Twenty-Three: Badger Creek

The whole convoy was quiet, but no one was quieter than Caleb the Ortega guardsman. As they approached the crossroads to Badger Creek, the young man’s silence stood out, even amid all the other silences. . . .

Twenty: On Convoy

The Great Eighty Road stretched on and on, gray and unwavering, day after day. Laura sometimes found herself despairing at its oppressive straightness, longing for the days when her way had meandered and detoured in all manner of surprising directions. . . .

Nineteen: The Ferry

The convoy left at dawn, just as Captain Syed said it would. By the time Laura and her family joined the others around the cold pit of charcoal that had held the previous night’s fire, the big wagon was already hitched to the two bisox. . . .

Seventeen: The Great Eighty Road

The next morning began with a bath, for Ma wanted them to look presentable. They would soon begin following the Great Eighty Road westward, and Pa predicted that by that very afternoon they would reach Hawkeye Crossing. . . .

Thirteen: The Herald’s Shrine

Pa and Tobias Goatherd returned from the creek around midday. By then, Mary and Laura had recovered from their experience inside that eerie old building called the reptilsoo, and Laura felt a little foolish for getting so frightened of a silly old skull. . . .

Nine: Iron Boxes

Pa left the handcar down by the riverbank. Then he climbed up to join them beside the earthen mound surrounded by birch trees where Ma had chosen to wait. . . .

Eight: Across the Big River

“Yes, I reckon this is it,” said Pa, as he carefully rolled the map back up. It was not what Laura expected. . . .