Chapter 13
Despite his exhaustion, it was late before Neil finally fell into a fitful sleep on the couch. He could hear his wife crying and the sound of her sobs broke his heart. Still, he refused to allow her tears to penetrate his resolve. He had to get her away from this place. In his mind, he calculated all of the reasons they must go. So many times he had nearly lost Christy before she was even his. It would have been so easy for Birds Eye and Lundy to kill her the night they burned the church, or the night they tried to break into the mission to find Tom McHone. Not to mention her horrible run in with Jarvis Tatum. He knew with all of his heart that God's hand was upon her, upon them, but he was her husband, and he would be damned if he was going to allow anything to hurt her if he could stop it.
"Neil!" Christy's startled cry from the bedroom slowly tore him from his rest. "Neil!"
Neil raced to their bedroom, which had finally been moved downstairs into his laboratory. He tore open the door to a very frightened woman. The front of her dress was beginning to show the darkening stain of the liquid it was absorbing.
"Neil, please help me. I hurt so badly." Tears poured down her checks as her eyes faced the calendar on the wall that showed that this baby was going to be born much too early.
Racing to her side, Neil began to help her unbutton her dress and help her out of her petticoats that were becoming quite sodden. All the time, he spoke words of comfort in her ears. They were words that Christy only half heard and only partially comprehended.
"Neil, it's too early."
"Hang on, love." Neil worked quickly to remove her wet clothing and to slip a clean nightgown over her head. "Everything is going to be just fine. Plenty of babies come early."
"You were right, I'm so sorry, you were right. We should be in Asheville."
"No, darling, I was wrong." Neil lifted her gently back into bed and arranged the pillows around her head to make her more comfortable. "God is with us whether we are in Cutter Gap or in Asheville. Please forgive me, love, I was wrong."
"The baby is coming, isn't he?"
Neil looked quickly at the clock on the bedside it read barely 3 AM. He calculated the ride to the mission, hoping that someone would answer the telephone and that he wouldn't have to leave her.
"The baby's coming, but this is just the first part of labor. I'm going to try to reach Alice at the mission. If she doesn't answer the phone, I can ride for her and be back in no time."
"No, Neil. Please don't leave me. I don't know if I'm ready for this. I'm scared." Christy clung to his hand.
"Don't worry, love. If you dug a bullet out of me, the least I can do is deliver our child." Christy couldn't help but smile at the reference, Neil was grateful for the effect. Quickly, Neil kissed her nose and tucked their wedding quilt up around her shoulders. "You try to rest; I'm going to try to reach Alice."
Neil took a deep breath to steady himself before he lifted the receiver. Several rings later he raised an operator in El Pano.
"What number please?" The slightly irritating and disembodied voice inquired.
"I need you to ring the mission at Cutter Gap. This is Dr. MacNeill, it's an emergency."
He could hear her make the connection and prayed that someone would hear the phone ringing. It seemed to ring forever before the very sleepy voice of Ruby Mae came on the line.
"Cutter Gap Mission." She whispered around a yawn.
"Ruby Mae, it's Doctor MacNeill. I need you to go and wake Miss Alice and send her over here, Christy is in labor."
Awakened instantly by the news, Ruby Mae began to chatter excitedly. "Is she really, Doc? She's gonna have that baby?"
"Yes, Ruby Mae, now go and wake Miss Alice. Tell her to stop by the Spencer cabin and get Fairlight."
"I'se surely will, Doc! If this ain't jest the best news!"
Neil could hear the receiver strike the wall where Ruby Mae dropped it. He knew that Alice would be on her way as quickly as she could. He only hoped that Ruby Mae wouldn't beg to come along and slow Alice down. Before returning to the bedroom, Neil threw a few more pieces of firewood into the stove and stoked up the fire that lay dormant. He quickly filled the teakettle and the coffee pot, knowing that Fairlight would need tea to brew the herbs that would help Christy to relax and Neil, Alice and Fairlight would need the coffee. As he worked, he could hear the soft moans as Christy began to earnestly feel the contractions. The words he had spoken in anger last night once again reminded him of his weakness, of his need to stop acting like a child, of his need to look to the Father. They were all in His hands now, and Neil couldn't imagine a safer place to lay his family.
It was the beginning of what promised to be a very long day.
