Page 79 of Caroline’s Compass

“Which account is correct?” Mrs. Lawson asked.

“None,” Caroline said.

Thomas considered. “The compass was present.”

Samuel brightened.

“Do not encourage him,” Caroline said.

Eleanor embraced her first. Rebecca followed with a grip hard enough to test bone. Martha cried quietly. Charlotte asked whether Thomas had formally declined Fort Kearny. Lydia demanded to see the compass. Grace wanted the exact words. Lucy supplied words Thomas had never said.

“I did not compare Caroline's eyes to western stars,” he objected.

“You may still,” Lucy said helpfully.

Caroline looked at him. “Do not.”

“I value the engagement.”

Nathaniel shook Thomas's hand. “Welcome to the family.”

“Was I not already traveling with the family?”

“Traveling near it,” Nathaniel said. “There is a difference. You will learn.”

Seven sisters smiled at once. Thomas looked, for the first time since his rescue, genuinely alarmed.

Chapter Twenty

May 18, 1854

West by Choice

Mr. Avery produced his fiddle before breakfast, which Caroline considered an abuse of both music and daylight. By the time the coffee boiled, half the company had come by to congratulate them.

“The older Mrs. Bell says you proposed while crossing the flood,” Grace told Thomas.

He sat beside the fire with his injured foot on an overturned bucket. “That would have required more breath than I possessed.”

“Mr. Coleman says Caroline carried you out herself,” Lydia added.

“That version may remain,” Caroline said.

Martha brought a plate of small sweet biscuits, each made with a scandalous spoonful of saved sugar. “I rationed these for a significant occasion.”

Rebecca took one. “You did not know there would be an engagement.”

“There are eight of us. Probability favored me.”

Charlotte smiled over the rim of her cup. Lucy had already begun planning flowers that did not exist in Nebraska Territory.

Eleanor waited until the teasing had softened before she handed Caroline the lead-wagon record. “This is yours.”

Caroline looked at the familiar book. “I have been keeping it.”

“For me. Now you will keep it for the Whitaker wagons.” Eleanor glanced toward Rebecca. “You and Rebecca will manage them day to day. Nathaniel and I have the company. Your engagement changes nothing about your authority.”

“Except that she has acquired another person to order,” Rebecca said.