I stood next to my mother, two sisters, and one brother in the middle of town square in Independence, Mississippi. Father had gone off somewhere looking for another family with enough room for us on their wagon. I sigh. We had already come here from Alabama and I am already tired of traveling. If I had thought that journey was long, then I have another thing coming on this journey to California.
I ask my mother what California is like and all she told me is that it was better than here. My mom obviously did not really enjoy me, you could say. I enjoyed my father's company more anyway. She just didn't understand me. She wants me to be all ladylike and posh, just in case we meet the president and I am pretty sure we will not meet the president anytime soon.
I watch everyone in the town square get ready to travel to California. Two men shook hands, a group of women are chatting with babies in their arms, children are playing, and some families are already hopping into their wagons and leaving. I could not help but be a little jealous of them and their money. My family had never really been high class. My father worked as a shoemaker, but never really had enough money for really anything. We have been saving up for this trip for who knows how long, and we didn't even have a wagon. We hoping that we can pay someone to join them.
One of my little sisters, Grace, came running up to me. She has short, bouncy curls and beautiful, brown eyes. She looks up to me and points at her cap, wanting me to retie her strings. I crouch down to her height, and tie them for her. After I finished, she runs over to Thomas, our brother. Thomas is older than Gracie, but younger than me. Thomas is the only boy in the family, besides our dad.
I turn to my mother, who is holding my even more younger sister, Lucy. My mother scans the crowd, yet again looking for my father. Her eyebrows are furrowed furiously. She bounces Lucy in her arms to keep herself busy. She becomes so desperate she turns to me and says, "Elizabeth, go find your father."
I nod and say, "Yes, mother." I make my way near an entrance of the town square and look around. I quickly spot my father talking to a man, happily. He turns towards me and waves me over. I decide it's alright, since it's alright with my dad. I walk up to him and the tall man and watch their conversation.
"Oh, you can't understand how much this is appreciated, Astor," thanks my father.
Did my father just say Astor? As in, John Jacob Astor? The man who founded the fur-trading post of Astoria and the American Fur Company? This man is filthy rich! I couldn't believe he was here in this townsquare. Almost all these families were middle class. He must've been the only wealthy man here. Even if there were two other wealthy men here, his riches would probably be even more flourished than theirs combined.
"It's nothing, William," Mr. Astor chuckled, "Call me John. You know what they say, the more the merrier! Just bring your family over here, so we can all introduce ourselves and start heading off to California!"
My father gives me a look and nods towards the direction from where we came. That's my cue! I hurriedly make my way back to where everyone was. I couldn't help myself but start to run out of excitement. The square was slightly less crowded than it was an hour ago, but it was still overflowing with people.
Mother was talking to three other women holding babies in their arms as well. I politely walk up and shoo the other mothers away. Mother is outraged, until I tell her the important message. I tell her about how Mr. Astor was delighted when we asked to join his party and is going to let us join.
I lead my family towards Mr. Astor, who leads us to his wagon and introduces us to his family. The Astors are a little smaller than my family. There is Mr. Astor, of course, Mrs. Astor holding a baby, and two boys. One of the boys are my age and another looks a little older than Gracie. The older boy's name is James and he is only a year older than me, the younger boy's name is Benjamen, and he is only a few months older than Gracie.
Benjamin is a shy one, so he just walks to Mrs. Astor's side, who is next to my mother talking, and stands there. He has light, blonde hair while James has dark, black hair just like Mr. and Mrs. Astor. Mr. Astor had told us Benjamen was adopted from an orphanage, so that explained the hair color difference.
Gracie and Thomas walk over to Benjamen and ask if he wants to play with marbles. Benjamen first looks at Mrs. Astor, who nods to him. He walks over to them slowly. Gracie leads the group a little ways from the wagon.
James had walked off awhile ago to a group of girls. I guess being an Astor means you obviously get anything you desire. But who am I to judge? I barely know the guy.
I knew it was going to be a long, boring journey, so I make my way to the shops. First, I go into the book store, and buy a couple books, some paper, a few quills, and ink. I begin to walk back to the Astor's wagon when I hear a gunshot somewhere in the square.
