"But, me own father? Won't he be in danger by followin' after the gold seekers?"
"He will, indeed, be in danger. But, Mr. Henrik is, after all, strong of body, and, when determined, he can be a terrible force to contend with. Please try to ease your mind about it; I believe he will return to us."
"But, Mistress, ye and me own self cannot remain here for two days. I fear 'tis not enough water left to drink were ye to have to stay here for even one day and a night. And, 'tis not a bit of water in sight."
"I know," replied Czanna.
"Hast thou a plan, Mistress Fehér?"
Czanna drew in a deep breath before at length replying, "We will return to Fort Benton, which is only a few days away from us. And, once we are there, we will await you father's return."
"Ah, 'tis a good plan, Mistress."
"Please, Lilike, because we are in a foreign land, I beg you to address me as Czanna. If we are to do as the people in this foreign country do, we should refer to one another by our first names. It may take some practice, but I think it will be well worth the effort. We must—at least for the moment—hide our identity."
"I will do me best, Mistress Czanna."
Czanna nodded. "Now, as far as the plan goes, returning to Fort Benton is the only sensible action to take in a circumstance such as this." Czanna couldn't say more; indeed, she was close to tears.
"They were awful," Lilike said without any coaxing as she glanced outward in the same direction where her father had gone.
"Who was awful?" asked Czanna.
"The gold thieves," replied Lilike. "I feared for all of us, and we went without our supper last night because they frightened us so. Thy brother, sister an' me own self hid in the wagon."
"I'm very sorry I wasn't here," murmured Czanna.
"'Twas nothing ye could have done. The gold robbers were dirty, smelly, loud and were cursing somethin' most awful all the night through. Gamblin', they were. Me own self could hear them," said Lilike. "Come morning, it seemed even the good-hearted men in our wagon train had caught the 'golden fever.' Even their own wives had gone with them. Me own father was sleeping and could not be easily woke. To his credit, once heawakened, me own father tried to stop them and ran after them. But, they would not listen. And, now they be gone. Mine own father, too."
"Yes," said Czanna. "Now they are gone. And, as you say, it is done. But, come, we must eat a little of the food we have with us in the wagon, and then we must be on our way. Fort Benton lies east and north of here in that direction." She pointed. "We will travel to the Missouri River, which, if my memory serves me correctly, is not too far away. And, once we reach the river, we shall head up north until we reach Fort Benton, there to await your father rejoining us. Also, once there, we shall have plenty of water to drink and food to eat."
"Yes, Mistress Czanna," said Lilike. "Saints be praised, me own self will help thee with preparing breakfast."
"That would be most welcome," said Czanna. "And, then we must hitch up two of the remaining horses to the wagon and be on our way for as long as we have light. Master György should probably ride the best of our horses, I think, while I shall drive the wagon."
Lilike nodded. "'Tis a good plan, Mistress. Does thou wish meself to take the babe?"
"Yes, please. I will need both hands to prepare the meal, and later to hitch up the horses to the wagon."
"Aye, Mistress," said Lilike, and, reaching out, she took hold of the baby, bringing three-year-old Béla into her arms. "It will be no trouble for the babe and me own self to put some breakfast together, and perhaps with thy brother Master György's help, we can be on our way."
"Yes," said Czanna. Then, again, "Yes."
****
"Where did you go last night, Czanna?" asked György as soon as she and her brother were alone.
Czanna glanced away from György. She didn't speak; she was afraid she couldn't. Indeed, she felt as though her tonguemight never be able to voice the words she knew she had to say. After all, young though he was, he had a right to know what had taken place all the way across the vast ocean. At the moment, however, all she could think was this: what else was going to befall them?
"Czanna?"
Czanna gave her brother a quick, though sad look before saying, "Because we now number only four, including my maid, I fear I have news I must tell you even though, if we were back in Hungary, your youth would prevent me from relating it to you."
"My youth? I amnotso young. With Henrik gone, I am now the man of the family."
"Yes, you are," Czanna replied. "And, so I shall tell you what happened last night that caused me to leave here. In truth, my heart was so low after receiving some news from home that I had to go away to think and to pray."
"There is bad news from home?" asked György.
