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He took a sip of coffee and placed the cup on the ground. “Miz Thorpe, do you recall when you and Mr. Thorpe–God rest his soul—first came to me in Independence?”
Curious at both his words and demeanor, she nodded and he continued. “You remember I asked Mr. Thorpe to sign this here paper which lists the rules and regulations?” Although his voice was calm and steady, he rolled and unrolled the paper in his hand.
When Ezra cleared his throat, Davis glanced sharply in his direction. “What’re you getting at?” He straightened and rested his forearms on his bent knees.
“Yes, I remember that paper.” Emma said at the same time, a frown on her face. “What about it?”
“Well according to this here paper that your late husband signed in good faith, you and Davis here need to get married.”
Chapter Six
Only the crackling of the campfire broke the stunned silence. After a minute or so, Davis stood up and stretched. “I’m willin’.”
Finally jarred from her spell, Emma shook her head to clear it. “No. Absolutely not. This has gone far enough.” She hopped up and paced, smacking h
er fist into her palm. “First I’m forced on this horrible trip by my husband. Then he’s trampled to death by one of your horses. You force me to continue on when I want to go home, you push this-this person-on me, and now you try to force me to marry him? A complete stranger? No, I will not do it. No. Never.”
“But, Miz Thorpe.” Ezra stood and slapped his thigh with his hat. “This here paper that Mr. Thorpe, in good faith. . .”
Before he could continue, Emma marched over, grabbed the paper out of his hand, ripped it in half, then tossed it to the ground.
“Now.” She took a deep breath as her stomach clenched in anger. “There is no paper. And if you gentlemen will excuse me, I’m heading to bed.”
“Emma.” Davis started toward her, touching her arm. “Please calm down and listen to what Ezra has to say.”
Emma jerked away from him, hugging her waist with both arms. She refused to cry in front of these two, but her eyelids filled with unshed tears.
“Miz Thorpe.” Ezra began again, glancing worriedly in Davis’s general direction. “It says no female adult will be allowed to travel on the wagon train without a family member. It’s too much work for a woman alone, too dangerous, and the other ladies are upset with you and Davis living here together in this wagon without the benefit of marriage.”
“I don’t care what the ‘ladies’ are upset over. Davis can go back to his scouting duties and I can do it all myself. I don’t need him. I don’t need anyone. I want to go home.” Realizing she sounded like a spoiled brat having a tantrum, Emma spun, and marched to the back of the wagon and crawled in. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks, but she refused to continue the conversation. She wiped furiously at the tears rolling down her face, and tried to settle the thumping of her heart.
Through the thin walls of the wagon, she listened to Davis and Ezra as their quiet conversation grew louder. She couldn’t catch all their words, but heard Davis say something about being unfair, and Ezra respond with ‘stubborn woman’ before he stomped off.
She pulled off her dress and tugged on her nightgown. The sounds of Davis putting out the fire and doing other chores he normally did before bed somehow soothed her as she braided her hair.
Emma lay on her side considering Ezra’s order. From what she’d seen so far, Davis was a good man. He would make a wonderful husband, but not for her. She fully intended to return to Indiana when this nightmare ended. Tying herself to another man determined to make a life in Oregon didn’t fit her plans. She sighed and flipped onto her back, staring at the canvas covering the wagon. Although she thought sleep would be difficult in coming, after only about ten minutes, she was fast asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The late spring sun bathed Emma’s face in brightness. She groaned and rolled over to block out the light, then sat up abruptly. The sun shining meant it was past time to rise. She scrambled from the wagon and headed directly to the bushes. On her way back she noticed Davis’s absence, and his gear missing. The other campsites had already finished breakfast and were packing up in preparation to start the day. Feeling a bit disoriented, Emma splashed water on her face, grabbed a piece of bread from last night’s supper and looked around.
So this is the game they were going to play? She reckoned the punishment for not falling in with Ezra’s plans was to leave her on her own. Well, fine. She could do it. Tucking her hair into her bonnet, she walked briskly to the animal area and found her oxen.
Since the other animals had already been retrieved, it was not too difficult to spot hers. Trying to drag both of them at once wasn’t going to work, so she tugged, pushed, and pulled one of them over to her wagon. She fumbled for quite a while getting it yoked. Then she made the trek back for the other one. By now she noticed the first wagons were beginning to move. It appeared Ezra started with the wagon directly behind hers, pulling it into first place, which gave her more time.
Finally having everything packed and the animals yoked, Emma started the walk for the day. Being the last wagon put her in the position of eating everyone else’s dirt. The sun beat on her head as she trudged along. Sweat poured down her face, and stained the back and front of her dress. She was so thirsty, but couldn’t leave the oxen to fumble around in the back of her wagon for a cup to fill from the water barrel.
Four miserable hours later, Ezra called a halt for the noon break. Emma wanted to collapse right there in a heap, but instead she got water for the animals, loosened the yoke and then took care of herself. She gulped two cups of water and splashed the third one on her face. Sensing someone approaching her wagon, she lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.
Sarah walked toward her with a weary expression on her face.
“Oh, Emma, what have you done?” She reached out and took her hand.
“I’m okay, Sarah, how about you?”
“I’m just fine, but you know what I mean. I heard from some of the others Ezra took Davis off your wagon and put him back as a scout. Rumor has it he wanted you two to marry so Davis could continue to help you, but you refused.”
“Yes, that’s pretty much it,” Emma sighed. “I refused to marry a complete stranger. Aside from the fact that I’m done with marriage, I intend to go back to Indiana, so I can’t marry anyone. Ezra also said according to some paper Peter signed, I couldn’t travel alone, but I think he assumes if he abandons me, I’ll change my mind. He’s given me no choice about staying with the wagon train, but I certainly can decide whether I want to marry or not.”
