The road spread before her, long,
dusty and lonely. She longed to stop, but couldn't. She was
still to close for comfort. Had it only been a week since she left?
Just seven short days since she stole away in the middle of the night just
before her arranged marriage. She both loved and feared her father,
and as much as she wanted to please him, ahe could not bring herself to
marry a man she didn't and couldn't love. Her marriage would join
the neighboring ranch with her families, making it the largest in the area.
A union that would help give her father water rights to help alleviate
the drought that threatened their livelihood and take the ranch from him.
A section of land that covered both ranches has been set aside for the
couple. The house and barn were completed. Stock grazed in
the fields. It was a good start for the union that would join the
two families.
The youngest of six children and the
only girl, Victoria Montgomery inherited the best and worst of both
her parents. She had her father's blonde hair, her mother's green
eyes. Her father's will, her mother's grace, his fiery temper and stubborness,
her thirst for knowledge and spirit of adventure all combined to get her
to the point she was at now, running from her family. Running for
her very existance. She was educated at a time when educating a woman
was considered a waste of time and money. Beyond reading and writing
a woman didn't need to have a lot of education to raise a family and care
for a house and keep her husband happy.Education just gave a woman ideas.
Made her think she was as good or smart as a man. Except those women who
were school teachers, who had little hope of ever marrying, few women were
educated beyond the primary grades. Those few who did marry quit their
positions immediately.
Not Victoria. She knew there was
more to life than just being a wife and mother. There was a big world
out there that she was determined to see and experience before....
"Before What" she thought.
"Before she settled down?" The tought of settling down with
a man, any man sent a shiver up her spine. She knew she didn't want the
life her parents had. Thoughts of living and sleeping with a man
sickened her. Thoughts of his kisses and touches repulsed her.
When thoughts of the marital act filled her head, she glanced quickly behind
her and spurred her horse to a faster pace. Her heart hammering in
her chest. She ran her horse for a long time before she felt comfortable
to allow her to slow down to a walk
Weeks of trying to talk with her father
came to nothing. His mind was set. She would obey his orders
and marry the man of his choice. She finally pleaded with her mother
for help. Begging for her help to keep her from the same life her
mother had finally wore her down and with her mother's blessing, the money
she was able to save from her teaching position and the little her mother
was able to give her, she left. Carrying only what necessities she
and her horse could safely manage, she fled. That was seven short
days ago. She longed to know what happened the morning of what was
supposed to be her wedding day. Did her father give up or was he
at this very moment tracking her. If he was trailing her, she could only
hope that she had left a confusing enough trail. Dressed in men's
clothing, she cut her long blond hair to be better able to disguise the
fact she was a woman. Thankful that she learned to shoot a gun she
was able to stretch her meager supplies and money. She had been taught
as a young child how to live off the land or there would have been many
cold and hungry nights as she carefully avoided the small towns unless
absolutely necessary. Being early summer there was abundant game
and water.
Ever since she left home she had a reoccuring
dreams of an old Indian woman. Her only words were "go to the
mountains" The picture of the old woman would then be replaced
with that of a young woman with dark hair and brilliant blue eyes.
She had long since left her home state
of Virginia and travelled North West. The direction the old woman
told her to go. The mountains she saw in the distance beckoned her.
The mountains meant freedom and a new life. She felt deep inside
her heart that it was in the mountains that she would find peace, her destiny
and quite possibly love.
As the summer progressed, there was no
rain. Lakes dwindled, fast moving rivers turned into sluggish streams
and had long since stopped rushing by. No longer pushed by the melting
snows in the mountains
they slowed. Mosquitoes were abundant
around the now stagnating puddles that were once lakes and streams.
Grass turned brown and brittle as the sun continued it's relentless scorching
of the earth below.
Food and water became scarce as even
the smallest of creatures hid from the harsh sunlight of day. Venturing
out only in late afternoon for what little food and water they could find.
It was through this area that Victoria
now travelled. Many times she regretted her decision to follow the
direction the old woman in her dreams told her to follow. She
had gone as far as to turn around, but the face of the old woman would
flash in front of her and she would continue to followher to the mountains..
She had entered the mountains from her dream several days ago.
She searched for the face that haunted her dreams at night and now even
her waking hours. Victoria sat by her small campire and pulled a battered
book from her saddlebag. Her pencil was only only a stub. By
the dim light of the fire she continued to write of her journey.
She checked backed on the date she first left home. She had been
travelling for five weeks. She wrote of the places she had seen,
the towns she had seen when she couldn't avoid it and the people she met.
So far she hoped she had been able to fool everyone into thinking she was
a boy. She picked up her pencil and wrote "I've been in
the mountain region for several days, yet the woman keeps calling to me
to go farther. Still no rain, food and water are getting harder to
find. The heat has been brutal. One good thing that has made
this journey bearable is that I don't have to deal with a corset, five
pounds of petticoats, and those high necked, long sleeved, touch the ground
dresses. Today I saw more mountains in the distance... I know what
else is new, I'm surrounded by mountains. But these seem more like the
ones from my dreams..
The old woman has been speaking
again. Now she is saying, come home. Love is waiting
for you. Come home to the mountains we are waiting for you....
But how much farther is home and who is the we she speaks about????
I am getting so tired of travelling. And love??? Who is my love?
Who is the dark haired woman I keep seeing? Tomorrow I'll continue
on...."
Victoria read over what she had just
written. Satisfied she closed her journal and settled down for the
night....