Forever Mine by Theresa Hupp

Author:Theresa Hupp
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Oregon Trail historical fiction
Publisher: Rickover Publishing via Indie Author Project
Published: 2018-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Samuel returned from hunting happy. He and Douglass had each shot a deer, so the family would have venison for several days and enough meat to share with others. He might even give a haunch to the Pershings.

Daniel couldn’t shoot worth a darn, but he worked hard enough at dressing the carcasses. Maybe Harriet was right—maybe the boy’s eyes were bad.

“What’s for supper, Harriet?” he asked. “Can you fix us venison steaks? I’ve a hankering for fresh meat.”

Harriet got out the spider skillet, added a bit of lard, and cut steaks off the deer. “There’s biscuits to go with the drippings. And stew.”

“Don’t you want any?” Samuel asked a few minutes later, when Harriet slid steaks onto just three plates.

Harriet shook her head. “We ate with the Pershings. Cordelia ain’t well.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Samuel liked the woman, but she seemed to tire every day by midafternoon.

“She’s worried about her sons.”

Samuel heard an accusation in his wife’s voice. “Now, Harriet, we agreed to move on. Couldn’t wait for the folks with cholera to die.”

Harriet picked up a bucket. “I need some water.”

“I’ll get it, Ma.” Daniel stood up.

She shook her head. “You eat your supper. It’s late.” And she walked toward the creek with her bucket.

“Ma’s upset, just like Miz Pershing,” Daniel said.

“She’ll get over it.” Samuel sopped up pan drippings with a biscuit, then snorted. “Pershing’s going slow enough, it’s likely the others’ll catch up with us. Those that don’t die.” He took a bite.

“Don’t you care, Pa? Mac McDougall’s a fine man, and he was near death’s door.”

“It’s in the Lord’s hands now,” Samuel said. He didn’t much cotton to what the Lord did—he took good folks young and left the mean ones behind. But there wasn’t much he or anyone else could do about it. Except run away from pestilence and hope it didn’t follow. That’s what he aimed to do for as long as he could. “I’ll have to keep pushing Pershing along. He’s got you scouting. You tell me if he starts dawdling on purpose.”

“I’m sure the captain wants to get to Oregon, too, Pa.”

Samuel grimaced. “No telling what that fool wants.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.