Distant Heart by Tracey Bateman

Author:Tracey Bateman [Tracey Bateman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061744624
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2007-03-31T04:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

“I say we stay on the trail headin’ back. We’ll ask for help once we get to Fort Laramie.” The leader of the second wagon train had been trying to force his opinion, and for a time it seemed as though his tactic would work. For the last few minutes he’d repeated his argument over and over, generally trying to wear down the grieving members of his train. “We need soldiers to help us find the woman and girls. There’s no choice. We go back.” He spat a stream of tobacco juice as though that settled things.

“And leave my little girl at the mercy of those savages for two more weeks?” Timothy Franks, a middle-aged man from Kansas, spoke with the passion of a father desperate to retrieve his child. “Those murdering redskins killed my wife. Janey is all I have left.”

Sam listened to the argument between the members of the new wagon train with growing impatience. The former wagon master had been among the first to take an arrow through the heart. In his absence an overbearing former mountain man by the name of Joseph Thompson had declared himself the leader of the group. Of the remaining men, he seemed the strongest. The loudest at the very least. Sam knew from experience that too often anyone who made the most noise ended up at the front of the line.

“Now, listen.” Blake raised his hands for silence. “I can’t tell you all what to do. Anyone with a wagon of your own and enough supplies to make it to Oregon is free to join us. The rest of you will have to take a vote to decide if you go after the captives or stay on the trail back east.”

“Can’t you spare some men to help with a search?” Brian Stamm, a young farmer from Minnesota spoke up. “Angela is my sister. I promised my ma I’d take care of her. That’s the only reason my pa and ma let her come with my wife and me.” His voice cracked with emotion. “I failed them.”

Sam’s heart went out to the man when Blake shook his head. “I’m sorry about your sister and I’d like to help, but we lost 150 members ourselves a few months back. I can’t risk the strength of my wagon train by organizing a search party. We have to protect the wagons, supplies, and women and children in our own train.” Sam knew Blake was right. But he also knew that if Toni had been captured, he would have left regardless, and no one would have been able to force him to remain with the wagon train. He also understood Blake’s position and couldn’t blame him.

Blake’s tone remained calm as he tried to explain further. “Swooping Eagle could be planning an attack on us next. We can’t spare any men. At least not enough to make a difference should you engage the Indians in battle.”

The man’s countenance fell at the disappointing news. Then his jaw tightened with determination.

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