Celeste's Journal

September 25, 1868

Blake came for date night tonight.  He asked if we could go to the ranch for our date.  There had been another shipwreck.  The space where the Pacific ocean meets the Columbia river is infamous for all of the wrecks that happen there.  The current of the ocean causes the sand to shift constantly.  Even people who have traversed the passage for years have troubles with that portion. 

Captain George Flavel and Blake both were very good at piloting through the troubled waters.  Yet Blake's First Mate was not so good.  That is why the Drifting Anchor Ranch has its name.  The Mate did NOT set the anchor properly.  So they ran aground.  Blake was grateful that none of the crew was hurt, and the ship was not seriously damaged. 

He found the space and place that he had been looking for.  He wanted to go on land and build a ranch, a place for him to marry and have a family.

Blake was really shook up when he came to get me.  He said that all of the men that worked for him, and he and Red had been taking turns all day trying to save the crew and passengers of a ship bound for San Francisco.  They had managed to save most of the lives aboard but they lost four people.  One of the people they lost was a 4 year old child.  It's hardest for Blake when a child dies.  He always feels that the world has lost an important potential.

I did my best to cheer Blake up.  When we got to the ranch I was a little nervous about seeing Red after his last visit to me.  I needn't have worried.  Both Red and Blake were so sad about the shipwreck and loss of life that they weren't even thinking about me.

I was amazed at how quickly Red's beard had grown back.  He looks just as scruffy as usual again.  I couldn't even get a smile out of him.

Eric, and Jamie were both cranky.  It always amazes me how susceptible children are to the moods of the adults around them.  So, I organized a taffy pull.  I made dinner for all of us.  Then after dinner I read the boys a story and sang to them.  They both were asleep quickly.

Blake took me for a moonlight drive home.  He stopped at Carter's Creek.  We sat on a large boulder by the water.  He held me tight with both of his arms around me.  I could have sat there all night.  The moon came up, bold and bright.  Stars shone brilliantly through the velvety black of night.  Finally Blake leaned down and kissed me.  I never wanted him to stop.  My heart raced, and I felt as though all of my life had been worth the struggle for just that very moment.

Afterwards he didn't say a word.  He just led me by the hand back to the wagon.  We drove to my shop silently.  He helped me down from the wagon.  He kissed me on the cheek, got in the wagon and left, without saying a word.  How can a night be both sad and joyous?  Yet it was.