Jessie Winchester

The lone white topped wagon came to a lurching stop, and Jessie Winchester loosened the reins wrapped around her wrist. She hid the busters on her hands from her aunt and looked across the river where smoke from hidden chimneys curled above the trees.

“There it is Aunt Clara. The Rio Grande. Isn’t it a beauty?”

Aunt Clara sitting beside her on the wagon seat straightened her bonnet. “Yes Jessie. Finally we are here.”

They sat quietly looking at the river. Jessie wished she knew what her aunt was thinking; it had been her uncle Robert who had wanted to come to Texas. He was a schoolmaster at the local schoolhouse and wanted to start his own school before he got too old.

Jessie remembered the letters; her uncle had received from his friend, Marty Joseph, who had gone four years earlier. Joseph had said that Texas was a magnificent country. That with there being no schools a man could start one in no time. Land was cheap and anyone could buy a homestead.

There had been long discussions between her uncle and aunt. He could start his own school, instead of being just a hired schoolmaster. Aunt Clara would have the house she always wanted. They could also take some of the rose clippings and plant them at the new place.

Then the decision was made that nearly shattered Jessie’s world. They were going to Texas.