Kansas is Waiting

He shifted his satchel farther up his shoulder and stared at the note fluttering in the wind. She had tacked it to the old wagon wheel, left it there for him to find.

Clutching the strap of his satchel, holding tight to every personal belonging he owed, he approached the note, ripped it from the nail.

I’m sorry, Joshua. Pa will hunt us both down and kill us if we go through with this. I can’t go to Kansas with you. I will meet you here tomorrow afternoon after my chores are done. Love, Sarah.

He crushed the note in his fist. He loved her enough to give up everything he had, but she didn’t love him enough to disobey her father.

Throwing the crumpled note on the ground, he stomped back through the grass towards the road. What was the point of waiting for the day when she would finally be ready to make her own decisions? Kansas was waiting for him.