Curious at both his words and demeanor, she nodded and he continued. “You remember I asked Mr. Thorpe to sign this here paper which lists the rules and regulations?” Although his voice was calm and steady, he rolled and unrolled the paper in his hand.

When Ezra cleared his throat, Davis glanced sharply in his direction. “What’re you getting at?” He straightened and rested his forearms on his bent knees.

“Yes, I remember that paper.” Emma said at the same time, a frown on her face. “What about it?”

“Well according to this here paper that your late husband signed in good faith, you and Davis here need to get married.”

Chapter Six

Only the crackling of the campfire broke the stunned silence. After a minute or so, Davis stood up and stretched. “I’m willin’.”

Finally jarred from her spell, Emma shook her head to clear it. “No. Absolutely not. This has gone far enough.” She hopped up and paced, smacking her fist into her palm. “First I’m forced on this horrible trip by my husband. Then he’s trampled to death by one of your horses. You force me to continue on when I want to go home, you push this−this person−on me, and now you try to force me to marry him? A complete stranger? No, I will not do it. No. Never.”

“But, Miz Thorpe.” Ezra stood and slapped his thigh with his hat. “This here paper that Mr. Thorpe, in good faith. . .”

Before he could continue, Emma marched over, grabbed the paper out of his hand, ripped it in half, then tossed it to the ground.

“Now.” She took a deep breath as her stomach clenched in anger. “There is no paper. And if you gentlemen will excuse me, I’m heading to bed.”

“Emma.” Davis started toward her, touching her arm. “Please calm down and listen to what Ezra has to say.”

Emma jerked away from him, hugging her waist with both arms. She refused to cry in front of these two, but her eyelids filled with unshed tears.

“Miz Thorpe.” Ezra began again, glancing worriedly in Davis’s general direction. “It says no female adult will be allowed to travel on the wagon train without a family member. It’s too much work for a woman alone, too dangerous, and the other ladies are upset with you and Davis living here together in this wagon without the benefit of marriage.”

“I don’t care what the ‘ladies’ are upset over. Davis can go back to his scouting duties and I can do it all myself. I don’t need him. I don’t need anyone. I want to go home.” Realizing she sounded like a spoiled brat having a tantrum, Emma spun, and marched to the back of the wagon and crawled in. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks, but she refused to continue the conversation. She wiped furiously at the tears rolling down her face, and tried to settle the thumping of her heart.

Through the thin walls of the wagon, she listened to Davis and Ezra as their quiet conversation grew louder. She couldn’t catch all their words, but heard Davis say something about being unfair, and Ezra respond with ‘stubborn woman’ before he stomped off.

She pulled off her dress and tugged on her nightgown. The sounds of Davis putting out the fire and doing other chores he normally did before bed somehow soothed her as she braided her hair.

Emma lay on her side considering Ezra’s order. From what she’d seen so far, Davis was a good man. He would make a wonderful husband, but not for her. She fully intended to return to Indiana when this nightmare ended. Tying herself to another man determined to make a life in Oregon didn’t fit her plans. She sighed and flipped onto her back, staring at the canvas covering the wagon. Although she thought sleep would be difficult in coming, after only about ten minutes, she was fast asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The late spring sun bathed Emma’s face in brightness. She groaned and rolled over to block out the light, then sat up abruptly. The sun shining meant it was past time to rise. She scrambled from the wagon and headed directly to the bushes. On her way back she noticed Davis’s absence, and his gear missing. The other campsites had already finished breakfast and were packing up in preparation to start the day. Feeling a bit disoriented, Emma splashed water on her face, grabbed a piece of bread from last night’s supper and looked around.

So this is the game they were going to play? She reckoned the punishment for not falling in with Ezra’s plans was to leave her on her own. Well, fine. She could do it. Tucking her hair into her bonnet, she walked briskly to the animal area and found her oxen.

Since the other animals had already been retrieved, it was not too difficult to spot hers. Trying to drag both of them at once wasn’t going to work, so she tugged, pushed, and pulled one of them over to her wagon. She fumbled for quite a while getting it yoked. Then she made the trek back for the other one. By now she noticed the first wagons were beginning to move. It appeared Ezra started with the wagon directly behind hers, pulling it into first place, which gave her more time.

Finally having everything packed and the animals yoked, Emma started the walk for the day. Being the last wagon put her in the position of eating everyone else’s dirt. The sun beat on her head as she trudged along. Sweat poured down her face, and stained the back and front of her dress. She was so thirsty, but couldn’t leave the oxen to fumble around in the back of her wagon for a cup to fill from the water barrel.

Four miserable hours later, Ezra called a halt for the noon break. Emma wanted to collapse right there in a heap, but instead she got water for the animals, loosened the yoke and then took care of herself. She gulped two cups of water and splashed the third one on her face. Sensing someone approaching her wagon, she lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.

Sarah walked toward her with a weary expression on her face.

“Oh, Emma, what have you done?” She reached out and took her hand.

“I’m okay, Sarah, how about you?”

“I’m just fine, but you know what I mean. I heard from some of the others Ezra took Davis off your wagon and put him back as a scout. Rumor has it he wanted you two to marry so Davis could continue to help you, but you refused.”

“Yes, that’s pretty much it,” Emma sighed. “I refused to marry a complete stranger. Aside from the fact that I’m done with marriage, I intend to go back to Indiana, so I can’t marry anyone. Ezra also said according to some paper Peter signed, I couldn’t travel alone, but I think he assumes if he abandons me, I’ll change my mind. He’s given me no choice about staying with the wagon train, but I certainly can decide whether I want to marry or not.”

“And have you?” Sarah asked gently.

“Yes, Ezra won’t force me to marry Mr. Cooper. I’ll do this all alone until I drop.” She raised her chin in defiance.

“Oh, honey, I think you’re being foolish,” Sarah said. “Marriage between strangers is common in this part of the country. A man needs a woman almost as much as a woman needs a man. Look at you. You’re already worn out and it’s only mid-day. You know I’m your friend, Emma, but I really think you should give this more thought.”

“Thanks for the suggestion, Sarah, but for now I’ll do it my way.”

Sarah gave Emma a hug and went back to her wagon. Emma sunk to the ground and untied her shoes to get a pebble out. Rubbing her aching feet, she thought about eating, but was too tired to fix anything.

The heat and fatigue had taken away her appetite, but she knew she would never be able to finish the day if she didn’t eat, so she took some beef jerky, along with another piece of last night’s bread. She washed it all down with cups of water. She rested behind the wagon, lifted her skirts to her knees to cool off, then used her bonnet as a fan.

The noon break was short and before long the wagons started to roll again. Emma had only walked a few yards when she remembered she had not tightened the yoke on the oxen. Tugging on the reins, she tried to stop the movement. The force of the wagon’s weight and the animals dragged her as she pulled. Beads of sweat ran down from her forehead. She was almost completely on the ground when the sound of hoof beats intruded on her misery.

Davis pulled up on his reins and quickly jumped down. Grabbing the yoke, he shouted for Emma to let go. She lost her dignity as she plopped on her behind in the dirt. Davis managed to slow down the wagon and bring it to a stop. He glanced back at Emma and chuckled. “You all right, darlin’?”

Emma scowled. “Yes, I’m fine, Mr. Cooper, and don’t call me ‘darlin’.”

Davis tightened the yoke, walked over to Emma and extended his hand to help her up. She brushed off the back of her dress and ungraciously mumbled her thanks. Davis grinned, tugged on the brim of his hat and returned to his horse, mounting in one graceful motion.

Sore in various places, Emma returned to the animals and tugged. Leaving behind a cloud of dust, Davis galloped away toward the front of the line. Despite herself, a small smile formed as she thought of her most unlikely knight in shining armor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma sat staring at her fire. Nighttime on the prairie echoed with sounds different from those she listened to back home for years. Small nocturnal animals scurried around in search of food. Having a strong sense of smell and hearing, bats began their nightly pursuit of insects when they didn’t need to compete with birds.

She’d never been so tired in her whole life. After the wagons had stopped for the day, she’d unhitched the ox and brought them to the pasture with the other animals. Then she collected twigs and buffalo chips to make her fire. By then she was too tired to cook anything, so she made do with another meal of jerky and bread.

“Hello Emma.” A deep voice jerked her out of her trance. Davis stood over her holding two cups of steaming coffee. He handed her one and squatted down alongside her.

“How did you do today?” Even though his voice was sympathetic, the glint in his eyes told her he was finding the situation somewhat amusing.

“I’m worn out, all right? Isn’t that what you and Ezra had planned?” She leaned back against a log, and closed her eyes. “I’m covered with dried sweat, my feet hurt, I have sunburn on my face and my hands feel like someone is poking pins and needles into them. I would drink this lovely cup of coffee you just gave me, but I fear my arms won’t move.”

She opened her eyes and gazed at Davis. “And if you keep looking at me like that, I will embarrass you, and myself, by bursting into tears. Does that answer your question?” Despite her best intentions her voice quivered, and she barely got the last few words out.

“Let me ask you something.” Davis took a sip of his coffee. “Is the thought of marrying me so horrible that you’d rather suffer through all this?”

She inhaled deeply, fighting the tears rising in her eyes. “I have nothing against you personally. Truly I don’t. You seem like a nice enough man, but I really don’t know you. However, that aside, it is my intention to return to Indiana when we reach Oregon. So you see I can’t get married. Not to you, not to anyone.”

Davis put his cup down and reached toward Emma. He put his fingers gently under her chin, turning her head until he looked directly into her eyes. “What makes you think you’ll be able to get back to Indiana once you reach Oregon?”

“I’ll hire someone, sell my wagon, and do whatever I need to. I will go back to Indiana.” Her words were not as forceful as she intended. Looking directly into Davis’s eyes with the firelight dancing in front of them made it difficult to catch her breath. Her heart pounded, but she attributed it to her annoyance at having to explain herself.

“Ah, darlin’, you won’t be able to do that. Once you’ve finished this trip, believe me, there is no way you’ll want to set out again.” He began to slowly rub his thumb over her chin. “I hear Oregon is a fine place to settle.”

“I want to go back to Indiana.” Emma jerked away from his touch. “I was happy there.”

Davis stretched one leg out and drew the other one up, his wrist leaning on his bent knee. “You were a little girl in Indiana.”

“I was not. I was a married woman.” Emma wiped the corners of her eyes.

“Yes, darlin’, you were indeed a married woman. But you were still a little girl.” He drained the coffee, stood, and tipped his hat before disappearing into the darkness.

Emma stared back into the fire. She was not a little girl in Indiana. She’d had her own house that she took care of by herself. Meals were always on time, the laundry done, the garden tended to. Mr. Cooper didn’t know her, or what her life in Indiana had been like. If only Peter had been happier, she wouldn’t have had to leave her parents. She sighed and groaned as she rose. Tomorrow would be better. It had to be.

Just as she kicked the last bit of dirt on the campfire, Sarah, lugging Stephen, wandered into her camp.

“Hi, honey, how are you doing?”

Emma blinked furiously, refusing to let the tears burning her eyes fall. “I don’t know what to do. Davis was just here and he still thinks we should marry. Besides the fact that we’re virtual strangers, I want to go back home when this nightmare of a trip is over. I can’t get married again.”

“Oh dear. I understand, but this is just the first day of being on your own. Look how tired you are. Do you really think you can do this for another four or five months? Be realistic, this is much too difficult for a woman alone.”

“I know, Sarah,” Emma sighed, “but I can’t get married again. I just can’t.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn’t seem possible, but the next day was even worse. Emma barely got bacon cooked and coffee made when the wagons started to roll. She threw everything into the wagon, doused the fire and ran to get her oxen. Tugging, pulling, and sweating, she dragged the first one, then returned for the other. When she turned around the first one had followed her to his comfortable spot, and began to munch on the grass again.

As she arrived at the wagon with the second ox, she heard noises behind her. She turned and narrowed her eyes at Davis pulling the first ox along. What was he doing, watching her every move? Her annoyance quickly faded, and she smiled gratefully in his direction. Within minutes Davis had both oxen yoked. He tugged at the brim of his hat, mounted his horse and was off. Emma grabbed hold of the animals and trudged forward.