Danger on the Oregon Trail

Chapter 8

The next afternoon, they spotted a small town in the distance and after checking with Michael, Beth turned the wagon in that direction. They found a small general store where they resupplied on food, and Beth found a small doll and a few books that she purchased for Lilly.

"Are y'all traveling by yourselves?" the store keeper asked, noticing the wagon parked out front.

"Yes, we are," Michael said.

"Be careful out there. We heard a report there were Indians out there attacking wagon trains."

"Is that so?" Michael glanced at Beth as the man jotted down some numbers for the items they were buying and shook his head slightly. She remained quiet. "When did you hear that?"

"Oh, it's been a few days now," the man said. "Maybe a week."

"And they saw it happen?"

"Says he was the only survivor," the man said. "That'll be fourteen seventeen,"

Michael handed him fifteen dollars. "I knew it had been happening a few years back," he said. "But I had no idea it was still going on,"

The man counted out some change for him. "Yeah, there was a few years there where I didn't hear any reports, so I don't know why it's happening now. Be safe out there, though."

"Thank you. I sure will."

Michael helped Beth and Lilly up onto the wagon seat before loading up all the supplies into the back. "Let's go," he said, climbing onto his horse.

Beth could tell by the way his jaw clenched that now was not the time to ask him anything. So she decided to wait until they camped for the night, when they could talk without Lilly overhearing anything.

That evening, they camped well out of town. They had found a nice spot a bit closer, but Michael wanted to keep going. The sun was starting to set before he was finally convinced they were far enough away from the town. He unhitched the horses and put all four out to graze before starting a fire so Beth could make supper.

After they ate and Lilly was occupied with reading books to her new doll, Beth walked over to where Michael was crouched, overlooking the valley they'd camped over. "Alright," she said softly. "What's going on?"

He tossed the grass he'd been picking at and stood up. "Do you remember a few years ago, we read in the newspaper that three or four wagon trains had been attacked by Indians and there were no survivors?"

"I vaguely remember," she said.

"I was just trying to remember if there had been any attacks on people since those reports came out and I don't think there were."

"So why have they started up again?" she asked.

"Something's not adding up," he said with a sigh. "I just can't figure out what,"

"Maybe you're thinking too hard about it," she said. "I still don't understand why you didn't want to say anything to the shop keeper today."

"Because if something's going on that I'm not aware of, and this 'survivor' goes back to that store, I don't want him or her knowing that they weren't the only one that made it out alive."

"But what if it's one of Lilly's parents?" she asked.

"Then we'll do our best to reunite them."

"What is it you think isn't adding up?"

"If Indians attacked the wagons and burned everything, I doubt there were any survivors," he said. "They would have made sure that anyone that might have run off would be tracked down and killed. The only reason we survived was because we were already separated from the group."