When Christy woke up in the morning she could see Alice asleep in her rocker. She looked around but there was no sign of Doctor MacNeil in the room, there was something about last night that was in the back of her head, but she could not put a finger on what it was.
She heard a thumping of boots on the porch and the sound of them being scraped off, then wiped on the mat, she knew it must be David. He was the only one she knew that was so careful about tracking mud into a house.
There was a smell of coffee wafting up the stairs and the sound of muffled conversation as David talked to his sister. There was a sharp exclamation from him and the sound of him running up the stairs, his knock at the door woke Alice,
"Neil? Is thee back so soon?"
"Alice, it's me David, may I come in?" Alice sighed and walked to the door and opened it.
"Alice, I just heard, is Christy alright, what happened to her?" Alice stepped out the door and shut it softly.
Christy tried to listen but could not hear what was being said, there was a deep groan from David, then nothing.
Christy curled up under her covers and pretended to be asleep, she wanted to be asleep, then there was the sound of the door opening, and then the familiar fear hit Christy, she began to tremble waiting for her attackers to come in the room, but it was only Miss Alice. Alice saw she was awake and came over to the bed, "Christy, does thee need anything?"
"Who was it at the door Miss Alice?" she asked.
"It was David dear; he wanted to see how you were." Christy shook her head in panic,
"No, Miss Alice I don't want him to see me, don't let him in here! Please!" Alice patted her shoulder reassuringly
"He did not come in Christy, in fact I sent him to El Pano to telegram your parents." She paused to see if she would react, but not getting a response from Christy she asked, "Would you like me to bring up some breakfast to you?"
"No, I am not hungry." Alice paused as if she would insist, then she sighed and shut the door and went down the stairs.
Christy looked out the window at the mountains; they were a deep early morning blue, wreathed in fog. She watched as the fog was gradually burning away in the morning sun as it got higher in the sky.
She knew now for a fact that God had abandoned her, if he was even real.
All of her life she had been taught that she was to love and serve him, and do his work , and in return He would be there for her when she needed Him , and He would protect her from harm, there were even whole chapters in the Bible that were devoted to that one theme. Now here she was a living contradiction to them.
She began to feel angry at how she had believed for so long in a lie.
There seemed to be no justice in the world, she had tried so hard to help others and be a good person, but in the end there was nothing to it, just her trying to fulfill a lot of self-imposed obligations. There was nothing more to her actions than her actions, no deep spiritual meaning or significance; things were just what they were.
Christy spent the rest of the morning thinking along this line. Till she was too exhausted to think any more, then she would slip into a restless sleep, always awakening in fear of the men being in her room. The very shadows were menacing her; she tried to be rational about it but some how she could not. Fear seemed to swirl and eddy about her like water.
Alice changed her dressings in the afternoon, and could not quite hide her uneasiness, at the state of the bite wound. Alice desperately wished Neil would hurry back with the medicine.
At lunch she was brought up a tray containing soup and fresh bread, Christy stared at the steam softly rising from the bowl. It seemed to be almost hypnotic in its affect on her, but she did not mind because she did not remember the past events when she concentrated on the various complex patterns it formed, she picked at the bread and crumbled some up in her soup to give the allusion of her having eaten more than she actually had.
She did not feel the slightest twinge of guilt for her subterfuge, a week ago she would have never even have considered it. It was odd how a person can change so quickly she reflected.
There was a lot of activity downstairs; word of what happened had spread faster than a cold bug; many in the Cove came by to drop off a small token for "teacher" and to check on her well being. It made it hard to get any rest, the walls and floors in the wood building were anything but sound–proof.
At last as evening came again and the shadows deepened till they disappeared altogether, it was quieter, Christy avoided eating dinner by pretending to be asleep when Miss Ida brought up her tray.
But in reality Christy was anything but sleepy, she was in a considerable amount of pain, and it seemed as if her mind just would not turn off, Miss Alice came in and started to read the Bible to her in a low voice, but it agitated and annoyed Christy till she asked, "Miss Alice, could you please leave me alone to sleep for a while?"
Alice stood up her eyes troubled, "Certainly dear, can I get you anything before I go?"
Christy shook her head, and when Alice bent down to kiss her she pulled away.
She did not want the pitying closeness of the people around her; she was beginning to realize that this was something she was going to have to fight through herself.
Her eyes traveled around her darkened room. She could hear the sound of the stream out side running into the darkness; it had such a mournful sound as it traveled down the mountain. She wished that she could be there sitting on its bank, seeing the moon reflected in the swirling waters.
She almost considered trying to get up, but she knew it was close to impossible; it hurt too much to sit upright, let alone stand up and walk.
She wondered why she had not been given any more pain medication, she really wanted it, but it had not been offered to her, that brought to her attention that doctor MacNeil had not been in to see her all day, it was a relief to her on one hand, she did not want to have to be around him and be vulnerable, but on the other hand some kind of relief from the pain would be very welcome.
She decided to ask for some the next time someone came into her room, but it was a long time before Ida came in , And when Christy asked about something for the pain Ida got a stressed look on her face and said she would go get Alice.
Half an hour passed then Alice came up with some herbal tea for her, Alice said it would help with the pain, but it was hours before she could forget the pain and fall asleep.