Free Between Earth & Sky by Karen Osborn Page B

nearby and chop off its head. Later Clayton skinned it, and now we have its shell hanging on the wall just inside our door, a reminder of my bravery.
    When we travel up into the mountains, there are no roads, only the peaks, which we have named after the presidents, to guide us. Not far from our house is a mesa, a mountain which is long and flat across the top. When I open my front door, I can see it stretching across a length of sky, cutting its straight, certain line above the horizon.
    Here is a letter I got from Sally last summer. I expect you know about Adam and Grey going off to Colorado, but the rest may be news to you.
    Your Sister,
    Abigail
    July 29, 1873
    Dear Abigail,
    I had another boy, born last month, a big strong baby like William, and I called him Matthew. I am staying here in the hills with Rachel and the boys, with a family called the Harmons, while Roger is gone these two or three months to earn a living out of those mines. I would be so glad if he would give them up like your Clayton. If there is nothing in these ones, he says he will, and then we can live in town in our own house. There is a need for men that can do carpentry, and 1 feel sure we would be all right .
    My duties here are the cleaning of the house and cooking for the five Harmons and the four men who work for them. There is plenty of variety of vegetables here, and so I invent all kinds of recipes, like squash and green pepper pie, which we ate last night. There are two girls for Rachel to play with, and if we are still here in a month’s time I will send her off to school with the others. She is learning hard work at a young age — hauling buckets of laundry, scrubbing and cleaning, caring for the baby and Will. I would like to see her get some sort of education before she is grown .
    Do you think often of Virginia? I do and long to go back, though there is nothing really to go back to in the way of making a living, as Roger has said to me too many times. It is awful how I miss my mother. Nearly most of my family is there still. But did you hear that Adam and Grey went to Colorado? I guess they will work the mines. Mother says they are bound for adventure and may come the rest of the way across to California. Wouldn’t that be grand?
    I do think of you often, Abigail. Perhaps we will see one another again .
    Your Sally
    February 7, 1874
    Dear Maggie,
    We had snow last week, the most Amy could remember ever having seen. The world got whiter and whiter all morning, and by afternoon the tree limbs and our house were heavy with it. Clayton stayed inside by the stove, as his back was hurting again, but Amy and I bundled up against the cold and went out. I felt like a child again, running through all that whiteness. When the sky turned a hard, bright blue, everything was glittering. We fashioned a rabbit out of snow for George Michael, who was watching from the window.
    Maggie, I hate to write to you to ask for anything after Clayton lost John’s money and after all you have given us. But I can think of nowhere else to turn. Clayton’s father has given all he can, and we are still quite low on supplies. I do not see how we can get through the winter. Thirty or forty dollars would be enough, as soon we shall be able to plant. Maggie, I am asking for a loan. Know that I will return the money by next fall, and soon we will repay John the money lost to the mines.
    I am your thankful, indebted sister,
    Abigail
    March 1, 1874
    Dear Maggie,
    I am unsure of when I will be able to post this letter, as we have had a recent snowfall and Clayton tells me it will be a few days at least before we can reach the main roads, but I feel I must write despite this to thank you for the generous loan you sent. It arrived a few days ago and is none too soon, as we have depleted our stores of nearly everything, including flour and sugar. I do not know how we would have survived the next month if not for your generosity. As soon as the roads have