After a full day of riding alone, I finally caught up to everyone else. Despite the circumstances, I was no longer crying. Mostly because there were no more tears to cry. I was exhausted and dehydrated. I told the whole story to everyone, who reacted the way you expect a family to react. We continued riding in silence for quite some time. We reached the next town that afternoon, where we decided to trade the extra horse for additional food and supplies. Mary and I knew we still could take no chances and needed to get as far away as we could as quickly as possible. It would be harder trying to steer an unmanned horse.

Days turned into weeks, and still we had not run into any more trouble. If someone was trying to find us, we had seen no signs of them. We would be in Chicago by nightfall. Mary and I discussed what we would have to do once we got there. We knew we had plenty of money to survive now. The most important thing now was stay unrecognized. We would need to start again somewhere new, where no one knew us. We would gather the men and find a new destination for home.

We still needed to find shelter before winter, now not only for Mary and baby Hazel, but for the new life that was growing inside of me. We would be starting our family, but we would never forget those that fought for the life we have. Like I said before, I am very proud of the family I come from. I admire all the women who came before, but now the one I most admire is my mother.

THE END