Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan
Author:Pam Munoz Ryan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2013-10-13T11:00:00+00:00
TWO OF EBENEEZER’S STABLE BOYS, James Birch and Frank Stevens, had left Rhode Island some years ago for California. Now they were back and as excited as two puppy dogs about their adventures. They were full of stories about Argonauts, the gold diggers, and Charlotte couldn’t get enough of their tales.
The West was wild and untamed. Prospectors flocking to pan for gold up and down the lower Sierras were becoming millionaires overnight. And Sacramento. Everyone was talking about Sacramento, California, the most important river port in the West. It was a boomtown and for a businessman it was as tempting as a candy store because if a man struck it rich, he had to have someplace to take his gold and someplace to spend his worth.
“People got to get from one place to another,” said James. “So we started a small stage line, but now we’re joinin’ with other lines to start the California Stage Company. And we need good drivers. We need men in the Mother Lode, where all the gold is. Where they’re mining. And we’re planning to expand routes up and down the Pacific Coast so you’d have your pick. Won’t you come, Charley?”
The money was good and there was plenty of work for men that would go. But what interested Charlotte most was the talk about land.
“If you’re looking to own any, it’s cheap and plentiful,” said Frank.
Charlotte couldn’t help but be excited.
James persisted. “We’ve secured boat passage from Atlanta to Panama. You would travel overland by mule through Panama, then secure a ship to San Francisco, and then take a riverboat to Sacramento. It’s a month’s journey. But when you get there, there’s land as far as the eye can see, just waiting to be bought by you, Charley.”
Their enthusiasm was catching.
“Well, boys, that land sounds mighty appealing,” said Charlotte.
“C’mon, Charley. You’re the best driver we know and we need you,” said James.
Charlotte knew from the minute they started talking about the land that she would go. But she had to tell Ebeneezer. And that wouldn’t be easy.
* * *
“It ain’t a pony ride out there in California!” Ebeneezer practically shouted. “In some places there ain’t roads, just worn-down trails made by pack mules that went afore you. The ground is filled with chuckholes and you’ll be knee-deep in dust!”
“Yes, sir, but I need to go,” said Charlotte.
“You don’t know what you’re in for. Most of the horses are just wild mustangs they brought in from the foothills that don’t know how to work in the traces. You’ll only make three miles an hour on a good day!”
He paced back and forth.
“I hear the coaches are so loaded with folks headed for the mining towns that they have to put passengers on the roof! You’ll lose ’em off the top! And … and you got other things to consider. California ain’t no place for a … for a … you know … for you!”
Ebeneezer had never, not once, said anything about Charlotte’s secret. He never confronted her.
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