“Good morning to you too.” Del set the pot of water on to heat as well as the coffee. She turned to smile at her older sister.
Lark nodded. “Point taken.”
“Good morning,” Forsythia said around a yawn. “I checked on our patient during the night, and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. I thought I’d make some gruel with that chicken broth and feed her that. See if she can keep it down. I’ll make up more of the herbal tea too.”
“We’re having mush for breakfast. Lilac is out checking the snares. It makes me dream of fried rabbit for supper, and I’m setting beans to soak. Should have done that yesterday.” Del tried to cover a yawn. She nodded toward the other wagon.
Lark turned and nodded to Mr. Durham, who was approaching. “Good morning.”
“I’ve come to tell you my wife and I want to travel with you today.”
Lark nodded. Good. “Breakfast will be ready soon. I’m going to water our teams, then yoke them up. You need some help?”
“That’d be appreciated. Do yours first, then mine?”
Lilac strode into camp holding two rabbit carcasses and set to dressing them. “We’ll eat good tonight.”
Both spans were yoked up when Del announced breakfast. The rabbits were dressed and wrapped in a cloth, Mrs. Durham was taken care of, and Forsythia had brought Robbie, bouncing and chattering along, back to the wagon with her.
Del dished up the mush and drizzled a dab of molasses on each bowl before handing them around. “Sythia, you want to say grace?”
“Lord, thank you for always being with us. Please bless this food to our bodies and the hands that made it. Amen.”
When they finished eating, Lilac and Robbie scrubbed the bowls in the river. They returned with Robbie even bouncier than before.
“We saw a duck and her babies! Ma needs to see the babies. She likes any kind of babies.”
Lilac squatted down beside him and said softly, “Baby ducks are called ducklings.”
“Ducks and ducklings.”
“That’s right.”
“Show Ma?”
“You’ll have to tell her about them.” Lilac stood and ruffled his hair.
When they were ready to travel, Lark paused as she stepped up to the bench seat. “You goin’ to ride Starbright?” she asked her youngest sister.
Lilac grinned back at her. “Of course. Come on, Robbie, you can ride with me.”
She mounted, and Del lifted the boy up to sit in front of her and patted his knee. Lark hupped the oxen and headed south on the trail worn into a road. Mr. Durham waited for the dust to settle and then followed them.
Lark exhaled. It’s good to be moving again.
“Is she awake?” Lilac asked softly, riding Starbright near the tailgate of the Durhams’ wagon. “Robbie wants to say hello.”
Forsythia nodded. “Come on, Alice, I’ll help you sit up.” She braced her weak patient with her knees. “I’ve got you.”
“Hey, Ma, Lilac and me are riding Starbright,” Robbie crowed.
“I see that.” She blew him a kiss.
“We saw a mama duck and her . . .” He grinned up at Lilac. “And her ducklings swimming behind her.”
His mother nodded and blew out a weary breath. “I’ll . . . see you . . . later.”
Forsythia smiled at the little boy and gently settled her patient back on the pallet. She picked up the guitar she’d brought with her that morning. “I think we need some music here. Do you like to sing, Robbie?”
“Uh-huh. Ma sings lots.”
“Oh good.” While she spoke, Forsythia plucked at the guitar strings. “How about ‘Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing’?”
Miles down the road, when they paused for much-needed refreshment for animals and people alike, Lilac clutched Robbie’s hand while he slid down to the ground and then dismounted herself. With no trees around, only the wagons offered shade. The oxen stamped and swished their tails against the flies, and the humans drank water from the barrels on the sides of the wagons, stretching and moving around.
Lark and Mr. Durham filled water buckets and gave each animal a short drink, then checked hooves and under the yokes to make sure no sores were developing.
“Why don’t I take your place with Alice and you ride?” Lilac suggested to Forsythia.
Forsythia nodded. “Thank you. She’s sleeping much of the time. When she wakes, I help her drink right away.”
“I’ll do the same.” Lilac dropped her voice. “Is she worse?”
Shaking her head, Forsythia pondered. “She’s keeping everything down, so she’s not worse, just terribly weak. But she’s more aware when she’s awake now. She says she’s thirsty.”
“I’ll get my bag.”
Forsythia shaded her eyes with her hand and looked back the direction they’d come. “Someone’s coming. It looks like a buggy.”
The driver pulled his team to a halt. “Good day, folks. Headin’ west?”
Lark nodded and smiled at the well-dressed woman seated behind the man with the reins. “Good day, ma’am.”
“Where are you heading?” she asked, her stylish hat nearly hiding her eyes.
“Independence, Missouri, hopefully in time to meet up with a wagon train heading to Oregon.”
She nodded. “I see. You should be there in two or three more days. If you need more water or supplies, we have a mercantile about two miles ahead that has helped outfit many wagons. We have a place with trees where you can camp, too, and a well for water.”
“Why, thank you, ma’am. Do you by any chance have a doctor in your town?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but we’re still looking for one to open a practice in our town. Doctors are scarcer than turtle teeth out here.”
“Ma’am.” The driver turned slightly.
“Yes, almost ready.” She looked back at Lark, shaking her head and setting the red flower on her hat bobbing. The feather matched the color of her ensemble, as did her gloves. “I hope you decide to stay over, even a day or two.”
Lark nodded, and the driver flicked the reins to set the buggy off at a trot.
“Will we stop?” Forsythia asked. Her heart leapt at the thought of civilization again, but Lark’s brow furrowed.
“How about you think on what we need
