Across the Plains
Emma groaned when the sentries discharged their rifles at four a.m., signaling everyone to get up and moving. What she wouldn't do for another couple hours of sleep. She had been so tired lately she had to force herself to do the simplest tasks.
Beside her, Daniel began tugging on his pants and boots. "Come on sleepy head, time to get up."
Emma sat up slowly. Her stomach rolled and she dove for the chamber pot she'd been keeping nearby the past couple of weeks. She felt Daniel's broad hand on her shoulder and glanced back as he passed her a towel.
"Are you okay?"
She offered him a wan smile, but realized he couldn't see it in the dark. "I'm fine, everyone tells me it will pass."
"I don't see Billy. He must have found someplace else to sleep. I'll find him and have him get the fire started for you. Sorry, but it's my turn to help round up the mules and horses and see to the watering of the stock."
"That's okay." She sighed, but he was already heading off into the dark, slipping into his shirt as he left. Lately Daniel seemed so distant. They were both so exhausted at the end of the day they hardly talked anymore. Emma folded up their bedding then climbed into the back of the wagon and set the bedding on top of her wooden chest. With a weary sigh, she climbed out and began preparations for breakfast.
By six, Daniel still hadn't returned, so Emma walked over to see how Vada May was doing. She carried extra biscuits because she wasn't sure Annie Jane had enough for their big family.
"How's your mother doing this morning?" she asked the girl as Annie Jane turned bacon in a large, cast iron frying pan.
"A little better. She's still feverish, but she talked to me some this mornin'." She stood up and wiped her hands on her apron. "Mrs. Bunce looked in on her before and said to keep her cool as best we can and see she gets enough to drink."
Emma passed Annie Jane the biscuits she made then asked, "Is there anything you need?"
She shook her head. Already wisps of blonde hair had fallen from her bun to frame her sweet face. "The boys have done most of the chores, but we need some help hitchin' up the oxen. Ma's been doin' it cause the boys are too young. I s'pose I could ask Liam to help."
"Don't worry, I'll do it today," came a deep voice from behind.
Emma swung around, surprised to find Daniel standing there. He glanced at Emma. "I just yoked our team. Do you think you can get them in line?"
Emma nodded, and waved goodbye to Annie Jane. Then she turned toward her wagon. This morning was no more hectic than usual, but for some strange reason Emma felt neglected. She turned back toward Daniel and felt a sudden stabbing pain in the center of her chest when she saw the bright smile Annie Jane gave Daniel just as she offered him one of the biscuits Emma had just made.
Right at seven o'clock the wagon master blew his bugle letting everyone know it was time to move out. With Billy's enthusiastic but inexperienced coaching, Emma managed to maneuver their team into their assigned place among the first group of wagons. Her four oxen plodded along behind the other wagons as Billy chattered endlessly beside her. She only half listened, her mind on Daniel and Annie Jane.
Emma couldn't help the swell of jealously that surged within her. After all Annie Jane wasn't much younger than she was. And Emma was woman enough to recognize the adoration in Annie Jane's blue eyes as she gazed at Daniel. She knew she shouldn't feel so insecure, but she and Daniel had both changed so much since they spoke their vows just nine weeks ago.
Hard work had filled out Daniel's chest and shoulders to harden and define each muscle. His blond hair, lightened from the sun, had grown to hang over his collar. He was more confident and moved around the camp with a loose easy stride.
Emma glanced down at her once pretty green calico dress that had faded to mossy gray from hours in the sun, walking alongside the wagon. Though she wore her poke bonnet every day, her nose still burned and peeled constantly. And instead of growing leaner and fitter, Emma was growing fat and slow.
"Hey Emma, here comes Daniel," Billy announced, startling her from her brooding thoughts. She lifted her head and forced a bright smile as he rode up beside them on a big sorrel.
"Wow Daniel!" Billy exclaimed, "Where'd you get him?"
"From Liam and Michael." He leaned forward to pat the animal's thick red neck. A broad grin divided his tan face and his blue eyes danced with silver highlights. Emma had never seen him so animated. Daniel was thriving out here while all Emma wished for was to be back home.
"Hey Billy, can you climb in the back of the wagon and fetch me my gun case? It's in a green chest with yellow flowers painted on it."
"Sure Daniel," he agreed.
"The chest should be on this side near the end gate. There are some blankets and pillows folded on top. The case should be inside, toward the bottom. And get my gun belt, too."
"Okay Daniel." Billy dashed off.
They could hear him climbing over things to reach the back. Emma lifted her head to meet Daniel's eyes. He read the silent question and answered her before she could ask it. "I was asked to join the hunting party this morning."
She nodded, knowing each man on the train had to take his turn, but hating the fact that he would be gone just the same.
"I asked Liam and Michael to check on you. If you have any trouble, send Billy for one of them."
She nodded.
"Are you gonna be okay?"
"I'll be fine." She gave him a small smile.
Billy ran up beside them with Daniel's case and belt and passed them to him as Flint, the wagon train scout rode up.
"Ya ready to go, Dan?" He swung his dark bay around so they were all riding in the same direction. "Mornin' ma'am." He gave a quick tug on the wide brim of his battered brown hat and smiled at Emma. Deep lines fanned out from the corners of his hazel eyes like ripples in a pond after a stone was tossed in.
Emma smiled back. The harshness of the frontier had given Flint a dark, weathered look that made him appear older than he was, though he couldn't have been more than thirty. His dark hair was long, nearly to his shoulders, with an eagle feather braided into the left side. He was tall and lean. He wore a buckskin shirt with long fringe down the sleeves and across the yoke. It pulled over his head and laced closed. Because of the heat, he often left the shirt open and Emma was drawn to stare at the exposed dusting of brown hair.
Ian MacGregor the wagon master, had spoken to him numerous times about baring himself like this in front of women and children, but Flint bowed to no one and did just as he pleased.
He wore knee-high moccasins with a bone handle knife tucked inside the right one. He wore another on his hip and a third strapped between his shoulder blades underneath his shirt. He carried a rifle in a beaded buckskin scabbard on his saddle and handled it as though it were an extension of his own hand, just as he did his Bowie knives.
Daniel idolized the man and Emma wondered if that was the reason he'd let his hair grow out. Daniel passed the empty case back to Billy, waved goodbye and kicked his sorrel into a lope as he chased after Flint.
Emma and Billy, each wishing they could be with Daniel, watched wistfully until the pair was out of sight. Then Billy climbed up in the front of the wagon and grabbed a gunnysack from under the seat. Then he jumped down to walk with the other children and pick up buffalo chips for their evening fire.
The morning wore on as the caravan rolled slowly through miles of bluestem tall enough to hide a horse. The wagons spread out, sometimes three abreast for nearly a mile as they followed the south bank of the Platte River. The cerulean sky was cloudless and bright, stretching for miles in every direction. Though she traveled with hundreds of people, the endless expanse of sky and prairie made her feel small, insignificant and alone.
By mid morning Emma's feet were aching and she was greatly relieved when Liam rode up. "Good mornin' to ye, Miz Watson. And how are ye this fine day?" Mischief gleamed in his blue eyes, and his cocky smile flashed two big dimples.
"I'm fine, thank you, Mr. Sullivan."
Emma couldn't help but smile back. He tied his horse to the back and walked up beside her to drive for a while. She passed him the long rawhide whip.
"I see that young husband o' yours has gone and left ye at the mercy o' e'ery rouge and scoundrel in the west."
"He has?"
"Sure now, and I thought it my duty to be ridin' o'er here to protect ye from their worthless hides."
"Well thank you, I appreciate your sacrifice."
Liam laughed. "Why Miz Watson, is that a note o' insincerity I be hearin' in your voice?"
Emma clasped her hands to her breast in a dramatic fashion. "Goodness no, Mr. Sullivan! How could I not be grateful to a man with such a noble heart?"
Her brown eyes gleamed with hazel highlights. He turned toward her and their eyes met. His smile slowly faded as he searched her face. Emma frowned, puzzled by the change. He seemed uncomfortable for a moment and swallowed. Then before Emma had time to wonder why, his dimples reappeared.
"'Tis humbled I am by your o'erwhelmin' gratitude." He teased.
"And you Mr. Sullivan, have kissed the blarney stone one too many times."
"Ah, now ye wound me! And to think, since that army major and his lackeys have left, I may be the only man who stands between ye and whate'er danger lurks beyond the horizon."
Emma couldn't help but be charmed by Liam. She giggled again. "And judging by our distance to said horizon, we should be safe for quite some time."
"A fact which sadly wounds this noble heart."
Emma shook her head. The foolish man never quit. "Did Major Strickland and his men really leave?" She asked, remembering what he'd just said.
"Aye, they be out here huntin' a deserter and scoutin' the Grand Island area for a new location for Fort Kearny. They be headin' back to the old fort on Table Creek this mornin'." Liam took a moment to flick the tip of his whip at the rump of the lead ox. "Get on up there, Sammy Boy." They had begun to fall back a little and he wanted to close the gap.
"A deserter? But Daniel said they were riding along to offer us protection."
He shook his head. The dimples faded from his face. "To be sure, they be huntin' a deserter. 'Tis said the man left his blade in the belly o' another soldier, then fled into the night."
Emma's eyes widened at the grim tale. "But Daniel never told me..."
"Ah, me fine young Danny Boy. 'Tis another man o' noble heart." Then seeing the apprehension in her sweet face, Liam realized his blunder. "Sure now Miz Watson, 'tis no reason to be afraid, for Major Strickland be a fine soldier and he did not find the man among us."
Emma nodded, relieved by the logic of his words. "Yes, I imagine you're right. We're probably quite safe."
Emma wondered why Daniel didn't tell her the truth about the soldiers. Though she understood what Liam had said, that Daniel was protecting her, she still felt a twinge of resentment. She needed him to be able to talk to her as an equal. After all, she was his wife, not a little girl.
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