tickets to Iowa That was why they had come here because their money was gone But she wasn’t worried Papa wasn’t like that man He loved them He’d written home that he was counting the days until his family joined him She glanced at her big sister Carrie was fifteen three years older than Belle four years older than Frank Carrie held tight to Mama who was holding the baby in her arms The baby was only six weeks old and didn’t have a name Mama had said she’d wait until they got to Colorado so that Papa could name him Mama had felt poorly even before the baby came The doctor had told her she was not to go to Colorado until he was born Then after the baby arrived the doctor had wanted her to stay in Iowa for a few more months before moving to Mingo She still wasn’t well But Mama had insisted she would be fine as soon as she saw Papa The sight of him would be better than any rest or medicine either she’d claimed Mama didn’t seem worried that Papa hadn’t met them but Belle could tell that Carrie was Carrie led Mama to a bench and told her to rest Mama nodded and sat down the baby in her lap Then Carrie went to Belle She’d forgotten 4 HARDSCRABBLE
Chapter One she’d told Belle to hush and she whispered I don’t under stand where Papa is He ought to be here It’s not right his making Mama wait He’s coming Belle said You always worry She was right Sometimes Carrie acted like a grown-up She fussed over Mama and she often did the cooking and washing and caring for the baby when Mama was tired He’ll be here Belle said stubbornly She looked out across the prairie The grasses gold in the late-afternoon sun waved in the wind that blew dust and dirt onto the platform There wasn’t a tree to block the view There wasn’t a sign of Papa either I don’t think Mingo’s what Mama expected it to be Carrie said She told me there’d be crops and flowers that it would be green I’ve never seen so much brown It’s ugly Carrie glanced at her mother who sat softly humming to the baby Belle stared at her sister for a moment Although she sometimes brooded Carrie like their mother rarely complained When trouble came Carrie would press her lips together then smile and say that things could be worse Well she said smiling now at Belle I think this farm 5
will be a fine one different from Iowa Papa’s a good farmer and it looks like he won’t have to cut down trees She gave a laugh We won’t have a mortgage either Still she said I hope the house Papa built for us will be better than the dirt huts and tar-paper shacks we saw along the train tracks I wouldn’t want Mama to live in something like that Belle agreed They had had a nice home in Iowa a brick house with white jigsaw trim hanging from the roof The house was big with four bedrooms and there was running water in the kitchen And an indoor bathroom But the crops had failed over the last three years and the bank took away the farm And then Mama was sick long before the baby came The doctor said she needed a change of climate He told Papa to take her west where the air was clear and dry So Papa decided to try his hand at homesteading The govern ment promised to give a man 320 acres of land for free All he had to do was live on it for five years and farm it That sounded like a fine opportunity So Papa set off for Mingo to file for a homestead leaving his family to follow later Belle looked out across the high plains once more She believed she could almost see the earth curve She’d learned at school that the earth was a giant ball A dusty ball in 6 HARDSCRABBLE
Chapter One Colorado she thought as she watched far off on the horizon as tumbleweeds rolled across the plains The conductor on the train had pointed out the weeds to them saying they were Russian thistles but everybody called them tumble weeds because of the way the wind sent them tumbling across the fields She stared in that direction for a long time and then she grabbed Frank’s arm excited Look I think that’s a wagon Papa Carrie said She went to Mama and took her arm See over there a wagon It has to be Papa We knew he’d come Of course we did Mama replied looking around her as if she hadn’t realized her children were worried I never doubted it for a minute The wagon moved quickly across the open ground and in a few minutes it was at the depot Papa jumped out and landed on the platform with a bound He grabbed Mama in his arms and hugged her I’d have been here sooner but the wheel on the wagon broke just as I was leaving I had to go to the neighbor’s to borrow this wagon We knew there was a reason Mama said beaming at him But what does it matter Now you’re here Beck 7
