I was at my father’s home.“We could have time together, all of us. We’ll go together, as a family.”“I’ll not have you steal them into that country, not with that unpredictable Warren. That ‘pass’ he supposedly knows of, dangerous, if it even exists. He won’t even make it. You’ll arrive in The Dalles and find no one waiting. No. You should just stay here. He’ll be back with his tail between his legs.”He hadn’t seen Mr. Warren’s resolve. He hadn’t heard the excitement in his voice when he spoke of the impending cattle drive, the thrill of starting anew. Some men, like my father, celebrated the building up of things over time. Mr. Warren was of the other sort, men who longed for new beginnings, for whom a finished thing was less exciting.“We want to go, Father.” Martha spoke. Had she forgiven me? Gotten over Bill to see the wisdom in what I’d done? What our father had done?“I don’t.” Millie expressed herself. “I want to stay with Eliza and the babies but not in some faraway place.
