Later that night, my Pa had big plans for us. "You kids needn't go to school tomorrow. I want ya to help your Ma goin' to town to shop for supplies. Is the packin' all done?" "Yes, George. Everything's ready." our Ma answered clearing the table.
"I'll need James for tomorrow to load the wagon." Pa continued. "Can I help?" I asked. "No Andy, you help your Ma at the store." It was settled. I would NOT get to help the men.
The next day, we went to the store and Ma bought some food. She bought some extra shoes for me and more tobacco for Pa. She bought some slate pencils for us. "I'm going to teach you children till you all can go back to school." Then, we carried our bags home.
With all of our supplies, trunks, and things packed, we were ready to go a week later. Pa sold the farm and he hitched two horses up. He traded one of our neighbors the oxen for the plow. With some money left over he bought another small wagon for us. Ma had blankets and food in our #1 wagon. The other was the big wagon: Big Ben. Big Ben would be in the back while #1 wagon would be in the front with the horses. Then, both of those wagons would be attached.
We left our home 3 hours ago, and caught up with the wagon train. "We're on the Big Move." James told us. "What's that?" Karen asked. "It's where you travel to a new place, called the west. Lots of folks do it." I explain. "But I thought this was a wagon train." she said reaching for an apple. But James slapped her hand. "No food, Karen. Not until later." My legs ached and I barely had any room. Ma and Pa had all the room on a wagon seat. I saw some people walking. But I knew our Pa would never let us walk, besides the question was just too risky.
Finally, we made camp after 9 hours later. It was dark, so we had to be careful. All the wagons formed a circle. Ma gave us some hot bean porridge and a tin cup of milk. "Did you pack your good bake bread, Ma?" I asked her knowing how I loved her bread. She shook her head. "Takes too long to make it. When you kids are finished, you'll need to go to bed." "Can we explore?" I asked her. "No! You kids don't need to be wanderin' by yourselves at night. That's the rule from the wagon master." Okay, so we had to go to bed. Not much fun.
While we were riding on the dusty prairie, we all halted to a stop. "The wagon master has decided to take a shortcut." Pa explained. "Has he done this before?" we asked him. "Yea, he has. Don't worry." While we took a shortcut through the woods, James decided to keep us occupied. We played a game, checkers, and read some books. "Look! Indians!" Karen pointed. We peeked out the wagon. Some were hiding behind bushes, while others were picking berries. James pulled us two back inside saying, "You keep your distance, they'll keep theirs."
Rain came all the next day and the day after that. For 2 whole days it rained. The roads were wet and muddy. One day, our wagon wheel cam off. James jumped off first, then me, and then we helped Karen. Pa pulled to a stop, and so did everyone else. No one was hurt, maybe a couple bruises. The wagon master, Mr.Steel, ordered to make camp until our repairs were complete.
It took Pa 2 extra days to fix the wagon and make another wagon wheel. There was no extra firewood to make dinner, so we ate cold and wet berries we found in the woods. Somebody got sick and had to be taken care of for another 2 days! Finally on the 5th day, we got back on the trail. When we found dry firewood, we all stopped to collect it.
We had to stop again, for a day, because someone was havin' a baby. I don't know when we'll ever get to our new home. We are all feeling grouchy, espescially me. The days are gettin' colder, they say. We won't have much food, if the rain doesn't stop.
(4 weeks later) We made it! Pa made us a new cabin and everything is workin' out fine as we planned. We have a barn and some crops. There's a school and a small town we can attend to. Ma is excited as well, because Pa got her a cow. Everything turned out well, even though, we faced our first pioneer struggle.
THE END
