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Chapter 2

"Margaret? What on earth are you doing here?"

"I am going to Asheville," Margaret replied a bit warily.

"Whatever for?"

"I am going to get annulment papers, since Mac and I were married in Asheville. When we have cleared it all up, I am going for more treatment, with Mother."

"But, I don't understand—"

"No, Christy. I am not running away this time. I left letters for Neil and Mother. I asked Mother to meet me in Knoxville in a week, for treatment." Christy noticed that this time, Margaret did not call her "Pollyanna."

"They do not know you are here?"

"No. Christy, when you came to Neil's cabin and talked to me, I realized how cruel and spiteful I was. Right now, I am going to say that I am sorry. I am still quite angry with Mother and Mac, but I will not run this time. Forgive me if I go off on you."

Christy was doubly shocked at the change in Margaret, and asked, "What changed you attitude Margaret? Was it God?" Margaret laughed in her old malicious manner, but said only slightly sarcastically,

"No, I simply kept hearing your words in my ear and I thought how I would feel if some of my Teahouse friends were treated even half as bad as I have treated Mother and Neil. However, I still feel that they are greatly at fault and I still blame them."

Christy cringed at the mention of the Teahouse and saw that Margaret was still herself, but her slight change in attitude was a step in the right direction, and Christy was happy for her. "Margaret, you can't get a annulment. I know you love Neil, and he will stand by you."

"I am doing this for the two of you—"

"Margaret, no. There is nothing between us. But what I meant when I said that you couldn't get an annulment is this: the Cove does not believe in divorce or annulment of any kind. Even if you legally break all ties with him, the Cove will still see him as married. Married to you. You need to stay by him, as his wife," Christy said matter-of-factly.

"No, Christy. I can't and I won't stay. This is my fault. I want to fix it. I can't come between your love."

"Margaret. I do not love him! Don't go through with the annul­ment. As I said at your cabin, I'm not going back to the Cove," Christy uttered as she gazed out the train window.

"Ever?"

"At this point, no."

"You won't change your mind?"

"No."

"I am sorry, but I still aim to set Mac free. I was never his wife, the entire Cove saw that. I didn't stay around. The Cove must certainly realize that we were never really married. Won't they under­stand?"

"I don't know Margaret. But, please, don't blame yourself so much. This is partly my fault, too, for allowing myself to care for someone lik—" Christy stopped, realizing what she had just said.

"You don't have to hide it, Christy. I heard you call his name when you were waking up awhile ago." Christy blushed ferociously, again, and turned her cheek to the cool glass of the window. Right then the conductor called out,

"Now in Asheville, North Carolina. Please exit on the north end, and thank you for riding."

"Margaret," Christy said politely as she stood up, "you must stay with us."

"No, Christy, I think it would be best if I didn't. I am going to the courthouse and then to the TB clinic here, to see if there are any medications that they can send with me to Knoxville. I will stay at the clinic. I'm leaving for Knoxville tomorrow evening."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Good-bye, Christy."

"Good-bye."

At about the same time that Margaret and Christy were getting off their train in Asheville, Neil MacNeill was returning to his cabin after a morning of fishing. As he entered, he found that Margaret was nowhere to be seen, and that there was an envelope on the table. Half-knowing what he was about to find, he picked it up and began to read:

September 19

Dear Mac,

By the time you read this, I will probably be in Asheville. Are you surprised to be reading this? I know our marriage has failed, and I have gone to Asheville to acquire some annulment papers. I will send them to you and all you have to do is sign them and send them back to the Asheville courthouse, along with a letter telling of our marriage, that you accept the papers, etc. Then, you will be free to love who you are meant to love, and I think you do know who I'm talking about.

Do not worry about my medical status, for I am going to Knoxville to get treatment. The doctors at the Asheville clinic told me that I would re­ceive the best of treatment in Knoxville. I have asked Mother to meet me there in a week.

I will al­ways love you, Mac, and I will forever regret the part that I played in our marriage. I am not sure where I will go or what I will do after my treatment, but I know that I cannot go back to Cutter Gap. I have an interest in theater and singing, so maybe that is where I am headed.

You should know, Mac, that I have decided to try and fix my life because of Christy. You will never know how great she truly is. Good-bye, my Mac.

Yours forever,

Margaret

Neil could not believe that Margaret had written to him and apologized. He also wondered what in the world Christy could have said to her. Christy never ceased to amaze him. He shook his head in wonderment and placed the letter up on the mantle beside the clock.

Christy's earlier words regarding his strange feelings came back to him, "Have you ever even considered that it's God who puts those feelings in you? To try and tell you something?" The strange feeling that some­thing was going to happen had come true. Margaret had begun to turn over a new leaf.

Was it really God who, through Christy, had helped Margaret? Neil mocked himself for asking such questions. But his thoughts turned to Christy once more. It was she who challenged him to ask himself these questions.

Neil knew it would be best if he and Margaret were annulled. When the annulment was cleared, he would be free to love Christy, but would she let him? After all that had happened? Would he himself be able to? What would the Cove think?

Neil sighed and stepped onto the porch to look at the river. Memories came back to him. This was their river. He remembered their chance meeting in the moonlight that Bessie had seen. He remem­bered the day Christy had come to tell him about Dan Scott, when she had burned their chicken dinner. Then a bad memory came: Margaret, and how Christy had run away when she had seen them together.

Neil was walking back inside when he heard a branch snap, followed by footsteps. "Who goes there?" he called out. A moment later, a woman leading her horse appeared. Her horse was wearing a strange saddle. It appeared to be western, and had a beautiful design on the shiny, black leather.

The woman was even more striking. She had longest, most beautiful red, almost orange, hair that Neil had ever seen. It was high­lighted with streaks of blond and flowed gently in the breeze. Her eyes were as big as Christy's and were a bright green that sparkled and crackled with darker green specks. In fact, she looked a bit like Ruby Mae. She wasn't wearing a traditional woman's dress, not even a riding skirt, but what looked to be men's trousers!

Her horse, which appeared to be finely bred, was stocky and muscular. He was the most beautiful shade of a strawberry roan that Neil had ever thought could belong to a horse. His mane was strangely almost the exact same color as his owner's. Realizing that he had been staring, Neil asked, "What can I do for ya?"

The woman replied, "My name is Keri Abilene Loving, and I have been riding through these parts. My horse has thrown a shoe. Can you help me?"

"Of course. My name is Neil MacNeill, the physician here in Cutter Gap. Give me a minute, and I will fetch my tools." Still struck by the beauty of Miss Keri Loving and her horse, Neil slipped down to the barn and retrieved his blacksmith tools. When he returned to the front of his cabin, he said to Keri, "Actually, why don't you bring your horse down to the barn. I can work better there."

"All right."

As they walked to the barn together, Neil wondered what a woman was doing riding in these parts with such a fine horse and tack. "If you don't mind my asking, what are you, a woman, doing riding out here, with such a fine horse?"

"I don't know, Doctor. Are women not allowed to ride horses out here?"

"I didn't mean it like that. People just don't see a woman wearing a man's clothing riding a fine horse around here everyday," he smiled.

"I see. Well, I am from Colorado. I wanted to move to a place where I could raise horses, and Tennessee seemed like a good a place as any. I have been scouting the area for a while. There is a wonderful clearing around here."

"Yes, that is owned by the mission. And might I add, if you raise horses as fine as the one you have now, they won't be around for long. But why Tennessee? There must be a thousand places to raise horses between here and Colorado."

"I . . . ah . . . I have always been drawn to Tennessee," she said uncomfortably.

Neil was puzzled at her hesitation. "I see. Where did you get this horse?" he queried, motioning to the beautiful animal.

"This is my foundation stud, Bonnie Prince Charlie III," Keri said proudly.

"What a name for a horse! Bonnie Prince Charlie was quite a man. It is he who is the mountain people's ancestor. My horse is named Charlie, also. Are you Scottish?"

"I was born in Scotland, but I am actually Irish. My parents died when I was young, so I was taken to America. My father used to tell me about Bonnie Prince Charlie when I was just a baby. That's all I remember about them."

"I'm sorry," Neil paused, thinking about his own parents. "How long are you going to stay here?"

"Well, I really like the land by the mission. Do you think I would be able to buy it?"

"I don't know. You know, over in Low Gap there is a whole meadow of unowned land that is just as good as that of the mission's."

"Oh, is Low Gap very far from here?"

"Not too far. Ah, here we are," Neil said as they entered the barn. "Why don't you tie him up over there," he said, pointing to a long, worn rail. "Do you have the shoe?" Neil paused, admiring the saddle once more. "By the way, where did you get such a fine saddle?"

"Yes, I have the shoe. The saddle was my adoptive father's grandfather's. I was told never to sell it, that the saddle had been there when my great-grandfather first settled in Colorado. I guard it with my life all of the time," Keri said with a homesick look on her face. A moment later she added, "I really appreciate this. I do fear, though, that when Charlie threw his shoe and stumbled, he hurt himself." She bent down and ran her hand down along his foreleg. "Yes, it feels quite warm. I'm afraid he'll be out of commission for about a week. Is there anywhere that I could stay?"

"I'm sure the mission would take you in. There we go, Charlie. What a good boy," Neil said as he finished, stroking Charlie's neck. "I can take you there today, if you'd like. It isn't too terribly far, and I have a poultice that you can use for Charlie. Will he be able to make it?"

"That would be fine. Thank you. I'm sure he will be all right."

"You can ride with me and lead your horse. There is no sense in you walking to the mission. I can see that you are quite exhausted."

"That's all right. I am fine, really."

"No, you are riding with me. I am a doctor, Miss Loving. I am trained to see everything, and you are quite tired."

"All right," Keri said, giving up.

Neil saddled up his Charlie and led him out of the barn and up to the cabin. Neil quickly went into his laboratory to fill his saddlebags with medicine to refill the mission medicine cabinet.

Keri led her Charlie up beside Neil and he gave her a lift up behind him.

They rode in silence with Charlie limping slightly behind. "Dr. MacNeill, you never said where you grew up. The way you talk, one would think you had moved from Scotland," Keri said.

"I was born in my cabin. As a young man, I was very fortunate when three professors asked me to go along with them on their hunting trip as a guide. I told them of my interest to be a doctor, and they offered to pay for my schooling. I attended medical school in Edinburgh, Scotland, but decided to come back here."

"You really love these people don't you?"

"I have devoted my life in trying to help them. Sometimes I wonder if I am doing any good."

"I'm sure you are. I believe that when you are around the peo­ple a lot, you do not see sudden changes in them."

"Aye, you are right. Not much more farther, now," Neil said as they rode into the mission clearing.

"Is there any way that I can repay you for this? The way some stories go, if I had asked just anyone to help me, I would have been mugged or shot," Keri said.

"There is no need to repay me, Miss Loving. Some of the people here are quite violent, mostly a result of the moonshine. However, though you probably wouldn't have received any help from many of them, they usually don't harm women. You'll find that there are some very good people here."

"Yes, there are some good people here," Keri said with an en­gaging smile. "But, no, Doctor, I insist, let my pay you back."

"You are just as stubborn as some of the mountain people. But if you insist, I will think of something." Neil looked over his shoulder to see her bright green eyes sparkling, and he smiled.

They approached the mission and David came out to greet them. When David saw that it was MacNeill, he scowled. But when he saw the woman behind him in the saddle, he smiled smugly.

The little scamp, Neil thought, for he knew exactly what David was thinking. "Hello, Reverend," he said as politely as he could. "This is Miss Keri Loving. She was riding through when her horse threw a shoe and injured himself. She needs a place to stay, and I was wonder­ing if she'd be able to stay here."

"Hello, Doctor. Miss Loving, my name is Reverend David Grantland. Yes, you can stay here. I'm sure Ruby Mae would be de­lighted to have someone to talk to," David smiled.

"Where's Alice?" Neil asked as Keri dismounted.

"Alice went up to God's Fist. She should be back tomorrow morning," David said.

At Keri's puzzled regarding the people of the mission, David explained, "Alice Henderson is the head of the mission, and Ruby Mae is the young lady who lives here. She has been very lonely lately. I'm sure she would enjoy your company. Please, come in, let me take your belongings," he said. Keri nodded her thanks and untied her belongings and handed them to David.

"I must be going, Reverend. I'm going over to Low Gap and will be back in three days. If you run into trouble, find Dan Scott. Here's supplies and medicine to replenish your stock," Dr. MacNeill said, handing David the items.

"All right. Good-bye, Dr. MacNeill."

"Good-bye, Doctor, thanks for everything!" Keri shouted after him. "Where can I put my horse?" she asked David. He motioned to the barn below the mission and Keri excused herself to unsaddle Charlie. Once he was tended to, she went inside, where a strange smell immediately met her. "What in the world is that, Mr. Grantland?" Keri called out.

"That, Miss Loving, is Ruby Mae's possum surprise. And please, call me David," he said, coming up behind her with her bags. "Where would you like me to put these?"

"Possum? I—ah—" she stammered, oblivious to the question of her bags.

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think, just don't each too much at once."

"All right, David. I am too hungry to care, anyway. And, you can call me Keri."

"Preacher! Preacher! It's ready!" Ruby Mae called, as she ran out of the kitchen. "Who's this, Preacher? My name's Ruby Mae Morrison, and I live and cook here at this here mission," she said, sticking out a possum-laden hand. "Lordy! Them are some mite strange clothes. Here, Preacher, let me take her bags, she can stay with me in my room. I hope ya like it. It ain't nuttin much, but Miss Christy made it real purty and made it smell nice. But first you just gotta try my pos­sum surprise!"

Keri looked at David overwhelmingly, who just smiled. "Don't mind her," he said, "she's just lonely. 'Miss Christy,' or Christy Huddleston, went to her home in Asheville the day before yesterday. Christy's the teacher here. She usually gets bombarded with the major­ity of Ruby Mae's chatter.

"Christy didn't say when she would be back, so I guess you're designated to listen to Ruby Mae. However, I think you'd sleep better if you stayed in Christy's room, for I do fear that Ruby Mae could 'talk water up a hill', even in her sleep!"

"Thank you, David. Well, let's go eat some possum surprise!"

Dan Scott had spent the days since his almost-murder-of-Bird's-Eye Taylor in deep thought. He had been tormented and tortured by those thoughts. Every single thing around him seemed a grave reminder of his near tragic actions. Dan could no longer sleep peacefully at night. Finally, he had decided that he would think best away from it all. So, Dan was going to find his very own place in the Cove. A place only he knew about, where he could think.

Though it was dark, the moon provided a sufficient pathway, and Dan mounted his horse and started to ride away from the remains of his cabin.

Dan rode through the trees for quite a while before coming upon a small ravine. Slowly, he dismounted and led his horse down into it. Amidst huge boulders near the walls of the gorge, Dan discovered a large cave opening.

Daniel Scott would be the last person to be afraid of ghosts or goblins, but the dark cave scared him a bit. Granny Barclay's stories didn't help that matter much, either. Lighting a torch, he carefully and cautiously unsaddled, fed, and tied his horse up and entered the cave. Inside, the cave had rocks arranged in such a way that it looked livable, so Dan lit a couple more torches and began to arrange his items. He would stay there until he had his thoughts sorted out. It was so peaceful, dark, and mind soothing.

As he ate his meager dinner, Dan thought about Bird's-Eye. Dan knew he had to apologize to Bird's-Eye, but he didn't exactly want to get shot.

Into the wee hours of the night, Dan stayed up. His problem kept bothering him. Though Dan had said a few silent prayers to God to help him now and then, he had not fully asked for the Almighty's help. But now, al­most delirious from lack of sleep, Dan prayed out to God for the first time in days. He was angry with God for making him who he was, angry with God for bringing him to Cutter Gap, and angry with God for bringing such heathen people into his life. Dan didn't want anything to do with the likes of Bird's-Eye Taylor, but just dismissing him did not convince Dan's conscience that it was right. He spoke into the darkness of the night:

"God, why did you do this to me? Why did you bring me here? I can see that I will never be accepted, or respected. Especially since I have made such a breech between Bird's-Eye and myself. I have to fix it. Please God, forgive me for my stubbornness towards you and help me to learn to love Bird's-Eye. Please, make my wrenching soul peaceful."

Tears of relief and exasperation were running down Dan's face by the time he had finished. A wonderful feeling of cool peacefulness mixed with warm reassurance circled his heart and held, and Dan knew God was with him, and would help him.

Finally, Dan fell asleep.