Read Online White Wolf by Susan Edwards - Free Book Online

understand?”
    Jessie glanced over at Rook. It was his sly wink that gave her the courage to answer with a snappy, “Yes, sir.” With that, she bolted out the door.
    Tuesday morning arrived, bringing with it clear blue skies, warm temperatures and lilting song as sparrows frolicked in the oak trees and swooped down to investigate the half-packed wagon. Standing on the porch of the small whitewashed farmhouse, Jessie watched Jeremy roll a barrel of rice into position. The wagon shifted and creaked under his movements. He straightened and smacked into one of the hickory slats arching from one side to the other. Rolling her eyes, she called out, “Duck, Jeremy. I swear, that’s the tenth time you’ve done that!”
    He scowled at her. “Don’t see why we can’t just take these off and put them back on when we’re ready to put the cover on.”
    Jessie shook her head and tromped down the porch steps. She handed her brother a small trunk containing her mother’s flow-blue china. He tucked it beneath a rocking chair and arranged a quilt-wrapped clock beside it. Satisfied that her mother’s dishes and clock were securely packed, she returned to the house for another load. Each trip through the lived-in rooms brought a lump to her throat. Her emotions seesawed. So many memories—of home, childhood and her parents—were being left behind for new beginnings in a land that promised richer tomorrows.
    Clutching the family Bible to her breast, she left the house. Staring into the back of the nearly filled wagon, Jesse let hopes and dreams fill her heart and mind. Eager anticipation of the adventurous journey gripped her and left her breathless. She leaned against the side of the wagon while visions of the green grass lining the fertile Willamette Valley permeated her mind. Her lipscurved upward as she imagined a rough log-cabin house with her ma’s old rocking chair in front of a warm fireplace.
    Jessie’s smile grew wistful. It had taken her and her brothers nearly the whole winter to pare down what each family member considered essential to take to Oregon, but there’d been no question of whether the chair went or not. They all held dear to their heart the sweet memories of Mary Jones rocking the evenings away in front of the fire with her sewing in her lap.
    Glancing down at the porch, she spied her meager pile of personal possessions: a small trunk that held a few of her favorite books, an old rag doll and her spare changes of clothing. Lying on top of the trunk, her new journal beckoned—a gift from Mrs. Bettencourt, the old schoolmarm she’d occasionally helped out. Jessie knelt and opened the leather-bound book. Staring at the pristine white pages, her fingers itched to fill each page with her thoughts and images of her overland experience.
    Heavy footsteps and an impatient voice shook her from her musings. “Jess, start gathering whatever we need from the kitchen. Remember, only the bare essentials,” James ordered.
    Jessie’s stomach knotted into a hard, painful mass under James’s icy green glare. He strode toward the barn without another word. Her earlier excitement fled. James was still all horns and rattles. She grimaced, remembering the ugly scene between them when he’d arrived home on Saturday. He’d ordered her to change into a dress and return to town with him right then to confess the truth to Wolf.
    She’d refused. Rook was right: Wolf’s having mistaken her for a boy was meant to be. A way had opened up for her to go to Oregon. Besides, the thought of appearing before Wolf in the one ugly dress she owned was unthinkable.
    Leaving the porch, she dug the toe of one boot into the hard-packed earth, loosening a large rock. Kicking it, she heard it bounce off the porch siding.
    An arm slipped around her shoulders. “For what it’s worth, Jess, I’m glad you’re going with us. So is Jordan.”
    Jessie looked up at Jeremy and drew a measure of comfort from the understanding in his pale green eyes.