Thunder Over Black Mountain — Dorothy Mitchell

Driving her white Volkswagen from California to the Colorado mountain community of Greenville was not as fun-filled for Kristin Donlon as it could have been. She was not on a pleasure trip, but keeping a promise to her Uncle Martin to “look after” his teenage daughter, Poppy, for the coming school year in the hope that Poppy would become a less difficult and happier person in the mountains. Kristin hoped that she would succeed in her task, for her reward was to be a year in Paris to study art -- a dream never fulfilled because of financial problems.

Before the girls reached Uncle Martin's cabin in Dark Valley, Kristin had a brief but unpleasant encounter with a dark-haired man who drove a Mercedes. His cool blue look and arrogant manner chilled Kristin -- whose Volks had not even scratched his car -- but she did not forget him.

Jon Ashcroft was not the only thing on Kristin's mind. It soon became apparent that someone wanted her and Poppy out of the cabin, for what reason Kristin could not imagine, but odd things were happening gradually. Kristin tried to cast aside her fears and enjoy the magnificent scenery around her, a perfect setting for her oils.

Then Kristin learned that Jon Ashcroft planned to subdivide his High Valley land into small tracts that would house one hundred new homes. The Dark Valley residents objected strenuously, and Kristin leaped into the fray to fight Jon in a court battle that led to more conclusions than she would have thought possible.