By Michelle Miller
Copyright 2000
Caroline quickly packed, as there wasn’t much daylight left and Joe thought that the sooner they left, the better off they would. She made sure she had plenty of warm clothes for traveling, as well as one dress for church, the family Bible, her mother’s pearls, and the pencil drawn portrait of her parents. With tears in her eyes, Caroline took one last look at her home, picked up her satchel and a bag of biscuits and jerky and walked out the door. Uncle Joe and most of the ranch hands were there to tell her good bye and not to worry as they’d take care of everything until she got back.
One of the old ranch hands took her bags and tied them to her saddle along with a bedroll while Caroline said her good byes to Joe. She had an odd feeling that it would be a while till she saw him again, if at all. "Girl, just get those ideas out of your head. You’ll be back home within a couple weeks like nothing ever happened,” she thought to herself.
As she mounted up, she told Red Bear she wanted to stop by the graveyard. He nodded okay and let Caroline lead the way. Caroline quickly said her good-byes, not knowing when she would be back to visit them again. As she mounted back up Red Bear noticed the tears in her eyes, but her back was straight and her eyes forward as they trotted off the ranch.
They reached the camp at sundown and Red Bear showed Caroline to a teepee. A young girl brought her some water and a bowl of soup. After she finished eating, Red Bear stopped in to check on her. “Whose teepee is this?” she asked, hoping that she wasn’t putting anyone out.
“It’s mine, but please stay, you are my guest. I am going to sleep with Black Hawk, my uncle and his wife so you can have some privacy. I have posted two of my best warriors as guard so you will be left alone.” With that Red Bear bent down and gave Caroline a hug and told her to get some rest.
Caroline tossed and turned most of the night as the day’s events kept replaying in her mind. Everytime she closed her eyes, all she could see was David’s wicked grin and she’d wake back up.
The next day dawned cold, windy, and a light dusting of snow on the ground with the clouds threatening even more. Caroline buttoned her coat and pulled her hat down tight. Red Bear brought her horse over to her along with a crude map. He also gave her a medicine pouch to protect her from the spirits. With a last good luck wish, Caroline rode out towards Sweetwater. Little did anyone know that she was riding into one of the worst blizzards in history.
To be continued...
