Beyond These Hills (36 page)

“Thank you. Would you mind if I wrote to you? I'd like for someone to know where I am in case Father ever needs anything.”

She reached out and clasped his hand between both of hers. “Of course you can, and I'll write to you and let you know how he's doing. But most of all, Andrew, I'll pray for you and your father. God can heal this situation.”

“I know He can.”

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek before he reached down and picked up his suitcase. Then, without looking back, he
walked to the front door, opened it, and stepped into the Virginia night.

As he trudged along the road that led into town, he looked up at the stars and swallowed back the hurt that had settled in his throat like a huge weight. “God, please be with my father. Help him to know You love him, and that I always will. Help him come to see we need to be in each other's lives. Watch over Laurel tonight and keep her safe until I see her again. Thank You for walking with me and letting me know I'm not alone. I don't have any idea where You're going to take me, but I'm ready to go. And I'm sure looking forward to finding out what You have planned for me.”

The pain in his throat eased some, and he strode along the road toward the lights of town in the distance. He'd find a hotel room for the night. Then he'd board the first train headed on the long journey back to the Smokies. At the moment, there was no place he'd rather be.

A cuckoo clock struck eleven o'clock just as Laurel strolled into Tremont's general store. She smiled at the sound of the bird's call drifting through the store and glanced around at the well-stocked shelves. It almost looked like a smaller version of Mr. Bryan's store in Gatlinburg. There were canned goods on the shelves, candy in jars, and bolts of cloth on tables at the back of the store.

A mirror hung on the wall to her left, and she gasped when she caught sight of her reflection. Her hair looked like it hadn't been combed this morning. Her face grew warm when she realized the young man behind the store counter was staring at her. Quickly she reached up and smoothed her stray locks into place.

“The wind is really bad this morning. I've been in Tremont for nearly two weeks, but I haven't seen it blow like that.”

The store clerk smiled. “You never can tell about the winds in this part of the mountains, but today it seems worse than usual. You said you'd been here awhile. Are you visiting, or have you moved here?”

“I'm visiting the Fergusons over at the hotel. Our families have been friends for years. I live over at Cades Cove for the time being.”

“Yeah,” he grunted. “We're all living on borrowed time in these mountains. I expect Tremont will be a ghost town before long.” He inhaled. “But nothing we can do about that. What can I help you with today?”

She pointed to the fabric on tables at the back of the store. “I want to look at the material back there.”

“Help yourself. If you need me to cut you a piece, I'll be glad to do it.”

Stopping to look at items from time to time, she ambled to the back of the store. She'd just reached the first display of fabric when the clerk appeared at her side. He wiped his hands down his white apron that stretched nearly to the floor and stuck a pencil behind his ear. “Anything special you're looking for?”

She shook her head. “Not really. Mrs. Ferguson's mother told me she'd make me a dress. I'm not sure what I want.”

He picked up a bolt of seersucker and put it on another table. “There's not enough material left on that one to make a dress. What kind of dress is it? Sunday? Party? Housedress?”

“Um, maybe a Sunday dress.”

He pulled a bolt out from the bottom of the stack and held it up. “How about this? Silk is still a favorite of a lot of women.”

Tiny white geometric designs covered the pink silk material. Laurel tilted her head and studied it for a moment before she shook her head. “Maybe something in a solid color.”

He pulled an emerald green piece from the bottom and laid it in front of her. “What about this?”

She rubbed her fingers over the soft fabric. “This is more like it. I think I'll take…”

“Jim!”

She jumped in alarm at the sound of a man's voice at the front of the store. The clerk jerked his head around. “What?”

“Better come out here. I think we got some big trouble headed our way.”

The clerk dropped the fabric onto the table, and Laurel followed him as they ran from the store. A large crowd of people surged down the road in the direction of the community center. Laurel glanced over her shoulder at the hotel and caught sight of Josie hurrying across the footbridge toward her. When Josie reached her, Laurel fell into step beside her.

“What's wrong? Why is everybody going to the community center?”

“There's a fire up the mountain.”

Fear gripped Laurel, and she stopped in her tracks. “A fire? Is it where Ted and Jimmy are working?”

Josie shook her head. “I don't know. That's what I want to find out.”

Together they ran into the community center and looked around for a place to sit. Nearly all the chairs were already taken and people were standing around the walls. They pushed their way through the crowd standing in the center aisle and inched to the front row, where they found two seats and dropped down into them.

Two men stood in deep conversation at the front of the room a few feet from Laurel. She strained to hear what they were saying but was only able to catch a few words which made little sense. After a few minutes, the older of the two stepped to the center of the room and faced the crowd. The room grew immediately silent.

“May I have your attention, please,” he said. “Thank you for coming. I think most of you know me. I'm Bill Mercer and this is Jeb Smith. We represent Mr. Townsend here at Tremont. We brought you together this morning to tell you about a situation we have. We don't know what caused it, but we've got fire above us in the
mountains. With the wind gusts we've had, it's been impossible so far to get it under control. The Park Service has men up there, and our employees are working with them, but this wind is presenting a problem. We wanted to let you know just in case the wind shifts, and the fire comes this way.”

A man beside Laurel jumped up. “What do we need to do?”

“The Park Service is sending some men from the Cades Cove CCC camp to help out. They should be arriving on a train from Townsend in about an hour. If you work for Little River, you need to board the train and ride up the mountain. If your families want to leave Tremont, they should be ready to get on when it makes the return trip to Townsend. If you want to stay, I'd suggest you get all the buckets, pots, and pans you can find. You may need them to water down your property. Are there any more questions?”

Josie stood up. “How far up did the fire start?”

“Right above the Thunderhead operation.”

Josie's face turned white. “What about the men working up there?”

He looked around at the man beside him, and they exchanged quick glances. “They're fighting the fire right now.”

Josie sank down in her chair and grabbed Laurel's hand. “Ted and Jimmy,” she whispered.

Laurel's stomach roiled at the look of terror in Josie's face. “Don't worry,” she whispered. “They can take care of themselves.”

Mr. Mercer pursed his lips and glanced around the room. “If there are no more questions, I'll let you go make preparations for whatever you need to do.” The people in the crowd started to rise to their feet, but Mr. Mercer held up his hand. “Oh, one more thing for those of you who'll be boarding the train to ride up to the fire. That's the last trip it'll make up the mountain until the fire's out. You'll have to walk back. Now the meeting's dismissed.”

All around them people stood and rushed for the back door. Laurel looked over at Josie. Her face had grown pale and fear flickered
in her eyes. Laurel touched her arm. “Josie, shouldn't we get back to the hotel and gather up buckets like Mr. Mercer said?”

She blinked and turned to face Laurel. “Laurel?” she whispered. A frown flashed across her face as if she'd forgotten she wasn't alone.

“Yes, Josie. I'm here. We need to go now.”

She nodded. “Ma and Pa. They need to get ready and leave on that train when it comes back.” Her gaze settled on Laurel's face. “And you do too. You must go home.”

Laurel shook her head. “I can't leave you. I want to be here when Ted and Jimmy come back. Besides, you need me to help you if the fire gets too close to the hotel.”

“No. You can't stay.” She jumped to her feet and pulled Laurel up with her. “Your mother is sick with worry because of Charlie leaving and your pa being sick. I'm not going to let anything happen to her daughter if I can help it. Now let's go get your clothes packed.”

Laurel knew it would do no good to argue with Josie. As badly as she hated to leave Josie behind, she would do as she asked. As they ran from the community center toward the hotel, Laurel glanced up at the sky, and her heart pounded at what she saw. In the distance a trail of smoke drifted up toward the sun. It was impossible to tell how far away it was, but she prayed that the deadly sparks would soon be extinguished before the wind blew them down the mountain onto those in the base camp.

Andrew hadn't slept much on the return trip from Virginia, but just minutes ago the conductor had announced Townsend as the next stop. That's where he'd left his car, so it wouldn't be long before he was back in his room at the CCC camp in Cades Cove.

As tired as he was, he couldn't ignore the excitement he felt at being back in Tennessee. In the short time since he'd been here, it
had come to be home. Nothing would make him happier than to stay in the mountains for the rest of his life, but he would go wherever God's plans led him. He couldn't help hoping, though, that those plans included Laurel.

He could hardly wait to see her. First he'd go to the camp and clean up some. Then he intended to drive straight to her house and tell her what had happened to him in the days since they'd seen each other. Maybe her grandfather had already told her about his visit, but he hoped not. He wanted to tell her that story himself.

The train slowed in preparation for the stop at the station. He gathered his belongings and waited for the train to come to a stop. When it did, he climbed down the steps onto the station platform and looked around in surprise at the men gathered there. Even without the blue denim work suits and caps they wore, he would have recognized them anywhere. These were the men from the Cades Cove CCC camp.

Before he could recover from his surprise, Lieutenant Gray emerged from the group and held up his hand for silence. The group stilled immediately. “As soon as this train leaves for Maryville, ours will arrive. Be ready to board when it gets here.”

There was a mumbled acknowledgment from the group before they resumed their conversations. Andrew hurried across the platform toward Lieutenant Gray.

The lieutenant saw him coming. “Brady,” he called out. “So you got back from Virginia?”

“I did.” Andrew cast a bewildered glance over the assembled men. “What's going on?”

“There's a fire on the mountain up near Thunderhead. We've been called to go help out.”