Beyond These Hills (11 page)

As he thought of the plans the Park Service had for this area of the new park, he was reminded of Laurel and his conversation with her earlier. His hand tightened on the steering wheel. She hadn't returned to the house after she'd told him she didn't want to be friends and he'd spent the remainder of his time talking with
Matthew and Simon. It felt strange to address two older men by their first names, but they'd insisted.

He sighed and put the car in gear. There was no need to think about Laurel now. He had a big job ahead of him in the next few months, and he would run into her again. Maybe their next meeting would be more pleasant.

The flag on the pole in front of the administration building waved in the breeze as if it welcomed him to the camp. He drove straight toward it, pulling to a stop in front and surveying the rolling landscape around him. Whoever had picked out this spot had chosen one with a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. A small creek—Tater Branch if he remembered correctly—bubbled along at the far edge of the camp. Metal piping, probably having something to do with the camp water supply, ran along the banks.

He stepped out of the car and turned toward the headquarters building. A sign nailed to the wall beside the front door proclaimed this the home of CCC Camp Number 1214. Mountain wildflowers bloomed in circular beds outlined with stones on either side of the entrance. Evidently the young men who lived in the camp weren't content to only enhance the beauty of the wilderness; they wanted it in the place that would be their home for the duration of their assignment here.

He headed toward the front door but stopped when it opened. Two men who looked to be in their early twenties stepped out onto the porch. The taller of the two nodded to Andrew. “Good afternoon. Can we help you with anything?”

“I'm Andrew Brady with the Park Service. I'm here to see Lieutenant Gray.”

The young man pointed inside. “We just saw him go into his office. You'll see it inside. His name's on the door.”

“Thanks.”

The two hopped off the porch and Andrew watched them head
to one of the long barracks before he walked into the building. Just as he entered a man stepped out of one of the offices and stopped to stare at him. He held some long rolls of paper in his hands.

His eyebrows arched. “Mr. Brady?”

Andrew nodded and approached with his hand extended. “Yes. I assume you're Lieutenant Gray, the superintendent.”

The man shifted the papers and grasped Andrew's hand. “I am. I've been expecting you all afternoon. I thought you'd be here earlier.”

“I would have been, but I stopped to go to church. Then the pastor and his wife asked me to go home with them for dinner.”

Lieutenant Gray's lips pulled into a big smile. “That sounds like Simon and Anna Martin. I've had a few meals in their home too. They're some of the finest people I've ever known.”

“They were very kind to me. Their daughter and her family were there too. I never would have believed that on my first day here I'd be eating with the two men who've waged court battles against the government. But they didn't let that stand in the way of being very hospitable to me.”

“They're good people.” Lieutenant Gray stepped back toward his office. “Let me put these maps on my desk and then I'll take you over to the officers' barrack where you'll be staying while you're here.”

“Thanks. I'd appreciate that.”

A few minutes later Lieutenant Gray was ushering Andrew into a small room in the officers' barracks. He glanced at his watch. “You'll have time to get settled before supper—that's at five thirty. The men have free time until lights-out at ten. Reveille is at six in the morning and breakfast forty-five minutes later. If you need anything while you're here, let me know and I'll get it for you. Do you have any questions?”

Andrew shook his head. “No, not right now.”

“Then I'll leave you to get settled and I'll see you in the mess hall for supper. You'll eat at the officers' table.”

Andrew set his bag on the small cot where he'd sleep and turned back to Lieutenant Gray. “Thank you for putting me up while I'm in the Cove.”

Lieutenant Gray shrugged. “No problem. See you later.”

With that the man turned and strode into the hallway. Andrew stood in the middle of the sparsely furnished room where he would be living for the next few months and looked around. Not like home, but it would meet his needs. A cot, a desk with a chair, a small table next to the bed, and a foot locker completed the list of furnishings. On the bright side there was a small closet where he could hang his pants and shirts. The best thing about the place, though, was that the camp had electricity, and the room was well lit with two lamps and an overhead light.

He turned back to his bag and opened it. The framed picture lay on top of his packed clothes, and he pulled it out. He stared at the woman in the photograph and frowned. Lucy had given him the picture after dinner on his last night at home, and he'd promised her it would have a place of honor in his room. Now that he was here in the Cove, he wasn't so sure he should have done that.

Lucy really was a beautiful woman and a very rich one, with family who had helpful contacts in the political world, as his father was constantly reminding him. She and both their families fully expected him to propose. The perfect wife for him, they all said. A woman who could be a great asset in building her husband's political career.

If his father had his way, Andrew would not only marry Lucy, he would use every one of her contacts to help him climb the ladder of elected office all the way to Washington. There was only one thing wrong with his father's plan. It wasn't what Andrew wanted.

Andrew closed his eyes and shook his head. Why couldn't he make his father understand that? He'd told him over and over, but his protests did no good. Maybe he hadn't been able to make his father understand how he felt because he hadn't figured out yet what he did want in life. He was twenty-four years old with a degree in
engineering from Virginia Military Institute, and he was drifting through life without a clue where he was going.

He'd hoped his summer in Cades Cove would give him some time to think and figure out his future. He'd been in the Cove for less than a day, and he already had more questions than he'd had when he arrived. Already his expectations of the people living here had been shattered. The Martins and the Jacksons were nothing like his family. They didn't have the wealth his father had accumulated, and the Martins' cabin couldn't begin to compare with the large home his family owned in the rolling Virginia countryside. Yet they had something his family didn't. They were happy and content with what they had. And their love for each other was evident in every word they spoke and every look they gave each other.

Now he'd come to take their way of life away from them and send them into an unknown world outside their mountain valley. The thought squeezed the breath out of him. How could he do that to them? How could he hurt Laurel?

He glanced down at the picture he held of the woman who was about to become his fiancée. His hands trembled. The ridiculous thought popped into his head that he wished the face smiling at him was a dark-haired beauty with a long braid and flashing brown eyes.

His hand tightened on the frame, and he closed his eyes. “Mountain Laurel,” he whispered.

There might be a lot of things he was unsure of in his life, but one thing he was certain about. He had to know her better. No matter what she said, he intended to do just that. He didn't know how, but he would figure out a way.

The afternoon quiet made Laurel sleepy, and she nodded in the rocker on the front porch of her grandparents' cabin. Noah had left,
her father and grandfather had taken her brothers and driven over to the site of Cecil Davis's cabin to see if it had been torn down by the Park Service, and her mother and grandmother were in the kitchen discussing a dress pattern. She and Granny had sat beside each other for the last thirty minutes without speaking.

Laurel took a deep breath and straightened in her chair. “Are you okay, Granny?”

“I'm fine, child. I just been a-sittin' here soakin' up my mountains. It's one of my fav'rite things to do.”

Laurel chuckled. “I know.”

Granny rocked a few times before she spoke again. “It shore has been a beautiful Sunday in the Cove.”

Laurel nodded. “It has. Everything is so green, and the air smells so good. It gives me a happy feeling.”

Granny's eyebrow arched and she directed a somber stare at Laurel. “Are you sure you feel good? I thought you seemed kinda down and out after Andrew left.”

“I don't know what you mean, Granny. I didn't care one way or another when he left.” Laurel's fingers curled into her fists, and she clasped them in her lap.

“Well, you coulda fooled me. My eyesight may not be as good as it used to be, but you looked right disappointed when you come back from seeing the puppies and found out he'd already left. I figured you was upset 'cause you didn't get to tell him goodbye.”

Laurel sniffed and shook her head. “Why would I be upset? Andrew Brady means nothing to me.”

“Well, that may be so, but I could tell he was right taken with you. He must've asked me a hundred questions 'bout you during dinner.”

“A hundred? Now, Granny, I think you're exaggerating.”

Granny laughed. “Well, maybe a bit, but he did talk about you a lot. And he shore looked at you plenty of times.” She reached over and grasped Laurel's hand. “There's nothing wrong with that, darlin'. You're a pretty young woman, and he's a good-looking man. It's natural that you'd want to be friends.”

Laurel shook her head. “He said he wants to be friends with me, but I can't do that, Granny. He's here to take our land and our homes. If he has his way, I'm scared of what will happen to us. I have to think of him as my enemy.”

Granny sighed and squeezed her hand. “He's not our enemy, darlin'.”

“But Granny, he works for the government and they want to take our homes from us.”

Granny rocked a few more times and stared toward the mountains in the distance. “I been a-readin' my Bible all my life and trying to be more like Jesus. And I gotta confess, I done had a time trying to figure out what He'd want me to do about this mess we find ourselves in. Sometimes I get so mad at the government I can't stand it. Then I think about how so many died to give us the freedom we have in this land, and I feel guilty. I've had a hard time figuring out which is the right way to feel, but I think I know now.”

“What is it, Granny?”

“I read in the Bible where Peter was a-talkin' about honoring your government leaders, even the bad ones, even when you disagreed with them. He said that no matter what is done to us, believers were to be honorable.”

Laurel leaned back in her chair and narrowed her eyes as she twisted the end of her braid between her fingers. “I think Poppa and Grandpa have been honorable, a lot more than I would have been in their places.”

“They have been,” Granny said. “That's because they know it's the right thing to do. The Bible says even when we have disputes with the government we are to treat those in charge with respect. We can dislike what they're doing without hatin' 'em.”

Laurel gripped the arms of her chair, her body rigid, and faced Granny. “But what if we suffer because they're wrong?”

“Suffer? Child, we don't know what suff 'rin' is compared to the early Christians who were killed for their beliefs. Fact is, we've had it mighty good for a lot of years in this here valley. Now we have
us a disagreement with the government, and we don't know what's a-gonna happen.” A sigh rippled from her mouth. “And I'm a-feared I may not like the outcome. But I cain't let that influence me. All I can do is what God would have me do—be more like Christ and show Him in my actions. That's what all of us need to do.”

Laurel thought about what Granny had said for a few minutes before she responded. “That's what Poppa and Grandpa have done, isn't it? I've wondered how they could be so kind to the government people that keep showing up here. They've always been respectful to them—just like they were with Andrew today. I've seen the strain it's put on Poppa at times, and I wondered why he kept being so nice. Now I understand.”