First Dawn
F
IRST
D
AWN
IUDITH
MILLER
F
IRST
D
AWN
FREEDOM’S PATH •
book 1
First Dawn
Copyright © 2005
Judith Miller
Cover design by Lookout Design, Inc.
Cover photo of settlers by Wichita State University Libraries,
Department of Special Collections
The Scripture quotation identified NIV is from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Other Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owners.
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-2997-8
ISBN-10: 0-7642-2997-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McCoy-Miller, Judith.
First dawn / by Judith Miller.
p. cm. — (Freedom’s path ; bk. 1)
Summary: “A saga of two families that portrays the harsh circumstances and intense courage displayed by African-American sharecroppers and Caucasian men as they formed the towns of Nicodemus and Hill City in the western Kansas prairie during the late nineteenth century”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 0-7642-2997-4 (pbk.)
1. African American pioneers—Fiction. 2. African American families—Fiction.
3. Nicodemus (Kan.)—Fiction. 4. Race relations—Fiction. 5. Sharecroppers—Fiction. 6. Pioneers—Fiction. 7. Kansas—Fiction. I. Title II. Series: McCoy-Miller, Judith. Freedom’s path ; bk. 1
PS3613.C3858F57 2005
813'.54—dc22
2005005867
TO TRACIE PETERSON
For enduring friendship
and blessed sisterhood in Christ
A MESSAGE TO MY READERS
F
irst Dawn
is a novel based upon the settlement of two towns formed by a group of African-American and Caucasian men with a vision to settle western Kansas in the late nineteenth century. Their plan called for one city, Nicodemus, to be predominately settled by African-Americans and the other community, Hill City, to be predominately settled by Caucasians.
While grounded in fact, this book is a work of fiction and not a historical documentary. However, I have made every attempt to portray honestly the harsh circumstances these early settlers faced and the intense courage they displayed as they struggled to make a home on the western plains.
Both of these towns continue their crusades to survive. Nicodemus is the only African-American frontier town in existence today.
For additional information about these communities, visit the Kansas Historical Society Web site at
http://www.kshs.org
or the National Park Service Web site at
http://www.nps.gov/nico/
.
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
— PROVERBS 4:18 NIV
CONTENTS
Topeka, Kansas
•
July 1877
T
he iron behemoth punctuated the sizzling Kansas skies with a solitary high-pitched whistle as it belched and wheezed into the train yard. With a powerful burp, the locomotive jerked to a quaking stop that heaved the passengers to and fro like rag dolls.
A steely-eyed conductor with an official railroad cap pulled low on his forehead edged his way down the narrow center aisle. “Topeka!” His voice was curt as he enunciated the city’s name.
Jarena Harban removed a folded handkerchief from the pocket of her frayed cotton skirt and rubbed the smudged train window. Vestiges of cinder and ash stubbornly clung to the outside of the glass, but she could see well enough to determine there were a multitude of people waiting at the train depot. They were mostly white folks, but she spied a few coloreds among the crowd. She swiped the window again, but to no avail. With a defeated shrug, she tucked the cotton square back into her pocket.
Across the aisle, her sisters giggled and whispered. Apparently, they found her useless ministrations a fine source of humor. Jarena leaned forward, prepared to launch a look of disdain toward the twins, but her worn straw bonnet slid forward to conceal her annoyed expression from everyone except her father.
“Don’t pay them no mind. They ain’t laughin’ at you. They’s jest excited to finally be here.” Her father’s rich bass voice soothed like rippling water.
Smoothing her skirt, Jarena stood and gave her father a tentative smile. “It’s obvious they’re not aware the train ride from Kentucky to Topeka was the
simple
portion of our journey.”
“Now, don’t you go borrowin’ worries, gal. Ridin’ across the prairie in a wagon is gonna be right excitin’.”
Jarena raised her perfectly arched brows. “It’s also going to be uncomfortable and
much
slower than riding in a train,” she replied, making certain she spoke loudly enough for her sisters to hear.
Truth Harban locked arms with her twin sister, Grace, and directed a smug grin at her older sister. “There’s gonna be plenty to see and do along the way.”
“Indeed there will! I plan on you two helping with chores, so don’t think you’ll be running off to explore every hill and valley when we stop to eat the noonday meal or camp for the night.”
“Tell Jarena she’s not in charge, Pappy. She’s only three years older than us, but she’s always tellin’ us what to do,” Grace complained. She gave her father a bright, encouraging smile.
Ezekiel wiped his brow with the old kerchief that hung loosely around his thick neck and motioned the girls into the aisle with a swipe of his large hand. “Get on now and quit your arguing. I don’t think none of us is gonna be taking charge of crossin’ this here state. Massa Hill said we’s to meet him on the platform, so get to movin’.”
“
Mister
Hill, Pappy. There ain’t nobody your master or boss no more—ceptin’ maybe Jarena.” Truth poked her sister in the side as she spoke. Once again the girls burst into a fit of giggles.
Jarena’s father was frowning at the twins. “You two mind your manners,” he admonished.
“And your grammar!”
Truth cast a sullen look at her older sister. “Jest ’cause
you
liked getting all educated don’t mean
we
do.”
Jarena sighed in exasperation. She had worked diligently to teach the girls proper grammar. Why they insisted upon ignoring their English lessons was beyond her.
As they stepped off the train, the twins peeked around either side of their father, each one beaming an impish grin in Jarena’s direction. They were small for their fifteen years, and Jarena was certain their father often forgot the twins were no longer little girls, especially at times such as this, when they should be speaking proper English and acting like young ladies.
They’d been off the train only a moment when Grace pointed toward a young man standing on the platform and banging a wooden mallet on an oversized brass gong. In between the incessant drumming, he cheerfully encouraged the passengers to partake of the fine food inside the depot dining room.
“You think we could get us somethin’ to eat, Pappy?” Grace inquired in a wistful tone.
Their father shook his head and pointed to the basket Jarena had been carrying with her since they departed Kentucky. She had carefully planned what she hoped would be enough food to tide them over until they reached their destination. However, when they neared St. Louis, she had begun to grow uncertain. Fortunately, her father hadn’t objected to the rationing Jarena had imposed, and they arrived in Topeka with some victuals to spare.
Grace tilted her head and raised her nose high. “It do smell good, though, don’ it, Pappy?”
“That it do, chil’. You girls take your satchels and then stand outta the way.” Ezekiel looked around for a moment and then pointed toward one end of the platform. “Go wait over there by that corner. Too many people rushin’ around tryin’ to get into dat fancy restaurant or find their bags.”
Grace peered anxiously at the depot door. “Can’t we go inside and see the depot?”
“There’s lots more to see out here dan inside that train station. ’Sides, I wanna be able to find all three of you together once Mr. Hill gets all the folks gathered to leave for Nicodemus. Don’t want none of you gettin’ lost,” their father warned.
Jarena strained to see through the crowd, hoping to pick out a familiar face. “There’s Nellie and Calvin,” she said, waving her handkerchief high in the air. “Nellie! Over here!”
Nellie waved in recognition before herding several other members of their group toward Jarena and the twins.
Calvin glanced about as they drew closer. “Where’s your pappy?”
“He went off to find Mr. Hill,” Truth replied. “You seen Mr. Hill since gettin’ off the train?”
“Nope.” With a swipe of his shirtsleeve, Calvin cleared the sweat from his brow. “Ain’t seen Hill or Ivan Lovejoy. I thought they was both s’posed to meet us. Sure ’nuff is sweltering, ain’t it? Don’t recall it ever gettin’ this hot in Kentucky.”
Miss Hattie, Nellie’s outspoken grandmother, stepped toward them and wagged her head back and forth. “That’s purely ’cause you ain’t old ’nuff to remember. I recall the summer of eighteen and forty—now, that there was one summer. Umm, umm! Why, it was so hot that the flies wouldn’t even alight for fear of bein’ fried when they come to rest. They’d just circle round and round ’til they dropped dead from the heat.” The old woman drew circles in the air with one finger and gave a throaty laugh.
Nellie smiled gently at her grandmother. “Now, Granny, don’ get started on dem stories ’bout the old days or we’ll never get on our way.”