A Dream for Tomorrow (31 page)

To make matters worse, Elizabeth heard a rumor of cholera outbreaks on the wagon train. This made the travelers, fearful of contracting the devastating illness, keep to themselves. Clara and Elizabeth, both well versed in disease prevention, insisted on boiling all their drinking water as well as rinsing dishes and utensils in boiled water. And so far, all of them remained healthy, though tired.

However, they’d had a couple of nasty breakdowns the last few days. First Ruby and Doris’ wagon cracked an axle, and then one of the new families in their unit, the Petersons, had an ox go lame. As a result, unit three had taken over the lead position. Elizabeth didn’t much mind. In some ways it took the pressure off. Besides, each wagon’s place in the train didn’t seem to matter—the dust did not discriminate. By the end of the day, everyone was coated with it. Every evening, Elizabeth shook out clothing and blankets and rugs, but it seemed to make little difference. She wondered if she would ever get the grit out of her teeth.

When the day came to cross the Snake River, Elizabeth felt a conflicting set of emotions. On one hand, she was hugely relieved to think they would be moving into more friendly terrain—or so she hoped. On the other hand, she knew that her father and brother were unusually nervous about this crossing.

“What’s so different about this crossing?” she asked as she wiped out a frying pan. They’d just finished breakfast, and since their unit was now third in the train, they knew it would be several hours before their turn to cross. However, the men in their unit had been making good use of the time by sealing every crack they could find with pitch and tar, attempting to make their wagons as buoyant as possible.

“The captain says the Snake runs fast and deep,” Asa told her. “And the current isn’t always predictable.”

“I think we should strap two wagons together,” Matthew said as he coiled a rope around his arm. “Go across in pairs.”

“I’m not so sure,” Asa countered.

“What difference would it make to go in pairs?” Elizabeth asked.

“It gives more weight,” Matthew explained. “To resist the current.”

“That makes sense.”

“I don’t know.” Asa’s brow creased. “If it’s not done right, it seems it could be a recipe for disaster.”

“Let’s go watch unit three,” Matthew said suddenly. “They should be getting ready to cross by now. Maybe we can learn something.”

“I’ve heard folks from unit three bragging,” JT told them. “They say they’re the best unit in the train.”

“Well, it’s true they haven’t had as many breakdowns as the rest of us,” Elizabeth pointed out. “But it’s not polite to brag.”

“You go on with the men and watch the others,” Clara told Elizabeth. “You’ll have to decide how you want to cross.”

Elizabeth looked at Ruth. “You stay here and help Grandma.” Then, seeing the disappointment in her daughter’s eyes, she added, “And as soon as you’re done, come join me by the river and we’ll watch together.”

“I’ll stay to help too,” Jess offered.

A large group of spectators were clustered along the rocky riverbank to watch as unit three gathered their livestock, preparing to swim the herd across. Elizabeth knew that each unit was expected to get all their animals across first and float the wagons afterward. As usual, Brady had volunteered to herd their animals. Elizabeth considered discouraging him as she recalled the unfortunate incident with Robert Stone, but seeing the hope in Brady’s eyes, she knew she had to concede.

When JT insisted on going as well, she put her foot down. But Matthew, hearing mother and son going round and round about it, had intervened. “JT is as good in the saddle as any full-grown man,” he defended his nephew. “Better than most on this train.”

“And I can swim, Ma.” JT stood tall, nearly looking Elizabeth squarely in the eyes.

“He’ll be just fine,” Matthew assured her.

And so she’d given in. Brady and JT as well as Julius and Jeremiah and two of the teen boys from the Petersons’ wagon—all six would drive the team across the river. And Elizabeth would watch from the sidelines, praying the whole while for the safety of the men and animals.

“There they go,” JT said as unit three began driving their animals into the river. “Look, Ma, they got boys my age herding too.”

She just nodded, silently praying for the safety of the young men. She was surprised they only had three working the small herd, and she bit her lip when she saw one of the smaller calves beginning to drift downstream. Hopefully it would find its way back. It wasn’t tidy and neat, but eventually the three young men got all the other animals onto dry land. The onlookers let out a loud cheer, and Elizabeth let out a long breath. “I’m not sure I want to watch all this,” she told Matthew.

“But you can watch and learn,” he said.

Now Jess, Clara, and Ruth were joining them. Elizabeth gave them a quick lowdown on the livestock crossing. “I hope the calf finds its way back to the herd.”

“I’m sure he will,” Clara told her.

“The first wagon is getting ready to go.” Elizabeth pointed down to the river where a wagon was being pulled into the water. A taut rope was tied to the front of the wagon, and the oxen team was just starting to pull on the other side.

“They’re going one by one,” Clara observed.

“That water’s moving fast,” Elizabeth said with concern.

“What keeps the wagon from floating away?” Ruth asked.

“Captain Brownlee ran a line through the river,” Elizabeth showed her. “See that rope in the water?”

“And remember there’s the rope in back too,” Clara pointed out. “To hold it steady.”

The wagon was pushed and pulled with the current, and there were moments when the rope jerked so hard that Elizabeth was afraid it would snap, but eventually the wagon made it to the other side, easing out of the river with streams of water pouring down from it. Everyone on the other side let out another boisterous cheer.

“Maybe we don’t need to go in pairs after all,” Elizabeth said quietly to Matthew.

His brow creased as he watched the second wagon prepare to float across. Everything looked the same as with the first one, but the wagon was barely afloat when it seemed to get swept by a small rush of water that whipped the towrope so hard that it snapped in two. Suddenly the floating wagon turned sideways and then flipped over into the current, spilling people and boxes and supplies into the fast-moving water.

Screams of horror sliced through the morning as the overturned wagon now smashed into a nearby boulder, breaking into pieces. Men from unit three and others ran down the river, yelling and throwing ropes and attempting a rescue.

“I can’t watch this.” Elizabeth grabbed Ruth’s hand, tugging her along. “Let’s go back to camp.”

“Will they be all right?” Ruth asked in a frightened voice.

“I don’t know.” Elizabeth shuddered as she hurried Ruth away. “But we’ll pray for them.”

Despite Elizabeth and Ruth’s prayers, they later learned that only one family member, a small girl whose dress managed to keep her afloat, survived.

“She was taken in by another family,” Jess told them more than an hour later.

“Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it,” Clara sadly reported.

“What?” Elizabeth demanded.

“Another wagon, the first one from unit two, suffered a similar fate.” Clara shook her head with teary eyes. “I can’t keep watching this.”

“Go lie down,” Elizabeth told her. Then, even though she’d already done it, Elizabeth went over her wagon again, checking it from one end to the other, making certain it was sealed as tightly as possible and that everything inside was as secure and low as it could be.

“I want to double up our wagons,” Matthew said as he joined her at the front of her wagon. “I think the extra strength will get us across more safely.”

She peered into his face. “Are you certain?”

He shrugged. “How can I be certain, Lizzie?”

She sighed. “I know…I know. And I trust you, Matthew. You’ve put a lot of thought into this so far.”

“Are you willing to try it with my wagon? We could go first in our unit.”

“Yes. Ruth can ride with Mother, and I’ll—”

“I want to ride with you, Mama.” Ruth tugged on her sleeve.

Elizabeth hadn’t realized Ruth was even listening.

“Please, Mama. I want to ride with you.”

Elizabeth reached for her hand. “All right. But we have to sit close together, and if anything goes wrong, you hold on to me, do you hear?”

Ruth nodded with wide eyes.

Elizabeth turned to Matthew. “What do we do?”

He explained his plan to remove the canvas coverings. “So they don’t catch the wind like sails,” he told her. “I’m sure that’s what happened to the second wagon.” Then he told her how they would bind their two wagons together like a large square raft. “We can’t do it until we’re at the river’s edge,” he told her, “and I also plan to run extra tow ropes. Maybe even four, just to be sure they’re strong. And I’ll run a couple extra lines across the river too. You and Jess can help to gather up all the ropes we’ve got. We’re gonna need ’em.”

While Elizabeth hurried to get ropes, she explained Matthew’s plan to her mother. “It makes sense to me,” she said.

“Now that you’ve explained it, I think it does make sense,” Clara agreed.

“If it works for us, you and Father might want to try it too,” Elizabeth suggested.

“Asa wants us to cross last so he can help everyone else in our unit,” Clara told her. But perhaps we can plan to cross with Ruby and Doris.” She frowned. “I worry that their wagon isn’t as strong as it should be. I can see how it could help them to be strapped to a sturdier wagon.”

“It’s time for unit one to get our extra livestock down to the river,” Asa began calling out to all the wagons. “And you drivers can get into your wagons and start lining up to cross.”

Elizabeth hugged her mother and then told Ruth to get into the wagon. But just as she was getting in, Mrs. Taylor hurried over. “Elizabeth,” she called out. “I know I’m supposed to ride with Ruby and Doris, but would you mind if I rode with you instead?”

Elizabeth quickly explained the plan to bind her wagon with Matthew’s. “We’re not even sure it will work,” she said apologetically.

“Yes, so I’ve heard. It’s why I want to go with you. I think it sounds like a good idea.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “Feel free to join us.”

Mrs. Taylor hurried over to the other side, climbing up and sitting on the other side of Ruth. Elizabeth released the brake and snapped the reins, urging the pair of mules to follow Matthew’s wagon down toward the river. Her Percherons were already with the other livestock, waiting to be driven across the river. Brady and JT would remove the mules at the water’s edge and take them to join the others.

Matthew helped her get her wagon into place, snugly up against his. Then, with the help of Asa and some other men who were curious to see how this was done, the two wagons were lashed tightly together. People from other units were looking on as well, some making comments that were less than kind.

“I don’t know why they took the canvas off,” a man said. “Seems like a lot of trouble over nothing.”

Elizabeth stopped from tying an end of rope to glare at him. “You think wagons breaking to pieces in the river current and emigrants losing their lives is
nothing
?”

He gave her a surprised look and turned away, talking to the other men as if she weren’t even there.

Elizabeth tucked the remaining rope into the wagon and stepped back, looking at the two wagons lashed together. “It really does look more like a raft now,” she quietly told Matthew.

“Hopefully it will float like one too.” Matthew had just finished securing the tow rope—a four-ply rope that would be pulled by the six oxen that Brady and JT had yoked together on the other side of the river. “All aboard,” he told her with a twinkle in his eye.

Elizabeth got into her wagon now, joining Ruth and Mrs. Taylor as they crouched down in a small central space that Elizabeth had carved by moving boxes in the back of the wagon.

“Everybody ready?” Asa yelled out.

“Ready,” Matthew yelled back. “Let ’er go.”

Elizabeth held her breath as the oxen on the other side began to pull. Would they be able to handle the weight of two wagons? Would the ropes be strong enough?

“Look, Mama, we’re floating,” Ruth said happily.

“Yes.” Elizabeth exhaled. “So far so good.”

Mrs. Taylor had her eyes closed, but her lips were moving as if she was praying—and Elizabeth appreciated it. A few random waves splashed up against the side of the wagons, but they remained surprisingly steady and smooth as they cut through the water. Within only a minute or two, they were safely across.

She turned to look at Matthew and Jess now, and both of them were grinning. And all at once, they all let out a whoop of happiness, surprising Mrs. Taylor.

“We made it!” Ruth exclaimed.

“It worked!” Elizabeth told Matthew. “Well done, brother!”

It didn’t take long for the others to follow their example, taking down canvases, binding wagons together, and crossing by twos. Soon their entire unit was safely across, celebrating at the river’s edge.