Free Journey of Honor A love story by Jaclyn M. Hawkes Page A

through mud that thickened by the minute and the drivers were soon miserable in spite of their slickers.
    He was on his horse this time, scouting ahead for the best route again and he looked over at Josiah's wagon, glad to see that at least Giselle and Petja were inside out of the wet. He'd been watching Giselle earlier. She'd known it was going to rain and had been walking beside the wagon gathering firewood that she stowed in a sling Josiah had rigged up under his wagon for just that purpose. It was comforting to know that when they finally did stop for the night, at least they'd not have too much trouble making a hot dinner. Mose was right. She was a good woman.
    When they finally made it into camp, they were several miles short of what he had hoped to travel that day. Giselle and Petja had them a good hot dinner in next to no time, and once again Trace was grateful for their help. They had their chores done and were settling in for the night long before the other teamsters were even close. He put a canvas ground cover down before laying out their bedding under the wagon, and then put another one over top of them to protect them from the damp. It took her a second to figure out how to pray without displacing everything, and he laughed with her as he held it still so that she could kneel.
    Lying down that night with her was singularly comforting. It felt like they were in a cocoon, safe from the whole rest of the world, and they lay there all but snuggling next to each other and listened to the rain on the canvas wagon cover. Snug and warm, it was almost a soothing sound that lulled them to sleep like a lullaby. As he drifted off, he marveled at how good it was to work together as a couple to accomplish a common goal.
    He'd never worked beside a woman like he was doing here, and the fact that working together proved to be so much more efficient than the other teamsters was somewhat puzzling to him. Shouldn't having the women along have been an extra burden and not a help? It had proved to be a great help to him and Mose, and as he prayed that night, he said an extra thank you for both Petja and Giselle. Especially Giselle.
    That was the first night that they heard prairie wolves. The rain had been steady enough that they didn't hear them until almost morning, but once the rain tapered off, the mournful howling seemed like it was right in camp. They woke Trace up and then Dog growled and Giselle woke up as well. She looked over at him with wide eyes and he knew she was thinking about Henry Filson. The wolves howling again took her mind off of Filson, but then he could tell she was afraid of the wolves instead.
    Trace sleepily reached for her hand, and then when the howling came a third time, she rolled over against him and he wrapped an arm around her as before. That seemed to be all she needed to feel secure enough to go right back to sleep, but her proximity made sleep hard for him and it took him a while. When he finally got back to sleep with her there in his arms, the two intermittent nights finally clobbered him.
    The next morning she was up and gone and Mose had to come and roust him to wake him up. "Come on sleeping beauty. You waiting for breakfast in bed? What? Did you have to hug her again?"
    Trace smiled tiredly. "It was my husbandly duty to protect her from the wolves."
    "You probably hated that. Poor boy. You'd better get your lazy self outta bed. This train's leaving. With or without you. Lying there alone, you don't have much excuse for being left behind. You being the leader and all."
    He sighed, "All right, all right. You're standing on my shirt, you big oaf. Move so I can get up. Why'd you let me sleep this long, anyway?"
    Mose grinned, "When I came by the first time, you two were pretty snuggly. I figured you would hurt me if I woke you."
    "Waking me I could handle. It's letting her go that would get you injured."
    "Does she know that?"
    "Heck, no! I'm far too afraid to tell her that. We gonna get more