The Christmas Tree Bride by Susan Page Davis

Author:Susan Page Davis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2014-10-29T16:37:01+00:00

Chapter 5

“What happened?” Pa yelled.

Jacob leaned toward them. “Wreck!”

“How far?”

“Maybe a mile.”

Polly shivered. A mile might as well be a thousand in this storm. At least the stage was closer to the Winfields’ than to the next station.

“Anyone hurt?” Pa bellowed, and she realized the wind had momentarily dropped.

Ernest edged his mule up next to Lucy so he could hear what was said.

“Two of them are bad,” Jacob said. “I would have set out sooner, but I stayed to build a fire for them.”

“Billy Clyde?”

“He fell on his arm, but he’s trying to help the others.”

Pa nodded. “How many horses do you have?”

“Two more that can travel,” Jacob said. “I only set out with four, though I asked for six.”

Polly grimaced. That meant one horse was badly injured or dead.

“I’d have brought people along on them, but I wasn’t sure I could make it through,” Jacob said. “Figured they’d do better to stick together.”

The wind picked up again, howling about them and driving a maelstrom of snow into their faces. Polly ducked her chin and closed her eyes until the worst of it had passed, but its icy fingers pierced even her woolencoat now.

“How many people in all?” Pa shouted.

“Seven passengers and Billy.”

“Ernest and I will go back for the oxen and the sled.”

That made sense to Polly. More than six inches of snow now covered the ground, and it was drifting much deeper in some spots. But the oxen Pa was fattening to sell in the spring could break through it. They would go slowly, and it might take them a couple of hours to reach the stranded travelers, but Pa would see to it. The injured passengers could ride on the sled that he used in winter to haul supplies and firewood.

Jacob nodded. “I’ll stay with the stage.”

“Can I go with Jacob?” Polly yelled.

Pa frowned at her then said to Jacob, “Can she get warm if she stays with you?”

“Fuel is hard to come by,” Jacob said, “but there are a few scrub trees. I think we can keep the fire going until you come back if we burn the broken tongue off the coach.”

Pa’s eyes flickered, and he hesitated. Burning the equipment was a drastic step, but people were badly injured, and the tongue would have to be replaced anyway, by the sound of things.

“All right. Polly, take the food and this blanket.” They transferred the items from Ranger’s saddle and the canteen from Ernest’s.

“We’ll try to be there in two hours,” Pa said. “It may take longer. Don’t give up on us.”

“I could send some of the passengers out on the coach horses,” Jacob said.

Pa swiveled in the saddle and gazed at their back trail. “They might not be able to see our prints all the way. It’s blowing and drifting something fierce.”

“I could send Billy Clyde with them. He knows this trail better’n just about anyone.”

Pa nodded. “Do it. We won’t stick around waiting for them, but we’ll look for them on our way back with the ox team.

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