They are still by Plum Creek and Ma, Mary, Carrie and baby Grace all have scarlet fever. So Pa and Laura are taking care of them all. The Nelson's have it too so there is no one to help Pa and Laura. The doctor is coming by everyday to check on everyone. The scarlet fever went into Mary's eyes and she went blind.
Then one day there is a horse and buggy coming up to the house but Laura can't tell who it is. It stops in front of the door and it is Aunt Dorca from the big woods. Ma is still very weak and she came to the door to say hi and let Aunt Dorca in. Aunt Dorca came to see Pa to let him know that Uncle Hi was out west with the railroad and he had a job for Pa. It is keeping books and running the store if Pa was interested. Pa was very interested but Ma said Mary was to weak to travel. So Pa went to see if Mr Nelson could keep an eye on Ma and the girls and in a couple of months bring them to the train station. Mr Nelson said yes. So Pa left with Aunt Dorca the next day. When Pa left he told Laura to be Mary's eyes and tell her what she sees. Laura told him she would be Mary's eyes.
In the couple of months Ma and Laura had packed up the house. Mr Nelson is going to send there things to them. Mr. Nelson came to the house to pick up Ma and the girls it was time to go to the train station. When they got there Ma told Laura to watch the girls while Ma went to get the tickets. Laura was telling Mary everything she could see. The train was very loud as it was pulling up to the station and the horn was so loud it hurt there ears. When the train stopped a man came down the stairs and helped Ma up into the train Ma was holding Grace in her arms and he asked if that was her satchel and Ma said yes. He grabbed the satchel and brought it in the train to Ma. Ma told Laura to help Mary up the stairs and in the train. The girls were so excited to be riding the train.
The train started heading out west to the Dakota's by Pa. While the train was going the conductor came and punched a hole in everyone's tickets. Then they got to the city that afternoon and Pa was not there by the train. So the man helped Ma and Grace off the train and he said he would take them to the hotel when he was done with the train. The man had to help turn the train around because that was as far as it went. The man grabbed the satchel and walked Ma and the girls to the hotel and a girl told them they could wash up around the corner. Then when they were done to come in the dining room and have something to eat. When they got to the dining room it was filled with a lot of men eating. So Ma and the girls sat down and had something to eat. When the men were done they left and the girl asked Ma if she was waiting for someone. Ma said yes and the girl said that they could wait in the sitting room. So they went to the sitting room and waited for Pa to come. He didn't come until late that day and he said it was to late to start out.
The next day the left for camp and it was a very long ride. It took all day to get there. They stopped to have lunch on the way but the girls were so tired of being in the wagon. It was dark by the time they got there and all you could see coming up to the camp was a little spot of light. Pa stopped in front of this one shanty and Uncle Hi was outside and he helped Ma and Grace off the wagon. Aunt Docia said come inside I have supper waiting for you. They only stayed at this camp for a couple of weeks. Then men were starting to break the camp down. Pa couldn't leave until the men were done breaking the camp down.
Then it was time to leave there and go west more to Silver Lake. This took another whole day to get to. The girls were tired of bouncing in the wagon. But like always Laura was telling Mary everything that she sees. They stopped to have lunch and then on the road again. It was late when they got to the next camp. Pa seen the dot of light and he said they are almost there. When they got there a man was outside holding a lantern. It was Uncle Henry from the big woods with cousin Charly. Ma was so surprised to see them all the way out here. Then Uncle Henry helped Ma and Grace off the wagon and cousin Charly helped the girls out of the wagon. There was a voice inside saying come in and it was cousin Louisa she said she had supper keeping warm for them. Then when they were done eating Uncle Henry took them to there shanty. The next morning it was loud with all the men getting ready to leave to go to work.
It started to get cold and the men were getting ready to leave Silver Lake to go home. Pa said that the shanty would not be warm enough for them to stay there. Pa wanted to get homestead there for them to live on but never had enough time to go and look. He said they would have to go back east for the winter and everyone was upset for traveling this far. Uncle Henry was going back to the big woods to sell his land. Then the surveyors came to talk to Pa about them staying in there house because they had to leave in a couple days to go and take care of something and would not be back until spring. Pa told Ma about that and she was really happy. They left everything behind dishes, pots and pans, beds and food and coal for the winter. They said they could have all the food and cool for the winter. It was a big house two floors and it was huge. The next day they moved into the house. The only thing the men asked Pa to do was watch the tools.
The next day that they moved in there Laura ran ahead and checked the whole house out. She couldn't believe how big it was. She was running through the house. When Pa got there with the wagon she ran outside and told Ma to come in there to look how big it was. Then the next day there was a knock on the door and it was Mr. Boast coming to say good bye to Pa and telling Pa he was going to get married and come right back. Pa said it was going to snow and be real hard to come back in the snow and Mr. Boast said he would make it back.
Then on Christmas Eve they were singing and all of a sudden you could here a voice outside calling for Pa. It was Mr. Boast and his new wife outside. Pa went and helped them and Mrs. Boast came in the house and Pa and Mr. Boast went and put the horses in the stable. Mr. Boast said that his sled was stuck in the snow down a ways. Ma made them some supper and said they could spend the night there. So they spent Christmas with Mr and Mrs Boast.
Over the winter Pa found the land for the homestead. So in the spring he went to Bookings to put money on the homestead. There was a big crowd and someone else wanted the same land as Pa. Pa seen Mr Edwards in Bookings and he bought land north of them. Pa spent the night on the door step so he could get the land. In the morning Pa put the money on the land and came home.
The camp was starting to turn into a town and Pa went to make a little house on the land for them to move into. The surveyors were coming back to the house. So in a couple of days it was moving day onto the new land. This was the last move for them. Pa promised Ma he would make the home bigger when he was able to.
I hope you enjoy this revue on this book. I would really like to know what you think of it please leave your comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this!♥
No comments:
Post a Comment