knew he had given Thomas the money. He was certain of that! Who would believe the word of a crazy man though? He had almost waited too late after all. It was like a horse kicking him in the guts that afternoon when he had heard about Carrie Carpenter. Her body had been found that morning but Lilly had spoken of it the night before. It fairly gave him a case of goose bumps like he had never had in his life!
Lilly had said their Jessi was in the same kind of danger. That is why he had decided to move west. Get Jess away from the danger. Now he suspected they were in the company of that danger. Lilly had said 'unspeakable monster' and John at the time had thought she meant in regards to the farm and money, now he was convinced that she meant far worse than that where Thomas was concerned. If it was, Thomas. He couldn't prove that either. Not yet. However, he was sure going to watch every move the man made, especially around Jessica.
John wasn't impressed with Thomas' judgment about this wagon train either. Thomas had assured him that the wagon master was highly experienced and had led at least five other trains West. He hadn't bothered to find out the man was now a drunk and that the route he had told them yesterday they were going to be taking had been traveled by mountain men, trappers and so forth, but never a wagon train. John brought himself from his thoughts and looked again at his daughter. She had no idea how beautiful she was. That hair of hers had made more than one person stop and look, if those green eyes hadn't already made them stop in their tracks. She was such a tender hearted little thing too. Yet she could be a wild cat if you crossed her wrong, or worse yet somebody she cared about. There was no doubt in his mind she would fight to the death for someone she loved and with no thought to herself.
She was smart too. Damned smart. He was convinced that there was nothing she couldn't do if she set her mind to it. He thought about the way she had taken over the farm when he had 'deserted' them and felt love and pride swell in his chest. This girl was special, and he didn't think that just because she was his daughter. She was accomplished, well accomplished in so many areas. Her artistic ability was impressive to say the least. He knew her to be a natural at the healing arts, he had seen her in action many times and knew she was gifted with the ill and injured.
Then there was just Jessica herself. Yes, she did have intelligence, a quick wit and a mischievous sense of humor to boot, but it was more than all those things, far more. She was such a warm hearted caring person, she genuinely cared about people. She had far too much given to her by the Good Lord to throw it away on the likes of Thomas, even if Thomas were not the criminal deviate that John was convinced that he was, he still was not the man for Jessica.
This morning he had been looking through her sketch book. She was good, he knew that, he had seen enough art work to know what was good and what was strictly amateur. Lately she had been especially interested in plants and wildlife on the trail and had catalogued a great many. She had one sketch book full of plants. She had carefully detailed information about many of the plants used for healing and knew them well. Lilly had sent for several books on healing and medicinal herbs and Jessica had devoured the information in them, and had used them more than once with great success.
Why the farm hands would not let anyone near them if they were hurt except her. The only time they would let the doctor be called was when Jess herself would tell them that they had to see him. Lilly had been turned toward the healing gift too, but it was her own mother, Jessica's Grandmother, that really possessed a true skill and talent for it. She was the doctor for her entire settlement. Maybe she didn't go to school for it or do anything formal to earn a degree, but nonetheless she was a natural born doctor. Being a woman though, she was called a midwife, although a truer doctor never was born.
Jess only had one real fault that he could see, and there were a good many times that it couldn't even be called a real fault. She was stubborn and self-willed. He knew that her stubborn determination had been what had seen her through all the sorrow and trouble since Lilly had left. So, even her faults had their good aspects he mused. I am not just being a doting father he thought, I know for a fact that this girl has more to her than most. Too damned much to be wasted on Thomas! There was absolutely no doubt in his mind about that. No, his Jess deserved a good man, one that is honorable and decent, with a good heart. Not a description of Thomas by any means.
“Papa, do I have dirt on my face or something?”
“No, Little Cat, I was just admiring how pretty you are, and as a matter of fact thinking how smart you are.”
“Oh Papa, don't be so silly, you know that you're just partial because I happen to be your one and only daughter.”
“Now while I may admit to being partial, I don't think that it’s clouded my vision or my opinions too awfully bad. It’s true, you are a beauty whether you know it or not.”
“Well, I may be passable, but the beauty here is the countryside Papa. You should be looking at it and not me. Why you can look at me anytime!”
“If you really think that is the way of it, then I guess I will have to just keep one eye on the scenery and one on you, and then I can be doubly pleasured.”
“Oh Papa, really! Anyway, I am already doubly enjoying it. This may sound strange to you but ever since we started out on this wagon train it’s been like I've been going to a place that I've always been meant to go. Like, I have been looking for something, oh, like, I am looking for home, I know it sounds strange. But I am certain when I see this place I will just know it is home. I almost feel like I am yearning for it. I seem to hardly be able to remember what the farm looked like already, as though that was just a temporary place, not really the home of my heart. But how could that be when that is where Mama was? Does it sound like I have been out in the sun for too long and become fanciful?”
“It may surprise you, but I know just what you mean because Lilly and I felt the same way. That's when we moved from back east. I guess you didn't know that we had never intended to stop when we did, no, we wanted the mountains, like a yearning. But your Mama found that Tommy was on the way and I didn't want her to travel all that way, so we settled back at the farm. We were happy there, you know that. But we never quite got the mountains out of our minds. We thought we had a lot of life before us, and planned on moving sooner or later. As it is I just feel like I am continuing the journey we started.”
“How long before we see the mountains, Papa? I mean real mountains, not these foothills, not that I don't like them too.”
“It will be a while yet before we see the big ones.” He said, smiling at her.
“Tommy said his friend told him that we will be at Ft. Yates in a day or two. Do you think we will spend a while there?”
“Hard to say the way old Larson is pushing us. I have heard some of the folks say that we are covering a lot more ground per day than most trains do. I know we are supposed to pick up two more scouts at the forts.”
“Indian scouts, is what I heard. That scares me, Papa.”
“I wouldn't be overly concerned right now, Jess. Right now we have treaties with the Sioux, and there have been no problems reported in a while now. We are going to be traveling the Missouri River, and there are forts along the way clear over to the Yellowstone River, and I haven't heard too much about what's beyond. I am sure the closer we get the more we will start hearing.”
That evening Thomas left the Ferrall camp more than a little frustrated. Jessica had damn near ignored him. He wasn't going to take much more of this from her. He had told her there was no reason they couldn't get married at Ft. Yates. All she had said is she wasn't ready to get married yet. Why couldn't he just wait until they finished the trip she had asked? He had told her if that is how she felt maybe they should call the whole thing off. The little bitch looked him right in the eye and told him since he felt that way about it, she
