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Chapter Two
Just as she’d predicted, the journey was arduous. The first three days her arms hurt so much from the strain of holding the reins, she had trouble raising them, but as time went on they became stronger. The Cateses were Mormons. They’d been married less than a year and had been driven from their homestead in Iowa by persecution that had hounded the sect in many parts of the country since the 1830s. According to them, there were communities of people who shared their faith in Utah Territory and they were looking forward to living there and raising their child in peace. The baby was due to be born by summer’s end.
As they crossed Colorado, Henry Cates didn’t have much to say to Eddy, but Candace with her smile and grace more than made up for his terse company. Henry drove the main wagon, which was filled with farming equipment and some of their household furniture. Eddy, riding with Candace, drove the wagon filled with clothing, bedding, and Candace’s precious trove of books.
“I want to start a lending library once we get settled,” she explained one morning as they drove through a chilly fog-shrouded valley accompanied by birdsong. “Henry and I had quite a disagreement over them. He wanted me to leave them behind, but I told him if I couldn’t take my books, he’d be going on without me.”
“May I ask why you wanted a woman driver?”
“Henry’s got a lot of jealousy inside. He didn’t want me around another man.” Then she laughed. “Look at me, I’m as large as a sow. What man is going to want a woman carrying? But he was as adamant about finding a woman as I was about my books.”
“So, you drove all the way to Colorado from Iowa?”
“Yes, but our driver was Henry’s cousin, who lives in Fort Collins. He took the train to our homestead to help us. I told Henry we stood little chance of finding a woman to drive all the way to Salt Lake City, but we found you.” She turned Eddy’s way and said earnestly, “God was with us, and with you, too.”
Although Eddy had never been a churchgoer, she had to agree.
The journey was filled with long tiring days and cold nights. They crossed rivers, got lost on a few occasions, and were forced to double back. They heard wolves howling at night, saw bighorn sheep, deer, and lots and lots of birds. Eddy used her stove to cook stews made from the rabbits Henry snared and the root vegetables the couple had stored in her wagon. When travel took them near small streams and lakes, fish and water fowl was added to the fare. Throughout it all they were surrounded by the most beautiful expanse of country Eddy had ever seen. Other than the drive with Mr.Pickerel to Fort Collins, she’d never ventured very far from Denver and had no idea Colorado and its mountains and valleys offered such spectacular views.
As Henry estimated, it took a bit over a month to reach Salt Lake City. After receiving her fee and thanking them, Eddy paid for a room at a local boardinghouse and savored sleeping in a real bed, even if the mattress was not the best. The next morning, she got directions to the train station from the lady owner of the boardinghouse and set off to buy herself a ticket west. Being closer to her goal filled her with excitement. She was pleased to learn that a westbound train was due in a few hours, so she paid the agent the price for a ticket and sat down to wait.
While seated, she thought about all she’d experienced since leaving Denver and wondered how her nieces and sister were faring. She planned to keep her promise to Portia and Regan about returning to visit once she got herself settled in California, and thought maybe they could train out and visit her if Corinne agreed. Eddy also wondered what her parents would think of this. Her mother would worry as she always did about her girls, but her father would be proud that she’d taken her life by the horns in an effort to better herself. Were they still alive, she’d probably be married with children of her own by now because that was what the future held for well brought up young women. Her younger self had often dreamed of finding someone who loved her as much as her parents loved each other, but their deaths caused her to set aside all fanciful thoughts and concentrate on the reality of finding food and shelter. Now, she was far past the age of being sought after, and although that saddened her, she had her dreams, and if she could make them come true by working hard and never giving up, that would be more than enough.
When the train arrived, she and the handful of passengers boarded. She chose a window seat to take in the sights. After placing her cookstove and carpet bag at her feet she made herself comfortable. As the whistle blew to signal the departure, she wanted to cheer. Eddy Carmichael was on her way to California.
According to the conductor’s announcement, the route would take them across Nevada then south to a city called Reno. There she would change trains to one that would take her into California and on to San Francisco, her final destination.
The ride was uneventful. She’d never seen desert before, but Nevada seemed to be filled with it. As the train chugged its way over the landscape, she took in the mountains on the horizon and the wide-open land that spread out beside the tracks. At Reno, she left the train, and with the help of the kind conductor got in a long line of people bound for California, but when the ticket agent informed everyone that due to problems with the track the train wouldn’t arrive for another three days, she was crestfallen.
Seated on a bench in the station, she was once again weighing her options. Something bumped her foot. A child’s ball. A little boy ran over. Having only a limited knowledge of small children, she guessed he was five—maybe six. He had straw gold hair and bright blue eyes. “May I have my ball back, ma’am?”
Smiling at him, she handed it over.
“Thank you,” he replied shyly.
A man dressed in all black and wearing a clerical collar walked up. He was tall with sandy brown hair and appeared to be middle-aged. Although his eyes were as icy blue as a winter sky, his face and smile were kind. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Didn’t mean to bother you. The ball got away from us. Trying to entertain him while we wait for our wagon to be fixed.”
“No apologies needed.”
The little boy ran off to play with the ball in the field near the depot.
The man further explained, “Brought the boy here hoping to show him the train, but the agent said it’s delayed.”
“I know. I was planning on taking the train, but now I’m trying to decide what to do.”
“We’re on our way to Sacramento. My bishop has assigned me to a mission there. I’m a Catholic priest. My name’s Father Nash.”
“I’m Eddy Carmichael.”
“Pleased to meet you, MissCarmichael.”
“Pleased to meet you as well.”
“If I can be so impolite to ask, where are you bound?”
“San Francisco.”
“You’re not traveling alone are you?”
