Journey of Hope: A Novel of Triumph and Heartbreak on the Oregon Trail in 1852 Read Online Free PDF Page B

wasn’t watching Mary. He was looking at her. Brenna blushed and looked away, but not before Ben saw what he was looking for. A slow smile spread over his face. He folded his arms over his broad chest. It’s a long way to Oregon , he thought. A long way .

The Crossing
     
    Chapter Four

     
    Platte River crossing
    “Calm down, Miss Emily. You may as well get used to these river crossings. I’m told this is one of the easier ones.” Nellie looked nervously at her young mistress.
    Emily Hinton’s brows knit together over her deep brown eyes. Her perfectly groomed dark coiffure was neatly tucked into a frilly blue bonnet that shielded her face from the sun. The pretty dress she wore flattered her figure but was impractical for the trail. Emily didn’t care. She was going to look presentable, even in this God-forsaken country.
    “One of the easier ones?” Emily scoffed. “Why, look at that rushing water, Nellie. I will surely drown if I try to cross!”
    Emily Hinton could barely bring herself to watch the wagons crossing the Platte River. She wasn’t just nervous about the crossing—she was petrified! She had always been unreasonably afraid of water. She couldn’t trace this fear back to any traumatic event from her childhood. When her brothers and friends played in the pond, she hung back, unsure of what lay beneath the surface. She had never been a timid child. She was bold in other areas. She loved riding horses, and she and her mare were often at the front of the hunting parties. Her sometimes-risky behavior was often admired by the other young men and women. She was outspoken in mixed company and often got disapproving looks from her mother. Her father, however, was indulgent and secretly smiled at her self-confidence.
    Nellie sighed loudly. “Miss Emily, I know how stubborn you can be. There’s only one way to get from here to the other side of this river. Mr. Hinton is going to insist you cross. You’re just making it harder on yourself.”
    Emily’s jaw was set firmly and her arms were crossed tightly over her chest. She had refused to attempt the crossing earlier in the day when it was their turn. Her husband had moved their wagon to the side to let the others cross. He looked frustrated and preoccupied, and he wasn’t sure how to convince his wife to make the crossing.
    “Emily, we have to cross this river,” Ernest had implored.
    “No, Mr. Hinton, I will not. You never told me this journey would require crossing rivers!”
    Emily had been difficult from the beginning of their marriage. They had been wed less than a year, and she was only eighteen. Ernest knew she still resented his taking her away from her family and the Ohio farm where she had grown up, but he was her family now, and she finally and reluctantly had consented to accompany him on the overland trail to Oregon. It was her father who had decided for her.
    “He is your husband, Emily. You go where he goes. I don’t like it one little bit, but I can’t make him see sense.”
    Ernest Hinton recalled a conversation weeks before with his friend Abel Brown in a saloon in Missouri.
    “Her father doted on her—gave her everything she wanted,” he confided to Abel. “I don’t believe he has ever refused her anything.”
    They had just finished the last poker hand, and it had been a good night for Ernest. He was feeling superior and savoring a particularly smooth shot of whiskey.
    “What attracted you to her, Ernest?” Abel asked.
    “You mean aside from the obvious?” Ernest laughed. Abel joined in. Emily was a beautiful woman.
    “I believe it was her spirit. She has always been independent, and that has sometimes been a problem for me. I love that in her, but I don’t quite know how to control it.” He tipped the glass, draining it of the last swallow of the amber liquid.
    Abel masterfully hid his contempt as he listened to his young companion. Aside from Emily’s physical beauty, he admired her fiery spirit that animated her