Boundless

Chapter 8

We had only been riding an hour before my back started aching. I tried sitting up straighter in the saddle but it didn't work. I tried slumping--that made it worse.

"It only gets worse from here," Sam helped.

The terrain didn't succeed in distracting me. Central Kansas, I had come to know, was nothing but prairie grass and dust. Flat prairie stretched out in all directions and disappeared into the horizon. There were hardly any trees. The lack of trees made the sun seem even brighter and hotter.

"What time is it?"

Sam squinted up at the sky and gaged the position of the sun. "Two o'clock? Maybe three."

"How much further?"

"To Dodge?" Sam snorted, "Ten days. Maybe twelve if you're slow."

"Ten days?"

"I told you it would take awhile to get there."

"I thought you meant a maximum of four days! Ten days is ridiculous."

Sam stopped his horse and turned it so it was blocking Lazarus' path. "Would you like to go back?"

We stared at each other for a moment and I knew he was daring me to say yes. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Of course not."

"Good." With that he began moving forward at a faster pace than before. I wondered if I was going to regret that decision.

That night we had beef jerky for dinner.

"Are we eating this every night?" I surveyed the chunk of meat in my hands. I realized that I was being ungrateful but I could really care less--I was saddle sore and faced with the fact I might have to eat beef jerky every night for a month.

"You should be happy you have it. Some people become pretty desperate. You ever heard of the Donner Party?"

I shuddered. The Donner Party was a prime example of frontier desperation. After being trapped in a mountain pass for the winter, they had resorted to cannibalism.

"Better jerky than brain."

I lost my appetite. "You're so vulgar."

Sam just laughed and got up to put more wood on the fire.

"Do we have to sleep on the ground every night?"

"Rebecca, what did you think was going to happen? Did you think we were going to have feather mattresses and quilts?"

"Of course not," I crossed my arms and looked off onto the prairie. Truth be told, I hadn't really thought about getting there. Really, I had only imagined what I would do when I got to Dodge.

"Rebecca," he sat down next to me, "I warned you about this."

“And I appreciate that,” I moved further away from him.

He was quiet for a moment. “This was a bad idea. At the next town, I’m sending you on the first stage back to Lawrence.”

“No!” I stood quickly, “You can’t,”

“I don’t know what I was thinking. You aren’t cut out for this.”

It hurt that he had such little faith in me. “I said no.”

He stood up and for the first time I saw complete seriousness on his face. There was no laughter or mischief in his eyes. “I’m saying yes. It’s dangerous out here.”

“No!” I shouted again. “My sister’s life depends on this. I’m not going to give her up just because I’m a little scared.” With that I stomped off into the darkness.

I had no clue where I was going. I vaguely remembered a tiny brook and a thicket of trees a few feet off. Now, which direction was east, again?

It didn’t matter. The land was so flat that I could see our campfire from a mile away.

After stomping around for a few minutes, I found the brook and knelt beside it. What had I gotten myself into? How could I think that I could travel hundreds of miles away without anyone knowing? How could I leave Jenny like that?

I splashed some water onto my face. I was surprised to feel that it was warm. I thought all brooks were supposed to be cold.

The water still felt good on my dusty, sunburned skin so I splashed some more.

I was preparing to leave when I heard the sound of leaves rustling behind me. I froze. What was I thinking, going off alone like that? I should have guessed that there would be wild animals and people around. I closed my eyes and waited.

“Rebecca?”

I opened them again and saw Sam coming to sit beside me. “I’m really sorry,” he said and looked over at me. I could barely make out his features in the dark. The crescent moon above us only lit the top of his head.

I stared at my hands for a moment before looking up at him. I could see a line form between his eyebrows. I realized that he thought I’d been crying.

“Oh, no,” I shook my head, “it’s just water.” With that, I flicked some into his face.

He smiled. “Come on, it’s getting late.”