Emma's Journey by Callie Hutton

to the disease.
    “How’s your wife holding up, Davis? I hear you took the bull by the horns and dumped her into the creek.” He smiled tiredly as Davis approached him outside the MacGregor’s wagon with three sick children in it.
    “Better, thanks. The cold water brought her fever down, and she drank some water. She’s back asleep now. How’s everyone else doing?”
    “Twenty-seven are sick. With one hundred or so people on this trip, it amazes me that only a handful caught this. There haven’t been any new cases in the last day, so I’m hoping this is it. You make sure you wash your hands after dealing with Emma. We’re starting to suspect clean hands help if you’re around sick people.”
    Dr. Bennett and Davis continued down the row, checking each wagon. The doctor offered the same advice: to cool the patient off, make sure they drank plenty of water, and washed their own hands. That last bit of advice was scorned by some who thought clean hands had nothing to do with it, but most listened to the doctor, anxious to keep the sickness from spreading.
    “I spoke with Ezra, and it seems we’re only several days away from Fort Laramie,” Dr. Bennett said. “There will be another doctor there, but I’m hoping we’ve seen the worst of this outbreak now. As there seems to be no new cases, I’m advising him to start out. I think recuperation will be much easier at the fort.”
    Davis stopped and stuck his hands in his back pockets. Nodding at the doctor, he said, “Makes sense. I’m going on back now to check on Emma again. Is there anything I should be giving her besides the water?”
    “Try to make a broth out of some beef jerky and see if she’ll hold that down. If not, just keep up with the water. And don’t be disappointed if her fever comes back again. That happens a lot with this, and nighttime seems to make it happen more. Good luck, son.” Dr. Bennett walked off, rubbing the back of his neck.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Emma lay in the wagon as it made its way toward Fort Laramie. Davis had told her the illness count had held steady at twenty-seven, with four more deaths. Ezra and Jeb decided to bury the dead before they left for Fort Laramie, so it was a sad journey from the camp to the fort.
    The few trips outside the wagon left Emma feeling weak and breathless. Davis did the best he could with taking care of her and the animals. Several of the women brought over meals to them twice a day.
    During the time she had spent recovering, she thought a great deal about her future. This was the first time she had been so sick without her parents close by. Davis had done well, but she still felt homesick. Indiana wasn’t far from her thoughts. She had learned not to speak too much of it to her husband, though, who would grow impatient with her when she did. Thoughts of him seemed to make him appear, and she smiled as he stuck his head in the back of the wagon.
    “Hi, darlin’, how ya feeling?” He leaned his forearms on the back of the wagon looking pretty worn out and tired himself. He obviously hadn’t shaved in a few days, and his clothes looked like they hadn’t been changed, either.
    “I’m feeling better. I think I would like to get up and walk around for a while today.” She raised herself up on her elbows, and then back down when the wagon started to spin.
    “Um, I don’t know, I think you’re still a little weak. We should reach Fort Laramie sometime tomorrow afternoon. I’ll help you out of the wagon once we get there, and maybe have the fort doctor take a look at you.”
    “Dr. Bennett looked at me a number of times. There’s no need for another doctor to do the same thing.” She sounded a bit grumpy which brought a chuckle from Davis.
    “Okay, darlin’. I don’t want to upset you. We’re starting up again in a little bit. I’ll bring some rice with broth that Abigail sent over. She said it would help strengthen you.”
    “Oh, and a cup of water, too.” No matter how much she drank,