2.1 He lay still until he felt his heartbeat slow and finally lifted his head...

 Payne Township, Sedgwick County, Kansas, USA

ARJ woke with a start, his arms and legs kicking under the quilt. His eyes told him he was in their cabin, but it didn’t feel as safe as it had the morning before. A vague memory stayed in his mind of the ocean breeze spilling out of a fleeting dream, and then disappearing into nothing.

He lay still until he felt his heartbeat slow and finally lifted his head to see that he and John William were laying on the floor palette, that was their usual sleeping spot. His parents’ bed was made. The quilt that had shielded them from the frightening experience the night before, pulled straight and taut. A pale winter sun shot cool rays in through the unshuttered window. It was still early morning. He turned and saw the back of his father’s head, wild, dark hair in curly tufts stood up on the top of it. He could hear Eva Anna squeal and laugh. She must be sitting on his lap, he thought. Mum stood at the stove stirring something in a pot as steam wafted from it. She turned and noticed ARJ peeking from beneath the quilt.

“Rise and shine, son.” She said gently. “The porridge is about ready.” 

While Dad went out to take care of his chores, ARJ and JW sat down at the table. Mum let them eat their porridge before getting dressed that morning.

“I am dressed, Mummy.” John William told her as he spooned porridge into his mouth.

Mum laughed. “Well, you are dressed, but you got dressed yesterday morning. Last night you slept in your clothes! Now, eat without talking. Remember your manners.”

John William began to speak again but ARJ nudged him with his elbow, and he dug into his bowl again.

The door opened and Dad walked back in, bringing winter with him. “It sure got cold last night.”  He hung his hat on a hook by the door and looked at Mum. “I think we’ll need to get an early start into town so we can be back before dark.” He said, “That is if you still plan to go with me.”

“I’d feel better if we all went today. It will take some time before I feel very comfortable here when you’re away.”

Dad nodded.

ARJ took his bowl to Mum and and then looked back at his dad. “Did you become a citizen yesterday, Dad?”

“It’ll be at least five years before that happens, son, but I did file what they call my first papers while I was in Wichita yesterday. That means they know I intend to become a citizen someday.”

John William spoke up. “Is that why everyone is mad at us, Daddy?”

Dad smiled at him. “No, JW, that isn’t the reason. There was just a misunderstanding. It’ll all work out.”

The family rolled onto the road an hour later, bundled up and huddled close together. They passed a few other wagons along the way and ARJ thought he noticed a few suspicious looks on people’s faces as they passed them. He wondered what they knew about last night and it made him feel embarrassed to think about it.

ARJ saw the word ‘Wichita’ on a sign shaped like an arrow at an intersection they crossed. He read it aloud.

Mum smiled as she looked back at him. She said. "A woman at the store in town told me it’s an Indian name.”

Before ARJ could answer, they were in town, and he was distracted by the activity surrounding them. The houses didn’t look like the ones back home. In Ryde, they were close together or attached to at least one other house. Here, the houses were farther apart and had very large gardens surrounding them. Wichita’s Main Street was different, too. In Ryde, the streets leading to the harbor were very steep and paved with stone. The buildings were made of stone, also. Wichita’s Main Street, the wagon rolled down now, was all dirt and most of the shops and businesses were wooden buildings with flat wooden fronts. Only a few were made of brick or stone. The names of some of the shops were painted right across the front of them. The shops back home had hanging signs over each door. Dad had reminded him last fall that Wichita was a young town. It took time to build a town like those in England, or even Boston.

Dad had patted him on the back after that and smiled. “We can be a part of the building of this town!”

A big black bird called a crow cawed loudly from the boardwalk, interrupting ARJ’s thoughts. The crows reminded him of the greedy sea gulls of Ryde, causing him to feel the homesickness he had learned to push out of his mind.