A Home at Trail's End (4 page)

Elizabeth nodded. “I was trying not to feel envious at how quickly they've been able to get their store built.” She turned to look at him, still feeling slightly amazed that he was here with her now…that they would be married in the not-so-distant future. “But money is not everything.”

He laughed as he squeezed her hand warmly in his own. “No, it certainly is not.”

“And there are many families with more challenges than ours,” she confessed. “I worry that the Flanders household will suffer this winter. They seem so ill prepared. And yet Flo seems utterly unconcerned.”

“This land is generous,” he said. “Those who are willing to work hard will benefit from the natural resources.” Again he pointed to the river. “I hear the fishing is good this time of year.”

“That's for certain.” She nodded. “Father and Matthew and JT have had some good luck catching salmon. Father has been running his smoker almost continuously.”

“He's a wise man. And the woods abound with deer and bear and other sources of meat, if a man is good with a gun.”

“Yes.” She smiled at him. Eli was an excellent hunter and fisherman. She couldn't even remember how many times he'd shared game with them on the Oregon Trail.

“And Bert has a useful trade with blacksmithing,” Eli added. “Surely he can trade for food and provisions for his family. I know I'd be happy to trade with him.”

Certain that no one was around to see them now, she stopped walking and turned to look into his face. “I'm so very grateful you're here, Eli.” She felt her heart fluttering. “I feel very blessed to know you will be my husband.”

His eyes glimmered as blue as the river as he leaned down to tenderly kiss her. “I feel equally blessed, Elizabeth,” he said quietly. “More than equally. By marrying you I get a wonderful family as well. Do you know how much that means to me?” He embraced her now, holding her close. Elizabeth couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this incredibly happy…she didn't even want to.

As they continued walking, Elizabeth told him the news that she and the children would be moving in with Malinda. “I have to admit that I won't miss camping,” she told him. “I won't miss waking up with everything damp from dew.”

“Well, if you're not going to be camping there, maybe I should camp there myself. That way I could work on the house without having to go back and forth to your parents' place. It might speed up the process.”

“Yes,” she said eagerly. “That's a wonderful idea.”

“And I could take care of the livestock if you like.”

Elizabeth considered this. “I already arranged to bring them over to Malinda's,” she said. “She has fencing for the horses and cows. And the hens are just starting to lay, and I figure with ten people in the house, we could use the eggs.”

He nodded. “Yes, that's a good plan. But perhaps I can keep your team to help with the logging.”

“Yes, of course,” she told him. “You keep the Percherons here and put them to good use.”

“That should help speed things along.” He peered up at the sky. “As it is, we're getting a mighty late start, Elizabeth.”

She nodded somberly. “I know. Believe me, I know.”

“I hear that building becomes quite challenging once the rains start. Mud makes everything much more difficult and slow. Some of the men think we're foolish to start building at all this late.”

“What do you think?” she asked.

He grinned. “I think I'd better get busy.”

She smiled back at him. “We'll use the team and the wagon to get our things moved over to Malinda's this afternoon. And then I'll send them back with JT.”

JT and Ruth were both eager to relocate to Malinda's. Not only did it mean being with cousins, it also made the trek to school a little shorter. The three of them worked together to break down their camp. Then they packed and loaded their wagon—almost like they used to do each morning while traveling the Oregon Trail. Elizabeth drove the wagon, and JT drove the livestock. The plan was to let their animals share the pasture with Malinda's, and perhaps Goldie would be with calf by the time they moved back to their own property.

At Malinda's they unloaded everything they felt they'd need for their stay. And while JT returned the wagon back to the property so that Eli could have use of the team for logging, Elizabeth helped Malinda to get supper started and Ruth went outside with Bart and Susannah to help get the chickens situated.

“Oh, Malinda,” Elizabeth said happily. “It is so lovely to prepare food indoors again.” She didn't even mind that Malinda cooked over an open fire or that her kitchen setup was much more rustic than what Elizabeth had left behind in Kentucky. She knew Malinda had made similar sacrifices years earlier.

“I remember that feeling well,” Malinda told her. “The first time I cooked inside my house after so many months of cooking outside over a campfire—it was simply wonderful.”

“And I don't even have to wipe the grit out of the bowl before I mix up the biscuits.” Elizabeth laughed as she peered inside a clean yellow bowl. “What a treat!”

“We decided that Will's children won't move in here until next weekend,” Malinda told Elizabeth. “I thought that would give us time to get settled a bit. Plus we can get some things moved around and prepare for our additional household members.” Now she explained how she wanted to transform a section of the barn loft into the boys' bedroom. “We'll put clothing hooks on the wall, and I have a rather worn commode we can put up there with a pitcher and basin—although I expect the boys will do most of their washing up on the porch. I thought we could put some crates up there for storage and seating. And I want to make sure there are safe places to hang lanterns. We don't want them burning down the barn.”

Elizabeth blinked. “No, we certainly do not.”

“Also, I hoped to get some produce put up for winter. And I have a quilt to finish and…well, so many, many things. Trust me, we will have our work cut out for us, my friend. I hope you don't mind.”

“I'm so happy to be of any help—and so grateful to have a roof over my head.”

Malinda beamed at her. “It's wonderful to have you here. You know, Elizabeth, it reminds me of when we were young women…remember how we helped each other with our trousseaus before our marriages?” She shook her head. “Did you ever dream we would do it all over again?”

“Make trousseaus?” Elizabeth looked up from measuring the flour.

“No, that's not what I meant.” Malinda chuckled. “But do you remember how our families thought we were so silly for wanting to imitate Queen Victoria's wedding back in those days?”

“Looking back…I think I understand their perspective now.”

Malinda paused from chopping an onion. “But we did have fun, didn't we?”

“We did.” Elizabeth sighed to remember what felt like a lifetime ago.

“And it feels like we will have a bit of fun again.”

Elizabeth held up the spoon she was using to measure salt. “I suppose fun is similar to salt…a little bit goes a long way…but it does make life tasty.”

“You and me, Elizabeth, marrying two fine men…all over again. Did you ever think this would happen?”

“Never in a hundred years.” Elizabeth stirred the batter.

They worked quietly together for a while. Then as Elizabeth was rolling out the biscuit dough, Malinda spoke up again.

“God truly is the giver of second chances,” she said quietly. “For both you and me. I am so grateful.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Yes…so am I.” As she used a water glass to cut the biscuits, Elizabeth pondered Malinda's words. It truly was ironic that she and Malinda found themselves in this position again—except now they weren't starry-eyed young girls trying to imitate a royal wedding. Now they were two widowed mothers…frontier women who were preparing to wed men who had both had previous marriages. Strange.

Maybe it was just a fact of life that one never knew what was coming around the next corner. Perhaps the only thing you could fully expect was the unexpected. Anyway, it certainly provided ample opportunity to trust God.

Chapter Three

T
he next couple of days seemed to fly past. And, as much as the two women accomplished, it seemed that Malinda's chore list seemed to get longer by the end of each day. Elizabeth knew this was partly because Malinda had let so much go after losing John last winter. And there was so much she wanted done before her wedding in mid-December. But Elizabeth enjoyed pitching in. Many hands truly did make light work.

“I think I'll go over to check on my property today,” Elizabeth told Malinda on Wednesday morning.

“Don't you mean to check on Eli?” Malinda teased.

Elizabeth grinned. “As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind saying hello to him.”

“Why don't you take him his dinner,” Malinda suggested. “I'm sure he'd enjoyed some of that bread you baked yesterday.”

“A very good idea.” Elizabeth took care as she prepared a basket of food for Eli. Perhaps he would want to have a picnic with her.

Because JT and Ruth had used Molly to ride to school, Elizabeth walked. But it felt good to walk. She could feel autumn in the air, and she noticed more leaves were turning lovely shades of yellow, orange, and red. And although it was cooler, it was still a pleasant sunny day. Perfect for an impromptu picnic. Feeling excited to see what sort of progress Eli was making, she hastened her pace. How many logs would he have cut by now? She doubted any of them would be laid on the foundation yet. But perhaps they would be cut to length and notched. She knew that Brady planned to go over and help Eli once he was ready to start setting the logs in place. It was only a matter of time.

She listened as she walked, wondering if she was hearing the ring of Eli's ax, or perhaps the sound was coming from Matthew's or Father's projects. She did hear birds chirping merrily and the gurgle of the creek flowing to the river. But as she got closer to her property, she heard no sounds of sawing or chopping or anything.

Finally at the homesite, she looked around in dismay. Eli was nowhere to be seen. Neither was his Appaloosa. Not only that, but her beloved Percherons, Beau and Bella, were gone too. Perhaps he'd taken them into the woods to pull some logs. But now she noticed something else. Her wagon was missing from where she normally kept it parked near the house. In its place was a pile that was neatly covered in tarps. On closer inspection, she discovered that this pile was all the goods and supplies she'd been storing in the wagon. Was Eli using the wagon to carry logs?

She walked over to the section of woods that they'd both decided had the best selection of trees to fell and called out Eli's name. No answer. She went a bit farther, calling for him every once in a while, but still no answer. She paused to listen, but again heard only the birds and the creek.

Returning to the homesite, she sat down on the foundation and pondered this. Where was Eli? And where was her team and her wagon? Of the few possessions that she'd been able to bring across the Oregon Trail, none were more valuable than her team and her wagon. And now they were gone…

She opened the basket and broke off a piece of bread, munching on it as she considered the possibilities. Perhaps Eli had taken the team and the wagon over to help Matthew or her father. She stood and smoothed her skirt. Of course, that had to be it. Eli had recently mentioned that the sooner they finished their houses, the more help he and Elizabeth would have to finish their own. Perhaps he was using the wagon to help them in some way. However, as she walked, she couldn't think of how.

Arriving at her parents' homesite, she discovered Matthew and Brady helping her father set the rafters in place for his roof. They were all perched up high, and not wanting to distract them, she decided to seek out her mother instead.

She found Clara over by their wagon and tent, hanging some clothes on the line to dry. Elizabeth greeted her and then inquired about Eli.

“I haven't seen him since Sunday.” Clara frowned as she pushed a strand of graying hair back into her bonnet. “Is something wrong?”