Beyond the Quiet Hills

by Aaron McCarver

  “Ma—Sarah, Pa’s back!”

  Almost at once the cabin door swung open, and Elizabeth came out. She was wearing a simple gray dress with a white apron, and her hair was bound up and crowned with a small white cap. Andrew grinned at the expression on her face and watched as she flew across the yard to where Hawk came off his horse in one smooth movement. He moved over toward Sarah and nudged her in the ribs. “I think he’s glad to see her, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Hush, Andy!”

  Elizabeth was a loving woman and usually more conservative in physical demonstrations of her affections. Now, however, she threw herself into Hawk’s arms, reached up and pulled his head down, and kissed him firmly. The lean strength of his body was something she had longed for, and she had not realized until this minute how deeply her life had become one with this tall man.

  “I missed you,” Hawk whispered tenderly. Then he seemed to be the one embarrassed by the embrace. He glanced quickly at Jacob, and with his arm still around Elizabeth, he said, “I brought Jacob back with me. Jacob, this is your family. This is Elizabeth, and this is Andrew and Sarah.”

  Jacob nodded and murmured a vague greeting and then watched as his father threw his arm around the blond-headed young man. Somehow the action stirred a displeasure in him. It was not that he himself would have endured the same kind of caress from his father, but deeply seated was the resentment that another was getting the affection he had been robbed of all of his life.

  As Hawk put his arms around Sarah and whirled her around, laughing as she squealed, Andrew came forward with his hand outstretched to Jacob, putting a big smile on his face.

  “Glad to have you, Jacob. Welcome to Watauga.”

  A perverseness seized Jacob, and he held his hand out limply and allowed Andrew to shake it. He felt himself taken by an instant dislike for his stepbrother.

  He doesn’t mean all this, he thought. He doesn’t care whether I’m here or not. I never could stand a phony!

  Andrew seemed unaware of any coolness on Jacob’s part. “It’ll be good to have another fellow around my age,” he said. “Especially since we’ll be brothers now.”

  At the use of the word “brothers,” the dislike that Jacob had first felt intensified. He opened his lips to say, “We’ll never be brothers,” but then clamped them together firmly.

  Sequatchie, standing off to one side, had observed all this without moving. His quick mind understood at once, and he felt a disappointment that Jacob had so hardened himself against the family that was so willing to receive him. He will have to learn better, he thought silently. He can’t live by himself. No man can do that.

  Elizabeth, without turning loose of Hawk’s arm, said, “Now, you come right in the house. It won’t take long, and we’re going to have a welcome-home dinner.”

  “I will come later. Perhaps tomorrow,” Sequatchie said. He turned and walked away without even another word, and Elizabeth looked toward Hawk with a question in her eyes. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “I guess he’s been in civilization long enough,” Hawk said quietly. “I know how he feels. I never saw so many people in all my life. For a while all I want to see is trees and mountains—and you, of course.”

  Reaching up, Elizabeth grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head. “You better put me on that list!” Her eyes sparkled and she leaned against him, reveling in the touch, and then said briskly, “Well, come along. It’ll be ready soon.”

  An hour later Jacob was sitting at the table, which was loaded with food. A large venison roast had been cooking slowly over the fire all day and was now placed on a large platter and sliced into juicy, thick slabs and put on the table. A pie tin containing a large beefsteak pie, with a flaky crust and flavored with parsley, marjoram, savory, thyme, and butter, had been made the day before and was now served cold along with the rest of the meal. Bowls of sweet potatoes covered with slices of tart apples, and green beans in a cream sauce decorated the table with their bright colors, and a brown crock of baked pumpkin pudding filled the air with its rich aroma. Freshly baked bread was served with thick butter and preserves, and mugs were filled with steaming hot tea.

  Jacob had been bombarded with questions about “civilization” by Sarah and Andrew and had been unable to avoid answering them. He felt awkward and ill at ease, and now as they began to eat, he was glad they were listening to Hawk as he spoke of the trip.

  “Oh, I have letters from your family,” Hawk said. “You want them now or after supper?”

  “Let me read them now. I’ve been worried about them.”

  Hawk rose and went over to the pouch he had tossed down beside the fireplace. Opening it, he removed an oilskin package, took out several letters, and moving back, he handed them to Elizabeth. She began reading as the others went on speaking, mostly Hawk relating to Sarah and Andrew the wonders of Williamsburg. The first letter she read was from her father. It was very brief, and the handwriting was shaky. It said basically that he missed her and prayed for her every day, and that he hoped she could come back for a visit.

  The letter from her mother was much longer. Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Martin, wrote well, and with a certain verve:

  My dearest daughter, Elizabeth. As you know, we were taken by surprise to learn that you were to be married again. So often when a woman has a good marriage she will marry again, and I know you and Patrick were completely happy with each other.

  I still grieve over the loss of Patrick, and I am certain that you do also. But I hope both of us will remember that he is with the Lord Jesus Christ now and in the presence of God, as we both shall be someday. And he would not have us to grieve, but to go on with life until that day when we will all be in our Father’s house.

  I wish I could bring you better news about your father, but William is not doing well physically. He has had several bad spells over the past few months, and each time leaves him a little weaker. I pray that God would let me keep him for as long as it is His will, for I would be lost without him.

  I cannot tell you how proud I am of Will, and how happy I am that he married Rebekah. . . .

  Elizabeth’s mind went back to the time when her mother had not felt that way. Her brother, Will, had been engaged to marry a young woman named Charlotte Van Dorn. Rebekah was a servant in her father’s house, and never once had it occurred to any of them that Will would do other than marry Charlotte. It had been through Rebekah that the plan hatched by Charlotte and her father to take control of the Martin shipping business had been revealed. During this time, Anne had disliked Patrick MacNeal, and when Patrick had been implicated in the scandal fabricated by the Van Dorns, she had been extremely harsh to him. It had been Rebekah who had discovered the scheme and had told Elizabeth and Patrick. Elizabeth remembered how hurt Will had been at the treachery of the woman he had planned to marry. After the storm had broken and the Van Dorns had left, it had been Rebekah who had been there to listen to Will. The young man had fallen in love with her, and now the two had married, and Elizabeth was filled with gratitude that her mother had someone there who loved her and whom she trusted.

  Your father and I are so pleased with Rebekah’s growth. She is a godsend to your dear father, seeing to his every need, and she and Will are so much in love that it is a joy to observe them. I think God has sent her to us to take care of us and to cheer us in our loneliness since you are so far away. I love you, my daughter, and pray that God will bless you in every way. You live so far from this place that I do not know if I shall see you again on this earth, but we can be certain that we will never be separated in the day of Christ Jesus.

  Your loving mother, Anne

  Elizabeth’s face had grown sober as she had read the letter, and Hawk had not missed this.

  “Bad news, Elizabeth?”

  “No, not really. It’s good news, as a matter of fact. Will and Rebekah are doing splendidly.”

  Hawk had not been a husband long to this woman, but he had learned to know her well. Now he
leaned forward and said, “You miss your family, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Well, it couldn’t be otherwise. We’ll pray that God will work things out so you can see them again.”

  Elizabeth smiled at her husband and took his hand in a gesture of gratitude at his understanding.

  Andrew had listened to all of this, and finally when the conversation had changed, he said, “Hey, Jacob, tomorrow I can’t wait to show you some of the things to do around here.”

  “What sort of things?”

  “Well, hunting and fishing. We’ll go fishing tomorrow, if you want to.”

  “I think that would be a good idea.” Hawk smiled. “Andrew’s one of the best fishermen around here.”

  A flash of resentment came to Jacob. He could not seem to control it. “I’m not sure,” he said coolly. “I’ll have to see.”

  Andrew’s face showed the disappointment, and he said, “Well, anytime you want to I’ll be ready.”

  “I know one thing you can do tomorrow,” Sarah said, an impish light in her eyes. “You can ask Abigail to go fishing with you. But you wouldn’t want another fellow along, then, would you?”

  “Who’s Abigail?” Jacob asked, seeing the flush rise in Andrew’s face.

  “Abigail Stevens,” Sarah grinned. “Andy’s sweet on her.”

  “I am not! You hush up, Sarah! We’re just friends, Abby and me.”

  Hawk, Elizabeth, and Sarah laughed at Andrew’s discomfort, but then Elizabeth grew more serious. “I do want you to meet all the young people in the community. Why don’t you ask Abigail to come over tomorrow, and Amanda Taylor, as well.”

  As she said this, her eyes suddenly went to Hawk, and an unspoken communication passed between the two. He understood at once that there was something she needed to say that could not be spoken in front of the children, and he knew that she would speak of it later.

  ****

  It had been a tiring journey, and the family went to bed very early. Sarah was in her room, Andrew and Jacob slept in the main room, and in the larger of the two bedrooms, Hawk and Elizabeth were stretched out in bed. He put his arm around her, and she turned and moved close to him, stroking his bare chest as she asked, “Tell me how the trip went. I was so glad that Jacob came back with you.”

  “He refused to come at first. I didn’t think he would.”

  “I was a little surprised. What changed his mind?”

  Hawk reached over and stroked Elizabeth’s glossy hair gently. He knew she had bathed today, for she always put lilac in the bath water, and then he could smell it in her hair as well. “You smell good,” he said quietly.

  “Never mind my smell. What made him come back?”

  “I don’t know. I think he had some kind of a disappointment in love.”

  “Love! Why, he’s only fifteen.”

  “No, sixteen now. He’s had another birthday, and anyway, if I remember when I was sixteen, love affairs were mighty important.”

  “How many did you have when you were sixteen?”

  “Must have been dozens. Can’t keep track of ’em all.”

  She was accustomed to his mild teasing and reached up and tapped his nose. “Don’t tease me. What happened? Why did he come?”

  “I think God worked a miracle. He was very cold toward me from the day I arrived, and I couldn’t, of course, blame him for that. And then out of nowhere he marched in and said he had decided to come and live with us for a while.” He hesitated, then added, “He made that pretty plain. It’s only for a while.”

  “I think he’ll like it here. He and Andrew are about the same age. They can be real brothers.”

  “I hope so.” He thought again of her look at the table and said, “What were you going to tell me about the Taylors?”

  “Oh, it’s not good news. Zeke’s drinking again!”

  “You’ve seen him?” Hawk was surprised, and the motion of his hand on her hair stopped.

  “No, I haven’t seen him, but there are rumors. Besides, Iris and Amanda aren’t coming around. I haven’t seen them since the wedding.”

  “That may not mean anything.”

  “I think it does. Iris was coming by very often to visit and to talk to me about the things in the Scriptures, and she was bringing Amanda by. That girl needs all the friends she can get. She and Sarah get along well together. You’ll have to see to it.”

  “Who made me a keeper?”

  “I did. You do it because I say so.”

  Hawk smiled, then rolled over on his side and pulled her closer. He had not known how much he would miss this woman that lay beside him. Long years of loneliness had hardened him, but now that they had married, he discovered, to his shock and amazement, that he was not the same man. Always before he did as he pleased, and now he found himself trying to find little things that would please Elizabeth.

  “Did you miss me?” he whispered.

  “Oh, were you gone?”

  Hawk squeezed her suddenly, his strength driving the breath out of her. “I’ll have to remind you what you’ve been missing since I’ve been gone.”

  Elizabeth reveled in the strength of his arms. She put her arms around his neck, pulled him closer, and kissed him firmly.

  “Remind me,” she whispered. . . .

  ****

  Jacob and Andrew had already fallen into bed. Jacob was almost blind with fatigue. The trip had been hard on him, and he had not known how tired he was until he had stretched out on the corn-shuck mattress. Andrew was saying something vaguely, and turning his attention with an effort, Jacob heard the younger boy say something about what a wonderful man Hawk was and how thankful he was that God had sent him into his family’s life. “There’s nobody like him, not in all these mountains,” Andrew said. “He can shoot straighter and run farther and is stronger than any man in the whole settlement.”

  “I suppose so.”

  Andrew said, as he had before, “I guess I didn’t say it very well, Jacob, but I’m really glad you’re here. I get lonesome sometimes. Sarah gives me a hard time. She’s always teasing me. Now maybe with you here we can give her some of what she’s been dishing out.”

  “All right.”

  “Can’t wait for you to meet the other young people, especially Abby.”

  This caught Jacob’s attention. “Is she pretty?”

  “Oh, she’s all right.” The brief reply covered up more than Andrew wanted to reveal. “I know it’ll be different for you here, but you’ll like it. I came from Boston myself, you know, and I had to learn everything. But we’re going to have a great time.” He seemed to sense then that the visitor was not saying much and said quickly, “Well, good night, Jacob.”

  Jacob closed his eyes and after a hesitation said, “Good night.”

  As the silence grew, he thought about what he had seen on his journey from Williamsburg. It had been exciting to him, moving through the mountains. The danger of it was merely an added enticement, and he felt a stirring in him that he had not felt in town. He knew he was green, however, and resented the fact that Andrew MacNeal had already had his training under Hawk Spencer.

  I’ll learn, he thought. I bet I’ll shoot better and run farther than Andrew after I’ve been here awhile. He thought of his father, and as he did he heard Andrew mumbling a prayer and was slightly shocked by it. He knew that Elizabeth was a Christian woman, and now his father had given his life to God, or so he said. But they’re not going to force their religion down my throat! he thought with a surly attitude. He lay there quietly, exhaustion causing sleep to come quickly. As he drifted off, his last thought was of the face of Annabelle. She seemed to be smiling at him and holding her arms out, inviting him to come back, and he fell asleep crying her name in his dream.

  Chapter Eight

  The Young Lion

  Elizabeth awoke to the sound of a voice, muted but clearly audible, directly in front of her. Opening her eyes to slits, she pulled the quilt down and caught sight of Hawk, his back to h
er, peering into the tiny mirror over the washstand and raking his face with a straight razor. A smile touched her lips as she heard his grumbling and the rasp of the razor as he pulled it across one cheek. The room was cold, but despite that, Hawk wore only a pair of buckskin trousers. I don’t think many men back east could break the ice in a basin and then shave in freezing water, she thought and snuggled down in the bed, savoring the warmth.

  She ran her hand over the quilt that was made up of large butterflies of varying hues—brilliant reds, cool greens, yellows, and all the other colors of the rainbow. She remembered making the quilt when she was no more than six or seven years old, learning to sew under her mother’s tutelage. They had sat in the large parlor listening to the ticking of the grandfather clock as they made the tiny stitches that put the butterflies together. The scene was so clear to her that she almost seemed to see the woman and the small child peering at the colorful cloths and patterns as they sewed side by side. That had been over twenty-five years ago, and the thought came to Elizabeth, I wonder where the little girl is now? The little girl that I was? She was so alive and vibrant and full of life, and now she’s become part of my past. She knew, with a sudden flash of insight, that not all of that little girl was lost, for part of her still remained in the grown-up woman.

  Elizabeth turned her attention back to Hawk and watched as he finished his shave. Bending over, the large muscles of his back and shoulders flared out—a contrast to his rather small waist and lean hips. He had long muscles rather than bulky ones, and as he ruffled his hair, threw the water in his face, bubbling as he did so, she took a pride in his strength. He was built for hard usage, and the land had tempered him, stripping away every ounce of excess weight, so that now all was bone, sinew, and muscle. He turned and caught her watching him. Grinning, he came over and sat down beside her on the bed.

  “You going to sleep all day?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll come back to bed with you.”

  “No,” Elizabeth protested, putting her hand on his chest. She felt the strong, vibrant muscles beneath her hand, and she felt safe and secure with this man, for she knew that whatever could be done to protect her and her family, Hawk would do it. “I’m getting up,” she said.