Page 63 of Caroline’s Compass

The silly exchange did not resolve the Fort Kearny question, but it let them stand together beside the newly secured animals without pretending their shared future was either impossible or decided.

Nathaniel ordered the company forward for a shortened afternoon. Caroline assigned Charlotte to drive the lead wagon.

Caroline walked, and Thomas rode beside her—not too close, not distant, and no longer pretending the direction belonged to either of them alone.

The partially resumed courtship confused Lucy more than it confused either participant, which was an accomplishment.

She walked backward in front of Caroline and Thomas until Caroline caught her by the shoulders and turned her around.

“If the courtship is partial, which part is missing?” Lucy asked.

“Privacy,” Thomas said.

“That was missing before.”

“Then perhaps dignity.”

Grace, walking nearby, said, “That has also been missing.”

Thomas looked at Caroline. “Your family offers stern evaluations.”

“At no charge,” Caroline said.

“We should charge,” Charlotte called from the wagon seat. “We need lamp oil.”

Rebecca brought the second wagon alongside them. “Does partial mean he is permitted to carry things but not kiss you?”

“Why is everyone concerned with the kissing portion?” Caroline demanded.

Seven expressions answered her.

Thomas adjusted the bundle he had already taken from her. “For accuracy, I have not been given the full terms.”

“Keep speaking and the carrying portion will also be removed.”

He fell silent.

Lydia sighed. “Courtship has made him trainable.”

That evening, after the shortened afternoon's travel, Mr. Avery drew out his fiddle and declared the recovered oxen sufficient reason for music.

“The animals were missing for half a morning,” Caroline said.

“Then we shall play half a celebration.”

Mrs. Bell insisted that no one could dance properly between cookfires, so the company cleared a patch of level grass inside the wagon circle. Coleman stamped down a troublesome molehill. Martha moved two kettles. Grace rescued a line of drying stockings before Mr. Hall could waltz through them.

Before the dancing began, Mr. Avery attempted to tune his fiddle while Lucy tuned herself. Neither produced the intended note. Grace said the fiddle was closer.

Lydia organized partners with the authority of a general and the impartiality of a sister seeking amusement. She paired Mr. Daugherty with the older Mrs. Bell, who warned him that stepping on her foot would settle several arguments at once. Mr. Bell asked whether he should be concerned. Mrs. Bell said he should always be concerned.

Rebecca refused three invitations until Samuel Turner asked her. She accepted, then spent the first tune lifting the boy whenever the steps required a turn. Samuel believed this made him the best dancer in the company.

Charlotte sat beside Martha and recorded nothing, though her eyes followed every exchange. Grace asked whether she was counting mistakes. Charlotte said the page required more space.

After Rebecca parted ways with Samuel, Lydia seized his hands and spun him until both of them staggered. Lucy tried to copy the steps with Mrs. Lawson's youngest boy, who possessed enthusiasm but no reliable sense of left.

Rebecca moved to the horses. “Someone should behave responsibly.”