Once the norther had passed, however, the weather did warm considerably; Pa said they were feeling the last breath of summer. While father and son worked with the meat, Ma made two new shirts for them and a linsey woolsey dress for herself. She didn’t mention Indians again, but she seemed to be uneasy as soon as night fell. On the evening they had the meat laid by, Pa said casually to his wife, “Ma, I think we’ll take our provisions and go up to Harrodsburg for a while.” Jim glanced quickly at his father to see if he had seen or heard anything alarming, but Pa’s face showed nothing at all. Ma gasped in surprise. “To Harrodsburg, Pa? Do you mean to the fort? Why?” “Well, I’ve noticed you seem mighty jumpy lately and I thought we’d take our provisions and join the settlers at the fort for a while. It would give you a rest and a chance to hear the news and talk to someone else besides me and Jim. It would be a change.” Ma’s face glowed in anticipation and relief. “Oh, Pa, let’s do it. Let’s go tomorrow before winter sets in and makes us prisoners here.” Pa shook his head. “I’m not sure we can go tomorrow. But we’ll start packing.” Ma leaned forward in her chair and searched her husband’s face anxiously. “What’s made you decide to leave our cabin, Pa? Have you seen signs of Indians?” Jim looked at his father again as Pa replied almost too casually, “Haven’t seen anything, Ma. But we’ve done the chores and the harvesting, so we can leave the farm for a spell now. Just got a hankering to see people.” Pa’s answer seemed to satisfy Ma Hudson because she was up early next morning, and beginning to pack before Jim and Pa were awake. “I’ll take my pots and the spinning wheel,” she said after breakfast, glancing around their cabin. Pa shook his head. “You can’t take all that stuff, Ma. We’ve only one horse, remember. We can’t put everything we own on Nellie’s back. They’ll have cooking utensils at the fort and I’m sure some one will have a spinning wheel. We’ll take just the corn, turnips and all of our meat.” “May I take your drum, Pa?” put in Jim. “I’ll carry it. I can have fun playing it for the other boys at the fort.” Pa hesitated, glancing up at the drum. Then he smiled. “I guess if you want to be responsible for it, you may take the drum. But mind, you hang on to it.” Finally they had the corn packed in two stout cloth sacks and hung on one side of their horse’s saddle. Pa put the meat in a peddler’s pack which he had brought from Virginia, with most of the turnips on top of the meat. This pack he slung from the other side of the horse’s saddle. Ma had tied a change of clothes and moccasins for each of them in a large square of cloth. When they were ready to leave, Ma sat on the horse, holding the pack of clothes, while Pa led the horse with one hand and carried his trusty Deckard with the other. Jim walked behind the horse, carrying Ma’s rifle, the treasured drum and drumsticks.