Alone on the Oregon Trail by Vanessa Carvo

find my own way out here on the prairies. I am praying I find good Christian people who will understand what I have been through and be willing to allow me to stay long enough to get back on my feet.
    Those days are around the corner just like Nathaniel used to say “autumn is just around the corner Brooklyn, can’t you see it?”

Chapter Four
    (Whispering Pines)
    I had grown to think that the scare with the snakes might be one of my worst encounters, but I had not known what I would be facing on a Sabbath morning as I was cooking a sweet meal to spend time with the Lord in the quiet.
    As I was taking some meat off the fire I heard what sounded like men talking out in the woods just directly across from where I was sitting. I had left my shotgun in the wagon and I was not even sure I had enough time to get back to it.
    I sat in shock for a moment or two and then I was able to rise up and head back to the wagon. I was too afraid to turn my back to the sounds so I began backing up slowly toward the wagon. As I was backing up, my foot tripped upon a rock that was sitting on the ground and I tumbled over onto the ground.
    When I landed my back was to the woods and I was sure that whoever it was would be on top of me before I could get to the gun. To my surprise, no one was there. I grabbed the gun and just stood behind the wagon for a long time waiting and watching for someone to come out of the woods.
    There was nothing moving, but I could feel a presence near me and it scared me more by the minute. The wind was beginning to kick up and the sounds of the breeze began to drown out the sounds I was hearing from the woods. This scared me more because I felt safer if I could hear what was out there.
    As I stood and listened, the wind began blowing through the tops of the pines and they seemed to be whispering to me. The sound scared me that much more because of the creepiness of the whispers. As I knelt down next to the wagon the sounds were beginning to sound like words and the next thing I knew it was sounding like they were whispering my name, and it did not sound comforting.
    I began wondering if it was instead the voices of the men that I believed were in the woods and they were taunting me. This went on for hours so I stayed fairly tense the entire time and by the time things began to settle down, my whole body ached from remaining so stiff for so long.
    The horses seemed to sense this as well and it kept them on alert the whole time and this scared me that much more.
    I never did figure out what the noises were in the woods that sounded like men’s voices, but I figured that because of my fear, the wind in the trees that sounded like it was whispering my name had to be my imagination. I did not sleep a wink that night because of it all and the next day I was so tired that I had to pull over under some shady trees to take cat naps off and on.
    That was one of the scariest times for me on the trail because it was the first time I ever thought I was coming into contact with other human beings and if they were hiding then I knew it could not be a good thing.
    As I traveled along in this area for probably another fifteen miles, the pines seemed to whisper all the way. I heard the sounds for a long while and when I finally managed to get further away from the pines, my nerves began to settle.
    It was very eerie and I would not want to go back through that again. The experience with the snakes and even the mama bear did not scare me as much as those whispering pines.

Chapter Five
    (A River’s Rage)
    I had been out on this old trail for around five months with my husband and by myself as well. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever come out of the wilds. He had already told me what to look for so I would know that prairie land was going to look much sweeter when I finally came out of the dark pine forests and long lonesome trails, and I was continually watching for the signs.
    I had not seen any cut off roads yet that looked