Fire and Steel, Volume 3

by Gerald N. Lund

  Edie reached across the table and took both of his hands. “And why were you afraid we’d be disappointed? Because you’re not staying at the Y? MJ went to Utah State in Logan because they had a better program in livestock and range management than BYU did at the time. We told him to go where he could get the best education.”

  Relief flooded Frank’s face. “Thank you for saying that, Mom, because . . . um . . . well, because they had another recommendation, too.”

  The smile on her face slowly died. “I don’t understand.”

  “The plan is for me to attend the U of U, but only for one year as a non-matriculated student.”

  “Then what after that?” Edie asked in dismay.

  Frank shook his head. “The dean is setting up a special math and physics tutorial program designed to prepare me for an entrance exam that I must pass if I am to be accepted at another school.”

  “Another school?” Mitch asked slowly. “That doesn’t make sense, Frank. What—these guys can’t make up their mind about where you should go?”

  Frank was staring at the table again. “Oh, they’ve made up their minds. It’s MIT.”

  “MIT? What is that?” Edie cried.

  But Mitch was staring at him. “Are you serious?” he finally asked.

  Pleased with his father’s reaction, Frank nodded. “Yes, MIT. Can you believe that? The dean at the U called the dean at MIT and told him about me. They agreed that if I can pass their entrance exam next spring, I’ll be offered a full-tuition scholarship and additional living expenses for MIT.”

  Mitch was stunned into silence.

  Edie reached across and gripped Frank’s arm. “What is MIT?” she asked again.

  Mitch answered for him. “The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In Boston. It’s one of the most prestigious scientific and technological schools in the entire United States.”

  Edie rocked back, tears springing to her eyes. “Massachusetts? No, Frank! No!”

  Frank took both of her hands and squeezed them. “I know it’s a long ways away, Mom, but I’ll be here for another year.”

  It barely registered. “But you said that the U has a good academic reputation.”

  “Not like MIT, Mom. This is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

  Just then, Tina came over. “Dad, Benji and Abby want you to come and push them on the swings. They won’t let me do it.”

  Mitch nodded. “Okay. Tell them I’ll be there in a few minutes, but we need to talk to Frank right now.”

  She pulled a face but turned and went back to the twins.

  “Is the U really that much better than the Y?” Edie persisted. “If all you’re doing is preparing for the exam?”

  Frank’s face flushed a little. “The people at MIT specifically told the dean that they were only willing to extend this opportunity if the University of Utah certified that I had studied with them.”

  “And why would BYU be less attractive to MIT?” Edie asked, clearly irked. “Because it’s a Mormon school?”

  Frank turned to his father for help. To his surprise, Mitch nodded. “That’s probably part of it. There’s still a lot of prejudice against the Church back east. Part of that is from plural marriage, and also there’s still a lot of controversy from the Reed Smoot hearings, when they tried to stop him from being seated in the United States Senate.”

  “Plural marriage?” Edie cried. “We haven’t practiced that for thirty years!”

  “I’m not saying that it’s justified or right, Edie. Only that some prejudice may still linger. But much more likely, it’s the question of academic reputation. Just like you said. MJ went to Logan because it was a stronger program. MIT obviously thinks that the U’s math program is stronger than the Y’s. And MIT is so prestigious, they can demand such things.”

  Grateful for the support, Frank spoke to his mother. “That’s kind of what the dean said, too.”

  Edie wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed back tears. “I understand. I don’t like it, but I understand.”

  Another thought came to Mitch. “And what about a mission? Will MIT let you out of your scholarship for two or three years? Think of what it would mean if you were called to Germany. Think how that would look on your record. Some of the great mathematicians and physicists of the world come from Germany. You could study their writings in their own tongue.”

  Frank was silent, staring past his father at the mountains in the distance. Finally he spoke in a voice low enough that his parents had to lean in a little to hear him. “I’m not sure why, but the dean at the U asked the admissions person that very question. The answer he got was a quick, hard, flat no. He didn’t think they’d even let me back into school if I left for a mission, let alone keep my scholarship.”

  Then his voice lifted. “But I’ll be done with my bachelor’s degree when I’m twenty-two,” he said eagerly. “I can go then, and then come back for a master’s and a doctoral degree later.”

  “If they’ll let you,” Mitch said, clearly not happy about this.

  Frank’s lips tightened as he ignored that. “So? Mom, Dad, do I have your blessing to make this change?”

  Edie didn’t hesitate. “Of course.” She looked at Mitch, but he was looking away. “I’ll miss you like fury,” she went on, “but I never thought we’d keep you in Utah for all of your schooling.”

  “Thank you.” He paused and then asked, “Dad?”

  “Is there anything else you haven’t told us?” Mitch asked.

  “Uh. . . .” He quickly looked away.

  Edie gave a low cry of dismay. “What else, Frank?”

  “I. . . . The dean wants me to be in Salt Lake by Monday morning. He’s going to try and find housing for me and get me started on my application and all of that stuff. He wants to start my classes right away.”

  “So you’re not even coming home with us,” Edie said dully.

  “Mom, I’m sorry. I really looked forward to it, but we wouldn’t get there until tomorrow afternoon, and I’d have to leave Sunday morning to catch the train back. And I haven’t even started to pack. I’ll for sure come home for Christmas.”

  “Christmas? What about Thanksgiving?”

  “I’ll try, but at this point I just don’t know.”

  Or maybe you’ve already decided, Mitch thought. But he said none of that and instead stood up. He went around the table. Frank got to his feet as well, and Mitch embraced him. “Your mother is right, Frank,” he said huskily. “This is an amazing opportunity for you. And we are very, very happy for you. And very proud, too.”

  “Thank you, Dad. That means a lot to me.”

  Edie came around and joined in the embrace. “But that doesn’t stop the tears from coming.”

  Frank looked as if he were close to tears too. “I am going to miss you and the family so much.”

  Mitch turned and looked to where the kids were playing. “I think your sister needs to hear this from you. She’s been so excited about you coming home. Mom and I will go push the twins on the swing. You tell her, and then we’ll go get something to eat.”

  “Okay.”

  12:41 p.m.

  When Frank finally finished, Tina sat there in silence, looking like she was close to tears. So he reached out and put his hand over hers. “Be happy for me, Tina. I am really excited about this.”

  “I am happy for you,” she said. “Really happy. This is incredibly neat. But I’m going to miss you. Not just this summer, but when I come up here to attend high school. With you at the Y, we would have seen each other all the time.”

  “I know, but. . . .” He shrugged his shoulders. “Sometimes things just don’t work out like you hope.”

  “I know,” she said forlornly. Then her head lifted. “So what does this mean about your mission?”

  Frank flinched, and then his expres
sion darkened. “Did Dad tell you to ask me that?”

  “No!” She was clearly offended by the question. “I just wondered.”

  So he told her about what the admissions office had told the dean. “Maybe I could go after I finish my bachelor’s degree, before I go on to graduate school,” he concluded.

  Her head came up. “Could? Not would?”

  “I . . . I’m not sure. That will depend on whether I stay at MIT or not. And there are other factors, too.”

  “Did you tell Dad this?”

  He looked away.

  For a long time Tina studied him, making him finally start to squirm. “What?” he finally demanded.

  “I know I’m only twelve, and a stupid girl in your eyes, but do you even want to go on a mission?”

  The question caught him by surprise. “Uh . . . I . . . um . . . That’s still four or five or six years away. But yeah, I think so.”

  She just shook her head.

  “It’s not that easy, Tina. My education is really important too, you know. And I’m going to a school where there’ll only be a few Mormons, if any. That will kind of be like going on a mission.”

  Her eyes wouldn’t let him go. “I think you should pray about it.”

  “I’m sixteen, Tina. A mission is still years away. I don’t need to pray about it yet.”

  “Meaning you don’t want to pray about it,” she said quietly.

  His temper was rising, and he almost told her that all of this was none of her business, but then, even surprising himself, he said, “If I tell you something, you have to promise you won’t tell Dad. Or Mom.”

  She said nothing.

  “Promise, or I won’t tell you.”

  “Oh, all right. I promise.”

  He took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and exhaled wearily. “To be honest, no, I don’t want to pray about it.”

  “Why? What are you afraid of?”

  He couldn’t meet her gaze. “That the answer will be yes, go on a mission. And if it is, I’m not sure I want to know that.”

  Chapter Notes

  Senator Reed Smoot was elected to be a United States Senator from Utah in 1903 while serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Immediately, a group in Salt Lake sent in protests to Washington accusing Smoot of supporting plural marriage and of being loyal to the President of the Church first and his country second. After a long and divisive fight, Smoot was officially seated in 1907. He went on to serve for over thirty years in the Senate and was a powerful influence in changing negative stereotypes of Mormons (CHFT, 468).

  The Brigham Young Academy (BYA) was founded in 1875. In the beginning, its focus was to provide primary and secondary school education with a religious emphasis. When the name was changed to Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1903, the academy continued and came to be called Brigham Young High School (BYHS). BYU is now the largest private university in the United States.

  The University of Utah was founded by the Mormon pioneers in Salt Lake City in 1850, just three years after their arrival in Utah. It was originally called the University of Deseret. Ironically, it too was founded by Brigham Young, but it was a territorial school for all of Utah’s citizens. In 1892 its name was changed to the University of Utah, and it is now a renowned teaching and research university.

  Any details about programs, names of faculty members, and other administrative aspects of BY High, BYU, the U of U, or MIT are not based on historical information but are my creation.

  September 3, 1921, 5:45 p.m.—EDW Ranch

  Adelia rocked back and forth slowly as she stared out the big picture window of the ranch house. “Oh, Edie,” she murmured, “no wonder you love this place so much. I still can’t believe the view, and right out your front window. This is—what? Our fourth or fifth time down here? And I never get tired of this view.”

  “Mitch gets the credit for that,” Grandma Westland said with a smile.

  “Yes,” Edie said. “Before we were ever married, he brought me up here and showed me where he planned to build the cabin. Then he turned me around so I was looking in the same direction you are right now and said—”

  “Do you want your house facing the La Sals or the San Juans?”

  All three women jerked around as Mitch and Jacob entered the living room.

  Edie gave Mitch an affectionate smile. “And I said the La Sals. No question about it.”

  “I love it,” Adelia replied. She started to rock back and forth again. “And I love this rocking chair.”

  June and MJ came in from the kitchen. “That was Dad’s wedding gift to Mom,” June said.

  “No!” Adelia cried. “It’s that old?” As Mitch hooted, Adelia blushed to the roots of her hair. “Oh, dear. I didn’t mean it that way. I just—”

  “Mitch,” his mother said to him sternly, “stop teasing the guests, or they won’t be coming back.”

  “Good luck with that one, Grandma,” said MJ, and then he motioned toward the window. “The front porch is in the shade now, and it’s starting to cool down. Let’s go out there.”

  That was met with universal approval, and they moved enough chairs outside to supplement the porch swing. Adelia carried the rocking chair out herself.

  Once they were settled again, MJ looked at Edie. “What time did Rena and Rowland say they’d be here, Mom?”

  “I didn’t talk to her,” Edie responded. “Grandma did.”

  Gwen turned. “Around six. About another quarter of an hour. Are the coals in the barbecue pit ready, Mitch?”

  “Almost. I checked them a few minutes ago. But when Charlie and Lem get here, they’re going to want to play with the rest of the kids. And Rena and Rowland are going to want to sit and visit with our guests too. So I think we should hold off on starting the meat for half an hour or so.”

  Adelia turned to her husband. “Are our kids okay?”

  He grunted. “Are you kidding? They’re in seventh heaven. Especially Liesel.” He looked at the others. “There are a lot of kids in our neighborhood, but no girls her age. So to have Abby and Edna June is wonderful for her. She can’t stop giggling.”

  “And what about Little Jake?” Adelia asked.

  “Oh, he was mad at Liesel because she said he’s too little to play the game they’re playing. So he was trying to catch one of the cats the last I saw him. Unsuccessfully, fortunately. He’s not the most gentle kid when it comes to animals.”

  “We’re not worried about that,” June said. “Those cats are stray, and if they don’t want to be caught, they won’t be.”

  Mitch got up, looking down toward the town. “I think that’s Rowland’s car just turning up the road now. I’ll get a couple more chairs.”

  6:08 p.m.

  With the addition of Rena and Rowland, there were now nine adults on the front porch basking in the cool breeze coming down from the heights of the Blue Mountains. No one seemed in any hurry to start thinking about supper. And a good part of that, Mitch realized, was because there were no children. They were still fully engaged in their game of hide and seek. It felt good for the adults to have some time to relax.

  Jacob was talking to Edie and Mitch’s mother. “So,” he was saying, “the last time I saw Frank on campus, which was over a week ago, he told me that he was leaving for Boston in a few days. Did you get to see him before he left?”

  “We did,” Gwen replied. “The whole family went up last Monday and met his train at Thompson Springs. The train only stopped for about fifteen minutes, so it was brief, but we all got to say good-bye to him.”

  “I’ll bet that was so hard,” Adelia murmured.

  “It was. I thought that Benji and Abby would be hit the hardest by it, but it was Tina. She just sobbed and sobbed.”

  “Yeah,” MJ quipped. “Who will she fight with now?”

  “Don
’t joke about it,” June said, slugging him. “We were all bawling by the time the train pulled out again.”

  “Will he be able to come home for Christmas?” Adelia asked.

  “He’d better,” Edie snapped. “We’d hoped for Thanksgiving too, but it takes almost two days coming by train each way, so probably not.”

  “But he’ll come for Christmas for sure,” Grandma Westland said. “For all the bravado and stiff upper lip and all that, he was pretty close to tears too. I think the reality of being that far away was finally hitting him.”

  “Well, he sure is a fine boy,” Jacob said. “I’m sure he told you, but we saw each other on campus quite often and went to lunch together three or four times.”

  “He did tell us that,” Mitch said. “And we so appreciate you doing that, Jacob. It meant a lot to him and to us.”

  “It was my pleasure. He is an impressive young man, and barely seventeen. I mean, ninety-eight percent on that test he took for MIT? That’s incredible.”

  Mitch and Edie exchanged quick glances, and then Edie, obviously irked, said, “All he told us was that he passed it and got his scholarship.”

  “Ninety-eight percent,” Jacob said, his voice tinged with awe. “He missed only two questions. And a friend of mine in the math department said that he saw the test and it was a killer.”

  “Well, he certainly doesn’t get that brilliance from us,” Edie said, fighting tears.

  “I just worry about him being that far from home,” Gwen said, “and not knowing a single soul.”

  Mitch reached over and patted his mother’s hand. “You know he’ll be all right, Mom. He’s pretty self-reliant.”

  “Which comes from growing up on a ranch, I’m guessing,” Adelia said.

  “Yeah,” Mitch replied. “By the time he was thirteen, he was out riding the summer range all by himself, sometimes out there for a week or more on his own. He really is something special.”