Our next job was to begin cleaning up the mess that the twister had left behind and we began with picking up what could be saved from the wreckage of the house. As I started going through the rubble, I was sad to think that my journals would not be found, but I had accepted the fact, until little Mattie came running to me with something in her hand.
She giggled and wiped away tears from her face as she placed both of my journals in my hands. I could not believe my eyes. The Lord had also spared my precious journals and I again found myself hitting my knees in thanksgiving.
I had not lost the bits and pieces of my life with Nathaniel that I so longed for.
The twister had come into our lives and destroyed much, but due to the mercy of God, much was spared and besides that, my relationship with Mattie began to blossom afterwards. I noticed that the two girls began having little conversations as well and it looked like God was doing His fine work in the hearts of two sisters and it was a wonderful thing to finally experience some healing taking place.
Grayson and I began at once making new plans for our new home that we would all build together and as we tarried along with our plans, the girls became very excited with the plans that Grayson laid out.
It would be a larger home in the shape of the letter L. He had always wanted to have a ranch style house and this is what it would become. The girls would have their own rooms and of course I would have one as well. There would be a room for Grayson and he was planning on three extra bedrooms.
We would have a back porch as well as a front porch and this was going to be a lot of work for us all. We were excited and all willing to pitch in. In the meantime we would be fine living in the barn and we gathered everything that was salvageable from the house that was hit, and we loaded in the wagon and took it to the barn.
The barn served us well, and we were able to be near to Bailey, which made things super sweet for Mattie and me both. We were able to put up a few walls to separate some rooms for us all and he built an outhouse very close to the back of the barn.
Things would be fine for us living in the barn and he built us a big cook stove in the middle of the barn with a pipe that went all the way to the ceiling, letting the smoke escape and it rolled across the skies.
It took us a long time to build the new house due to weather and we went through three more storms after that initial one. We survived them as well and our barn was never touched. We were able to finish the house by the following spring and we spent our first winter in the barn.
To our amazement we were warm and toasty in the barn and if it wasn’t for the fact that we had already begun building the house, we might have just made the barn our home. The house was finally finished and we were moving in and the little hands were everywhere lending their service.
Mattie and Meredith were speaking much more by this time and it was so pleasurable to watch them work side by side. I began showing them my plans for making them rooms all girly and it excited Meredith, but Mattie was still Mattie and she preferred less style.
So, I laughed and told her that I would save some of the pretties just in case she ever changed her mind. It wasn’t long until she approached me one day asking me if I still had some of that material I had picked out for her curtains and her blanket across her bed.
I smiled and tapped her on the head, knowing that this day would come and I led her into my bedroom, lifted the lid to my storage box. There inside were the remnants of dresses I had traded blackberry pies and baked breads for, and they were edged with lace and darling faux pearls.
There was plenty left that would take care of her bedroom window and would also be enough for a satin backing upon her blanket that she could spread clear across her bed. Her eyes lit up and I could tell that she was overjoyed.
Little Mattie was growing up after all and although she would never admit it, she had a touch of girl in her.
When I finished tidying up Mattie’s room, I then led her in blindfolded so she could not peek. I did not want her to see bits and pieces, but to open those big beautiful eyes and see the contrast of the entire room.
I twirled her around in circles a couple times for fun and then set her free. As she stood there taking the folds from her eyes slowly, she began screaming in delight as she looked around the room.
Her curtains were a rose pink, covered with lace, pearls and strips of satin running along the tiny edges. They were frilly, maybe more than she might have expected, but her actions spoke much louder than words as her little face lit up.
Her bed covering was so preciously pink and I had outlined it with remnants of some of her and her sister’s dresses, making it a little more personal. The lace hung over each side giving it such a plush puffy look, and it was encircled with pearls and jewels in dazzling pinks and precious blues.
Around the edges where she would be covering her little face was pure satin strips that would feel so soft and sleek against her. Grayson also had his own surprises for both girls and he went to the barn and brought back two beautiful handmade cedar chests that he had made himself.
He had carved their names into the lid so carefully and carved pictures as well on the front of each one. On the outside of Mattie’s he had drawn a picture of Mattie with her golden locks falling all around her face and he transferred it to the cedar chest. It was so lovely and I was so proud of Grayson for his hard work.
Meredith’s was a beautiful cedar chest and he had left it original and stained it. On the outside of hers was a beautiful young girl, holding an umbrella fully opened. It was precious and she was so happy when she too saw what her daddy had been working on so hard.
He made me one as well and as he led me into my bedroom, he presented me with a solid oak chest, representing my favorite oak tree and on the lid he had inscribed ‘Brooklyn’s Bridges at Loves’ Landing’.
He and I both knew exactly what he meant by the many bridges I had to cross as I worked with the girls. He whispered into my ear and said, “With each bridge passed, you can add a memory in this chest to mark how far you have come.”
It was stunning and the oak was so smooth. What a wonderful idea for the words inscribed on top of the lid and I kindly ran over to him, giving him the first hug since that day that Bailey brought me into their home. It was a blessed day at the Love home and we still had a surprise for Grayson that he knew nothing about.
The girls squirmed with delight as they waited patiently for me to give them the permission to run and fetch what we had for their father. As Grayson stood there looking at me as we stood alone in my bedroom, it was the first time that we took that long of a look at each other and he walked over towards me and reached out his arm and took my hand in his.
I stood with my hand encircled with his and it felt so warm to be touched by someone again. He had just leaned over and was about to kiss my cheek when Mattie came running into the room, so he pulled back with surprise. To his amazement, the girls lifted from behind their backs what they had toiled away at for a couple months.
His eyes closed waiting to hear “Open your eyes daddy”, and he managed to sneak a peek at me and I winked at him assuring him that he would like what it was. Meredith carefully handed it to Mattie and she lifted it in the air as far as she could, which brought Meredith to her side to help her.
The two girls had made a sign for him to hang on our gate way up high that read “Loves’ Landing” and written below that was “For Those Who Love the Lord”. It was a beautiful sign and it was made from oak and was very heavy and sturdy, and I knew that oak would hold up through all kinds of weather. The girls had worked hard on the lettering and then we took it to a neighbor who then engraved the lovely words into the wood.
He then handed it back to the girls and they toiled away at staining and preserving the wood. I don’t believe Grayson could have received anything he would have loved more and watching him as the tears ran down his face, I began to see Grayson for what he truly had proven to be, a man of God who truly loved the Lord
and loved his children.
From that day forward I began falling in love with this wonderful man, hoping that I someday could become a wife worthy of him. It was a turning point for me in my life with my faith in God. Day after day I would read God’s Word and I would begin to pray to Him differently than I had been in a very long time.
I had grown to realize that I was forgetting all about the Lord in the good times and I was only calling on Him in tragic events. After we presented Grayson his gift, it began to change me as I watched his devotion and love for the Lord.
I began having daily communication with God and this helped bring me back closer to Him and was certainly the beginning of my heart being healed of bitterness over Nathaniel’s passing.
What a glorious God we have that He could show me so much mercy and grace until I was ready to let go of the pain I was suffering.
We all sat down to a remarkable meal that the two girls had prepared for Grayson and I, and I could not believe that they could make such tasty meatloaf. It was covered in a special gravy that Meredith has not shared with me to this day and we had mashed potatoes, fresh garden vegetables, homemade biscuits and slices of Meredith’s baked bread, and they topped us off with blackberry pie for our desert.
It was a marvelous meal and afterwards they would not allow either of us to help them with cleaning up the mess, so we both took ourselves out to the back porch that Grayson had built special for times like this and we sat and talked of our blessings. We grew very close that day and by the next day, I knew that I was falling in love with Grayson; now that I had already fallen in love with his daughters.
I did not allow myself to tell him of course and I kept things the way they were, but we did spend more time in sweet conversations.
That night as I curled up in my bed and listened as the birds were settling into their nests, I could hear the critters in the night as they scurried about getting their families all tucked in. It was truly a blessing to have been given this gift of this family and I began from that day on, thanking God for every day’s blessings.
Chapter Nine
(Prairie Farms)
The prairies do not come without their downside as well as their ups. Farming could be one of those downs. Grayson came in one morning and announced that the crops were suffering, not only from not enough rain, but from insects that had been devouring them the last couple months.
He had tried to keep up with the destruction, but it was taking its toll. I could see the worried look on his face and I knew that it must be fairly serious for his face to look that worried. I asked him if there was anything I could do to help out and he only answered “Just pray, and pray and believe.”
So, that is what I did. For a few more weeks the crops began to plummet into a downward spiral. It looked like we would lose nearly all the crops and we had begun preparing for great losses. Grayson had been gathering everything he could think of that he could sell and he had also gathered up a great number of hogs and cattle so that he could take them to the market to raise some immediate cash.
He would not be able to provide his family with enough food to last the winter and that was serious considering that farmers all around depended on Grayson for their winter food as well. This year was critically affected by the lack of rain and we were now seeing the last minute effects of the damage.
Grayson’s farm was not the only farm that was in danger of being destroyed by drought, for many farmers all around had the same problem. Many of the farmers got together one week to discuss what they could do about their losses and how they would help each other survive through the winter.
Our neighbors happened to be God fearing people and we knew that we would be fine with them, but there were many people miles around that were not so Christian and the fears began creeping into everyone’s minds what would happen when people began starving. Many of the neighbors near us had decided that if we all had to, we would all gather in our barn and live in a group so that we could help one another.
We also agreed that we would limit the number of people who could join us. Grayson said that this would cause future problems, but we would have to deal with them when they would arise.
It was decided that if things escalated to taking extreme measures then would be the time that local neighbors who had agreed, would come together and our home was chosen because of the large barn that was capable of holding everyone and keeping them warm through the winter months.
People would stay together and work together and would be able to survive and help one another out. Other farms would be left to sitting and waiting out the winter, and all animals would be taken care, some of them being herded to our land and some being left where they were and they would be tended to weekly.
Everyone began the task of gathering up all the food and water supplies, as well as medical and bedding supplies and they would have them ready to bring to our home. Grayson and some other men got together and prepared the barn and the pastures to hold the people and the animals that might be coming to love there through the winter. We would of course, live in our home and for special occasions or people with any special needs; they would live in the house while everyone else would live in the barn.
All babies born would be inside the home as well. Grayson and the men who had been helping him began building partitions inside the barn to separate the women and daughters from the men and the sons.
Things were coming along beautifully when we received some visitors who had caught wind of the plans and they had come to question us about our plans, demanding to know what they were supposed to do when things got seriously dangerous.
This is the problem that Grayson had talked about earlier and as he stayed close to his shotgun just inside the house, he explained to them that they would not be invited and that we could not take everyone and if they were wise they would draw nigh to God and begin to prepare for the trials ahead.
He finished his statements and then slowly closed the door. After closing the door we heard the men say, “Well, we will just have to deal with you later then, Mr. Love.” On hearing that it sent chills up and down my spine and Grayson knew that trouble was ahead of us. He called a meeting the same day with our friends and their plans sprung forward ahead of time, bringing families together to prepare for anything that would begin happening.
Grayson fully expected homes to be burnt and ransacked, and there would be no stopping them all. All agreed that the main concern now was the safety of the people and keeping our farm safe.
The prairie farms had fallen short this year for our crops and there was nothing we could do about it by this time. They had tried some new irrigational techniques, but since the damage from the twisters and hail storms this year, there was no more hope left to save the crops. Prairie farms could bring blessings one year and curses the next.
Following the visit from the strangers we knew that we had to keep our eyes wide open for the rest of the year and we never left the house alone at any given time. Men also began staying at our home as well if Grayson was not going to be around. We began moving the older people over to our home as well and we started out with letting them live in the house.
They would be moved to the barn if we had sick people or expectant mothers come along. Meredith began growing up very quickly once all this started and she would ride into town with her pa and get supplies, sell objects we were selling and she would help her pa with selling what hogs and cattle they could.
Along the way she met a young boy who had volunteered to help Grayson. His grandmother and grandfather were raising the boy since his ma and pa had died from yellow fever, and he was one year older than Meredith. They were able to visit and became very close friends while they worked together and it made her feel much safer when her pa was gone to have him near.
His name was Cambell Ferry and he was a very tall boy, leaving Meredith coming to about his shoulder. I was glad to see that she had met such a fine young man and allowed them quite a bit of fre
edom through trusting them and the Lord. On certain days if I had to go and visit someone sick or help a woman give birth, he would come and stay with the girls for me and he knew how to work a shotgun.
Meredith was growing into a stunning beauty, with light brown hair entwined with loads of waves falling down her back. Her eyes were deep brown and looked like velvet. I do believe that boy fell down into them every time he looked at her.
You could see his body lean forward as he would try to stand near to her and carry on a conversation.
Mattie was very fond of Cambell and spent much of her time near him as well and she was coming along nicely with her little heart beginning to heal. She had become much help to me in everything I had to do and finally the family had come together and hearts were filled with tenderness.
One weekend after our blessing of the Sabbath, Grayson told us that a large majority of people were arriving the next day and that we had best see what last minute chores needed to be done to be ready to welcome our guests. We spent the rest of the day getting everything set for about thirteen families.
Those thirteen families had anywhere from six children to ten children, so we were looking at possibly one hundred to one hundred thirty people who would be living at our place. We often wondered if we had taken on more than we could chew, but as we went down the list, we could not find it in our hearts to exclude any of these people.
We prayed about it and decided that the Lord would provide, and then we took a deep breath.
Mattie had calmed down so much by this time that it seemed like she was a different child. It was helping to have her feel like she had so many important things to do, and her infatuation with Cambell didn’t hurt things either.
She liked to show off for him and as grown as he was, she knew she could not act like a little girl to get his approval, so she began to grow up as well. I have to say that I do not believe that Grayson and I could have gotten things ready if it were not for the children.
Alone on the Oregon Trail Page 8
