Emma's Journey by Callie Hutton

Author:Callie Hutton [Hutton, Callie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Glass Half Full
Published: 2013-12-03T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

As a student, Emma enjoyed geography more than any other subject. Since she’d expected to spend her entire life in her little corner of Indiana, it was nice to read about other places. The one spot that fascinated her the most was the Continental Divide. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she would get to see it. But now they headed directly for it. Her teacher had explained all the rivers on one side of the Divide flowed east to the Atlantic Ocean, and the others west to the Pacific Ocean.

Around two o’clock in the afternoon the wagon train reached the Divide. Emma was relieved to find how easy it was to cross, nothing like she feared. In fact, if Davis hadn’t pointed it out to her, she might have missed it.

She was happy things between them had resorted back to the easy way they were before the Great Platte crossing debacle.

True to his word, the day after the crossing Davis made Emma start practicing with his gun. Every day at the noon break, and then for a while after supper, he lined up rocks, that grew progressively smaller, on which she could practice.

“Now, darlin’, this is a double-barreled shotgun,” he’d explained the first time he took her out. “It has two parallel barrels, which allows two shots to be fired in rapid succession.” He turned the gun over. “You’ll notice it has two triggers, one for each barrel.” He handed the weapon to Emma, which she held like it would bite her.

“It’s all right. As long as you handle it carefully, it’s very safe.”

“Then why did Nate get accidentally shot?”

“Because he’s an idiot.” He grinned. “It’s not loaded right now. I just want you to get the feel before you fire it.” He put his arms around her, explaining how she should hold the gun against her shoulder so the kickback didn’t cause a bruise.

It took a few sessions before Davis actually let her fire the gun. Luckily, he stayed behind her the first time because the kickback would have knocked her off her feet if he hadn’t caught her.

Rubbing her shoulder, Emma glared at Davis. “Won’t hurt as much if it’s against my shoulder?”

He had the grace to look chagrined. “You’ll get used to it. It just takes time.”

Once past the Continental Divide, it took a little over a week before they reached Fort Bridger. Located in Utah Territory, the fort had been established by mountain man, Jim Bridger. It was another re-supply stop for the emigrants as well as the only place to purchase needed items for fur trappers.

Emma looked forward to the two-day rest. Then they would cross the Green River, but Davis told her there would be a ferry to take them over, which sounded safer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Emma, are you going to the supply store?” Elizabeth and Abigail Preston stopped by her wagon the morning after their arrival.

“Yes, and I’m almost ready. Davis gave me money this morning, and he’s already gone over. He wants to trade our oxen for fresh ones.

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