"Return to Paradise Trail" PART FOUR
Day One: The wagon train experienced little interruption during the first ten miles of our journey on the Paradise Trail. A small spring shower delayed us for a bit. But Mr. Brazos didn't seem to think it would hinder the roads any. Besides, there is enough grassy stretches ahead of us now that we are far enough away from any sort of town or civilization. It's a funny thing now. I thought at first I'd miss my home terribly as the wagons rolled away from it. But now that I seem closer to another place being my home, it doesn't seem that bad any longer. I only pray that this is true. That a good future is indeed ahead and that my imagination is not fooling me yet again. I've been brokenhearted far too many times by my heart's desires. I won't let that happen again if I can help it. That said, I have been trying my best to forgive Mr. Brazos. His actions seemed uncalled for at first. But now I am beginning to see that he only wanted to help me. Molly Mason has been a significant help to me to find my way through this season of grief. Even though I've only known her for a single day, her radiance of spirit and joy of heart has spread to me. And I do believe I am coming out of the doldrums of my past and opening up to a brighter day ahead. Tomorrow is the second day of our long journey. I've only looked at a proper map once and it was enough. To see the lengths we must travel is daunting. But Mr. Brazos…Sam Brazos is a strong, admirable man. If anyone can handle taking us to the West, I believe he can.
Charlotte glanced upward from her pen and page and gazed at the strong pink hues that outlined the distant skyline, forming shadowy shelters across the blank canvas of land ahead as it merged into the night sky. She sighed, propping her elbow on her knee as she placed her fist beneath her chin. She quickly chided herself and eased out of the position with a clearing of her throat as she moved to tuck her journal away beneath the seat of the wagon. She then quickly climbed down from the tall post, her shoes gently packing the grasses down beneath her sturdy shoes as she landed both feet flat on the ground.
"Molly sent me to get you for supper."
Charlotte nearly gasped aloud as she jerked around to see Sam Brazos standing in the shadow of the Mason's Conestoga wagon. She caught herself with a hand against the front wagon wheel while catching her breath. "You startled me," she managed to respond.
Sam gently hung his thumb inside his pocket as his gaze darted from Charlotte to the ground and then back again. "I'm sorry." He then turned to leave, feeling that his presence had disturbed Miss Wilson in every possible way.
"Wait! Don't go." Charlotte extended her hand, a pleading gaze reaching out to him where her hand could not.
Sam stopped midstride, his back still facing her as he thought through her words. He almost continued walking but decided against the notion and slowly turned to face the young woman.
Charlotte relaxed, drawing her hand back to her side and glancing nervously at her feet. "I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize."
Charlotte looked up in time to see Brazos' smile for the first time. By near impulse she too smiled. And they held each other's gaze for what had surely felt like much longer than a few brief seconds. It was the first time they had seen each other smile. And both of them seemed to like what they saw.
"Say," Brazos cleared his throat and tried to force the smile away. But it didn't do much good for him to try. "Would you be against it if I taught you—taught you to shoot?"
Charlotte nearly laughed at such an odd request but held her unwarranted response at bay. "Why would I need to learn that?"
"Because," Sam's voice merged into a stern whisper. "I want you to be able to protect yourself. And…" He couldn't help but smile again. "It would give me a chance to be near you more…and keep my own skills sharp."
"I see." Charlotte's lips clasped another smile together and kept it from coming to the surface entirely. "Can I think about it?"
Sam nodded eagerly. "Of course. Take your time." He glanced passed Charlotte to the horizon they had had yet to traverse. "But I'd feel much better knowing you could handle a rifle as we come to some pretty treacherous territory in the coming days."
Charlotte nodded. "Okay. I'll let you know first thing in the morning."
Sam was just about to issue a goodbye when Molly's bright smile appeared from behind the wagon canvas as she rounded the back of the wagon to where they stood.
"I've been looking all over for you two. Did you get lost, Mr. Brazos?"
"No, ma'am." Brazos tipped his hat to Charlotte with a parting grin as he turned. "I'm going to go see if Mason needs me. I'll be back for supper."
Molly continued to smile as she waited for Sam to disappear out of earshot before she turned to take Charlotte's hands into hers. "What happened?"
Charlotte chuckled at Molly's eagerness as she stifled a smile. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
"Nonsense." Molly relaxed and sighed. "Brazos never smiles." She raised her brows with a forward gaze to the young woman that urged her to tell all.
With a surrendering sigh, Charlotte smiled. "Let's just say that he finally saw me smile."
##
Day Nine: I missed writing in my journal yesterday. I was quite shaken up from a close call we had with an Indian tribe who didn't take very kindly to the fact that the Paradise Trail traveled about a quarter of a mile into their territory. Sam Brazos bravely led the defense against them. No lives were lost. But for the first time I think I felt something I've never felt before. The thought of Sam Brazos dying in that fight nearly made me sick to my stomach. I don't know why. Well, in some ways I do know why. But I'll never admit to myself. At least not just yet. After the Indians retreated, Sam Brazos and a few other men did return back to our campfires with injuries of several sorts. But they all will live. Thanks be to God!
One call from the ladies around the large campfire was all the signal needed to gather most of the camp to the center surrounded by dimming daylight and weather-worn wagons for the evening prayer before supper. Little children skipped a few steps as they sprang to freedom from their chores for the long-anticipated meal. Men released their fresh firewood next to their wagons and shook away the trail dust before joining their womenfolk and children. One or two mothers quietly chided their children for some wayward notion. Yet everyone there managed to reach the large campfire in time to hear their leader lead them in a prayer of thanks to the Almighty for getting them through another day safely across that treacherous land.
Molly Mason took her place by her husband John and smiled over everyone there as she reflected upon her blessings and the protection from the Lord. "Isn't this wonderful, John?"
John Mason glanced to his wife, slipping his hand into hers before also looking over the gathering crowd. "Yes. It is. The Lord is good."
"That he is." Molly raised her eyes just as she saw Sam Brazos arriving in the distance from his afternoon scouting of the road ahead, dismounting his horse with a satisfied mien. She watched as Charlotte Wilson meet him and could tell there were smiles on each of their faces as they fell into step next to each other on their way to the campfire to join the rest of the camp. Molly smiled again. "Yes, the Lord is good indeed."
John Mason caught a glimpse of what had given his wife such a pleasant dispensation and grinned softly before taking his son's hand on his other side and raising his voice in a prayer of thanks and blessing over everyone gathered there and all who they would effect in the days ahead.
##
"We should reach St. Louis by the end of next week if this weather holds." Brazos passed his plate to Molly for another serving of her good cooking as he glanced to John Mason from across the campfire.
Charlotte had long since finished her supper and now gripped a steaming cup of coffee in hand, watching her good friends from around the stone-encircled fire as she looked into the licking flames with a smile that started from within her.
"That's good." John Mason nodded to Brazos as he ate his own supper. "We are on time then?"
Brazos nodded just as Molly handed him back his plate with a smile. He accepted the piping hot item and thanked her before digging into its contents.
"Have—have you ever been to St. Louis, Mr. Brazos?"
Molly turned to Charlotte as she heard the young woman's voice. It was a pleasant change to hear her actually start a conversation with the man whom she had not long ago despised. Molly and John briefly met gazes, the former with a bit of a brighter smile than the latter.
Sam shook his head, raising a soft smile to Charlotte. "No. 'Fraid not." A bit of quiet mingled with various voices and goings-on in the camp before Sam turned to John. "Mason, can you marry folk?"
Charlotte's eyes grew wide and her face a new shade of white as she felt the weight of her coffee cup gently slip from her grip. She panicked, catching the cup in time while her face went from opal-white to beet-red. It took only a few seconds for her to gain her composure but felt like an eternity.
Molly too was stricken with a pale face as she looked from Brazos to her husband and then to Charlotte before turning to Brazos again. "Why do you ask, Sam?"
"Oh, um," Brazos cleared his throat and reached for his coffee cup, taking a sip as he settled back onto the crate. "Someone down the wagon train asked me to ask Mason when I saw him."
John Mason creased his forehead. "Whom?"
Brazos shook off the statement with a shrug of his shoulders. "Just two young folk that don't know any better. I told them so but promised I'd ask anyway."
Molly blinked a few times and clattered a couple of plates together as she stacked them into the wash basin beside her on the ground. "Tommy, sweetheart, don't you have some figures to work on before bedtime?"
Tommy forked in a couple of bites a food in between a couple of groans.
"Finish your supper, Tommy, and get to work. I'll be along directly to help you if you need me."
"You know," Charlotte reached forward and set her nearly empty coffee cup on the iron bars that lined the campfire, "I'll go with him, Molly. I'm rather tired."
"Okay." Molly smiled to Charlotte but nodded and glared to her only son with silent instructions for him to follow.
There was plenty of daylight still highlighting the countryside as Charlotte paused to admire the landscape while Tommy climbed up into the wagon ahead of her. As she gazed towards the distant horizon, she noticed the darkened skies beginning to merge into the previous day it was leaving behind. Hints of nighttime stars and a midnight moon seemed to linger, awaiting its turn to take its place in the skies above them all. The land's golden path was shadowed in twilight, Charlotte noticed, turning to the opposite side to see puffy white clouds still holding their ground over the campsite as if they were refusing to let go and let the next day come.
Charlotte smiled, sighed, and glanced over the other members of the wagon train before she felt Tommy tapping her on the shoulder from behind.
"You coming?"
Charlotte nodded, refusing to admit that the young man had startled her. "Yeah. Um, yes." She allowed a chuckle and removed her wrap, setting it on a stack of books just inside the wagon before she hoisted her beige skirts within her hands and climbed the stepstool up into the wagon to take full advantage of the shelter therein.
"Momma says I need to work on my times tables more. Says I should have them all learned by the time we get home to Paradise Valley. I don't see why. I could learn them just as well there just like I can here. But I suppose she knows best. Although I do find them rather easy. Did you have trouble learning your tables when you was young, Miss Wilson?" Tommy finally glanced up from his string of words and his primer to see Charlotte nearly in a daze, holding open the flap of the wagon and gazing outside. "Miss Wilson?"
"Do you hear that, Tommy?"
Tommy paused and listened. "No, ma'am. Wait…I think I hear Lizzie sneezing. No, wait. Was that a horse?"
Charlotte almost allowed herself to laugh a bit but stopped herself as she sensed something wasn't quite right. "You stay here, Tommy. I'm going to go find Mr. Brazos."
Tommy nodded yet didn't seem very concerned, not even noticing Charlotte as she quickly slipped out of the wagon.
Charlotte didn't have much success at locating Brazos after asking the first couple of families if they had seen him. From there she kicked up her feet and hurried as quickly as she could to the opposite side of the camp. If her guess was right, Brazos would be tending to the livestock with some of the other men, bedding them down for the night.
"There you are," Charlotte smiled as she slowed her step, letting go of her swishing skirts to let her hands settle by her sides. "I've been looking all over for you." She watched as Brazos gave an inaudible instruction to one of the other men before he turned with a smile towards her.
They had nearly reached each other, their eyes meeting in pleasant surprise, when a sudden gunshot rang out above the camp and revealed a group of masked riders in hurried gallop. They charged around a grove of trees in the distance and never stopped. Their hoof beats bounded against the blades of grass as they aimed for the camp side-by-side with guns raised and ready to be set ablaze from a distance.
Although only four men made up the group, their high-pitched cackles struck instant fear into the hearts of everyone still wandering the outskirts of the camp as chaos descended around them.
Sam Brazos was the first man to draw his weapon in the face of the oncoming slaughter. He quickly stepped forward, partially blocking Charlotte as he let three bullets find their target amongst the band of bullies. His eyes narrowed as he stood erect, his arm outstretched, defending the train the best he could as the outlaws drew closer and closer. Two more men of the camp quickly came to Sam's aid, raising rifles in unison to create another tone of fire towards the onslaught.
John Mason was the fourth man to come with gun raised. He quickly traversed the camp, crouching low as he dodged the oncoming bullets in search of a sheltered place to return their fire. Finding such a place behind the wagon wheel of the Conestoga nearest Charlotte and Sam, Mason called to them, raising his voice over the firing to let them know they could fall back.
Brazos kept his aim high but ceased firing for a second as he eased back. "Charlotte! Get behind the wagon!"
Charlotte's eyes narrowed, her face tensing with fear as she hesitated for a moment but finally gave in and ran quickly behind the wagon, throwing herself down on the other side of John Mason.
John Mason lowered himself with a sigh as his gun clicked silently. "Who are these men?"
Charlotte glanced over at Mason with a crooked smile. "I don't think they're supper guests coming to call."
John Mason suppressed a smile and finished reloading his rifle, glancing over to Brazos who dodged bullets from the next wagon on the other side. "I suppose you're right." He then sprang upward in unison with Brazos to release another stream of gunfire.
With the outlaws secluded and sheltered by a nearby grove of trees, the fight continued, leaving nothing but the heart-pounding rhythms of gunfire in its wake with no one winning and no one loosing.
Charlotte watched as Brazos fired repetitively, his eyes ablaze with passion as he defended the camp of innocents. As she crouched within her meager shelter, she began to see the man in yet a different light altogether. Behind his rough exterior was a man who was selfless. Behind his hesitations was a man who could be a warrior. Behind his reserved smiles was a man who found happiness in what he did. Even if it could mean his life.
With a quick glance over Mason's shoulder, Charlotte slowly raised herself upward. As she did so, a gentle cry from behind her drew her gaze. She spun around to see a little baby girl not older than three, wailing at the top of her lungs and wandering across the camp.
Charlotte's face was sheltered with horror as she realized the child would end up in the midst of the crossfire if she only took a few more steps. Without giving it a second thought, Charlotte kicked up her heels as she darted across into the open air and ultimately the line of fire just as the little girl was stepping into it at the same time. She overcame the little girl with her own body, her back to the gunfire as she scooped up the little girl and started back towards Mason.
John Mason quickly set aside his weapon and almost chided Charlotte for her foolishness but took the child from Charlotte's weary arms instead, giving the little girl a fatherly embrace and a promise that they would get her back to her mother's arms as quickly as possible.
In a matter of seconds, all gunfire ceased when the final outlaw fell helplessly to his death.
"Alright! Hold your fire!" Brazos stood up from behind the wagon, holstering his gun as he glanced over to Charlotte standing from the distance. He was busy catching his breath and directing the other men to go tie up the outlaws as he took notice of the little girl's tear-stained cheeks. "Is she okay?"
Taking a small gasp for breath, Charlotte slowly raised her eyes to Sam. A tear streamed down her face as she felt weakness overcome her legs. Her face turned pale as she cringed from the pain, the unfamiliar numbness twisting within her. As she buckled just a bit, Brazos dove forward, catching her in his arms as she finally collapsed. The last thing she remembered was Sam Brazos' strong arms holding her body up from the grasses below them just before she slipped away into unconsciousness.