Sarah Gets Her First Scolding From Her New Pa

 After her new stepfather saved her from being bitten by a rattlesnake in the woods, Sarah looked at him with new eyes; kinder eyes. She knew that he had been a friend of her father's but had paid him no mind. However, he was taking her away from her home, friends, school, and grandparents. She also had to leave some of her personal belongings that she cherished. Most of all her books. He had told her mother that books were very heavy and not many could be packed onto the wagons. Each wagon could hold two thousand pounds which sounded like a lot to her what would a few books make a difference. None in her mind. He said she could pack the Bible and only one or two of her favorites.

 Her mother also was not happy when he told her that she would have to leave her sewing machine behind. She was so unhappy that she told him that it was fine he could go back to Cherokee county by himself. She was not going to leave her machine behind. Well, he was a man and had never had a woman talk back to him before. He had never heard his mother talk back to his father. It was a woman's place to do as her husband said, wasn't it? He reached in his shirt pocket and took out the relatively new picture they had taken on their wedding day. She did have a look about her didn't she? "Well, I guess the sewing machine can go, but nothing else." He walked away, but looked over his shoulder at his new wife. Was that a hint of a smile he just saw?

Nathan thought, "I might be in for a very interesting new life. At least her big boys will be a great help on the farm. I have a surprise for them when we finally get back to the homestead. The cabin is small and will be a little cramped, but we will get by until I get us a proper house built. Again the boys will be a big help. I want to add onto the farm and accumulate as much land as I can afford. I just feel in my bones that land is the way to go in this new land. Something to leave my mark on."

They had only been on the trail for a couple of weeks when Sarah began to whine to her mother that she wanted a bath. She said her brothers wouldn't heat her any water for a bath. Where was her soap and towels? Furthermore her clothes were all dirty and wanted her mother to wash them. She started to take off her bonnet to make herself understood that she was going to have a bath right then and there. Then when she was all clean she wanted to take a nap. She was done traveling for the day. She had used such a loud voice even the deer scampered away.

Nathan heard and saw what was happening. "Well, I guess a father's work is never done. This little one needs a helping hand when it comes to life on the trail." He walked over to her and said, "You don't need to raise your voice to your mother. That is not going to work while you are under my care. You show her and all adults respect. Do you understand? Next you do not take a bath on the trail unless it is in a stream, river, or lake, both of which are ice cold right now. You do know what month it is? April is a month that you never know what's going to happen. Sometimes we even have bad snowstorms in April, it's not all daffodils and roses, young lady. Now you wait until after we camp tonight and your ma will show you how to make a little liquid soap out of the ashes and fat from the meat we eat. You can wash the dishes for your ma and then if there is some left over you can wash your face and hands. You need to be a help to your ma not a hindrance."

That night at the wagon her brothers teased her and said, "You better be careful, girl. Our new pa will leave you at the side of the trail along with your bad manners." She made a bad face at them and went about eating her supper and thinking....

Well Sarah had never been scolded like that before. Her father adored her. She was the only girl and she loved being spoiled. She did as she was told, but after everyone went to sleep that night she carefully crawled out from underneath the wagon and went off the trail to see if she could find a stream. She knew that there was one not too far off because one of her big brothers brought some water back to camp in a bucket. Surely the water wouldn't be that cold. She had sneaked a small rag into her apron and proceeded to disobey her new father. She wanted a bath.