CHAPTER 5

Unaware of all that was taking place on the farm, James soon found himself assigned to a group involved in pushing Rebels back out of the positions they had gained as they moved northward into the state. These were dangerous missions and there were many casualties on both sides sent back to field hospitals.

In many situations since joining the group, he encountered lots of grumbling among the men about the crummy food, being unpaid, the lack of necessary clothing, the heat, the insects, and on and on. Plus, all of them worried about their families back home. Very little mail got through to them.

Some men coming into the Army were gung-ho and couldn’t wait to get a chance to take a crack at the opposing forces. But James at first found it difficult to be in a situation where he would have to fire on a fellow human being, possibly a neighbor. He had to keep reminding himself that they were the enemy – men who had been coming into the state robbing, setting fire to farm houses and other buildings, in some cases mistreating the women and children. Some were even known to have chased some families out of their homes. That was the reason he had joined. But after the first real combat situation, it was easier than he thought since it was a matter of kill or be killed.

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Word was going around the camp about a fierce battle in Southwestern Missouri led by a Union brigadier general, resulting in many casualties, including the general himself who was killed in the action. The Confederates won the victory, although both sides came out of it bloody and weary. The word was that after Union forces had retreated, the general’s body was taken by Confederate officers under a flag of truce back to Union officers, who gave them dinner, drinks, and cigars, chatting in a friendly manner as though they hadn’t been trying to kill each other only a few hours before.

When James heard about it, he thought, “What a sad commentary on this whole miserable situation.” Oh, how he wished to be out of it and back on the farm.

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Sarah woke with a great amount of anticipation to the days ahead. She was so excited and had so many things on her mind, she hardly knew where to start. But first she wanted to ride to the sheriff’s house and seek his help in figuring out the best route to take.

One of the advantages of living in a small farming area was that you knew almost everybody for miles around. In the case of Sheriff Hawkins and his wife, Samantha, they had been friends of the Sanders and Russell families for many years, so Sarah had no qualms about seeking his help.

Effie had agreed to ride along with her to meet with the sheriff, but afterwards she wanted to get home as soon as possible to break the news to her family of the plan. Since Sarah hoped to leave as soon as possible, she had no time to lose in getting ready.

After a delicious breakfast of biscuits, gravy, ham, and eggs prepared by Emma, they were ready to go. Nell, who was now capable of driving the horse and wagon, had agreed that she’d look after Elisha while Sarah and Effie visited with Sheriff Hawkins and Mr. Abbott.

Luckily it turned out to be a beautiful day with the sun shining brightly. When they pulled up to the sheriff’s residence-office, Samantha greeted them warmly, inviting them in. She said that her husband had been called away early that morning to tend to a situation about ten miles away, but was expected to be back almost any time.

So after telling Samantha of the reason for their visit, they decided to go on over to Mr. Abbott’s house and see if he was home in order to save time. As Sarah went out the door, she said, “Tell your husband I would like his advice on things regarding the trip, other than to tell me I shouldn’t go. That I don’t want to hear! As Effie will tell you, I’m dead set on goin’ and have much of the plannin’ already done. I’d like his advice on the best route to take to Rolla, and if he has the time, maybe a rough map of sorts to take along.

Mr. Abbott’s home was about one mile from there. Fortunately he was home and came to the door himself. He was a rotund jolly man with a large bushy beard, who enjoyed life at its fullest. He made his living as a trapper so he spent a lot of time out in the woods. He welcomed them inside and listened closely as Sarah told of her plans.

Finally he said, “Well, young lady, you are certainly a courageous one, ain’t ‘ya? Frankly, if you were my daughter I would probably advise you not to do it, as I’m sure your family no doubt has. But you have a good head on your shoulders, which you’ve demonstrated by choosin’ Effie to go along. So I will say no more about that.”

“Thank you, Mr. Abbott. We wanted to talk to you because of your experience on the trails, and see if you can give us some pointers on things to be prepared for that we’ve not thought of.

“We stopped by Sheriff Hawkins’ place on the way over here and he wasn’t expected back for a while, so we came on over here. We’d hoped to get him to draw a rough map of the best route to take. You could probably do the same, but we wanted to talk to both of you.”

Mr. Abbott said, “Well, unfortunately right now because of the war situation, the main thing you must be on guard for would be scouting groups from either side of the conflict, or even some of the ruffians who are running around the country takin’ advantage of the situation to rob folks. I’ve not personally run into any of them, thank goodness, but I hear of ‘em.

“You must travel as quietly as you can so as not to attract attention, and immediately find a hidin’ place in the woods as soon as you see or hear any sign of movement ahead or in back of you. You must always remember to look behind you as well as ahead.

“Another plus in your favor is that on the trail from here to Rolla, you can travel most of the way at the edge of a heavily wooded section which provides ample hidin’ places as well as good places for campin’ overnight. The only major rivers you’ll have to cross are Bryant Creek and the Little Pineys, but that should be no problem. In fact, you should be able to wade across in most spots.

As far as wild animals, the only ones you’ll have much contact with normally are relatively harmless. And since you’ll be travelin’ on the edge of the forest most of the time, I don’t think you need worry about bears. But don’t venture too far into the woods if you can avoid it, and don’t leave foodstuffs out in the open where they can smell it,” he told them.

“There’ll be plenty of creeks and other streams for you to get water to drink, to bathe in, and maybe catch a fish or two. And along with your rifle and ammunition, Effie, remember a small lantern or candles, and medicine for tick bites and other insects, as well as somethin’ for fever, just in case.

“I’ll draw a rough map of my route suggestions and you can compare it with the sheriff’s. I imagine we’ll both have just about the same idea. It won’t take me long.”

Soon after thanking the trapper for his help and saying goodbye to Mrs. Abbott, they arrived at the Hawkins’ place. They were relieved to see Sheriff Hawkins’ saddled horse tied to the hitching post at his front door. In fact, he opened the door to them immediately.

Hawkins was a large man, redheaded, with ruddy cheeks, about 6’1” and weighing about 275 pounds. He looked exactly as a sheriff should look. He had a friendly smile, a booming laugh, a hearty handshake and an easygoing manner – easy, that is, unless you were up to no good or crossed him in some way. In that case, his demeanor changed immediately!

He was known to be a kind man but a fearless one. He had been sheriff for as long as Sarah could remember and was known to be acquainted with almost every inch of the country. In his travels he had to take care of many problems, not only to do with outlaws, but also with sickness, child abuse, poverty, and death.

He had seen it all. Even so, he would be the first to agree that most of the farm families in the area were law-abiding, church-going people who lived normal lives day by day. But as in all communities, there were the misfits.

After inviting them in, he said, “Well, Sammy’s told me about your plans, Sarah, and you’re right. My advice is not to go. But since there’s no law against it, and you seem determined, I’ll do my best to point out things you should look out for.”

So they spent the next half hour going over details, some of which they had already thought of, or which Mr. Abbott had mentioned.

“He continued, “I’d advise you not to go up to a house and knock on the door if the place looks unattended, grown up with woods and no garden or flowers or dog barking. It could be an abandoned house used by gangs or outlaws. Unless you’re desperate for fresh flowers, I’d advise you to pass it by.”

As they got up to go, he gave them the map he had drawn and wished them well. His parting remark was, “Remember that most everyone you’ll meet on the way will be trustworthy, nice folks, but there’s always a sly one or two out there who’ll try to take advantage of you. So be on guard at all times.

“And Effie, being the person you are, I know we can count on you to only use that rifle of yours when absolutely necessary, and then mostly to scare animals and humans away if they start to be a bother.”

“Oh, yes, I know what you mean,” Effie said. “I’ll watch my trigger finger. And thank you so much for your help and good advice, as always. My main job will be to keep anything from happenin’ to Sarah and Lish.”

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Back at the farm, as Emma and Harriett were working on the food for the trip, at one point Emma said, “Oh, Harriett, don’t say anythin’ to Sarah, but I’m so worried about this, about all that could go wrong.”

“I know, Ma, but there’s just no way you can keep her from goin’. Only James could do that…and who knows, if he knew what she was plannin’ he might be thrilled about seein’ her again. You know he misses her as much as she misses him. So let’s just go ahead and help her with the plans. To do anything else would cause problems…and we don’t want that.

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Effie arrived the next morning about 10 o’clock by horseback, carrying her clothing and other necessary gear. Jessie agreed to see that her horse got back home, saying that he needed to run to the general store for a couple of items anyway. Sarah asked if he would wait until she had time to write a brief note to James, hoping it might get there in time to let him know of their expected arrival. She wasn’t too optimistic, but wanted to try anyway.