Chapter 8

Doctor MacNeill sprinted back to his cabin, stopping three times to steady his convulsive body. He had to talk to someone about what he had just experienced.

Once on Charlie, Neil galloped to the mission. If he could not talk to Christy, he could go to Alice Henderson. Though their relation­ship was strained, Neil knew he could trust Alice to help him see some answers to such great questions as the ones he had on his mind. As Neil rode up, he saw Christy standing in the middle of the trail, just staring at the mission, or beyond it.

"Christy, whatever are you doing out here?" Christy spun around,

"Doctor MacNeill, I . . . what are you doing here?"

"Is Alice here?"

"Noo," Christy said slowly, "she left for Knoxville, to meet Margaret."

"I see. Did she say when she was going to be back?"

"No," Christy said, puzzled. Why would Neil want to see Miss Alice?

"Is David here?" This surprised Christy even more, for she knew Neil wanted nothing, on a personal note, to do with David.

"He's not here either; he went to visit Hattie. Is something wrong?" Putting aside her own doubts, Christy kindly asked, "Can I help you with anything?"

Doctor MacNeill was surprised at this question, and his face showed it. Christy was amused, so he quickly recovered and replied, "Nothing's wrong. But maybe you can help me. Care to take a walk?"

What had Christy gotten herself into? Would he have nasty remarks waiting for her? She looked at Neil. No, he looked sincere, and very distraught.

"Of course. Where would you like to go?"

Neil pondered this. Was it the right time? Yes, he decided, it was. "Nowhere special," he said casually. "Let's just walk."

"All right." They started off in the direction of the school­house. As they walked by, Christy could see the students swarming around Keri,

"Miss Loving? Now what about this here ocean stuff?"

"Could ya holp me with them thar rocks?"

"I'd be obleeged if ya'd holp me with my volcano, Miss Loving."

Christy smiled. It looked like Keri was having fun. In a few hours, Christy would be back to teaching her children once more. She watched Neil's face as he waved at Keri. Christy admitted it, she was jealous. Neil smiled at Keri, as if nothing had happened the day before. The rest of his face was expressionless, but when he turned towards Christy, his eyes burned. Christy looked away. After a few minutes passed and they were nearing the river, Christy broke the silence by saying,

"Neil, I am sorry for yesterday. I hope you can forgive me." There, she had said it. Would he accept her apology?

"I'm sorry, too, Christy. I did not mean what I said about you. I still consider you my friend. But, please, tell me. Why did you run away?"

Not wanting to answer, she changed the subject, "Why did you come here today? Is there something on your mind?"

Neil took a deep breath and began, "Yes, there is, but you did not answer my question."

"I . . . tell me your thoughts first."

He smiled. "All right. Today, I—" Neil didn't want to tell her the reason of his mad dash out of his cabin, so he said, "I took a walk today. I was deep in thought, and accidentally slipped down a crevice," he shuddered with the memory. "I was caught, no way up, no way down. I looked for every possible way out, Christy, and I was just about to let go when I heard a voice."

Christy let out a long breath and half-smiled, wondering, and hoping, at what he would say next. They had stopped by the river, where one shaft of sunlight, as if positioned by God for just the two of them, was shining through the trees.

"It was my mother, telling me about God," he continued. "Then I heard you, Christy. I heard you telling me in your stubborn way about God." He stopped. This was not easy for Neil to say, the obsti­nate Scot who was always right.

"Go on," Christy said gently, placing her hand softly upon his face.

"I shouted out to God to help me. And something happened! It was remarkable. The next thing I knew I was about four feet away from the edge of the crevice. I was safe. For an hour, I examined everything. I could not find a logical explanation. Nothing. Was it really a miracle of God, Christy?" Neil's voice was pleading, his eyes painful and searching.

Now Christy knew why Neil had been looking for Miss Alice and David.

"Neil, I—" she said softly, turning around.

Neil gently took her chin in his hand and turned her face. "I do not doubt your knowledge of God, Christy. True, you are no Alice Henderson, but tell me, how would you answer this question?"

"Are you sure you want me to attempt this? I will probably just end up quoting Miss Alice," she said with a touch of annoyance.

For just a moment, Neil's eyes were dancing. "Just speak your mind, like you did at the schoolhouse," he encouraged.

"Well, I do believe in God's prompting of the mind. I do be­lieve that it was Him telling me to come to Cutter Gap. Yes, I confess, when I read my Bible, I wonder about His miracles. I am not as deep-faithed as you think, Neil. I, too, like logical explanations about things. But as I have been here in Cutter Gap, I have come to believe more and more in His miracles. Some of the things that have happened here are beyond my mind. Like Creed Allen during the scarlet fever epidemic. He was gone, but I believe God brought him back. You know as well as I how far gone he was." Christy stopped, watching Neil's reac­tion to her words. He looked intrigued, and for once, didn't pose an argument when given the chance. She continued,

"I mean, this land and the mountains are living miracles. Beautiful miracles. These mountains, how could God have created them without some superb power? And if God can create mountains, then He should most certainly be able to perform small miracles such as your rescue. So, yes, I do think that it was a miracle of God." Christy finished, and realized that she had hardly taken a breath. She felt charged, refreshed. Christy waited for Neil to speak. He contemplated this for a long while, and finally said,

"Yes, Christy, you prove a good point. I do believe in a su­preme being. A God. And if that God created the mountains, It must be able to perform miracles. But why would your God want to save me?"

"Because He loves you, Neil! More than you will ever know. He loved you so much that he sent his only son to die, to die a horrible death, so that we might be saved and have eternal happiness, if we be­lieve and accept. Imagine it, loving someone so much that you would give up your beloved wife, or your only child, who is so precious to you, to save the person you loved. Imagine God's love being a million more times than that.

"Look around at all the beauty. Why would it all be here if God didn't love us so much that he wanted to create a world of beauty for us to live in?"

I would do absolutely anything for Christy. I have never loved anyone more deeply. Is God's love for me even more powerful than that? He wondered.

"If God didn't love you so much, Neil, he wouldn't save you," Christy started to walk, leaving that thought for Neil to ponder.

Could this be true? It sounds too good, Neil thought. Neil couldn't take it all in at that moment, but what Christy said had started him thinking about God again. He once again remembered his mother reading from her bible. It was time to open it up again. Neil came up behind Christy and took her arm.

"This way," he said as he led her down the river in a different direction. He was silent for a long time as they walked. Then he stopped. "Thank you, Christy. We should head back, but I want to show you something. It will take a while to get there, but you will love it."

Christy was puzzled. Wherever could he be taking her? This was unfamiliar territory to her. They walked for a long time, Neil still guiding her, until they could hear a waterfall.

"Have you ever been here?" Neil asked.

"No, I haven't. Where are we going?"

"Just wait and see." Where had Christy heard those exact words before? Then, she saw it: the waterfall. It was beautiful. The sun's rays reflecting on the water made it sparkle like liquid diamonds. Though it was autumn, there was green grass all over. As they entered the asylum, a great mist enveloped them.

"Neil," Christy breathed, "it's absolutely beautiful. But just exactly where are we? I got lost quite a while back."

Neil smiled, "You'll never know." They neared the waterfall. A sparkling pool surrounded it, and Neil led Christy to a line of stones in the pond. "Here, take my arm," he said, and together they walked across the stones to the backside of the waterfall. Once there, Christy stood staring through the waterfall. The light reflecting through the water and the mist sent an array of colored illumination to the walls be­hind. Christy did not know how long she stood there, and jumped when Neil touched her arm.

"There is something even more beautiful I must show you," and he turned her around so that she was facing a narrow cave. As they stepped inside, Christy could not believe her eyes. The walls were lined with quartz and pyrite. Christy now knew why everything had seemed so familiar. She was reliving her fantasy dream. Neil led her further down, towards a blue light.

They entered a large room, where light was streaming through the ceiling high above down to a small pool of water in the floor. Christy looked around; the room was covered in blue crystal. Just like her dream. Sap­phire was rare, but Miss Alice said it could be found in these mountains.

Once again, Christy was oblivious to the man stand­ing beside her. "Looks just like your eyes, Christy. Star blue quartz." Christy turned to him, her eyes wide. "Christy, what is it? You look like you've seen a ghost," Neil said

"I have," she said weakly. Finally, she could take the de ja vu no longer and sank to the floor.

"Christy! Lass, are you all right? What is it?"

Lass, had it been a slip? "This is a dream, isn't it?"

"Christy you're not making sense," he said, sinking to the floor beside her.

"No, I have had almost this exact same dream before," she said with a secluded look in her eyes.

Neil was amused; he wondered what Christy's exact dream had been. "You said almost. What exactly was your dream?"

Christy blushed. She could not tell Neil of her real dream. "Just . . . well . . . not much different than this." She got up and walked away from him, towards the light in the center of the room. Christy studied the identical holes in the ceiling and floor. She whirled around to ask Neil how he had found this place, and ended up smacking him with her arms. "I . . . I'm sorry."

He took her hands in his. "'Tis all right. I have told you my story. It's your turn. Please, Christy. I am your friend. Tell me why you ran away. Please."

"Neil, I. . . ." how could she tell him how she really felt?

Neil waited patiently. Together they stood, battling their emotions, beneath the blue light. Christy took a deep breath. "The day I rode to your cabin and I saw you and Margaret, I had come to tell you how much I valued our friendship, that I could tell you anything, and that I trusted and respected you more than anyone I knew."

Neil was stunned, and confused. "What about Grantland? A fiancée should be your soulmate," he blurted out, surprised with his own comment.

Christy laughed. "David and I share nothing more than sibling-like friendship." Of course, this stunned Neil more than ever. "Don't look so shocked," Christy said coyly. "You know," she said softly, "it was you who showed me I could not marry David. You knew first-hand what happened when two people who didn't love or respect each other got married. And you made sure I knew it, Neil MacNeill! I realized I could not marry David. I could have made the biggest mistake of my life."

Neil was flummoxed; he didn't know what to say. Tenderly, he touched her face. "Aye, my marriage with Margaret was dreadful. I will always regret it, not only because I chose wrong, but because I was never free from our vows." Christy was held by his eyes, and the world seemed to stop as she stood there. Neil squeezed her hand and was about to say something else when Christy interrupted by saying,

"Now it's my time to question you again: Why did you come to the schoolhouse that day? Leaving Margaret?"

Neil sighed and softly said, "Christy, I came because I care very much for you. Margaret told me that you were going to 'marry the preacher,' and I couldn't let you do that. I knew deep in my heart he wasn't right for you. He didn't respect you as you should be respected."

The tender moment was interrupted when Christy suddenly re­alized that she was alone with the man she loved, in a secluded cave, and unchaperoned. Glancing at the watch fob on her waist she said, "Oh my! I should be getting back to the school. I'm sure Keri would enjoy some time to herself, or," she said with as much fake anger as she could put in her voice without smiling, "some time with someone else."

Neil sighed, "Christy, there is nothing between us, we only mis—" Christy laughed and started to run out of the cave. However, Neil caught her arm and gently pulled her to him. He started at her so intently that Christy lost her breath. Would he kiss her? With a small smile, Neil brushed a stray hair from her face and let go of her arm. The sudden coldness of her arm where Neil's hand had been shocked Christy's lungs into functioning again. Tenderly, she smiled at Neil and started out of the cave.

Back at his cabin, after saying good-bye to Christy, Neil de­cided to go fishing. The previous week he'd hardly had any time to fish at all, so he gathered his gear and was just about to head down to the river when Ben Pentland called out,

"U-nited States Maaaill!"

"Why, hello, Ben. What brings you out here today? Saturday's not 'til tomorrow."

"Waal, Doc, I have a letter here for ye. Come clear from Scotland. Thought ye might want it as soon as hit'd come in. Magine that, a little old letter all t'way from Scotland. I wonder what's in that letter. . . ." he trailed off with a roguish look on his face as he handed Neil the letter.

Neil chuckled, "I wonder that myself Ben, but don't you have other letters?"

"Yep, shore do. Seven whole letters this week! I'll be seein ya, Doc," and Ben Pentland rode off on his mule whistling a racy mountain tune, something he had no doubt picked up from the teahouse.

"Ben!" Neil called after the mailman with a grin, "Will you be back here tomorrow? I might have a letter for you." Neil had a feeling that this letter would require a reply.

"Yep, I'm a stayin' at the Holcombe's tanight," he said, stop­ping his mule.

"All right, just stop by then."

"Bye, Doc," and Ben was off again.

Neil decided to take the letter down to the river with him. If it was from Scotland, it must be quite important. He sat down close to the foamy water and opened the letter. He read the good news:

September 5, 1913

Dear Mr. Neil MacNeill:

As of May 2, 1913, the Scotland National Revenue Exchange shut down and all trading was stopped. We are sorry to inform you that your stocks will not be able to gain in value anymore. The value of your stocks as of May 2, 1913 will be sent to you in United States currency as soon as you reply to this letter. Their value is estimated to be around $7,000. We're sorry for any inconvenience or trouble.

Sincerely,

Emil Frederiksborg

President

Neil was dumfounded. Seven thousand dollars! Yes, he re­membered investing in the Stock Market in Scotland, but after he left, he had never thought about it again. And Neil certainly never thought he would get this kind of money back! What would he do with it all? For starters, he could of course buy more supplies, new equipment, maybe fix up his cabin. . . .

He had been right, this letter would require a reply! As Neil tucked the letter in his pocket, ideas of what to do with the money began ramparting through his head. . . .