Mona Hodgson - [Hearts Seeking Home 01] by Prairie Song Read Free Book Online Page A

was their last night in Saint Charles before their Tuesday morning departure.
    Großvater busied himself carrying two buckets to the creek while Mutter fussed about in the wagon. It wasn’t an easy sell, but Mutter had finally agreed that their westbound journey was her chance at a fresh start. Problem was Mutter had promised she had quit drinking on several other occasions in the past year too. So again, Anna wondered, was Mutter truly preparing her hammock for the night? Or was she using the fleeting privacy to indulge in a hidden bottle?
    Try as she might, Anna couldn’t make herself believe getting Mutter to stop drinking would be easy, if even possible. But she couldn’t just leave her to herself … to her grief.
    Unable to swallow her doubts, she had to find a way to be the last one puttering among their belongings. She needed to know just what they were taking with them. She would have the final say about what they left behind.
    Still whistling, Großvater strolled up the bank from the creek, his long arms each swinging a bucket of sloshing water. He looked at the stationery laidout on the table and the song stopped. “We haven’t left town yet and you’re already writing a letter?”
    “A note for Emilie. She and her father have been so good to me … to us.”
    Großvater nodded, then emptied the buckets into the water barrel on the side of the wagon. When crates and barrels clunked inside of the canvas cocoon, he stepped to the front wheel. “Wilma, you still in there?”
    Mutter poked her head out of the puckered opening. “You’re back from the creek already?”
    “I am. Can’t imagine that you’re finding much room for rearranging anything.”
    Bottles only required careful placement, not a lot of room. Anna swallowed her suspicions. Großvater had enough on his mind.
    “Our porch was bigger than this thing.” Mutter climbed out over the seat.
    “It’s only for a short time.” Großvater looked toward The Western House Inn, about a quarter mile behind them. A line of other folks from the Boone’s Lick Company meandered that direction. “If we don’t hurry, all the tables are liable to fill before we can get our supper.”
    “I’m ready to go.” Mutter smoothed her calico skirt and straightened the shawl over her shoulders. “What about you, Anna?”
    This might be her chance for time alone in the wagon. “I wondered if you and Großvater would mind going ahead to get our table. My letter won’t take but a few more minutes, and I’d really like to finish it before dark.”
    Großvater nodded. “Very well. But don’t be long.”
    “I won’t.” At least she hoped so. Anna dipped the quill and lowered her hand to the paper.
    When the sound of Mutter’s and Großvater’s footfalls faded, Anna placed the cork in the ink bottle. She had a job that had nothing to do with the note she was writing to Emilie. And it wouldn’t be proper or safe for her to walk to the inn alone after dark. Satisfied they were out of sight, she wiped the quill and returned it and the stationery to her writing box then took quick steps to the wagon. After climbing onto the top of the wheel, she glanced at the various wagons camped along the creek. The Zanzucchi family was scattered from the creek to their campfire while their matriarch prepared supper. Maren and little Gabi Wainwright sat at a table outside their wagon.
    Satisfied she hadn’t attracted undue attention, Anna scrambled off thewheel, over the seat, and into the wagon through the opening in the canvas. As she did, a bitter bite of regret clogged her throat. She hated sneaking around in order to protect Mutter from herself or the bottle.
    Anna widened the puckered gap at the back of the wagon to let in more light, ready to start her search. She’d been listening while Mutter was in the wagon. She’d heard the squeak of hinges and the shuffling of casks and crates. Mutter would be careful to bury a bottle, and what better place than in a