Shattered Trail

Chapter Eight

 The next morning, I allow myself to sleep in later than I ever do. I was so preoccupied with worrisome thoughts last night that I couldn't sleep for a few hours, no matter how hard I tried to lull myself to sleep. Flashes of making a mistake with the Reeds tomorrow kept playing through my head. What if they found about Ada, or Lemuel, so I didn't get the job? And of course, the threat of Lemuel appearing in the middle of the night didn't help, either.

I roll out of bed about three hours after I usually get up, and to my surprise, I actually feel refreshed. Once I fell asleep, I must have stayed asleep, because now I'm filled with energy. I bounce around a few times to calm myself down, and then I eat a small slice of thick, brown bread. I just made it three days ago, but already I'm tired of the dry, crumbling loaf. But I still have several loaves I need to finish before I can even think about baking something else. I mash up a single strawberry on top of it and manage to swallow the hunk down. I know I should get used to it, though. We'll be eating the same foods over and over again throughout the entire journey to Oregon.

I take a sip of water to help the bread go down more easily, and then I rinse my hands. Today is going to be a pretty idle day, besides my meeting with the Reeds. I don't want to get sweaty or smelly before coming to their home, so up until the meeting, all I'll be doing is working on a quilt I'm making.

I work all morning and through a bit of the afternoon before setting my quilt aside. Stretching, I make my way to the water bucket, and then to the stream. Upon returning, I take a sponge bath- I try to save real baths for Saturday night only, with the interview being one exception. Then I pull my hair into a knot at the nape of my neck, pat my pale, milky-looking cheeks to give them some color, and then it's time to go. On my way out the door, I grab a quill pen, a small well of ink, and a piece of paper. All of these things are precious items that cost an arm and a leg, so I make sure I only use them on special occasions. I want to take notes today, to make sure that I'll be doing everything correctly on the journey.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see that most of the mud puddles are gone as I walk down the road. Spring has always been my favorite season- it's especially pretty in Markersville, which is surrounded by trees in every direction. I've always loved to see all those trees grow their leaves once again after winter. The tiny buds at the end of the branches were always the prettiest sight in the world to me.

Reality hits me for a second, and with a sharp inhalation, I realize that I'll never again see the buds on the trees in Markersville after this spring- and maybe not even now. We'll need to be starting our journey in April, early May at the latest, and I might be gone before the trees start to grow their leaves. I swallow down a lump in my throat and continue on down the road, trying not to dwell on the fact that I'll never see the place of my childhood again after a few months.

At the bottom of the hill that the Reed's home sits on, I pause a moment to collect myself. Running my hand over my hair to smooth away any stray hairs that may be there, I take a deep breath and rock back and forth on my feet several times to relax.

After I manage to smother the nauseous, nervous feeling I have- even if it's only for a minute- I force myself to march up the driveway and knock politely at the door. In the brief moment that it takes for the door to swing open, I smooth my hair back and straighten my skirts one more time. The door opens just as I'm taking a final, deep breath.

Arthur the butler is standing behind the door again. “Good afternoon, miss,” he says, tipping his head toward me quickly.

I give him the brightest smile I can muster while being this nervous. “Good afternoon. I'm here to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Reed.”

He nods briefly and steps back. “Of course. They're expecting you. Right this way, miss.” He leads me through that remarkable, exquisitely decorated hallway once again before taking me to the room where I met with them before.