hopeful travelers who had come up from the States drawn by advertisements for free or cheap land Many were moving from eastern Canada because their farms were too small or their land was wearing out Some were just looking for adventure None of the people they had swapped stories with had gotten off at Curlew though Pa put his hand on Sam’s shoulder We’d better stop gawking at the big city son he said They’re unloading the freight car Before long Pa and Sam had gathered together all the belongings they had brought with them the axe saws and adze the bundled up tent and a few boxes of provisions Everything else would come later with the rest of the family Pa’s farm implements the furniture even the cows horses and chickens would all be loaded into a freight car to travel from Jericho to Curlew A young man from Jericho who was eager to see the west would ride in the freight car and look after the livestock on the journey Now Pa looked at their small pile of belongings and said The Canadian Pacific Railway calls our big shipment Settler’s Effects I guess we can call this batch Basic Necessities Then he left Sam to stand guard over their Basic Necessities while he inquired at J T Pratt’s store about the agent he had hired to get them a wagon and two horses and a plow The plow they had had back in Iowa would not do the job of breaking up the tough roots of the prairie grass for the first time The agent turned out to be the brother of J T Pratt How do you do Mr Pratt said Sam politely when Pa introduced him Don’t call me Mr Pratt said the young man That’s what they call my brother Call me Chalkey
He grinned and pointed to his white-blond hair Ask me anything you want to I might even know the answer But it seemed to Sam that Chalkey answered most questions without being asked As Pa said later he was a regular fountain of information He told them all about the rainfall that spring how promising the crops were looking and the amazing number of people who were coming out to settle around Curlew We’re starting up a school he said to Sam Got to give you young people an education It’ll be close in to town here so you’ll have about five miles to travel Your folks will want you to go I suppose That’s for sure said Sam but he wondered how Josie and Matt would manage to walk five miles to school Josie was barely eight and Matt was six Ten miles a day would be too much for them It would even be a lot for him and he would be twelve before Christmas But Pa and Mama would think of something They would never let their children go even a month or two without schooling According to Pa a person with an education could write his own ticket in the world After all Pa had an education and he had written a ticket to Curlew
2 BY THE TIME all the Ferriers goods were loaded into the new wagon it was late afternoon too late to drive out to their land Don’t worry said Chalkey We don’t have a hotel yet but J T and his wife they’ll look after you Mrs J T a large woman with jet black hair welcomed them We’re always glad to meet new settlers she said It’s no trouble at all We’ve set up cots in the storeroom for folks who get stranded in town I hope you don’t mind the smell of onions She chuckled The last man who slept there swore he’d get a hotel built before winter just to get away from the onions After nights of sitting up on the train I can assure you that a cot in a storeroom sounds like luxury said Pa As for Sam he was so glad to lie down and stretch out that he hardly noticed the smell of onions and leather boots He just fell asleep In the morning Chalkey came by as Pa and Sam were finishing their pancakes and tea at the Pratts kitchen table He took them out and showed them the team he’d gotten for them to use until their own horses came up with the Settler’s Effects Pete was a black horse with a white blaze on his forehead and Goldie’s color matched her name They’re strong said Chalkey and used to prairie winters And they are for sale if you decide you want to buy them later He walked over to where his own horse was tied
I’ll ride along with you and show you the boundary markers of your land It can be a little tricky finding them even when you know where to look This wouldn’t be the first time Pa had seen their piece of land He had come up two years before in 1913 when he heard there was good land for sale in the Canadian west It’s the answer to our problems he had said when he had returned to Iowa with the deed to two quarter sections of Alberta land in his pocket Edward can have this farm and we’ll start over A new start in a new land His eyes had gleamed at the idea Mama had not been quite so sure It’s a risk James she had said and a lot of hard work We don’t know the land or the weather out there But I’m willing to try it It had taken two years to arrange everything Now Mama was packing Uncle Edward was getting ready to move his family into the old Iowa farmhouse and Sam was about to get his first look at his new home It didn’t take long to get out of Curlew Sam sat beside Pa on the wagon seat and looked around It was new country all right he decided There were certainly no signs of settlers no houses no trees not even a plowed field Of course the old farm in Iowa had miles of open fields too But there were elms around the house and a grove of walnut trees Sam remembered Mama saying that Great grandfather had planted all those trees Maybe that land had been just as empty once The sun was hot on the back of Sam’s neck and the dry wind blew his hair into his eyes Some shade would feel fine right now he thought So would some cool water In Iowa there was the creek where shallow water slid over pebbles all through the summer The creek had carved out a little valley in the black earth
