Free Facing the Storm Along the Oregon Trail by Vanessa Carvo

Facing The Storm
    Along The Oregon Trail
    by
     
    Vanessa Carvo
    Chapter One
    Leaving Without Blessings
    IN THE SWEET early hours of an April morning, Benjamin and Emily Whetstone gathered their belongings, packed their buggy and set out for St. Jo, Missouri. At nineteen and fifteen years old, they were about to take an adventure of the unknown.
    Losing their Amish parents to a drowning accident, they longed for family. They would travel from Elkhart, Indiana by buggy, cross a river by ferry and enter St. Jo, Missouri. There they would take the money their parents had left behind and trade their horse and buggy for an oxen team and wagon.
    Staying in the Amish community they grew up in was no longer an option. Not feeling any connections, their late mother’s desire became their passion. Their mother had longed to
    reconnect with her sister and family who had been excommunicated years before for the simple fact of wanting to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ outside the Amish faith.
    This was against the Amish rules and their Aunt’s desires brought on the fact of them being excommunicated. The siblings, Aunt was forced to leave and she resettled out in Oregon, the land of new opportunity.
    Benjamin and Emily made the choice to leave all they ever knew to fulfill their mother’s wishes. It would be a trying journey filled with sweet and tender moments, as well as extreme hardships and it would try their faith to the utmost.
    With news of so many people leaving for Oregon, they decided to seek refuge with strangers on the trail, as they hold onto their gleaming hope and their love for Jesus Christ. With much to ponder, mostly of the unknown, they made a decision to pretend that they are husband and wife instead of brother and sister, in hopes that this would bring more protection to Emily.
    So, as Abram and Sari in the Old Testament took on the charade of being a married couple, so did Benjamin and Emily. When the sun hit the skies that morning, they slowly pulled away without the blessings from those they had known all their lives, leaving their names scratched out by the Amish community as a lesson to others they left behind.
    Now, alone with only each other, they too were excommunicated and what remains is their strong faith and determination. Leaving a dusty trails behind, they each take one last glance as they pass by their old familiar family farm and yet a smile spreads across their faces.
    “Well Emily, we’re off and I do believe there is no turning back now, but the Lord will provide, do you believe so, Emily?”
    “Oh yes Benjamin, I do believe that He will provide for us and shall deliver us to Oregon safe and sound”.
    And, taking his hand in hers, she smiled as they passed farm after farm, until they finally saw no family farms anymore. As they settled into their thoughts, they found themselves strong, happy and determined, despite all the warnings the congregation had given them.
    It was April of 1852 and the day was young while their spirits were high.
    ARRIVING IN St. Jo, Missouri their eyes were opened wide to the enormous amount of wagons all lined up for the train. For as far back as they could see, they could not identify any other Amish which made them a bit nervous, but they took the attitude that they must be two of the brave ones and they pulled up in line. Here, they would purchase any supplies they needed to have and this is where they traded in their horse and buggy for a team of oxen and a wagon.
    Scurrying about, they unloaded and loaded their buggy and wagon, piling in their food supplies and water. With so many doing business, they found out they would be staying the night and they got themselves a room.
    It was understood that the train would then be ready to pull out at dawn. Getting a good night’s sleep and a well-rounded meal, they waited for their departure with excitement.
    MORNING ARRIVED and they took their place in line on the train and they were now Oregon bound. Sitting side by