Alfred L Patrick

Journey to the Light Alfred L Patrick

Near the beginning of the Great Depression in a small Appalachian community in Virginia, Preston Patterson, a boy not yet a teenager, reluctantly made a difficult, life-changing decision. In order to earn money to help his struggling family, he quit school to work in the dark, cramped caverns of an underground coal mine. He labored in dangerous conditions that were also unbelievably harsh and punishing. Unfairly blamed for a miner's death and severely beaten by a fellow worker, Preston vowed he would someday repay his attacker in kind. The young man learned of the pitiful plight of Kentucky coal miners and their starving, ill-housed families and found himself too close to a deadly clash between miners and coal operators' guards. Preston suffered injuries and narrowly missed death in Virginia and West Virginia mines. After another decisive encounter between Preston and his long-time foe, the furious and irrational man vowed he would kill the young miner. Will Preston survive a final, harrowing, cataclysmic encounter with his enemy? Will he live long enough to act on his strong attraction to and deepening feelings for a pretty, young girl?