Danger on the Oregon Trail

Chapter 1

Beth sighed as she carried yet another pile of books down the hallway, stacking them near the door. Mr. Spencer, the librarian, said he would be by in the morning to pick them up and she only had three more bookshelves to sort through. She'd never realized how many books her father had collected over the years, but it was impossible to take them all with her. Instead, she had selected a few that held fond memories; ones he'd read to her as a child and others he had given to her as gifts. The rest would be more useful in the  new library.

Several chests, fully packed and ready to be loaded into the wagon, lined the front wall of the sitting room. The walls themselves were bare, the framed pictures that had hung on them for so many years now stacked neatly in a wooden crate. She would take the photographs out of the frames later. There was no room for picture frames.

The rooms that had once been full of furniture, now stood empty. Most of the items had been sold to a new family that had recently moved into town and the items that were left were to be taken to a neighbor's in the morning.

The front door opened as she was coming down the stairs again and her good friend Michael Rogan stepped inside. "These trunks ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you."

"You need any help bringing the rest of those books down?"

"I might, but it's taking me some time sorting through them. I'm sure I can get through them tonight and Mr. Spencer said he'd bring his wagon in the morning to pick them up."

"It's a shame you can't take them with you."

"I know, but it wouldn't leave much room for anything else." She sighed.

"Are you getting nervous?"

"No," she replied. "Not nervous."

"Well, you're being awfully quiet."

"I know. It's just......I thought I'd be moving west with my father, not alone."

"You won't be completely alone." He reminded her. "I'm going west, too."

"I know," she smiled. "And you have no idea how thankful I am that you'll be close by. It's just that Pa and I had planned for months to move to Oregon. I feel bad that he wasn't able to go."

"It's not your fault he got sick."

"I know."

"He'd want you to go."

"I know." She stood there thinking for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Well, these books won't bring themselves downstairs."

"Promise you won't work too hard." Michael grinned. "The wagon train doesn't leave until the day after tomorrow."

"I won't. But I have to keep myself busy until it's time to go or I'm going to go crazy in this empty house."

He cleared his throat. "I was thinking,"

"About what?"

"That maybe we should ride out to the cemetery tomorrow evening. One last time before we leave."

"That would mean a lot to me." She said.

"Let me know if there's anything else I can load up for you." He said, giving her a small smile.

"I will. Thank you."

Beth continued sorting the books until late in the evening when she finally brought the last armful down the stairs. With a sigh, she stacked them with the others that Mr. Spencer would take in the morning and took a look around the room.