Promise to Cherish Read Online Free Page A

imagined, especially as a conscientious objector living in a country at war. Going into town wasn’t even allowed because of the dangers. Conscientious objectors were not liked.
    The relief he’d experienced when his draft appointment had arrived pricked his heart. He had wanted to leave his community—his family, even. But when he arrived at the camp he realized what he really wanted to leave behind was himself. He dug the posthole digger harder and deeper thinking about his disloyalty to those who depended on and loved him. He had taken up with the Civilian Public Service almost joyfully, even making jokes about it. He had gotten himself in too deep back home—with girls, his influence, his lack of responsibility. The one thing he was good at was running the farm. But still, he left without a care.
    He yanked his hat off and wiped away the sweat. The dampness around his head made him colder. Eli pulled the hat deep onto his head. The labor camp work was more draining than anything he’d ever done. Being raised on a dairy farm had always been demanding, but the rewards of the labor made it worth the effort. Here he was working merely to pacify the government. It was just work to keep them busy and away from home. Surely there was more meaningful work they could do.
    “Brenneman,” a loud voice called from a short distance away.
    Eli turned to see one of the camp directors waving him into the administrative building.
    “You in trouble again?” one of his fellow campers said with a chuckle as Eli ran in.
    Eli didn’t feel much warmer once inside the administrative building but was glad to be out of the wind. He went into the office and waited for the director to acknowledge him before he sat down. Stewart Blunt was a nice man, older with deep lines in his brow. He was thorough and friendly, but there was alwaysa measure of sadness around his eyes. Eli watched as Stewart looked over a document with a grimaced face, mumbling as he read the words. It sounded like a buzzing bee. Eli had to keep himself from laughing. Mr. Blunt cleared his throat as he stacked the documents against the desk and then looked up at Eli with a smile.
    “Eli, please, have a seat.” He gestured to the seat in front of the organized aluminum desk.
    Eli sat and his mind spun. Why was he called into the office this time? He’d been in there often. It was a running joke among the other campers that he was always in trouble, but he never was. In reality he hadn’t done anything to get himself into trouble, but the idea usually followed him regardless. He’d once been asked to keep morale up when there had been some unrest regarding the campers in the nearby communities. Another time the director asked Eli to manage the crew building a new chicken house. Yet another time to head up the building of a new fence.
    “We have an opportunity and I think you’re perfect for it.” He paused. “There’s a unit being detached to Poughkeepsie, New York. Thirty men. You’d be thirty-one.” He paused and looked back at the document. His mouth moved while he mumbled what he read. The buzzing returned.
    “What’s in Poughkeepsie?”
    “Hudson River State Hospital. It’s for the mentally unstable, the insane, the feeble-minded. They are over capacity and under-manned.”
    “I don’t know. I’m not sure I’d be any good working in a hospital.”
    “Well, these jobs usually are a mite more specialized. Many of the men in the unit have some college education or experience working in hospitals before. But I think you’ll catch on. So you’re being transferred.”
    “How would I even fit into this group? I only have an eighth-grade education.”
    “You’ll receive training and attend classes once you arrive at the hospital. And, let me assure you, this unit will be there to enrich the lives of the patients and offer custodial care. You’ll bathe them and help them eat—keep them corralled, so to speak. I don’t think you need anything more