Page 80 of Caroline’s Compass

Thomas accepted a biscuit from Martha. “I entered the courtship with full knowledge of the risk.”

The warmth in Caroline’s chest had little to do with the fire. She took the record from Eleanor. “Thank you.”

The engagement had altered the company's behavior overnight. Mr. Hall addressed Thomas as “bridegroom” until Thomas threatened to revise every distance in Hall's route notes. The younger Mrs. Bell began saving ribbon. Mr. Avery offered three tunes for the wedding and played portions of each before breakfast.

Caroline tried to inspect the lead wagon while people congratulated her. She checked the axle twice because Mrs. Lawson asked about flowers during the first inspection. Rebecca took the checklist away.

“You are counting the same wheel.”

“It remains important.”

“There are three others.”

Thomas sat near the fire with his injured foot elevated. Lucy placed a folded blanket behind him, then another, until only his face showed above the pile. “He must be comfortable,” she explained.

“I have lost the use of both arms,” Thomas said.

“Your ankle cannot be injured if you cannot reach it.”

Caroline rescued him after determining he had suffered enough to be admitted to the family. Thomas thanked her and asked whether Whitaker medical practice always involved burial in bedding.

“Only for difficult patients.”

Martha said he had qualified before sunrise. That was when the sisters began discussing the wedding date as though Thomas and Caroline were the least relevant members of the company.

Breakfast became a negotiation over the wedding date before Caroline had agreed that a negotiation was occurring. Lucy favored the next Sunday. Martha said Thomas's ankle would not permit him to stand. Lydia suggested he sit. Grace suggested Caroline sit too so the ceremony appeared intentional.

“We are not marrying beside flooded ground,” Caroline said.

The younger Mrs. Bell looked up from the biscuits. “Why not? It is memorable.”

“So is cholera. We do not invite it.”

Thomas, wisely, concentrated on his coffee.

Eleanor asked what Caroline wanted. The question quieted the others more effectively than command. Caroline wanted time for Thomas to heal, firmer country, and a day that did not require the company to choose between a wedding and saving livestock. Thomas agreed with every condition and added that he preferred to stand when promising a lifetime.

Nathaniel offered to conduct the ceremony when they reached a suitable camp. Martha began inventorying sugar. Charlotte opened a page in the family record, then closed it when Caroline looked at her.

The conversation ended without a date, as it should. Caroline's engagement would not remove her from the lead wagon or turn her future into another decision made by committee. Later, when Thomas spread the official route book across a crate, they began with the work still before them.

Once the wedding debate ended, Caroline inspected Thomas's travel arrangement. The younger Mrs. Bell had built a nest of blankets in her wagon and placed a crate beneath his injured leg. Thomas objected to the word nest. Mrs. Bell added another blanket.

“You will remain there until noon,” Caroline said.

“I can ride.”

Rebecca looked at the swollen ankle. “You can fall from a horse.”

“That was not my proposal.”

“It was the likely result.”

Thomas appealed to Nathaniel, who reminded him that captains respected medical judgment. Martha, the medical judgment in question, threatened to remove his remaining boot if he continued.

Caroline watched him surrender with poor grace and considerable charm. Their engagement had not made either of them easier. It had merely given them a lifetime in which to practice listening. She tucked the route book beside him for the morning and kept the compass in her pocket. Work, authority, affection, and annoyance traveled west together.

Before Thomas opened the route book, the sisters presented him with what Lydia called an entrance examination for the Whitaker family. Caroline said no examination existed. Lydia replied that one existed now.