East. She’d had her first glimpse of antelope and had even heard wolves howling during the night—thankfully at a distance.
Everything is so different here
, Amanda thought as a shudder coursed through her tired body. Tears streamed down her face, and she looked toward heaven. “Dear Lord, hast Thou brought me this far, only to abandon me now? Wilt Thou allow me to die out here in the wilderness alone?”
A sob erupted from Amanda’s throat. She couldn’t remember ever feeling such despair. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but sleep would not come. She wondered if the bear cubs would return. What if, this time, the mother bear was with them? In New York, where black bears were numerous in the mountains, people were always warned never to confront or get between a mother bear and her cubs. That was when they were the most vicious and had no fear of showing rage to protect their young. Amanda knew the cubs that had raided her campsite were black bears. While a black bear was something to be on guard for, her worse fear was that she might encounter a giant grizzly along the way.
As if there couldn’t be one more thing to make the situation even more difficult, the sound of thunder rumbled in the distance, and raindrops followed.
Another spring storm?
Amanda shivered.
I wonder what kind of wrath this one will bring
.
C HAPTER 7
F or five days, Amanda sat in the same place, waiting for the rain to stop and pleading with God to send her some help, but to no avail. The small lean-to she’d managed to erect had blown over in the wind and had done little to protect her from the relentless rain. The weight of the water had completely saturated her father’s hat. She’d been hot and sweaty one minute, and chilled to the bone the next. If the rain didn’t stop soon, she’d be completely water-logged. Amanda no longer wore her dress, just Papa’s shirt and trousers. She’d put all her soiled dresses inside her valise. She was sure that she looked more like a drowned kitten than a prim and proper Quaker woman. No matter how hard she tried, she seemed unable to get dried off or warmed up. Her lips were numb, her teeth chattered hopelessly, and her arms and legs were stiff and achy from holding them so tightly against her body for whatever warmth she could muster.
The horses and mules seemed to be managing, as they drank from the nearby stream and ate grass and leaves from the rain-soaked bushes. Amanda got water from the same stream, but her food supply continued to dwindle. What made it worse was that she couldn’t build a fire to get warm or cook the dried meat. Although she knew how to use the piece of flint in Harvey’s pack, the logs and branches were too wet to ignite. Over the past couple of days, she had developed a horrible cough that caused her sides to ache. Her throat felt raw and swollen. Never before had she suffered such a bone-wrenching weariness.
Feeling light-headed and exhausted beyond belief, Amanda sat with a blanket over her head under the branches of a tree, praying for a miracle, and fearful that none would come. For the last couple of hours, she hadn’t been able to stop the strange images she’d begun seeing—no doubt brought on by her increasing weakness. Once, she’d become almost jubilant when she thought she’d seen a covered wagon approaching. As she’d reached out her hand to a smiling woman and her family, they suddenly vanished, making Amanda realize they were never there.
Another time, she’d seen an Indian approach, alone and riding bareback on his painted pony. In Amanda’s desperation, even an Indian would be unexpectedly inviting. But that illusion turned out to be just like the last, disappearing as fast as it had come.
Amanda’s last hallucination was the worst of all, when she’d thought a pack of wolves had surrounded her, ready to pounce. She sat frozen with fear.
Amanda knew she was sick and needed medical attention, but that wasn’t going to
Everything is so different here
, Amanda thought as a shudder coursed through her tired body. Tears streamed down her face, and she looked toward heaven. “Dear Lord, hast Thou brought me this far, only to abandon me now? Wilt Thou allow me to die out here in the wilderness alone?”
A sob erupted from Amanda’s throat. She couldn’t remember ever feeling such despair. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but sleep would not come. She wondered if the bear cubs would return. What if, this time, the mother bear was with them? In New York, where black bears were numerous in the mountains, people were always warned never to confront or get between a mother bear and her cubs. That was when they were the most vicious and had no fear of showing rage to protect their young. Amanda knew the cubs that had raided her campsite were black bears. While a black bear was something to be on guard for, her worse fear was that she might encounter a giant grizzly along the way.
As if there couldn’t be one more thing to make the situation even more difficult, the sound of thunder rumbled in the distance, and raindrops followed.
Another spring storm?
Amanda shivered.
I wonder what kind of wrath this one will bring
.
C HAPTER 7
F or five days, Amanda sat in the same place, waiting for the rain to stop and pleading with God to send her some help, but to no avail. The small lean-to she’d managed to erect had blown over in the wind and had done little to protect her from the relentless rain. The weight of the water had completely saturated her father’s hat. She’d been hot and sweaty one minute, and chilled to the bone the next. If the rain didn’t stop soon, she’d be completely water-logged. Amanda no longer wore her dress, just Papa’s shirt and trousers. She’d put all her soiled dresses inside her valise. She was sure that she looked more like a drowned kitten than a prim and proper Quaker woman. No matter how hard she tried, she seemed unable to get dried off or warmed up. Her lips were numb, her teeth chattered hopelessly, and her arms and legs were stiff and achy from holding them so tightly against her body for whatever warmth she could muster.
The horses and mules seemed to be managing, as they drank from the nearby stream and ate grass and leaves from the rain-soaked bushes. Amanda got water from the same stream, but her food supply continued to dwindle. What made it worse was that she couldn’t build a fire to get warm or cook the dried meat. Although she knew how to use the piece of flint in Harvey’s pack, the logs and branches were too wet to ignite. Over the past couple of days, she had developed a horrible cough that caused her sides to ache. Her throat felt raw and swollen. Never before had she suffered such a bone-wrenching weariness.
Feeling light-headed and exhausted beyond belief, Amanda sat with a blanket over her head under the branches of a tree, praying for a miracle, and fearful that none would come. For the last couple of hours, she hadn’t been able to stop the strange images she’d begun seeing—no doubt brought on by her increasing weakness. Once, she’d become almost jubilant when she thought she’d seen a covered wagon approaching. As she’d reached out her hand to a smiling woman and her family, they suddenly vanished, making Amanda realize they were never there.
Another time, she’d seen an Indian approach, alone and riding bareback on his painted pony. In Amanda’s desperation, even an Indian would be unexpectedly inviting. But that illusion turned out to be just like the last, disappearing as fast as it had come.
Amanda’s last hallucination was the worst of all, when she’d thought a pack of wolves had surrounded her, ready to pounce. She sat frozen with fear.
Amanda knew she was sick and needed medical attention, but that wasn’t going to
Similar Books
