A Dream for Tomorrow (35 page)

“Just remember the boy who brought Jesus his fishes and bread,” Elizabeth said to cheer her. “In the end, everyone had more than enough.”

And Lavinia happily volunteered Evelyn and Belinda and Amelia to help with the cooking. “They’ve all gotten to be much better cooks than I am,” she confessed to Elizabeth. “Thanks to you and Clara.”

When they gathered all the food together, Elizabeth and Clara were surprised at how much they had. Even when they figured it out, planning on three meals a day for seventeen people, they seemed to have more than enough.

“And we aren’t even taking the smoked meat into account,” Elizabeth pointed out.

“And Asa and the men are trying to catch salmon today,” Clara told her. “Your father plans to smoke that as well.”

“And right now Jess and Ruth are out gathering more berries. We already have enough to make a fair amount of jam.”

“Ruthie wants to make some pies.”

Elizabeth sighed. “And yet a lot of folks from the wagon train seem to be suffering from hunger.”

Clara nodded sadly. “Asa and the captain have encouraged them to make use of all the food this land has to offer, but not everyone is good at hunting and fishing.”

Elizabeth knew this was true. Unfortunately, not all the pioneers had the kind of experience they needed to succeed in the West. She just hoped that by the time they settled, they’d improved these survival skills. Although nothing had been said about it, Elizabeth suspected that Asa had selected a campsite for unit one that was separate from the others because he was concerned about theft. They all knew that the desperation of some of the travelers was causing some to steal. For that reason, Asa had instructed them to never leave their campsite alone or unguarded.

“Also, I suppose the men are busy falling timber to make their own rafts to get their families down the river. It’s difficult to hunt and build at the same time.”

“Mother,” Elizabeth began carefully. “Do you think we should share some of our food with the others?”

Clara nodded eagerly. “I have been thinking that very thing, but we’d have to speak to the others first.”

“The Bentleys shouldn’t mind because they were short on supplies anyway. Our surpluses will help to feed them.”

“And I doubt Ruby and Doris would be opposed to generosity,” Clara said. “But I’m not so sure about Lavinia.”

Elizabeth knew her mother was right. Lavinia might balk at this idea. “What if I invite her to come see how much we have and show her how much we expect to need for the duration of our trip?”

“Yes.” Clara made an uneasy smile. “But you know as well as I do that charity doesn’t come naturally to Lavinia. I suppose that’s because she’s a businesswoman.”

“But maybe I can convince her that we have more than enough.” Elizabeth looked at the barrels and tins. “Perhaps we should go over it again just to be certain.” And so they went through the supplies one more time, listing out how many meals for how many days for how many people, and they clearly seemed to be overstocked.

“And we’ll be able to restock in Fort Vancouver,” Elizabeth pointed out. “Yet some of our fellow travelers are going hungry.” She described a young mother she’d seen while washing clothes yesterday. “She was so thin that I could see her ribs through her threadbare camisole. And her children were skin and bones.”

“Oh, dear.” Clara sadly shook her head. “I’ve seen some things too.” She held up a bag of cornmeal. “We could easily get by without this. We have more than enough…and we won’t even be walking. Somehow we need to convince Lavinia.”

“I have a plan,” Elizabeth said suddenly. “I’ll invite her to take a little walk with me…a little sightseeing tour.” Winking at her mother, she tucked a couple of leftover breakfast biscuits into her skirt pocket and then hurried over to Lavinia. She was sitting in her rocker with her feet resting on a barrel, reading a book she’d borrowed from Asa.

“Good afternoon, neighbor,” Lavinia said cheerfully. “Will you look at me—I have become a woman of leisure.”

“I see that.” Elizabeth pointed to where damp clothes were hanging on several lines strung between the wagon and a nearby tree. “But it seems that someone’s been hard at work.”

“Yes, the girls and I finally finished the last of the laundry.” She let out a weary sigh. “And now the young ladies are out gathering berries and firewood.”

“Good for them. And I wondered if you’d like to take a stroll with me.”

Lavinia looked unsure, but then she closed the book and slowly stood. “Yes, I suppose a leisurely walk might do me good. And it is a lovely day. Besides, I haven’t had a good conversation with you since we reached the Columbia. I suppose it’s time to catch up.” She called over her shoulder now. “Augustus, you stay in camp until I get back, you hear?”

“Yes, Ma,” he called from the back of the wagon.

Lavinia chuckled. “All of Augustus’ clothes are drying on the line at the moment, so he is confined in the wagon with a book.”

Elizabeth laughed. “I felt badly that I was unable to wash JT’s clothing before he left. It was hard watching him set out in his dusty trail clothes.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. He will only get dustier and dirtier.”

Elizabeth linked arms with Lavinia. “Let’s walk past our old traveling companions…” she said. “See how they are faring.”

“Hugh tells me that some of the smaller rafts are nearly ready to float, but they’re only big enough for passengers and limited goods. Many wagons will be left behind.”

“We’re fortunate that we can take ours.” Elizabeth noticed a skinny pair of barefoot boys in raggedy clothes trying to catch something with their hands in a nearby creek. “It looks like they’re fishing,” she said quietly.

“Haven’t they heard of a fishing pole?”

“Perhaps they’re too poor to have one,” Elizabeth whispered. “Look how skinny they are. I’ll bet they haven’t eaten today.”

“Truly?” Lavinia frowned. “That’s not good.”

Elizabeth now led Lavinia toward them. “Let’s do a good deed.” She slipped Lavinia one of the biscuits and then called out to the boys. “Young men,” she said to them. “Are you having any luck with your fishing?”

The boys looked up at her with grubby faces. “Nah,” the bigger one said. “They’re too fast.”

Now Elizabeth held out a biscuit. “Would you like this?”

His eyes grew wide as he hurried to her. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“You too,” Lavinia called out now. “Come and get yours, little man.”

“Hurry, Levi,” the bigger boy called. “Come get a biscuit.”

Elizabeth knelt down to look into their faces. “Now, don’t tell the other children about this because we don’t have enough for everyone.”

The taller boy shook his head as he gobbled up the biscuit.

“Good luck with your fishing,” Elizabeth called out as she linked arms with Lavinia again, walking her away.

“Those poor dirty little urchins,” Lavinia said. “What kind of mother lets her children go around looking like that?”

“Some children on this train have lost their mothers,” Elizabeth reminded her. “Some have lost their fathers.”

“Oh, yes…I suppose that could be the problem with those poor waifs.”

Elizabeth continued walking Lavinia past the various camps. Some seemed to be faring well, but others looked fatigued and hungry…and hopeless.

“Let’s go back to our camp,” Lavinia told Elizabeth. “This is making me uncomfortable.”

As they walked back, Elizabeth explained that she and Clara had done an inventory and made lists. “It appears we have surplus food.”

“Surplus food?” Lavinia looked skeptical. “That hardly seems possible.”

“We checked the supplies twice,” she told her. “And we didn’t even take into account the smoked venison and salmon the men are providing.”

“Well, even if we do have surplus, we will need more provisions for the remainder of our journey.”

“Yes, I know. But we should be able to replace some things in Fort Vancouver.”

“Maybe…but they may only have foods like beans and cornmeal.” She made a face. “And I am sorely tired of beans and cornmeal.”

“Then perhaps we could donate some of our beans and cornmeal,” Elizabeth suggested.

Lavinia tipped her head to one side as if considering this. “I suppose I could agree to that. But only after I see our supplies and your lists. I will not risk my family’s welfare.”

“We wouldn’t expect you to.”

By the end of the day, it was agreed that unit one would donate some surplus food to be administered by Captain Brownlee and shared among needy families with children who were going hungry. “But please don’t reveal where the food came from,” Asa told the captain that evening as they all gathered at their campsite.

“This is very generous,” the captain said as he eyed the tins and boxes of beans, cornmeal, and rice. “And I have some good news for unit one. Your raft is ready to go. First thing in the morning, I’ll bring one of the spare oxen teams, and we’ll start getting your wagons loaded.”

With their six wagons secured and everyone aboard, the large log raft, with two hired men poling, began to drift down the Columbia River. The canvas coverings had been removed from the wagons in order to prevent them from acting as sails that could hamper the navigation of the raft.

“Isn’t this exciting, Mama?” Ruth grasped Elizabeth’s hand.

“Yes.” Elizabeth looked out at the water. “Just don’t get too close to the edge, Ruthie. If the raft hits rough water or a rock, you might fall in.”

“But I can swim,” Ruth reminded her.

“Yes, but this water is swift, and you could be swept away. Besides that, you need to stay out of the men’s way. They need to be able to get around easily on the raft with their poles. They might not see you and accidentally knock you overboard.”

“I’ll be very careful, Mama.”

Elizabeth smiled. “I know you will.” She also knew that with Ruth being the youngest traveler and friendly to everyone, she had many sets of loving eyes on her. Still it was a little unsettling to see all that river and no railing to keep a person from tumbling over.

“I’m going to draw pictures of what we see going down the river.” Ruth pulled her pencils and tablet from the back of their wagon. Because her paper was limited, Ruth had worked hard to squeeze several drawings on each page. She already had a nice collection of pictures.

“Look, Mama.” She held the tablet for Elizabeth to see. “That’s the Indian woman who sold us the moccasins. Remember her?”

Elizabeth lifted the hem of her skirt to point at a moccasin-shod toe. “I certainly do.” They had both decided to give their shoes and feet a rest by wearing their moccasins to float down the river. Elizabeth had nearly forgotten how comfortable the soft shoes were.

With little room to move about the raft, people eventually made themselves comfortable in and about the wagons. Some napped on piles of bedding. A few read books or wrote in journals. Others, like Elizabeth, were perfectly content to sit and watch the landscape floating by. She’d never seen such majestic rolling hills before. Truly, they were probably mountains, but they had such soft, graceful curves that they seemed more like gigantic rolling hills. They were the color of a straw field before harvest—a warm golden tone. But the color seemed to change as clouds rolled by. It was really nothing short of glorious, and she felt she could happily sit and watch it all day.

“Look!” Ruth pointed to the south side of the river. “Those animals—what are they, Mama?”

Elizabeth peered at the herd. “They don’t look like antelope,” she told her.

“Those are bighorn sheep,” Asa hollered from the other side of the boat.

“There must be thirty or more of them,” Elizabeth observed. “Aren’t they majestic looking?”

Of course, the men were already talking about hunting and mutton roasts, but fortunately for that particular herd, it was far too early in the day to stop the raft.

By the end of the day, when the shadows grew long and the hired men said it was time to stop, Elizabeth was grateful to get back onto solid ground. Despite the beautiful scenery, she was tired of the confinement of the raft and always having people so close around her. She was eager to stretch her legs.

It took several trips to unload what they’d need for the night. And Adam and Matilda, who had no tent, opted to sleep on the raft. They planned to rig a tent of sorts by running a tarp between the wagons. Asa agreed this was a good idea. “Just keep your rifle handy,” he told Adam. “If we hear shots, we’ll all come a runnin’.”