2//Lydia- April 26, 1843, Missouri

I sat, bored, the entire ride to Independence where we would meet the people we would travel with. The bumpy ride seemed to go on forever, until we stopped and Ma said we could get out of the damned wagon. Next to me, my annoying brother Julian slept in an awkward position with his head leaning uncomfortably on his shoulder. I started poking him but of course, that did not work, so I then pushed my hand roughly into his side, making him sit up. 

“Jules, we are in Independence, we are with the other families now, Ma wants you to come meet everyone,” I told him as I offered him a hand to help him up. The place that many numbered wagons were gathered was secluded, about a mile away from the town. We jumped down from the back of the wagon, making a cloud of dust go up into the air. Of course my people hating brother walked like a tortoise and as soon as we arrived at the crowd, Ma pulled Jules away to meet someone. I found my way over to where Papa was standing, talking to a man with long brown hair and an expensive looking cowboy hat. 

“Lydia, this is Mr. Clancy, his daughter is a year older than you, Rose isn’t it?” Papa asked. Mr. Clancy nodded and gestured for his kids to come over to us. 

"Billy, Rose! Come meet Lydia," Mrs. Clancy yelled to her kids when they ignored their father. They went to step down from the wagon but the girl, who I assumed was Rose, paused. She stood there for a moment and I let myself observe her. She was absolutely stunning, with long, curly, vivid ginger hair and a fair face with freckles dotting her cheeks.

 "You're Julian’s sister right?" She asked as she hopped down from the wagon after her brother pushed her. 

"That I am, miss," I tell her. I step away from Papa and the senior Clancys and turn to the amazingly good looking girl. I join my hands behind my back and start rocking up and down on my toes, which she smiles at.

 "You're really pretty," I said to her. Immediately, her ears reddened, which I was satisfied with. My goal was always to make people blush or maybe sometimes angry, just because it was funny and I like teasing people. 

I grabbed Rose’s wrist and led her over to where Jules was talking to the native american boy. I dropped her hand to get a running start and I launched onto Julian’s back, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his shoulders.

“This is Mingan, he has a brother, Eliza Jane went to show him her daisy chains,” Julian said to Rose, Billy and I. He was grumpy, as usual.  

 “Hello, boys and girls, do you have room for one more? This is Scotty, he’s very shy,” Ma had a boy with big ears and pointy, brown hair by her side. 

“Of course, Ma, we’re very polite young people, isn’t that right, guys?” I said as I threw my arm around Rose.

“Yes, we are,” she nodded, doing a small curtsy, to which Billy and Julian scoffed. Ma ruffled Scotty’s hair and left him with us, 

“Hi, Scotty, how old are you?” Jules asked him, stepping towards the shy boy. 

“Sixteen, seventeen in November, what about you guys? Are you all siblings?” Scotty had a high voice that broke in the middle of his sentence.

 “I’m Billy, that’s my twin, Rose,” Rose joked, slapping Billy on the head lightly, 

“Ouch! You bagel sandwich!” Billy shoved her into me, which was delightful. Who wouldn’t want a beautiful girl in their arms? I felt her tense up as I caught her, then I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and rested my chin on them too, much like I often did to Jules. 

“I’m Lydia, I’m seventeen and that’s my brother, Julian, he’s sixteen,” I tell him, looking at Mingan to say something. 

“I’m Mingan, I’m sixteen but turning seventeen in September,” he explained.

A boy then came up to us, behind him a plain looking girl who wasn’t nearly as attractive as the girl I was leaning on.

“I see you’ve met Scotty, this is Delores, his sister and I’m Miles, nice to meet y’all,” Miles introduced himself. “I see you two are already best of friends,” he laughed at Rose and I and I then stepped out from behind me and wrapped an arm around her. 

“Yes, Sir, I’ve always wanted an older sister,” I told him, pulling Rose closer to my side by her waist. Again, she tensed up but quickly relaxed.

I grinned and started to tell everyone how the people in wagon seven were all the way from Britain.  Jules looked as if he didn’t believe me, but whatever.  

“Boys and girls, I don’t mean to interrupt this very important conversation but your mothers are calling y’all for supper,” a man with platinum blond hair came up to us, I assumed he was the newly wedded man with no children that Ma had gossiped to me about. 

“Oh, can’t we eat all together outside?” I asked, the man looked terrified.

“O-Oh, well you should go ask your mother,” he stuttered, I laced my fingers with Rose’s and squeezed as I pulled her over to where the adults had settled on blankets. She turned her head and smiled back at me, seeming happy at my constant smile. We managed to convince the grown ups to give us some food for all of us and eat outside, together. Ma, Mrs Clancy and the native american woman, whose name I did not know, were happy that we were all making friends. 

“I saw a nice little quiet area over there, by that tree,” Scotty informed us, Jules said that we should eat there. I saw Lizy Jane sitting with Billy and Rose’s brother, Mingan’s little brother and a girl and a boy. 

“Who are those kids with Drew?” Rose whispered to Billy, who looked up and shrugged. “That’s Shannon and Nick, they’re from four and five,” Jules informed them as if they were dumb.

While we were eating, I couldn’t help but let myself stare at her and memorize her face for later. She stared back at me and I flashed my signature smile, as Papa called it and she smiled back. We met gazes and just kind of stared into each other's souls or something. Julian always said that it was creepy when I did this, as it was a habit, so he called me devil’s spawn, and complained about how I was finding his deep dark secrets. 

Rose’s eyes were absolutely delightful, being dark, dark blue with a small tint of green. I let my smile fall a bit so it is less harsh as I take every detail of her face in. 

“Jeez, Devil Spawn, stop taking her secrets,” Jules teased me. I broke eye contact with Rose and looked down at my plate and started shoveling food into my mouth. “Ok, now you’re just being a pig, Lyds,” he insulted. Soon, our parents called us to get into our respective wagons and that we would stop for dinner and could play later.