Under the Distant Sky

by Al Lacy

  A clean-cut young man picked up some wood from a small pile behind him and carried it to the fire.

  “Folks,” the wagon master said, “for those of you who haven’t met him, this is my nephew, Micah Comstock. Micah drives my wagon on all my trips.”

  Sparks flew up toward the star-bedecked sky as Micah tossed wood on the fire.

  Ezra waited for a moment and then continued to speak. “Now, folks, I noticed that some of you flinched when I mentioned Indians. Ordinarily a train the size of ours has too much firepower for the hostiles. I can’t guarantee it, of course, but our chances are good that we won’t have any trouble with them. Which brings to mind what I put in the brochure about firearms. As far as I can see, every man here except my friend Solomon Cooper is wearing a sidearm.”

  “I’ll have mine on in the morning, Ezra,” Solomon said.

  Ezra explained that he wanted every wagon to have at least one rifle for every adult, and plenty of ammunition. They would use the rifles to shoot game… and if Indians attacked.

  Everyone in the train had to obey his orders without question. It was for their own good. And if any wagon got into trouble while crossing streams, or had any other kind of problem, everyone would pitch in to help. There must be absolute cooperation among the people at all times.

  Anyone who deliberately broke the rules would be put out of the train and left to fend for themselves. Ezra then opened up the discussion for questions. In a few minutes he dismissed the meeting and reminded everyone that the train would pull out two hours after sunrise.

  Ray and Betty Wilson were waiting when the Coopers arrived at the store. Solomon had told them he would bring the family by after the meeting at the Square and officially turn over the store to them.

  When the Cooper buckboard pulled up, they saw that Ray had already put up a new sign across the store front:

  WILSON’S GENERAL STORE AND SADDLE SHOP

  Hannah felt a lump rise in her throat as she greeted the Wilsons and entered the store for the last time. She casually drifted away from the rest of the family and walked between the stacks of shelves. A shadow of doubt started to descend. No! she told herself. You know you’re doing the right thing.

  She moved past the old pot-bellied stove and looked toward the rear of the store, letting memories flood her mind. Although she felt a deep ache in her heart at leaving these familiar surroundings, there was also a mysterious feeling of peace and excitement at doing God’s will and starting this new adventure.

  Hannah was wide awake at the crack of dawn. She slipped into her robe and left the bedroom, taking care not to awaken Solomon.

  She felt the same way she had felt last night at the store, only worse. This was her home. They were leaving all of the furniture behind for the Donaldsons. A prairie schooner couldn’t hold much more than a few boxes of clothing, some personal items, bedding, and food.

  Hannah descended the stairs and went from room to room, gazing at every wall and piece of furniture. In the dining room, she lovingly caressed the long table, the backs of the chairs, and the beautiful glass-encased china hutch. Her fine china was packed and already in the covered wagon. She remembered the day Solomon brought the entire dining set home as a surprise.

  In the parlor, Hannah touched each piece of furniture and wall tapestry. A hot lump rose in her throat when she approached her grandmother’s piano—her most treasured heirloom. She knew Solomon would have bought more wagons to take the piano to Wyoming, along with her furniture, but the journey would have been too hard on them. They probably wouldn’t have survived all the way to Fort Bridger.

  Solomon had bought this house when they became engaged. Hannah turned slowly and looked at the staircase, recalling how Solomon had carried her up the stairs on their wedding night.

  All of her children, except B. J., had been born in this house. It had always been such a happy place, filled with laughter and joy. Now she must leave the farm behind. A flood of sorrow washed over Hannah and she began to sob.

  Suddenly two strong hands took her by the waist and Solomon’s voice said, “Darling, are you all right?”

  Hannah pivoted and threw her arms around his neck. She drew a shuddering breath, and sobbed all the more.

  “We can still back out of this deal,” he said tenderly. “I can send a wire and tell Colonel Bateman we changed our minds.”

  “No… no! I’ll be all right. It’s just… this house… this place has been my life for so long. When we left it during the War, I knew we’d be coming back. But this time…”

  Solomon held her until the sobs turned to little shudders and her body began to relax.

  Just as the Coopers finished breakfast, friends from church, and neighbors from all directions began arriving to say good-bye. Between their arrivals, Solomon and the boys carried the last boxes to the covered wagon.

  The wagon was almost totally loaded when the Singletons drove into the yard. They were still somewhat cool toward Hannah and Solomon, but they cried as they embraced their grandchildren.

  Hannah asked her mother if she would write. Esther’s expression softened and she nodded yes. The Singletons hugged and kissed Hannah last, then climbed into their buggy and drove away.

  Hannah knew it was possible she had just seen her parents for the last time. A powerful wave of emotion churned inside her, trying to force its way up through her throat and out her mouth. Suddenly an unseen Hand seemed to reach into her heart and calm the storm.

  Pastor Chase and his family waved to the Singleton buggy as they passed it and pulled into the yard. There was a deep bond between the Coopers and the Chases, and emotions ran high as they spoke their parting words.

  Before the Chases left, Pastor Chase gathered everyone into a circle for prayer. Patty Ruth happened to be standing between Mary Beth and B. J. It was bad enough that she had to lay Ulysses down to free both hands. Now she had to put her hand in B. J.’s! She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him wash!

  Solomon noticed the break in the circle and said, “All right, you two. We’re all holding hands while the pastor prays.”

  Patty Ruth curled her lip. “I don’t want to hold B. J.’s hand, Papa. It’s dirty.” When she saw the stern look in her papa’s eyes, she reluctantly slipped her fingers into B. J.’s hand.

  “All right, Pastor,” Solomon said.

  When he could see no one was looking at them, B. J. whispered, “It oughtta be me refusing to hold your hand, Patty Ruth. You’ve got a wart on your finger!”

  Patty Ruth squeezed his fingers as hard as she could.

  B. J. jerked, trying to free himself from her grasp, but Patty Ruth had a firm grip. When the prayer was finished, B J. whispered, “I’ll get you for that!”

  Patty Ruth smiled sweetly and wiped her hand on her dress, then picked up Ulysses.

  The Cooper wagon rolled out of the yard with Hannah at the reins and Chris and Solomon on saddle horses. Hannah gave the house one last look, then urged the oxen forward. Mary Beth sat beside her mother, holding an excited Biggie, and Patty Ruth held her best friend. To her, Ulysses seemed excited, too. B. J. rode in the back.

  When they arrived at the Square, Hannah’s attention was drawn immediately to Ezra Comstock astride his horse, calling for everyone to make ready. They would pull out in exactly twenty minutes.

  The Coopers’ personal wagon was ninth in line behind Ezra’s lead wagon, which was driven by Micah Comstock. The four supply wagons were directly behind the Cooper wagon. When the wagon was in place, Hannah and the children climbed down. They mingled with the others in the wagon train for a few minutes, then Ezra called for everyone to get ready to move out.

  Mary Beth helped Patty Ruth and Ulysses onto the wagon seat while B. J. climbed in from the rear with Biggie licking his face.

  Chris came trotting up on his horse, his eyes sparkling with excitement. Solomon smiled at Hannah. “I’ll tie Nipper to the back of the wagon, honey, then help you up.”

  “Sol, are you
going to start right out walking alongside the wagon?”

  “Sure. That’s what most of the husbands in the train are doing.”

  “But…your leg…”

  “I’ll get in the saddle when it starts to bother me.”

  The early morning light danced on Hannah’s dark-brown hair, giving it a coppery sheen. She flashed Solomon a smile as he took her hand and led her a few steps from the wagon to a spot where they could see the western horizon. “Out there, Hannah,” he said, “under the distant sky, is our new home and our new life.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Precisely on schedule, Ezra Comstock trotted his horse past the line of wagons. When he reached the lead wagon, he stood up in the stirrups and thrust his arm forward. “Wagons, ho-o-o!”

  As Hannah held up the reins, eagerly awaiting her wagon’s turn to move, she glanced down at Patty Ruth. The little girl’s eyes glinted with excitement, and she squeezed her best friend “Hang on, Ulysses. Here we go!”

  Mary Beth held on to Biggie, who was yapping as if he understood that he and his family were starting the biggest adventure of their lives.

  When the wagon in front of Hannah lurched forward, she snapped the reins and mimicked the other drivers, shouting, “Yee-haw! Yee-haw!”

  It was a beautiful sight—the long line of white-covered wagons stretching westward, men walking beside their wagons, and riders sitting tall and straight on their mounts. The happy laughter of children rode the air, along with the barking chorus of dogs.

  Chris rode beside his father, who limped along with a smile on his face.

  Hannah twisted around on the seat to look at Independence one last time. The lump in her throat came back as she thought of her parents.

  Suddenly a tidal wave of doubt washed over Hannah, filling her mind with questions. Were her parents right? Were the Coopers making a big mistake? Would they be miserable and unhappy at Fort Bridger?

  She steeled herself and looked down at Solomon as he walked beside the wagon, remembering his words of a few moments ago: “Out there, Hannah, under the distant sky, is our new home and our new life.”

  Hannah shook her head as if to clear it, and squared her shoulders. Her parents were wrong. They weren’t making a mistake. They were doing God’s will. Out there under that distant sky lay the fulfillment of their dreams. They would be superbly happy at Fort Bridger, Wyoming.

  Soon the rising dust from the hooves of oxen, mules, and horses took over Hannah’s nose, and she decided a good rain would be a blessing.

  Half an hour after the wagon train had pulled out of Independence, B. J. asked if he could walk beside his father. He dropped to the ground at the rear of the vehicle and waved at Tony Cuzak, whose wagon followed thirty feet away.

  Hannah glanced back to look at B. J., then her eyes settled back on Solomon. His limp looked more pronounced. “Sol, don’t overdo it, now.”

  “I won’t.”

  “So how does the leg feel by now?”

  “Not too bad.”

  Biggie was still on Mary Beth’s lap, but when he saw B. J. on the ground, he barked and wagged his tail. “Papa,” Mary Beth said, “Biggie wants to come down and walk with you and B. J. Is it all right?”

  “Sure. Go get him, B. J.”

  Chris, who was riding Buster, said, “Mama, what’s for supper tonight?”

  Hannah laughed. “I’m not sure whether it will be beans and hardtack, or hardtack and beans.”

  “Really? I thought you’d cook on the trail like you do at home.”

  “I’ll do better as we go along, son, but I’ll need a day or two to get used to this traveling all day and cooking a big meal at night.”

  “That’s okay,” Chris said with a grin. “If you fix it, it’ll be good, no matter what it is.”

  “Why, thank you, son.”

  The dust billowed as the wagon train moved slowly westward. When they had been on the trail for nearly three hours, the lead wagon began to veer in a northerly direction. Solomon looked up at Hannah, who was talking to her girls, and said, “Sweetheart, I think maybe I’d better ride for a while. This leg is starting to hurt.”

  “I’m glad you’re going to give it a rest,” she said, a note of relief in her voice. “You want to ride in the seat or in the back?”

  “I figure maybe you’d like some relief from holding the reins. I’ll come up there and drive.”

  The girls moved to the wagon bed and Hannah scooted over as Solomon climbed up. He gave her a quick kiss and took the reins.

  Hannah moved close and placed her hand in the crook of his arm. “I love you, Mr. Cooper.”

  “And I love you, Mrs. Cooper.”

  “And I love you, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper,” Patty Ruth said with a giggle.

  The other children joined in with “I love yous,” and Solomon laughed heartily.

  “Well, Mrs. Cooper and I love all four of you, too!” he said. “Right, Mama?”

  “More than they’ll ever know!” Hannah said, brushing a loose lock of hair from her forehead.

  Biggie yapped and looked up at the wagon.

  “Biggie loves you, too!” Mary Beth said.

  Patty Ruth held up her bear. “So does Ulysses!”

  Hannah squeezed her husband’s arm. “Darling, we’re going to be so happy at Fort Bridger!”

  Ezra Comstock was pushing to reach the Blue River by the end of the day. His goal was fifteen miles a day, or as close to it as possible while they were on level ground. Once the train reached the Sierra Nevada Range, they would be down to only six or seven miles a day.

  The fifteen-mile goal would be out of reach if they stopped for a noon meal, so the people snacked on whatever provisions they had brought and kept moving.

  Soon B. J. and Biggie were back in the wagon as the long train rolled northwest.

  All afternoon, Ezra rode up and down beside the wagons, talking with people. The only exceptions were Walt Cuzak and his four oldest sons, who had no interest in getting better acquainted.

  Toward sunset, the Blue River came into view. Ezra trotted along the line, letting everyone know they had reached their goal and would make camp on the bank of the Blue. Three miles on the other side of the Blue was the Kansas border.

  Soon, fires were winking around the inside of the wagon circle. The Coopers shared their fire with the people in the wagon just ahead of theirs, an elderly couple named Maudie and Elmer Holden, and their twenty-one-year-old grandson, Curtis. The Cooper children gravitated to the elderly Holdens, finding in them a resemblance to their own grandparents. The Holdens responded, especially to Patty Ruth, who charmed them with her sweet smile and winsome ways.

  When the meal was over and the women were washing dishes with river water, one man started to play a fiddle. Within minutes a banjo player joined him, and Tony Cuzak brought out his harmonica.

  Off to one side of the circle, children were chasing fireflies as the little insects flitted about, lighting in their hair and on their clothing. Several family dogs yapped and barked excitedly, trying to catch the fireflies in their mouths.

  While the music and fun was going on, a little girl sidled up to Patty Ruth and smiled. She was exactly Patty Ruth’s size and had bright blue eyes and blond hair.

  “Hi. My name’s Polly Winters,” she said. “I’m five. What’s your name?”

  The little redhead smiled warmly and said, “Patty Ruth Cooper.”

  Polly set her gaze on Ulysses. “What’s your bear’s name?”

  The smile left Patty Ruth’s face as quickly as it had come. She shifted Ulysses to her other arm and said, with a cool note in her voice, “Ulysses Cooper.”

  “He’s a nice bear. Where’d you get him?”

  “My grandma who went to heaven gave him to me before she went.”

  At that instant, Biggie loped up to Patty Ruth and raised up on his hind legs, wagging his tail. She bent over to pat his head, and Polly said, “Is that your dog?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “What’
s his name?”

  “Biggie Cooper.”

  “Could I pet him?”

  “Sure. Go ahead.”

  Biggie enjoyed the attention and wiggled all over and licked Polly’s hand. Patty Ruth steeled herself for what she figured would come next. But it never did.

  After a few minutes, Polly said, “My mommy said I could come and talk to you, but I have to go back to her and Daddy now. See you later.”

  “Okay. See you later.”

  Patty Ruth decided she liked Polly Winters very much.

  At the Cooper wagon, Hannah and Solomon sat on a small bench and held hands as they listened to the music and watched the children play.

  Solomon squeezed Hannah’s hand and looked into her chocolate-brown eyes. “You all right, sweetheart?”

  Her lips parted in a soft smile. “Yes. I’ll have Mother and Daddy on my mind quite often, and I’m sure my heart will feel some pain because of their attitude, but the Lord will give me the grace to handle it. As for Independence and everything we left there, I’m sure time will get me over it. When we get to our new home in Wyoming, I’ll be so happy, it won’t bother me anymore.”

  Soon it was bedtime for the youngest members of the train, and they reluctantly scattered to their wagons. The Cooper children chattered about their new friends and how much fun it was to be traveling like this.

  Hannah put an arm around her youngest. “Honey, who was that little girl I saw you talking to?”

  “Her name is Polly Winters, Mama… an’ I like her.”

  “She’s about your age, isn’t she?”

  “Uh-huh. She’s five.”

  “Well, it’s wonderful that you’ve found a playmate so soon.”

  “Yeah! An’ I really like her! She likes Biggie, too. She petted him.”

  “That’s nice. Did she like Ulysses?”

  Patty Ruth stiffened slightly and said, “Mm-hmm.”

  “Did you let her hold Ulysses?”

  “Huh-uh. She didn’t want to. I really like her.”