Chapter 12
Going "Home"

Early In April Earl arrived back from Debden. I had long since given up any hope of finding a suitable piece of land to live on and farm. We had no disagreement about trekking back to Halbrite to repossess our old home. We had never agreed to abandon it. The Clyde Wilson family moved on it after we left in 1934 but agreed to vacate if we were going to return. We had sold three horses and I believe we still had fourteen. Willie Goranson had come up to get his horses and cattle loaded and ready to ship back home. I persuaded or begged him to take our two cows and two heifers along, and Uncle Charlie agreed to take care of them until we arrived home. Help, help, help - from everybody we asked, it was given. Earl and I built a cover on our old Bennett buggy. I wasn't sure if it would hold together and make it home. We put our cookstove in it and a place to sleep, so there wasn't much room left. Mrs. Massey had our "Lighter Day" cook stove. She gave us a few boxes of canned fruit that lasted us even until after we were home. We loaded enough oat bundles to feed the horses for ten or twelve days. We even had a few bushels of oats but I can't remember where it originated. On the 25th of April 1935 we hitched up ten horses. We each drove four and I led one team, the colts followed loose. I don't remember what was in the wagons, some furniture, very little machinery. We left Edgar and Lillian's about 10:00 a.m. A girl that I knew briefly, who had lived close to the road, knew we were going by and she came out to bid us good-bye. She was a lovely person, Nora Poole. I had come to know her father through our use and appreciation of good horses. He drove some very good ones. We didn't get far that day, just a few miles south of Spalding, hardly twenty miles. From then on we made really good time. At this late date I can't remember many of the places we stopped overnight, sometimes in an empty farmyard, at times in local fair premises. We were never bothered or asked to leave. When we were getting close to Regina, I think the old horses knew where they were going and we never had to urge them. I was driving May and Darkey on the lead, something like Mutt and Jeff. One big tall horse, Darkey, dark gray and one of Polly's colts, May was small in comparison. I was leading Bird and Beauty hitched to a wagon load, Earl was driving Lady and Dolly, and I have lost track of what other team he was driving (Rex and Curly). We jogged east before we got to Regina to avoid the city and we came into Milestone from the north. The closer we got to Milestone the more it looked like rain. We stayed in the fair barn that night. The next day was wet and cold and we got as far as Yellow Grass and managed to get the horses in again that night. Up until these last two nights the horses were outside most of the time. We must have gotten an early start that next morning as we made it to Halbrite that night. I think that was our biggest daily mileage of over 35 miles. May had wax on her teats at Milestone. Are we going to make it we wondered?

Hugh Cox was the first man to greet us in Halbrite the next morning. Not many of you readers will remember his good natured humour. He liked to tease and poke a little fun but not ever intending to offend. We didn't get out of town very early so we were "home" by twelve noon. Unhitch, take care of the horses first. Our old horse barn had been taken down in August 1934. Clyde Wilson had made some horse mangers in the other barn and that was where we had to put them, all a strange procedure to what they had been used to. I'm sure if the old barn had been standing they would have all gone to their old stalls. May and Darkey had pulled on the lines all the way from Regina. I was never more proud of willing horses than on those two or three last days going home. We unharnessed and fed the horses, and decided to do as little as possible the rest of the day. It was the fifth of May. We got our old cookstove set up in the house and made some dinner - I'll bet it was dandy. I guess we turned the horses loose in the pasture right after dinner. At three o'clock May had foaled a good, strong standard bred male colt. We had made it in time, barely.