A PROMISE TESTED BY TIME AND DESIRE

CHAPTER THREE

Today was one of those days. Anne called to them to be back home in time for supper as Amelie and Matty headed for the pines with a sack of biscuits and a canteen of water slung over their shoulders. They spent every spare moment in the enchanted pines. Under the umbrella of heavy boughs, they created a different world, a world away from chores and parental oversight.

The forest floor was cool and soft, and almost completely shaded from the sun. Rust-colored pine needles crunched underfoot and perfumed the air with their essence. The pines were put on Earth just for them, Amelie was certain of that. A crop of towering pines surrounded by a forest of aspens provided ample entertainment for Amelie and Matthew, and dusk would come uninvited.

Today, Amelie was especially anxious to get to the pines. Will would be there. Her heartbeat quickened when she pictured him. He had grown into his body in a way that made Amelie’s mind wander. He had always been tall for his age, and now he had muscles filling out a physique molded by arduous farm work. Whereas he used to be tall and thin, now he is tall and stacked as strong as an oak.

William and Thomas Bennett lived a mile away from the Carteres, and Amelie had known Will since she could even remember. Though they were not blood related, Amelie’s and Will’s families were as close as they could be, together several evenings for family dinners, regular Sunday picnics, and holiday celebrations. Will’s parents, Henry and Catherine, were good, honest people that believed in hard work and would give what they had if they thought someone else needed it more.

The two families shared so much time together that anyone who didn’t know would have thought they were family. They were there for each other, through the good times and the bad. When the rain wouldn’t come and the summer drought was wreaking havoc on the crops, Catherine and Anne divided up their canned goods so that each family had enough.

Edward and Henry hunted together, and whatever luck they had, whether it was a rabbit or a buck, they divided it down the middle. The many times they had to leave home to help make ends meet, they tried to get hired on at the same ranch at the same time. That’s just how it was. What one had, the other had too.

Something was changing between Amelie and Will, though. They had been friends since they were little and saw each other nearly every day. But recently, Amelie felt tangible electricity whenever she was around him. She was certain he felt it too. Not only was he even more protective of her than usual, but he seemed to find every excuse to spend more time with her. He asked about the books she was reading and what she thought about when she watched the sun set.

Most of her thoughts centered around him. What was he doing when they weren’t together? Did he think of her? Warmth spread through her when she imagined his face. As she and Matty charged through the meadow grass, she counted the minutes until she could once again gaze into his calm blue eyes. She was comfortable with Will. She could be herself and knew that Will wouldn’t let anything happen to her if he could help it.

As they reached the edge of the evergreen grove, a familiar call broke the peacefulness.

“Caaawww, caaawww!” rang Thomas’s small voice impersonating a crow the best way a thirteen-year-old could conjure.

Tommy had a wild streak a mile wide. Everyone he came across could tell that he was full of vip and venom. He was obstinate, and ornery, and thought he could do whatever his nineteen-year-old brother could do, and do it better.

At the announcement of their arrival, Amelie caught her breath. Was Will feeling the same fluttering in his stomach as she was?

“Down here!” Matty returned the call.

As Amelie turned her gaze to the path, Tommy bounded down the hill, jumping over roots and sliding sideways in the soft dirt. Soon after Tommy reached them, she saw Will picking his way down the hill. Their eyes met at once, and immediately a smile spread across Will’s face. She let out the breath she had been holding, relieved at how obvious it was that Will felt it too. He held her gaze until he was standing only feet away from her.

“Amelie,” he said, trying to regain his breath. “I’m… I’m happy to see you here.”

“Of course I’m here,” she smiled. “Why wouldn’t I be?” What she wanted to tell him was that wherever he was, that’s where she wanted to be, but she couldn’t make herself say it out loud.

“I don’t know. I guess I always wonder if you’ll get bored spending your days with us boys and go do girl stuff with Victoria.”

Victoria! She wanted to laugh out loud at Will’s suggestion. As if she would choose to be with Victoria when she could instead be with him. Victoria was the only child of Richard and Esther Blackwood, a neighboring family. They owned and ran the lumberyard and had such an air of superiority about them. Especially Esther. Esther, a woman who seemed to grow more plump with every passing season.

She curled her short brown hair so that it looked like she had placed a puffed-up old hen on her head. In the company of Anne and Catherine, she exploited every opportunity to mention her new dress or new bauble that her husband had surprised her with. She loved focusing attention on how different their lives were, how much better off her own family was.

Her husband Richard was a tall, lanky man with beady eyes too close together and a pointy nose that looked like a steak knife. His skin was pale no matter what time of year and he attempted to cover his balding scalp by combing his sparse black strands over the top. He habitually ran his hand over his head, and the ever-present beads of sweat from his brow plastered his wispy hair in place.

And then there was Victoria. Victoria was as superior as her mother. She often braided her long fiery red hair and then pinned the braids to her head. Her blazing hair was nothing compared to her scorching personality, which she seemed deliberately to direct to Amelie.

Although Amelie was too polite to cause a scene with her, she did cut a wide swath around Victoria if there was even a chance of having to spend a minute with that girl. Amelie absolutely detested very few things on Earth. Victoria Blackwood was first on the list. She couldn’t believe Will would even suggest she wanted to spend time with Victoria, even in jest.