We Were There at the Oklahoma Land Run Page 5

  CHAPTER FIVE

  _April 22, 1889_

  There had never been, Cindy thought when she awakened and peered throughthe partly open wagon flaps, a more beautiful day. The air was so clearthat it seemed possible to look almost to the other end of the world.The sky was cloudless, and though the bright sun held a promise of heatto come with afternoon, a gentle little breeze made the morning pleasantand cool.

  Cindy was astonished to find her bed empty and a little afraid becauseshe heard nothing. Had she slept right through the great Run? Waseverybody already in Oklahoma? She dressed hurriedly and leaped out ofthe wagon to find her family waiting and everyone else still present.

  But the mood of the whole border had changed.

  Yesterday it had been noisy, boisterous, excited. But yesterday all hadbeen at loose ends, and this morning the crowd was like a tightly woundspring. When it finally let go, nothing would be able to stop it.

  Mrs. Simpson started cooking bacon for Cindy, but she tried hard not tolook at anybody at all. Sensing the changed mood, Cindy attempted to ridherself of it and could not.

  "Why didn't you wake me, Mother?" she asked.

  "There was no need, dear," her mother said. "With all the shouting andscreaming last night, you had little enough sleep anyway."

  "That's right," Mindy agreed. "I awakened several times, and you hadn'tyet gone to sleep."

  "Did you sleep?" Cindy asked her twin.

  "Well, not very much, but more than you did."

  "I slept," Alec boasted. "The last thing I remember, somebody wanted toknow about a strayed mule, and somebody else said, 'Here's your mule,Joe!'"

  "Then you didn't sleep much either," Cindy said. "Dawn was breaking whenthat happened!"

  Alec said, "Aw, I don't need sleep."

  "Sit down and eat your breakfast, dear," said Cindy's mother.

  Cindy ate her bacon and biscuits, but though ordinarily she was hungryas a starving wolf, this morning she had no appetite. Alec, usually thefriendliest of people, seemed cold and withdrawn, almost a stranger. Thegentle Mindy stared into the fire. Her face drawn, Mrs. Simpson kept herown thoughts. Jed Simpson, who had been staring into Oklahoma, turned toput his family at ease.

  "Come now!" he said heartily. "This isn't a funeral! Today's the day theSimpsons get their own farm!"

  "Why, of course," said Mrs. Simpson. "We must look at the good side."

  But, though Jed and Ann Simpson could almost always reassure theirfamily and each other, this time both sounded very uncertain. Try asthey would, neither could be relaxed and comfortable. Because theycouldn't, they could not make their children feel that way either.

  "I'll clean up," Mrs. Simpson said.

  She began to work furiously, washing each plate until it shone and thenpolishing it until it gleamed. She was trying to find in hard workforgetfulness of the uncertainty that lay ahead, and to some smallextent she succeeded. For the third time in ten minutes, Jed Simpsonlooked at his watch.

  "What time is it?" Alec asked.

  "Twenty past nine," his father said.

  He went off to look at Sunshine, and even the horse seemed tense andtaut, as though she also felt the vast importance of this day. She hadeaten her oats, but instead of paying any attention to her hay shetrampled it as she shuffled about. Her head was high and constantlyturning. She looked all about the camp and now and again turned to stareat Oklahoma, as though somehow realizing what was over there and what itmeant.

  Across the border, a blue-uniformed soldier rode a brown horse on ameasured beat, going to one end of his assigned beat and then turning tocome back. Such soldiers were stationed at intervals, and within hearingdistance of each other, along the entire border. Exactly at high noonsome of them would blow bugles and some would shoot their revolvers orrifles into the air. This would signal the opening of the border, andthe Run would be on.

  Pete Brent came over with two white flags fastened to four-foot longslender sticks that were pointed at one end. In the center of each flagGranny had crocheted a gold star. Pete gave one of the flags to JedSimpson.

  _Pete gave one of the flags to Jed Simpson_]

  "Here you are. When we reach our claims, just ram it into the ground anyplace at all, and you've staked."

  "Oh." Glad for something to do, Mr. Simpson held the flag high and wavedit. He looked at it closely, as though it were some complicated thingthat needed close attention and not just a simple banner. "Those aremighty fine flags, Pete."

  "They're high enough, and nobody can miss a white flag," Pete said."People will know our claims are staked."

  "What do you do then?" asked Mindy.

  "As I've told you, Mindy," Pete said, "the homesteads have already beensurveyed and the corners marked. Some are marked by blazes on trees, butthe ones we want have piles of rocks, and I know exactly where they are.After we've staked, we'll build the corners a little higher so nobodycan miss them either."

  They continued to talk, and even though they had already discussedeverything they were talking about now, it comforted them to discuss itagain. Ann Simpson raised her head, stole a long look at her husband,and turned away again. Her face was haggard and drawn.

  "I'll help you, Mother," Cindy offered.

  "I will too," Mindy said.

  "No, thank you, children, I'll do it," Mrs. Simpson replied.

  She had baked biscuits two days before, not because there was no time tobake fresh ones today but because Jed and Pete would carry these, andstale bread would not crush so easily. She put the biscuits carefullyinto a sack, tied the sack in the center, and put a slab of bacon andsome beans in the other side.

  Stale biscuits, bacon, and beans were all the food the two men wouldhave until they sent for Pete's wagon. But the less weight Sunshine hadto carry, the faster and farther she'd be able to run. With the biscuitson one side, and the bacon and beans on the other, the sack could becarried across Sunshine's saddle bow.

  "Come over here, children."

  It was a calm voice in a great storm, peace amid turmoil. Gramps andGranny Brent, practically the only human beings present who were notunder strain and tension, were sitting serenely beside the Brent wagon.Cindy, Mindy, and Alec went gladly to them.

  "Be of good heart, children," Granny said calmly. "There is nothing tofear."

  "Are you sure?" Alec asked worriedly.

  "It is a great thing," Gramps was calm as Granny, "a wonderful andglorious sight. I am glad I have lived to see it. As long as humanbeings strive for that which is better, the human race can never belost."

  "But there's danger!" Mindy whispered.

  "Aye," Granny remained unruffled, "and people were made to cope withdanger. It is only when they shrink from that which they should face,that their souls shrink too."

  "I remember when we went to Kansas," Gramps began.

  He went on to speak of bitter storms, endless grasslands, crop failures,hostile Indians, unfriendly white men. Then he balanced his tale withstories of abundant crops, sunshine, plenty for all, dancing, andhappiness. Sitting at the feet of these two, who had lived almost aslong as people can live and seen almost as much as people can see, thechildren forgot their own fears and worries, and they almost forgot thepassage of time.

  "It's ten minutes past eleven!" somebody yelled.

  Trying his best to look at ease, but making a poor job of it, Pete cameto the wagon. He smiled at his parents and the youngsters.

  "Guess I'll saddle the ponies," he said.

  "Are you taking two, Pete?" Gramps asked.

  "No. Just one. Cindy's riding the other roan to the telegraph office tolet John know the Run is on."

  "John's our other son," Granny said softly. "He wasn't born for theWest, but he does very well in New York." She followed Pete with hereyes. "Pete is young, and he feels as the young do. That is good."

  Pete came back with his two saddled ponies. "Which one do you want,Cindy?" he asked.

  "You take the best one," Cindy said anxiously.

  "The
re's no choice between 'em. Here," he handed the reins of one ponyto Cindy, "you take Sparkle."

  Granny came with a sack much like the one Ann Simpson had prepared forher husband, and Pete tied it to his saddle bow. He strapped the flagto one side, so that his legs would go over it. Then he embraced hisparents.

  "I'll send for you," he promised.

  "We know," Granny said calmly.

  "We'll be waiting," said Gramps.

  Over at the Simpson wagon, Jed had saddled and packed Sunshine too. Petetried hard not to make his smile a nervous one.

  "Guess we might as well start from over there," he suggested.

  "We'll go with you," Granny said. "Ann may want a woman around."

  But if Ann Simpson was afraid, she gave no sign of it now. Her husbandwas going across the border into no one knew what danger, but he wasgoing with a strong and steadfast heart. Tears might come later, but asmile would urge him on.

  Cindy tied Sparkle to a wagon wheel and looked up and down the line ofcamps and wagons. There seemed to be twice as many people as there hadbeen before, as though they had sprung from the ground. Everyone with ahorse had it saddled, those with wagons had them ready, and there werestill a great many who must run on foot. Cindy giggled. There was oneman with a high-wheeled bicycle which he evidently intended to ride intoOklahoma.

  A desperate-looking man approached them and indicated Pete's tworemaining ponies. "Those yours?" he asked hoarsely.

  "That's right," Pete said.

  "I'll give you fifty dollars to let me ride one today," the man said.

  "No," said Pete. "I can't take the chance. Ponies will be hard to getfor a long while."

  The man turned appealingly to Jed Simpson. "Are those your mules?"

  "Yes."

  "I'll give you fifty dollars to let me ride one in the Run."

  "I can't risk it," said Jed. "I'll need them to work my farm."

  The man moaned softly and went on to offer the next person with a horseor mule fifty dollars to ride it in the Run.

  "He'll get nothing," Pete said. "There isn't a saddle animal for sale orrent the length of the border. What time is it, Jed?"

  "Five minutes to twelve. We'd better get ready."

  Jed turned to kiss his wife, and he tried to be very calm. But his handswere trembling, and tears lurked in his eyes. He smiled at his children.

  "Be good, and help your mother," he bade.

  Then Pete and Jed swung into their saddles as a great hush descended onthe border. All eyes were on the soldier who was to give the signal forthis section. He had stopped riding back and forth and was waiting. Hisrevolver was in his hand. As soon as the officer who was timing itordered the soldier nearest him to do so, that soldier would give thesignal. All the rest would pick it up and it would resound clear aroundthe border.

  But it was not the soldier who shot.

  It was a man down the line. Cindy saw him very plainly, and he shot afull three minutes before high noon. But nothing could stop theassembled home seekers now. They surged forward, and almost instantlythe Run formed a pattern. The lean, bearded man with the race horse shotahead of all the rest.

  "They're all Sooners now," Granny Brent said, chuckling. "Oklahoma, theSooner State."

  "Oh!" Ann Simpson gasped.

  She had turned to look at the wagon, and now she was rooted in hertracks. Her face was white, her hands clasped to her cheeks. Forgottenin the excitement, Jed's gun hung on a peg.

  Cindy leaped forward. She snatched the gun, jerked Sparkle's reinsloose, mounted, and was away. Her mother's frantic "Cindy! Cindamine!Come back!" was drowned in the thunder of hoofs and the rattle ofwagons.