Beyond the Quiet Hills (28 page)

Jacob blinked with surprise and looked down at Amanda, who flushed and snapped her hand away. “Well, now we'll be a matched set.” He touched his bruise, then reached over and touched hers and smiled at her.

Amanda could not help smiling, despite the turmoil that boiled in her heart.

“I'm sorry we missed our dance, but we'll make it up the next time.”

“All right, Jacob,” Amanda whispered.

As she returned to her mother, Jacob watched her go. “I can't figure that girl out,” he whispered to himself, shaking his head. “Or maybe it's me I can't figure out.”

By this time Hawk had returned and said, “I guess we're all ready to leave.”

Philip Baxter turned to say good-bye to Sarah. “I hope I get to see you again.”

“I hope so, too,” Sarah said.

Deborah Stevens put her arm around Iris Taylor's shoulder and said, “Don't think about this, Iris. It wasn't your fault.”

“I can't help it,” Iris said. “I just wish I hadn't come.”

Abigail had moved around, thanking the guests for coming, then she turned to Jacob and Andrew. “Thanks for making my party so special.”

As the Spencers were leaving, Deborah turned and put her eyes on her daughter. “Did you enjoy your party, Abigail?”

“Yes, I did, Ma.”

“Our little girl's all grown-up,” George said fondly.

“Oh, Daddy!”

“Got two fine young men chasing after you. This time next year you'll probably have lots more.”

“Don't tease me, Daddy!” Abigail had a faraway look in her eye. She turned and looked to the square as they were leaving, and her thoughts were on Jacob and Andrew. “We're just good friends,” she murmured.

****

The next morning William Bean rode up to Hawk's homestead and pulled his mount to a stop. He was flushed and out of temper. As he slid off his horse, he turned to Sequatchie and Hawk, who had come out to greet him. “Taylor busted out of the jail.”

“How could he do that?” Hawk asked.

“I think William Crabtree had something to do with it. Several people said they saw him hanging around the jail last night.”

Hawk spoke his thoughts quietly. “Those two will probably turn up again, and I don't think it will be for good.”

“No,” Sequatchie said. “Two bad men. I wonder sometimes why the good men die and the bad ones live, but it is all in God's hands.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Upcoming Events

Hawk straightened up and arched his back, then glanced over at the two boys who were working alongside him in the field. A week had passed since Abigail's party, and he had heard no further news of Zeke Taylor. Secretly he wished the man would just disappear, for he was nothing but a drunk and a troublemaker and probably would never be much more. He worried about what would happen to Iris and Amanda if they went back to the man, and his bronzed forehead furrowed as he considered ways to put a greater fear in Zeke Taylor than he had before.

Andrew was moving evenly beside his father, weeding the grass out of the garden. He was good with the hoe, wasting no motion but moving steadily, the keen blade clipping the grass and weeds off even with the top of the soil. Andrew felt a secret sense of satisfaction as he saw Jacob, who was on his right, struggling. Once Andrew said, “You're gonna cut all the vegetables down, Jacob. You're supposed to be cuttin' the weeds down, not the squash and tomatoes.”

Jacob paid no heed but moved along, well aware that he was not as expert at this as Andrew. He had tried hard, but still it seemed that Andrew had a natural gift for living on the frontier that he would never be able to emulate. It grated on him and made him exercise the greater gifts he had, such as singing and dancing and taking over in social situations.

“It looks like we planted too big a garden, Pa,” Andrew said, stopping to look over the large garden that was now green and rich, with the vegetables plumping out. “We'll never be able to eat all this.”

“Don't plan to, but you remember I told you about the celebration day we're going to have for the Cherokee, don't you?”

“That's right. I forgot that. When is it, Pa?”

“Probably next April. The word is pretty well out now,” Hawk added. “Daniel Boone spread it to some, and Paul and Rhoda, on their travels, I think, got the word to most of the Cherokee.”

“There'll be horse races, won't there?”

“I expect so. Indians love those,” Hawk smiled. “You planning to enter, are you, son?”

“Enter? Why, I plan to win!”

“I wouldn't be so sure of that,” Jacob said. Hawk had recently given him a fine young mare, which he had named Molly. When Abigail had asked him if he had ever known a girl named Molly, he had just winked and said, “I don't kiss and tell, but I always liked Molly for a name.” Now he glanced over at Andrew and added, “My Molly and I figure on taking the prize for the horse race.”

“You seem pretty sure of that, Jacob,” Hawk put in.

“I promised Abigail I'd win it for her.”

Hawk shot a quick glance at Andrew, for he and Elizabeth had often talked of how jealousy had arisen between the two boys over Abigail Stevens. He could not blame them much, for she was, without a doubt, the prettiest girl in the settlement. Not just his own boys, but all the other young men in the settlement and the outlying districts found occasion to stop by the Stevenses' place. Oftentimes they made an excuse, claiming a horse had strayed or asking if the Stevenses needed fresh-killed squirrels when they had shot a great number. Now he saw that Andrew was silent, and it troubled him. Hawk felt caught between the two, and rather than hurt the feelings of either one, he simply decided to stay neutral. “Well,” he said, “I guess it's time for a break. I sure could use some water.”

“I'll go get a bucket, Pa,” Andrew said and ran off. He was growing more muscular, and yet he was light on his feet.

Hawk watched the boy go and said, “He sure is like his father. I wish you could have known him, Jacob. He was a fine man.”

Overhead, sturdy clouds were beginning to gather. The tops were pure white, but underneath they were streaked with dirty gray, and Hawk observed, “I think we're going to get some rain out of those clouds. The crops could use it.” When he got no response he felt awkward, and finally he said, “I haven't had a chance to talk to you since the party, son.” Jacob did not answer, and Hawk found himself having a difficult time forming what he wanted to say. He was basically a man of few words, but he longed to break through the shell that Jacob had built around himself. He turned and said, “I haven't had a chance to tell you how proud I am of you for the way you stood up for Amanda.”

A sudden touch of joy came to Jacob Spencer then. He wanted his father's approval more than he would admit to himself, and now he basked for a moment in the compliment before saying, “It was nothing.”

“Yes, it was something,” Hawk said at once. He stepped forward and put his hand on Jacob's shoulder, noting that the muscles were growing and that the boy was taller than he had been when they had left Williamsburg. “I want you to know that I'm mighty glad to have a son willing to stand for somebody who needs help.” He would have said more, but at that time Andrew came back with a bucket of water and a dipper and he ended the conversation.

As they went back to work after their drink, Jacob thought,
Things have changed between me and Pa since I came here. It's getting better
. At the same time as this thought warmed him, he was aware that he was still not able to totally accept Hawk Spencer as a father. However, he was beginning to think of him as a friend, and now the thought came to him,
He's a good man now, even if he wasn't all the time I was growing up. Maybe someday I'll be able to forget all the old memories about how he left me
. The thought cheered him, and he began to whistle cheerfully and moved faster to catch up with Andrew, who decided to make a race of it.

Hawk watched as the two boys worked down the rows, raising a cloud of dust, while overhead the clouds grew darker. Soon it began to sprinkle, and at the first drop Hawk said, “Let's get in out of this rain, boys.”

****

At dinner that evening, Elizabeth listened as Jacob described how he had crept up on a buck and shot it. It was his first deer kill all by himself, and he had been inordinately proud to bring that doe home and dress it himself. When he had finished telling the story, she smiled and said, “That was real good, Jacob. You've become quite a hunter.”

“Sure have,” Hawk said. “Couldn't have done better myself.”

“Well, I couldn't have done it if you hadn't taught me, Pa. You and Sequatchie.”

“We all have to learn. Sequatchie taught me the same things. Why, I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn when he first got ahold of me,” Hawk smiled. He leaned back in his chair and thought of those days when Sequatchie had saved his life and then promised to teach him the ways of the forest if he would stay and read the Bible to his people.
Best day's work I ever did
, Hawk thought as he looked around the table studying his family.
If I hadn't met up with Sequatchie, I wouldn't have all this now
.

As she fed Hannah, Elizabeth said, “Sequatchie is eating with Iris and Amanda tonight.”

“Yes,” Hawk nodded. “He's really looked out for those two.” Glancing at the boys, he grinned and said, “He's so busy with them, some of the work is piling up. I think we'll all have to pick up the slack when Sequatchie goes with Paul and Rhoda on their next trip.”

Sarah perked up and said, “When are they leaving, Pa?”

“I'm not sure. It won't be long, though.”

“No, it won't,” Elizabeth said, and a strange expression came to her eyes, and her lips turned upward in a smile. “They won't be gone long this trip.”

Surprised, Hawk looked up. “Why do you say that? They usually stay for months.”

“Not this time.”

Now Elizabeth had everyone's attention, and Hawk looked at her and said, “What's in that head of yours, wife?”

“I suppose,” Elizabeth said after pausing, “it's all right to tell you.” She smiled broadly then and clasped her hands together and squeezed them. “Paul and Rhoda are going to have a baby, and Paul wants to get back before Rhoda's too far along.”

“Well, how about that!” Hawk exclaimed.

“They're so happy,” Elizabeth said. “We'll have to pray that the baby comes and that Rhoda will be all right.”

For some time talk ran around the table, mostly about the baby that was coming, and Paul and Rhoda. Finally Elizabeth spoke up and said, “I have some more news for you.”

“What's that?” Hawk asked. He had half risen and now sat back down in his chair. He studied Elizabeth's face, admiring again, as he always did, the fair complexion and the lively green eyes that decorated her heart-shaped face. “What's going on that I don't know about?”

Elizabeth said quietly, “We're going to have a baby, too.”

For a moment there was another silence, then Hawk Spencer let out a whoop. Jumping from his chair, he ran over, pulled Elizabeth to her feet, and began to dance her around the room. He hugged her so tightly she gasped, “Hawk, you're going to squeeze me to death!”

“I'd like to almost,” Hawk said. “When will it be here?”

“I hope it's another girl,” Sarah chimed in.

“No, I want a brother this time!” Andrew protested.

“No!” Sarah said, reaching over and striking him with her fist. “It's time for another girl. That way there'll be three girls and two boys.”

Hawk said with calmness in his eyes as he looked at Elizabeth, “I don't care what it is. I just hope it looks like you, boy or girl, and not me.”

No one seemed to notice that Jacob had grown quiet. The news of an oncoming baby had stirred something in him again, and he did not understand it. Thoughts would arise in him from time to time that he seemed to have no control over, and now he was thinking,
Pa wants another son—one that will be like Andrew
. He looked at Elizabeth, whose face was filled with joy, and then the thought came quickly,
At least this baby won't be abandoned like I was
. For a moment he felt ashamed for thinking that. He realized all that Hawk had tried to do to make him feel at home.

He was, however, caught by emotions that were too strong for him, and finally he slipped out of the cabin and walked for a long time through the woods, oblivious to the rain that was still falling lightly. It ran down his hair and down his back and soaked his clothes. Suddenly he looked up with a start, realizing what he was doing. He turned slowly and headed back for the cabin, thinking,
I wish I could get my head straight. Why do I have thoughts like this? Why can't I be happy like Andrew is?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Celebration With the Cherokee

Hawk leaned over and picked up Joshua Spencer. The sight of the three-month-old made him smile, as always. “You're going to be a handsome man, just like your pa,” he whispered. Joshua had been born in late January. Hawk had had to help with the delivery because Deborah Stevens had trouble getting to their cabin through the snow. Everything had gone fine and Hawk exulted in this new son of his.

Iris Taylor, who had come in to help Elizabeth get the children ready, smiled. “It's amazing how much that child has grown. I believe he'll be as big a man as you are, Hawk.”

“I hope he'll be smarter,” Hawk said. He cradled the baby in his arms for a while, listening as the women in the kitchen were running around trying to get the food ready to go. Finally, putting the baby down, he passed through the kitchen as they discussed the upcoming day of celebration and talked about seeing friends who had not been in the settlement for some time.