Headed For A Fall

Going West

Allison Rose Mckenzie pushed a lock of blonde hair back into her chignon with an impatient sigh. She had been on this train for three days with only short stops to take on water and coal along the way. The landscape whipped by, tall grass, rolling hills, the occasional herd of cows or group of wagons the only change. The had rearranged her luggage several times, done her hair in several different styles and practiced her lessons out loud in the small private cabin to quell the boredom of the long journey. She knew it was only a short while before they reached Independence Texas, then she'd be conveyed via stagecoach to Dallas. To her new life. A fresh start far from the devastation of Richmond Virginia and the tattered South. Texas was a fresh start in a country not nearly as ravaged by war.  She smiled as the town came into view and the trains brakes began to squeal loudly and shudder to a stop.

She gathered her bag, it contained a little money, some sewing, a book, her nightdress and toiletries as well as a light muslin dress in soft pink that she thought to wear when she arrives in Dallas. Her heavy steamer trunk was tucked away in the luggage cart.

The train whistle blew and a porter knocked on her cabin door, "Aye Miss we've arrived, here is your luggage ticket give this to a porter and they will assist you. Step lightly now."

"Thank you sir." She replied softly taking the ticket and carefully tucking it into her bag. Her voice seemed strained, as she hadn't spoken much on the journey, taking her meals in her cabin as the train had very few women passengers.

She made her way to the exit lifting her skirts as to not step in the tobacco juice that stained the floor.

She squinted as she stepped down onto the wooden platform. She looked around, looking for a stagecoach, a wagon, perhaps group of women waving to her to take her to the schoolhouse? But there was nothing, only rough men, cattle clambering down the ramps of the train cars and into the wooden corrals that bordered the train tracks on both sides.

She approached a porter who bade her rest on one of the benches while he fetched her trunk. So she sat, watching the horses and cows as they scrambled from the train with wild eyes. She took out her book, a novel determined to not appear as nervous and lost as she felt.

A big bay gelding cantered easily down the main street. Ears pricked at the hustle and bustle of the station and the steam that hissed from the train. The man astride the impressive horse pulled him up sharply at the base of the train platform, he dismounted in one fluid motion the play of muscle in his back straining the white shirt he wore. Allison looked back down at her book, suddenly feeling her cheeks warm. She tried to focus on the words but the text swam before her eyes. She hadn't looked at a man like that since before the war ended.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a man cleared his throat, "Ma'am? Are you Miss Allison Mckenzie?"

She looked up, and thanked the Lord she had been sitting, for if she hadn't she would have surely fainted. It couldn't be. "Jacob?" The one word left her mouth in a breathy gasp.

His grey eyes widened in surprise before he let out a whoop and gathered her up in his arms, squeezing until she thought her corset popped. "Little Allie!" He set her down on her feet his strong hands steadying her by the shoulders. "My God you're all grown up!"

She felt her eyes moisten, but hastily replied. "I'm only two years younger than you! Why didn't you write? Why didn't you come home?"

His eyes hardened to steel as he met her hurt expression. "There wasn't anything left for me in Virginia. The farm was lost Ma and Pa long since buried and Ezekiel and Caleb crippled up in a Yankee hospital. I needed a fresh start  away from painful memories."

Allison scowled at him, "There were lots of folks that would have stood by you. Neighbors and friends."

"All of them broken and destitute just the same as me." Jacob scoffed, "I wasn't going to throw myself on the mercy of folks already starving and scraping to get by. Is that why you're here? Reconstruction burn your folks out of town too Mrs. Mackenzie?" Her name sounding like a curse.

She shook her head in silent denial. "It's not what you think."

He grunted. "How is Caleb?"

A year slid down her cheek. "Dead. I went to Gettysburg to bring you both home. I married him at his hospital bedside, he died the next day from fever. You..." She paused taking a deep breath "had already been buried per the reports."

He sighed, "Allison I'm sorry. I should have written, I just didn't have the words."

She slapped him. Then flung her arms around him with a sob.