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“What do you have against Kentucky?”
“I don’t want to live as my parents have. And I can’t see that my life will ever improve if I don’t move away.”
They sat down at the entrance to a small cave where the sun shone directly on them. “It seems we have different ideas about what the future holds for us,” Clark said, disappointment evident in his voice.
Beth was sorry to have hurt Clark’s feelings, but she had to be honest with him. “I thought I should tell you.”
Clark drew a package from his pocket “This may not be the kind of gift you want, but even if we don’t agree on the future, I know that you’ll never be truly content unless you follow the way of life presented in this book. If you want to serve other people, the path starts here.”
Unsuspecting, Beth opened the package and found a Bible. Trying to stifle her disappointment, she murmured, “Thank you,” wondering why he thought she would want a Bible.
Beth had attended church with her grandmother a few times, so she had some basic knowledge about what the Bible was, but she’d never read it for herself, and it felt like a heavy weight lying in her hand and on her heart. Perhaps sensing this, Clark said, “I hope you’ll read it, and a good place to start would be the New Testament. A new way of life will open to you when you read these words.”
“I don’t know, Clark,” Beth said hesitantly.
“You do believe in God, don’t you?”
“I haven’t thought about it a lot.”
“Promise me you’ll read it.”
He took the Bible from her hands and opened it “Why not start with the Christmas story?” He turned to the second chapter of Luke. “‘And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.’”
The reverence in his voice and the intent expression on his face disturbed Beth, and she quickly took the Bible from his hand.
“All right, I’ll read it, but I have to go home now. I told Mom I wouldn’t be gone very long. I’m worried about her, Clark. I think she’s sick and won’t tell me. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her. Daddy can’t stay by himself, so I would probably have to quit school and stay home to take care of him. I love my parents, and I suppose my decision to be of service to others should start at home, but I can’t bear the thoughts of being stuck in that hollow for the rest of my life.”
Clark put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as they walked along the narrow trail. “I’ll take care of you, Bethie.”
Before they parted, Beth said, “I didn’t know what to give you for Christmas, but I thought you might like this.” She withdrew the photo of herself from her pocket and handed it to Clark.
His face lighted, and he kissed the photo. “You couldn’t have given me anything to please me more. I wanted one of your pictures and thought of giving you one of mine, but I was afraid I’d get you into trouble.”
“It’s true that I can’t have your photo around the house.”
Clark pulled her into a tight embrace, and when he lowered his lips to hers, a new, strange emotion stirred in the deepest recesses of Beth’s heart. Since it was strange, it was also frightening; but as Clark’s kiss intensified, the tender, sweet feelings that swept over her seemed so wondrous and precious. Was this love? Would it persist, or would she awaken tomorrow wondering what had sparked this rare emotion?
Beth’s arms were around Clark’s neck when he lifted his lips, and she looked long into his eyes, trying to interpret what message they held for her, but Clark didn’t leave her to wonder.
“I love you, Bethie. I have since the first day I saw you, and I’ll love you until I die.”
“How can you be so sure?” Beth murmured. “Lots of things could happen to turn your love from me.”
“I guess I’m like Daddy. The minute he saw my mother, he knew she was the girl for him.”
“I care for you, too, Clark. I think about you all the time when we’re apart. But you know as well as I do, there’s no future for us together.”
He shook his head as if he wouldn’t accept her decision, but she pulled away from him after placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.
As Beth walked down the mountain, she thought of what she had experienced when he’d kissed her. She didn’t want to love Clark. She wanted to love a man who would take her away from Harlan County, and Clark obviously wouldn’t. Not that Beth had anything against Kentucky in general. She wouldn’t mind living in Louisville or Lexington—she was just tired of Warner Hollow, and she wanted to get away from her half brothers, who were always in some kind of trouble with the law.
When she got home, Beth locked the Bible in a small cedar chest in her room, but that night after she undressed, she retrieved the Bible and took it into bed with her. The room was too cold for her to stay up for long, but she did open to the Gospel of Luke where Clark had told her to read. The account of the birth of Jesus was interesting, but it meant no more to her than a story she might read in a history book. As she leafed through the pages of the Bible, she noticed that Clark had underlined certain verses. She didn’t read all of them, but one caught her eye, and she read aloud, “‘Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly contemned.’”
Was this another way Clark had of declaring his love for her?
Beth tucked the Bible under her pillow and turned out the light. As she snuggled under the heavy quilts, she thought of the two gifts Clark had given her today—his love and the Bible. Sleep would have come much more quickly if she hadn’t been beset by the overwhelming certainty that her future happiness depended on the value she placed on those gifts.
As Beth dressed for the day she remembered that Christmas Eve long ago. She recalled how, in spite of her dreams of the future, she had never believed that she could achieve the goal she had now reached. Her good fortune had come about as a result of a scholarship. During her last year in high school, she had applied for and received a grant awarded annually by Shriver Mining Company for the orphan of a disabled miner.
The grant had guaranteed funds for a five-year curriculum or less, depending upon the choice of careers. It provided for tuition, books, housing, food, and a transportation allowance. The recipient of the scholarship would matriculate at a college in eastern Pennsylvania that was heavily endowed by Shriver Mining Company, and she could choose from a variety of vocations, most of them specifically planned for service in the coalfields. All of this had sounded fine until Beth came to the last few lines.
This scholarship is conditional upon the willingness of the recipient, after graduation, to return to Kentucky and work for two years in the coalmining region, using her training for the good of the people in the area. The recipient will be compensated by the prevailing wage at that time in the profession she has chosen.
Beth’s disappointment had been as keen as a knife wound when she’d read that stipulation, for she had considered the scholarship a ticket to a life outside Kentucky, and momentarily, she had considered rejecting it, but would she ever have a better opportunity for advancement? Probably not.
There had been no money from any other source. She had accepted the scholarship, and latently remembering her dream to be a second Florence Nightingale, had registered in a five-year program that would qualify her as an advanced registered nurse-practitioner. She’d completed her training in four and a half years by taking classes at night and during summer sessions. She had also worked for a year, at a minimal wage, in the maternity department of a local hospital in order to be certified in midwifery. Her strenuous schedule had left her no free time, and she hadn’t been back to Kentucky since she’d left
In fact, she hadn’t wanted to come back even now. But she had committed herself, and she had an eleven o’clock appointment in Lexington with Milton Shriver, CEO of Shriver Mining Company. As she accessed I-75, heading north, a glance at her watch showed that she had two hours remaining until then.
No wonder Shriver Mining could afford to pay my way through college, Beth thought when she drove into the company’s paved parking lot and found an empty spot reserved for visitors. The four-story brick building had been built ten years ago, she noted on the cornerstone. If she could work here, perhaps her two years of service, which she had been dreading like a prison sentence, might not be too bad.
Beth was a little worried about her appearance, for her wardrobe was limited. She had dressed this morning in a gray wool suit she’d found at a thrift shop. It looked nearly new and the classic tailored style didn’t look totally out of fashion. She wore it with a green blouse that enhanced her eyes, and had added the pearl necklace and earrings that had been a high-school graduation gift from her grandmother. She had applied makeup sparingly except for an extra dab of foundation below her eyes, which were weary from lack of sleep.
As Beth entered the building, her small supple body was mirrored in the gleaming front door, and she appraised her appearance. She couldn’t afford anything better, but overall her outfit looked fashionable.
“I have an appointment with Milton Shriver,” she said to the receptionist, in a voice that trembled slightly.
“Your name?” the woman inquired, looking Beth over curiously, making her wonder if the receptionist could tell she was wearing secondhand clothing.
“Beth Warner.”
The woman spoke into the intercom. “Beth Warner to see you, Mr. Shriver.”
“Please show her to my office,” a deep voice answered.
“This way,” the tall, well-proportioned woman said, leaving her chair with one fluid movement and indicating that Beth should follow her. Their footsteps made no noise on the thick carpet as they moved down the hallway, the walls of which were lined with portraits of past company officials.
The receptionist opened the door into a large room decorated with framed black-and-white photos of mining activities in an earlier period, and said, “This is Mr. Shriver, Miss Warner,” and motioned Beth inside.
A portly, graying man, probably in his sixties, Shriver left his desk and came to greet Beth. “It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, Miss Warner. I had hoped that you would pay us a visit before this.”
“I didn’t have any time for visiting. I kept to a heavy schedule so that I could finish my training early. Besides, Grandmother Blaine, my guardian, died the summer I went away to college, and I didn’t have any other ties here. This is the first time I’ve returned to Kentucky since I went away to college.”
Seating Beth in a chair near his desk, Shriver said, “We’re pleased with your college record. It’s customary for the director of student affairs at the college to give us an annual report on the progress of our scholarship recipients. You’re to be congratulated for your achievements.”
Beth accepted his praise with a nod. “I owed it to Shriver Mining to learn as much as possible. I appreciate winning the scholarship—I could never have gone to college without it. And now, what am I to do for the next two years?”
Shriver smiled. “We hope that you will consider working many years for our firm, but after two years, you are free to make your own decision.” He intertwined his fingers as he contemplated. “We were pleased when you chose the nursing profession, because one of our greatest concerns is the health of our miners and their families. And there’s a trend in our area for women to prefer home birthing, so your training in midwifery was an excellent choice.”
“My paternal grandmother was a rather famous midwife, and I may have inherited the desire to follow in her footsteps.”
“We’re currently launching a program of health care and are anticipating your help in getting it started out. We plan to establish an outpatient clinic—which we want you to organize and manage—with a major focus on service to women and children. Our miners’ families can come there, at minimal cost, for their health needs. And you would also be available for assisting at home births if the women prefer that.”
“There wouldn’t be a doctor at the clinic?”
“Yes, in a supervisory role. Wesley Andrews, a notable doctor in the area, would be at the clinic a few hours each week, but you will take part of the heavy load he carries by monitoring blood pressure and similar problems, giving immunization shots, and treating colds and flu. But maternity care will be your major focus, with prenatal and postnatal instruction as you can fit those classes into your schedule. Later on, if this proves successful, we will build other clinics. This will be a pilot project, and your success will greatly influence our plans for expansion. What do you think?”
She stared at the man for a few minutes—incredulous that he would expect one person to do all that work. And a person with so little professional experience, besides.
“It sounds rather overwhelming, but I’m hardly in a position to refuse,” she replied honestly.
Shriver laughed lightly. “I’ll admit I would be disappointed if you refused this assignment, but I also know that if you aren’t willing, aren’t excited about the project, it won’t be successful.”
“Of course, I’ll accept it and do the best I can. It sounds as if it could be a great benefit to the miners and their families. Where’s the clinic located?”
“Near Shriver Mine No. 10 in Harlan County.”
Beth clutched the arms of the chair as dizziness swept over her, and the face of Milton Shriver faded before her eyes.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, as he rose to assist her. “Are you ill?”
She waved him back to his chair, swallowed with difficulty, and tried to force a smile. “You gave me quite a shock. I was born in Harlan County and lived there until I was sixteen years old. Memories of my childhood aren’t pleasant, and I’d hoped that I would never have to live there again.”
Shriver’s face showed his surprise. “When you graduated from high school in Prestonburg, we naturally assumed that was your home. I didn’t know that you had any connection to Harlan County.”
“It’s been home to the Warners for over two hundred years, but I moved to Prestonburg with my maternal grandmother after the death of my parents.”
“Under these circumstances,” he replied kindly, “I won’t hold you to your agreement to take over the clinic, but I would like for you to take a week to look over the situation before you reject it completely. I’ll have one of our executives accompany you to Harlan County and show you the clinic and the area where you would work. He’s an expert on conditions in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky. Just a minute, I’ll have him come in—he’s planning to take you to lunch.”
Shriver walked to a door that opened into an adjoining office.
“Will you come in now, please?” A man then appeared in the open doorway, and at first, Beth didn’t recognize him; he looked so different from the man she had once known.
“Beth, I want you to meet Clark Randolph, although Clark tells me that you’re already acquainted. Clark will be your supervisor—your contact with the company.”
Again, dizziness assailed Beth, but she struggled to her feet, wanting to run away, and the face she had once known so well blurred before her. This couldn’t be Clark—no longer a miner, but a well-groomed executive, dressed in a dark business suit, silk tie, and white shirt, looking right at home in the headquarters of Shriver Mining Company.
But when he walked toward her, she knew it was Clark. Clothes couldn’t change his graceful, easy tread, and his steady and serene gaze, which held her spellbound when he held out his hand. “Hello, Beth.”
“Hello,” she squeaked, and her voice sounded unnatural. Desperately needing some link to steady her nerves, she gripped his hand tightly, and even in the trauma of the moment, she noticed that his hands were not rough to the touch as they had been the last time she’d seen him.
Why had she ever come back to Kentucky? If she had taken a job elsewhere, she could eventually have repaid Shriver Mining the amount of the scholarship.
Milton Shriver looked from one to the other, his eyes keen question marks. Try as she would, Beth could not control her emotions. Clark had expected to see her, and he seemed to be at ease. In such a short time, how could Clark have progressed from an underground miner to the position he held here? Beth felt as if her face had a plaster cast over it, and she could hardly move her lips when she turned to Shriver.
“When do you want to see me again?”
“This afternoon or tomorrow, after you and Clark have had an opportunity to talk over your work.”
“I guess I’ll need to check into a motel if I’m going to be here a few days.”
“That will be at our expense, Miss Warner. Clark will take care of it for you.”
“Thank you.” Without looking at Clark, Beth turned and walked out into the hall, but she could hear his footsteps behind her, and when they reached the front office, he said to the receptionist, “Stephanie, I’ll be out of the office for a few hours.” The woman favored Beth with a sharp glance, and Beth wondered if Stephanie could sense the tension between herself and Clark.
Clark opened the door for Beth, then took her arm as they went down the steps. Her nerves tightened at his touch.
“We’ll go in my car,” he said, and he led her to a red sport-utility vehicle, which had Shriver Mining Company emblazoned on the door. When she stepped inside, the last vestige of control to which she had so tenaciously held, deserted her, and she dropped her head on the padded dashboard and sobbed—hard, wrenching sobs that shook her entire body. As far as Beth could remember, she hadn’t cried since she’d left Kentucky, but now she couldn’t stop as she sobbed out the frustrations and disappointments of a lifetime. Clark remained silent, though from time to time she felt his strong hand tenderly touch her shoulder or stroke her hair.
Last night, she had determined to forget the past, but as Clark drove quietly out of the parking lot and accessed Interstate 64 heading east, Beth’s thoughts turned to the tumultuous incidents that had taken her away from Warner Hollow.
After the Christmas when Clark had declared his love for her, eastern Kentucky had been plunged into two months of inclement weather that closed the schools for weeks, and when they reopened, Beth was marooned at her home in Warner Hollow for an additional two weeks.
Consequently, she fell behind in her studies and her grades weren’t nearly as good as they had been the first semester. She rarely saw Clark. They exchanged a few words on the school bus and passed an occasional note, but there was no opportunity to discuss what had happened between them on Christmas Eve.
When spring came, Clark signed up for the softball team, and he practiced after school and played on Saturdays. He took his father’s car to school so he could have transportation home after ball practice, so he didn’t often ride the bus.
One Friday afternoon in late April, however, Clark boarded the bus, and he sat beside Beth and slipped a note into her hand. She secreted the note in the pocket of her jacket, but she went to her bedroom as soon as she could and read his words: “Meet me at the tree stand, Sunday afternoon.”
Beth was excited to have the opportunity to see Clark again, and she thought about it constantly until it was time to meet him. She hurried up the mountain, and she was panting when she reached their rendezvous, disappointed to find that she was there ahead of Clark.
He came before too long, apologizing. “We were late getting home from church this morning, and we have another meeting tonight, so I can’t stay long.” He drew her into his arms. “I’ve missed you.”
“Same here. I thought the winter would never end.”
They climbed the ladder and sat on the platform. The sun shining through the tree branches showing the first signs of foliage was warm and relaxing.
“Looks as if the squirrels used our place as a kitchen table this winter,” Clark said as he brushed acorn hulls and hickory-nut shells from the wide boards.
He sat beside her, with his arm around her shoulder, and Beth leaned against him.
“Beth, will you go to the prom with me?”
She drew a quick breath. “Oh, I wouldn’t dare. It might start the feud again.”
“Who’s left to fight? Hardly any Randolphs live around here except my family, and we aren’t going to be involved in a feud.”
“My half brothers would pick a fight with anyone. As you may have gathered, I’m not very proud of my relatives. My sister, Luellen, doesn’t like me, and the two boys are always in some kind of trouble. They would sue you in a minute if they thought they could make any money off you.”
“We don’t have any money, so I’ll risk it. Will you go with me?”
“Let me think about it.”
Wanting very much to attend the prom, Beth asked her mother for her permission, omitting the fact that freshmen couldn’t go unless they went with an upperclassman.
“You’d need a new dress, I reckon.”
Her heart lightening, Beth said, “I can send a letter to Pam, and she could pick out something suitable at that secondhand store. I’ve gotten through this year with the clothes she helped me to buy. She’ll know what I need, and it won’t cost much.”
