Beyond the Quiet Hills (36 page)

Soon Jacob left, and as Abigail watched him, she suddenly was confounded to find herself, after the thing was done, unsettled and uncertain. It was not the first time she had felt like this, but she had thought it had passed away. Now she thought,
I bet all young women feel a little shaky and nervous after they have taken a man
. She went inside and began talking with her mother about her plans—what would be done, the dress to be made—and a peace came to her again, and she was happy.

****

The buying of the land and the coming of the Cherokee elders occupied everyone in Watauga in one way or another. Everyone wondered what would happen, and Sequatchie grew weary of telling the settlers that he could not speak for the rest of this tribe. Finally he left to get away from some of the pressure. He didn't go far, but he sought the seclusion of the wilds, as he often did.

At the end of the week, a large group of the settlers had gathered at Watauga to make plans for the upcoming events. The Spencers greeted the Stevenses. “Welcome to the family, daughter,” Hawk said as Abigail entered with Jacob. He took her hand and patted it and smiled warmly. “Our family is getting so big I'm going to have to make different plans, but if Jacob doesn't treat you right, you just let me know.”

Abigail had always admired Hawk, and now as Elizabeth came up and gave her a kiss, again she felt warm and secure.

“Come along,” Elizabeth said. “You and your mother and I are going to have to talk about this wedding. We're going to make it the best anyone ever had in Watauga.”

Andrew had been standing off to one side saying little, but now he came to Abigail and said quietly, “Congratulations, Abby.”

“Why, thank you, Andrew.” She tried to think of something else to say, but someone caught her attention and she turned away, missing the hurt and disappointment that showed on his face.

Sarah had come, along with Amanda, and Sarah whispered, “Come on. We want to hear all about it.”

Amanda followed the two as they went into Sarah's room. She forced herself to appear interested, but her heart was heavy. She had known for some time that she was in love with Jacob Spencer, but it was useless to think of such things now. She watched the beautiful young girl before her and thought,
I'm so plain and homely. Even if Jacob weren't in love with Abigail, he would never look at someone like me
.

“Come on, Abby,” Sarah was saying. “Tell us all about it. When did he ask you? What did he say?”

Abigail laughed and went into the details of the courtship. Finally Sarah said, “You know, I always thought you and Andrew might fall in love, and then we'd be sisters.”

Abigail stared at the younger girl with surprise and then she smiled. “We'll be sisters anyway.” She reached out and took Amanda's hand and said, “And you, too. We'll all three be sisters together.”

“Yes,” Sarah smiled. “Won't that be good, Amanda?”

“Yes, it will. I never had a sister before, and now I have two of them.”

****

Finally, after a great deal of talk and gossip and cooking on the part of the women, Paul Anderson rose to speak to the group. As soon as they were all gathered, he grinned and said, “I suppose all of you have learned by now that when three or more people get together I'm going to preach a sermon.” He waited until the laughter had died down and then said, “I think it's important at times like this that we stop and see where we are. All of us are making plans for buying land. Some of you are thinking of building a bigger house for the children that are going to be born. I want to preach to you about making plans, but first I would like for Rhoda to sing.”

Rhoda did not move, but from where she stood, she suddenly began to sing softly the folk hymn
What Wondrous Love Is This?
—a favorite of the Appalachian frontier. She sang the first verse in Cherokee, which brought a smile to Sequatchie's lips, and she sang the second verse in English. As the words rang out over the crowd, reminding them all of what Christ endured so that all might be forgiven, there was a sweetness and purity, not only in her voice, but in her eyes, as she stood there singing:

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,

What wondrous love is this, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of life

To lay aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,

To lay aside His crown for my soul?

The sound of her voice rose over the clearing, and everyone stood transfixed, listening to the minister's wife. Elizabeth, especially, was pleased.
She's come so far
, she thought,
and now I know at last she's found her place
.

After Rhoda sang, the congregation sang several songs together, and then Paul began to preach. His sermon was very simple. He quoted the scripture “Prepare to meet thy God” from the Old Testament. Then he continued to speak of making preparations. He first of all repeated what he had said about how many worldly preparations there were to be made, then he paused as he looked over the group. Finally he said, “But I want to remind myself and to remind you, friends, that there are other preparations, too, that are far more important than buying land or building a house. We must prepare for the day when we will stand before God. One day you will be there as I will be there, and we will look into the face of God, and He will look into our hearts, and only one question is important: What did I do with the Lord Jesus Christ?”

The sermon was simple but powerful, and finally, when Anderson said, “If there is one here who is not prepared to meet God, who does not have Jesus Christ and His precious blood covering his sins, now is the time to do that. Is there anyone who wants to meet the Lord and be converted?”

A sound of sobbing came, and Iris looked around with shock to see her daughter go forward. Tears filled her eyes as she saw Amanda greeted by Rhoda and Reverend Anderson. The two wrapped their arms around the young girl, and Iris could see Amanda weeping as the two prayed for her.

Abigail was happy to see Amanda go forward, then she whispered, “Look, Philip's going, too, Sarah!”

Sure enough, when Sarah turned to look, she saw Philip Baxter go forward, and she was happy. She whispered back, “Isn't that wonderful?”

Abigail suddenly turned and watched Jacob. The two of them had not said much about God. They were both always at every service, of course, but as she watched Jacob's face, she saw it reflect some sort of a struggle.
Why, he's under conviction!
Abigail thought. She began to pray for him, but then she saw a hardness come to his face. He dropped his head, bit his lip, and stood there staring at the ground.

As the others began to go forward to wish Amanda and Philip well, she saw Jacob turn and walk away quickly, as if fleeing the place. A troubling thought sent a chill through Abigail. This man would be her husband, and yet he was not sharing in the joy of seeing others come to Christ.
What if I've made a mistake?
she wondered. She had no time to think on it, for she was caught up in the celebration, but the thought would not go away. The happiness that had been hers when she had risen that morning now fled, and she felt alone and disturbed.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Transylvania Purchase

Richard Henderson had moved very quickly after Lord Dunmore's War. Late in January 1775, he loaded six large wagons with trading goods and took them to Sycamore Shoals, where he stored them in specially built huts. The settlers and the Cherokee began to gather during the middle of March. After several days of festivities and talks, the underlying business of the meeting began to surface.

It was Henderson's determined proposal to buy outright the whole Cumberland Valley and the southern half of the Kentucky Valley. He offered to pay ten thousand pounds of English money, two in cash and eight in merchandise. Not everyone approved of Henderson's plan, for the land had already been sold by the Iroquois in 1768 and had been claimed by Virginia. Many said it would be foolish to pay the Cherokee for land already relinquished by the Iroquois. Still, the leaders in the area knew that it was the Cherokee who would have to be pacified.

During the preliminary period, Hawk and Sequatchie watched carefully so that there would be plenty of food for the gathering. The settlers contributed generously, and as the two of them stood talking on the day of the most important meetings, Hawk said, “I'm glad it has gone so well.” He looked around at the food that had been prepared and at the women who were working so cheerfully, then added abruptly, “I'm glad Crabtree didn't show up.”

“Probably miles away,” Sequatchie shrugged, “like Zeke Taylor.”

“I'm not so sure of that,” Hawk replied reluctantly. He looked over at the Indians who were watching the preparations carefully and shook his head. “I just want this meeting to go well—no one to get hurt.”

“I don't think they're in this part of the country. Boone has been looking for them, and he says he hasn't even heard anything about them.”

“I wish Boone were here,” Hawk remarked. “But he's working on that trail to Kentucky. He's so sure that this is going to work he wants a road ready.”

“I believe he likes Kentucky best.”

“I think so. If this land deal goes through, I think he'll settle there.” Once again he looked around at the crowd of settlers and Cherokee and shook his head. “We'd better pray that this thing goes all right.”

All of the great Cherokee chiefs had come to Sycamore Shoals, including Oconostota, the Little Carpenter, and others. Most of them did not wear their native dress but were wearing matching coats with ruffled shirts above their leggins. Several of them wore British medals, or more than one. Dangling from their earlobes were bangles, while around their necks gadgets of metal or beads hung low. It was a crowded gathering, for over twelve hundred braves, marked with colorful tattoos, some with slashes on their cheeks or forehead, crowded as closely as they could. Many of them, like Dragging Canoe, the son of Attacullaculla, were pockmarked from the ravages of smallpox.

The settlers poured in from everywhere so that over six hundred Wataugans gathered for the meetings. Finally Henderson and his associates brought out the merchandise that had been carried by wagon over the mountains, but it was not yet time.

Festivities and games had to take place first with much feasting, but finally the heart of the matter was reached. The Little Carpenter eloquently spoke for the merger. At the age of eighty he still had power in his voice and in his eyes and he swayed many.

As soon as he finished, Chief Oconostota vehemently spoke against the sale, but it was Dragging Canoe who was by far the most hostile of all the Indians. He began by depicting the ancient glories of the Cherokee before the advent of the white men. Finally he cried out, “Where are all our grandfathers, the Delaware?” A murmuring went around the many braves, and he cried dramatically, “Will all of these goods satisfy the white men? No! They will simply want more, and sooner or later they will have all of the land that is ours!”

Finally the Indians demanded time to speak among themselves, and it was at this meeting that Attacullaculla persuaded the older chiefs to comply with the sale.

Dragging Canoe stood up abruptly. “I will never yield another foot of our land to the white men!” He turned and moved his hand to encompass the land, and his voice was loud and clear as he said, “A dark cloud will hang over this land. It will be a dark and bloody ground for those who come to settle in it!” Whirling, he turned and stalked away, leaving the council.

Hawk said quietly to Sequatchie, “We will hear from him again. It will be bloody indeed, my friend.”

Sequatchie shook his head sadly. “He is a man of blood, and your people will pay the price for coming over the mountains.”

Finally the sale was done, and on March 19, Elizabeth and Hawk made their way back toward their homestead. They had come in a wagon, bringing as much food as they could spare, and now as Hawk slouched, holding the lines easily, he was thinking over what had taken place.

“Is the land really ours, Hawk?”

Turning to Elizabeth, he nodded. “Yes. It's ours.” He smiled at her then, put his arm around her, and drew her close. “You were worried about it, weren't you?”

“Yes, I was.”

They rode on for a while saying nothing. The children were in the back of the wagon, exhausted from their long days, while Jacob had ridden home with Abigail, and Andrew had disappeared.

Elizabeth suddenly turned and put her hand on Hawk's arm. “It's all come true—Patrick's dreams.” When he looked at her with a slightly puzzled expression, she said, “It was back over the mountains that he first told me he wanted a place for me and for his children. He's not here now, but the place is here, and Patrick's dreams are coming true.”

“That's good,” Hawk murmured. He held her close then, but he was thinking not of Patrick MacNeal's dreams but of the bitter words of Dragging Canoe:
“It will be a dark and bloody ground.”

Part IV

The Young Lions Roar

July 1775-July 1777

The young lions roar after their prey,
and seek their meat from God.

Psalm 104:21

Chapter Thirty

Revolutionary Fervor

Ever since the end of the French and Indian War, trouble had been brewing between England, and her colonies spread out along the eastern seaboard of America. These colonies were vastly different in many ways. In effect, the southern planter on a tobacco farm in Georgia had very little in common with a merchant in Boston. They were, however, united in one respect—they were all Englishmen who had become accustomed to having a firm say in their own destiny. Somewhere between the time that Queen Elizabeth I drew her last breath as Queen of England, and King James I drew his first as Sovereign of England, the British people lost their taste for absolute monarchy. And so it was in America. As England pressured the Colonies to pay what they considered their fair share of the French and Indian War, more and more of these transported Englishmen felt they were being turned into a community of serfs and slaves.