A Bride for Noah
Authors: Lori Copeland
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Scripture taken from:
The King James Version of the Bible
The Holy Bible, New International Version
®
, NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, by Biblica, Inc.⢠Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
www.zondervan.com
Cover by Garborg Design Works, Savage, Minnesota
Cover photos © Chris Garborg; Bigstock / Andrushko Galyna
Published in association with the Books & Such Literary Agency, 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-5370,
www.booksandsuch.biz
.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors' imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A BRIDE FOR NOAH
Copyright © 2013 by Copeland, Inc. and Virginia Smith
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Copeland, Lori.
A bride for Noah / Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith.
pages cm.
ISBN 978-0-7369-5347-4 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-5348-1 (eBook)
1. BridesâFiction. I. Title.
PS3553.O6336B75 2013
813'.54âdc23
2013010143
All rights reserved.
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I lift up my eyes to the mountainsâwhere does my help come from?
My help comes from the L
ORD
, the Maker of heaven and earth.
P
SALM
121:1-2
Contents
November, 1851
Elliott Bay, Oregon Territory
T
hat's it! I'd bet my life on it!”
The moment their dugout canoe rounded the Duwamish Head and plunged into the bay, Noah Hughes knew their search had ended. For days their Indian guides had led them on an exploration of the Duwamish River, skirting the vast mudflats of the river delta, but they'd seen no likely place to plant a new city. But here lay a small headland in the center of Elliott Bay's eastern shore. The dense tree line came nearly up to the bank, the vast forest so thick Noah could barely see past the first row of immense cedars. The water of the bay moved swiftly, but even so the surface was smooth enough to be nearly glassy.
“Would you look at that?” David Denny had his eyes fixed on the skyline. Noah had come to respect the young man over the past few months since joining the small group of frontier adventurers who'd recently arrived from Cherry Grove, Illinois.
He followed David's gaze. There, above the top of the trees, stood the tallest mountain he'd ever seen. The solitary Mount Rainier, with its snowcapped jagged peaks, seemed to stand sentry over the primeval forest that covered this lush part of Oregon Territory. Though they'd seen it from their current camp at Alki Point, from this perspective the mountain took on a majesty he had not noticed before.
“Impressive.” He scanned the shoreline. Up ahead a flat peninsula of ten acres or so extended into the river, connected to the shore by an isthmus and forming a small tidal lagoon. Just beyond the peninsula a wide tributary emptied into the bay. Though he needed a closer inspection before being certain, it looked deep enough to suit their purposes. “What do you think?”
The shadow of a smile played about David's lips. “It's worth exploring. This bay is isolated from the Puget Sound, so it's probably sheltered from the harsh weather that Arthur is convinced will flatten Alki Point. Let's test the depth.” Arthur Denny, David's older brother and the acknowledged leader of the Denny Party in their exploration for a new home, had sent them on this expedition. After several days of fruitless searching, Noah had begun to worry that they would have nothing to report.
He readied the hundred-foot length of rope they'd brought for this purpose, secured a half-dozen horseshoes to the end, and dropped the line overboard. To his surprise, the horseshoes took the line all the way down without touching bottom. Excitement flickered inside as he exchanged a grin with David.
“Let's test over there, closer to the island.”
While Noah recoiled their makeshift sounding line, David spoke to their guides from the Duwamish tribe using a few words he had picked up in their language, accompanied by wide gestures and much pointing. When the good-natured natives maneuvered the dugout to the place indicated, Noah repeated the process. The line sank forty feet.
He pointed toward the place where the river emptied into the bay. “I'm guessing the current from the river has dredged a natural channel here. Plenty deep enough for seagoing ships.”
They requested that their Indian companions take the dugout ashore, and over the next several hours Noah's certainty that they had, indeed, found the ideal location for their new settlement increased steadily. Timber grew in seemingly unlimited quantities,
and yet they discovered several clearings of rich, arable land suitable for farming.
As they entered one such glade, David stopped, a gleam in his eyes as he scanned the landscape. “This is it, Noah. I feel it here.” He planted a fist in the center of his chest. “As soon as I'm old enough, I'm going to stake my claim to this spot. I'll build a cabin for Louisa right over there. And then we'll be married.”
Noah looked where he pointed. Yes, the landscape was flat here, the foliage sparse. Clearing enough space for a good-sized cabin wouldn't be too difficult. He surveyed the area, surrounded on all sides by cedar and fir trees. Overhead, the sun blazed in a sapphire-blue sky. Birds called to one another from far above, their songs accompanied by the distant sound of water splashing over a rocky bed.
“If I were you,” he told David, “I wouldn't wait until I was old enough. I'd go ahead and stake this claim now in someone else's name. Your father's, perhaps, since he isn't interested in living here. I have a feeling this settlement isn't going to stay secret for long.”
The younger man's eyes narrowed, and then he nodded. When he looked back at the glade his lips formed a satisfied smile.
Watching him, Noah experienced a pang ofâ¦something. Not jealousy, exactly, though any man might envy David for capturing the heart of the beautiful, vivacious Louisa. No, Noah's recent experience with a strong-minded woman was enough to put him off marriage for life. What he envied was the utter happiness he saw in David's face.
Maybe someday the Lord will see fit to send me a bride too.
No. He shook his head to dislodge the unexpected thought. What he longed for after the disaster of the past year was peace and a quiet life. If the Lord really loved him, as his mother used to assure him, He'd grant him a prosperous life free from complications. Let David have the care and responsibility of a wife. Noah would stake his own claim in this fertile land of opportunity, and he would do it alone.
December 19, 1851
Elliott Bay, Oregon Territory
D
ear Uncle Miles,
Christmas greetings to you and Aunt Letitia, though no doubt by the time this missive reaches you the season will be long past. I must say, I look forward to bidding the holiday farewell. A fog of gloom has settled over the camp these past weeks, and grows heavier as Christmas day approaches. The men are obsessed with thoughts of past celebrations, and as a result, do not perform their work with the enthusiasm and energy they displayed when we first settled here. At times even the Denny brothers seem to lose their passion for this venture, though only a handful of us are privy to their concerns. Before the men they maintain a confident outlook.
Of course, the lack of women in the camp contributes to the sense of gloom. The only women the men have seen since arriving are Mary, Arthur Denny's wife, and her sister Louisa, and they are both spoken for. The men grow heartily sick of one another's company. As for the weather, more than two weeks have elapsed since the sun appeared. The blue skies of autumn are gone, and winter has brought with it an unbroken canopy of gray.
And rain. It seems an entire ocean has fallen from the skies in recent days. We pray for snow, because frozen ground would be more conducive to transporting our logs from the forest to the water's edge. Sometimes the
mules are fetlock-deep in mud. Alas, the natives tell us snowfall in these parts is typically light, if it falls at all.