I scrambled up the snowy path on my way to the mission, dragging a sled with one hand. Once arrived, I knocked on the mission door. Miss Christy opened the door.
"Miss Christy, could you come sledding with me?" I asked, and she grinned.
"Yes, let me get my coat on. I'll join you in a moment."
Our first trip down the hill went smoothly. On the second, however, the sled overturned and landed on top of us. We had not noticed the Quaker Lady coming down the hill.
"Miss Huddleston!"
My head came up, and I dashed away, leaving Miss Christy in the snow. She followed. About fifty yards away I tripped and went sprawling.
I was sitting in the snow, still trying to catch my breath when Miss Christy caught up with me. "Crystal! Wait! What's wrong? Why did you run?"
"That lady up there...Miss Henderson, she's a Quaker, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is. But what does that have to do with this?"
"Quakers aren't good." I stopped, glancing at the amazed expression on her face.
"Crystal!" Miss Christy continued, "Where did you get an idea like that! Miss Alice..." she paused, stopping for a breath, "Is one of the finest women I have ever met."
"My pa was killed by a Quaker." I stated. "None of my family's liked them since."
"Surely, it must have been an accident. That doesn't mean all Quakers are bad." She paused, contemplating. "Birds Eye Taylor is from Cutter Gap, does that mean all people from Cutter Gap are bad?"
I hesitated, seeing I was caught. Miss Christy and my cousins certainly weren't bad people. "Well, no."
"When you meet Miss Alice, you will see she is a fine woman, and hopefully you will leave your prejudices behind. Come on, let's sled some. We've only gone down the hill twice, you know."
I peered to where the sled was lying, and saw no one. "Well, I reckon I could sled a little bit more."
We continued our frolicking for another fifteen minutes, and when we started up the hill again, I was quite startled to see the Quaker Lady standing at the top. Miss Christy grasped my arm as she saw who I was staring at, sensing I would bolt. "Crystal, are you coming? Don't worry, everything will be fine."
The Quaker Lady met us up the hill halfway. She threw a questioning glance at Miss Christy, then said to me "Crystal, would you like to sled down the hill with me? It's been such a long time since I've been tobogganing, so you'll probably have to steer."
I was surprised she knew my name, and stammered "Well, I ...I guess, yes ma'am. Here, sit behind me." That was the last thing I wanted to do, sled down the hill with a Quaker woman behind me, but I had to be nice for Miss Christy's sake.
I sat down cautiously and pushed off. Partway down the hill, the sled toppled over, giving us facefuls of freezing snow. I glanced at the Quaker Lady, afraid she would be angry and blame me for the mishap, she was actually laughing! My amazement soon turned to giggles, too. We started back to where Miss Christy was waiting. Miss Christy looked at me as if to say 'I told you so,' but I pushed the Quaker Lady's laughing face as far back in my mind as I could, determined to forget it.