Alone on the Oregon Trail by Vanessa Carvo Page B

how I was going to sleep in the middle of nowhere with not much to protect me.
    I jumped to my feet and began searching for a better place for me to turn in for the night. I sure was not going to stay there in case more snakes would decide to come down to the river in this direction. I instead wandered around looking for a tree that I could tuck myself up under and I also decided to keep Bailey tied to the tree as well instead of letting him wander and graze as he usually did.
    I could not bear losing him as well, since I had lost everything else. The night was falling quickly and looking around I saw nothing even close to being promising but I had to choose somewhere to lean my head and try to sleep on and off. I knew now that I probably would have to try to sleep during the day, at least some cat naps and travel by night.
    For now I needed to rest and to at least lay down my body so it could rest.
    I managed to find a tree that had enormous leaves and under it was a large pack of leaves that had fallen around it and I chose this spot to try to get some sleep. Taking my bedroll and wrapping myself up in it and then I slid to the ground and leaned my head against the tree and listened to the sounds in the night.
    Bailey stood beside me all night long and never did lie down as if he was keeping guard over me, and it was much appreciated.
    Come morning, things were quiet and I could hear each bird as its wings would swish through the air and I could hear where its landing spots were above me. At times I could hear their tiny babies as they would chirp in their nests and this brought me back to the beauty of the wild as I lay under the tree listening.
    At some point during the night I had relaxed enough to allow myself to lay my body down completely and I was amazed that there weren’t insects crawling all over me. It was a very peaceful sleep and I didn’t wake up once.
    Now that it was morning I knew that I was facing terrible consequences if I ran out of food and water and I grabbed my gun and a few bullets and I at once set out to hunt. I had some deer meat and jerky as well in my saddle bag, but I knew it would not last forever and so I needed to add to my stock.
    I grabbed Bailey’s reins and led him along with me, not even considering leaving him behind anywhere. I wanted to be sure to keep him safe.
    We had walked for quite some time before I saw any large animals and I finally had to give in and focus on smaller ones. As I raised the gun, pointing at a small rabbit, the tears were rolling down my face as I pulled the trigger. It was the hardest thing I had to do since I had to take care of Nathaniel’s leg and I sat and looked at that bunny for a while before I allowed myself to clean and dress it.
    The job was done and the meat was preserved and set in my saddle bag for a later time. I then rode Bailey out to a pasture that was rich for him and sat while he grazed a while. This is how we would do things from now on, side by side and never apart. I knew I probably needed him more than he needed me, but he needed me for companionship, that was for sure.
    He seemed to be very sad since we lost Brittany and my heart broke for him just as my heart broke over Nathaniel. It is a hard thing to do, to watch someone in pain over losing a loved one, and animals are no different.
    He began lying around a lot and that was worrying me.
    I was not used to seeing him lay down in the middle of the day so much. Every time we would stop for a rest, he would lay down. I was confused on how much time I should spend traveling for his sake and he seemed so tired. I did not want to be on the trail any longer than we had to be, so I kept trying to push him to get up and have the energy it took.
    Traveling at night was slow and we did not get very far, so our travel was mostly by day. I would stop and allow him to graze a couple times a day and then let him graze early evening when we would stop for the night. I did all my eating by day as I