Page 21 of Wagon Train Redemption
“Father would never call the province where we lived Ontario. He insisted it was Upper Canada and would always be Upper Canada.” As she hoped, that triggered a talk aboutCanada and how the railway had united the eastern provinces with British Columbia.
The wagon tipped. A box thudded to the middle of the floor. The oxen breathed hard. Carson snapped the reins. “Pull!” he ordered.
With a slurping sound, the wagon lurched forward.
“The ground is already softening.” Angela’s words thinned. They’d dealt with mud before, and it didn’t make for pleasant travels. “What about Ma?”
She and Ruby shifted to watch the third wagon behind them. Mud splashed from the oxen’s hooves. The poor animals.
“The wagon’s stopped moving,” Ruby called.
The oxen strained, moisture blowing from their nostrils.
Carson signaled their team to stop and frowned at Gabe behind them.
Gabe cracked his whip and yelled. He pulled at the oxen. Mud splattered to his knees. Water dripped from his sodden hat. He yelled again. The oxen strained but nothing happened.
“Wait here. I’ll see if I can help.” Water splashed as Carson dropped to the ground.
He spoke to Gabe. They both urged the oxen, but the wagon did not budge.
“It looks like the wheels are sinking,” Ruby said.
It did. Were they in some kind of swamp?
But her question went unasked and unanswered as Carson trotted back to their wagon and climbed aboard. “There’s a little rise up ahead. I’ll take us there, then go back to help.”
Angela did not take her gaze off the other wagon though it blurred in the slashing rain. “Poor Ma,” she murmured, reaching for Ruby’s hand and holding tight.
The wagon stopped and rocked as Carson got down. “I’m going to take Sid and Sal back to help pull the wagon. Stay here and stay dry.”
Ruby gestured to the canvas overhead. It sagged with the weight of the water. “If this keeps up everything will be soaked.” She shivered. “All I want is to get to the fort and sleep under a real roof.”
Angela chuckled. “I think you want more than that. What about Robert?”
“I can’t wait to see him again.” The words rang with longing.
Carson led Sid and Sal away. In the downpour, Angela could barely see him at the other wagon.
Joe rode up and peered in the back. “Are you safe?”
“Yes.” Once they explained the problem, he went to help.
Ruby moved the fallen box and sat on it. “What are we going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“The ground is so soft the wagons can’t move, but who wants to stay here in the pouring rain?”
Angela edged past her to look out the front. “I can see the other wagon. It isn’t moving.” They’d be crowded with Louise and Dobie, Hazel and Petey too. Cecil was probably driving that wagon. “Where’s Irene?”
Ruby crowded to Angela’s side. “I expect she’s on horseback riding with Walt.”
A sharp call drew them to the other end of the wagon to strain for a glimpse of what was happening. “I see them. They’re coming.” She saw the oxen, made out Gabe at one side and Carson at the other. “Aww. They’re covered with mud.”
Ruby snorted. “All they have to do is stand there, and they’ll get washed off.”
“We’ll wait this out.” Joe called to them and rode his horse on to speak to those in the other wagon. Then, with the wagons parked side by side in a row, he rode from one to the other. “Might as well get comfortable. We’ll be here a spell.”
