Outside That Door by Jennifer Robins

Author:Jennifer Robins [Robins, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Astraea Press
Published: 2012-03-13T00:54:56+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Sounds of the nervous horses outside had the men in the cabin racing to the door to see what the commotion was all about. Beth sat straight up from the flat mattress and waited while she bit down on the sleeve of her jacket. The door opened, spilling a ray of sunlight across the floor to fill the cabin with life and much-needed hope for a better day.

Outside, the first signs of morning had the sun climbing up over the treetops. The men spotted a black bear scurrying to retreat when it saw them appear at the door. The horses reared up in an uneasy fashion as they pawed at the ground, mud flying up from the rear hooves.

The Indian men laughed and walked back inside while the young soldier calmed the horses with gentle petting of the sides of their faces along with a pat on the shoulders. His gentle words were barely heard, but the horses responded well to his soft voice. Carl followed the others inside, a smile on his face.

He walked up to Beth, held his hand out to help her up. “Nothing to worry about. It was just a nosey bear who thought he was invited to breakfast.”

Beth let him pull her to her feet. “Oh no! Is it still out there?” Her eyes darted toward the door.

“No, when it saw all the troops come through the door, it high-tailed right out of here.”

“When can we leave?”

“We should be on our way again soon. I don’t think our guide will linger too long here. He wants to get to—what was it they said? Oh yeah, that farm with those nice people who will put us up until we can figure out how to get back—should I say… to the future? I wonder how much farther this farm is? Hope we get there before too long. I don’t really like being out here with wolves, bears, and who knows what.”

“I hope they can offer some kind of means for a bath,” she told him as they walked to the table and sat down. “I guess we just wait here to be on our way.” She looked around the room until she saw Bear’s Friend. “There he is. Has he said anything about going?”

Carl shrugged his shoulders. “Not yet.”

No sooner had he said it when their Indian guide came up to them. “We go soon; eat first.”

The only thing offered was some water collected in a cast iron pan from the rain during the night, set out on the front porch, and a small handful of soaked and cooked beans laid out on a tin plate. Bear’s Friend filled his canteen halfway with water, then poured a little rum in it to fill it to capacity.

Everyone sat at the table to eat. The Indians needed no forks or spoons; they just scooped the beans up in their hands and stuffed them into their mouths, while the soldiers used some bent spoons, which they also offered. Beth

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