For This Land Read online

  The flames near us grew smaller. In time, the wind blew the smoke away. The terrible fire was still burning out on the prairie. But it had not burned down our cabin. Or our barn.

  Finally, we stopped slapping at the flames. Only then did my arms begin to ache. We washed the black soot from our faces. When we looked at one another, we saw that our eyebrows and lashes had been burned off! Aunt Margaret says they will soon grow back.

  July 28, 1856

  We took carrots and potatoes to the Vanbeeks’ cabin for a potluck supper. As we ate, Lily’s oldest brother, Theo, talked to Uncle Aubert. He said more than a thousand Ruffians are hiding around Lawrence. He says they have rifles with knife-sharp bayonets attached to their barrels. I am frightened of Ruffians. I wish they would all go home.

  After dinner, Lily helped her mother serve four more plates of food. Sam and William, Lily’s other big brothers, took the plates and slipped outside. No one said a word. But I knew they were taking the food to the smokehouse. A family is hiding there. They are waiting for the Underground Railroad to take them north to freedom. If they are found, it would be awful. They would have to go back to slavery. And Mr. Vanbeek would go to jail.

  July 31, 1856

  Hot, hot, hot. Even the wind is hot. All but two of Mother’s baby apple trees have died. The cabin smells of smoke from the fire. We are all eaten up by mosquitoes. Mother is so weak and thin. Father should have been here two weeks ago. Where is he?

  I am a St. Louis girl. I will never be a prairie girl. Oh, how I long to go home!

  August 1, 1856

  Pres loves K.T. He even loves the black snake in the summer kitchen. He calls him Jake. He says Jake lets him pat his head.

  Later

  Uncle Aubert went into Lawrence today. He came home looking grim. After supper, he and Aunt Margaret walked out on the prairie by themselves. It is dark now. They have not come back. I write by the light of a candle set on the overturned wash-tub. Mother sits beside me, knitting a sweater for Father. I asked her what was wrong with Uncle Aubert. She said when he wants us to know, he will tell us.

  August 5, 1856

  Uncle Aubert gathered us together this morning before chores. He told us he is going off to fight with the Free-State Militia! He hugged us each in turn. Then he rode off on Star. We watched him go. Aunt Margaret said she is proud he is fighting for this land. Fighting so his family will grow up in a free state.

  I am proud, too. But I hate to think of Uncle Aubert ducking down in a mud fort, so as not to be shot by Ruffians.

  August 6, 1856

  Theo Vanbeek rode over today. He had heard that Uncle Aubert went to fight with the Militia. He asked if there were any chores he might do. There were many! George was out hunting. So Theo did his chores. Then he split wood, hoed potatoes, and mended the fence.

  Before he left, Theo warned us that Ruffians are raiding Free-State settler cabins. They steal money, jewelry, and horses. Aunt Margaret folded her arms. She said they will not be stealing from us.

  Later

  Aunt Margaret hollowed out a log. I helped her wrap up her silver brooch. And Uncle Aubert’s gold watch. We put them inside the log. Aunt Margaret rolled up Uncle Aubert’s banknotes. She stuffed them into the log, too. Then she plugged the log with wood at the end. She put this log and two others into the fireplace. The weather is so hot, we never use the fireplace now. If the Ruffians come, Aunt Margaret says they will never think to look inside a log.

  Aunt Margaret came up with a plan to keep our horse safe, too. We made a big haystack behind the cabin. At dusk, Charlie led Bay into the narrow space between the haystack and our cabin. There, he is hidden from the view of any passing Ruffians. Charlie handed Bay’s halter through the back window to Aunt Margaret. She tied it to her bedpost. She says she will sleep with a revolver under her pillow. If any horse thieves come, she will use it. If we are in the cabin when shooting starts, she says we are to drop to the floor. That is the safest place to be.

  Mother says, “Lord help us all.”

  Later

  George shot two prairie hens. It was my job to pluck their feathers. Then I helped Aunt Margaret cut them up. It was awful, bloody work. It made me wish I were a vegetarian, like Hannah Peach. I had such fun riding the steamboat to Kansas City with Hannah. I wonder how she likes living in the vegetarian community.

  August 9, 1856

  Late last night, I heard men shouting. Gunshots rang out. I was frightened! George heard me tossing. He lifted up the quilt and whispered to me not to worry. Ruffians are known to drink a great deal of whiskey, he said. In a while, the whiskey will put them to sleep. George was right. Before long, the singing and shouting died down. The Ruffians fell asleep. So did I.

  This morning, Aunt Margaret told George not to go hunting. The other boys are not to gather cow chips. She said we have enough water in the barrel. So I need not go down to the stream. Aunt Margaret told me to keep Grace close by the cabin. She put the cows and Kip on picket lines instead of letting them graze in the prairie. Everywhere she went today, even to the barn, she carried a rifle.

  Mother stayed inside the cabin. The least noise makes her jump. She tried to knit. But her hands shook so that she had to stop.

  We all are afraid. Even Mouser crouched down beside the cabin door all day. Is Uncle Aubert fighting the Ruffians? Where is Father? Oh, why can’t we all go home to St. Louis?

  August 10, 1856

  Father is here! Mother is sobbing for joy. I am, too. I cannot write another word.

  August 11, 1856

  Father slept for a long time. Then he told us his story. He sold our St. Louis house, carriage, and horses to our next-door neighbor there. He sold his business, too. He arranged to have our furniture shipped to K.T. Then he packed two trunks with china, silver, and linen. He took them and boarded the steamboat Belle. The ship started up the Missouri River.

  Near Kansas City, Ruffians rowed out and blocked the river. They forced the Belle to pull ashore. They took over the boat! A Ruffian spy had been aboard since St. Louis. The spy told which passengers were Free-State men. He pointed out Father and some friends he had met on board. The Ruffians threw them off the boat. They had to leave their trunks behind. They were lucky to escape with their lives.

  The Missouri–K.T. border is patrolled by Ruffians. They will not let Free-State men cross into K.T. So Father and his friends headed north to Nebraska. They hid by day. By night, they walked or caught rides on wagons. Then they came into K.T. from the north.

  After Father told his story, Pres said, “Did the Ruffians steal everything?”

  “Not everything,” said Father. He surprised us by unbuttoning two of his shirt buttons. A money belt was tied around his middle. When he sold our house in St. Louis, he was paid in gold. He put the gold pieces in his money belt and hid it under his shirt. I am so glad the Ruffians did not get Father’s gold!

  August 12, 1856

  Uncle Aubert came home last night! He slipped into the cabin after dark. When we heard his voice, we all galloped down from the loft. Aunt Margaret hugged him. Mother fixed him a plate of prairie chicken. He ate it quickly. He must have been very hungry.

  Uncle Aubert said that last week the Militia stormed a Ruffian fort. The Ruffians did not put up a fight. They ran off scared into the woods. They left behind many guns and boxes of ammunition. Now these things are the property of the Free-State Militia. The Ruffians left behind whiskey bottles, too. But they were all empty.

  Uncle Aubert asked if we would like to help in the fight for a free Kansas.

  “Yes!” we all said. “How can we help?”

  Uncle Aubert said that the Militia has lookouts on top of Blue Mound. If they see Ruffians marching for Lawrence at night, they will light a big fire. This will signal the Militia in Lawrence to get ready for a battle. If the Ruffians come by day, the lookouts will signal by raising a flag. A tall pine tree has been cut down for a flagpole. Brass rings have been attached to the top. A hole has been du
g for the pole.

  “But we do not have a flag,” said Uncle Aubert. “Can you sew a flag for the Free-State Militia?”

  Aunt Margaret, Mother, and I said, “Yes!”

  The boys looked disappointed. I think they hoped for a more exciting way to help the Militia than sewing.

  Uncle Aubert said the flag must be big. Big enough to be seen five miles away in Lawrence.

  “We can use my bedsheet,” said Mother.

  I was ready to start sewing right then, by candlelight. But Aunt Margaret says we will wait for daylight. Uncle Aubert says he will come back in three nights to get the flag.

  Father and Uncle Aubert stayed up late, talking.

  August 13, 1856

  The most awful thing has happened. I woke up this morning and Father was gone! He went with Uncle Aubert to fight with the Free-State Militia.

  I cried so hard when Mother told me. Father has been in Kansas only three days. Why should he fight for this land? I know it is wrong, but I hate the prairie. I hate K.T.

  Later

  When we work on our flag, I forget to worry. Aunt Margaret found two yards of red calico. Charlie drew lines on it. He cut it into wide strips. Pres and John pinned the calico strips onto the bedsheet. They are not straight. But it does not matter. The important thing is that the flag can be seen in Lawrence.

  Aunt Margaret said it would not do to have one side of our flag look like a white flag of surrender. So we are sewing bold red stripes onto both sides of the bedsheet. It is so big that we can all stitch on it at once. Aunt Margaret and I each took an edge. Mother took an edge, too. But her hands shook too much to sew.

  Bedtime

  I hear guns firing in the distance. I pray that Father and Uncle Aubert are safe.

  August 14, 1856

  Mother stayed in bed this morning. Aunt Margaret says she has a touch of the ague, also known as the “K.T. shakes.” She is so hot. I sponged her forehead with cool water to bring down her fever.

  I am trying not to worry.

  Later

  Father has never fired a rifle. Now he is off fighting a war. Mother has a terrible fever. She shakes so hard her teeth rattle. I am so afraid!

  Aunt Margaret says I must think on the good. And here is something good. With the war and sickness, Mother will never want to live in K.T. Surely when the war is over, we will go home!

  Later

  We sewed strings along one edge of the flag. Now it can be tied to a rope. Our flag is finished.

  August 15, 1856

  Uncle Aubert did not come last night.

  Mother is still fevered. Grace and Pres take turns bringing me cool cloths to bathe her face. It does them good to feel they are helping.

  Later

  I helped George make bullets. We melted lead in a small pan over a fire. We poured the melted lead into twelve small molds. When the lead cooled, we snapped the molds apart and pried out twelve hard lead bullets. We made 120 in all. Aunt Margaret says when Uncle Aubert comes for the flag, we will also give him bullets for his rifle.

  August 16, 1856

  Uncle Aubert has not come. George wants to take the flag to Blue Mound himself. He says the lookout cannot give the signal without it. But Aunt Margaret says it is too dangerous for him to go.

  Later

  Mother’s fever has broken! She got up and hugged us. Then she went back to bed. But Aunt Margaret says she is on the mend.

  August 18, 1856

  George is gone! We awoke this morning and found a note on the breadboard. He has taken the flag to Blue Mound.

  Aunt Margaret says George is smart. And careful. He will soon be home. Pres is stamping around the cabin. He is mad that George did not ask him to go along. Mother says it is just as well.

  August 19, 1856

  George came back this afternoon. Aunt Margaret held him close. She never said a word about how he disobeyed.

  When we were out in the barn doing chores, George told us of his adventure. He left our cabin in the dark. Whenever he heard horses coming, he lay down and hid in the prairie grass. At dawn he reached the top of Blue Mound. He saw one man sitting beside a low campfire. George called out to him. The man was so startled he nearly shot George! The man said his name was Silas Ogden. The Militia needed all able men to fight. So Mr. Ogden was the only lookout on Blue Mound and was very jumpy. George gave him the flag. But Mr. Ogden only said, “How can I plant a dag-blasted flagpole all by my dag-blasted self?” Mr. Ogden told George to skedaddle. So George came home.

  Pres looked disappointed with George’s story. I think he expected many soldiers and great rejoicing when his flag arrived on Blue Mound.

  August 22, 1856

  Theo Vanbeek came to do chores again. He brought us melons from his family’s garden. He helped me take Kip down to the stream to fill the water barrel. As we went, I asked if his father was fighting with the Militia. Theo said no. I asked whether he or his brothers were going to fight. He said no. Why, I asked, was no one in his family fighting for a free Kansas? Theo said his family is of the Quaker faith. They do not believe in slavery. But they do not believe in fighting, either.

  “But that is not fair!” I said. “My father is fighting. My uncle is fighting. They may be shot! But they are fighting for this land to be free.”

  “Your father and uncle are doing what they think is right,” Theo said. “And we are doing what we think is right. We do not believe in fighting wars.”

  After that, Theo and I emptied our buckets in silence.

  Later

  Tonight we ate the melons Theo brought. I did not like their taste.

  August 24, 1856

  After early chores, Mother opened the Bible for worship in our cabin. But Aunt Margaret said she would go crazy with cabin fever if she did not get out. So we are going to the Blue Mound Sabbath School! Aunt Margaret said she will pray that the Ruffians will not be so coldhearted as to attack a wagon full of women and children on their way to church.

  Later

  I put on my cream silk dress for Sabbath School. How good it felt to be dressed like my old, St. Louis self again! Mother helped Pres into his St. Louis clothes, too. He fussed the whole time. Grace would not take off her prairie dress. George hitched up the wagon and we drove to Blue Mound. We passed Mrs. Biggs’s cabin on the way. I thought that by now she had most likely gone to her heavenly reward.

  We reached Blue Mound. We walked part-way up it, to a clearing. We sat on logs in a semicircle. I counted twenty-two other children at the Sabbath School. We sang hymns. Then a Reverend Still told us the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. He said Daniel was in terrible danger. But his faith kept him safe. After the story, I prayed for faith that would keep Father safe. I prayed so hard I forgot I was sitting on a log, and I rolled off backward. Pres laughed so hard that he nearly rolled off, too. I only hope most folks were praying with their eyes closed and did not see me with my feet up in the air.

  After Sabbath School, Pres begged to run to the top of Blue Mound to see the “dag-blasted” lookout. Mother said, “Preston! Language!”

  August 27, 1856

  Mr. Young, the traveling photographer, came by this evening. Mother and Aunt Margaret fixed him a plate. The three of them whispered together. I heard Mr. Young say that more and more Ruffians are coming into K.T. They plan to attack Lawrence!

  Later

  Mr. Young showed us a photograph of a big cannon called Old Sacramento. It belongs to the Free-State Militia. But the Ruffians stole it. They took it to Franklin, a town not far from Lawrence. A Free-State spy went to Franklin. He found the house where the cannon was hidden. He said the Ruffians were always in that house, guarding Old Sacramento.

  The Free-State men thought up a plan to get the cannon back. They loaded a wagon with hay. They drove it to the front door of the house. They rammed open the front door with a log, set fire to the hay, and pushed the wagon into the house. Thinking the house was on fire, the Ruffians ran out the back door. The Free-State men qu
ickly put out the fire. Then they rushed inside to get their cannon. At first, they did not see it. Then they spotted it, standing in a corner of the dining room with its muzzle up, dressed as a woman!

  Pres laughed so hard at this he got the hiccups.

  August 29, 1856

  As Mr. Young was leaving, Pres ran out of the summer kitchen. Jake the snake was coiled around his arm! I think he hoped to scare Mr. Young. But Mr. Young asked to take a picture of Pres and his snake.

  Mr. Young put a shiny copperplate into his camera. He had Pres sit on an overturned bucket. He told him to look at the camera and hold very still. He asked me to count slowly to fifteen. Pres held up the arm with Jake wrapped around it. He stared at the camera. Jake stared at the camera, too.

  Mr. Young said, “Count!”

  And I began, “One … two … three …”

  Press held still. So did Jake. I kept counting, “Six … seven …”

  Suddenly Jake’s head darted over to the left. Pres did not move. So I kept counting. At last I said, “Fifteen!”

  Mr. Young said, “Got it!”

  He took the copperplate out of his camera. He dipped it into a funny-smelling liquid. Slowly Pres’s likeness began to appear on the plate. Mr. Young washed the plate with water. He laid it out to dry.

  As it dried, Pres looked at it and cried, “Jake has two heads!”

  I looked at the copperplate. It was true!

  Mr. Young laughed. He said it was because Jake had moved while the photograph was being taken.