THE STARTING

Everything was loaded and ready; all that remained were the Goodbye's. How hard it was. Mama and Papa were not young anymore, they would not be able to stand the rigors of travel and the settlers would have no money for coming home to visit for a long time. But they had a lot of happy memories and could write letters. That would have to be enough.

Well, the time had come and it had to be faced and done. A long tearful embrace with Mama giving much loving advice on being careful and a huge bear hug from Papa who couldn't speak at all. Kisses and hugs from the rest of the family gathered to see them off. Final hugs for the little ones as they were settled in their places and they were off.

At first Amy could see little of the passing countryside for the tears in her eyes but gradually the children demanded her attention and things began to come into focus. This little community where she had spent her whole life surrounded by loving family and friendly neighbors was passing before her eyes.

There was the school house she had attended, how she had loved going to school and learning about the big wide world so far away.

"Oh look, the Bensons are all standing by the fence waving," Joey shouted.

"Look OUT Joey!" His mother exclaimed as she grabbed his shirt. "You almost fell out you waved so hard to your friend Jimmy." It was hard to tell if Amy was laughing or crying and truthfully, she didn't know.

Now the town was coming up. The saddle horse and cow didn't seem to mind following behind the buggy attached to the back of the wagon, but she couldn't help remarking to Will. "I certainly hope nothing happens to frighten King like the last time you had him in town."

Laughingly her husband replied, "Yes, I expect we make quite a sight as it is, without some silly dog scaring the horses."

Past the general store and the post office where the curious stopped to look, and many, on recognizing the young Revel family waved a farewell. On past the Methodist church where they had been married almost 6 years ago, again Amy was having trouble with the tears. On they went, past the hotel, past the stable, and now past the last of the houses.

How green and bright everything looked in the early morning sun of this bright spring day, hopefully a good omen for the long trip to that unknown place in the west. Iowa, how strange it sounds, yet it had a good ring to it. Already the plodding of Bess and Ginger had lulled Harriett to sleep in the crib Will had built into the wagon just for her.

"Stop fidgeting, Joey." Will could not help being cross with little Joey, just 4 years old and trying but not really understanding all this upheaval. This had been a hard day for him already.

"I expect he's probably hungry" Amy defended.

They had gotten up long before dawn to finish putting the last of the food in the big covered wagon. Even the children had been roused in order to eat the breakfast Grandma had gotten up even earlier to fix. She wanted to spend as much of the last few precious minutes with the children as possible.

Amy dug into the large basket her mama had sent with them and once more had trouble with the tears when she spied the cookies right on top. Molasses cookies were Joey and John's favorite treat from Grandma. She gave each of the boys one and offered one to Will.

"Will, are you sure that we have everything?"

He turned and looked at her. "We are full to the gills." He could not help laughing in spite of her seriousness. "Your beautiful goblets are packed in the barrel of oats, your other special dishes, and a passel of things you couldn't dream of leaving behind, as well as the pots and pans, bedding and enough food to last for months are all stashed. Some of the things I couldn't find room for that we will be using soon are even packed in the buggy."

Looking fondly at his lovely but determined young wife, "I mean to work very hard in this new place of ours, so that you and the children will have more than we ever could here."

Amy smiling through her tears agreed, "Yes dear Will, I'm sure you will. Now that we are past the goodbye's and coming to unfamiliar places I am beginning to look forward to our new home."

"Can we ride up with you, Pa?" Little John wanted to know.

They had eaten a couple of cookies and were tired of listening to Will and Amy.

"If you promise to sit still I'll switch places," answered Amy. Amy moved back into the little space just behind the first seat that Will had fixed so she could nurse Harriett and the boys would have a little space to play or nap. Her skirt was a bit of a problem, Amy being unused to maneuvering her long skirts over seats in a moving wagon. It would take between one and two months to reach their new home and the boys were too little to do much walking beside the wagon and the baby would need tending. This would also give her a place to do some sewing and mending as they went along.

At least, Amy mused, they had a nice team of strong horses and wouldn't have to depend on slow plodding oxen. The sky was a bright, bright blue without a cloud anywhere. There was a breeze but when they weren't in a slight valley or behind a stand of trees it was quite warm.

"Tell us your story, Papa," Joey pleaded. It was a favorite pastime when they took a rather long ride.

"Please Pa," John chimed in, "Tell us again about when you were little."

"Alright boys, I'll begin at the earliest that I have heard about myself," he began.

It was almost as if leaving the place that had been home for 8 years made him think of other moves and other times.

"Back in Scotland where we came from our name was Revelscroft. My Grandfather Holiday came over to America on a small boat. He didn't have much money so steerage was the way he traveled."

"I know what steerage is." John interrupted. "That is when you are very poor and everyone sleeps on a blanket on the floor of the ship."

"Yes, you are right John. It was a very hard, scary trip for a young lad but he landed safely in New York."

It was almost as though Will was talking to himself now as he recounted the family history.

"Gramps worked for a while and married a young English girl and they moved to Virginia. He joined with the local citizens there and served with the Virginia Militia. The winter at Valley Forge was one he said he never wanted to go through again. In fact, he never wanted to leave the warmth of Virginia."

Will's voice now became sad as he continued.

"My father, William Lewis Revel, also went to war. He was a restless man and although very kind he didn't seem to worry very much about Ma and me. Well, like I said, he went off to war and left us. He got paid fairly regular and Ma took in washing so we didn't have it too bad, what with the garden and I soon learned to hunt rabbits. One awful hot day the Constable came and told Ma a wire had come that Pa was dead. Ma had been working. She fainted and fell and broke her neck when she fell off the porch."

Young Joey interrupted, "Did you cry Papa?"

"No," Will answered soberly, "but I sure felt like it. Suddenly I was alone in the world. The Constable took over and notified Grandpa Holiday back in Virginia and made all the arrangements. After the funeral they made me go stay with the Campbell's, who had two boys my age until Grandpa arrived and sold the house and just about everything in it. Packing my clothes and a few things of Ma and Pa's I talked him into letting me keep, we left. I felt so bad to be leaving Ma there but Grandpa was an old soldier and not given to sentiment. I often wished that I had not been there when he came for me. But I was pretty young and kind of scared of being alone. Grandma was glad to see me. I think Pa was her favorite, even though he was always in one scrape or another.

"Did she bake you molasses cookies?" asked John. Not hard to tell where his thoughts were.

"No, but she made the best sugar cookies I've ever eaten." Will replied smiling down at his son.

"When I got to be sixteen I was about as tall as I am now, even though I liked having cousins it just got to be time I took out on my own. I was tired of being reminded to be grateful that I had been rescued. I never knew much about Ma's family or I might have looked them up."

Amy smiled, realizing again he had been talking mostly to himself.

"I did so many jobs after that I've forgotten half of them. When I was hungry or tired I could usually find someone willing to feed me for chopping wood and stacking it, or cleaning out the stable or barn. That usually made me need clean clothes though."

"Yah," John said nodding wisely. "That's stinky."

Laughingly Will agreed, "Right you are."

The times I could stop for a while were when I got a job stocking shelves in a store or helping in a grist mill were better. What I really liked was working on the horse farms."

"Oh, the baby colts," murmured Joey, hardly realizing he had spoken aloud. Each of the boys had their favorite part of the story, and this was Joey's.

"Yes," said Will, "I think the little colts are about the prettiest of God's creatures. I got to know and like horses better and better. That is one of the things that attracted me to Grampa Davis' farm when I got close to Greensboro. He had such a nice bunch of Belgians and a couple of the cutest colts."

"That's Bess and Ginger." John importantly told Joey.

"I know that. I'm not a dummy." Joey retorted.

"Looks like a river comin up," said Will, partly to change the subject. "We have had only little creeks to cross so far. Hope we have had enough practice. Amy you'd better get the boys in with you off this high seat."

Amy quickly put Harriett in her crib and grabbed a boy in each arm. It was kind of scary and still exciting. This would probably become routine but here was their first river.

"Well, here we go," Will spoke excitedly. "There are a lot of tracks so we'll just follow." He urged the horses to keep up a good steady pace.

"Amy, keep an eye on the buggy and the cow. I'm sure the horses will be fine, they never did mind some water." Will said.

With much splashing and shouting they made it across. The buggy looked a little tippy but had straightened. Amy decided the animals tied behind helped. She was really glad it had gone so well. So they didn't have to unhook the buggy and make two separate crossings like Will thought they might.

"I think the horses need a little rest and I am ready for whatever is in that basket." Will drove off the track onto a grassy spot. The boys were lifted out and went running off to explore along the bank of the river.

"Boys, you be careful now and don't get too close!" Amy shouted after them.

"Why, she packed a regular picnic for us," she cried! "We have dill pickles, ham sandwiches, coleslaw all wrapped to keep from spoiling and some apples and pears and the rest of last night's chocolate cake." Amy struggled again with the tears.

"When do you suppose we'll ever have chocolate cake with Grandma's special fudge frosting again?" She asked, knowing most likely she would never eat another one baked by her precious Mama. Sharing a hug to comfort each other; for Mama was about the only mother that Will had ever known, they were silent.

A wild yell from the direction of the river had them jumping and Will started to run. Both boys came bursting out of the underbrush looking like they had seen a ghost.

"Papa, Papa," they shouted, "we just saw a great huge fish. Can we stop long enough to try to catch him?"

Laughing now that the scare was over he said, "I expect it is a mile away by now the way you two were yelling. Come on lets wash your hands and faces. Mama has got the food about ready."

When they got back Harriett was awake and had turned over and crawled to the edge of the blanket but the prickly grass surrounding her had kept her on the blanket. She was talking her own brand of talk and enjoying the respite from the tedious traveling. A couple of other covered wagons passed and waved as they went. As they ate they talked about the other travelers that went by, most seemed to have more livestock than they did, with smaller wagons and most of the women and children were walking. Amy decided that maybe tomorrow she and the boys would try walking awhile. That would make the time go faster for them although they were too little to walk very much.

After they had finished eating Amy gathered things together and with another little race around the area and a drink they were ready to start again. The boys were put in the back for a nap since they had gotten up so early and Will and Amy were again sharing the high seat.

"We left Decatur County when we crossed the river," Will announced. After that neither said much, each lost in their thoughts.

"Remember how you looked the first time I saw you?" Will said with a grin.

Amy laughed, "I'm still not sure I forgive you for that." She said, revealing that she too was thinking of the past.

"I was going along and stopped to admire the horses. Noticing a fire going outside I went up to the house hoping the prospects of finding a job for a while were as good as they looked. A young girl was tending the fire, your dress very faded and a bit smudged, showing that you had been having some trouble getting the fire going. I stood watching as you mixed the lye you had evidently just finished making, since the ashes stood nearby and still looked wet, into the fat that had been saved from the cooking. The ladle was long but with a hot fire on a hot day not long enough. Looking up and seeing me staring you became conscious of feeling very grubby and sweaty, and your hair straggling out of its knot and clinging damply to your skin, you got even redder."

"Well what are you standing there for?" You snapped.

"Is your father home?" I asked.

"Yes, he's home but he's working like any good farmer at this time of day." You replied sharply.

Just then Mama came out to see how things were going. At 15 you were making your first batch of soap all on your own.

"Who is this?" She asked seeing a young man she didn't recognize and thinking I might be someone you knew.

I haven't had a chance to say yet Ma'am." I replied. "Is there work of some kind that I could do for food and a place to sleep?"

Mama replied, "I don't know what else but you can chop some wood for now and at least have dinner. When Mack comes in to eat you can ask him about some more work. Here I'll show you where the wood pile is," leading me around the house.

"Just before I turned the corner I looked back and saw you looking, and then turning you busily began stirring when you saw me turn to look."

Amy continued the story. "By the time noon arrived you had chopped and stacked a pretty impressive amount of wood and were glad for a chance to wash up and cool off a bit. You also realized you were very hungry having slept secretly in a barn and having no breakfast before starting out."

Will again took up the story. "A fleeting thought of the rather sassy, and much disheveled girl working at the soap vat went through my head but I was more concerned with dinner, knowing that most people on farms had their main meal at noon and hoping that was the case here."

"I however, had given more than a fleeting thought to the rather handsome young man and made sure that the soap was cooling and ready to be poured into the forms in time to wash up and change into a better dress and carefully brush my hair so it was up like it belonged." Amy finished.

They had traded off telling the familiar story, and then were silent as each other again became lost in their own thoughts. Their silence was broken when Will said, "Wonder if that is a race for fun or if something serious is going on."

Looking up Amy saw two horses flying down the road. "We'll probably never know. It is so interesting wondering about the people we see. Are they going to join one of the wagon trains going way out west or are they like us, just going a little way west."

"Illinois is the fastest growing state anywhere according to the last paper I read," Will replied.

This would sure make a pleasant place to spend the night but we had better push on. It is hard to tell but I would like to make at least 15 miles a day. If we run into rainy weather these roads will be one big mud hole and we will be lucky to keep moving."

"I understand," Amy replied, "and since I hear our brood moving around back there and it is about time to feed Harriett I'll put the boys up here again and sit on something softer than this board."

"I wish I could move around," ruefully Will wiggled a little.

"Well, if you want to feed Harriett I daresay I could manage the horses for a while."

With a laugh Will said, "I expect you could handle the horses alright but I don't think I could feed Harriett very well."

With the boys back on the seat Will was kept busy answering questions about everything.

"Are we there yet, Pa," John wanted to know.

"We have been riding forever." Joey added.

"No, we're not even close. It will take us several weeks like this to get there. Did you boys sleep or just try to think up questions?" Will replied.

Joey, ever serious replied "I slept Papa. Really I did."

"I was just teasing." Answered Will with a smile.