The Journey as a Moving Home

This thread follows how the wagon and road become a provisional home for Cicada and Kidd, offering freedom while exposing the limits of permanent settlement.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Green Wagon

The Green Wagon A vehicle repurposed Kidd buys an excursion wagon once advertised for curative waters and loads it with food, bedding, tools, and newspapers. It becomes both transport and a practical shelter for the journey. A recognizable refuge Its bright lettering and damaged sides make it distinctive, but its canopy gives Cicada a protected space. The wagon begins to hold the routines through which the pair learn to travel together.

The Blanket Cave

The Blanket Cave Protection in a crowd Cicada wraps herself in her red jorongo whenever soldiers, townspeople, or strangers approach. The blanket offers a boundary she can control in a world of unfamiliar faces. A portable enclosure Unlike the fixed rooms she will later encounter, the blanket travels with her. Its repeated use makes visible her need for refuge even while she remains on the move.

A Night on the Road

A Night on the Road Movement as protection Kidd leaves Dallas before Almay can arrange a daylight interception. The wagon travels through moonlit country while both travelers remain alert to pursuit. Freedom with risk The road lets Kidd change direction and avoid immediate control, but it also leaves the pair exposed and short of supplies. Mobility is not safety; it is the means they have to seek it.

The Road’s Classroom

The Road’s Classroom Learning in motion Kidd teaches Cicada English words, numbers, and the use of a watch while they travel. She turns the lessons into jokes and new sentences, showing that instruction can become a shared game. A temporary community The wagon carries food, work, conversation, and rest. Their road life creates a relationship that neither could have built through formal lessons alone.

Home After Wandering

Home After Wandering The journey changes direction Kidd eventually leaves the roads and lives with his family in San Antonio. Cicada accompanies him, though settled domestic life requires her to perform customs she never fully adopts. An unresolved belonging The wagon no longer structures their days, but the habits and memories of travel remain. Home is not a return to an untouched past; it is another arrangement they must learn to inhabit.

Late February 1870, Wichita Falls

Early March 1870, during the journey south

Night after the Dallas reading

March 1870, between the Brazos and Lampasas

Several years after the return journey