A Home at Trail's End (23 page)

She looked out over the grassy slope she was leading them on. She would prefer walking them on flat land when it was slick like this, but all the flat land seemed to be turning to mud. As it was, she knew if she took it slow and easy, they should make it back all right—as long as she wasn't lost. She wondered what it would feel like to spend the night out here. If she could make a fire—which was doubtful—she might be able to dry out her clothes and make it to morning. She wondered what Eli would say to her. Certainly, he would not allow himself to be caught in a situation like this. What kind of frontier woman was she, anyway?

Chapter Seventeen

I
n all our days on the Oregon Trail,” she said aloud as she trudge along, “I never ever saw anything like this rain and mud.” Bella shook her head up and down as if to concur with her. Traveling this off-road route was taking much longer than it would to simply wade through the mud on foot. However, she knew it didn't matter as long as she got her team home in one piece.

Eventually, she found her way back to the road again, and she recognized the land as part of Malinda's property. Feeling somewhat hopeful but exhausted, she encouraged the team to keep going. It was dusky by the time Malinda's farm finally came into sight. Elizabeth couldn't remember when she'd been so happy to see the warm golden light through a window. As she plodded toward the barn, she tried to remember when she'd felt this weary. Probably on the Oregon Trail—although that seemed impossible at the moment.

“Come on,” she urged her horses, leading them through the muddy farmyard and into Malinda's pasture. “You're home for now.” She watched as they wearily went through the gate. She knew they were all right, and she planned to send JT out to check on them. But in all likelihood, they would recover more quickly than she would. However, they couldn't have possibly pulled that wagon all the way home. And she did not even want to think about her dry goods, which would probably turn to mush by morning.

Feeling as if she could barely plant one foot in front of the other, she trudged over to the house, but when she opened the door and saw the shocked faces of Amelia, Malinda, and Susannah, she knew she couldn't go inside the house like this.

“What happened to you?” Malinda demanded.

Elizabeth held up a tired hand. “Excuse me a moment,” she said hoarsely. Then she turned and walked over to where one of the water troughs was overflowing from the rain and, knowing she looked perfectly ridiculous, plunged herself into the trough, washing the caked mud from her outer clothes as if she were bathing. She could hear the girls laughing from the porch. She didn't blame them because she knew she looked foolish, but at the same time they had no idea how cold she was.

Shivering and weak, she climbed from the trough and made her way to the covered porch, where she slowly peeled off her dripping outer clothing, dropping it down on the bench by the door. She would deal with it later.

“Here,” Malinda said as she wrapped a blanket around Elizabeth's shoulders. “Get inside before you catch your death of cold.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth muttered with chattering teeth, allowing Malinda to guide her toward the fire. There, with the help of the older girls holding blankets as a screen, Elizabeth removed the last of her wet clothing and then wrapped herself up in Malinda's warm woolen robe.

“Sit down,” Malinda said as she shoved a straight-backed chair beneath Elizabeth.

“Put these on.” Amelia knelt down, pushing Elizabeth's white icy feet into a pair of thick socks.

“And drink this,” Malinda handed her a cup of hot coffee with cream.

“What happened, Mama?” Ruth asked her with wide eyes. “Susannah said you jumped in the water trough.”

The girls laughed, and Elizabeth couldn't help but giggle despite herself, or maybe it was something in the coffee. And then she explained about going to the mercantile and getting stuck in the mud and how she had to get her team away from the wagon to get them safely home.

“You left our wagon out on the road?” Ruth sounded shocked.

“I had to,” she explained as she sipped the odd-tasting coffee. “It was the wagon or the horses. And the wagon will survive the mud. I wasn't so sure about the horses.” She turned to Malinda. “Honestly, in all our days and all our hard times on the Oregon Trail, I never ever encountered anything like that horrid mud.”

“I should have warned you about downpours like this. You should never take out a wagon this time of year—not unless you've got a good shovel and a bunch of wood planks with you.” Now Malinda explained how the men would sometimes dig out the mud and place planks in the road for the wheels to roll onto. “Even that is an enormous undertaking.”

“I can imagine.”

“You're much better off on foot,” she told Elizabeth.

JT and the boys came into the house now. “Ma,” he called out, “I noticed our team was here. Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she told him. “Did you see to the team?”

He assured her he'd done that. “Did you see Eli on your way here?”

“Eli?” she peered over her coffee mug at JT. His hat was dripping, and he looked nearly as soaked as she'd been. However, seeing he was wearing his father's old waxed barn jacket, she knew his clothing would remain dry underneath.

“He came through here with Grandpa's oxen team about an hour ago.”

She blinked. “Eli brought the oxen here?”

“Yeah. He knew you'd need some help to get the wagon home.” JT frowned. “Where
is
the wagon?”

Once again, she explained her recent dilemma. “But where is Eli now?”

“I expect he went on down the road looking for you.”

“Oh…” She sighed.

“Don't worry about Eli,” JT assured her. “He can take care of himself.”

“Did he have a shovel with him?” Malinda asked as JT was heading back out the door.

“Yep. And a couple of planks of wood too,” he said as he left.

“See,” Malinda told Elizabeth. “Your man's got a good head on his shoulders.”

Elizabeth just nodded.

“Okay, we're going to get some soup into her,” Malinda told the girls. “And then we'll get her to bed. Susannah, you get those warming stones heated up for her. Amelia, you make her some tea.”

Elizabeth watched almost as if she were dreaming as they all scurried around, chattering among themselves. She wasn't sure if Malinda had put something in her coffee, but she felt surprisingly warm and relaxed when Amelia and Susannah finally helped her into bed.

“I'll come to bed and read to you after supper,” Ruth promised as she tucked the quilt snugly under Elizabeth's chin.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Elizabeth murmured as she closed her eyes and sighed.

“Our bride-to-be is awake,” Malinda said in a teasing tone as Elizabeth came out into the front room and looked around.

“Where is everyone?” She buttoned the cuffs of her chore dress.

“Off to school.” Malinda handed her a cup of coffee.

Elizabeth peered suspiciously into the coffee. “What's in this?” she asked.

“Cream and a bit of sugar,” Malinda said innocently.

“What about last night's coffee?”

“Just a drop or two of
medicine
,” Malinda chuckled. “To ward off a cold or chill.”

Elizabeth took a cautious sip and was relieved to discover it tasted normal.

“And it seems to have done the trick,” Malinda told her. “You look none the worse for wear.”

Elizabeth sighed and sat down at the table. “Thank you, Malinda,” she said gratefully. “I'm sure that you and the girls saved my life last night.”

Malinda grinned. “Well, we couldn't very well let our bride expire just two days before her wedding. Goodness, if I'd known you were going to go out and try to drown yourself, I would have forced you to stay for the quilting bee.”

“How was the quilting bee?” Elizabeth looked down at her coffee.

“Successful. We finished it up in time for the ladies to get home before the rain let loose.”

“May I see the finished quilt?”

Malinda frowned. “I'm sorry. It's all wrapped up in paper to keep it clean and safe until the wedding day.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I'm sure it's beautiful.”

“Eli came by last night to check on you.” Malinda set a bowl of oatmeal in front of Elizabeth. “You had already gone to sleep.”

“Was he all right?” She poured some milk over her oatmeal.

“Well, other than being soaked, he was fine. He used the oxen team to pull the wagon from the mud. However, he said they were worn out. So he left them and the wagon here. He thought you might want it for tomorrow—if the road dries out by then.” She pointed to some bundles sitting on the bench by the fireplace. “He brought those into the house to dry out. I think most of your purchases from yesterday will be just fine.” She pointed to a large bowl of damp-looking oatmeal. “Except that one. It must not have been as well covered as the others. But we fixed a big pot of oatmeal for breakfast. And I thought perhaps I could make a big batch of oatmeal and molasses cookies out of the rest of it.” She smiled. “I could bring them to the wedding dinner tomorrow.”

“That would be nice. Thanks.” Elizabeth ate her breakfast as Malinda bustled about the kitchen. But when Elizabeth started to do her normal morning chores, Malinda held up a hand. “Not today, my friend.”

“But I want to help.”

Malinda just shook her head. “Do you feel well enough to go to your mother's like you planned to do today?”

Elizabeth nodded. “I feel perfectly fine.”

“Perhaps you could ride Molly.”

“Yes. That might be a good plan. And if the road is too bad, we'll just cut across some fields.”

“The rain seems to have moved eastward, but after yesterday's downpour, it's still rather soggy out there.”

“I'll be sure to wear my heavy boots and barn coat this time.”

“And don't overdo,” Malinda warned her.

Elizabeth patted Malinda on the back. “Thank you for caring.”

Now Malinda reached out and hugged her tightly. “Of course I care. You are my oldest and dearest friend.”

To Elizabeth's surprise, she felt tears welling up. “I'm so glad we're still friends.”

Malinda pulled her an arm's length away and looked into her eyes. “I realize I've been a bit harsh at times,” she admitted. “I hope you'll forgive me. I've given it some thought, and I suppose I can be a bit self-centered at times.”

Elizabeth just shrugged.

“And then, living out here in the frontier, I've also gotten rather self-reliant. It occurred to me last night after you'd gone to bed that being too self-centered and too self-reliant weren't the best qualities in a friend. I want to try harder.”

Elizabeth patted Malinda's shoulder. “I suspect we both have much to learn about friendship—especially out here in the frontier,” she told her. “But I'm very thankful that I have you, Malinda.” She noticed that her wet clothes from yesterday were washed and hanging by the fireplace to dry. “And thank you again for taking such good care of me last night.”

“What time do you think you'll be back here?” Malinda asked with an arched brow.

“In time to help prepare supper,” she assured her.

“Good. I will expect you then.”