Chapter 22

Delia was attentive, but she was also uncoordinated. I probably let her fire fifty shots before the wagons caught up with us and she didn't come within six inches of what she was shooting at from twenty feet away.

When we were discussing the problem over dinner, Mina asked, "Could I try it?"

"I don't see why not," I said.

After we had eaten, I set up a target quite a ways away from camp and showed Mina how to aim. Her first shot was better than Delia's best attempt and by the time she had fired her last one, she was hitting the target every time.

"Could you shoot a man, Mina?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, then she grinned. "Some of them it would give me a lot of pleasure to shoot."

I put my arm around her as we started walking back to camp. "I am so glad we found you guys, Mina. I think I feel as close to you as I would my sister."

Mina smiled at me and said, "We sure are glad you found us too. It still makes me feel a little strange that you treat us like we are as good as you are."

"You are as good as we are," I said as she came to a stop.

"You know, Jud is a good man. He's had to work hard all his life and he was never given a chance to think for himself. He never had to decide about anything in his whole life."

"I know that, Mina. That's one reason I think you guys should stay with us. I think Delia and Dalia will be able to make their own choices after a while, but I don't know if Jud will ever be able to."

"I'm sure that we're going to end up staying with you. As for Delia and Dalia making their own choices, they're already doing that."

I thought I knew what she was talking about, so I changed the subject. "How old are you and Jud, Mina?"

"The best I can figure, I'm either twenty-nine or thirty. We think Jud is around thirty-five."

"You know, when I first saw you at the auction, I'd have guessed you were in your forties. Now, you don't look any older than I do. Jud looks a lot younger too."

"Thank you, Ed," Mina smiled. "You folks have changed us a lot in just over a week. I think all of us are finally realizing that we're not slaves any more."

"You might have to pretend you're slaves for a while longer, but just knowing you aren't should help."

"It does, Ed. It makes a big difference in how we think about ourselves. I think they would have worked Jud to death within five years. Now, he may be alive twenty or thirty years from now. You've given him almost a whole new life."

"I'm just glad we could help, Mina. How old are Delia and Dalia? The papers they gave me say they're fifteen."

"Delia is fifteen. Dalia is really just fourteen."

"They seem awfully grown up for their ages. Sam and Cassie are tickled to death at how smart they are. They say they'll have them reading by the time we get to Missouri."

Delia came walking over to us as we stood there watching the camp. When she came up beside me, I put my arm around her and said, "Delia, your mother is a much better shot than you are. That's not saying anything bad about you. Some people are good shots and some aren't. I think I should let her have the revolver until I think we're safe though."

"I'm sorry, Ed. I wanted to help protect you."

I hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll tell you what. Tomorrow, I'll start teaching you how to shoot a rifle. It should be a lot easier for you to learn to shoot. Then, if we get into a fight, you can help by using the rifle."

Delia brightened up at that. "We have four rifles from those bad men. I could have all four of them loaded and in the back of the wagon."

"That's right, honey. You could be a big help with them."

Delia ran off to tell Sam and Cassie I was going to teach her how to shoot a rifle, so Mina said, "You know she's in love with you, don't you?"

"Yes, I know it, Mina. I love her too. I already have two wives though, so I wouldn't want to tie her down to someone who is so much older than her. I'd rather she find someone who is her own age and who would be hers alone. I think if we just give her time, that she'll find someone closer to her age that she can love."

"Delia thinks, and I agree with her, that having a part of you would be better than having all of someone else. I think that you could bring a thousand men nearer her age around to court her and she won't fall for even one of them. If you can't find it in your heart to take her as a wife, please let her down easy."

"We'll just have to see, Mina. I do love her and so does Sam and Cassie. Let's just give her some time."

When we were in bed that night, I told Sam and Cassie about my conversations with Mina and Delia.

Day 97 - Thursday, August 5, 1847

Jemma, who we were now calling Charlene, helped Mina with breakfast. She hadn't been a cook, so she had a lot to learn. Sam and Cassie helped too.

Andy and I talked about how to handle things if anyone did become too suspicious.

"So, how far do we let them go?" Andy asked. "We've got the bills of sale, so I suppose we let them look at them. What causes us to pull our guns and start shooting?"

"Obviously if they recognize one of the new people would be one reason. Another would be if one of the new people recognized one of them. That one should just make us cautious though, as many of these people wouldn't recognize a slave it they owned him. I think if they left then came back again, it would mean they were suspicious."

"Okay, let's talk to everyone before we take off. We should have a way for them to signal us if they recognize anyone."

We did talk with everyone before we took off and it was agreed that the newcomers would let Delia know if they recognized someone. She would then walk up to the front of the mules and stand there until she saw that everyone had seen her.

We managed to get on the road at a reasonable hour. We hadn't been riding long when Mandy came over beside me on her huge horse. We rode side by side for a few minutes, then she asked, "Could I ride behind you for a while, papa?"

I told her that would be fine, so she climbed over onto Hawk while we were still moving. When she was settled behind me, she put her arms around me and hugged me close. Her horse walked along side of us as if Mandy was still in the saddle.

We must have ridden for nearly a mile when I asked, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I just felt like I wanted to be close to you, papa. The last few days have been crazy and we haven't spent any time together."

"Well, I kind of like spending time with you, love. How are you doing at your lessons?"

"I'm doing real good. I know my ABC's and I can recognize them when they're written down. Cassie says I'm going to be reading soon."

"Good for you. Is Mindy doing okay too?"

"She's not doing as good as I am. That's because she spends most of her time staring at Tommy."

"I'm not too worried about your sister," I said. "I think she'll grow out of her infatuation with Tommy. They're not using their mouths on each other any more, are they?"

"No. I haven't seen them do that for a while." She laid her face against my back and just held on for a while. Mandy really is a sweet little girl.

Eventually, I guess she figured she'd cuddled enough, so she went back to her own horse.

We spent half of the day going up hills and half of the day going down hills. From what I remembered from past/future trips through this part of the country, that's just the way Western Virginia is.

I thought I remembered that West Virginia didn't become a state until the 1860s, so at this point in time, Virginia went all the way to the Ohio River. It was wild, rugged country no matter what you called it.

I tried to talk with the new people some while the women were fixing supper, but I had a hard time of it. All of them would answer direct questions, but none of them seemed to volunteer anything.

When the meal was ready, Delia brought me a plate of food, then brought her own plate and sat down beside me. I looked at Sam and she gave me a smile and sat on the other side of me. She leaned in and whispered, "We're going to try and get the new people to open up a little."

After everyone else had their food, the new people fixed their own plates and started to go off by themselves to eat. "Charlene, Tom, and Jim, please sit and eat with the rest of us," Delia said in a loud voice.

They stopped, but looked hesitant, so Sam said, "Yes, please do."

All three of them were looking down at the ground, but they sat down and began to eat. I had tried talking to them, now Delia gave it a try. She wasn't doing much better with them than I had. Finally, she leaned over and whispered, "I think they're just not used to being around white people. All three of them worked in the fields."

"Maybe after they've been with us for a while, they'll be as brazen as you are," I whispered.

Delia giggled then bumped her shoulder against my arm. "Put your arm around me. Maybe it is better to show them rather than just telling them."

"You just want me to put my arm around you," I said with a grin as I complied with her request.

Delia giggled again. It was good to hear her laugh. I don't imagine there were many times she had laughed while she was a slave. She snuggled in beside me and then looked into my eyes and nodded.

"How is this supposed to prove anything to them? I understand that white men frequently took slave women whenever they wanted."

"They did, but they never hugged or kissed them."

"I suppose next you'll be wanting a kiss?"

Delia grinned and nodded.

I leaned over to Sam and whispered, "Delia asked me to put my arm around her to show the new people we thought of the blacks as equals. Now, she wants a kiss."

"Then kiss her. I'm pretty sure she wanted the hug and kiss for reasons other than what she said though. You know that Cassie and I are okay with accepting Delia into our family, if you want to go that far," Sam whispered.

I turned back to Delia and pulled her into a long, loving kiss. I heard Charlene gasp as mine and Delia's lips touched. I don't know what I expected, but the kiss turned into a lot more than I had planned. Yes, it was loving, but there was an underlying passion there that I couldn't ignore. Maybe Sam and Cassie were right.

Day 98 - Friday, August 6, 1847

We had breakfast and got on the road early. It looked like it was going to be another day like yesterday. Hills, hills and more hills. The people in this area called them mountains.

After a while, I noticed Charlene and Mina in a serious conversation on the wagon box. It went on for quite some time and I could only guess it had something to do with the kiss I shared with Delia the night before.