by Ginny Dye
During what Carrie supposed was the afternoon of the third day, the wind began to taper off. She lay quietly, afraid to hope the end was in sight. An hour later, a blessed silence fell over the plains.
Carolyn was the first to sit up. “Is it over?” she asked.
“I believe it is,” Matthew replied.
As if in response to his proclamation, a shaft of brilliant sunshine pierced through a crack in the canvas covering. Carrie crawled to the back of the wagon, lured by the sunshine but afraid of what she might see if she looked. Had the animals made it through the blizzard, or would they all be dead? She had ached for them as the storm had raged, but there had been nothing she could do. Would all the wagons be standing, or would some have tipped over, trapping their inhabitants inside? She untied the rope holding the cover in place and pulled it back slowly.
“I was just coming to check on all of you!”
Carrie was startled by Captain Marley’s voice. She blinked her eyes against the bright light until she could see him clearly. “Hello,” she said hoarsely, almost surprised to discover her voice still worked.
“Are all of you all right?”
Carrie considered the question. “Define all right.”
Captain Marley chuckled. “I see you haven’t lost your sense of humor. That’s a good sign.”
“A good sign that I have lost my mind?” Carrie countered, relieved beyond words to have human conversation. “Everyone is fine, but I will admit to being hungry.”
“My men have tramped down enough of the snow for two cook fires to be built. Hot food will follow shortly. The snow has stopped, but the cold is still brutal. I encourage you to get out and build a roaring fire to warm you up before night falls again.”
Carrie glanced down. “Oh, my goodness! That looks like over two feet of snow.”
“It is,” Captain Marley confirmed. “We won’t be going anywhere for a while. The snow is too thick for the wagons to break through, and it’s too hard on the animals.” He interpreted the look on her face. “All the animals made it through. They are munching on hay and grain right now, and we’ll be melting water for them soon.”
Carrie smiled. “So it’s really over?”
“Well, this one is,” Captain Marley said. “You are on the Kansas plains. Anything can happen here. The weather can change in hours. We got advance warning on this one, but there is no way of knowing if the weather has settled into a new pattern.”
Melissa stuck her head out. “A new pattern of blizzards?” she asked in horror.
Carrie, certain Captain Marley was teasing, was suddenly struck by the intensity of his gaze. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I am. We may have clear weather from here to New Mexico. We may also have several more blizzards. We have no way of knowing, so we have to be prepared.”
“I see,” Carrie murmured, realizing she had to choose not to focus on what might happen. She stuck her head back in the wagon. “Let’s absorb some sunshine while we have the chance,” she called. She didn’t mind sinking into two and a half feet of snow. At least she was not entombed in a dark canvas cave.
Captain Marley rode off with a wave. It only took a few minutes for them to push away snow and stomp the remaining powder down to the ground. They started a fire carefully, not wanting to use more of their kindling than they had to, but soon had a roaring blaze. Carrie felt warm for the first time in days, but it also made her realize how dirty and unkempt she was. She had never felt quite so disgusting.
“How far is Fort Dodge?”
Carrie looked up as Janie appeared at her side. “Do you want a bath as badly as I do?”
“I could kill for one,” Janie admitted.
Carrie smiled and laid a hand on her friend’s arm. “How are you?” The fury of the storm had allowed no time for conversation, yet she knew the experience had been brutal for Janie. Her friend’s scream still reverberated through her mind.
“Not something I care to repeat.”
Janie’s voice was light, but Carrie couldn’t miss the haunted expression in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
“It couldn’t have been much easier for you,” Janie replied. “I had my memories of the train wreck, but I also had Matthew. Two days of being alone with memories and thoughts had to have been hard.”
Carrie didn’t bother to refute the truth. “It’s not something I care to repeat either,” she allowed.
“So how far to Fort Dodge?”
“More than a week,” Carrie answered, “but that is when we finally are able to start moving again. There’s no way of knowing how long it will take for the snow to melt enough to make that possible.”
“Oh, joy,” Janie muttered.
“We’ll heat enough water to at least clean up in the wagon,” Carrie promised. It wasn’t much, but at this point it held a strong appeal. “At least we have plenty of snow to melt.” She wished they could melt enough for baths, but they couldn’t afford to waste the wood.
“Mrs. Borden!”
Carrie looked up as a sharp male voice broke into their conversation. “Yes?” she asked, alarmed by the intense expression in the young man’s eyes. “What is wrong?”
“You’re needed.” With no further explanation, his eyes rested on Janie and then settled on Carolyn. “So are you two. Please get your medical bags. I have three horses being saddled for you. I’ll explain on the way.”
“We will certainly come with you, but you must give us some idea of what we are dealing with so that we bring the right supplies,” Carrie said.
“There was a family caught in the blizzard. The cold almost killed them, and their hands and feet…” His voice trailed away as he shook his head.
“Hypothermia and frostbite,” Carrie said. She exchanged looks with Janie and Carolyn, and then sprang into action.
Minutes later the three of them were mounted on tall, powerful horses able to break through the snow. They had to move slowly, but at least that would assure Carolyn did not fall off. It was obvious she had never ridden before.
“Lieutenant Ryall?” She thought she remembered a brief introduction two weeks earlier. When the grim-faced soldier nodded, Carrie continued. “Tell us as much as you can. It will help us when we get wherever we are going.”
“There was a family caught in the blizzard. The man managed to tell us enough to figure out they had started on the trail with some merchants, but their baby got sick. They decided to return to Fort Larned, but they didn’t make it before the storm hit.”
“How many?” Janie asked.
“The husband, his wife, and four children. The oldest looks to be about ten.”
Carrie caught the strained tone in his voice. “What happened to them?”
The soldier shook his head, not willing to say more. “We will be there soon,” he muttered.
Carrie realized they had gotten all the information they were going to get. Trying to take her mind off whatever they would find, she fixed her attention on the remnants of the blizzard. In spite of the fact that she hated whatever had happened to this family, it felt wonderful to be out of the wagon and riding across the plains. She had never seen such a vast expanse of unbroken whiteness. The fields on the plantations were miniscule compared to the sweeping openness she was plowing through. There was nothing to mar the beauty until they caught sight of an overturned wagon in the distance.
“Oh, dear God,” Carolyn whispered.
Nothing else was said until they rode closer. The wagon was surrounded by soldiers, but their faces were set with helpless, frustrated expressions. Carrie feared everyone inside was dead, but as they drew closer she could hear quiet sobbing.
“There was no wood for a fire,” Lieutenant Ryall said. “All we could do was make sure you could get to them.”
Carrie noticed that the snow had been dug out around the wagon, but decided not to mention that anyone with a grain of sense would know these people would need to be warmed. She dismounted and walked c
loser, kneeling down to look in the wagon. A man and woman looked back at her, their gazes somewhat dreamy and unresponsive; their faces a waxy white. She couldn’t see their extremities, but knew they were probably frozen much worse. They had obviously been wounded when the storm overturned their wagon, but she wouldn’t know the damage until she could examine them more closely.
Her eyes roamed over the wagon until they settled on the children. Two of them, the youngest girls who looked to be about two and four, were unconscious. They were wrapped together in two blankets, but when the wagon had overturned, the covering had torn in many places. There had been little protection from the wind and the frigid temperatures. Snow was piled high in places, clothing and other articles scattered by the wind that had blown them over. Their faces were waxen and completely unresponsive.
She found the third child quickly. She knew without touching the boy that he was dead. His young face looked to belong to an eight-year-old, but his skin was already a deep blue.
It took longer to find the fourth child. The girl, probably ten, was staring back at her. At first Carrie thought she was seeing a death stare, but her heart quickened when she saw a flicker of life in the eyes that returned her gaze. The girl’s body was trapped under two huge sacks of flour that had rolled onto her. She didn’t know what damage the sacks had done, but they had likely saved the little girl’s life by offering a crude insulation. “Hello,” she called softly.
The little girl blinked but remained silent. Carrie read the silent agony in her eyes and backed quickly out of the wagon, grateful for the intense research she had done regarding hypothermia and frostbite before she had left Virginia, as well as all she had learned at Chimborazo during the war years. She had discussed the protocol extensively with her team during the last month.
The first thing she did was bark orders to the soldiers. “These people are going to need a warmer place. I understand a wagon can’t be brought in this snow, and theirs is too damaged to offer much protection. A group of you need to return to camp, load up something you can pull behind the horse to carry wood, and bring one of the tents. We have to create a shelter for them until they can be moved. We’ll need cots, as many blankets as you can bring, and the tub for hot water. The wood and cots will take some type of sled, but I need the blankets and tent back here as quickly as possible.” She took a deep breath. “And I need the rest of my team. I suspect Randall and Nathan were not brought along because you thought they were not needed, but they are. There are five people here that need our help. There should be six of us working on them.”
Her demand was met with confused eyes. She could tell the soldiers were not used to taking orders from a woman, but there was no time to lose if these people’s lives were going to be saved. “Please leave now, gentlemen,” she said firmly. “Their lives are at stake.”
“You heard her,” Lieutenant Ryall snapped. He barked out several names and waved them off. They went, glancing back over their shoulders.
Carrie knew it would be at least an hour or more before they could return, but there was much that could be done now. She looked at the remaining men. “There is a heavy piece of loose canvas in the wagon. Please pull it out and fashion a lean-to where you have cleared the snow.”
She watched as the men went to work, and then turned to Janie and Carolyn. “One of the children is dead, and the two youngest are unconscious. The third, a girl, is extremely hypothermic, but she is at least conscious. We need to check her for internal injuries because two sacks of flour landed on her when the wagon went over. The father and mother may have internal injuries, as well, but we won’t know until we have examined them more closely.”
She turned back to Lieutenant Ryall. “I need your other men to create a snow wall that will encase the tent.”
“A snow wall?”
Carrie was thinking quickly. She had remembered the ground shelters the Navajo had been forced to create when they arrived at Bosque Redondo. “Yes. It will cut the wind and block some of the cold. We’ve got to start treating the hypothermia and frostbite. We’ve got to get them out of that wagon so we have room to work on them.”
“You’ve got it,” Lieutenant Ryall replied, his eyes full of a grudging admiration. It was obvious he was no more used to taking orders from a woman than his troops were, but just as obviously, Captain Marley had instructed him to follow Carrie’s directions. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you more about the situation. You should have your whole team here now.”
Carrie nodded her acknowledgement, but there was no time to waste. “I’ll take the little girl who is conscious. Carolyn, you take the wife. Janie, you take the husband. We have plenty of treatments to give them, but we need to start slowly warming their extremities.”
“How?” Lieutenant Ryall asked. “We won’t have firewood back here to heat water for a while.”
Carrie answered his question as she moved into the wagon and knelt beside the little girl. “Hello there,” she said softly. “My name is Carrie. I’m going to help you, sweetheart.” Her heart wrenched at the misery and pain in the little girl’s eyes. “I know you’ve had a terrible time, but you’re not alone anymore.” The little girl’s eyes tried to move, but she seemed to be getting colder and stiffer. “We’re helping your parents, and your brother and sisters, as well.” She knew now was not the time to tell the little girl that her brother was dead, or that her two youngest siblings were unconscious. She was relieved when the little girl relaxed slightly.
“Now, this may seem strange, but when someone gets as cold as you have gotten, we can’t warm you up too quickly because it will only make it worse. We’re going to take you out of the wagon and then we’re going to put snow on your skin wherever the cold has been too much for you.” She understood when the little girl’s eyes widened. “I know it sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I promise it will start to warm your skin back up. And then we’ll build a fire and make you really warm.”
Carrie gently probed the girl’s body as she talked, relieved when she didn’t find any broken bones. “But first we’re going to get you freed from these sacks and make you more comfortable.”
She could hear Janie and Carolyn talking softly to the mother and father, but her entire focus was on the little girl. She pulled off the girl’s gloves, wincing at the gray color of her fingers. Carrie knew without looking that her feet would be the same. The frostbite may be too severe to save all the fingers and toes, but she was going to make every effort to save her feet and hands. She didn’t know what had possessed this family to start down the Santa Fe Trail in the winter, but it must have been desperation.
It was only a few minutes before Lieutenant Ryall stuck his head back in. “Your snow shelter has been built. My men will come in and carry everyone out. We’ll take their mattress pads and lay them on the snow until the cots get here.”
Carrie opened her mouth to add more instructions, but the lieutenant was a step ahead of her.
“We’ll come back in for all the blankets. I’ve already got the men filling some buckets with snow.”
“Thank you,” Carrie said fervently. She stepped outside with Janie and Carolyn, dimly aware the setting sun was casting a golden hue on the snow. Under other circumstances, she would find it beautiful. Now, it was an ominous sign that nighttime would drop the temperature again. She prayed the men would return quickly with the tents and the wood.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“The man has a broken leg,” Janie informed her. “That, and advanced hypothermia and frostbite.” She shook her head. “I doubt we can save the fingers on his left hand.”
Carrie nodded. Both she and Janie had treated many cases of severe frostbite during the Siege of Richmond. She shuddered as she remembered the huge pile of frozen amputated extremities outside the hospital tents at Chimborazo. She turned to Carolyn with a questioning look. Carrie understood the horror on the older woman’s face. Carolyn had probably never seen extreme frostbite like this.
“The woman
has a broken arm,” Carolyn said evenly. “There is extreme frostbite on all extremities, but her hypothermia is quite advanced. I suspect she tried to reach her children, exposing herself to the cold even more. She is completely disoriented and her heartbeat is very irregular. I don’t believe she has much longer if we don’t warm her quickly.”
Carrie knew she was right. She lowered her voice so the others in the wagon couldn’t hear her next words. “The two youngest children are unconscious,” she said. “I read, though, that sometimes hypothermia can actually save the lives of young children. It shuts down heart and brain function to limit the oxygen needs. It’s possible we will be able to revive them, but first we have to focus on saving the others.”
Janie moved over to their medical bags. “I will gather the remedies.”
Carrie looked up as several of the soldiers approached. “You must handle these people very carefully,” she warned. “They have such severe frostbite that any type of pressure on their frozen body parts can cause a foot or finger to break. There are severe blisters on all their feet that are caused by the frostbite. I don’t want those blisters to burst.”
“We’ll be real careful,” one of the men promised. “My little sister died of the cold when she got caught out in a blizzard. I don’t want these people to suffer any more than they have already.”
Carrie was reassured by the compassionate gleam in the man’s eyes. “Thank you,” she said. She watched as he and one other man gently lifted the little girl and carried her out to the makeshift bed they had created in the lean-to. Others carried the mother and father out next and then returned for the two unconscious children.
Carrie bent over the little girl. “Can you talk enough to tell me your name?” she asked.
“Frances,” the little girl whispered, her voice barely audible.
“It’s nice to meet you, Frances,” Carrie replied. “The first thing I’m going to do is pack your feet with snow.” She motioned Lieutenant Ryall and the soldier who had lost his sister over to assist her. “These nice men are going to do the same thing to your hands.”
