A Dream for Tomorrow (25 page)

They both greeted her, pausing from their preparations. “Is something amiss?” Elizabeth asked.

“No, no, nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to come over here and have my say,” Gert abruptly told them.

“Your say?” Clara’s brows arched.

“Mostly I want to say thank you and I’m sorry.”

“Really?” Elizabeth tried not to act too shocked.

“We’ll soon part ways, but before we do, I thought I should say something. I made no secret that I didn’t think much of you folks at the onset of this journey. I saw ya’ll coming in here late, with your fine horses and your fancy wagons and…well, I reckoned you were a bunch of greenhorns. I thought for sure and for certain we’d all end up picking your sorry remains off the side of the trail and that ya’ll’d be charity cases.” Gert sighed. “But you folks proved me wrong. It’s been an honor to travel the trail with ya’ll and to be in your unit.”

Elizabeth and Clara exchanged smiles.

“Thank you very much,” Clara told her. “It was a pleasure getting to know you, Gert.”

“Oh, I doubt that.” Gert pulled her corncob pipe from the dirty bib of her apron. “I know I can be a real pain when I speak my mind the way I do. And my boys, thanks to their pa letting ’em run wild, are unruly.”

“Well, we wish you and your family a safe and blessed trip to southern Oregon,” Elizabeth told her.

“Much obliged.” Gert twirled the pipe between her stubby fingers. “And if you’d convey my gratitude to Asa, I’d be much obliged. Tell him for me that he’s as fine a councilman as any and I am honored to say I was in his unit.”

Clara reached out and grasped Gert’s hand. “I will do that.”

“That’s all I come to say.” Gert nodded with finality, turned on her heel, and left.

“Well…I’ll be.” Clara slowly shook her head. “I did not see that coming.”

“Now I’m almost sad to part ways with her.” Elizabeth measured some saleratus into the cornmeal. “But I’ll keep her and her family in my prayers.”

“So will I.” Clara poured water into a pot. “Even though we’re parting ways, I feel that they’re like family. Everyone from unit five will remain in my prayers.”

Asa returned from meeting with the captain just as supper was getting done. “Something smells good.” He sniffed the air.

“Oh, Grandpa, it’s just beans and bacon again,” Ruth told him.

“And cornbread,” Elizabeth added as she moved the cast-iron pan from the fire.

“I happen to like beans and bacon and cornbread.” He smacked his lips.

“I asked Matthew and Jess to join us tonight,” Clara told him. “I figured they’d want to hear about your meeting with the captain.”

He nodded as he sat down. “And Mrs. Taylor is dining with the Schneiders?”

“That’s right.” Elizabeth reached for the coffeepot, automatically filling a cup and handing it to him.

“Bless you, child.” He grinned up at her.

“How was your meeting?” she asked.

He gave her a hard to read look. “Interesting…”

She nodded. “Yes…and I suppose I should wait for everyone to get here before I start peppering you with questions.”

Soon they were all gathered at the table, and after Asa asked a blessing, he began to tell them about the meeting. “First of all, as he said, the captain has reorganized the train.” Asa beamed at them as he reached for a chunk of cornbread. “We are now part of unit one.”

“Unit one?” Clara blinked. “Why is that?”

“Who cares why—we are unit one now!” JT exclaimed.

Asa chuckled as he took a bite.

“Have we been promoted?” Ruth asked.

“What about our fellow travelers from unit five?” Jess frowned. “What about my aunt and Doris? Are we still with them?”

Asa nodded. “Yes. I should have been more clear. Unit five has become unit one. And starting tomorrow, we’ll have only eight wagons in our unit. And only about half the original units are going north. Thirty-five wagons total, and that’s counting the captain’s wagon.”

“We make these changes tomorrow?” Matthew asked.

“First thing in the morning,” Asa told him. “The units who are going south are supposed to get up an hour earlier than usual to organize their train. They’ll leave camp first, and our train will leave an hour later than usual to put two hours between the two trains. Eli will lead the southbound train until they meet up with Major Thompson just outside of Fort Hall.”

“And then Eli will return to our train?” JT asked.

“I’m not right sure about that,” Asa told them.

“Why not?” Matthew asked.

“It seems that Major Thompson hasn’t secured a scout yet. According to the captain, he and Eli are friends from way back. Eli may continue south with them.”

“But what about us?” JT asked. “Don’t we need a scout too?”

“If Eli goes south, the captain will get us a new scout in Fort Hall. He said there will be plenty of good men to choose from there.”

“Then why doesn’t Major Thompson choose one of them?” JT asked.

Asa smiled. “I know you’ll miss Eli, son. He’s a good man, and he’s been a right handy addition to our music. But he’ll have to do as he sees fit. And Captain Brownlee assured us that we will have the best of scouts even if Eli does decide to go south.”

Elizabeth poked at her supper, which had suddenly lost any appeal. Even so, she took a big bite of beans, chewing slowly as she attempted to conceal her disappointment at this news.

“You still didn’t tell us why we became unit one,” Clara reminded Asa.

“Most of unit one is heading to California, so the captain decided we should take over that honor.”

“So it is an honor?” Elizabeth asked.

Asa grinned. “I’m not sure about that. But the captain did tell me privately that we have one of the strongest units on this train. And we will be in the lead starting tomorrow.”

The children let out whoops of delight. It was always welcome to be at the front of the train, where there was so much less dust to eat. Elizabeth smiled, trying to act as happy as the rest of them, but all she could think was that Eli was leaving. For all she knew, starting tomorrow morning, he might be gone from her life for good.

“Is something wrong?” Jess asked Elizabeth as she helped her and Ruth clean up after supper. Clara had already retired to her wagon. “You seem awfully quiet tonight.”

“No, I’m fine,” Elizabeth assured her. “Just tired I suppose.”

“Why don’t you let Ruth and me finish this,” Jess told her.

Elizabeth started to protest, but Jess insisted.

“All right.” Elizabeth removed her apron. “Thank you.”

As Elizabeth wandered back to her wagon with apron in hand, she felt strangely out of sorts, and she knew it had nothing to do with being excused from washing dishes tonight. She didn’t want to admit it, and she knew it made no sense, but she was clearly upset about Eli. She didn’t want him to go with the train to California. And yet she also knew that it was probably for the best for him to do so.

“Anything you need doin’ tonight?” Brady looked up from where he was sitting in front of their wagon, whittling on a piece of wood.

“Nothing I know of.” She gave him a weary smile. “How are your ribs feeling these days?” She knew he was still recovering from his beating in South Pass City.

“Not too bad.” He nodded. “Gettin’ better every day.”

She hung her apron on a peg to dry and rolled her shirtsleeves back down, reaching into the wagon for her knitted shawl. The night air was cooling quickly this evening.

“You feelin’ sad about Mr. Eli leavin’ the train?” Brady asked quietly.

She turned and looked at him in surprise. “Why would you say that?”

He shrugged and looked down, turning the smooth piece of wood around and around in his weathered brown hands. “I dunno.”

“Come on, Brady.” She reached up for one of the chairs hanging on the side of the wagon, setting it down next to Brady, and sat in it. “Tell me why you said that.”

He made a sheepish smile, revealing the broken tooth. “It’s jus’ that I see you and Mr. Eli talkin’ sometimes. I watch how you looks at each other, like you seeing something more there than the rest of us. And that day when you and him fetched me from South Pass City, I heard you talkin’ as we was goin’ to the wagon train. You mighta thunk I was sleepin’, but I was listenin’ some too.”

“Oh…?” She tried to remember exactly what they’d talked about that day. Mostly she’d been thankful he’d helped her. And as usual, she had appreciated being in his company. If she hadn’t been so concerned for Brady’s welfare, it would have been a most enjoyable ride.

“Are you sad, Miss Elizabeth?”

She nodded without looking at him, feeling a lump growing in her throat. “I don’t want anyone to know it, Brady, but I am sad.”

“I thought so.”

“Please, don’t tell.”

“You can trust me,” he assured her.

“I know.”

He returned to whittling, and she slowly stood. “Thanks for listening,” she told him. “I think I’ll take a little stroll. It’s such a pretty evening.”

“You do that.” He nodded. “Maybe you should take a stroll on up the front of the train…maybe you should be sayin’ some farewells along your way.”

“Maybe so.…”

As she walked, she knew what Brady was telling her. At least she thought she knew. He was telling her to go speak to Eli while she still had the chance. But even if she managed to find him, which seemed rather unlikely, she had no idea what she would say to him. What was there to say? She thought again of the last serious conversation they’d shared while looking at the tepee village. Hadn’t Eli made it perfectly clear that he had no intention of settling down…ever?

Even if he did want to settle down, what difference would that make to her? She wasn’t even ready to consider marrying again. Was she? At least that was what she’d been telling herself these past few years. But if she were to be completely honest with herself, she knew that had been changing. She knew that the prospect of being alone after her children grew up and married was grim. So grim that she had briefly considered the possibility of a life with Will Bramford. Certainly, she could do worse. She suddenly remembered the way Jack Smith had leered at her. Far worse.

But Eli Kincaid? Well, that made no sense whatsoever. A match like that would be perfectly ridiculous, and the man was not interested anyway. He had made that plain right from the start. And truly, that was what she needed to come to grips with tonight. Not the fact that Eli Kincaid was leaving, but the fact that Eli Kincaid was not the marrying kind. Certainly, Eli might have enjoyed the distraction of her company and perhaps even her friendship—if only for a short spell—but it was plain as day that he had no intentions of settling down with her for good.

To be truly practical, she told herself, she should be exceedingly grateful that Eli was leaving the train. In fact, she hoped that he really was choosing to go with the California train. That would force her to get beyond these foolish schoolgirl feelings and start acting like a grown-up and responsible woman—the mother of two children. She didn’t have room in her life for a reckless romance with an irresponsible, wandering man. She didn’t even need to tell him goodbye. If anything she should simply tell him good riddance. Not that she would be so rude if she happened to see him.

But turning around and hurrying back toward her wagon, she decided that she would rather not see him after all. It would be much easier to simply part ways. Surely, she wished him well, and she knew she would keep him in her prayers. But no good would come from her looking into those sky-blue eyes. Best to make a clean break and, like the wagon train, move on.

Unit five, or the new unit one, was just coming into sight when Elizabeth saw those familiar fringed buckskins ahead. She was tempted to turn and walk the other way, but where would she go? She sure didn’t intend to wander away from the safety of the wagons at this time of the evening. Best to just hold her head high and act as if nothing was wrong. After all, nothing was wrong. She was fine. Just fine.

“Elizabeth,” he said as they drew closer. “I was just looking for you.”

“Looking for me?” Her resolve was unraveling.

“Brady told me you took a walk.” He began to walk alongside her now. “Mind if I join you?”

She pulled her shawl more snugly around her shoulders. “Not at all.”

“Brady said you were saying your farewells.”

“Oh…yes…”

“Have you heard that Major Thompson has asked me to be the scout for the southbound train?”

She nodded. “My father mentioned it.”

“So it appears that we’ll be parting ways…for good.”

She nodded again. That hard lump was returning to her throat.

“I hoped that I’d be able to speak to you before we part…privately.” He gently slipped his hand under her elbow. “Do you mind if we walk this way?” He was directing her away from the train, away from curious onlookers, but she didn’t resist.

“I must admit that I was surprised,” she said quietly as he led her toward the nearby creek. “I thought you were our scout and that you would continue with Captain Brownlee all the way to Vancouver.”