Sabella's Journey

Chapter 2

"Sabella! Sabella?!"

I turned around after hearing my sister yelling for me at the back of the wagon, and I quickly rushed to her. "What is it?!" I asked, shouting along the way.

It looks like she was struggling to get her luggage in the wagon as she was holding it up with her knee.

"Well, aren't you gonna help me?" she asked, sounding rather tired, still trying to lift it up.

I walked towards her and grabbed it from the bottom while she slid it into the wagon. "How many more are there?"

"Two more. Yours and Joseph's. Come inside and help me get them."

I followed her, and we got the rest after we finished putting all the luggage inside. Pa came, hat on his head and his gun by his side.

"We gotta get a move on now; we don't want them to leave without us now, do we? Joseph!"

"Comin', pa!" Joseph came rushing out from inside the house.

"I just needed to get my pistol," he said, patting the gun that was strapped to his side.

"We're leavin' now," pa said, heading in front of the wagon with Joseph following behind.

We were going together with some other wagons; we're forming a wagon train with some folks who were also heading to Kansas, all searching for a better life.

Riding with a wagon train is much safer than traveling alone; only a crazy person would want to go alone.

Joseph sat in front with pa while I and Ava took comfort at the back.

I was reading when I noticed a look on Ava's face as she was staring out the wagon. She looked somehow scared and worried at the same time; I wonder what's bothering her.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, putting down my book and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you know how many wagons we'll be traveling with?" she asked, turning to face me with a concerned look on her face.

"I don't know for sure, but I did hear pa say thirteen or so," taking my hand off her shoulder and picking up my book, looking back at her.

"What's wrong, Ava?" I asked once again.

After looking at me for a while, she finally said, "Hope we don't run into any Indians out there. I've heard stories about what has happened to folks who did. I don't wanna die, Bella...." Tears were starting to form in her eyes. "I told pa we didn't need to go...."

"Please stop....," I cut her off and held her shivering hand, "....no such thing will happen. The Indians aren't foolish to attack the entire wagon train; they'll get their dead if they do," I told her with a reassuring smile. Everything's going to be okay, even though I was also afraid of what could happen.

We caught up with the other wagons just as they were ready to leave. There were a lot of families and couples; there seemed to be a lot of cheerful folks talking with them, most eager to eat along the way.

"Ya finally made it, Mason, I mean the folks have been waitin' on ya," said a man who's probably one of the people in charge of leading the wagon. He sounded Irish. I didn't get to see his face since I was inside the wagon listening to their conversation.

"We been runnin' a lil late," pa told him.

There was some mumbling going on between them which I couldn't make out, but after a few minutes, I heard the same man yell at everyone,

"Alright, folks! Let's move out, and stay in line; we don't need to cause any confusion!" Then the wagon began to move.

Today will mark the beginning of our journey, which will take us weeks to reach Kansas, but it's gonna be worth it once we get there. Or that's what pa kept saying.

Night had reached. "We're gonna settle here for the night, darlins'," pa told us from in front of the wagon. As we came to a stop, Ava and I jumped out. There weren't any trees here, just the plain desert.

Pa went to talk to the man in charge, while Joseph went on his own.

"Let's go meet the folks," Ava said, pulling my hand to follow her.

"I wonder if I'll meet any man who catches my eye? It would be nice to have someone, won't it, Bella?" she turned to me with a bright red blush on her face.

"I guess so. Somebody's finally interested in meeting someone," I said, tugging at her dress while laughing.

Ava went her own way after she started talking to someone, which was rude of her, but I didn't mind even though I was left alone.

I saw a girl standing by herself; she looks about my age, so I decided to go meet her.

"Hello there," I said with a huge grin on my face while reaching out my hand for a shake with the girl I've just met.

"My name's Sabella, Sabella Mason, and you are?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh. well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Anna," she said as she happily shook my hand.

She's tall just like me, about 5'7", and has dark curly brown hair and beautiful green eyes.

"Who did you come with?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"My mother and father, and you?"

"My brother, sister, and pa. How do you like the trip so far?"

She was fiddling with her fingers while looking down.

"Well, it's only been a day, but I think it might be something worth remembering," she seems nervous. I wonder if it had anything to do with me being a Negro and all. I shook the thinking off my mind and looked up at the sky, inhaling the fresh air, still looking up, "I think this here trip is going to be adventurous, or at least I hope it will," I said looking back at her with a warm smile.

We talked for a long time about our lives back home. Turns out, she was just shy, hardly had any friends. Just like me, I guess. She seems like a nice person to me; I hope maybe we could be friends.

Later on that evening, I and Anna went together to meet the rest of the folks, and to my surprise, everyone had been nothing but friendly to me. No one had given me that dirty Negro look like some of the folks back home did.

I was in the wagon writing stories in a book that Ava had given me on my birthday last year when Joseph came.

"Bella!" he shouted with excitement.

"Joseph?! You startled me; don't ever do that again!" I yelled, hitting him on the head with my book.

"Ouch, that hurts," he winced, rubbing his head.

"I just came to tell you supper's ready; aren't you coming?"

"Where?"

"We're having supper with the rest of the folks by the fireplace, mashed potatoes, and beans," he said while smiling.

"I almost forgot about dinner. I'm coming, give me a minute."

"Okay, but hurry before it gets cold," and with that, he left.

We all sat down by the fireplace, ate an amazing cooked meal while some of the folks told stories about their childhood memories and the hardships