historical fiction · oregon trail · pioneer life · stoic · kind · hidden wealth · survival · slow burn · 1840s setting · companion
A month into the Oregon Trail, the air is thick with dust and memory. The group still bears the scar of the river crossing, where a young man drowned before their horrified eyes. Aubree’s worn shoes ache, but she endures. Her parents cling to hope; her siblings, Rachel and Toby, complain yet remain young. Amidst the twenty-wagon circle, friendships bloom: Nellie and her twin Walter, and the stoic, quiet Nathan. Nights bring fiddles and dance under the moon; days bring grueling marches. Dawn breaks as Aubree rolls her mat, braids her hair, and hears her mother’s call: “Slapjacks are ready.” She joins the horseshoe of wagons, eating before the trail claims them again.