Page 24 of Wagon Train Song
“We’re ready.” Gabe waved toward the women. “Anyone want a ride?”
“No thanks,” they chorused.
He grinned back. “Why am I not surprised?”
Irene, aboard her horse, started up the slope, hooting and leaning forward.
Walt called after her. “Don’t expect me to come to your rescue when you’re tossed.”
Laughter was her only answer.
Cecil and Walt rode at the head of the oxen while Joe rode ahead, guiding them along the best route.
Gabe remained behind to make sure someone was with the women.
Behind him, they released a collective sigh when the wagon reached the top. Walt unhitched the oxen and brought them back to the wagons waiting on the verdant valley floor to repeat the procedure.
The sun was beyond its zenith by the time the last wagon completed its journey and the women climbed the hill on all fours. Marnie again made the trip beside Bertie with Gabe on his other side. Alice raced ahead and turned to bleat at Bertie as if to ask what was taking him so long.
Bertie laughed. “I not a goat.”
Joe and Gabe’s sons had each team back to its original wagon by the time the breathless passengers reached the top.
Gabe held back a groan as golden light slanted off more hills dipping and rolling ahead.
Joe sat his horse, studying the scene. “Ma’am,” he said in his quiet, deep voice and pointed to the valley. “Down there is a nice spot to stop for noon.”
Marnie tented her hands over her eyes. “How many hills ahead of us?”
“Ma’am, I’ve never counted them, but the one before us is easy.” Had Joe’s lips curved into a smile?
Marnie stared a moment longer, then turned away. “So you say.”
Yep, no doubt about it, Joe smiled.
As soon as everyone was ready, they moved forward following Joe who somehow found a trail down that wasn’t as steep as what they’d already navigated. They reached the bottom without incident and trundled over tall grass into a grove of trees and stopped.
“We’ll noon here and give the oxen a rest.”
With palpable relief and easy laughter, the group gathered to enjoy the last of the food their friends sent.
“That was an amazing adventure.” Ruby’s flashing eyes indicated how much she had enjoyed it.
Irene laughed. “Sure was.”
Cecil grinned in what Gabe took as agreement while Walt’s scowl suggested he fought to hold back disagreement.
Marnie shot her daughters a peeved look, maybe with a touch of anger heating it. She pushed to her feet. “There’s something I want all of you to understand.”
The words, although soft-spoken, rang with conviction that drew all eyes toward her.
Gabe blinked with a flash of remembrance. More than twenty years ago, he and Ellen had met Marnie and Norman. They’d become friends because of shared values. Faith in God, belief in living by good moral standards, the practice of kindness to others.
The four of them had been visiting on the store’s steps in Bruffin. The ladies might’ve been planning a shared meal, but that detail was vague. A ruckus in the street silenced their conversation. A woman who had a child but no husband and whom no one believed was a widow had fallen in the muddy street and struggled to regain her feet while holding her child above the mud. Four youths watched, jeering at her misery. In fact, as there’d been little mud elsewhere, perhaps the youths had driven her into the puddle.
“How cruel.” Marnie had stomped a foot, the hollow sound echoing against the wooden planks, the words still clear as if it had been yesterday. Before anyone could suggest she not get involved, she picked her way across the street to the young men, all bigger than her, making Gabe think Norman should rescue his wife.
But Norman had leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed. “This ought to be interesting.”
