Hannah's Hanky (Clover Creek Caravan Book 1) Read online

  “Not since my father’s death? When she needed her friends the most? Go see her. I’m sure she’ll be happy to tell you everything you want to know.” Hannah smiled sweetly. Mrs. Jenkins was a woman she frequently wanted to strangle. She walked around the older woman to the counter, where Mr. Hardy was working.

  “Good to see you, Hannah. I heard you married some preacher man and headed out west. Your father was telling everyone.” Mr. Hardy punched the keys on his cash register.

  “That’s mostly right. I married Jedediah Scott, who is a preacher, but we don’t leave for Oregon until Monday. We’re at the campground, ready to leave.”

  “Well, if that don’t beat all. You married to a preacher man and taking off for the west. I know you’ll be a great wife, Hannah.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Hardy.” She’d always liked the man who had once worked for her father. He’d always paid special attention to her.

  Jed paid for their purchases, and carried them out of the store in a small wooden crate. “Everyone knows you,” he said. “And you didn’t seem to like that woman who talked to you?”

  “She’s not a kind person. She’s asking about me because she wants to be able to spread as much gossip as she can.”

  “I know the type,” he said. “I’m sorry you had to run into her.” He would have stayed between them if he’d known she would be a problem for Hannah.

  “I am too. But I’m happy that I never have to run into her again!” Hannah did a little dance step as she walked beside him, and he chuckled loudly. “Are we going to church in town tomorrow?” she asked.

  “No, I’m preaching at the campground. This will be my first week to preach for all of them. I got here on Saturday, and Sunday I preached for about half of the group, but now everyone is assembled, I’m actually a little nervous about it.”

  “Do you want to practice by speaking to me later? I sure wouldn’t mind.” It wasn’t something she’d ever expected—being a preacher’s wife—but she was determined to be the best she could possibly be.

  “Maybe. I’ll practice it myself first, and then I’ll decide. I’m not thrilled with what I’ve written so far.” Jed had never found a sermon quite as difficult as this one.

  “What are you speaking about?”

  He sighed. “I thought I’d talk about how we need to be ready to minister to anyone along the way.”

  “Why not preach about God providing? Everyone is so nervous about the upcoming trip, a reminder that God will always provide whatever we need seems much more fitting. Matthew chapter six would be a great verse to center the sermon around.”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “That’s brilliant. I needed an idea that I was passionate about, and this is one that fits perfectly with our situation. If my hands weren’t full, I’d stop walking and kiss you right here and now!”

  She laughed. “I wouldn’t stop you.”

  “Is that so?” he asked.

  “It is so. Maybe we can take a walk around the campground later, and you can demonstrate what you’re thinking now.” She knew she was being forward, but the man was her husband. If she couldn’t be forward with him, who could she be forward with?

  “I’m going to hold you to that,” he said, grinning over at her. “Do you think we have enough jam now?”

  “I sure hope so. Between that and the honey, we should be okay. I don’t plan to do any preserving on the trip, so don’t even ask me to.” Thankfully, Hannah knew how. It was one of the things her mother had insisted on teaching her, despite the fact they’d had a maid and a cook to do those things for them.

  “I wouldn’t. We’re all going to be exhausted on this journey. I won’t ask you to do anything beyond the chores that you’ll naturally get.”

  “Like cooking, fetching water for meals, and laundry?”

  “Like all of those things. I know it seems like a lot, and it will be. I will do my best to keep up my end of the bargain too, and always keep your pots filled with fresh meat.”

  “Are you a hunter?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “I’m not fabulous at it, but I do enjoy hunting a great deal. I won’t try to outshoot Miss Mitchell if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  She laughed. “I hope not. I might ask her to teach me to hunt. I think I could be good at it if I tried.” She’d found herself good at most everything she tried. That’s why she was so drawn to Mary. As far as she could see they were very similar people.

  “That wouldn’t bother me at all, but you might want to have her do it today or tomorrow. There isn’t going to be a lot of time for shooting lessons once we’re on the Trail.”

  “I might just do that. I really like her. I hope you’re right, and she and I become life-long friends. We could settle near each other, and our children could play together…”

  “You know that most likely after we reach Oregon, we won’t see the people in our wagon train again, right?”

  “I know that, but let me keep my delusions. I don’t want to have to think about making new friends again once we reach our ultimate destination. I want to imagine taking the friends I’m making now all through life with me.”

  Jed smiled. “I’m not one to keep you from imagining whatever you want to imagine.” They had reached the campground, and they walked over to put the new goods in the back of the wagon. “I don’t think anything else is going to fit, so I hope you have everything you want here.”

  “I’ll make it fit if I need something else,” she said with a smile. “I’m going to go over and talk Mary into teaching me to use a musket. I might bring in supper tonight.”

  Jed watched her go, noting the jauntiness of her step. She was so much happier now that he’d gotten her away from her step-father. He got out some paper, and he started to write out the new sermon she’d challenged him to write. It was going to be so much better than what he’d planned to say.

  Hannah hurried off to convince Mary to teach her to shoot, and she found her new friend looking frustrated. “Are you all right?”

  Mary nodded. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m about to take a walk to cool my head.”

  “Do you mind if I come with you? I was hoping you could teach me to shoot, but if it’s a bad time…”

  Mary grinned. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll teach you to shoot if you’ll teach me to fix my hair like you had yours yesterday. It was so beautiful.”

  “I would love to teach you! It’s super easy, though my mother did it for me yesterday, because she wanted to fix my hair for my wedding. She said she’d been dreaming about how she’d fix it since I was a little girl.”

  “Sounds like a mother,” Mary said with a grin. “All right, I’m going to let ma know what I’m doing, and that she’s in charge of her own kids for a change.”

  A moment later Mary was back, and her musket was slung over one shoulder, with her two pouches of powder over her chest. She had a third pouch full of the balls that she would shoot. “The hardest part of using a musket—in my opinion—is simply loading it. Pointing and shooting are easy. I rarely miss, and only then if it’s a moving target and I’m somewhat distracted. I cannot tell you how much I love being able to outshoot men around me.”

  Hannah laughed softly. “I know I’d enjoy it too, if I could do it. I want to bring in supper tonight. Is there any chance I could do that?”

  “Sure. We’re far enough away from town that we see deer regularly here. If not deer, we’ll at least see a rabbit, and you could shoot that and take it back to camp.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Though Hannah had never learned to shoot, she was very good at spotting animals, and she hoped it would help. They weren’t even half a mile from camp when Hannah pointed off to their right. A buck was standing there sniffing the air as if he was trying to find danger.

  Mary adeptly loaded the musket and pointed it at the deer, demonstrating for Hannah. Then she helped her friend hoist the gun—which was a great deal heavier than Hannah had expected—to her shoulder and showed her how t
o shoot.

  Hannah carefully steadied the musket and closed one eye, trying to be sure she could see the buck. The recoil of the gun knocked her on her backside. She couldn’t even tell if she’d hit the buck.

  “You got him. He’s lame now. I’ll take the musket back and finish him. Good job!”

  This time when Mary reloaded the musket, Hannah watched more carefully, determined she was going to be able to shoot. What if a bear came along while Jed was busy with something else? It would be up to her to protect herself.

  Mary finished off the deer, and the two young ladies ran toward it. “I can’t believe I shot something on my first try,” Hannah said, excited.

  “I can’t either. That was really good. Getting him in the hind quarter where you did was perfect, because it slowed him so I could shoot him.”

  “I was shooting for his head,” Hannah said ruefully. She refused to not be elated though. She was bringing supper in with her friend.

  When they reached the deer, Mary pulled a knife from her cleavage and proceeded to bind its legs with some rope she’d tucked into the ankle of her shoe. “What else do you have hidden on you?” Hannah asked. She had never seen a lady able to carry so much.

  “Lots. I always have a knife in my boot. I keep ropes in various places. I’m not going to be caught unprepared. I sew pockets into all my clothes. I need to be able to get the things I need when I need them.” Mary sighed heavily. “You must think me odd, being able to shoot the way I do. My parents had me and it wasn’t until eight years later that my next oldest sibling was born. I’m twenty, and he’s only twelve. So, my father taught me many of the things he would have taught a son, had one been born first. Now my parents both think I should become a shy retiring lady who only cooks and never hunts, but I’ve told them it’s too late. I’m a hunter through and through.”

  Together the two girls dragged the deer back to camp. “I probably should have sent you back for someone with a horse,” Mary said, “but it’s just easier this way. I don’t mind doing the work of pulling him back if you don’t.”

  “I don’t mind at all.” Hannah’s arms were already aching from driving that morning, but she wasn’t about to complain. She felt as if she was doing something real by working side-by-side with her friend.

  “We need to hang the deer in a tree for a bit to let it bleed out, but I’ll show you how to get a good roast out of it. You can cook your man a fine meal tonight, and I’ll give some to my mother to cook. I’m not fond of cooking, and she is, so we usually divide the chores with me taking on the little ones, and she does the cooking. We do the laundry together, though I’d love to find a way to get out of doing my share of that. It’s going to be awful on the trail, when we have to tote water for it.”

  “Why will we tote water? Wouldn’t it be easier just to do the wash at a river or spring? Whatever we find of course.”

  “That’s a good point. My ma probably will think it’s being lazy about our duties, but I think it’s conserving energy for things we really need it for. Like walking beside those blasted wagons all day. I had to walk here from Northern Missouri, and I hated it. Especially having to keep the children calm and walking.”

  “I thought I was going to be able to drive the wagon, but I’ve realized there’s no way on earth I can do that. My arms and shoulders are so sore from even trying this morning. Jed took me out and taught me to drive the team, but it was bad.”

  “I can understand that.” Mary shrugged. “You can walk with me, and help me keep the hellions in line.” She grinned at Hannah. “But my mother can never know I called them that.”

  Hannah laughed. “My lips are sealed. I didn’t even tell Jed that you planned to get your own homestead when we got to Oregon City. I didn’t want to betray your confidence.”

  “Thank you for that, though I wouldn’t have minded if you’d told Jed.” As they stepped into camp, people spotted them.

  Mary’s father came walking over, shaking his head. “You always have to show everyone what you can do, don’t you?”

  “I was happy to get supper for the family tonight, Pa. My friend Hannah shot him first, and I just finished him off.”

  “Well, let me help you with it,” Mr. Mitchell said. Hannah could see both pride and confusion on the man’s face. As if he wanted to be proud, but it just didn’t seem right that Mary could do what she did.

  “I’m going to go tell Jed I shot our supper!” Hannah said with a grin. “Do I need to help hanging it from the tree?”

  “Oh, no,” Mary said. “Pa and I will handle it. We’ve done this together a hundred times over the years.”

  “You really shouldn’t go bragging about your boyish ways, Mary.” Mr. Mitchell shook his head.

  Hannah hurried away before she could hear her friend’s answer to her father. She didn’t understand why the man wasn’t prouder of Mary than he was. He didn’t have to hunt or fish for supper, because Mary had already done it. Of course, her father had been proud of anything she could do. She almost felt badly for Mary, but then she remembered her friend was going to have a homestead all to herself.

  When she got back to the wagon, she found Jed sitting on the tree stump she’d been using for a chair. “How’s the sermon coming?” she asked.

  “I’m almost finished, and I don’t need to read it to you. I know it’s what I need to say. Thank you so much for helping me with it.”

  Hannah shook her head. “I didn’t do anything but suggest a passage and a topic. You did all the real work. And I shot supper.”

  He grinned at her. “I saw you and Miss Mitchell dragging a deer into camp. You shot it?”

  Hannah nodded. “I was aiming for the head, and I hit its hind quarters instead, but I slowed it down enough for Mary to finish it. We’re sharing the meat with them.”

  “That sounds very fair. Did you enjoy shooting?” he asked.

  “That musket knocked me on my backside,” Hannah said with a laugh. “But I could do it myself now, and I think that’s what’s important. I want to be able to protect myself when you’re not around.”

  He nodded. “I will feel much safer leaving you alone if you can.”

  She stretched her arms above her head, grinning. “I feel like I’ve learned a lot today. I can shoot a musket, and I can drive a team of oxen when absolutely necessary. And I can make biscuits over a campfire.”

  “You are so much more useful to me than you were yesterday,” he said. The twinkle in his eye told her he was teasing, and she laughed along with him. “When you can preach a sermon, it will be time for me to just give up entirely.”

  “That’s never going to happen,” she said. “I wouldn’t want it to happen even if it could.” She had no desire to speak in front of people.

  “I think you’d be better at it than you care to admit. You’re afraid I’ll put you to work doing my job for me.”

  “Not at all.” She sighed, sitting down on the ground and spreading her skirts around her to carefully not allow any of her underclothes to be seen. “What will we do after supper tonight?” Already she was looking forward to spending time with him, and the trail seemed a little more exciting by the minute. Sure, she knew there was a great deal of hard work ahead of her, but she was going to do it, because she refused to fail.

  “I thought we might seek out another married couple to play cards tonight. Would you like that?”

  Hannah nodded, wishing her new friend were married. “Do only married couples play cards?”

  “Oh, not at all. I know that Mary Mitchell and Bob Hastings will sometimes pair up for some of the games. I just watched those nights, because I didn’t have a partner, but now that I have one, they would be fun to play with.”

  “Do you think there’s some kind of romance going on between Bob and Mary?” she asked. She had thought so before talking to Mary so much, but now she was unsure.

  “I don’t. If there is something, it’s all one-sided. Bob seems to be infatuated with her, but she has no interest
in him at all. You can see it in her eyes. She’s happy with what she does, and she doesn’t really want to marry yet. When I first got to camp, I briefly considered courting her, but I could tell she wasn’t interested at all.”

  Hannah felt a surprising pang of jealousy for her friend. “Would you have rather married Mary then?”

  “Not at all. I married the woman I wanted to marry. I wouldn’t have married you after meeting you if I hadn’t wanted to. You are the right woman. I can feel it. God led me to you.”

  Hannah smiled. “I hope you’re right.” She couldn’t imagine God wanting a preacher to marry her, but if He thought so, she wasn’t going to argue with him.

  “I know I am.”

  Five

  Jed’s sermon went beautifully the following morning, and Hannah was pleased to see the reaction of the other emigrants around her. They all seemed to be happy with the sermon. A few of the men thanked him for preaching after the sermon, and Hannah was pleased that her husband’s talents weren’t being taken for granted.

  As they walked back to their wagon for lunch after the service, she asked him something that had occurred to her during the sermon. “Are you being paid at all for preaching on our way to Oregon?”

  “No, I’m not, but we’ll be paid in kind. Different families will make us meals, and if a hunter gets something, and I don’t, they’ll share meat with us. It’s more that we’re all working together to make it there, and since I’m a preacher, I can share God’s Word along the way. Perhaps it will help to keep people’s spirits high.”

  “That makes sense. I’m still a little worried about Captain Bedwell’s wife, but I guess she’s going regardless.”

  “She is. You’ll help her if she needs it along the way?” he asked. He knew she had a heart for helping others, so the question was mostly rhetorical.

  “I will. Of course. We’re all a community working together.”

  “That’s the attitude I was hoping you’d have.” He sat on the stump while she made biscuits for their lunch. “What time are we expected at your mother’s house for supper tonight?”