Read Online What the Heart Wants by Marie Caron - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Marie Caron
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the wide expanse of water. Where was Papa?
“Samantha, it’s your wagon!” Cassie cried as she grabbed my arm.
“Oh, no, Papa!” I gasped, shading my eyes from the sunlight glinting off the water with one hand as I stared in horror. Just then the wagon seemed to stop in midstream. Suddenly the back end swung around, and the oxen were able to get it moving in the right direction again. But their success did not last long. The poor animals seemed to know they were in a life-and-death struggle, one the river was winning. The frightened look in their eyes and their loud bellows as the heavy wagon dragged them backward into the center of the raging current was almost more than I could bear. To keep from screaming, I shoved my fist in my mouth.
“We’re going to lose him!” Captain Baker shouted as he urged his mount back into the swollen river. “Get out there and cut those animals free before they drown!” he yelled. He and two other men jumped from their horses and started swimming toward the floundering wagon.
Tears streaming down my face, I watched helplessly from the bank of the river as Papa struggled to control our frightened team. Elizabeth, who had just climbed down from her wagon, came over and silently put her arm around my waist. Mr. Drummond put his arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders, and I squeezed Cassie’s hand as the four of us stood there together watching the terrifying scene unfold.
The captain and another man had almost reached our wagon when the unthinkable happened; one minute Papa was seated in the wagon, urging the oxen to pull harder. The next minute, the wagon turned on its side and Papa disappeared into the brown, swirling water. As I watched, John dived from his canoe to search for my father under the rolling water. He found him at last and managed to bring him to dry land. But Papa was barely alive, and later that night, his heart gave out, and he died in my arms.
I was devastated. Except for two of our oxen that had managed to swim to safety, I had lost everything…all our belongings and our money. But most of all I had lost the one person who meant the most to me. That afternoon Papa was buried on the windswept prairie beside the river that had taken his life, a simple wooden cross marking his grave. I have no doubt that every person in the wagon train lined up that day to offer me their condolences, but my mind was in such a dark place that I couldn’t even voice my gratitude. I felt angry, and my anger dried my tears. On the outside I was composed, but on the inside, I was screaming at how terribly wrong this was. It wasn’t fair that Papa should be taken now before he’d had a chance to enjoy his retirement or see me happily wed or see his grandchildren. Our fellow travelers had known Jacob Collins as an honest and dependable man, a useful part of the group, but no one knew what a wonderful, caring father he had been…no one but me. The women tried to get me to eat something, but I had no appetite. My chest hurt from crying, and my stomach seemed to be tied in knots.
“Come on, honey, you’re riding with us,” Elizabeth told me, but only a small part of me heard her, and she had to take my arm to get me moving toward her wagon. My heart hurt with the pain of my loss. No one had meant more to me than Papa.
With nothing left to me but the friendships I had developed along the way, I was determined to carry on. Even though she had offered to let me ride in her wagon, I couldn’t expect Elizabeth to take me in indefinitely. After all, she had a daughter to raise. As a single woman, I would have to make my way alone in a man’s world, and there were only a few options open to me. I could, of course, marry Thomas Parker regardless of whether or not I loved him, but that option left me feeling even more depressed. The possibility that I might feel a romantic love for the man was something I simply could not imagine; he was so much older than me. So what else was open to me? I
“Samantha, it’s your wagon!” Cassie cried as she grabbed my arm.
“Oh, no, Papa!” I gasped, shading my eyes from the sunlight glinting off the water with one hand as I stared in horror. Just then the wagon seemed to stop in midstream. Suddenly the back end swung around, and the oxen were able to get it moving in the right direction again. But their success did not last long. The poor animals seemed to know they were in a life-and-death struggle, one the river was winning. The frightened look in their eyes and their loud bellows as the heavy wagon dragged them backward into the center of the raging current was almost more than I could bear. To keep from screaming, I shoved my fist in my mouth.
“We’re going to lose him!” Captain Baker shouted as he urged his mount back into the swollen river. “Get out there and cut those animals free before they drown!” he yelled. He and two other men jumped from their horses and started swimming toward the floundering wagon.
Tears streaming down my face, I watched helplessly from the bank of the river as Papa struggled to control our frightened team. Elizabeth, who had just climbed down from her wagon, came over and silently put her arm around my waist. Mr. Drummond put his arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders, and I squeezed Cassie’s hand as the four of us stood there together watching the terrifying scene unfold.
The captain and another man had almost reached our wagon when the unthinkable happened; one minute Papa was seated in the wagon, urging the oxen to pull harder. The next minute, the wagon turned on its side and Papa disappeared into the brown, swirling water. As I watched, John dived from his canoe to search for my father under the rolling water. He found him at last and managed to bring him to dry land. But Papa was barely alive, and later that night, his heart gave out, and he died in my arms.
I was devastated. Except for two of our oxen that had managed to swim to safety, I had lost everything…all our belongings and our money. But most of all I had lost the one person who meant the most to me. That afternoon Papa was buried on the windswept prairie beside the river that had taken his life, a simple wooden cross marking his grave. I have no doubt that every person in the wagon train lined up that day to offer me their condolences, but my mind was in such a dark place that I couldn’t even voice my gratitude. I felt angry, and my anger dried my tears. On the outside I was composed, but on the inside, I was screaming at how terribly wrong this was. It wasn’t fair that Papa should be taken now before he’d had a chance to enjoy his retirement or see me happily wed or see his grandchildren. Our fellow travelers had known Jacob Collins as an honest and dependable man, a useful part of the group, but no one knew what a wonderful, caring father he had been…no one but me. The women tried to get me to eat something, but I had no appetite. My chest hurt from crying, and my stomach seemed to be tied in knots.
“Come on, honey, you’re riding with us,” Elizabeth told me, but only a small part of me heard her, and she had to take my arm to get me moving toward her wagon. My heart hurt with the pain of my loss. No one had meant more to me than Papa.
With nothing left to me but the friendships I had developed along the way, I was determined to carry on. Even though she had offered to let me ride in her wagon, I couldn’t expect Elizabeth to take me in indefinitely. After all, she had a daughter to raise. As a single woman, I would have to make my way alone in a man’s world, and there were only a few options open to me. I could, of course, marry Thomas Parker regardless of whether or not I loved him, but that option left me feeling even more depressed. The possibility that I might feel a romantic love for the man was something I simply could not imagine; he was so much older than me. So what else was open to me? I
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