Chapter 29 - Almanzo and Cap Travel "The Last Mile"

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  There were painful feet and money grubbing store owners.  During this period of self-quarantine, I decided to reread The Long Winter to discover - What Would Laura Do?

Chapter 29 (Or as I call it - "At Last, Almanzo and Cap Make it Home") kicks off with Almanzo and Cap wondering if they've crossed the slough.  They are disoriented and a blizzard is on their heels.  Laura describes it best:  "Before him, the black storm climbed rapidly up the sky and in silence destroyed the stars."  Almanzo's legs feel like wood and his hands are numb.

Like the humans, the horses are exhausted, cold, and scared.  In order to keep the horses moving, Almanzo and Cap get on the sleds and beat the horses with knotted reins.  Luckily, Almanzo glimpses, out of the corner of his eye, a dim light of a door opening and closing.  Good thing - because the duo was venturing too far West.

The saying "red cent" either came from the reddish hue of copper from the Indianhead penny OR from a derogatory term for Native Americans, as Red Men.

The dim glow was from Loftus's Store!  As the boys arrive at their destination,  Almanzo tells Cap - "Unhitch and run for it!  I'll take care of the wheat."  Cap rushes home to his widowed mother and Almanzo drags himself into the store.  A dour Mr. Loftus says, "So you boys made it.  We figured you hadn't."  Mr. Loftus and Almanzo slog in the wheat.  Super annoying Mr. Loftus asks Almanzo if 1.25 a bushel is the best he could do.  Almanzo retorts, "Any time you say, I'll take it off your hands at that price."  Almanzo doesn't charge Loftus "a red cent" for hauling the wheat.     

Almanzo hurries home with Prince.  After settling long suffering Prince in the stable, Almanzo tells him "You saved the seed wheat, old boy."  Which brings up the looming question, Were Almanzo's motives to save the town or to save his seed wheat? 

Royal greets Almanzo with a "Well.  Here you are.  I was trying to see down the street, looking for you, but you can't see a foot into this blizzard."  What is it with this town and their refusal to welcome people back from heroic quests?  Royal acts like his younger brother just returned from playing a game of checkers. I love enthusiastic greetings no matter how often a see a friend or family member.   

Almanzo brought a bucket of snow into the house to thaw his bloodless, white feet.  He welcomes the pain because it indicates his feet aren't dangerously frozen.  Poor Almanzo can't sleep because of the pain.  He wears Royal's boots to do his chores because his swollen feet won't fit in his own boots.  I can relate.  After giving birth to my second child, I had to leave the hospital in slipper socks because my flip flops didn't fit.  Yet another tidbit women aren't told in that "What to Expect When Expecting" book.  

Finally the four day blizzard howls its last howl and Almanzo heads over to Fuller's Hardware for the news.  Almanzo walks into an uproar!  Mr. Lotfus is selling the wheat for three dollars a bushel.  Pa, not surprisingly, is in the middle of the ruckus.  Pa is very invested because Ma just used the last of their wheat.  Laura describes Pa, "His face had shrunken to hollows and jutting cheekbones above his brown beard, and his blue eyes glittered bright." Pa convinces the men to go and reason with Mr. Loftus.  Almanzo appoints Pa as leader because Pa has nothing to eat at his house.

A volley of words bounces between Pa and Mr. Loftus.  Here is an abridged version of their conversation:

Pa:  You are charging too much for your wheat.

Mr. Loftus:  It's my wheat isn't it?  I paid good hard money for it.

Pa:  A dollar and a quarter a bushel, we understand.

Mr. Loftus:  That wheat's mine and I've got a right to charge any price I want for it.

Pa:  Don't forget every one of us is free and independent, Loftus.  This winter won't last forever and maybe you want to go on doing business after it's over.

Mr. Loftus:  Threatening me, are you?

Pa:  Your business depends on our good will.  You maybe don't notice that now, but  along next summer you'll likely notice it.

Mr. Loftus realizes he is despised and ends up charging 1.25 a bushel, which was the right thing to do.  Pa suggests the wheat be rationed by each family's need.  Almanzo doesn't buy any wheat and Pa buys two bushels.  Poor Pa struggles swinging the sack onto his back.  Almanzo wants to help, but doesn't since " . . . a man does not like to admit that he cannot carry a hundred and twenty-five pounds"  

The chapter ends with Pa bringing the wheat to his family.  Hurray.

What Would Laura Do:

• Trust Pa to always provide for the family

Join me soon for Chapter 30 - "You Can't Beat Us."

Prairie Eydie