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Chapter Two

Illinois, The mouth of the Fever River, November 21, 1833

Mr. and Mrs. Butterman, Aunt Sunday, and Penny and Nate got into the two wagons. Mr. Butterman drove one wagon and Nate drove the other. Two horses pulled each wagon. Mr. Butterman’s riding horse, Harv, was tied behind Mr. Butterman’s wagon. Harv was a tall dark brown horse, restless from the deep water he saw ahead.

They waited in line behind a family with three wagons. They were going to cross the Mississippi River on a small ferry. The ferry, a small flat boat, could only take two wagons at a time. The owner of the ferry had four men. When someone wanted to cross the fast, dark water, they got on the ferry at the Illinois side of the river. The ferryboat owner and the four helpers then paddled the boat to the Iowa side of the river. On each side of the river, there was a ferry landing. This was where people, horses, and wagons got on or off the ferry. On the Iowa side, the landing was at the base of a bluff. This was a tall, very steep hill with rocks and trees. At that part of the river, steep bluffs rose on each side.

Another thirty minutes went by. Mr. Butterman waited and waited. He talked to himself. Sometimes Mrs. Butterman would say, “Yes, dear.” And then Mr. Butterman would begin talking to himself again. He thought the ferry crossing was taking too long. It would be dark soon. It was very cold. The late afternoon November light was a thin blue. In the second wagon, Nate looked at Penny. She smiled and lifted one shoulder up. She was tall. She wore a long, dark striped dress and an old pair of boots from Mrs. Butterman. She had a warm shawl around her shoulders that she made herself. She knew how to sew by hand. She made many clothes for Mr. and Mrs. Butterman. She smiled with her dark lips, showing white teeth. She had skin the color of dark tea. But her hands and nose were red from the cold. She asked Nate, “Do you know how to swim?”

“Yeah,” he said. “But we may not need it today!” He took Penny’s hand. He held her hand for a few minutes. His hand was warm. Penny gave him her other hand to hold, too.

“I hope not,” she said. “There’s a lot of water in that river.” She turned to Aunt Sunday, who was very, very quiet. “Aunt Sunday?” she asked. Aunt Sunday didn’t answer. Penny looked at Aunt Sunday more closely. Aunt Sunday had her eyes tightly closed. She was talking to herself. “Aunt Sunday?” Penny asked again.

“Can’t talk now,” said Aunt Sunday, keeping her eyes closed.

The Buttermans’ wagons pulled up to the ferry landing on the Illinois side. The ferry owner Jones and his men got the two wagons, Harv, Mr. and Mrs. Butterman, Nate, Penny, and Aunt Sunday onto the ferryboat. They pushed away into the Mississippi River.