The Bartholomew family was an ordinary 1830’s family from Lafayette, Missouri. They owned some land but not a whole lot. Alexander Bartholomew was the main provider for the family. His wife Jenny and his daughter Lima stayed at home and cleaned around the house. While the women of the family cleaned around the house, Alexander’s two sons Nando and Joe, were at school. At least both of them are supposed to be. Nando is the town’s troublemaker. Meanwhile, Joe is the complete opposite. Joe is polite and very passive. However, these two are very brilliant. As long as Nando passes his classes, Alexander doesn’t care. Jenny, however, doesn’t like the bad image Nando is creating for their family. Even though they are all a little different, they all cared for each other like a loving [[Intro]].
This week, we are meeting with our traveling agent Symere Woods. My wife originally found out of him from her sister. Her sister’s family left for Oregon city and we often get letters from them telling us about how nice it is out there. Ever since then, Jenny won’t stop talking about it. As a last-second anniversary gift, I decided to make an appointment with Symere Woods to see if we could go live over there with my sister-in-law.
I am not sure if I want to [[surprise]] her by taking her to his office or [[telling]] her in advance. She doesn’t like surprises. However, I think she will love this surprise.Since this is an anniversary gift, I am going to try to surprise Jenny. I am going to tell her we are going to get some food in town for our anniversary. Little does she know, this surprise is better than food. She might be a little sad at first but I know she will be jumping with excitement. I am just smiling with glee by imagining her reaction. I guess we will find out tomorrow.
Once I woke up, the thought of this surprise caught me off guard. Will Jenny know I am lying? I couldn’t seem to get it out of my head. I need to think of something. “Alex honey, can you please get back into bed?” I froze. With nothing to say I just stared at her. “Alex are you okay? Why are you staring at me?”
“Don’t you remember?”
“Remember what?”
“I guess I forgot to tell you. Well, I got a very nice meal planned for us in town this morning! If we want to make it on time, we should get dressed right away.”
“Oh my… Alex, you shouldn’t have. What about the kids? I don’t think we should leave Nando alone with the others, he is a really bad influence on them and you know that.”
“They will be fine. Now let’s go! The sooner we get there the better!” So far so good, it seems like she is believing me. I am still very anxious. What if she’s not ready to leave? However, what if she loves it? There is only [[one way]] to find out. I just have to clear my mind.
Since this is an anniversary gift, I am just going to tell Jenny. I don’t want to tell her tonight though. It can end in two ways. She will be either really mad/sad or very excited/happy. Both of these will result her into not sleeping and that will cause me to lose sleep. I guess it will end the same way if I do tell her. I will just do it in the morning.
Once I woke up, the thought of this surprise caught me off guard. Will Jenny think I am lying? I couldn’t seem to get it out of my head. I’m just going to tell her up front. “Hey Jenny?”
“What do you want now Alex? Don’t you see that I am trying to sleep?”
“We are going to live with your sister and her family!”
“Are you serious? You do know they don’t live here anymore, right?”
“That’s why I made an appointment with the same man that helped them get out there! If you want to meet him with me, we got to start heading to town pretty soon.” With that, Jenny and I got ready to head into town. We got onto our wagon with the best pair of ox money could buy and heading into [[town]].
As soon as we got to Symere’s office I was hesitating. I don't want to leave our home but in reality, everything will be better in Oregon. Better jobs and influences. Jenny really wants to head there, but I'm having second thoughts about it. I don't know if I want to [[stay]] or [[leave]].
As soon as we got to Symere’s office I was hesitating. I don't want to leave our home but in reality, everything will be better in Oregon. Better jobs and influences. Jenny really wants to head there, but I'm having second thoughts about it. I don't know if I want to [[stay]] or [[leave]].
“Jenny I'm sorry but I'm having second thoughts about leaving our home. Our kids have barely grown up and I don't want to drag them across the prairie.” Of course, she doesn’t listen to me. It seems like my opinion doesn’t matter to her anymore. She does what she wants and how she wants, she will still leave without me if I decide to stay. “People die out there Jenny, I don't want my kids out there. While on the trip, what if we run out of supplies? What are we going to do then…”
“We are going, you can either stay or go, that's your choice but I am bringing MY kids with me.” She then headed inside to the office without me. I was frozen. I never knew she would use the kids as a threat. I have no other choice than tagging along during the journey. There is nothing I could do. With her last sentence still ringing in my head, I decided to head inside Symere's [[office]] as if nothing had happened.Leave: “Jenny, before we write this next chapter of our lives, our childrens’ lives, should we really go with this? It’s dangerous out there. Hear me out, I really want to go to Oregon. I’m just having last seconds thoughts.”
“It’s alright Alex, we just have to trust each other. If my sister and her family made it, so can we. I like to think our family is better than theirs. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“You’re right Jenny! Lets just head into Symere’s [[office]] before I try to change my mind.”
As soon as Jenny and I were inside Symere's office, we were acquainted by Symere himself. This was the second time I have met him. It seems like he is very excited for this journey just like Jenny. She was very pleased with finally meeting him.
"Nice to meet finally meet you in person Symere! Do you remember helping my sister Caroline?"
"I actually do! She and her family were nice throughout the whole trail. I am going to assume it will be just the same for your family! Let's bring this conversation into my private office so we can discuss how this journey will work."
I already knew one thing that could ruin this whole anniversary gift. Money could be a problem. We could only spend so much on this trip. We will still need some money to use out there in Oregon. Right off the bat, I had to get this issue out of the way. "I am sorry but we were wondering how much this journey would cost. Do you have a solid cost?"
"Well, the total trip cost would be around $1,200 for a family of five. In this case, I do recall you telling me from our previous visit that you have a family of five which is perfect! However, if you don't have a wagon, that will cost you an extra $500. $1,700 for this whole trip." Once I heard $1,700 come out of Symere's mouth, I started to sweat. I started to remember that I already have a wagon which saves me $500. Okay so now the price is $1,200. Still a little pricey. Maybe I could negiotiate with Symere.
"Is there anyway you could lower that $1,200 price? We already have a wagon with two healthy oxen."
"Since your Carloline's family abided to the rules very nicley, I guess I can lower it to $850. I can't go any lower. The trip is truley long. Anything lower wouldn't be worth it for me." I smiled and nodded at his new and better price. But, I was still left questioning. What rules does he have about the journey? I guess Jenny had the same idea because she asked Symere shortly after he finished talking.
"What are the rules that we would have to follow on the trip?"
"There are plenty. Most you will learn on the trail. It is just... simpler that way. The most important rule is not to bring any firearms. It just makes my job easier. I don't want you shooting everything you see on the trail. It's not the reason God gave us this opportunity. It's meant for new beginnings! I truley believe that and if you don't comply with this rule, you can go find a different mode of travel to Oregon."
[[agree]] or [[disregard]]Symere looked pleased that we both agreed with his rules. He went over the things we will need to take. "To make this journey easy on all of us, make sure to bring a whole barrel filled with water, baskets of food that will last for long periods of time. Dried apples are the perfect food to bring along for long trips. However, since you aren't bringing firearms, you can bring a hunting knife, axes, and just basic tools you two would use on the farm. Sorry to ask you two so randomly, but, why are you moving your family out of Missouri? We have slaves that can do your work for free! What else would you want?" Jenny immediately answered his question.
"Family. I really miss my sister and it's tough living so far away with someone you lived with throughout your whole childhood."
"As long as you carry on Andrew Jackson's word with you, I am fine with whatever you do! If we want to arrive before winter, we should start to leave within the next 2-3 days. This journey won't be easy, it will take months. We all have to be patient with each other. If there is no patience, there will be no happy [[reunion]] in Oregon."
Jenny quickly made up for my poor decision. "I am so sorry Symere. He might not want to agree with you right now, but I promise you that he will." [[agree]]After leaving town, the ride back to our farm was very quiet. At least for me. The thought of possibly dying out there and nobody knowing absolutely scares me. Jenny tried to engage a conversation then and there but she could tell that I didn't want to talk. I just [[hope]] we can survive this journey and not get bored throughout the trip. I don't know what I have gotten myself into.Right as we got home we needed to figure out what we were gonna bring with us, but then Jenny remembered what Symere said. “Honey, Symere said that we need to bring flour, biscuits, bacon, coffee, tea, sugar, lard, a sack of rice and beans, and fruits. Also, we need to bring some of our farm tools too!”
“Oh yeah, I remember! I will also bring some of our corn and corn seeds for the journey!” With that reminder from Jenny, I gathered up a plow, shovel, hoe, rake, and scythe, and a saw. Just to be safe, I also brought a broad axe, mallet, and a hunting knife. While I was looking for more essential tools, I found my old musket. I really want to bring it with. I remember Symere telling us that we shouldn’t take any guns because he has had bad interactions with people with guns. I could still take the musket with and not let anyone know. [[NO GUN]] or [[GUN]]
I couldn’t let our lives be in danger. I felt obligated to bring the musket with. I decided to wrap it with a cloth. I could just say that it’s an extra [[blanket]]. I shouldn’t take it. Symere is experienced and this, he must [[know]] what he is talking about. I am not going to go behind his back. After mentally and physically preparing for the last couple of days, we were all relieved that we were on our way to a new life. We even sold the farm which I didn't think about before. The price wouldn't be a problem now. However, he kids weren't happy about it. They didn't get the bigger picture of selling our farm and moving away. We let them say goodbye to their friends before we parted off for good. Before we left for town, I assured our oxen that everything would be okay. This journey will be especially hard for them. I made sure the kids and Jenny were with the oxen while I sneakily hid the musket by my clothes. Once I got done with that, I made sure everyone was on the wagon and then we [[rode]] off to Symere's office.After mentally and physically preparing for the last couple of days, we were all relieved that we were on our way to a new life. We even sold the farm which I didn't think about before. The price wouldn't be a problem now. However, he kids weren't happy about it. They didn't get the bigger picture of selling our farm and moving away. We let them say goodbye to their friends before we parted off for good. Before we left for town, I assured our oxen that everything would be okay. This journey will be especially hard for them. After spending some time with our [[oxen]] we headed off to Symere's office.When we got to Symere's office, he was ready and he had his bags full of his belongings for the journey. I decided to greet him. "Good morning Symere!"
"Good morning Mr. and Mrs.Bartholomew. I would greet you three kids but I don't think we have met."
"My name is Lima."
"My name is Joe!"
"My name is Nando and I am not a kid." As soon as I turned to Nando tell him to be polite to Symere, I noticed that Jenny was giving him the look. This look scares our children. It can portray many emotions: anger, exhaustion, and fear. Nando immediately knew that he screwed up but Jenny and I both knew Nando wouldn't apologize. Jenny had to apologize for him.
"We are so sorry Symere! Please excuse Nando, he can be quite arrogant sometimes."
"Let's hope that he can bottle his arrogance for the whole trip."
"So, do you want to drive this wagon? I can drive this wagon if you want."
"I can just give you [[directions]] for now Alexander."Double-click this passage to edit it.As soon as we got a couple of hours outside of town, things started to feel like they were going slower. At least for me they were. I often overheard the same questions being asked and the same answers over and over. I couldn't keep listening to the same thing over and over again. I had to make some small talk. As I was looking at Symere, I noticed he had a picture of white man with his parted evenly. "Hey Symere, who's that?"
"You seriously don't know who this is?"
"If I did, I wouldn't be asking this question."
"This man is the [[king]] of the Wild Frontier. Sadly, he died a couple of weeks ago at The Alamo down in Texas. He died as an American, he died for us Americans."
"How did he die?"
"I'm not sure if this is true or not, but, people are saying that them Mexicans outnumbered them. It was a suicide. I have always had the dream of meeting him in person. I can always meet him after I am done here."
"I am so sorry to hear that Symere. At least he died fighting for us. It seems like he showed a lot of resilience."
"Make sure to go a little more to the north Alex."
"What difference will that make Symere? Aren't we going straight West?"
"It will make a couple of crucial differences. If we keep going this direction. Sooner or later, we might hit some Mexican territory, which is very bad right now. It would've been okay a few years ago. Also, we might run into some Indian reservations which is illegal. I can't have my business at risk for something very stupid. I want all of us to follow the laws that the US already has in place out here and I want to make sure we are all safe."
"Well I appreciate that you're not just in this for the money. It makes us feel a lot [[safer]] in your hands." It felt good actually talking to someone. However, as I was listening to to the smooth crunching of grass beneath the hooves of the oxen I heard something ruining my moment of peace. "I am so bored. There is nothing to do here mom!"
"Lima, how is it boring?"
"There is nothing to do here mom!"
“How can you guys still be complaining, just look around you and see how beautiful it is and stop complaining.” They were all looking around in awe. When I was looking at my kids, Nando was admiring the landscape meanwhile, Joe and Lima were gazing at how beautiful the sky is.
“I betcha you wouldn’t find this in Missouri now wouldya?”
“How can this world be so beautiful and bright? How come Missouri ain’t like this?” Jenny said. It smelled like sweet wet grass, flowers, and dirt. It was a bright beautiful clear sky, the wind blowing through her hair, and the sun shining on her faces. It made me remember why I proposed to her. I qiah I could just see her like this for the whole journey. Suddenly, I was snapped back into reality to Lima asking a question.
“Wait I got an idea. Can we stop the wagon and walk around for a little bit and play please?”
[[Allow]] or [[Deny]]“Sure we can honey.” We stopped the wagon, relaxed, and watched the sunset while the kids played and had fun. Lima was chasing after a rabbit while the two boys were playing fighting. Then came night time we stayed just where we were and slept in the wagon for the [[night]].
“No sweetheart. We gotta keep going. There is no time for stopping and to mess around right now. We need to get to where we need to go.”
“But Dad-”
“No buts, we got to go and keep going. Don’t you want to meet your aunt and uncle?”
Lima was sad and mad at me. I felt hot eyes staring me down in the wagon. I guess everybody else was too. I wanted to say sorry but I know they probably wouldn’t forgive me. There was just no time to stop, relax, and watch the sunset. Later, night time came and the kids and Jenny just slept in the back of the wagon while Symere and I directed the wagon the whole entire night.
After planning on having a very quiet night, Symere broke the silence, “I think you should’ve let her play with her brothers. It’s hard for kids to make it out here. They get bored easily. That’s why I was so cautious about bringing 3 kids.”
“I couldn’t let them get off the wagon. I am going to be completely honest with you. I don’t want to spend anymore added time on this wagon. It’s not you...:”
“I get it, I have been doing this for a couple of years now and it gets rough. However, I like doing it. I like to think I am doing good in the world. I just like seeing people start new lives. Lives that they will enjoy. If I could, I wouldn't charge anyone. Things are tough now, I got to make a living too.” That explained why he did this. I still don't know how he did it.
"I can see why you can do it, but, this isn't made for me. I honeslty don't know if I could make it any more weeks. Time goes by so slow Symere. How do you do it?"
"I don't know. I just don't bother to think about it. The thing I hate about this is the journey back to [[Missouri]]. it can get lonely. Here, you have people to talk to and things to do with them."For the last couple of days, I have heard even more complaining from the back of the wagon. I typically stay in the front with Symere. We talk about each other's lives and what I did as a farmer. He was really intrigued with the way I talked about growing corn. He was really confused that I only grew wheat and corn. He was very happy that I brought a lot of corn for the trip. Since we grew the corn, we often ate it everyday. That meant, we often get tired of the taste. Let me tell you, I have not seen a man eat so much [[corn]] in one sitting.Throughout our long and never-ending journey, we experienced lots of terrain changes. Symere often commented about how he felt like we were going uphill or downhill. He thought this made sense because our oxen got really tired randomly. Especially if we were actually traveling uphill for an extensive period of time. This might’ve been why one of our oxen died. I however, don’t think that was the case. I swear the land we covered was all flat. I know Symere is an expert in this and it’s his job but I think the never-ending grass is finally getting to him. Since Symere didn’t want another one of MY ox to die so soon, he recommended us to stop traveling and settle down for the night.
I am getting too impatient with this path and him. It seems like we have been made no progress. What if we are going around the same stretch of land? Has Symere lost it? No one seems worried about Symere’s health except me. Should I go [[ask]] him what we should do next? I’m not sure if I really believe that he is a traveling agent anymore. I also don’t want to be on his bad side. It feels like we’re getting to know each other better. I could [[sleep]] instead.“Hey Symere”
“How’s it going Alex?”
I couldn’t believe he really asked me that knowing that we lost a damn ox. “Well, things could be better. What’s the plan moving forward?”
“To make sure your family arrives safely, we are going to travel slower, lose some weight on the wagon and make sure we go at the speed this Ox can handle. I know, losing wei…”
“LOSING WEIGHT? I don’t think we can afford to lose anything else Symere. I don’t think I can even wait any longer for this journey to end! How could you let one of our oxen die? Isn’t it your job to stop that? How are…” in attempts to end this conflict, Jenny butted her head into this conversation.
“Alexander Bartholomew! Why don’t you leave this kind gentleman alone? He is the ONLY man trying to keep us alive.” Symere knew Jenny’s interference just made my pot boil even more.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bartholomew, may we please stop with all this fussing. This is no place or time to fuss. We have bigger problems that could come our way.” Symere thought he was all this and that. He was no working man like me. What would he know? Someone had to put this man into his place.
“What other problems are we going to have? Are we going to have Indians with bows kill us? How about some Mexicans? Are they going to kill us like how they did in the Alamo Tell me Symere, what is worse than all of th…”
“Daddy, why are you mad?” Lima had been listening to me this whole time.
“Honey I’m not ma…”
Suddenly, Jenny grabbed Lima away from me and screeched, “LIMA GET AWAY FROM HIM!”
I was so confused, why would she grab Lima like that? “What’s wrong with you Jenny?”
“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? You are a different man out here Alexander. What do you have to prove? Who do you have to prove?“ I had so much to say to Jenny but it couldn’t get out. Something was stopping me from continuing this argument. I couldn’t handle being around them for any longer. I think i'll just go to sleep and [[calm]] down a bit.Maybe I was just a little sleep deprived today. I was thinking of too many things today. I think I deserve a good rest to ponder about this journey. I just hope I wake up to a bed in Oregon City next to a nice warm fireplace. Man do I miss our fireplace. Sure beats the [[outside]]!
I woke up to rustling and leaves crunching. I sat thinking if we were getting attacked by Indians or if it was a wild animal. I was hesitant about grabbing a weapon. I find my tool stash and I chose the knife I brought to hunt. All I could think of was keeping my family safe. I slowly got up and tried to pinpoint where the noise was. I couldn't find the wagon in the darkness of the night. After walking to the frequent footsteps, I realized that I was getting closer. To my realization, the footsteps were coming from the lantern we left overnight. I flanked silently to get a better view of this intruder. I came to find out that it was a wild coyote. I made sure I was ready and aiming directly at the [[coyote]]. I woke up to rustling and leaves crunching. I sat thinking if we were getting attacked by Indians or if it was a wild animal. I was hesitant about grabbing a weapon. I find my tool stash and I chose the knife I brought to hunt. All I could think of was keeping my family safe. I slowly got up and tried to pinpoint where the noise was. I couldn't find the wagon in the darkness of the night. After walking to the frequent footsteps, I realized that I was getting closer. To my realization, the footsteps were coming from the lantern we left overnight. I flanked silently to get a better view of this intruder. I came to find out that it was a [[wild]] coyote. I made sure I was ready and aiming directly at the coyote. I started walking towards the animal hopefully to scare it away or even kill it. In a blink of an eye, the water barrel fell on the edges of some rocks next to us and broke everywhere. I threw the knife just like how my father taught me when I was little. I ended up killing the mysterious animal, but now we don't have any water to last us the trip anymore.
When the water broke and Jenny came out in a rush scaring me even more. “ WHAT WAS THAT?!” Then everyone else followed right behind her in a rush. They all started to blame me for trying to ruin the trip. However, I had proof that I didn’t do it on purpose. As I was walking everyone to the dead creature I killed, we found out it was a wolf.
“DAD! WHY DID YOU KILL A DOG?” Lima sounded scared. Symere just stared me down with disgust. Nobody appreiciated my kill. All they cared about was my [[mistake]] that I didn't even cause. It really seemed like I didn't have a family here. I started walking towards the animal hopefully to scare it away or even kill it. In a blink of an eye, the water barrel fell on the edges of some rocks next to us and broke everywhere. I threw the knife just like how my father taught me when I was little. I ended up killing the mysterious animal, but now we don't have any water to last us the trip anymore.
When the water broke and Jenny came out in a rush scaring me even more. “ WHAT WAS THAT?!” Then everyone else followed right behind her in a rush. They all started to blame me for trying to ruin the trip. However, I had proof that I didn’t do it on purpose. As I was walking everyone to the dead creature I killed, we found out it was a wolf.
“DAD! WHY DID YOU KILL A DOG?” Lima sounded scared. Symere calmingly reassured her that it wasn’t a normal dog.
“These dogs are very dangerous Lima. Your father did very good tonight even though we are out of water. However, [[water]] can easily be found later on the trail.”
It's been a long ride without water. I still feel bad about all the water loss. Symere kept yelling at me for bringing a gun with but I was not going to leave it behind. Some Indians could have attacked us out of the blue and we would have had no weapons to protect each other. I apologize to everyone about the water but they are still blaming me.
Half way down the trail again, everyone is complaining that they are thirsty and they need water. I tell them we will find a town soon in a day or two and stalk up on water hopefully. By the rate we are going at we should make it there in a couple days, if we don't stop the wagon. I'm scared that we won't make it in time and I don’t want to listen to anymore complaining, it is giving me a headache. There isn’t even a place for me to go hide away from all of these complaints. It’s the same thing over and over. I [[don’t]] know how Symere does it“PAPA! GET UP GET UP” I got up in a dash, ready to protect my family with all the energy I have left. Only to find out, I didn’t need to get up so quick. Joe saved our lives. He found a body of water. Upon my realization, it looked like the river was not clean. I didn’t want to ruin the excitement but I was really done with all of this chaos.
[[Stop them]] or let them [[drink]]“I'm tired of all you guys whining, Drink the water if you want.” I have given them all a piece of my mind, no one will ever listen. If you are thirsty then drink and quit complaining.
“I'm drinking the water,” Joe and Lima said, “I had enough of not being able to drink anything”. Once Joe and Lima drank the water they stopped complaining, which I was relieved. I told them to drink the water if they wanted and I told them the consequences, I guess it didn’t matter to them.
They all looked healthy. Wouldn't bad water hurt them right away? Also, wouldn't bad water look dirty? This water looks clear. I am just going to drink it too. I don't want to be the only person complaining about this and I had my chance to drink water.
*You end up dying with everyone else on your wagon with dysentery.*“We are not going to drink the water, because the water doesn’t look clean.”
“WE ARE THIRSTY AND WANT WATER NOW!” Everyone was complaining and yelling at me.
“I am trying to protect you from getting sick and dying,” I said calmly to them.
“It’s water we will be fine, all we have to do is survive by drinking this water!”
“Fine then. Drink the water and you guys die or don’t drink the water and live.” They didn’t drink the water, but they hated me and kept complaining. I didn’t do anything about it, I just let it happen.
They all looked healthy. Wouldn't bad water hurt them right away? Also, wouldn't bad water look dirty? This water looks clear. I am just going to drink it too. I don't want to be the only person complaining about this and I had my chance to drink water.
*You end up dying with everyone else on your wagon with dysentery.*Bickering and whining. That’s what I heard for the last couple of days. Everyone was whining about two things: the loss of water that supposedly is all of my fault and me turning into a whole different person. I'm not sure if I want to stay here. Symere is acting like the father figure to my kids. My kids don't even make eye contact with me. I don't feel belonged here. I am thinking of ditching all of them. I could [[take]] the wagon and go on by myself. If that doesn't work I can just walk [[away]] with my knife to a place nobody will find me. It's nightime. I have to make sure everyone is alseep. I can't be seen leaving. I don't want to have second thoughts. As I was about to take my musket, I had second thoughts. Should I really take it? I am already taking their wagon, I might as well leave it for them. They might be able to use it for good.
Waking up the Ox was difficult. I tried waking up my last ox with the least amount of noise being produced. As soon as it was awake, I rushed to the front of the wagon and started to whip at the ox. Nothing happened. I'm panicking. Nothing is working. I keep whipping and whipping it until it slowly starts to move away. As I was slowly traveling away from the camp, I felt something looking at me. Symere. He has a musket in his hand, aimed right at me. Where did he get that musket? Did he smuggle it on board? There's nothing I could do. All I did was stare him down and call his bluff. He wouldn't kill a father,
*You end up dying to Symere shooting you for sabotage*It's nightime. I have to make sure everyone is alseep. I can't be seen leaving. I don't want to have second thoughts. I grabbed my knife and didn't look back. I knew where I was going, I wouldn't need anything but myself and my knife. I can't take this anymore.
*You end up taking your life and your family wonders what happened to you. All they find missing is you and your knife*For the last couple of days, I have heard even more complaining from the back of the wagon. I typically stay in the front with Symere. We talk about each other's lives and what I did as a farmer. He was really intrigued with the way I talked about growing corn. He was really confused that I only grew wheat and corn. He was very happy that I brought a lot of corn for the trip. Since we grew the corn, we often ate it everyday. That meant, we often get [[tired]] of the taste. Let me tell you, I have not seen a man eat so much corn in one sitting.Throughout our long and never-ending journey, we experienced lots of terrain changes. Symere often commented about how he felt like we were going uphill or downhill. He thought this made sense because our oxen got really tired randomly. Especially if we were actually traveling uphill for an extensive period of time. This might’ve been why one of our oxen died. I however, don’t think that was the case. I swear the land we covered was all flat. I know Symere is an expert in this and it’s his job but I think the never-ending grass is finally getting to him. Since Symere didn’t want another one of MY ox to die so soon, he recommended us to stop traveling and settle down for the night.
I am getting too impatient with this path and him. It seems like we have been made no progress. What if we are going around the same stretch of land? Has Symere lost it? No one seems worried about Symere’s health except me. Should I go ask him what we should do [[next]]? I’m not sure if I really believe that he is a traveling agent anymore. I also don’t want to be on his bad side. It [[feels]] like we’re getting to know each other better. I could sleep instead.“Hey Symere”
“How’s it going Alex?”
I couldn’t believe he really asked me that knowing that we lost a damn ox. “Well, things could be better. What’s the plan moving forward?”
“To make sure your family arrives safely, we are going to travel slower, lose some weight on the wagon and make sure we go at the speed this Ox can handle. I know, losing wei…”
“LOSING WEIGHT? I don’t think we can afford to lose anything else Symere. I don’t think I can even wait any longer for this journey to end! How could you let one of our oxen die? Isn’t it your job to stop that? How are…” in attempts to end this conflict, Jenny butted her head into this conversation.
“Alexander Bartholomew! Why don’t you leave this kind gentleman alone? He is the ONLY man trying to keep us alive.” Symere knew Jenny’s interference just made my pot boil even more.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bartholomew, may we please stop with all this fussing. This is no place or time to fuss. We have bigger problems that could come our way.” Symere thought he was all this and that. He was no working man like me. What would he know? Someone had to put this man into his place.
“What other problems are we going to have? Are we going to have Indians with bows kill us? How about some Mexicans? Are they going to kill us like how they did in the Alamo Tell me Symere, what is worse than all of th…”
“Daddy, why are you mad?” Lima had been listening to me this whole time.
“Honey I’m not ma…”
Suddenly, Jenny grabbed Lima away from me and screeched, “LIMA GET AWAY FROM HIM!”
I was so confused, why would she grab Lima like that? “What’s wrong with you Jenny?”
“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? You are a different man out here Alexander. What do you have to prove? Who do you have to prove?“ I had so much to say to Jenny but it couldn’t get out. Something was stopping me from continuing this argument. I couldn’t handle being around them for any longer. I think i'll just go to sleep and calm [[down]] a bit.Maybe I was just a little sleep deprived today. I was thinking of too many things today. I think I deserve a good rest to ponder about this journey. I just hope I wake up to a bed in Oregon City next to a nice warm fireplace. Man do I miss our [[fire]]place. Sure beats the outside!
I woke up to rustling and leaves crunching. I sat thinking if we were getting attacked by Indians or if it was a wild animal. I was hesitant about grabbing a weapon. I find my gun stash and I grabbed my gun that I hid. All I could think of was keeping my family safe. I slowly got up and tried to pinpoint where the noise was. I couldn't find the wagon in the darkness of the night. After walking to the frequent footsteps, I realized that I was getting closer. To my realization, the footsteps were coming from the lantern we left overnight. I flanked silently to get a better view of this intruder. I came to find out that it was a wild coyote. I made sure I was ready and [[aiming]] directly at the coyote. I woke up to rustling and leaves crunching. I sat thinking if we were getting attacked by Indians or if it was a wild animal. I was hesitant about grabbing a weapon. I find my gun stash and I grabbed my gun that I hid. All I could think of was keeping my family safe. I slowly got up and tried to pinpoint where the noise was. I couldn't find the wagon in the darkness of the night. After walking to the frequent footsteps, I realized that I was getting closer. To my realization, the footsteps were coming from the lantern we left overnight. I flanked silently to get a better view of this [[intruder]]. I came to find out that it was a wild coyote. I made sure I was ready and aiming directly at the coyote. I picked up the gun and I was ready to shoot. It was so dark and trying to see was horrifying. I was scared that I was going to shoot Inside the wagon and hurt someone. I started walking really quietly towards the noise so I would have a clean shot. All of a sudden the leaves started rustling really fast, I got scared and shot the gun. I felt the cold on my feet and realized it wasn't from the animal, I shot the water barrel. I tried saving water but it was too damaged. The gunshot had woken up everyone. Symere got up fast and ran to the gunshot. Right behind him like everyone else. All they saw was me, my musket, and a hole at the bottom of the water barrel.
I tried telling everyone that I was trying to shoot the animal that was going to attack us, but no one believed me. I'm getting accused of spilling all the water for no reason but I just wanted to keep everyone safe. Going down the trail now I am hoping to find a river to get [[new]] water.
I picked up the gun and I was ready to shoot. It was so dark and trying to see was horrifying. I was scared that I was going to shoot Inside the wagon and hurt someone. I started walking really quietly towards the noise so I would have a clean shot. All of a sudden the leaves started rustling really fast, I got scared and shot the gun. I felt the cold on my feet and realized it wasn't from the animal, I shot the water barrel. I tried saving water but it was too damaged. The gunshot had woken up everyone. Symere got up fast and ran to the gunshot. Right behind him like everyone else. All they saw was me, my musket, and a hole at the bottom of the water barrel.
I tried telling everyone that I was trying to shoot the animal that was going to attack us, but no one [[believed]] me. I'm getting accused of spilling all the water for no reason but I just wanted to keep everyone safe. Going down the trail now I am hoping to find a river to get new water.
It's been a long ride without water. I still feel bad about all the water loss. Symere kept yelling at me for bringing a gun with but I was not going to leave it behind. Some Indians could have attacked us out of the blue and we would have had no weapons to protect each other. I apologize to everyone about the water but they are still blaming me.
Everyone was whining about two things: the loss of water that supposedly is all of my fault and me turning into a whole different person. I'm not sure if I want to stay here. Symere is acting like the father figure to my kids. My kids don't even make eye contact with me. I don't feel belonged here. I am thinking of ditching all of them. I [[could]] take the wagon and go on by myself. If that doesn't work I can just walk away with my musket to a [[place]] nobody will find me. It's been a long ride without water. I still feel bad about all the water loss. Symere kept yelling at me for bringing a gun with but I was not going to leave it behind. Some Indians could have attacked us out of the blue and we would have had no weapons to protect each other. I apologize to everyone about the water but they are still blaming me.
Half way down the trail again, everyone is complaining that they are thirsty and they need water. I tell them we will find a town soon in a day or two and stalk up on water hopefully. By the rate we are going at we should make it there in a couple days, if we don't stop the wagon. I'm scared that we won't make it in time and I don’t want to listen to anymore complaining, it is giving me a headache. There isn’t even a place for me to go hide away from all of these complaints. It’s the same thing over and over. I [[don’t]] know how Symere does itIt's nightime. I have to make sure everyone is alseep. I can't be seen leaving. I don't want to have second thoughts. As I was about to take my musket, I had second thoughts. Should I really take it? I am already taking their wagon, I might as well leave it for them. They might be able to use it for good.
Waking up the Ox was difficult. I tried waking up my last ox with the least amount of noise being produced. As soon as it was awake, I rushed to the front of the wagon and started to whip at the ox. Nothing happened. I'm panicking. Nothing is working. I keep whipping and whipping it until it slowly starts to move away. As I was slowly traveling away from the camp, I felt something looking at me. Symere. He has my musket in his hand, aimed right at me. There's nothing I could do. All I did was stare him down and call his bluff. He wouldn't kill a father.
*You end up dying to Symere shooting you for sabotage*It's nightime. I have to make sure everyone is alseep. I can't be seen leaving. I don't want to have second thoughts. I grabbed my musket and didn't look back. I knew where I was going, I wouldn't need anything but myself and my knife. I can't take this anymore.
*You end up taking your life and your family wonders what happened to you. All they find missing is you and your musket*