A Dream for Tomorrow (13 page)

Whether it was knowing that water was scarce or simply the hostile arid climate, she found herself feeling thirstier than ever. And despite her resolve to ration and control the water, she had difficulty forbidding her children from drinking when they were thirsty. She would rather give up some of her water than to see them suffer. By the end of the day, she couldn’t even imagine how they would make it through two more.

“The good news is that we made nearly twelve miles today,” Asa announced at suppertime. Their whole family was gathered under the shade afforded by the large tarp attached to her parents’ wagon. Several of them were draping themselves in the damp cloths Asa had encouraged them to pack. But Elizabeth guessed even those would be dry by tomorrow.

“What is the bad news?” Matthew sounded slightly irritable, but he had helped Ruby and Doris with a minor breakdown in the heat of the day, only to find out he had guard duty tonight and wasn’t too pleased about it.

“We still have two days to go.” Asa made a weak smile.

“I can help you on guard duty,” JT said to Matthew.

“Thanks, buddy, but I think you need to be eighteen.”

“That’s right,” Asa told them.

“And male,” Jess added, which made them laugh to remember when she had disguised herself as a young man.

“It seems unlikely that any Indians would venture out here,” Elizabeth said as she began gathering some of the dishes. The plan was to first rub them clean with the alkaline soil to conserve water and then to rinse them in boiling hot water.

“You never know.” Asa pointed a stern finger at Matthew. “Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep. Someone in unit four got caught sleeping, and it resulted in a steep fine.”

Matthew reached for the coffeepot. “Anyone mind if I finish this off?”

The second day on Devil’s Backbone was worse than the first. Elizabeth was thankful she hadn’t suffered a breakdown as had some of the others, but she knew her team was stressed. Horses were not as hardy as oxen and mules. For this reason she took over for JT and Brady by caring for the stock at the end of the day. She knew some people would think it silly, but she spoke to the horses as she curried their coats and checked their hooves. She told them they were doing a good job and that they only had one day of this hellish torture left.

“Talking to your horses, are you?” Will Bramford popped his head over the other side of Bella’s back.

“Goodness!” She stood up straight. “You startled me.”

“You startled me,” he teased. “I thought your horses were actually conversing with each other.”

“Ha-ha,” she said sarcastically.

“Do you always talk to your animals?”

She held her chin high. “I believe if I take care of my animals, they will take care of me.”

“Well, they are some fine-looking animals,” he admitted. “Can’t blame you for that.”

“If you were smart, you’d be tending to your own team right now,” she told him, “instead of wasting time talking to me.”

“Are you suggesting I go speak to my oxen?”

She shrugged, continuing to curry Bella’s coat.

“You have heard the expression, dumb as an ox?”

She stood up straight again, looking him in the eye. “Those
dumb
oxen are getting you and your family safely to Oregon. I should think that would win them some respect.”

“They’re just animals, Elizabeth. Besides, Jeremiah and Julius are seeing to them now. They’re being properly fed and watered.” He frowned. “You seem a bit irate. Is Mrs. Taylor getting under your skin again?”

She exhaled loudly, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so contrary. And to answer your question, no, Mrs. Taylor is just fine, thank you very much.” Actually Mrs. Taylor had barely spoken to her since their late-night conversation about forgiveness. “The truth is I’m a bit worried about our water situation.”

His dark brows shot up. “You’re running out of water?”

“I don’t want to tell my father because he’s our councilman. But I’m afraid I’ve already gone through more than two-thirds of our water supply, and we still have a full day of travel through this…this fire and brimstone desert.” She tossed the curry brush into the canvas bucket that no longer held water.

“Oh…” He rubbed his chin. “Do you think you have enough water to make it?”

She sighed as she pushed a strand of hair away from her face, tucking it into her bonnet. “It doesn’t look good. And I know my brother and father will barely have enough. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought so much livestock. I’ve considered getting rid of some hens, but they really don’t drink much water anyway.” She glanced over to the milking cow she’d brought from the farm. She’d long since dried up from giving milk, but the poor animal looked parched, and Elizabeth knew she was thirsty. She had so hoped to get this cow all the way to Oregon, but now she was uncertain. “I’m afraid I’ll need to sacrifice Goldie.”

He looked startled. “Who is Goldie?”

“Our cow. She was our best milk cow too.”

“Oh.” He looked over to the cow. “You would do that so your team can have more water?”

She nodded sadly. “It’s the sensible thing to do. But it won’t be easy.”

“No, I should think not.”

“Well, I suppose I should go tell my father the bad news. The sooner we do this, the better.”

“Wait…” He held up a hand. “Give me just a moment.”

“Why?” She turned to look at him.

His brow was creased in thought. “What if I adopt Goldie?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I hate to see her killed, and we seem to be all right with water. We still have enough for tomorrow and probably some to spare.”

“That’s because you don’t have extra livestock.”

“I don’t really mean to say I’ll take Goldie off your hands, Elizabeth. But how about if we share some of our water with her?”

Elizabeth tilted her head to one side, trying to determine his motives. “Is it because you don’t want to see her slaughtered? You know we would share the meat with everyone in our unit, including your family.”

“It seems a shame to kill a perfectly good milk cow.” He reached over and patted her on the neck. “And she seems such a nice cow.”

Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile. “Still, you can’t just be giving me your water. Out here water is more precious than gold. What would you expect in return?”

He shrugged. “Well, my girls keep hinting that they want to follow your family to where you locate in Oregon. At first I thought it was because they were in love with Matthew. But now he’s married.” His eyes twinkled. “Maybe we’ll be your neighbors and we can drop by and borrow a quart of milk sometimes. That would be a fair exchange for a bucket of water.”

She was surprised. “You really want to go all the way down to the southern part of the Oregon Territory to live? I thought you planned to settle in Portland. Where we’re going is a fair distance from there.”

“We are a democratic family,” he declared. “And my children have the majority vote.”

“Even the females?”

“Yes. We are a very progressive bunch.”

She chuckled but then grew more serious. “Are you certain you have water to spare for Goldie?”

“I think we do. But I’ll check with my children first. Put it to a vote.”

“Please, let me know directly,” she told him. “This is a decision that should be made as soon as possible.” She frowned at the sweet Guernsey. She had only given Goldie a smidgeon of water so far, knowing she should conserve it in case she really was forced to put her beloved bovine down.

“I promise to return shortly.” He tipped his hat.

“And I’ll understand if you choose not to do this, Will,” she assured him. “You must look to the welfare of your own stock and family first.”

He just nodded and then hurried away. She hoped that he was being honest with her. She would feel terrible if he was shortchanging his own family for her sake. But really, why would he do that? Oh, she knew that he was somewhat interested in her. But she had never done anything to give him the impression that she wanted anything more than friendship with him.

Now she had to ask herself why she was interested only in his friendship and not something more. Why didn’t she consider him someone she could potentially marry and grow old together with? Will seemed to be a genuinely good man. And she liked him. He was intelligent and interesting. Certainly, many widows would see Will Bramford as quite a catch. Why didn’t she?

She took a handful of grass over to poor Goldie, holding her flattened palm out as the cow hungrily munched. “I sure don’t want to lose you,” she whispered, looking directly into those liquid brown eyes. “But we have to do what we have to do.”

Chapter Nine

W
ill returned with the good news and a pail of water. “We took an inventory of our remaining water,” he explained. “The vote was unanimous. Goldie will be spared.”

Elizabeth was so happy that she threw her arms around Will and hugged him. “Thank you! Thank you!” Then feeling self-conscious and silly, she quickly stepped away. “Now I can give Goldie a drink, poor old girl.”

As she was letting Goldie have some water—careful that she didn’t drink too much—she noticed a familiar-looking Appaloosa passing by. She squinted into the afternoon sun in time to spy Eli waving their direction, but instead of stopping to say hello the way he used to do, he just continued on, leaving a cloud of alkaline dust in his wake.

With his back to Eli and apparently oblivious to him, Will continued talking to her. “After we decided to share some water, I made an offhand comment to my children. I told them that saving Goldie might ensure our family some borrowing rights should we run out of butter or cream next winter.”

“Really?” She arched her brows. “And what did they say to that?”

He grinned. “The girls let out squeals of happiness, and Jeremiah mentioned reading that the climate down there was moderate—even in winter.”

“That’s true enough. But what about the Prescotts?” She moved the bucket away from Goldie now, pausing to stroke a silky golden ear. “I thought your families planned to settle together.”

“Yes, I’m sure this will make for some lively discussion during the next few weeks.” He shrugged. “But the Prescotts are a democratic family too. I’m sure they’ll put this idea to a vote.”

“Well, thank you again for your kindness to Goldie,” she told him. “And if it turns out you don’t settle near us in southern Oregon, I hope you will let me repay you in some other way. Perhaps you’d like a nice laying hen.”