Summer 1852 Retta plods west with her family. She's not the first 12-year-old girl to travel the Oregon Trail, and she won't be the last. However, she might be the most stubborn, curious, and humorous...
Another Stephen Bly novel and part of Oregon Trail books for kids. Retta Barre is on the Oregon Trail. Summer 1852 Retta plods west with her family. She’s not the first 12-year-old girl to travel the Oregon Trail, and she won’t be the last. However, she might be the most stubborn, curious, and humorous. Meanwhile, for what should be the grandest adventure of her life, the days sure are dull. There’s only thick dust, pesky bugs, and picking up buffalo chips.
Not exactly the stuff of the action-packed penny novels she loves to read.
But things change fast. A simple trip into the prairie, along with Retta’s enthusiasm and timing, brings adventure and trouble–all at the same time! Soon Retta is the talk of the wagon train. And her friends don’t want to miss the next caper she’s sure to stumble into. Retta certainly won’t let them down.
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Excerpts from The Lost Wagon Train, Oregon Trail books:
Retta felt her thigh muscles burn as she pushed her lace-up, high-top shoes into the dirt. First Joslyn, then Christen fell back. Soon she could see neither. “Don’t turn around and look. I know I can win. I have fast legs. I am not fat, Travis Lott. I just have strong bones.”
The pale blue prairie sky was faded like an abandoned robin’s egg left out in the sun. The burlap rubbed through her dress and began to chafe her skin. Her mouth dropped open as she gasped for breath. As she approached, the wagons grew gradually larger. The white canvas and red spokes were caked with yellow-brown dust, making the horizon look fuzzy, like when she first woke up after sleeping with her arm across her eyes.
To the left she spotted the green water barrel of Joslyn’s wagon. She knew that her wagon was two ahead of it. She slanted across the cropped slough grass and kept focused on the wagon with a rear yellow flap. “I told them I would win. I knew I could. And I have twice as much to carry!”
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The fire smoldered. Rain pelted down. The canvas wagon top and awning dripped. The air cooled and thunder growled. Lightning assailed the prairie. And the camp buzzed with talk about Retta Barre.
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Besides The Lost Wagon Train, Retta Barre’s Oregon Trail series also includes The Buffalo’s Last Stand and The Plain Prairie Princess.
Other stories by Stephen Bly you might enjoy: The Lewis & Clark Squad Series (6 books), The Crystal Blake Series (6 books).
