Bessie is in increasing pain,” Doctor MacNeill continued, “and it will only get worse. I am certain now that we are dealing with some sort of a cyst or abscess. I don’t believe it’s life-threatening, at least not yet. But it is very painful. It will have to be removed.”
“Surgery?” Christy asked. “Poor Bessie. She’s just a child.”
“Yes, we’ll have to perform surgery. And it is more than I can handle here in Cutter Gap. I need the facilities of a real hospital. And I would dearly love to consult with Doctor Hugo Mecklen. He is a surgeon who specializes in this area of medicine.”
“Whatever it takes to help Bessie,” Christy said. “Only . . . what about the money?”
“Naturally, I’ll contribute my services free of charge,” Doctor MacNeill said. “And I believe Hugo will as well.”
“But there are still the costs of the hospital itself, and of medicines,” Miss Alice said. “We all know that the mission doesn’t have much money. But I don’t see how we can avoid this expense. It will mean no more books or school supplies for a while.” Miss Alice smiled confidently. “But we have always managed.”
Christy bit her lip. No books! Already the children were sharing books between two, and sometimes even three, students. But, of course, Bessie’s health came first.
“I’ve already spoken to some friends on the railroad, and they’ve generously agreed to let Bessie and her companions travel for free,” Miss Alice said.
“We’ll be leaving as soon as we can get Bessie’s parents to agree,” Doctor MacNeill said. “Once that’s arranged, we’ll only have one problem.”
“What problem?” Christy asked.
“It’s not a very big problem,” Miss Alice said, with a grin. “It’s simply that we’ll need someone to travel with Bessie. Her mother can’t go. Not only is she expecting another baby soon, but she’s needed to help plant the corn crop. Anyway, we thought perhaps you might wish to go.”
“Me?”
“The hospital I’ll be taking Bessie to is the one in Asheville,” the doctor explained with a smile. “You could turn it into a visit home.”
Home.
Christy glanced at the basket filled with her muddy clothes. Her mind traveled back to her home in Asheville. There in her room was a large oak wardrobe, a lovely armoire. Inside hung a dozen or more dresses. Clean dresses, clean blouses, clean everything.
Here in Cutter Gap, it seemed, nothing was ever truly clean. No matter how hard they all tried.
She pictured her tidy, well-decorated room. There were lace curtains on the windows and rugs on the floors.
Here at the mission, her room was almost a cell by comparison.
Most of all, she pictured her bed. Her big, fluffy, soft feather bed.
Had she ever been able to sleep as well here, on her lumpy secondhand mattress?
“So will you go with the doctor and Bessie to Asheville?” Miss Alice asked.
“And me,” David added as he strode into the middle of the room. “I’ll be going, too.”
“I take it all’s well at the schoolhouse?”
David grinned. “The children are on their way home, and the hogs are back where they belong. I just stopped by to see how Christy was doing.”
“Well, she’s no longer covered in mud, if that’s what you mean.” The doctor grinned, then added, “And I don’t see any reason why we need you along on the trip, Reverend.”
Christy exchanged a knowing glance with Miss Alice. The doctor and David were both “sweet on” Christy, as Ruby Mae liked to say. “The doctor and the preacher are like two hungry old coon dogs, circling around one bone,” she’d told Christy once.
Christy wasn’t sure she liked being compared to a bone. But she supposed there was some truth to what Ruby Mae said. In fact, David made no secret of his affections. He had even proposed marriage. Christy had turned down his offer, but with the understanding that she might reconsider at a later time. David was very special to her.
As for Neil MacNeill, well, he clearly didn't want her to marry David, but most of the time it was hard for Christy to know what was going on in his mind. Her feelings toward him were usually equal parts affection and annoyance.
“I’ll be going to Asheville on mission business,” David said. “I’ve been invited many times to visit some of the churches there and tell them about our work at the mission.” He looked at Miss Alice. “I know we never ask for contributions, but if I were to go to Asheville and tell the people there about our work, and if they happened to want to help us . . .”
“We would never decline help,” Miss Alice agreed. “As long as it’s freely given, from the heart.”
“I see,” Doctor MacNeill said skeptically. “All of a sudden, just because Christy is going to Asheville, you are moved by an urgent need to visit your fellow preachers? Isn’t that just a bit of a coincidence?”
“I have as much right to go to Asheville as—” David began.
Miss Alice interrupted him. “Gentlemen, gentlemen. Please. I don’t believe Christy has even agreed to go.”
“Oh, she’ll go,” said the doctor. “If I am not mistaken, she is already seeing visions in her head of clean sheets and cozy fires and meals that do not involve possum stew.”
Christy started, jerked out of her daydream. It was very annoying, the way Neil could sometimes read her mind.
“I’ll go to see my family,” Christy said frostily. “And to help Bessie. She’s the only thing that’s really important here. Not because I’m thinking of those other things, Neil.”
“There is still one problem,” the doctor said. “As I mentioned, I haven’t yet obtained permission from Kyle and Lety Coburn to perform the operation on Bessie.”
“But why would they object?” Christy questioned in surprise.
The doctor shrugged. “I suppose it’s a combination of things,” he said. “Fear of losing their daughter. I’ve admitted to the Coburns that no operation is ever one hundred percent safe. And then, there’s the usual problem—the Coburns are a very traditional clan. Kyle Coburn still believes in the old ways, the mountain cures.”
“So Bessie might have to suffer?” Christy was outraged. She had tried to learn to respect the traditions of the mountain people, but to turn away from modern medicine at a time like this was simply foolish.
“Don’t worry,” David said. “I’m sure Kyle Coburn will come around, in the end.”
“Yes, I’m sure you’re right, Reverend,” the doctor said. Then, with a sly grin at Christy, he added, “You’ll get your trip to the city yet, Christy.”
“Let me make this clear, Neil,” Christy said. “My only concern is for Bessie. I just want her to get better. The fact that the hospital happens to be in Asheville is unimportant.” She stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
She grabbed the basket of muddy, hogsmelling clothes. What she’d told the doctor was true—Bessie was all that really mattered to her. Still, she thought as she wrinkled her nose at the smell, it wouldn’t really hurt to enjoy a few nights in her old room.
ppp
After she had cleaned the hog smell out of her dress, Christy decided to go visit Bessie and see how she was doing. Perhaps she would get an opportunity to talk some sense into Kyle Coburn.
“Can I come along?” Ruby Mae asked. “I ain’t seen Bessie since yesterday.”
“Sure, Ruby Mae. That is, if Miss Ida doesn’t need you.”
“No, Miz Christy. I tried to help her with her cooking, but she said I was just chitterchattering so she couldn’t hardly hear herself think. That’s what she said.”
Christy smiled. Ruby Mae did have a tendency to talk constantly, while Miss Ida preferred peace and quiet.
“All right, Ruby Mae, I’d be pleased if you’d come along with me.”
It was late in the afternoon, but now that it was practically summer, the days lasted longer. Christy hoped to make it to the Coburn cabin and get back before it was dark, in plenty of time for dinner.
It was a pleasant walk. The day was warm, and wildflowers were blooming yellow and blue and pink in the grassy meadows.
Christy was long-since accustomed to Ruby Mae’s stream of chatter. She listened with one ear to Ruby Mae, and with the other to the songs of the birds that were arriving back in the mountains after their winter escape to warmer southern climates.
They were close to the Coburn cabin when something Ruby Mae said seemed to jump out at her.
“What was that you just said, Ruby Mae?” Christy asked.
“I was just sayin’ as how when we’re in Asheville it would be fine if we could look into some of those shops where you get your citified clothing.”
“When we are in Asheville ?” Christy repeated.
“Yes, Miz Christy. Didn’t you know? I’m agoin’, too.”
“Who says you’re going? Did Doctor MacNeill ask you to go along?”
Ruby Mae looked thoughtful. “I don’t recollect rightly if it was the doctor. I just know I’m a-goin’.”
“Ruby Mae, I don’t think—” Christy began.
Suddenly there came a low, sad moan, carried on the wind.
Christy pointed. “It’s coming from the Coburn’s cabin!”
“That’s Bessie!” Ruby Mae cried.
“Ooooh, it hurts,” the girl groaned. “Somebody help me, please!”