And Should We Die: February 13, 2011

"Brother Martin?” someone asked, "How far is it from Iowa City to the Valley?"
Martin hesitated and Rose wondered.
Afraid to say?
Martin continued,
"I believe the figure is close to one thousand three hundred miles."
There were more than a few gasps and mutterings
but Martin had prepared for this,
"You have looked upon the journey all in a lump!
You are going to divide those miles
into perhaps seventy five or eighty smaller daily chunks.

Rose was surprised at how easily
the cart with its high wheels rolled
as she and Abigail squeezed themselves
inside the pull space and stepped forward.
"Aren't you glad the land is flat, Mama?
See how our feet sink a little bit into the soil?"
"Yes. They tell me that our advantage of flat land
is offset by the soft walking,
but that when the ground gets hard
and we leave the plains
the land will rise upward into the great mountains.
We'll make no better time
because of the need for constant pulling."
Rose found herself already puffing from her exertion.

"If you was my wife and Rose was my daughter,
- both of you meanin more to me
than anything else in this world -
I'd make you stay in Florence until spring."
Abigail shook her head.
"But why, Jacob? Surely the Lord -"
"Surely the Lord helps them
who help themselves,
including thinkin straight about danger.
You ain't seen what's waitin fer ya
at the end of the prairie.
You still got to climb
a lot of mountain passes ladies,
an more'n a few
are more than a mile high.
You want to try that in a snowstorm?"
Abigail's response was stubborn,
"I can't believe that.
Snow that early?"
"Hell yes!
And I don't mean just higher up.
In late fall
even the lower passes might have snow.
Let's say you get out of
Florence within the week.
The trip from Florence to
the Salt Lake Valley
is maybe seventy five days.
October is only thirty days away
You'll still be
on the plains in thirty days.
I'd sure as hell keep my women
off the road through to next spring
if I wanted to be sure
I'd ever hold em close agin!"

Rose's Journal:
"Captain Martin has ordered our rations cut
from a pound to three-fourths pound
of flour per person per day.
And COLD!
Jacob was right.
Elder Savage knew what he was talking about.
Mama's and my seventeen pounds of clothing included mostly summer costume.
It is getting much much colder
and harder to sleep at night,
leaving us too tired
to pull during the day.
I'm beginning to worry
...seriously worry.

"Don't you see that what happens
in the next few hours
may very well free or seal
the thinking and path
of the rest of my daughter's life?
... we have got to try!"

And Should We Die

Come Journey With Me

Monday, February 14, 2011

Arthur Ruger featured as Local Author at South Bend Timberland Library