River Deep, Mountain High

Standard disclaimers apply to this piece of Christy fan fiction.

This story continues where the TV series left off. Any similarities to other works of Christy fan fiction are purely coincidental.

Chapter 25

School had been back in session for the past two weeks, and Christy was enjoying being back in the comfortable routine where her days were filled with teaching eager students. It would be short-lived, however, as the children would once again be off for the upcoming winter holidays.

Christy still had not given her parents a firm answer about whether she would be returning home to Asheville for Christmas. She knew how disappointed they were when she said she would not be visiting for Thanksgiving, and although she loved her parents dearly and missed seeing them, she knew that her life was in Cutter Gap. She realized that she would miss the Cove even more if she went.

In her hours away from school, Christy had been spending a lot of time with Mary Allen. The two women had bonded since the surgery, and their friendship deepened now that Christy was teaching Mary to read. Mary was now out of bed and walking around, though she was restricted from engaging in any activity that was considered even mildly strenuous as well as from all lifting or carrying. With the children back in school and Mary left unable to perform many of her usual household chores, she was left with a lot of extra time in which to dedicate to her reading. As a result, she was progressing very quickly. Rob was even helping her in his spare time away from the mill and his writing.

Christy was just finishing with her reading lesson with Mary Allen when Doctor MacNeill came by to check on his patient. It was the first time Christy had seen him in over a week. He had been busy in Raven Gap after an outbreak of the influenza. Dan Scott had been checking in on Mary while he was gone.

Christy was about to leave so the doctor could perform his examination in private when Neil called out to stop her.

"Christy, if you don't mind waiting for me to finish checking on Mary, I'll give you a ride back to the Mission," Neil offered. "It won't take but a few minutes."

"Thank you, Doctor MacNeill, but I think I'll just walk home."

"It's freezing outside, Christy. And growing darker by the minute," he said. "You're not going to turn me down, are you?" He smiled at her for a moment, and then paused to listen to Mary's heartbeat through his stethoscope.

Thinking to herself, Christy realized that Neil had a good point. With the days growing shorter and shorter, even if she left to walk back to the Mission now, it would be dark before she was even halfway there.

Neil saw that Christy was still pondering on his offer. "Besides, I noticed the last time I was at the Mission you were running low on camphor and iodine. We can stop by my cabin on the way so you can replenish the dispensary."

"Alright, doctor," she conceded. "You have me convinced. I'll wait outside while you finish your examination." Christy turned to Mary. "Mary, I'll see you Friday so we can continue our lessons. Goodnight."

"Thank ye, Miz Christy," Mary replied. "I'll be sure ta keep practicin' like ye said."

Christy put on her coat and went outside to wait. It was nearly dusk, and Christy looked up to see the first few stars peaking out through the pale indigo and violet blanket that was the evening sky. The weather had turned very cold in the past few weeks, and Christy could see her breath visible each time she exhaled. Through her gloves, she felt the biting sting of the wind seeping into the joints of her fingers. Suddenly, she felt very thankful that Neil arrived in time to offer her a ride home. Even with a stop at his cabin, she would arrive at the Mission in a third of the time it would take for her to walk.

Minutes later, the cabin door swung open with a loud creak, and Neil emerged.

"Are you ready?" he asked. Christy nodded in response, and they mounted Charlie.

"I think it's time Alice and the Reverend Grantland saw about getting you a horse, Christy," Neil pointed out matter-of-factly.

"I've had that same thought myself recently," Christy said in agreement. "But Mission funds are so tight that I don't think Doctor Ferrand has the money to spare on another horse. I could always ride Old Theo."

Neil let out a snort of laughter. "With that mule, you'd be better off walking. You would be safer and likely move faster on your own two feet." Christy laughed.

With Charlie's speed and memory of the often traveled trail to Doctor MacNeill's cabin, they arrived in no time. Christy followed Neil into his cabin where he immediately disappeared into the locked laboratory to retrieve the supplies for the Mission's dispensary. Christy remained in the main room, happy to stay by the warmth of the fire. She could tell that the fire must have been set a couple of hours ago, but the flames still burned high and strong. Neil must have been at the cabin and made the fire before he went to see Mary, Christy thought. She could hear sounds from the other room, like Neil riffling through jars and bottles to find what he needed.

A few minutes later, Neil came out of the laboratory with a small sack containing the necessary supplies. Then something red in his hands caught Christy's eye. Upon seeing the questioning expression on Christy's face, Neil put the sack down on the table and approached Christy with the bright red object that had captured her attention. Margaret's scarf; she recognized it immediately.

"Margaret wanted you to have it, Christy," Neil said, presenting the scarf to her, a little awkwardly. His other hand reached around to the back of his neck where he tugged at the hairs with his fingers. "I just never got around to finding the right time to give it to you. You might consider it an early Christmas present."

The beautiful red silk scarf with the delicate white embroidery was transferred slowly from Neil's hands into Christy's. Unsure at first whether she should accept it or not, memories of Margaret's death suddenly flooded Christy, filling her with a sense of loss and sadness that she could not explain. She looked into Neil's eyes and saw an expression that mirrored her own. He was still in pain over Margaret's death, Christy realized.

"You still miss her, don't you," Christy said. It was a statement rather than a question.

Nodding sadly, Neil responded, "Yes. I never thought I would. It's true when she returned I could never love her the same way I once did, but I did still love her." His voice drifted off, unsure if he really wanted to bring up those feelings again. That was why he had found himself unable to give the scarf to Christy earlier. The pain was too fresh, the wound too new.

"I suppose I just get lonesome at times," he admitted. Even though Margaret died months ago, Neil still felt that lingering sorrow, especially at moments when he was left alone with nothing but his thoughts. When he came home after a long day to an empty cabin, or when he was riding alone the long way from his more remote patients…that was when he felt the loneliness begin to creep into his soul.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, Neil," Christy assured him. "Margaret was a big part of your life. It's natural to feel lonely now that she's gone."

"Perhaps I never truly got used to being alone in the first place," Neil added with a shrug.

She shook her head slightly. "You don't have to be alone. You have Aunt Hattie…Dan Scott and Miss Alice…And you have me, Neil," she added with emphasis, touching his arm reassuringly. "I'm your friend, and you know you are welcome to the Mission at any time."

"Yes, I know. And I am grateful to you for that." Neil smiled faintly, revealing the true depth of his appreciation.

The clock then chimed at the half-hour mark, signaling to Neil that it was time to get Christy back to the Mission before it got much darker. "We'd better be on our way." He was a little relieved at the change of subject. "I don't want to give the Reverend Grantland call to gather up a search party to come find you."

The two laughed, although Christy secretly doubted that David would care where she was. When he wasn't glowering at her, he was behaving cold and aloof. It had been going on for weeks, and Christy still had no notion what was bothering him. She wondered if he had heard bad news from home and had not told anyone about it. She was so busy with school and teaching Mary Allen to read that she did not have much time to spend with him. His attitude towards her gave her even less incentive to go out of her way to seek him out to learn what was gnawing at him.

However, Christy cared about David, and she was his friend. She made a mental note to make sure to try to speak with him later to find out what was troubling him. That is what a good friend would do, she told herself.

Brought back into the present, Christy thanked Neil for the thoughtful gift and tucked it carefully away inside her coat pocket. "Thank you, Neil. I'll treasure it always."

***

Chapter 26

After supper that night, David skulked off to his bunkhouse before Christy had a chance to tell him that she wanted to talk. Deciding that she had enough of his passive-aggressive behavior after sitting through another meal subjected to his dark, surly looks, Christy decided she would confront him then and there. It could not wait for another day. She put on her coat and walked over to the bunkhouse. She knocked loudly and commandingly on the door.

David opened the door without a word. He just stared at her silently, his eyes as cold as ice, sharp as steel. For a moment, Christy thought she was going to lose her nerve. Swallowing hard, she pushed her way inside and mustered the courage to speak.

"David, I want to know why you have been so upset lately," Christy said firmly, her voice filled with concern.

Unwavering, David stood still as a statue. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You've been walking around here like a ghost, David," she cried. "You hardly ever talk to me anymore, and when you do, your words have a bitter edge to them that I don't understand." Christy knew that anger might not be the best approach, especially if something was seriously troubling David. Her tone softened slightly. "Has something happened to make you so upset? Something from home?"

David turned his back on her and began storming around the room.

"Is it me? Have I done something to upset you?" Christy finally asked, after David failed to acknowledge the source of his unusually foul mood.

Finally turning around again to face her, David folded his arms across his chest and shook his head bitterly. "You just don't get it, do you?"

It was obvious now by the expression on his face that Christy had hit the nail on the head. "If I've done something to hurt or upset you, it was unintended. And I am sorry, David. But I thought we were friends. Friends don't hide something that's bothering them. They confide in each other."

Christy could not fathom what she could have done to hurt David so badly that he would behave like this toward her. She searched the recesses of her mind, and she kept coming back with nothing. Christy sighed loudly in frustration. She felt as though she were on the verge of tears. What started as concern for her friend had spiraled into anger, and now she was left feeling empty, hurt, and confused.

"David, please tell me why you are treating me this way." Christy said, saddened at the degradation of their relationship. "How can I know what I've done, if you won't tell me?"

David stood unmoving for several long seconds. He was about to spin back around away from her, when he spotted the edge of the familiar red fabric peaking out from Christy's coat pocket. In a flash, he moved beside her and quickly tugged on the crimson textile to extract it from its hiding place. David was shocked to reveal Margaret's scarf. He held it up with an expression that emanated both venom and victory.

"David? What do you think you're doing?" Christy screamed in shock.

"He gave it to you, didn't he?" David asked, his voice dripping with rage.

"If you mean Doctor MacNeill, then yes. He did give it to me," Christy answered, feeling extremely defensive. What business of David's was it that Neil gave her the scarf? "He said Margaret wanted me to have it."

"I told you someday you'd have to choose between us," David told her. "It seems you've made your decision clear." He crumpled the scarf in his fist and tossed at her.

At David's words, Christy realized that the wound caused by her rejection of his marriage proposal had re-opened, and it had turned into a festering lesion of the worst kind. Perhaps it was never fully healed to begin with, Christy pondered. Since the end of their romantic relationship, Christy never thought that her growing friendship with Doctor MacNeill would be such a problem for David. Especially with the fact that Neil was widowed meant that a close friendship was no longer a scandal.

Perhaps David was jealous of the amount of time they spent together. No, Christy realized. The look on David's face was plain. He was still struggling with his feelings for her. His aspirations for their marriage and future together had not been extinguished like she thought. Why else would he be so angry with her? Her expression softened a bit with the knowledge that David was simply acting out of hurt.

"My friendship with Doctor MacNeill has nothing to do with my decision not to marry you, David," Christy tried to explain, attempting to calm him down. "Neil and I are just friends. I don't understand why I can't be friends with you and Neil both." Christy thought her heart would break if she lost David as a friend. He meant a great deal to her. David and Neil were both very different, as was the nature of her friendship with them. It was not fair for David to make her choose between them.

"Just friends?" David spat out, incredulously. The cynicism was apparent in his tone. "Despite what you may think of me, I'm not blind, Christy. Or a fool. But you certainly are making a fool of yourself by throwing yourself at Doctor MacNeill."

In disbelief at the underlying accusation in David's words, Christy stood there aghast. She felt as if she had just been punched in the stomach, the wind knocked out of her. An uncomfortable pause formed between them. Christy saw he storm of emotions rushing through David. It was revealed in every angle of his face, flowing out of every pore. Everything that had been bottled up inside him suddenly burst forth like dam overflowing.

"I saw you together. You and Doctor MacNeill." The pure disdain in his voice when he said "doctor" shot through Christy like a knife. "More than once." Whatever David saw, or thought he saw, Christy knew he had no right to treat her like this.

David flared her anger once more when he grabbed her by the arm and forced her out of the bunkhouse. "David!" she cried. She wanted to explain what might have seen, to correct the wrong impression he formed in his mind. She deserved a chance to defend herself…and Neil. More than anything, Christy did not want to leave the situation unresolved like this. Do not let the sun go down upon your anger, the Bible told us. But Christy knew that David had left her with no choice.

The last of her sympathy completely dissipated when David slammed the bunkhouse door hard behind him.

***

TO BE CONTINUED