Author E-Mail: anneb_neilmacneill@hotmail.com
Summary: This takes place at the end of the book "Christy" by Catherine Marshall. I have quoted some parts from the book and please forgive me for paraphrasing a few sections from the book to tie this story and the book together. I have used a couple of segments from the CBS Series and possibly the PAX-TV Mini-series to bring out something's that readers might be more familiar with.
Disclaimer: the Marshall-LeSourd Family, L.L.C, owns Catherine Marshall's beautiful story of Christy. I am in no way seeking profit or credit for her story. I am continuing the story of Christy for my own amusement; and hopefully yours as well. The writer of this story has invented any additions in story line and characters. The content of this story is the responsibility of the writer. Any similarities between this and other Fan fiction is purely coincidental.
Synopsis: 1) Christy is going to Asheville for the finally fitting of her wedding dress.
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Chapter II
Asheville, North Carolina…I had grown up here. I had been protected here as a child and teenager. But after listening to Miss Alice speak with such love of her highlander's when she visited our church made me want more then anything to follow her there! I felt in my heart I was to do that very thing. My mother and father had been opposed to me traveling to Cutter Gap, Tennessee to become a schoolteacher in a backwoods mission, but I was adamant about my decision. I knew without a doubt I was to follow my heart to Cutter Gap. The year was 1912. I had made a few trips to Asheville in the time I had been living at the mission, but my heart always…*always* yearned to go back to the Cove! Even today I knew I would only be in Asheville for a week, I was here for the final fitting of my wedding gown and Mother had arranged for a Bridal Shower for me, she also said my friends wanted to have something for me as well while I was here. I looked forward to the fun, but I would miss Cutter Gap, the mission, Miss Alice, the children, the school, the Cove, all the people…and of course, most especially, Neil. How I wished he could have come with me, but, he could not leave his patients just now, for he planned to take some time off after the wedding.
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Today was the first day I had been back in Asheville in quite awhile. I lounged in bed this morning just listening, gazing around the room that had been mine most of my life and smelling the delicious aroma rising up from the kitchen. I mulled over yesterday in my mind-- getting off the train, seeing my mother, father and my brother George for the first time in quite awhile. They had come to visit shortly after I had Typhoid to see that I was recuperating well. Neil wanted me to return home with them for a few weeks at that time, but I knew in my heart if I was once back in Asheville, most especially after having just recovered from *Typhoid*, my parents would be even more opposed to my returning to the Cove then they were to my going in the first place! There was no way I could return to a life in Asheville with the tea parties and receptions, dress fittings and gossip that just wasn't the life I wanted to lead any longer…
This morning I relaxed and breathed in deeply of the smell of Breakfast cooking downstairs. There would be no possum for me for seven whole days! Now *that* was something to look forward to!
I gingerly rose from my bed, wondering what Neil was doing. Of course if I knew Neil MacNeill (and I was certain no one knew him better then I) and the people of the Cove he was most likely on a house call somewhere! I prayed for his protection.
I went to my closet and looked at the abundance of clothing still hanging there! How did I ever find the time to wear so many different dresses? I had very few clothes in the Cove and I got along just fine! "Why on earth would someone need so many different sets of clothing?" I inquired out loud to myself. If the women in the Cove were lucky they had two dresses to their name! I had two *closets* full! More then enough to share with every woman I knew in the Cove, though they were too proud to accept them if I would offer.
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Monday morning, Mother and I walked to the dressmaker's shop. I was used to walking everywhere I went and after six hours on the train Saturday, and church and a house full of relatives yesterday, I needed the fresh air and sunshine.
Mrs. Finnegan had outdone herself on my dress I asked for a simple gown and she had done exactly as I had asked, but she had added special touches that made the dress unique. It was white satin with a short train, long sleeves, puffy to the elbow, then straight from there down, the Autumn weather was beginning to set in already in the Cove and I would need the long sleeves. A high collar, with a lace ruffle at the top. She had added lace to the straight half of the sleeves as well as the bodice. As I stood admiring my gown taking in every detail of it I forgot entirely about mother and Mrs. Finnegan standing behind me. I turned this way, and that, looking at my gown from nearly every imaginable angle. I felt as though I had to drink in every last inch of the detailing for some reason that I didn't quite understand.
I stood looking at my face above this beautiful gown. Was I worthy of this dress? Was I worthy of the man I was about to marry? Was I making the right decision? Had I made the right choice? Was I ready to be a wife? I knew it was very likely that I could be a mother very soon as well…was I ready for that? Suddenly everything struck me…I was truly getting married in less than two weeks!! I had made my choice we had planned our wedding down to the very last detail (mother made sure of that!), but was I rushing into this somehow?
That thought made me chuckle inside! No, I certainly was not 'rushing' into this! Neil had only proposed two months ago…that was *months* after we had professed our love for each other! He hadn't even kissed me until the week before he proposed, and that was the first and *only* time he had kissed me to date! No, if there was one thing I knew about this marriage it was that we were not *rushing* into it!!
Was I worthy of this dress? As worthy as anyone I suppose.
Was I worthy of Neil?-- Hmm?-- Was I?-- He seemed to think I so. Isn't that what mattered the most?-- Of course it is! I loved Neil with my whole heart and I would do anything for him. I wanted to be a Godly wife for him…pleasing God was first on my priority list and if I could accomplish that, then I would please Neil as well.
Was I making the right decision? 'I think I just answered that question for myself. Of course I had made the right decision. There was no one in this world that I would rather spend the rest of life with then my 'sparring partner'--Neil MacNeill!!' I had to chuckle to inwardly again! So therefore I had made the right choice as well.
Was I ready to be a wife? …A mother!?! 'Well, if I felt I was ready to be a wife, I had better be ready to be a mother as well! That was an area I had to leave entirely in God's hands.'
Mother tapped me on the shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my gown! "I'm sorry to startle you dear, but if we're going to meet your father and George for lunch and we need to be going soon."
"I'm sorry mother. I was lost in thought. There are so many things going through my mind right now!"
"I know Christy dear! I was a bride once myself." Mother laughed lightly. Mrs. Finnegan helped me to remove my gown. Oh, how I hated to do that!!
I had a sinking feeling as we left the dressmaker's that day. Why I had it or where it was coming from was beyond me, but I couldn't shake it! It wasn't Neil, of that I was sure. I loved him and he loved me. He had never given me any indication that he was planning to change his mind. But I still had a sinking feeling in my stomach as I looked one last time at my wedding gown and turned to walk out the door. As though I would never see myself in that gown again.
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Daddy and George were already at the restaurant when we arrived. George was his old teasing self again! He just couldn't picture his 'big' sister as an 'old-married-lady'!! I teased him in return, but inside I had to admit that I LOVED the sound of it. I could hardly wait to be a 'married-lady', although not *old*!
"Girlie, I'm not sure I'm ready to give you up yet." Daddy said, he had been looking rather down in the dumps since mother and I arrived. "I've always so enjoyed calling you my 'girlie' that I'm not sure I want to stop."
"Daddy, I'm sure you won't have to worry about that. Neil is too much of a gentleman to insist that you stop calling me 'Girlie'" I soothed.
"I'm sure your Neil is quite the gentleman, Christy. Perhaps I'm feeling my age a little is all. My little girl is going to be a married woman in less than two weeks and it's beginning to make me feel like 'an old man'! I could be a *grandfather* soon! " Daddy laughed uneasily.
I reached for my father's hand. "I'll always be your little girl, Daddy. I promise. I may be Neil's wife, but that won't change who I am on the inside."
"I know little girl, I know!" Daddy smiled. "I'm not feeling that badly about it, believe me."
"No, it's mother that can't stand the thought of growing old!" George blurted out.
"George!" Mother chided. "You shouldn't speak of such things." George shrank back in his chair and I tried my best *not* to seem amused.
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Mother had her party planned for Saturday evening. My Aunts, Grand Aunts, Grandmother's and cousin's from both sides of my family converged on my parent's house to wish me well. My Grandmother Huddleston gave me a pair of baby booties and told me to fill them soon!!! Everyone had a good laugh over it, including Grandmother and myself. I planned to tuck them away so Neil wouldn't notice them! I didn't want him to think I was planning anything right away!!
It was wonderful to visit with family I hadn't seen in a very long time! I promised them that Neil and I were planning to return for Thanksgiving and that they would all get to meet him then. I was sure they would love him as much as I did. Or at least I prayed they would!
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My friends had a party for me at the home of Martha Kingsley. They had invited people I had known nearly all my life, but hadn't seen in quite some time. There were some that I hadn't seen in over two years, since before I went to Cutter Gap. We had so much to talk about! I hadn't missed the *gossip*, but I had to admit I enjoyed sitting around talking with my 'girlfriends' once again! I would have none of the slanderous gossip, but I did enjoy getting caught up in the lives of all of my friends once again!
"So, tell us about Neil!" Martha exclaimed while we were having tea. All those around us agreed wholeheartedly with her.
"Well…what would you like to know?" I inquired.
"What does he look like?" "What does he do?" "Is he from the mountain's where you're teaching?" "Is he one of those rugged mountain men we've heard about?" "How did you meet him?" They all bombarded me at once with their questions.
"Whoa! One at a time, please!" I pleaded. "First of all, I suppose you could say that he is one of the rugged mountain men. He has a physique that you just won't believe! Broad shoulder's, muscular, big-boned, a large frame-even for a man! (I know mother wouldn't want us to be talking like this, but she's not here!), he's got hazel eyes, sandy-red curly hair, --it's rather long and he does have a bad habit of pulling on the ends of it--but I love it anyway. He's of Scottish descent; he's in his thirties. Rugged features, that seem to be chiseled out of stone. A handsome man to be sure! He's a doctor, the only doctor for fifty miles. A surgeon as well." I thought they were all going to swoon! At that moment I knew I was the envy of many of the women seated in this room. "We'll be back for Thanksgiving and you can meet him then if you like." I offered, a little afraid of what might happen if they did! At that moment I knew what one of my jobs had to be while I was in Asheville--I had to get Neil a wedding ring!!
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The following days were filled with visiting my family, going shopping for gifts for friends back in the Cove, and packing up the gifts I had received so I could take them back with me. But the most important task I accomplished was the purchase of a wedding band for Neil! I knew he wouldn't want anything fancy, a plain gold band would suit him well. The look didn't matter it was the fact that it represented my love for Neil and our commitment and promise to each other that mattered the most. Seeing it on Neil's finger would always remind me of the promise I make to him on the day of our marriage.
A messenger arrived at the house on Wednesday with a missive for my father. After calling mother into his study, Mother came to tell me they were needed in Charlotte on Friday and they were going to say good-bye on Thursday already so I decided as long as my parent's and George were going to be leaving, I might as well go home a day early. I would store my crates in El Pano and rent a horse to ride back to the Cove and surprise everyone. The following day or so, I could return with the mission's wagon to retrieve my crates and trunks.
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I sat down Wednesday evening with my journal and wrote down everything that had happened since my last entry on Friday…I wrote about the parties, the dress fitting, and also the feeling I had as I tried on my gown. Most importantly I wrote of the feeling I had as I left the dressmaker's shop on Monday…it still haunted me! Why did I feel that way? Fairlight had always taken great stock in dreams and feelings. Maybe it was her influence that was making me feel uneasy now. I wished I could interpret them the way Fairlight had been able to sometimes, but I couldn't. I prayed for an answer, but none seemed to come.
I looked back at the earlier entries once again as I had on Saturday. Thinking about Neil…picturing him in my mind. I missed him so much this week. Only ten more days until our wedding! At that thought I turned to the page in my journal where I had made the entries about Neil's proposal…or most particularly one specific day the week prior to and the entire week which led up to the day of his proposal…
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End Chapter 2
Chapter 3 Coming Soon!!