[Oregon Trail Time Travel 04.0] Angie and the Farmer

by Susan Leigh Carlton

  “In front of Jed Lewis’s.”

  “We’re starting up. Hadn’t you better go back to your wagon?”

  “Nome. Mama knows where I am.”

  “Don’t you ride in the wagon?”

  “Some. But I like to walk. Mama just whistled. Guess I better go afore she gets riled at me.”

  “Tell your mother I said hello and thanks again.”

  “Yessum, I will.” He ran toward his wagon.

  Angela heard him say, “Hey Jed, I tole her your name,” as he passed the Lewis wagon.

  That evening…

  She had scrubbed the metal plates with sand and rinsed them as she had been directed when he walked up.

  “Jeremy told me your name is Miss Thornton,” he said. “I’m Jedadiah Lewis, but folks call me Jed.”

  “I’m pleased to meet you, Jed. I’m Angela, but I prefer Angie.”

  “You’re the one Pa helped out of the tree.”

  “Guilty as charged. Before you ask, I still don’t know how I got there.”

  “Papa told us.”

  A pretty girl walked up. “Jed, introduce me to your friend.”

  His face flushed. “She’s not my friend. I mean I just met her. Angela Thornton, this is my sister, Mandy. Be careful around her. She’s mean.”

  “Why Jedadiah Alan Lewis. That’s a terrible thing to say about your older sister. It’s nice to meet you, Angie. I’m glad you’re joining up with us. It will be nice to have someone around to talk to that has some sense. You can run along now, Jed.”

  “I’m going snake hunting,” he said. “If I can find one, I’m going to put a rattler in your bedroll.”

  “If you ever saw a rattler, it would light a shuck under your tail, and you’d hightail it out of there.”

  “I better mosey on out of here before I get in trouble. Papa told me I have to quit hitting you. It was nice meeting you Angie.”

  “You too,” Angie said.

  After he left, she asked, “Do you two go at it all the time?”

  “No, only when other people are around. He’s a nice brother. He would die protecting me if he had to,” Mandy said.

  “I am… was an only child. I always wished I had a sister, I would have someone to talk to,” Angie said. “Mom was my best friend, but there were just some things I would rather not discuss with her.”

  “I wish I had a sister too, but not if I had to give up my brother.”

  “Does he have a girlfriend?”

  Mandy laughed. “Yep, his horse.

  “I had a boyfriend back in Steubenville. If we had stayed there, I guess Calvin and I would have eventually married.”

  “Did you love him?” Angie asked.

  “I liked him, but was he the one? I don’t think so. Mama didn’t like him. What about you?”

  “I didn’t have anyone special,” Angie replied. “I didn’t even go to the prom.”

  “What’s a prom?”

  “It’s a fancy dress up dance.”

  “I never heard of it. In Steubenville, the church had dances once a month during the summer, but they weren’t dress up,” Mandy said.

  “Did you know the Gilley’s before?”

  “No, they joined up with us in Greenfield.”

  “Where’s that?” Angie asked.

  “It’s in Indiana. We stopped over there four days. I was ready to stop, too. Poor Jed was really ready. Papa always walked the entire day, and Jed did too until he got sick. He was sick for two days and I had to give up my spot in the wagon and walk during that time.”

  “I had better go check with Polly,” Angie said. “I don’t want to slack off. They’ve been really nice to me.

  “I’ll see you in the morning. This has been fun. Goodnight, Mandy.”

  “Night, Angie.”

  Chapter seven

  What’s She Like?

  “You sure talked to her a long time,” Jed said to Mandy.

  “I guess I did. She’s the first girl close to my age since we left home.”

  “What’s she like?”

  “I like her. I don’t think she’s been around much, though. She didn’t have a boyfriend where she lived. I think we’re going to be good friends.”

  “I’d like to be her friend. She’s pretty,” he said.

  “Too pretty for you, that’s for sure.”

  “You’re probably right. There are several she could choose from if she’s of a mind.”

  “Take some advice from your sister,” Mandy said. “Talk to her. Girls like boys to hold up their end of the talking.”

  “The only thing I know to talk about is farming. She wouldn’t be interested in planting wheat.”

  “Jed, girls like it when boys say nice things about them; things like how they look, their pretty eyes, or hair. You know, we like compliments.”

  “Did Calvin do that?”

  “No, and you notice we didn’t get married either. He was nice, but he was boring.”

  * * *

  “Would you like some company this morning?” Mandy asked.

  “I’d love some,” Angie replied. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be riding?”

  “Maybe later. How’s Mrs. Gilley?”

  Angie’s face clouded. “She’s still not doing too well. She couldn’t hold anything down again this morning. She really should see a doctor.”

  “I don’t think there will be one in Fort Kearney. Mr. Adams told Papa it isn’t a very big place, and we’re nearly two months to Fort Laramie. Mrs. Parnell is the closest thing we have, and about the only thing she’ll do is give her an aciphidity bag like she gave Jed when he was sick. Honestly, that is the worst smelling stuff you will ever smell.”

  “What’s it for?”

  “It’s supposed to keep diseases away.”

  “Does it work?”

  “He got well, and he still wears it. You can smell it if you get close to him.”

  “Mandy, this is embarrassing, but I’m going to ask anyway. Mr. Gilley told me we have to save water. How do you take a bath?”

  “You can only do it when we camp next to a creek or river. It’s pretty cold too.”

  “You just go out there and take your clothes off and get in a creek?”

  “If you want to take a bath you do. When I do, Jed watches out and makes sure no one gets close. Mama and I both take one at the same time. By the time we get around to it, we smell pretty strong. Some people bathe with their clothes on so they get washed at the same time. Others just don’t bother most of the time.”

  “That’s going to take some getting used to,” Angie said.

  “What are you used to?”

  “Everyday.”

  “That sounds like a big waste of water,” Mandy replied. “You won’t be able to do that here or where we’re going.”

  “Jeremy says they’re going to Oregon. Is that where you’re going too?”

  “Papa says we’re going to start out in Oregon City, but doesn’t know where we’ll wind up. Where are you going?”

  “I don’t know where I’m going or what I’m going to do when I get there. I’ll have to find some kind of work, but I don’t know what it would be. The only thing I’ve ever done was work in a department store one summer. I doubt there’s much call for that now.”

  “You’ll figure it out, and I’ll help,” Mandy told her.

  Angie felt the kindness in Mandy’s voice. “You’re sweet, Mandy. I’m glad you’re my friend.”

  “Same here. By the way, my idiot brother asked a lot of questions about you last night.”

  “What kind of questions?”

  “What were you like? If you had any boyfriends, those types of questions. He thinks you’re pretty.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “That you were too pretty for him.”

  “You didn’t!”

  “Yes, I did. I love him, but I love to tease him too.”

  “You’re mean!” Angie said.

  “Yes, but in a nice way,
and only to him, and only when I’m teasing.”

  “How old is he?”

  “He’ll be eighteen next month. He’s a year and a half younger than I am.”

  “I’ll be eighteen in January.”

  “You’re just the right age for him,” Mandy said.

  “Don’t go matchmaking on me now. I’m too young to be married.”

  “Where we come from, if you’re not married by the time you’re twenty, you’re behind everyone else. You’re a spinster if you don’t have a husband by twenty-five.”

  Jed wandered over from his usual place behind their livestock. “Howdy. You’re looking nice today,” he said to Angie.

  “Ignore it and maybe it will go away,” Mandy said.

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” he said.

  “I knew that right off,” she replied. “You’ve never, ever told me I look nice.”

  “That should tell you something right there,” he replied.

  “I do think he can hold his own, Mandy. He got you there.”

  “Even a blind hog can root around and find an acorn once in a while,” Mandy said.

  “I’m fine, Jed. How are you?”

  “Tired of walking. I’m glad we only have another eighteen hundred miles to go.”

  “Is there a layover in Fort Kearney?” Angie asked.

  “Maybe a couple of days. I doubt it would be much longer,” he answered.

  “I have a feeling I will be left there,” she said.

  “That’s not going to happen unless it’s what you want,” Mandy said.

  Fort Kearney…

  Major Adams declared a two day layover for his caravan.

  Seth went in search of a doctor to look at Polly, who was showing no sign of improvement. “Sir, our doctor was transferred to Fort Laramie when the Indians started acting up,” the captain told him. “Why do you need a doctor?”

  “My wife is with child, and she’s been puny for some time. I’m worried about her.”

  “There’s a lady here that’s done some midwifing, you might have her take a look. Other than that, I’m afraid your best bet will be Fort Laramie.”

  The midwife…

  After a rudimentary examination, the midwife asked, “Mr. Gilley, other than losing her breakfast, does your wife hurt or anything?”

  “She hasn’t said anything, but then Polly isn’t the complaining type. Do you have any idea what’s wrong?”

  “No sir. A lot of women get sick of a morning, but they usually get over it by three months. The only thing I can tell you is keep trying to get her to eat something. Doc Turner in Fort Laramie is a good man. He might be able to help. I just wish there was something I could give her, but I don’t know of anything that works.”

  “I thank you, Mrs. Sharp. I reckon we’ll just have to keep going.”

  Chapter eight

  Fort Laramie

  Five weeks later…

  July 18, 1866, Fort Laramie, Wyoming Territory

  “Doctor Turner, I hope you can help her. She’s been sick since we left Independence.”

  “I’ll examine her, but I have a lot more experience with arrows and gunshot wounds than I do with babies. This is my wife, Cora. She’ll be in the room while I’m with your wife. If you’ll wait in the hall, please.”

  Seth looked up to see Angela approaching. “You didn’t have to come,” he said.

  “I wanted to be here,” she told him. “I hope he can find out what’s wrong with her. I feel so sorry for her when she’s sick. She’s almost afraid to eat at all, and I can’t blame her. Are you going to go on with the train?”

  “It depends on what the doctor says. If we can’t go now, and she gets better, we might be able to get with another one later. It can’t be too much later because Major Adams told me you have to get through the mountains before the first snow.

  “What will you do if the doctor tells us not to travel?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Everything is day to day with me. I just don’t know what’s waiting around the next bend.”

  “If we have to stay, you can stay with us and keep doing what you are now. Polly told me she couldn’t make it without you.”

  “That’s kind of her to say. I feel like I’m such a burden.”

  The Doctor…

  Dr. Turner, Angela here, has been helping Polly.”

  “Hello, Angela, it’s nice to meet you. My wife, Cora.

  “Mr. Gilley, I didn’t find anything physically wrong with your wife. I think it is a case of extended morning sickness. It is not unknown for it to last all the way to delivery. Before you ask, there is nothing known to give relief.

  “Are you sick all day long?” he asked Polly.

  “No sir, most of the time it gets better by lunch, but not always. It’s worse in the morning,” Polly answered.

  “Should we stop and wait until after the baby comes?” Seth asked.

  “You might be a little more comfortable out of the wagon, but I can’t say it would help otherwise. I would suggest rather than eating first thing in the morning you hold off till later in the day. It’s always been my opinion the nausea is triggered by the aroma of frying food, such as bacon. It might help, then again, it might not.”

  “If we decide to stay, would there be a house we could rent or something?”

  “There might, but I have to tell you, Fort Laramie is expensive. I hate to say it, but the store keepers take advantage of the situation. Believe it or not, they have two sets of prices. One for the settlers and the other set for those that live here. It isn’t right, but it’s the way it is. I couldn’t afford to live here if the Army didn’t provide me with quarters.”

  “Seth, I think I could fix breakfast, if that would help,” Angie said. “I can’t do biscuits, but maybe I could do some of it. I’d like to try. I owe you two so much.”

  Later…

  “Mandy, can you cook?”

  “Some. I’m not as good as Mama, but I wouldn’t starve if I had to live off what I can cook.”

  “Can you teach me? The doctor thinks the fried food smell might be what’s upsetting Polly. I want to do something to help.”

  “I’ll do what I can, Mama would be better.”

  “I don’t want to impose on your mother. She has enough to take care of without me bothering her. Don’t say anything, I shouldn’t have asked about it. I need to go check on Polly.”

  “You’re as bad as Jed. There’s nothing wrong in asking a friend for help.”

  “It’s just that… I hate to bother people, especially when I have nothing to offer in return.”

  “That sounds a lot like you’re feeling sorry for yourself,” Mandy said.

  “I guess I’m guilty of that too. Can you imagine losing all of your family and finding yourself in the middle of a bunch of strangers with nothing but the clothes you’re wearing?”

  “I can’t, and I hope I never have to experience it either.”

  “No one should,” Angela said.

  “Have you ever eaten mush?”

  “No. I can’t say I have.”

  “It's easy to fix. It’s something we have often for breakfast. All you do is boil water, add some cornmeal and a little salt and butter if you have it. Of course you have to use the right amount of corn meal as well as water.”

  “Mother used to tell people I couldn’t boil water without scorching it,” Angie said.

  “She sounds like fun.”

  “She was. She was also my best friend.”

  Later…

  “Mama told me to give you this. It’s her receipt for mush.”

  “It looks easy enough. What are currants?”

  Mandy described them as being dried grapes. “Oh, you mean raisins.”

  “I never heard of those, but I would bet Mrs. Gilley has some.”

  “Why yes, I believe I have some left,” Polly said. I use them in mush frequently.”

  Angie grinned. “I asked Mandy Lewis if she could help me learn a little about co
oking so I could make it easier on you. She brought me a recipe for it.” She showed the paper to Polly.

  “That’s the way I make it. It’s quick and easy. I’ll show you how in the morning.”

  “I’m trying to keep you away from having to do any of that.”

  “I don’t know whether mush would bother me or not. I also fry the leftovers some times, and have them for breakfast.”

  The North Platte River Crossing…

  The wagons with oxen were ferried across the raging North Platte River, taking two wagons each trip. The pole man was trying mightily to keep the raft straight while the other men pulled for the other shore using the cable. The first ten wagons crossed safely. The Lewis and Gilley wagons were two thirds of the way across when the wind and shifting currents caused one of the oxen to momentarily lose its balance and stumble. The raft tilted steeply to the left. Mandy was standing with Angela alongside the wagons. When the raft tilted, Mandy fell into the water and was being pushed downstream by the swift current. She screamed and with arms flailing, went beneath the surface.

  With no hesitation, Angela dove in after her. The cold water was a shock, but with strong, swift strokes, she caught up with the struggling Mandy. Her wildly swinging arms made it difficult for Angie to grab her and she disappeared under the surface again. The muddy water obscured any vision Angie might have had. She swung her arms back and forth in the cold water.

  There! She felt fabric and grabbed hold and kicked her way to the surface. Mandy was still struggling. “Don’t fight me, Mandy. I know what I’m doing.”

  In a harsh voice she said, “If you keep fighting me, we’re both going to die. Just relax. I’m going to flip you onto your back. Then I’m going to put my arm over your chest and get us to the bank. I can do this, but only if you calm down. Okay? Let’s do it.” She began kicking her strong legs and pulling for the riverbank.

  Chapter nine

  Rescued

  Men from the wagons already across, ran down river to the girls. When they neared the bank one of the men threw a rope. Angie managed to get it around Mandy’s chest and the men hauled her to the bank. They pulled her from the cold water. Another pulled Angie to the bank by grabbing her hand.