Free Wild Heart on the Prairie (A Prairie Heritage, Book 2) by Vikki Kestell Page A

animals’ safety from predators. Leaving the oxen in
the open at night was not what they wanted, but until they built a barn, it
would have to do. They kept the two guns loaded and hanging upon one of the
wagon walls—within easy reach.
    Jan’s reverie was interrupted by Søren’s appearance. “ Pappa! Come see what I have found!”
    Søren led the men a distance from their camp, crossing over
onto Karl’s property, to a slough nestled behind a low hillock. They explored
the low, marshy bog, finally locating where water seeped from the ground and
pooled. Reeds and a few saplings grew along its edges. A snake slithered away
as they cautiously pushed through the rushes.
    Jan and Karl were delighted to find a natural source of
water on their properties. Eventually they could dig down to the spring, build
a dam, and divert the water to a holding pond for their stock. Until then they
could bring the ox and their cow to the slough each day to water them. It was
closer than the creek.
    “This water will attract much wildlife,” Karl warned. “Venomous
snakes, too.”
    “ Ja ,” Jan replied. “We must be careful, especially at
night. Perhaps, though, one evening we will lay in wait for antelope to come?”
    “Good, fresh meat!” Karl laughed. “That would be nice, eh?”
    The slough was not the only thing they discovered that day.
Søren called excitedly from beyond the slough. “ Pappa! Onkel! Come
quick!”
    When the men trudged around the slough to other side of the mound,
Søren was waiting for them, his face animated. “Look! This must be where Herr Gloeckner and his family lived!”
    On the side of the hillock the faint outlines of a dugout’s exterior
wall could be seen. The wall was built from blocks of sod. Karl and Jan were as
enthused as Søren. They fetched tools and, with a little effort, were able to
clear and prize open the rough, weathered door.
    Inside the air was cool. Neither Jan nor Karl could stand fully
upright inside the room, but they immediately grasped the blessing of the
place.
    “Let us call the women to see this,” Karl suggested.
     
    Elli and Amalie hung back, outside the door, unsure about
going in.
    “It is safe,” Jan assured them. “The door has been closed
for more than a year—maybe two years. We have checked and found no bugs or
snakes inside.”
    Amalie frowned, still unsure about a “dirt house.” Elli
screwed up her courage and followed Jan. Inside he lit a candle. In the yellow
glow she found a modest room about eight feet by eight feet. She looked up. The
ceiling had been hard packed and she was just able to stand upright.
    “Karl and I think we could dig farther back,” Jan said,
“making it a little bigger. Until we have the barn built, this would be better
than the tents.”
    “It is very small,” Elli answered carefully, “and you know
how Amalie is with bugs.”
    “I do not see any bugs,” Jan looked about him. He held the
candle up and examined the corners of the room and then down to search the
“floor.” “Do you see anything?”
    “Nooo,” Elli responded.
    “Feel how cool it is in here? What a blessing it will be when
the heat of summer is on us, nei ? And it is dry, too.”
    His last remark got Elli thinking about the rain they had
received the night before. Yes, they had sheltered under the wagons and under
the tarps, but the ground had become wet. The edges of their blankets were
still drying out.
    “Amalie, come in,” Elli called to her.
    Reluctantly, Amalie ducked under the doorway. She stood up inside
and gazed around in surprise. “Ach! I thought it would be wet. Moldy.”
    Elli took the candle from Jan. “Look. Look, no bugs, Søster .”
    Amalie huffed but took the candle and scrutinized the room,
floor to ceiling. “Hmph. I do not know if I could stay in a dirt house.”
    “You will find more bugs on the ground under our wagons,”
Elli replied practically. “Perhaps snakes, too.” Amalie huffed again,
nervously, but said