Midnight Rescue / The Proposal / Christy's Choice (24 page)

Christy was sitting beside David. Behind them, Bessie lay across both seats, with the doctor nearby across the aisle. Bessie looked very pale and weak, but the combination of the doctor's medicine and Granny Barclay's tea seemed to have her pain under control.

Ruby Mae seemed unable to sit anywhere for more than two seconds.

“Are we going yet?” she asked excitedly, leaning over Christy and David to look out the window.

The train lurched forward and sent Ruby Mae sprawling over Christy's lap.

“
Now
we're going,” Christy said with a laugh.

“Sorry, Miz Christy,” Ruby Mae said breathlessly, taking a seat behind Bessie. “I ain't been on no train afore. It's got me as jittery as a bug on a hot skillet.”

The train began to pick up speed and pull away from the little station house at El Pano.

“Lordamercy!” Ruby Mae said. “We're practically flying! Look at how the trees just shoot right past till they's nothin' but a blur.”

“I'd guess we're going at least twenty miles per hour now,” David said. “We'll get up close to forty on the flatter stretches of track.”

“It don't seem possible,” Ruby Mae said. “Aren't you excited, Bessie? Ain't this just the best thing ever?”

Bessie managed a tired smile. “It is a wonder,” she agreed.

“You let me know if the pain gets worse,” Doctor MacNeill told her.

Ruby Mae chattered on, remarking on every new twist and turn in the railroad track. And there were plenty of twists and turns. Sometimes it was impossible to see any ground outside the window, because the track ran right along the edge of sheer drops that plunged down hundreds of feet.

Here and there, Christy caught sight of tumbledown shacks stuck back in the trees. They were gray and shabby, just like the homes of most of her students. No running water, no telephones, no indoor plumbing, none of the luxuries that people in the cities took for granted. Sometimes it seemed as if these small cabins had been marooned there, trapped by the sheer walls of the mountains and unable to escape.

The train wound through tunnels and across narrow bridges over the swollen river below. At times it climbed slowly, straining against the force of gravity drawing it downward. But with each turn, the mountains opened a bit wider. The flat stretches grew longer. The curves grew less extreme.

They had only been traveling for seven hours, but it seemed to Christy that Cutter Gap was a million miles behind them.

And then she saw it—Asheville.

It, too, was nestled in the valleys between mountains. But these mountains were small and tame. Here, the houses were white-painted clapboard or dark brick. There were proper chimneys poking through steep shingled roofs. Streets were paved in most areas, with curbs and shade trees in neat lines. Everywhere she looked, Christy saw telephone wires strung on tall poles.

As the train slowed to enter town, it ran parallel to a road. A beautiful dark blue Deusenberg motorcar, driven by a white-gloved chauffeur, kept pace for a while.

“Look at that!” Ruby Mae exclaimed. “That's one of them automobiles! My, don't it look fine?”

“Yes, it's probably heading for the Biltmore Estate,” Christy said. The Biltmore Estate, which belonged to the famous Vanderbilt family, was more of a palace than a home. It rivaled anything ever created by French kings or English lords.

“Do you know the Vanderbilts?” Doctor MacNeill asked.

Christy blushed. “Of course not. I've never met Mr. Vanderbilt. Although I have seen him in Pack Square on occasion. I don't suppose he will be in town at this time of the year. The high season doesn't begin until summer.”

“Ah, yes. When all the idle rich who live off the labor of others escape from sweltering New York and steamy Richmond and stuffy Washington, D.C.,” Doctor MacNeill said gruffly. “They come to the mountains to breathe fresh air for three months.”

Somehow, Christy got the impression the doctor did not entirely approve of Asheville's wealthier residents. She noticed him looking critically at a frayed patch on his jacket. Was he actually feeling unsure of himself? Was he self-conscious about looking rustic? It didn't seem possible that Neil MacNeill could ever feel uncertain about anything.

She glanced over at David. He was looking out of the window. His gaze seemed to be drawn to each church steeple that came into view. His face looked troubled and a little wistful.

“That's the church I was baptized in,” Christy said, pointing to a particular stone steeple. “I used to sing in the choir. Badly, I'm afraid. That's the church where you've been invited to speak.”

“A church that size must have quite a congregation,” David said thoughtfully.

Christy noticed that even Ruby Mae had fallen silent. She, too, was staring out of the window, looking just a little intimidated.

“Are you excited to be here at last?” Christy asked her.

“Folks has all got so much here,” she answered. “Automobiles and fine houses and such. I seen some of the women as we passed by. They was all dressed fit for a wedding or a funeral. I don't s'pose these fine ladies would even stoop to speak to someone who looked like me.”

“Ruby Mae, that's not true,” Christy said earnestly. “This is where I come from. And have I ever been haughty to you?”

“No, Miz Christy,” Ruby Mae said. She smiled in relief. “I 'spec you're right. Folks is just folks, no matter how they look on the outside.”

“I'm sure you'll have a good time in Asheville, Ruby Mae,” Christy assured her. Still, she couldn't help recalling the way some residents behaved cruelly toward mountain people visiting the city. They called them hillbillies or hicks, among other names.

“I'll tell you what, Ruby Mae,” Christy said. “I have more dresses than I could ever need. We'll find something that will fit you just fine, if you like. And we'll get something nice for Bessie, too. Pretty soon she'll be back on her feet, and we'll all be having a wonderful time together.”

But as she smiled reassuringly at her friends, all she saw in their faces was worry.

They were met at the station by Christy's parents.

“Christy!” they cried in unison.

“Father! Mother!” Christy ran to their open arms. “You haven't changed, either of you,” she said, when at last they released her.

“Of course not,” Mr. Huddleston said. “It's been less than six months. What did you expect? To find me with a white beard down to the ground?”

“It seems as if so much time has passed,” Christy said. She turned to her friends. David and Neil were busy helping Bessie from the train onto a stretcher.

Christy felt a pang of guilt. She should have helped Bessie first,
before
rushing to see her parents.

“This is one of my students, Ruby Mae Morrison,” Christy said.

“Ruby Mae!” Mrs. Huddleston practically yelled in excitement. “It's Ruby Mae!”

Ruby Mae looked startled.

“You must understand, Ruby Mae,” Mr. Huddleston explained, “Christy writes us letters full of all the events in Cutter Gap. She always mentions you in those letters. We feel as if we know all about you.”

“You write about me in letters?” Ruby Mae asked Christy.

“I only tell people the good parts,” Christy teased.

“And that must be Doctor MacNeill and David Grantland,” Mrs. Huddleston said.

The two men carried Bessie on a stretcher toward a waiting ambulance for the ride to the hospital. The doctor helped make her comfortable inside, while David joined Christy and the others.

“Very pleased to meet you both,” David said, extending his hand.

“Reverend, we'll be going now, if you're coming,” Doctor MacNeill called out. “Oh, and pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. and Mrs. Huddleston. I must apologize for hurrying off, but—”

“We understand perfectly,” Mr. Huddleston said quickly. “The young lady's health is infinitely more important than introductions. Please, we'll all meet later at the house.”

“I should go with them,” Christy said.

“Are you coming, Reverend?” the doctor asked again.

“I'll be right there,” David called.

“I'm coming, too,” Christy said.

“I'm sure the two men can manage quite well,” Mrs. Huddleston said. She put a hand on Christy's arm. “Why don't you and Ruby Mae come with us? Your father is dying to show you his new toy.”

“What new toy?”

Christy's father grinned. “I bought one of Mr. Ford's Model T's.”

“You bought a new automobile?” Christy cried in surprise.

“I did indeed,” Mr. Huddleston said, beaming.

“Miz Christy! Miz Christy! I ain't never rode in an automobile,” Ruby Mae said excitedly. “Lordamercy! A train and an automobile, all in the same day. Won't the others back in the Cove just curl up and die o' green envy when I tell them?”

“Go ahead, Christy,” Doctor MacNeill said. “Ruby Mae will never forgive you if she doesn't get her Model-T ride. And there's no room in the ambulance, anyway. It'll be cramped, as it is. You can stop by and visit Bessie later.”

As Neil, David, and Bessie pulled away in the ambulance, Christy felt a strange sensation. It seemed wrong, somehow, to let them go without her. Still, it was certainly true that she wasn't needed at the hospital. And she and Ruby Mae would both be there for the operation.

Just the same, Christy felt she'd made a mistake, as if she'd failed some test for which she was unprepared.

“Come along, dear,” her father said, reaching for her arm. “Let's take you home.”

Six

T
he ride in the Model-T was exciting, especially since Christy's father was bursting with pride in the new machine. They took the “scenic route,” as Mr. Huddleston called it. It took twice as long to get home as it would have if they had simply walked. He drove all over town, showing Ruby Mae the sights.

Ruby Mae never seemed to run out of energy, but Christy was soon tired. They'd been up since long before sunrise, and it was now late in the afternoon.

Finally, they arrived at Christy's home. To her surprise, it felt familiar, yet somehow alien. It was as if she had never left, and yet, at the very same time, as if she'd been gone forever.

When she went inside and climbed the stairs, Christy found her room completely unchanged. It was just the way she had left it.

There was the desk where she had done her school lessons when she was younger. It sat nestled against the window, so she could look out over the street and watch the horse wagons and automobiles pass by.

There was her armoire, door open to reveal the dresses, skirts, and bright blouses, she hadn't been able to take with her to Cutter Gap. On the shelves above were hat boxes.

And there was her oak vanity with the oval mirror. The brushes and combs she had chosen not to take with her were still neatly laid out on a starched lace doily.

Christy sat down on the velvet stool and looked at her image in the mirror. It was startling. There weren't any major changes in her reflection, just so many small ones. Her hair had not been properly cut in some time, and it was somewhat dull and lifeless. When she had lived here at home, she had brushed it a hundred strokes each night. But that habit was hard to keep up at the mission, where she often simply collapsed in exhaustion at the end of a trying day.

Her face was windburned and red from the sun. And her hands were no longer as soft as they had been. She often did her own laundry now at the mission, in harsh lye soap.

“Miz Christy?”

Christy saw Ruby Mae appear in the mirror behind her. She turned around. Ruby Mae looked awestruck, like someone who was entering a great cathedral.

“Come in, Ruby Mae,” Christy said.

“Was this your room?”

“Yes, this
is
my room.”

Ruby Mae wandered around slowly. She touched the books in their shelves. She went to the armoire and just stared, dumbfounded. “Are all these yours?” she whispered.

“Yes, they are,” Christy said. “I know it seems like an awful lot of things. . . .”

But Ruby Mae wasn't listening. She went to the bed and reverently stroked the soft down comforter.

Suddenly Christy felt terribly uncomfortable. Ruby Mae lived at the mission now, but before that she had lived in a cabin as rough and simple as any in the Cove. All her life she had seen nothing but simple, crude furniture, and homespun, hand-me-down clothing. Most of the children in the Cove didn't even wear shoes. Most didn't
own
a pair of shoes.

“Come on, let's go back downstairs,” Christy said brightly. “Mother will have tea ready for us.”

“I ain't never seen nothin' near to this,” Ruby Mae said, sweeping her arm around the room. “This is like some palace where those far-off kings of old lived, like you told us about at school.”

“It's certainly
not
a palace,” Christy said.

“It's no grander than the other houses on this street.”

Ruby Mae shook her head. “Miz Christy, if you collected every fine thing in all the Cove and put it all together, you couldn't touch this one room.”

Christy stood up suddenly. Ruby Mae was starting to annoy her now, making her feel guilty.

“There's only one thing I plumb don't understand,” Ruby Mae said.

“What's that?”

“With all this . . . how come you ever leaved?”

The question surprised Christy. She took Ruby Mae's hand and pulled her toward the door. “Let's go downstairs and have that tea, shall we?” she said quickly.

Ruby Mae followed Christy down the stairs. Even the stairs were amazing! There were framed pictures on the walls, all the way down. And the stairs were actually carpeted. Rugs on the stairs! Who ever heard of such a thing?

“Did you find everything as you left it, Christy?” Mr. Huddleston asked.