The Beloved Land
© 2002 by Janette Oke & T. Davis Bunn
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
E-book edition created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-5855-8878-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Cover illustration and design by Dan Thornberg
JANETTE OKE was born in Champion, Alberta, during the depression years, to a Canadian prairie farmer and his wife. She is a graduate of Mountain View Bible College in Alberta, where she met her husband, Edward, and they were married in May of 1957. After pastoring churches in Indiana and Canada, the Okes spent some years in Calgary, where Edward served in several positions on college faculties while Janette continued her writing. She has written over four dozen novels for adults and children, and her book sales total nearly thirty million copies.
The Okes have three sons and one daughter, all married, and are enjoying their dozen grandchildren. Edward and Janette are active in their local church and make their home near Didsbury, Alberta.
T. DAVIS BUNN, a native of North Carolina, is a former international business executive whose career has taken him to over forty countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. With topics as diverse as romance, history, and intrigue, Bunn’s books continue to reach readers of all ages and interests. He and his wife, Isabella, reside near Oxford, England.
By T. Davis
The Book of Hours
The Great Divide
Winner Take All
The Lazarus Trap
Elixir
Imposter
H
EIRS OF
A
CADIA†
The Solitary Envoy
The Innocent Libertine
The Noble Fugitive
The Night Angel
Falconer’s Quest
All Through the Night
My Soul to Keep
By Janette Oke & T. Davis Bunn
A
CTS OF
F
AITH
The Centurion’s Wife
S
ONG OF
A
CADIA
The Meeting Place The Birthright
The Sacred Shore The Distant Beacon
The Beloved Land
By Janette Oke
C
ANADIAN
W
EST
When Calls the Heart When Breaks the Dawn
When Comes the Spring When Hope Springs New
Beyond the Gathering Storm
When TomorrowComes
L
OVE
C
OMES
S
OFTLY
Love Comes Softly Love’s Unending Legacy
Love’s Enduring Promise Love’s Unfolding Dream
Love’s Long Journey Love Takes Wing
Love’s Abiding Joy Love Finds a Home
A P
RAIRIE
L
EGACY
The Tender Years A Quiet Strength
A Searching Heart Like Gold Refined
S
EASONS OF THE
H
EART
Once Upon a Summer Winter Is Not Forever
The Winds of Autumn Spring’s Gentle Promise
Seasons of the Heart (4 in 1)
W
OMEN OF THE
W
EST
The Calling of Emily Evans A Bride for Donnigan
Julia’s Last Hope Heart of the Wilderness
Roses for Mama Too Long a Stranger
A Woman Named Damaris The Bluebird and the Sparrow
They Called Her Mrs. Doc A Gown of Spanish Lace
The Measure of a Heart Drums of Change
“These are the times that try men’s souls.”
—Thomas Paine, 1776
Table of Contents
Once when Catherine was a little girl, her father had taken her to a concert in Halifax. A visiting admiral had gathered together a group of musicians from his fleet. A flute, two violins, a cello, a bass fiddle, and a miniature concertina had played Handel and Purcell. Strange that she would remember those details from a night when she had been scarcely nine years old. But Catherine recalled everything about that evening. The garrison had entertained the admiral with a fine dinner, one which included all the officers’ wives and families. To Catherine’s eager young eyes, the hall had seemed nearly on fire with all the candles in the chandeliers, on tables, and in wall sconces around the room. And the music had transported her away across the seas, to a place she knew only in books—a world of fine palaces and grand dames, with scores of servants and nights to enjoy such fine meals and wonderful music.
“What are you thinking about, daughter?”
Catherine smiled at her father in the doorway. “I am writing to Anne and Nicole.” She was back in her true Georgetown setting. Nova Scotia had been her lifelong home, its frontier simplicity far from the world she had glimpsed that night so long ago.
Her father had come from his back bedroom. She could tell his legs and hips were bothering him. He kept his hands extended to grip and support. The path was well known, the stanchions familiar. He released the doorframe to hold the back of the settee by the fire. Then his other hand reached for the side wall’s middle beam. Then the high-backed rocker, then the cabinet separating their sitting area from the cooking area, then the long bench with the water pitcher and basin, then the window above the alcove, where she was writing. Catherine resisted the urge to help him move about. Father John was seldom cross these days, but he thoroughly disliked anyone putting themselves out on his account. He was determined not only to make his own way but help as he could around the house as well. Which, given his health just six months earlier, was nothing short of a miracle.