Home again or Sleeping
I sagged in relief when we appeared, moments later, in my father’s office. Two months was way too long to be away from home. Of course according to the Time Travel instructions we’d really only been gone for about an hour or so. Which was weird, believe me. Oliver almost looked as happy as I was to be back.
“I can’t believe that, that actually happened,” I murmured.
Oliver looked at me and grinned, “You better believe it! That was awesome!”
I nodded condescendingly, “And now my friend, it is time for me to sleep. I just lived for two months in the span of an hour, my bones are aching.”
Oliver laughed and patted me on the back, “Okay, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Tomorrow?” I asked.
“Yeah,” my friend said as he walked out of the office, “School remember?”
I groaned loudly and followed him out the door.
I slept.
And slept.
And slept.
My dad came into my room in the morning just before he left for work. I had 10 minutes to get ready. As soon as I saw my father I jumped into his arms.
“What’s brought this on?” My father asked curiously.
I grinned, “Oh nothing, just happy to see you is all. Made any inventions to get me ready for school on time?”
My dad shook his head and plugged his nose, “Not lately, but you stink, take a shower before you go to school.”
A shower sounded too good to pass up. I spent the next 45 minutes under the hot running water scrubbing off every last bit of dirt I found on me. It was a challenge, I tell you. I was already late for school so after the shower I ate a huge breakfast. I wondered briefly if my father would notice that I’d lost weight since the day before. I hoped not.
I dragged myself to school. I came just in time for the second block and bumped into Oliver on my way up the stairs.
“Hey,” I grumbled.
“Hey,” He mumbled back.
We trudged up the rest of the way and through the doors.
“What class do we have again?” I asked him. We had all the same courses this year.
“Socials,” He said.
I rolled my eyes, “Of course.”
One of our friends came out of a classroom door just then, “Hey guys!” she called.
We waved half heartedly.
“Whoa, you guys look dead tired. What trouble did you get into over the weekend?”
Oliver and I looked at each other.
“Don’t even ask,” we both spoke at the same time.
It was pitch black.
Wherever we were it definitely wasn’t outdoors.
“Oliver?” I whispered as quietly as I could into the darkness.
“Right here,” Came his reply, he was about two feet away from me. I grabbed onto him.
“Where are we?” I asked nervously, the floor beneath my feet shifted as if it were alive.
“I’m . . . not exactly sure. . .” Oliver said, “I dialled in the dates for the first gold rush, but I have a feeling this isn’t . . .”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me, “Yeah, I get it. So what should we do?”
I felt rather than saw my friend shrug, “Beats me, all I know is that I’m tired. What say we get some rest and deal with this in the morning?”
I nodded again before remembering he couldn’t see me, “Sure.”
We fell asleep as soon as we hit the ground.
It was the smell that woke me. A horrible, horrible smell. I bolted upright and looked around frantically. Oliver was off to one side of me snoring like a baby. I shook his arm carefully and when he woke up I clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Shhh,” I said, pointing a shaking hand at the sea of sleeping people around us.
Everywhere we looked a person slept; mostly men, but also women and children. That was the first thing we noticed. They were all East Indian. I covered my mouth with my hand against the stench and tried to think of where we might be.
“Are you sure we went back to the gold rush?” I murmured.
Oliver could only shake his head.
“We need to leave,” I said.
Oliver rolled his eyes, “You’re making this into a big deal. We’ve handled plenty already let’s stay and figure out where we are.”
I looked at him as if he were crazy, which he was. “Well I’ll tell you one thing,” I said, “We’re inside of a ship and there are hundreds of people who will probably kill us if they find us.”
A noise came from behind us and a heavily accented voice which most certainly did not belong to my best friend spoke into the silence.
“Welcome,” it said, “To the Komagata.”
The voice ended up belonging to an old East Indian guy who, along with being totally ripped, had three men standing behind him with knives. To make a long story short we were dragged up out of the inside of the ship to the deck where the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. I caught a glimpse of my watch before they bound our hands and took away the time machines, watches, and all of our other stuff. It was 6 am or thereabouts.
“Oliver,” I said as they tied us to the mast, just like in those pirate movies, “If we ever get out of this alive I will kill you myself.”
Again my best friend rolled his eyes, “We’ll get out of this. We always have.”
I glared at him, “You have way too much confidence in yourself.”
The sun rose high in the sky as the day wore on. Few people were allowed on deck at a time. I only saw one woman up top side the whole day. East Indian men milled about mopping, tying rope, and just generally keeping everything clean.
“So remember how in the socials book it says the Komagata Maru was stranded off shore for two months while the government decided whether or not to let any more immigrants on land?” I asked Oliver.
He shrugged as best he could with all the rope around us.
“Not really but okay.”
I sighed, “I wonder how long they’ve been here for.”
Oliver wrinkled his nose, “Judging by the smell, a long time.”
The same old man who had spoken to us approached us just as the sun was lowering. My stomach acids were devouring my insides I was so hungry.
“We hold you ransom,” He said.
“Yeah, we got that much,” Oliver muttered rudely under his breath.
“What,” I said loudly to cover over Oliver’s voice, “are you holding us ransom for?”
The old man seemed to think about my question for awhile before saying, “We want to go on land.”
I nodded, “I see, how long have you been here for? On this ship?”
The man made thinking sounds, “I do not . . .”
I looked at Oliver for assistance.
“Um . . . off land for how long?” he tried.
The man seemed to struggle with this but eventually he said, “45 days?”
I calculated inside my head, “Almost two months,” I said, “Talking to Oliver now.”
“Will you feed us?” I asked the guy, “Food?”
He nodded, “Yes.”
We didn’t actually get any food until the next day. I managed. So did Oliver, surprisingly, with very little complaint. The second day they had us brought to the edge of the dock where they showed us off to these fine looking men on the dock. They were yelling stuff about hostages and rights and all that but honestly I wasn’t really paying attention. After that whole ordeal we were tied back to the mast and left until the next day. Five days went by. We were fed twice a day, some disgusting crap but at least it was something. Twice a day they untied us and allowed us to walk and also twice a day we were allowed to do our business in the ships bathrooms.
On the fifth day everything changed. Throughout the past almost-a-week the East Indians had brought us over the railing to show us to the men on the dock every day. Finally the men shouted something I could listen too, “We take the children! You will be allowed to exit your ship!”.
The men on board the ship cheered so loud I wished I could cover my ears, but unfortunately they were still tied behind my back. That was soon to be fixed, however. Almost as soon as the declaration of their freedom from the Komagata Maru was made we were untied and all of our belongings were fetched. I strapped my time machine back on my wrist with glee. While the East Indians poured off the ship onto land Oliver and I stepped back into a secluded corner of the ship.
“Oliver, I hate to say it,” I said hesitantly, “But the numbers I’m dialling next I know by heart.”
Oliver shrugged, “I think I know them too.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah, Gold rush here we come!” he said smiling.
I glared at him.
“Just joking Violet, jeez,” he said. And then the words I thought I’d never hear him say.
“Let’s go home.”
1869. In other words the glory days of Louis Riel Jr. It all started when he arrived at the Red River Settlement in 1868. Well at least that’s what the Red River’s are telling Oliver and I. We dialled in the numbers 1869 because of what it says in our socials book, Oliver wanted to get here in time for all the action; however, things have been stirring around here for quite some time. Ever since Louis Riel’s arrival last year, plans have been in the making.
We landed in somebody’s house this time. Thankfully the room in which we were in was not occupied at the moment. Oliver and I did our best to sneak out of the room and down the stairs. There was little we could do however when we came out into the dining room and walked right into the middle of a family eating dinner. We froze. They froze. I nudged Oliver. He had to think of something! I had to think of something.
“Do you speak English?” I finally said.
The man at the head of the table answered, “I can. And can you perhaps tell me what you are doing in my home?” His voice has a French accent, but his English is fluent.
I blushed and cleared my throat, “We . . .”
“We’re travellers,” Oliver interjects for me, “We were in the woods when all of a sudden we were hit over the head. When we woke up, we were here.”
I stare in horror at my friend. That was pretty smooth, but how was he going to pull this off? The man at the table gets to his feet quickly.
“They brought you here?” he says sternly. His voice is low, quiet and serious.
Oliver nodded.
The man at the table exchanged a glance of something with the lady of the table. The man sat.
“Have no fear,” he said, “we are not your captures. Sit.”
We sat at the other end of the table, Oliver at the head and me beside him.
“What are your names? Where do you come from travellers?” the man asked us.
I looked at Oliver who gave me a subtle nod. “Well, I’m Violet and this is Oliver. We came from the North.”
“You are married?” the man asked. I looked at Oliver again and raised my eyebrows. Why not? It worked the first time. I turn back to the man, “Yes, recently.”
He nods understandingly.
“Do you plan to continue your journey?” He asked.
Oliver jumped in, “This was our destination actually. We heard about the good farming and hoped to start a new life here.”
The man smiled, “You have come at the wrong time. My name is,” he glanced again at the woman, “John. This is my wife, Jenny, and my daughter Betty.” The little girl at the table said nothing, just sat quietly eating all of her food.
The lady, Jenny, spoke up for the first time, “We will give you a place to stay, if you need one.”
Her voice is calm, but there is something troubling her. I can’t quite place where it’s coming from.
“That would be too kind,” I said.
The woman looks me in the eye, “It would be my pleasure. Come, I will take you to your room.”
I shiver at the look in those cold blue eyes. She is a gorgeous woman, but I think she was mad at something. She led us into room upstairs and offered us dinner. We couldn’t refuse.
The next morning John was gone and Jenny was in the kitchen down stairs. Oliver was still asleep so I’d gone down ahead of him to see what I could find out about our situation.
“Good morning,” I said as I came down the last few steps.
Jenny turned around half surprised, “Oh, hello there. Have a seat breakfasts almost done.”
Instead of sitting I joined her in the kitchen, “Is there anything I can do?”
She started to say no but I waved her off, “I will do the dishes. Do you have a wash cloth anywhere?”
Jenny’s eyes widened but she pointed to the side of the sink. I got to work and while I did I took in the house. The kitchen was built in as part of the dining room with a counter in between the two. The stairs came down right in front of the table and a doorway was to the immediate left. There was a matt with a shoe ledge beside it. On the ledge were four pairs of shoes. Two fancy pairs of girl’s shoes (one big and one little) and two pairs of working shoes, also for girls (one big and one little).
I started thinking hard. The more I looked around the house the more things started to become clear.
“Where does your husband work?” I asked Jenny as I finished up the last of the dishes.
She looked up from the eggs she’s frying. Her face was blank, “He’s a farmer.”
I nodded, “What does he farm?”
Her eyes narrowed a bit but she still said, “He owns cows.”
“Hm, so you must get a lot of fresh milk coming in then?” I asked.
Jenny shrugged.
“Would you like me to get it for you?” I asked, “For breakfast?”
Her eyes narrowed all the way, “What are you trying to do here girl? What are you suggesting?”
I put my hands up, “Look, I know that John guy doesn’t live here. There are no traces of a man living anywhere in this house. Why did he say you were married?”
Jenny looked shaken. I guessed I hit it right on the ball because the next thing she said was, “He was hiding his real identity. Look . . .” she said hesitantly, “You’re young. I do not think you’re a spy so I will tell you something. You must not tell him that I told you, alright?”
I nodded.
“John,” Jenny said, “His real name is Louis Riel. He is here to fight for the rights of the Métis and the Red River Settlement.
I breathed out, “Louis Riel?” Amazing! I had talked to Louis Riel! Wait until Oliver hears about this.
“Who are you to him then?” I asked Jenny.
She swallowed and looked at me with those blue eyes, “I am his very good friend.”
Before she could say more the little girl Betty arrived on the stairwell.
“Good morning my dear,” Jenny said.
“Morning mama,” the girl replied. She was very quiet.
“Betty,” Jenny said, “we have a guest remember?”
The girl shuffled up to us, “Good morning . . .” she said to me.
“My name is Violet and good morning to you Betty.” She had to blue eyes of her mother which I got to see full view of when she looked up at me and smiled shyly. I smiled back.
“Where’s Uncle Louis?” she asked innocently. Jenny shot me a look.
“He’s gone home sweetheart, now go sit at the table and eat some breakfast. Violet if you’ll go wake your friend now we’ll eat the meal together.”
I was halfway up the stairs before I realised she’d said friend. I wondered how she’d figured out we weren’t married. Perhaps in the same way I knew something wasn’t right between Louis and her.
It was dark out, the stars and moon shining brightly. Jenny and I crouched low in the snow shivering even under the layers and layers of clothes we had on. We’d been staying at Jenny’s for a week now. Louis had pretended to come back from work every day and had stayed until Oliver and I were asleep before leaving again. Jenny told me this every morning when I came down to help with breakfast. Oliver still had no clue that one of his greatest hero’s was practically living in the same house as him.
Tonight Louis Riel and a large party of Métis had gathered together to capture John Shultz as well as the Canadian Party who were residing at Shultz’s home. According to Oliver and Louis, Jenny and I were safe at sound in the house. We’d left Betty with the neighbours and gotten ready to join the party as quickly as possible. We waited for them in the bushes near Shultz’s and after they’d passed our hiding place we slipped out and into the crowd. I honestly don’t know why it took Oliver so long to realise that his John was in fact Louis Riel. Only until someone actually whispered his name across the group did it dawn on him. I’m pretty sure he had a heart attack.
Anyways, Jenny and I stuck together and followed Louis’s instructions to surround the house. We were positioned at a window along with one other guy. We waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually I started teaching Jenny how to play word games. A loud shot was fired into the night and seriously I almost pitched over in the snow it scared me so much. We heard shuffling inside after that. My partners and I crouched under the window like we’d been told and waited to see if anyone would try an escape out the window. We were told before we left that it was highly unlikely anyone would try to make the slip out a window. Of course due to Jenny and my very good fortune not ten minutes into the ordeal does the window start to jiggle above us.
I looked at Jenny. She looked at me. The guy next to us looked like he was about to pee his pants. The window banged open and someone jumped out. I didn’t think about what I do, I just do it. I launched off of the ground and onto the escapees back, bringing him to the ground. Jenny didn’t waste another second. She jumped on the person’s other side and squashed him. Our partner didn’t know quite what to do so after we thought all the struggling inside was over we told him to go get someone. The guy beneath our weight started to struggle when he heard us say that, so I punched him in the face. Jenny giggled and I gave her a stern look, “Sshh! Be manly!”
“Oh yeah!” she whispered back, “Sorry.”
Shouts came from around the house and then Louis Riel himself arrived, a torch in his hand. I shared a quick look of terror with Jenny before he was upon us, a group of five men around him. Oliver included. I turned my face away from the light and motioned for Jenny to do the same.
“What have we here?” Louis asked.
“We got someone escaping from the window sir,” I say as gruffly as I can. I try to add a hint of French accent to my voice. Louis kneeled down right beside me, across from Jenny and pulled up the man’s head by his hair, “It’s him!” he cried.
The men behind us cheered loudly and I watched Jenny’s face as she saw who it was, “Shultz!” she whispered.
I bent over to catch a glimpse of the face of the man who had led so much of the fighting against Louis and his friends. He had a huge black eye.
“Did this come from one of you two?” Louis asked us. Jenny and I looked down, tucking our chins to our chests.
“That would be me sir,” I growled.
“Good work lad,” he said clapping me on the back.
I glowed with pride. No sooner had I stood up was Oliver right by side, “Violet!” he cried loudly.
“Shhh!” I said loudly pointing wildly at Louis, whose back was to me.
“What are you doing here?” Oliver whispered harshly.
I rolled my eyes, “I wasn’t about to let you have all the fun now was I? Besides, Jenny was with me.”
“Jenny!” Oliver said loudly. I clamped a hand over his mouth but not in time. Louis turned suddenly, “What’s that Oliver?”
Oliver looked torn. I glared at him.
“Sir,” Oliver said, “Jenny’s here with Violet.”
Louis brought the torch over to my face and gasped, “Jenny’s here? Is she safe?”
I pointed at the figure standing quietly to one side. He practically ran over to her, gripping her by shoulders. I couldn’t hear what they spoke of, but I took Oliver’s arm anyway, “And now, I think, it would be a good time to take our leave.”
Oliver nodded, “No kidding.”
We ran.
The Red River Settlement was on the move. At least some of it. Oliver and I had arrived, just as we thought we thought we would, amidst a group of people leaving a town with a wooden wall around it. We spent some time figuring out what was going on and discovered that a group of people within the Red River Settlement had decided to move due to over crowdedness.
I asked Oliver if these were the people we’d be travelling with. Apparently they were. We hopped on board a wagon with the permission of a kind lady who had twins, a boy and a girl, our age. The twins sat next to us, feet dangling off the back of the wagon, and told us about all of the Canadians coming in from the West who had moved in over the last couple years. According to them the RRS had been a closed off community before peace had been made with the Scots way back in 1821. The Metis had eventually started living with everyone else.
The girl who was sitting on the other side of Oliver introduced herself as Isabel. The boy, who was sitting beside me, told us his name was Cameron. They looked alike enough that you would think they were twins, but there were subtle differences in that Cameron’s eyes were dark blue and Isabel’s were green. Isabel’s hair was a light blond and Cameron’s was light brown.
Oliver and I introduced ourselves and did our best to come up with a legitimate excuse for catching a lift with them. We ended up saying something like our parents had gone up North for business purposes and we were traveling up to meet them. Sketchy, I know, but whatever, the twins believed us and we got on to talking about other things. By mid afternoon the sun was scorching our necks and whatever else was showing. I actually had to don clothing to keep my body from burning up. Cameron and Oliver had their shirts off by the time lunch was over (cheese on bread) and Isabel and I spent some quality time building a fort to make some shade from the sun. This was a difficult task considering we were inside a moving wagon, but hey, our skin wasn't peeling off anymore. The afternoon wore on and Isabel and I talked about useless things. Eventually I noticed she looked a little distracted and I realised she was staring at Oliver.
“What’s he doing?” I asked.
I couldn’t see anything wrong with him from where I sat (the two boys were walking behind the wagon, which at that moment wasn’t moving very fast). Isabel blushed a deep red and cleared her throat.
“Oh, nothing,” she stammered.
I nodded my head slowly, “Suuure.”
For some reason my heart was doing strange things but I ignored it and said, “Do you like him?”
Isabel blushed again and swept some of her blonde hair away from her face, “I don’t even know him,” she said.
I tilted my head to the side, “True, but you’re not trying to get to know him, are you?”
Isabel smiled, “I guess not.”
I looked at my best friend and tried to see what Isabel saw in him. He was cute, yeah, but I guess he was just too much of a best friend to me. Cameron on the other hand . . .
“Let’s go say hi,” I suggested, tugging on her wrist.
“Oh no,” she protested, “I couldn’t.”
I rolled my eyes, “You could actually, and you will. Come on.”
We stepped out together to talk to the boys, braving the hot sun and a nasty sunburn. They stopped talking as we hopped off the wagon and started to walk with them. I looked at Oliver suspiciously but he just smiled.
“Boy talk?” I asked.
Cameron and Oliver shrugged.
“Not really,” Cameron said just as Oliver spoke, “Sort of.”
I knew for a fact that Oliver’s idea of ‘boy talk’ always involved girls. So maybe he liked Isabel too? Hm, I’d have to find a way to get Cameron and I out of the picture.
“So Cameron,” I asked, “I’ve heard that a lot of boys are out making a living by fifteen nowadays. Why aren’t you?”
I looked over at Oliver to give him a wink or something, let him know it’s okay for him and Isabel to take off, but he just looked at me like I was the weirdest thing.
Cameron looked thoughtful for a moment, “Well I guess it’s because I’ve never really had any other place I’ve wanted to go. I want to be near Isabel and my family.”
I nodded, the complete opposite of Oliver, of course.
“That’s cool,” I said, before remembering they didn’t know what that meant, “I mean interesting.”
I caught Oliver smirking and stuck my tongue out at him. Isabel just walked along, not saying a word. I decided to get things rolling a little, “Isabel, why don’t you tell us about that camping trip you guys made out in the woods that day and how the Indians came and . . .” I trailed off realising everyone was kind of staring at me.
“What?”
Oliver and Cameron started laughing and Isabel giggled a little, “I told that to everyone already, at lunch, remember?”
Having succeeded in embarrassing myself in front of everyone I gave up on the match making thing. I wasn’t cut out for that kind of work.
Evening came around and with it the refreshing coolness of shade. We stopped for dinner and then pressed on for a few more hours before resting for the night. Oliver and I are lying next to each other right now. We’re on the ground with only thin blankets beneath us and on top of us. It’s freezing. I’m typing as quietly as I can because everyone else is sleeping. Except me and Oliver that is.
“How can it be so hot during the day and so cold during the night?” I whisper. Cameron and Isabel are lying a couple meters away next their parents.
“Well,” Oliver says, “I suppose it’s because the suns on the other side of the world right now.”
I roll my eyes. The moon is so bright I can make out Oliver’s face in the darkness. He can see mine because of my computer monitor.
“So, having fun?” he asks.
I shrug, “Yeah, I like the twins, they’re cool.”
Oliver nods and puts his hands behind his head, “Yup.”
The next thing I know he’s snoring softly beside me and I’m the last one awake.
It was the beginning of the second week when we asked how long the rest of the trip would take. Oliver was the one who said it.
“So, where are you guys planning on going?” Oliver asked one day.
Cam looked up from lying on his back in the wagon, “Up North somewhere.”
Oliver nodded, “What are you going to do there?”
Isabel jumped in from her seat beside me, “Well, we’ve got to build a place to live. All the people here,” she said waving her hand at the people trekking along with wagons behind and in front of us, “all our ancestors were from the original Red River. I guess we didn’t like the way all the Scottish and Swiss people were taking over . . . so our parents and all these people decided to leave.”
I caught a tone of something in her voice, “You guys didn’t want to?”
She shrugged, “I don’t know. I didn’t really care much for all the new people moving in but my best friend lives in Red River.”
I looked over at Oliver and imagined moving away from him.
“That sucks,” I said.
“Sucks?” This was from Isabel.
Oops. “She means that’s unfortunate,” Oliver filled in for me. See, what would I do without him?
About midweek the group sold their wagons in some town and we proceeded on foot. We each had to take bags that weighed like, 20 pounds. I don’t know how I survived. I do know I took a rest every 15 minutes. Isabel was surprisingly strong. She could go on for almost as long as Oliver could. And Cam. Well, Cam could out-walk all of us. He even offered to take my bag but I absolutely refused (I did let him take my back pack though. The one I carry this computer in that is). We walked for days through the forest. A couple of times we’d chance upon a clearing and I’d have it in my mind that this, finally, was where we’d be setting up the new settlement. But no, on we’d march.
It was the next week that we came to the end. We got to a huge field, and this was where they decided to live. It was nice, gorgeous, but I thought the clearings from before were better. At least until someone took me into the woods a ways to show me a lake. That’s when I knew why they’d picked this spot. I was told later that people at the front of the group had been sending out scouts to find a good location.
I’d like to say that Oliver and I stayed and helped build camp but we had to stick with our story of meeting up with our parents. Cameron and Isabel didn’t believe our story anymore though. They thought we were running away from home.
“Why don’t you guys just live here?” Izzy asked us the day we said we were heading off.
Oliver and I looked at each other.
“It just wouldn’t work out,” I said, “We do have parents, and we kind of have to find them.”
I almost thought they wouldn’t let us go, but apparently we were old enough to brave the wild on our own. That afternoon we said our goodbyes, teary though they were, and left in a hurry. It took us awhile to be sure no one was following us before we could pull out the socials book and pick our next destination.
Even though it was my turn I let Oliver pick because I was still sad over the loss of our friends. It took a lot of consideration but eventually he decided on 1865. Something about meeting Louis Riel?
We ended up traveling to 1821. I’d remembered the date from earlier on as the merging between NWC (North West Company) and the HBC (Hudson’s Bay Company). This seemed pretty important to me, and since Oliver got to pick the last one we dialled in the number. It was still night. As soon as we appeared I felt around with my feet to see what kind of surface we were standing on. It felt like grass. I bent down to feel it with my hands. Yup. Grass.
“We’re standing on grass,” I told Oliver, grabbing his hand to pull myself up with. I noticed him focused on something in front of him and turned to look. About 20 meters before us was a lit lantern. It swung gently in the wind making a soft creaking noise. I looked at Oliver. He looked at me.
“Might as well,” I whispered.
Together, much in the same way as the night before, we headed for the light. Almost immediately the ground started rising into a slant. The grass, which I’d thought was a little wet before, grew slippery and I balanced myself on Oliver’s shoulder. We made it to the lantern in a number of minutes and surveyed as much of our surroundings as we could. Oliver and I were standing on top of a hill and laid out in front of us was a trail of lights. Every 20 meters or so a bright lantern swayed, illuminating a dirt path. My partner and I, without a word, grabbed hands and started down.
We walked for probably an hour before the lights ended bringing us to a wider dirt road that lead somewhere off to the left.
“Are you as tired as I am?” I asked Oliver. We hadn’t talked much during the trek, instead just enjoyed each other’s company.
He nodded, “We can sleep in the woods tonight if you want.”
“I’m not sleeping in the woods,” I said determinedly, “Let’s go.”
I’m glad I insisted because only moments down the road we came upon a house. It was a farm house of sorts and the people who lived there were extremely good to us. They fed us some food, heard our story (we had to make this up) and let us sleep in the barn for the night. In return we gathered the eggs from their chickens for them. The farmer felt it his need to inform us that we were only a few kilometres from the next big town and to be careful because there would be all kinds of sorts hanging around due to the celebrations over the forming of New HBC.
Oliver and I had no idea what we were in for until we finally reached the city. It was a pretty make shift place, dirt roads and the like, but there were so many people. We walked into town while everyone was gathered around the platform at the center of the city so we got to see just how many there were. There was hardly any room to move. The two of us picked our battles and stayed on the very outside of the crowd. If I strained my ears I could just hear what was being said. Something about the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company becoming one. The man on the platform spoke for awhile about the benefits of having a united company, one that could cater to the needs of many but after a while my feet grew sore and I had to go sit down on a barrel out of hearing range. It was only a couple minutes after that Oliver joined me. I was nodding off into a comfortable sleep (the hot sun was making me sleepy) when all of a sudden the crowd irrupted with cheers and applaud. I shot to my feet and I swear I almost had a heart attack. Of course Oliver, who was already asleep, just slept through it all until I shook him awake.
“We’re witnessing the merging of two famous Companies and all you can do is sleep?” I yelled at him over the noise. He rubbed his bleary eyes and shook his head.
“Can’t hear you,” he shouted back.
I rolled my eyes and pointed to the crowd, “This is important, pay attention!”
Of course right when I screamed that last bit the cheering died down and my words ended up coming out really loudly. I clamped a hand over my mouth and Oliver bit back a laugh. Slowly I turned my back on the crowd (and the people looking rudely at me) until I couldn’t see anyone except Oliver to my left. I made sure to glare at him as best I could from the corner of my eye.
“Well, I’m ready to go,” I mumbled.
Oliver just laughed and got to his feet. He lifted his hands above his head to get a good stretch and then froze. I turned around to see what he was looking at and noticed a middle aged man getting up on the platform.
“What you know him or something?” I asked.
Oliver nodded energetically, “That’s George Simpson! He’s only, like, my favourite Socials character ever!”
“That guy?” I asked pointing at him.
Oliver slapped my hand down, “Don’t point it’s rude and yes, that guy.”
I’d heard of George Simpson before but I didn’t really get why he was Oliver’s favourite. The socials book didn’t give that much information on him. Ah well, everyone has their preferences, and right now mine was to get away from here. I hooked Oliver’s elbow with mine and dragged him away.
When I woke up in the morning my shoes were removed and I was under the covers. Oliver’s doing I suppose. The sun was bright and so was I as I hobbled to a basin of water and splashed my face. Oliver was still dead asleep when I went to get him so I left him to it. I headed downstairs, asked the innkeeper to inform Oliver of my whereabouts, and left for town. It was a beautiful morning and the air was crisp and fresh I walked around slowly for awhile before my feet started to ache again. Oliver was awake by the time I got back with the socials text book open on his lap.
“I’ve got it,” he said pointing to a section of on the open page.
I leaned over his shoulder to see what he was looking at.
“The Red River Settlement?" I asked.
"Yeah, but this is in 1869. That's when Louis Riel's son comes and helps the Metis earn back some rights and stuff."
I sighed, "Whatever you want, but I'm picking the next place."
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