Love's Long Journey (Love Comes Softly Book #3) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Janette Oke

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94 pages

English

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Book 3 of Love Comes Softly. Clark and Marty's daughter, ready to start her own life, must rely on faith in the face of homesickness and mounting hardships.

Sujets

Love (disambiguation)

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 novembre 2003
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441202956
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0000€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Love s Long Journey
Books by Janette Oke www.janetteoke.com
A CTS OF F AITH * The Centurion s Wife The Hidden Flame
C ANADIAN W EST
When Calls the Heart When Breaks the down When Comes the Spring When Hope Springs New
Beyond the Gathering Storm When Tomorrow Comes
L OVE C OMES S OFTLY
Love Comes Softly Love s Unending Legacy Love s Enduring Promise Love s Unfolding Dream Love s Long Journey Love Takes Wing Love s Abiding Joy Love Finds a Home
A P RAIRIE L EGACY
The Tender Years A Quiet Strength A Searching Heart Like Gold Refined
S EASONS OF THE H EART
Once Upon a Summer Winter Is Not Forever The Winds of Autumn Spring s Gentle Promise Seasons of the Heart (4 in 1)
S ONG OF A CADIA *
The Meeting Place The Birthright The Sacred Shore The Distant Beacon The Beloved Land
W OMEN OF THE W EST
The Calling of Emily Evans A Bride for Donnigan Julia s Last Hope Heart of the Wilderness Roses for Mama Too Long a Stranger A Woman Named Damaris The Bluebird and the Sparrow They Called Her Mrs. Doc A Gown of Spanish Lace The Measure of a Heart Drums of Change
* with Davis Bunn

Love s Long Journey Copyright 1982, 2003 Janette Oke
Newly edited and revised
Cover design by Jennifer Parker Cover model photography by Jason Jorgensen
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 978-0-7642-2850-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oke, Janette, 1935- Love s long journey / by Janette Oke. p. cm. -(Love comes softly; bk. 3) ISBN 0-7642-2850-1 1. Davis family (Fictitious characters: Oke)-Fiction. 2. Women pioneers-Fiction. I. Title. II. Series: Oke, Janette, 1935- . Love comes softly series;bk. 3. PR9199.3.O38L6 2003 813 .54-dc21 2003014742
This book is dedicated to you,
the readers of Love Comes Softly
and Love s Enduring Promise,
with thanks for your kind words
of encouragement.
JANETTE OKE was born in Champion, Alberta, to a Canadian prairie farmer and his wife, and she grew up in a large family full of laughter and love. She is a graduate of Mountain View Bible College in Alberta, where she met her husband, Edward, and they were married in May of 1957. After pastoring churches in Indiana and Canada, the Okes spent some years in Didsbury and Calgary, where Edward served in several positions on college faculties while Janette continued her writing. She has written over five dozen novels for adults and children, and her book sales total over twenty-two million copies.
The Okes have three sons and one daughter, all married, and are enjoying their dozen grandchildren. Edward and Janette are active in their local church and make their home near Didsbury, Alberta.
Visit Janette Oke s Web site at: www.janetteoke.com .
Contents
1. The Journey Begins
2. Day s End
3. Another Day
4. Traveling Neighbors
5. Rebecca Clay
6. Tedious Journey
7. Rain
8. The Big River
9. Town
10. Breaking Camp
11. A Tough Decision
12. The Taylorsons
13. News
14. Sunday
15. Surprises
16. The Ranch
17. Winter and Christmas
18. Missie s New Home
19. Missie s Garden
20. Summer
21. Willie s Return
22. Afternoon Tea
23. Another Winter Ahead
24. Sundays
25. Nathan
26. Love Finds a Home
Prologue
Let s imagine for a moment a family separation back in the days of the pioneers. Grown children have announced to their parents that the West is calling them.
For weeks and months the entire family is in a fever-pitch of excitement and activity, making plans, sewing clothing and bedding, purchasing and packing crates and crocks with supplies sufficient for many months-or even years. All the food, from coffee to flour, lard to honey, molasses to salt-and other items pickled, salted, dried, canned-is collected and prepared for the long journey. Lamps and fuel are needed, grease for the wagons, repair parts for the harnesses, as well as guns and gunpowder, tools, nails, rope, crocks, kettles, pots and pans, dishes, medicines, seeds, and material to make more clothing when what they wore would become threadbare. Any furniture or equipment that the family can afford and find room for is packed in the wagons-stove, sewing machine, bed, table, and chairs all have to be taken along.
Breakables are carefully packed in sawdust and crated in handmade boxes. Everything needs to be protected against possible water damage, for there will be rivers to ford and rains to endure. At the journey s end, the crates will be unpacked and disassembled, every board hoarded for some future building project-a window frame, a stool, a baby s crib. The sawdust will be sparingly used to feed a fire, sprinkled lightly over smoking buffalo chips.
The crocks and jars containing food will be used for other storage when their original purpose is complete.
Yes, it is a monumental task. The preparation for such a move will tax minds, bodies, and emotions to the limit. But when the sorting and packing is finished, the wagons are loaded and the teams hitched and ready to move out-what then?
Mothers and fathers will bid their offspring farewell with the knowledge they might be seeing them for the last time.
Communication by letter across country will take many months, if such letters arrive at all. So parents in the East will know next to nothing of their children s and grandchildren s whereabouts or their well-being. Those who stay behind no doubt hope that no news is good news-for only bad news is of sufficient import to be delivered across the empty miles.
Wife follows husband, convinced that her rightful place is by his side regardless of the strong tug toward the home she has known and loved. Danger, loneliness, and possible disaster await them in the new world toward which they are heading, but she goes nonetheless.
I often think about those pioneer women. What it must have cost many of them to follow their husband s dream! To venture forth, leaving behind the things that represented safety and security; to birth their babies unattended; to nurse sick children with no medicines or doctors; to be mother, teacher, minister, physician, tailor, and grocer to a growing family; to support their men without complaint through floods, blizzards, sandstorms, and droughts; to walk tall when there was little to wear, little to work with, and even less to eat.
God bless them all-the women who courageously went forth with their men. And bless those who stood with tear-filled eyes and aching hearts and let their loved ones go. And grant to us a measure of the faith, strength, courage, love, and determination that prompted them to do what they did.
Janette Oke
ONE
The Journey Begins
Missie experimentally pushed back her bonnet and let the rays of the afternoon sun fall directly on her head. She wasn t sure if that was preferable, since the loss of protection from the sun with the shade from its wide brim also kept the slight breeze from her face. It certainly was hot! She comforted herself with the thought that the worst of the day s heat was already past-surely it would begin to cool before long as the sun moved lower in the western sky.
Her first day on the trail seemed extremely long and tiring.
The excitement of the morning s early departure already felt as if it were weeks behind her. But no, time insisted it truly had been only at the dawning of this very day when they had exchanged painful good-byes with her beloved family.
As she recalled the tears and sadness of the morning, Missie also felt a tingle of excitement go through her. She and Willie were really heading west! After all the planning and dreaming, they were actually on the way. From her perch on the seat at the front of the wagon, the dream, though still a long way off, was now anchored in reality.
Missie s weary, aching body verified that they were indeed on the way, and she shifted on the hard wooden boards to try for a more comfortable position. Willie turned to her, though she knew his hands expertly holding the reins were still aware of every movement of the plodding team.
Ya tirin ? he asked. His eyes searched her hot face.
Missie smiled in spite of her distress and pushed back some strands of damp hair. A bit. About time for me to stretch my legs again, I reckon.
Willie nodded and turned back to the horses he was driving. I miss ya when yer not here beside me, he told her, but I sure won t deny ya none any relief ya might be gettin from a walk now an then. Ya wantin down now?
In a few minutes. Missie fell silent, then commented, Sure s one bustling, dusty way to travel, this going by wagon train. She could feel Willie s sideways glance at her as she continued, Harness creaking, horses stomping, people shouting-hadn t realized it would be so noisy.
I spect it ll quieten some as we all get used to it. Willie s tone sounded a bit anxious.
Yeah, I reckon so, Missie assured him quickly. He had enough to worry about without wondering if she was all right.
She reached out to tuck a hand under Willie s arm. She could feel his muscles tighten as he pulled her hand against his body in silent communication. She could see the strength in his arms as they gave firm guidance to the team. His coarse cotton shirt was damp in many places, and Missie noticed he had undone a couple of buttons at the neck.
Guess we just brought our noise and bustle along with us, she said wryly.
Meanin ?
Well, you know what it s been like at home for all these weeks we ve been planning, packing, crating, loading-it seemed it would never end. And the noise wa