Journey of Hope: A Novel of Triumph and Heartbreak on the Oregon Trail in 1852 (8 page)

When they reached Dungarvan in County Waterford, the scene was riotous. People were amassing together in angry mobs, shouting and raising fists against British troops that were protecting stores of grain to be shipped out to England. Michael and Kate watched, horrified, as starving peasants picked up stones and hurled them at the troops. Michael saw the enraged face of the officer, and although he couldn’t hear him over the angry crowd, he knew what his shouted orders were.

“Quickly! In here!” he yelled, and Kate and the children ducked into an abandoned building as they heard the first shots and the screams from the crowd. The pandemonium seemed to go on forever, and the shots continued until two peasants were dead and several others were wounded. The crowd fell over each other attempting to get away. Many were trampled, and many others were arrested.

Michael’s hands froze on the harness he was oiling as he remembered narrowly avoiding arrest.

A raggedy man ran into the building where they were hiding. His eyes widened when he saw Michael, Kate, and the children huddled in a corner.

“You’re done for if you stay here,” he said, and darted to the rear window where he quickly climbed out. Michael helped his family climb out that same window as the troops descended upon the crowd. The terrified family fled deeper into the village where they were swallowed by the crowds of starving people.

In other villages along the way to Dublin, they saw British naval escorts guarding the grain on riverboats that passed before the eyes of starving peasants who watched from shore.

Michael bitterly remembered the defeat and hopelessness on his countrymen’s faces
.
He could see this defeat on Kate’s face now across the campfire. He had worried about her the last few days. She had been uncharacteristically quiet, and even Conor and Brenna had noticed and had tried to cheer her up, but she had been unresponsive. After dinner, Rebecca Benson had come by to invite them to visit. Brenna and Conor had gone to the Bensons’ wagon, but Michael said that he and Kate would visit later. Michael wanted to take this opportunity to find out what was troubling his wife.

“Are you all right, then?” he queried. She didn’t answer him, and he thought that maybe she hadn’t heard his question. She hadn’t looked at him or acknowledged that he had spoken.

“So, are you all right then?” he asked again, a little more loudly.

She raised her eyes and looked at her husband. The firelight did not brighten her dark look. Slowly she straightened her thin frame and her right hand went to her lower back, massaging sore muscles. Her dress was stained with sweat down the front and the back, and a full eight inches of the bottom of the skirt was caked in mud.

“No.” Her voice was almost a whisper, but he heard her. “No, Michael Flannigan, I’m not all right at all.”

Alarmed, he got up from where he was sitting. Kate had always been a pillar of strength, and to hear her sounding so defeated caused him great consternation.

“Kate, the rain has stopped. Everything will dry out now.” He walked over, took her shoulders in his hands, and turned her towards him. He looked carefully at her. Kate was only thirty-five, but she had aged in the months they had been on the trail. Weary eyes looked back at him, not really seeing him.

“I don’t care anymore, Michael. I’m sick of this trail. I’m sick of this wagon and this food—the same thing every day. I can’t remember why we ever thought this would be a good idea. Why did we ever leave New York? We had good jobs and we were making money enough to put some aside. The children were in school. What is the point of all of this? Tell me, Michael. Tell me why we’re killing ourselves going to a place we’ve never been.” Her voice had started out calm, but it had slowly risen to near hysteria.

“I don’t want to be here!” she exclaimed, tears streaking the dirt on her cheeks. “Please, let’s go back.” She had grabbed the front of his shirt, and he realized that she was beside herself.

“Katie, girl, things will get better. Sure and it’s been rough, but the rain has stopped.” Michael drew her close. His voice was gentle, and he rested his cheek on her head. “You’re bone weary. You’ve worked harder than anyone, Kate. You’re the one that’s held this family together through it all.” He held her tightly, and he felt her rigid body go limp as she sobbed softly against his shirt. “You’ve been so strong, Katie. I know you can do this. I never would have started if I didn’t know you wanted this as much as I do. It’s our dream—yours and mine. Remember all those nights in the crowded tenement in New York when we planned this? It’s that dream that kept us going, Kate.” Michael held her at arm’s length and looked in her eyes. “Tell me, Kate. Tell me what our dream looks like. Tell me how we pictured it all those years that we scrimped and saved for this.”

She ran the back of her hand across her nose and took a few ragged breaths. For an instant Michael thought she wouldn’t answer him, but then in a quavering voice she said, “There’s a beautiful green valley at the base of rolling hills. A log cabin sits next to a wandering stream. There’s smoke coming from the chimney.” Her chin quivered slightly, and she paused and took another deep breath.

“What’s behind the cabin?”

“There is a paddock for the horses, and there’s a barn. Every morning I go out to the barn to milk the cows.” Her voice was getting stronger now, and her eyes began to focus on him.

“Tell me about the fields.”

“Well, and they’re full of our crops. Everything is growing and thriving. You and Conor have plowed the rich land and planted the seeds and the sun and rain have made everything grow.”

“And tell me about our neighbors.”

Kate’s eyes were clear now. “If you follow the gentle winding road around the hill, you’ll find our closest neighbors, a family like ours with children that Conor and Brenna will have as friends. The woman of the house and I share recipes and help each other sew quilts and clothes. You and her husband smoke your pipes on the porch and talk about the weather.” She smiled then at her little joke, and Michael took her in his arms and smiled with her.

“There’s my girl,” he said. “Have faith, Katie. It will all happen just as we’ve planned. I promise.” He dipped the end of her apron into the pan of water sitting by the fire and gently wiped the dirt and tears from her face. “Tomorrow we’re going to start late so that you women can do some laundry in the creek, and maybe you can get a bath.”

Kate sighed, “A bath! I can hardly wait for morning!”

The sound of Conor and Brenna’s voices drifted out of the half-light, and soon they rounded the wagon, talking companionably. Brenna trotted over to her parents standing by the campfire. She sensed that something had transpired between them while she and Conor had been gone. There was a difference in her mother. She was animated again, and her father looked relieved and happy.
Maybe Conor and I should leave them alone more often
, she thought.

“Look, Ma. James Cardell sent some dried apples and apricots. Here, try one.” Brenna held an apricot to her mother’s mouth, and Kate bit into it gracefully, closing her eyes to savor the sweet taste.

“I’ve never had anything so delicious.”

“Here, Ma, eat some more.” Conor put a handful in his mother’s hands and then gave some to his Da.

That night Michael Flannigan lay wide awake thinking about his wife and all she had endured. Their lives had looked so promising when they were just married, and the first eleven years had been happy. Their small holding was enough to support the family and pay the rent, and they lived the life their parents and grandparents had lived in their small, close-knit community. But the past seven years had seen heartache and despair. He remembered arriving in Dublin.

Kate and her sister Chloe hadn’t seen each other in a few years and they threw themselves into each other’s arms, crying, with Chloe exclaiming over Kate’s thinness. Chloe and her husband had little room to spare but readily took them all in.

The situation in Ireland was dire, with no relief in sight. Although there were many cases of death by starvation, most died from typhus or dysentery, and the dead were so numerous there were not graves enough to contain the bodies, or living people with the strength to bury them. Warehouses were full of food, but the masses had no money with which to buy it.

Michael, Kate, Brenna, and Conor lived with Chloe and Donald for over a year while Michael and Kate worked on a public works relief project building stone roads. It was backbreaking work, and they were paid almost nothing, but they were able to save enough for passage to America. In 1848, they boarded a ship and set sail for America and better opportunities.