"Every morning just before we pull out, you be ready to read a passage-not a long one, mind you. I'll have someone else do the prayin', if that's what's bothering you."

"Sir." Caleb drew in a deep breath. "I'd rather not."

"I'd rather not tempt calamity, but there's a good chance we'll need to face trials at some point in this journey. Don't you agree that God's truth can prepare our hearts and bolster our spirits?"

Caleb reluctantly nodded then trudged to their camp.

An obvious attraction to Miss Goben. Confident he'd never marry, though still shy of twenty-two. Read the Bible, but turned white as a blizzard when asked to share what he read.

A puzzling young man, for sure.

Wednesday night Anna startled awake. Her hammock swayed, strung between an oak and a hook on the side of the wagon. She'd heard something in the distance but couldn't tell what.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked up into the dark night and squinted to focus her vision. The crescent moon offered enough light to show a clear sky. No hint of lightning or thunder. The company had come through a little berg called Warrenton that afternoon and were camped near a creek. Maybe some hunters or other travelers had set up camp nearby.

Now that she was awake, she heard only sounds she recognized-Grovater's stumbling snore, frogs croaking in the creek, and the incessant chirp of crickets from a few feet away.

Most likely, she'd been dreaming. Whether of walking mile after mile or hearing Caroline's story about the captain bringing her a bouquet of mint for a poultice or falling on her backside in front of Caleb Reger. They had all taken the stage in her sleeping thoughts.

"Bear!"

"A bear!"

Both were women's voices. Not far down the line.

Her heart pounding, Anna rolled from the hammock, tugging her dressing gown free. A rifle blast split the night, and heavy footfalls pounded the ground in the direction of the screams.

"Make noise!" Trail hands' voices, repeating the order, ran by.

The wagon creaked and groaned. Mutter was on the move too.

"There's a bear in camp, Mutter. Stay inside," Anna called.

Mutter hung out the puckered opening in the canvas. "Vater! Mein vater. Where is he?"

"Right here, Wilma." Grovater scuttled toward them. Huffing and puffing, he scooped a stick off the ground and yanked the bean pot from its hook on the side of the wagon. Whistling louder than she'd ever heard him, he banged on the pot.

Anna joined Mutter on the seat and struck tin plates with spoons, shouting until the other noises began to fade.

"They're quieting down," Grovater said. "Must have chased him out of camp."

Anna dropped the plate and spoon to her lap, sighing in unison with Mutter. "It's over."

"Is it?" Her hands shaking, Mutter tugged a blanket up to her neck. "Someone could be hurt. Or worse."

"You folks all right?" Caleb Reger's voice rose as he stepped into view. "Otto, you here?"

"Yes." Grovater walked into the faint glow of the firepit.

Anna pulled the other corner of Mutter's blanket over her shoulder. The disconcerting trail hand held up a candle lantern. Why did it have to be him? A rifle rested against his left shoulder. "Ladies?"

"We're all fine." Anna clasped her hands to stop the shaking. "Thank you."

"Thank God." Caleb sighed.

"The bear?" Grovater leaned on the wheel. "What happened? Everyone else safe?"

"Our furry guest took a grub box from the Kamdens' table."

Anna and Mutter both gasped. "Caroline? The children?"

"Shaken up but unharmed. The doctor is with Mr. Kamden's mother, Davonna. She heard the growl and caught the vapors. Seems fine now. We'll need to check on the livestock. May have to round some of them up in the morning before we can head out." Mr. Reger tilted sideways, glancing at the back of the wagon. "If you have any food in that box, we'll need to hang it from a tree. Away from the wagon."

They didn't. But a box of food wasn't all that could make them vulnerable on this trip. Grovater and his weakened constitution. Mutter and her attraction to the bottle. Back in Saint Charles, the captain had warned them of the dangers of the journey, but none of them had seemed real to Anna. Until now.

She wondered suddenly if the hope and new life waiting for them at the end of this journey were worth the risks it would take to get there.

11.

Caleb sat in the middle of his bedroll, the graying sky offering a hint of the coming dawn. He draped a wool blanket over his shoulders and rested his forearms on his knees.

The captain expected him to read from Scripture this morning. In front of the entire Company. As if he had authority, or even the right, to do so. Garrett wanted him to share some sort of word from God for their day, an encouragement for their journey.

Now all he had to do was decide what that would be, and pretend God wasn't being silent. Or at least hope that even if He had nothing to say to Caleb, God would answer the needs of the others. Davonna Kamden came to mind. As did Anna Goben. She slept outside. She could've been killed by the bear last night.

"Mornin', Mister Caleb." Isaac rose from the ground. He was already a big man, but as a silhouette in the early morning hours, he seemed to block out the sky.

"Mornin', Isaac. You get any sleep?"

"Not more than three or four winks." He rolled his blankets. "You, sir?"

"About the same."

"Kept hearin' that bear. Seein' him makin' off with the Kamdens' grub. Not too proud to admit the whole thing had me feeling, well, a lot like that poor woman."

"Faint?"

"Yessir."

A chuckle escaped before Caleb could stop it.

Isaac snapped his suspenders against his barrel chest. "You go on and laugh, sir; it's good for the spirit. But I could make this whole trip without hearin' that word again."

Bear. Caleb resisted the temptation to say it aloud. Rising to his feet, he looked up at Isaac. He couldn't quite make out the jagged scar on Isaac's face, but he knew it was there. The cheerful fellow had faced much worse than a hungry, cantankerous bear.

"You tellin' me you wasn't scared even a little, knowin' there was a bear trompin' through camp?" Isaac asked.

"I was more mad than anything else."

"Mad? At the bear for disturbin' your beauty sleep?"

Caleb let out a long breath. "Mad at myself. Could have been a lot worse than losin' a box of food."

"Well, you were sure enough quick with that gunshot." Isaac let out a low whistle. "Gave me second thoughts, and the bear too."

"Yes, well, unfortunately, he went the wrong way."

"Only till that hullabaloo started in. More than just Boney that's good with a bean pot." Isaac chuckled.

Caleb pulled his bedding from the ground. He liked spending time with the freedman. No matter the circumstance, he could count on Isaac for a bit of lighthearted fun and encouragement in the midst of it.

Isaac pulled his horn from the bag at his feet. "Done heard the boss asked you to read Scripture before we head out in the mornin's."

Asked wasn't exactly the right word. "I'm going to. Yes. Unless you'd like the honors."

"You know I would, sir. I can't get enough of the Good Book." He sighed, pointing to his head. "But it's all up here, mostly in songs."

"Oh, so that's why you're always whistling or humming."

"Yessir. Never learned to read, but I carry it with me. Sometimes it just wants to come out, all on its own."

Caleb wadded his blankets, wishing he was more grateful for what he had left. And for the abilities he took for granted.

"Seems the boss knew what he was doin', choosin' you. More like a Divine nudge, really. Folks'll be ready for a little steadyin' from the Word."

"I reckon they will."

"A little steadyin'." That's what he needed, and it wasn't a bear causing him grief.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways, don't He?"

Caleb nodded into the early daylight. Was God working in mysterious ways? Or did His silence mean He'd given up?

Anna climbed over the wagon seat and out onto the top of the wheel. The morning had finally come, and its fingers of light seemed to dance across the land as if it knew nothing of the bear's intrusion. Isaac had sounded the horn calling everyone to their morning preparations for the day's journey, so people stirred up and down the line. Anna had spent the remainder of the night curled on top of her trunk. The memory of the camp's guest in the wee hours lingered fresh in her mind. Anna looked on either side of the wagon and toward the trees behind them, where the bear was last seen.

Grovater groaned as he rolled out of the hammock she'd abandoned and attempted to brush down his wiry gray hair.

"It's safe," he said. "The bear is gone." He lifted the loop at the end of the hammock off the hook on the wagon, then untied the rope from the tree. "She's probably snoring in a den somewhere, too full of Mrs. Kamden's kuchen and salt pork to move."

"Made for a short night." Anna turned and, using the wheel spokes as a ladder, climbed down from the wagon. "If Mutter and I went back to sleep at all, it was fitful. How about you?"

Yawning, Grovater looked up at the food box he and Caleb had strung in the tree. "I must have slept, because I dreamed about being carried away in the hammock like a fish in a net." He shook his head. "A solemn reminder that we're not at home in the wild."

"The captain certainly warned us of danger, but-"

"We've traveled thirty miles and more without any trouble." Grovater rolled the hammock and heaved it into the back of the wagon. "Having no real trouble can lull you. Maybe it's good we had this incident so early. We will all be more aware."

Anna tied her bonnet at her chin. "You're still glad we're here, I mean, making the move west?"

"I am. I'm feeling better with every day that passes. I think your mutter is too."

"Until last night, anyway."

"Yes, well, we can all do without any more such scares." He chuckled. "When the growling started, I like to have left my skin behind trying to get back here."

Anna nodded. While Grovater lowered the box from the tree, she went to the water barrel lashed to the wagon and scooped out some cold water to splash her face. Just what she needed to be fully awake.

Grovater set the box on the worktable and pulled a match from it. By the time Mutter came out of the wagon, Grovater had the fire popping and the coffeepot boiling, and Anna pulled bread and dry sausage from the box for their breakfast. It'd be a quick one this morning.

Within an hour, they'd eaten and packed up, and Grovater had the oxen yoked to the wagon. Anna gathered with the rest of the Company.

Garrett Cowlishaw stood in front of them, holding a steaming cup of coffee. After delivering a brief summary of the night's adventure, he admonished everyone to take precautions and be vigilant. After a brief pause, the captain motioned for Caleb Reger to step up, which he did, holding a Bible in his hand.

"Yesterday, I asked Caleb here to read a short Scripture passage each morning. As it turns out, this might be the best day to start," the captain said.

"I agree that it is a good idea to get the Lord's blessing." Sally Rengler, Owen's wife, wagged a finger. "But if you had done so on our first two days on the trail, Captain, perhaps that bear would not have attacked our camp."

The captain removed his slouch hat and looked directly at her. "I can't say I agree with your theology, ma'am. I'm not so sure reading Scripture will keep us from having to face trouble as much as it will focus our attention on our Help in those times. The Bible's full of stories about folks with troubles. Good folks. God-fearin' folks."

Expressionless, Mrs. Rengler pulled her shawl tight.

"Caleb, you ready?"

Mr. Reger cleared his throat. With his glum expression, one might think he had been condemned to face a firing squad instead of a gathering of fellow travelers.

"Morning, folks." He didn't look up. "Like the captain said, he wanted me to read to you. Today, it'll be Joshua 1:9: *Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.' "

The last word had barely left Caleb Reger's mouth when he closed the Bible and stepped into the crowd. Anna watched him disappear behind the other trail hands.

Deliverer of chastisements. Entertainer of children. Protector against bears. Helper in the night.

Shy herald of God's holy Word.

Caleb Reger was proving to be a bit of a marvel.

12.