A PROMISE TESTED BY TIME AND DESIRE

CHAPTER FOUR

While the boys ran the winding maze of trails wrapped throughout the pines, Amelie and Will worked to clear the fallen branches that threatened to crush their childhood fort. The fort had started as a simple makeshift shelter of pine boughs and saplings. But it grew into a fairly substantial structure, bigger and more complex with each passing year. Construction on the fort had slowed as they got older, but Amelie wouldn’t let the fort go to complete ruin. It was a symbol of their childhood, their innocence, and held too many memories to become dilapidated. As she worked, she stole glances at Will, who seemed to know just when to look up to lock eyes with her. They smiled shyly at each other, but held the gaze a little longer each time.

“I thought I’d go to the creek to collect some rocks for the garden,” Amelie announced as Tommy and Matty climbed the ladder to inspect the roof of the fort.

Dropping the branches he had been holding, Will said, “I’ll come with you.”

“Well, you don’t have to. You probably should stay here and help the boys,” she said, nodding to Tommy, who had just nicked his finger with his pocket knife. “I’ll be right back.”

“You’ll need help carrying the rocks back,” Will protested.

“I’ll put them in my knapsack. It won’t take me long.”

Even as Amelie heard herself declining Will’s help, she wondered why she hadn’t agreed to his coming along. She only ever daydreamed about spending time alone with him. But perhaps it was best if he stayed with the boys to avoid the trouble that surely would ensue without him. She knew Tommy would think of something dangerous to do without his brother’s common sense to stop him.

“Okay,” Will conceded hesitantly. “But hurry back, Amelie. Straight to the creek, get your rocks, and straight back,” he said as he nodded his head in the direction of the creek and back to the pines. He raised his eyebrows to ensure she understood.

Her stomach flipped again as she realized his obvious concern for her.

“Yes, Will, don’t worry.” She smiled at him.

She took a drink from the canteen, grabbed her bag, started up the hill.

“Matty, be good. I’ll be back in a minute.”

She looked again at Will, who seemed hesitant about her leaving the clearing, but he said nothing and simply nodded, and she went on.

Once she climbed the hill to the top of the ridge, she stopped to admire the view. This was a sight she would never grow tired of. The majestic mountains in the distance steeped in various hues of blue, and the endless aspen forests unfurled before her. As much as she loved the pines, her favorite tree was the aspen with its beautiful white bark, distinctive black knot holes, and of course, their splendid autumn display of pure gold. Amelie couldn’t help running her hands along the soft, almost powdery bark as she hiked the winding trail to the creek.

By this time in the summer, King’s Creek had slowed to a meandering, lazy flow of cold mountain snow melt and was only a few feet across at its widest point. During the run-off season, and depending on the winter’s snowfall, King’s Creek could be filled with muddy, rushing torrents that far exceeded the banks’ capacity. But when spring gave way to summer, King’s Creek was filled with brook trout who were eager for a worm, and the creek would be calm enough to traverse the slippery rocks in bare feet. She loved King’s Creek. She traced some of her earliest memories of idle summer days to its banks when her father showed her how to throw her line in the water and her mother set up the blanket and picnic lunch they had packed.

By far, the best spot on King’s Creek was Coon’s Cove. The creek flowed into a natural pool dammed by beavers. A huge willow tree hung over the pool, dipping in a few branches for a cooling swim. This was the best spot to catch little Brookies and to wade and swim.

Just up from the cove, an enormous pine tree had long ago fallen across the banks. They used this as a bridge from one side of the creek to the other. The bark had fallen off and all that was left was the smooth gray, weathered wood. While they sat together on the log, dangling their feet toward the water, her dad had showed her the secret of letting her fishing line drift with the current into the pool and into the shade of the willow tree where the little trout rested. Amelie smiled as she ambled across the bridge. When she was little, the log seemed so far above the creek that if she were to fall, she surely wouldn’t survive. But in reality, it was no more than two feet above the water. Amelie couldn’t have dreamed a more perfect place than King’s Creek.

She gingerly walked along the bank of the creek, inspecting the shallow rocks through the trickling water. It didn’t seem to matter where she looked, a swarm of baby minnows drifted back and forth with the current or a water skipper darted across the water’s surface. When the angle of the sun was just right, Amelie saw flecks of gold resting on the sand. It was easy to get lost in her thoughts here. Especially as of late, it was easy to get lost in thoughts of Will.

She first noticed something different about the way she felt about Will the day she walked to his house to deliver a sack of flour to Catherine. He mustn’t have noticed her approaching. He was focused on sawing a large log that was propped across the saw horses. Holding the log steady with his left hand, his strong arm quickly moved the handsaw through the wood. With each movement, his hair swayed against his forehead, keeping up with his perfect rhythm. When the log gave way and fell to the ground, he straightened to catch his breath and ran his hand through his hair, revealing those piercing blue eyes. Amelie was mesmerized. But then he caught sight of her and nothing compared to the smile he flashed, as if he had caught his first ray of sunshine that day. And suddenly Amelie was the one out of breath.

She poked a stick into the creek’s edge to loosen some promising stones. She thought of all the countless times she and Will had been together as small children, laughing and running through the mountain meadows. How one time he had searched through the night with her until they found her cat, Lulu, and the other time he carried her home on his back after she tripped and twisted her ankle so badly that she couldn’t walk for a week. Will just had a way about him. It wasn’t just the physical changes that Amelie found so attractive. He had strength, yet gentleness. He was tolerant, yet steadfast in his beliefs. And when he looked at her, she believed he would give everything to her if she asked.