Chapter 41

Sam: St Joseph, Missouri

Well, Becky is two months old today. It may sound silly, but Delia and I made a big thing out of it. We both spent a lot more time holding her than we normally did.

Becky is a treasure. She's old enough now that she can control her head movements. She loves to grab your finger and hold on for dear life. She also has a smile that lights up my world.

We didn't have any more shootings today, but we did have another family come in. The Tiptons are an early twenties couple with three small kids. We're up to seventeen wagons now. We're almost up to the minimum number we said we'd like to have with us.

Saturday, April 22, 1848

Ed: Day 34 of the Boston to St Joseph trip

I made love to both of my lovely wives before we went to sleep last night and I woke up this morning feeling as good as I had ever felt in my entire life. We kissed and cuddled for a while before getting up.

Sally, Cindi, Su Li and Tina had breakfast almost ready when we got out of our tent. As we were all sitting around eating breakfast, Jason said, "You know, it's the strangest thing. I thought I heard a wildcat squalling last. In fact, I thought I heard two different wildcats squalling."

"You need to be very careful, Jason," Katie said. "Wildcats are ferocious beasts. You should never let them know you're poking fun at them. They might attack and leave scratches all over your body."

All of us got a laugh out of that. Later on, as Sally was riding beside me, she said, "I apologize for Jason's remark this morning. I'll have a talk with him about it."

"Sally, please don't say anything to Jason. There's no need for an apology. He was teasing Cassie and Kate and they weren't offended by it. They gave back just as good as they got."

Sally laughed. "They were noisy, Ed. I thought for a minute you were torturing them."

"No. I don't believe in torture. We've been on the trail for almost two months. Most of that time we were by ourselves. The only thing they could have bothered, were the animals. Both of them tend to get noisy when the love making is good."

Sally laughed again. "Well, it must have been especially good last night. I'll swear those two woke people up in Peoria."

"Lovemaking is always good, Sally. Sometimes it's just better than others."

"I wouldn't know about that. I haven't had anyone make love to me in a lot of years. I always thought making love was supposed to be an almost spiritual thing. Fucking is just a release."

"Amen," I said reverently.

"When I think back on it, I don't know if Tim ever made love to me."

"I don't suppose it would do any good to ask you what you and mom were talking about," Cindi said later.

"Not a bit," I said.

"That's what I thought."

"You wouldn't want me to tell your mom what you and I talk about, would you?"

"No, although we haven't talked about much that was of any importance."

"Anything you tell me is important, Cindi."

"Thank you, Ed," she said, then she looked down and said, "Kate told me last night that you said you weren't going to take any more wives until we get to St Joseph. Is that right?"

"Not exactly," I told her. "I said I wasn't going to have sex with anyone except my two lovely wives who are with me until we get to St Jo. By that I meant that after we get to St Jo, I'd be having sex with my two wives who stayed behind. I told her I didn't think I needed any more wives."

What if someone needed you?"

"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. At the very least, my wives who are in St Jo should have a say in it too."

"Oh... I guess that makes sense."

"Cindi, you are a beautiful young woman. You are intelligent and you have a great personality. Don't worry about things. If it is meant to be, then it will be."

Cindi gave me a big smile and said, "It IS meant to be." She rode off with her big smile still in place.

Tina came over a little later and we talked for a while. "We're starting to run low on meat, so I need to hunt tonight or tomorrow morning," she told me.

"Which do you prefer?" I asked.

"I really like hunting in the mornings better. For one thing I usually have better luck in the mornings. The main reason though is just in how it feels to get up so early and be out in the woods when the sun starts to come up. It's like I'm getting to watch the world come alive again."

"That's really a nice way to look at it. I'll have to go with you sometime. It would be nice to experience that with someone else."

Tina smiled from ear to ear. "I'd like that."

Along toward evening we reached the Mississippi River. We took a ferry across the river and camped on the western shore.

Sam: St Joseph, Missouri

You know, this being "our" wagon train isn't all it's cracked up to be. Andy was off looking for cooks today, but Rawhide was with me, thank God.

It was just before noon when we heard two of the women yelling at each other. Rawhide looked at me and grinned. "Do you think we should go and break them up before they kill each other?"

I sighed. "I guess we should."

We walked over to the Caldwell wagon where the women were. Amelia Jamison and Wanda Caldwell were standing about three feet apart, trading insults. "What's going on here?" I yelled.

Both women shut up like they'd been slapped. Then, both started trying to talk at once. I yelled again and they stopped. "You first, Wanda."

"Jess Caldwell gave my Tommy a black eye," she said.

"Why did Jess hit Tommy?"

"Jess told Tommy he had seen me naked," Wanda said. "Tommy told him he was a liar, so Jess hit him."

"My son has a perfect right to hit someone who calls him a liar," Amelia said.

"Where are the boys now?"

"They're both in our wagons," Wanda said.

"Bring them out here," I said.

The women went to get their sons, so I grinned at Rawhide and said, "Making a mountain out of a mole hill."

"Yep, but I've seen men kill each other over less," Rawhide told me.

When the boys were both present, I asked, "Jess, why did you say you saw Mrs. Caldwell naked?" I asked.

"Well, I did. She was standing in her wagon last night when I was getting firewood for this morning. She had a bowl of water and she was washing herself. She's very pretty," Jess said almost breathlessly.

I had to smile. "Could he have seen you washing last night, Wanda?"

"I suppose he could. We don't usually try to hide when we're cleaning up."

"That's scandalous, Amelia said."

"Not really, Amelia," I said. "When the weather is warmer, our whole family bathes together in the creek. If we had our choice, most of our family would never wear clothes."

I let that sink in for a minute then asked, "Tommy, why did you say Jess was a liar when you knew your mother doesn't try to hide when she cleans up?"

"Uh... Well, it was just the way he said it. It seemed like he thought it was dirty or something."

"Did you think it was something dirty, Jess?"

"No, ma'am. I thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen."

Wanda smiled at that.

"Tommy, I think you owe Jess an apology for calling him a liar. Jess, I think you owe Tommy an apology for hitting him," I said.

Both boys just stood there for a minute, then Tommy said, "I'm sorry I called you a liar, Jess."

"I'm sorry I hit you, Tommy."

"Wanda, Amelia, are you guys square?"

"Yeah, I guess," Amelia said.

"I'm sorry, Amelia. Let's not let this hurt our friendship," Wanda said.

"I wouldn't want that either, Wanda."

Andy did add two cooks to our payroll, Cliff Henry and Leonard Burton. I didn't like Burton's looks, but Andy said he seemed okay, so I went along with it.

Sunday, April 23, 1848

Ed: Day 35 of the Boston to St Joseph trip

West of the Mississippi! It feels like we are making progress. I know it has to be less than a week until I'll see my other two wives and my baby. I'm getting so excited it"s hard to think.

Cassie and Kate were in a playful mood this morning and we wrestled and tickled for a while before we got up. Wrestling with two beautiful naked girls is an activity I'd put right at the top of my "Recommended Activities" list.

When we finally got up, Tina was gone. She came back in as we were eating and asked if I could help her drag in a deer after I finished. Of course I agreed and Jason agreed to help.

We got a little bit of a late start, but I'm sure we still made over thirty miles for the day. Traveling has gotten to be such a habit for Kate, Cassie and me that we hardly even think of it any more. Tina never was a problem and Su Li wouldn't have complained if she had been in agony.

When Sally came to ride by me for a while, I asked, "How's your butt?"

Sally laughed and said, "I've been told I have a nice butt."

"I meant, are you still as sore from riding?"

"I'm still a little sore, but it's not nearly as bad. Of course, if I had someone to rub it for me, it'd be a lot better.

"I wonder if Su Li knows anything about oriental massage. Maybe we could get her to rub it for you."

Sally laughed again and said, "Oh, I was thinking of a strong, masculine type to do the rubbing."