Danger at the Haunted Gate

by Jesse Wiley

  “You did it!” Ma says, clapping her hands. “It looks as good as new.”

  Your wagon train makes its way carefully through the Pass again. You’re walking alongside the wagon in your usual spot when . . .

  SNAP! CRUNCH!

  Your foot and ankle are crushed by the weight of the wagon. The axle was too weak and has broken again, but this time the wagon has landed on you. The pain is terrible, but what is really unbearable is the knowledge that your walking days on the Trail are over. You’ll be riding in the back of a wagon to the next trading post, where your family will figure out how to manage now.

   THE END

  Return to page 40

  Fine! You go your way and I’ll go mine,” Joseph mutters angrily.

  You stand there for a second reconsidering whether you made the right decision to split apart. Joseph walks away without looking back once.

  You hear a faint bark in the distance behind you. Now you’re feeling a bit more confident that you were right. You run quickly toward where you think the bark is coming from.

  “Archie, come here, boy. Where are you? Come here, it’s getting dark.”

  You hear whimpering sounds coming from a few feet in front of you.

  “Archie, is that you, boy?” You speak softly, nervous about what you might find next. You move some brush out of the way and see Archie lying on his side, unable to move.

  “What happened, boy?” You bend down and see a gash on Archie’s stomach. His breathing is quick and shallow. Has he been attacked by something? You wish you had water with you to give him, or anything to make him more comfortable, because it’s obvious that Archie is not going to last much longer.

  Some wolves howl in the distance. Archie’s ears perk up and he lifts his head to look around, and then, he is still.

  Your eyes fill with tears, and you hug your dog for a long while. When you lift your head, you’re scared. It’s dark and you don’t know which way to go. The howling grows closer, and the last thing you see is the shadow of an approaching wolf.

   THE END

  Return to page 67

  Your family decides to stay back, both because there’s safety in numbers and because it just doesn’t feel right to leave without the others. With everyone chipping in, more families will get back on the Trail sooner. After the Smiths, the last thing anyone wants to do is leave anyone else behind.

  Pa puts his carpentry skills to good use repairing wagons. The familiar sound of his hammer makes you think of home. You organize the kids into a kind of game where you search for things that were blown away during the tornado. Everyone gets points for each thing they find, and the winner gets a prize. Hannah finds a bottle of matches hidden under a rock. Samuel manages to collect an entire set of spoons. Even Archie digs up a lost boot.

  “Don’t go too far!” Ma warns. She is busy sewing wagon canopies. Many of them, including yours, were badly damaged.

  “I win!” Eliza shouts, pointing to the cast iron skillet and pots she found. You hand over the prize, a treasured piece of honey candy.

  Your wagon train was lucky that no one was hurt during the tornado, apart from a few scrapes and cuts. One man got a big bump on his head where a heavy pan hit him, and some injured oxen won’t be able to continue the journey, but it could have been much, much worse.

  The buzz of everyone working together puts the camp in a better mood. That night, the fiddle comes out again. A man starts to sing “Oh! Susanna,” and you all chime in. You feel good as you belt out the words.

  “I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee.”

  After a few days of recovery, everyone is ready to get moving again. You’re going to follow the North Platte River and head toward Independence Rock. You never thought you’d think this, but you’ve kind of missed the routine of rolling the wagons each morning, breaking at midday, and camping at night. Your legs are fresh after the rest, and you’re ready to stretch them again.

  The day is clear and bright. As you walk beside the wagon, Archie runs along next to you. He seems happy to be back on the Trail, too, where he can explore again. He growls when he sees a deer. You catch a glimpse of it, a tremendous buck with big antlers. Then it runs away into the trees so fast it’s like it was never there. You know deer meat would have made a good dinner, but you’re happy the amazing deer got away.

  As you walk along the edge of a little stream, you notice the grass is yellow-reddish instead of green. It’s sort of pretty, but it looks dry and you wonder if the animals will want to graze on it. Others have the same concern when you stop to make camp.

  “This grass isn’t green enough for the animals,” someone says.

  “I think it’s fine, and we should camp here,” another counters. “What if we don’t see more grass tonight?”

  What do you decide to do?

  If you make camp here, turn to page 47

  If you look for another spot to camp, turn to page 134

  Return to page 87

  Pa decides that it won’t hurt to let the oxen drink for a few minutes. You think about how hard these animals work, and wish they could get a proper rest. You put your hand on one of them and stroke his soft brown coat. But then you notice something odd. Either the oxen are shrinking or they are sinking!

  “Pa, I think we are in quicksand!” you shout. Pa quickly realizes what’s happening. This is the first time you’ve seen Pa use his whip, which he cracks loudly on the side of the wagon to spur on the oxen.

  “I should have known. It’s never a good idea to stop in a river,” Pa says. He yells at the oxen to move.

  “Let’s go,” he keeps repeating as he tries to drive the oxen. But it isn’t working. With every second, it seems like they are sinking farther, along with the wagon. You try to help Pa pull the oxen forward by tugging on their yoke. But you keep slipping in the soft sand.

  “Get the kids to the other side,” Pa shouts to you and Ma. Water starts to rush into the wagon as you help the kids get to shore, and you see some of your things start to float away.

  Caleb and some of the other men try to help get the oxen and the wagon out of the river. But it’s not working. You see the disappointment in Pa’s face as his dream of reaching Oregon slowly sinks away.

   THE END

  Return to page 60

  The idea of cold jerky is unappealing and you crave something warm to eat. You make your decision, and spring up.

  “Where are you going in such a hurry?” Ma asks.

  “To the wagon,” you mumble. You jump into the back of the wagon and start shifting things around, looking for the pouch of gunpowder. Everyone will be so proud of you when you are the one who finally gets the fire going.

  The only problem is that you can’t find the gunpowder. You keep moving things from one side of the wagon to the other. In the background you hear Pa saying, “You almost got it,” so he must have returned. At first you wonder if he’s talking to you and encouraging you, but then you realize that he is helping Ma, who is still struggling with the matches.

  Finally, you lift up a book and see the pouch underneath. You grab it and jump out of the wagon, and sprint to the campfire. Ma strikes a final match to try to light the dung, and as she does so you flip the pouch over and dump gunpowder onto the flame.

  From the corner of your eye, you see Pa’s jaw drop open.

  “NO!” he yells.

  There is a bright flash.

  The next thing you remember is opening your eyes and lying on the ground. You see a raging fire for a moment, and everyone is running and yelling. Then you realize you can’t move. You don’t know it yet, but your arms and face are covered with serious burns. You will survive the injuries, but it is far too dangerous for you to continue on the Trail. Your family will have to turn back, as you see your Oregon dreams go up in smoke.

   THE END

  Return to page 70

  I think you should try to eat a little bit,” you say. “And let me feed this little guy for you.”<
br />
  Mrs. Smith looks at you warmly.

  “Could you?” she asks. “He hasn’t been eating anything for the past couple days, and I have to feed the baby. But don’t you need to have your supper?”

  “I’ll eat with my family in a bit,” you say. “Hey, buddy.” You beckon the little boy over to you.

  “Do you want to play?” you ask.

  The boy nods his head slightly.

  You play a game where you throw a small rock back and forth, and every time the little boy drops it, he has to take a bite. Before he realizes it, he’s eaten most of his supper. He laughs and claps, and by the end of the game he doesn’t want you to leave.

  “Thank you,” Mr. Smith says, smiling. “You’re really good with him. That is the most he has eaten in days.”

  “It was fun,” you say, happy to see that the baby, now that she has eaten, has fallen asleep. Mrs. Smith is nodding off too, but you notice that she didn’t eat much herself.

  You put out the fire, then wipe off the dishes and clean off the skillet, and put them back in the Smith’s wagon. The grateful look on Mr. Smith’s face stays with you as you walk back to your family. You’re glad you could help.

  The next day, while everyone has breakfast, you notice Mr. Smith and the children near their wagon, but you don’t see Mrs. Smith. “Ma, I wonder if something is wrong with Mrs. Smith,” you say. “She wouldn’t eat last night and she doesn’t seem to be up yet this morning.”

  There’s no doctor in your wagon train, but there is a man who trained as a vet. After your parents talk to Mr. Smith, the vet is called over to the Smith family’s tent. After a few minutes, he comes out shaking his head.

  “I’m afraid it’s dysentery,” he says. He lowers his voice. “If she can’t keep any food or water down, she could die. She’ll have to rest here, possibly for several days. She may not get better.”

  “What can we do to help, Ma?” you ask.

  “Let’s each take a chore,” Ma says.

  “I’ll pile firewood for them,” Pa offers.

  “And I’ll make them some breakfast,” Ma adds.

  Caleb assembles all the families in the wagon train.

  “We have to keep moving,” he says, though his voice is filled with sadness. “We don’t know how long Mrs. Smith will be sick, and we can’t afford to wait. Hopefully she’ll get better, and then they can catch up with us or join another wagon train.”

  You listen quietly. Caleb is right, but you wish with all your heart that Mrs. Smith gets well and that you’ll see the family again.

  As you hike that day, everyone is thinking of the Smiths. You cover the rocky path absent-mindedly and are surprised when Caleb calls time to halt the wagons for the midday break.

  A little while later, you’re sitting on a rock when suddenly the skies turn dark. It looks as if a cloud is falling out of the sky, and spinning.

  “Take cover!” Caleb shouts.

  You see the cloud hit the ground.

  “Tornado!” someone shouts.

  You watch, terrified, as the storm unfolds all around you.

  Pebbles and dirt fly off the ground. The swirling cloud gets bigger. Branches are ripped from the trees. The canopies of the wagons tear apart.

  You look for a ditch or somewhere you can protect yourself from the wind, but don’t see anything nearby. Suddenly, Ma pulls you underneath your wagon, where you huddle with your family. As it starts shaking, you can barely hear Ma scream, “Cover your heads!”

  Then as quickly as it started, you see the cloud get sucked back into the sky. Everything is still, and your surroundings are eerily quiet now. The only sounds are of people crying and animals braying. You crawl out from under the wagon, and see all the damage. Several wagons are smashed to pieces, and some of the oxen have been injured, but, incredibly, no one has been seriously hurt.

  Pa inspects your wagon. It’s intact, although your canopy needs repairing. One of your sacks of flour has torn apart and there is flour everywhere. And some of your items have blown away. But, still, you’re one of the lucky families.

  Half of the wagon train is going to have to make major repairs. Some are going to have to decide if they can even go on. The rest, like your family, can push on and not get delayed further. You don’t want to leave the others behind, but you have to think about what is best for your family.

  What do you decide to do?

  If you wait until the others can travel, turn to page 79

  If you get back on the Trail, turn to page 110

  Return to page 50

  Pa thinks going back to Fort Laramie is a terrible idea, and he refuses.

  “At this point we would just lose more time,” he says. The disappointment and shame in his face is unmistakable, and you know he feels terrible that your family was swindled. And that he was the one who made the decision to trade your cow for the mules. Even though she knows the trip is going to be more difficult without the mules and she hadn’t wanted to trade for them, Ma goes to Pa and gives him a hug.

  “Everything is going to be all right,” she says. Pa gives her a grateful smile and walks over to the oxen. He puts a hand on them and pats them gently.

  “At least we still have our trusty oxen,” he says.

  Caleb and the other men help Pa dig shallow graves for the mules. It takes a long time to bury them, so you don’t end up hiking much today. Everyone is worn out from the ordeal and ready for an early camp.

  That night, as you lie in your tent, you hear coyotes howling. The sound always gives you the chills, but you find a way to force yourself to sleep. Soon after, you wake to the sound of loud growling. This time the coyotes are attacking your oxen!

  Pa runs out of his tent and fires at the coyotes, and they run away scared, but the damage is already done. The oxen are seriously injured, and soon they are being buried alongside the mules. Your family is going to have to return to Fort Laramie now, carrying whatever you can on your backs, and figure out what to do next from there.

   THE END

  Return to page 27

  After going back and forth for a bit, everyone agrees to search for the men. Pa will lead the search.

  “It’s not going to be easy,” Ma says. “Who knows where they are now!”

  “Well, even though it won’t be easy, hopefully this will be worth the time,” Pa says. “If we get our money back, it certainly will be.”

  “Where are you going to look?” you ask. You figure the men could have taken off in any direction.

  “We’ll follow those tracks to start,” Pa says, pointing to the ground. There are three pairs of faint footprints in the dirt.

  After loading up on a breakfast of bacon, cornmeal hash, and hot coffee, Pa takes a bag that Ma has prepared for him with some prairie biscuits and buffalo jerky, a canteen of water, his compass, a blanket, and a lantern.

  “We should be back in a few hours with the men and our belongings, if all goes well,” he says. “But if we’re delayed longer than today, keep going and we’ll catch up.” He gives Ma a kiss. Then he puts the bag over his shoulder and rides away on a borrowed horse, along with two other men on horses.

  You help Ma clean up after breakfast, scraping plates and dumping coffee grounds out of the pot. And then you and the other kids get to play for a few precious hours. Joseph organizes the kids into a game of hide-and-seek. Ma pulls out her writing set to work on a letter to send to your aunt in New York when you get to the next trading post.

  The day quickly flies by, but Pa and the others don’t return by afternoon. As suppertime approaches, you can tell that Ma is worried, even though she tries to act like she is not. When night falls and they still haven’t come back, your stomach twists with fear. What if something happened to Pa?

  Morning arrives with no sign of them, and the day passes with Ma in a panic.

  And now you are in a panic, too. By the next day, the rest of the wagon train wants to move on.

  “I don’t want to leave without Pa,” M
a says to you, her face creased with worry. “Should we wait and catch up to the group later, or leave with them like Pa said we should?”

  What do you think your family should do?

  If you say you should wait for Pa, turn to page 126

  If you say you should leave with the wagon train, turn to page 55

  Return to page 35

  Get some extra plates,” Ma says to you. You hurry back to the wagon and grab more dishes.

  The three indigenous men get off their horses and walk toward your camp. As they approach you, Ma beckons them with a smile and points to the food.

  “Welcome,” she says. “Please join us.”

  The youngest of the men introduces himself as Little Wolf of the Cheyenne Nation. He thanks Ma, and the three men sit around the campfire and accept the plates of baked beans and corn fritters. When you finish eating, Ma gives you a nod, which you understand means to start making coffee for everyone. First you roast the coffee beans over the fire, then you grind them with the hand grinder and stir the coarse powder into the coffee kettle.

  “Lots of bandits in this area,” says Little Wolf after he finishes eating and takes a piping hot cup of coffee from you.

  “We’ve heard stories,” Pa says. “But we didn’t know whether to believe them or not. People make up all sorts of tales about the Trail.”