Hope

The thought of him doing that sent a warmth through her entire body. If she wasn’t careful, she’d find herself fonder of him than she wanted to be.
Everyone got to enjoy a bath. It wasn't with hot water, but a good scrubbing in the cool river. The women had a guarded spot on one side of the river and the men on the other.
The third and final night at the fort, lying in the tent, Daniel once more placed the rolled-up tablecloth between them. Since they weren’t as tired as usual, they lay talking.
“Tell me about the orphanage,” Daniel said.
“It wasn’t so bad. They treated us well, but there wasn’t any love or affection except what we gave each other. I miss Betsy. She was my best friend.”
“You’re a very attractive young woman. Did you have many suitors before Callum?”
“I had one. George McNeill was my betrothed, but he was killed at Fort Sumter.”
“I’m sorry. So… you know the pain of losing someone dear to you.”
“Yes, I do. It’s like a part of your heart has been ripped away.”
“Exactly.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “I felt the same.”
“What about you, Daniel? Here we are married, and I don’t even know where you’re from.”
“Kansas. I was a cowpoke on my family’s ranch.”
“What happened? How did you come to be going to Oregon to see your father?”
“A disease hit our cattle, and they dropped dead, one by one. There was nothing we could do. My father decided he’d had enough, so he sold the ranch. He and my mother packed up and went by wagon train to Oregon, but Mother never made it.”
“And you need to see him before he dies.”
“I need to apologize to him and tell him I love him. You see, I blamed him for my mother’s death, and I wrote him a letter telling him so. I said some mean things in my anger—sort of like I did to you after Nancy died. I get so angry when things happen that are out of my control.”
“You need to put more faith in God, Daniel.”
“I know. I need to get back to prayer and God. Nancy was a Catholic, and I’m a protestant, so we ended up not going to church at all.”
“Would you like me to pray with you?” Hope asked, turning to face him in the dark.
“I would.”
Hope took his hands and prayed aloud. She asked God to give him strength and help him get to Oregon before his father died.
Daniel was so moved by Hope’s prayer that when she said, “Amen,” he hugged her lightly. Then he realized that they were laying face to face in bed together, and he let her go. “Thank you, Hope.”
Hope turned her back to him. “Good night, Daniel.”
“Goodnight, Hope.”
The first bugle sounded waking everyone, reminding them it was the day they began the last and most difficult leg of their journey.
Hope pulled out biscuits she’d made the day before and spread jam on them. She and Daniel ate the biscuits, and he took an apple to eat along the trail.
“The apples are holding up well, but the pears, and oranges have rotted. I tossed them into the discard pile.”
“I like apples better, anyway,” Daniel said with a smile. “Are you ready?”
“As much as I’ll ever be.”
“Let’s do this.” He stood, helped her up, and they walked to the wagon. He looked up at the mountains, which seemed so beautiful and majestic, and sighed. “Here we go.”
The first few days did not differ from their travels before they'd reached Fort Laramie. The mountains looked so close, but they were actually quite a few miles ahead of them, so they had somewhat of a reprieve. They followed the same routine of cold breakfast and lunch and hot suppers.
Soon, they reached Independence Rock, which they all found fascinating, and spent most of their free time reading the names carved into the rock. Some people from the wagon train signed their names, too.
That night in bed, Hope asked him, “Why do they call it Independence Rock?”
“According to Shank, it’s because the travelers always strove to reach it by the fourth of July. They celebrated if they did.”
“But Daniel, it’s the tenth of July.”
“We lost a lot of time because of illnesses and deaths.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t worry: we’ll make it through the Rockies before the snow and ice. Have faith, remember?”
Daniel found himself feeling extremely close to Hope since Fort Laramie. Their nightly talks and her "can do" attitude on the trail all endeared her to him. She sometimes looked up at him with her big, brown eyes and he felt the urge to kiss her. The thought always shocked him as Nancy hadn’t been dead long enough for him to feel longings like that. He stifled the urge.
The travelers waved goodbye to Independence Rock and hoped that being six days late wouldn’t make a difference.
The land was still flat and filled with sagebrush and field grass, but the mountains loomed over them in the distance as a reminder of what was to come.
Hope and Daniel held Bible studies each night at the fire before bed. This caused Daniel to feel even closer to Hope as she’d helped him get back with God. They studied passages about death and coping. The story of Lazarus spoke volumes to them. Hope's having lost George and Daniel's having lost Nancy helped them relate to each other.
They followed the river, catching and eating fish nearly every night as the hunting wasn’t fruitful in the desolate area.
Daniel couldn’t explain how the tablecloth between them had disappeared, and they seemed to lay closer together at night. Perhaps it was the cold mountain nights. Any temptation he felt dissipated when he